Tuesday May 29, 2018 Edition

Buhari - Three years of long excuses

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n the almost two years of this administration, we have worked hard to meet the expectations of Nigerians by improving security, especially in the North-East, sustaining the campaign against corruption and have taken steps to revitalise the economy. – President Muhammadu Buhari’s Easter message, in April 2017 THE tragedy of the Nigerian experiment is that only the people know their ex-

The Oracle Today Comment

pectations from their leaders. The leaders, on the other hand, are so far removed from the people that they do not care about them... until the next election. It is becoming easier to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari fitted that mould from the beginning. It is no

longer doubtful that he neither understands nor cares about the expectations of Nigerians, some of who have taken their lives in protest over the economic challenges they faced. President Buhari no longer surprises anyone, otherwise, Nigerians would be devastated

The

VOX POPULI SACRUM

to read the President’s position that he has met their expectations.

IF in two years he met their expectations, why are they, three years into his tenure, going through unprecedented hardship? Why are Nigerians being killed daily in parts other than the

TUESDAY May 29, 2018

North East that has been certified as a low security area? Or does a revitalised economy result in more job losses?

What are the expectations of Nigerians? Where did Buhari meet them? What projects resulted in the fulfilled expectations? What does

he intend to do with the remaining one year of his tenure, since he has already broken the records in fulfilling his campaign promises?

Buhari’s administration was built largely on deceit from inception. The notoriety of his lying team has spawn several theories about his aides and their absence from the Nigeria

racle www.oraclenews.ng

ISSN: 2545-5869

Cont’d on page 24

Today

VOL.3 No.22 N200

@ 19, democracy blooms

By FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU, Onitsha and BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia

E

xactly 19 years ago today, democratic governance was restored in Nigeria, signaling the country’s readiness to join the rest of the civilised world in emplacing a government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Under the glistening

skies of Abuja, with a billion eyes trained on television networks around the world, Chief Matthew Okikiola Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, Ebora Egba, on Saturday, May 29, 1999, took the oath of office as the second executive of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, ending an eight-year transition-to-civil-rule rigmarole in the world’s most popu-

Cont’d on page 2

…despite hiccups

•Amend Constitution, strengthen institutions •Restructure to consolidate democracy •Rule of law, security major planks of democracy

•People are the pillars of democracy

Umahi faults Buhari’s anti-corruption war •Commentators accuse FG of ‘poor performance in all fronts’ •Enugu moves against multiple taxation on property From CHINEDU NWAFOR, Abakaliki, NATH OMAME Jr., PORT HARCOURT and CHUKS EZE, Enugu

Page 23 - 33

Governor of Ebonyi state, Chief David Umahi has faulted the approach of President Muhammadu Buhari to the anti-corruption war,

saying the President should adopt proactive rather than reactive measures.

Governor Umahi said his administration adopted

11 - page pullout on democracy @19

proactive rather than reactive measures in the fight against corruption, calling for the separation of politics from the fight against corruption in the country.

Umahi spoke at the Gov-

Cont’d on page 2

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The Oracle Today Wednesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

@ 19, democracy blooms …despite hiccups Continued from Pg 1 lous black nation that began with then Major General Mohammed Babangida’s ascension to power in 1985.

And it took the nation a windy, tortuous journey to get to that point.

After the military truncated the First Republic through a coup de tat on January 15, 1966 and a counter coup on July 29 of the same year, the country came under full-blown military dictatorship with General Yakubu Gowon, who took over from Major-General Johnson Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, who was killed in the counter coup, presiding as head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

There were to be another coup (in which Gowon was removed on July 30, 1975) and a botched counter coup (in which General Murtala Mohammed, who overthrew Gowon, was himself killed on February 13, 1976 in the putsch led by the late Lt.Col Buka Dimka), before the military government headed

by General Olusegun Obasanjo finally organized a transition programme that eventually culminated in the handover of power to civilians on October 1, 1979.

Between 1979 and December 31 1983, Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) presided over the country as the first Executive President of the Federal Republic.

Shagari was the first executor of the 1979 Constitution, which effectively ‘migrated’ Nigeria from the British parliamentary system of government to the American presidential system.

However, Shagari’s government did not last long. For, no sooner was the NPN candidate sworn-in on October 1, 1979, for a second term as President than he was overthrown in a coup led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari.

Buhari himself was to be overthrown in a palace coup on August 27, 1985.

Thereafter, Babangida embarked on a windy transition programme that, after eight years, only ended in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, adjudged free and fair by local and international observers and won by the late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola of the Social democratic Party (SDP), one of the two parties created by Babangida (the other National republican Convention (NRC), but which Babangida annulled.

The crisis generated by the

annulled election was to force Babangida to ‘step aside’ on August 17, 1993, paving way for an Interim National Government (ING) headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, a corporate titan.

However, barely four months later, on November 17 to be precise, the late General Sani Abacha overthrew Shonekan’s ING, disbanded the political parties and, by extension, the elected state governors who had been in place pending the election of a civilian President to replace Babangida, who was still military President, and complete his transition programme.

Abacha ran a blistering military dictatorship, which had no room for opposing voice.

However, when General Abacha suddenly died after a brief illness on June 8, 1998, General Abdulsalami Abubakakar, who took over the mantle of leadership on June 9, 1998 quickly organized a transition-to-civil-rule programme that finally led to the handover of power to democratically elected political leadership in the country.

Thus, after almost 40 years of military interregnum, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former General of the Nigerian Army and onetime Military Head of State, was sworn in on May 29, 1999 as a democratically elected President of the Federal Republic, ushering

in the Fourth Republic, which has remained in place since then.

Indeed, after 19 years of practice, there are indications that the Nigerian Democratic experiment has developed firm roots, despite the shenanigans of its drivers.

For instance, President Obasanjo was anything but lawful in his conduct of public affairs.

Unmindful of the fact that he was no longer a military head of State, Obasanjo would force state legislators to impeach governors he did not like; look the other way as EFCC operatives broke down high court doors and windows in search of fleeing legislators he wanted to sit so they could impeach one governor or the other, among other unconstitutional actions.

Obasanjo deployed troops to and sacked Odi, a sleepy town in Bayelsa State, where militants reportedly murdered policemen.

He also sent soldiers that destroyed the town of Zaki Biam in Benue State following the death of 19 soldiers who had been deployed there to quell uprising.

Besides, Obasanjo wanted to change the constitution so he would be elected President for a third term.

However, despite what were clearly Obasanjo-made problems, democracy, as if its spirit was determined to survive in Nigeria this time around, brushed aside these

hiccups and firmed up.

Hope rose for democracy under the late President Musa Yar’Adua, the first university graduate to be elected President.

The first major decision he took, which was to give amnesty to Niger Delta militants, brought peace to the troubled oil-producing region, as the militants laid down their arms thereby allowing oil production to go on unfettered.

But, Yar’Adua had life threatening health challenges, (which, in the end, claimed his life) and, therefore, could not do much by way of governance.

After his death and internment in very controversial circumstances, Dr. Goodluck Ebel Jonathan, a Southern minority man from Bayelsa State was sworn in as Acting President.

Jonathan was to win the 2011 presidential election and be sworn in as a substantive President.

Democracy bloomed under Jonathan: Press freedom was at its zenith; the judiciary was free and dispensing justice without fear of executive interference; the legislature was highly independent; the states as a tier of government were doing their things largely independent of the centre, except in matters relating to revenue allocation; the central government was running a booming economy that was creating jobs and growing the nation’s GDP, among others.

•Foot soldiers for Gburu Gburu 2019 support group, powered by Distinguished Sen.Chukwuka Utazi and cordinated by Hon. Cyril Chinedu Onu (Radical for Jesus), Executive Assistant to the Governor of Enugu State, and the Liaison Officer to Sen Utazi.

Umahi faults Buhari’s anti-corruption war Continued from Pg 1

ernment House, Abakaliki during a media chat to mark this year’s Democracy Day celebration and his three years in office.

He noted that corruption must be stamped out for the Nigeria to develop, declaring that it is an aberration for a person who is “very corrupt” to defect to a ruling political party and become a saint.

“We must be able to separate fight against corruption from politics. Without tackling corruption, it is very difficult for our country to develop. Mr. President is a man of integrity but we must also ensure that we have the fear of God in the fight against corruption.

“So, in our fight against corruption, let it not have any polit-

ical colouration, it will help us. I support that those who took our money should be able to bring back the money but somebody should not wear a cloth today in the name of a political party seen as very corrupt and now wear another cloth in another political party and become a saint,” the Ebonyi governor stressed.

Umahi spoke just as some commentators criticised his three-year administration for failing on “practically all fronts.”

On security, for instance, Chief Lilibou Oghor, a social affairs commentator, expressed dismay at the federal government’s failure to capitalise on the exploits of the security agencies in successfully flushing out Boko Haram from the dreaded Sambisa Forest, to com-

prehensively address the nation’s security problems.

“The security agencies should have known that some of the commanders of the terrorist group who escaped capture would relocate to communities and mingle with residents from where they will regroup to start small cells of vicious attack on innocent citizens,” Oghor said, wondering why the security agencies didn’t “equip and train their personnel to infiltrate these communities before storming Sambisa Forest to make it easy for them to track and locate strange persons in such communities?”

“What is happening is that the military is beginning to lose the ground it gained by capturing Sambisa Forest with the spate

of suicide bombings and the increasing number of victims that are being recorded.

“The spate of killings and destruction being perpetrated by the herdsmen across Nigeria, but more deadly in the North Central geo-political region shows clearly that the federal government has no definite security plan as to how to stop the wanton killings by the rampaging herdsmen,” he added, lamenting: “The killings of people and the destruction of farmlands in Benue, Taraba and Nassarawa have diminished the gains made by the military in dislodging Boko Haram insurgents from Sambisa Forest and almost 17 local governments which they earlier oc-

Cont’d on page 47

However, after Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election to President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military head of State, democracy began to witness changes that were not exactly promoting it.

Listing a litany of anti-democratic actions of the present administration, a Onitsha-based political affairs commentator, Edu Obuna said: “Instances of such infractions abound: high court judges’ homes were invaded in the dead of the night by officials of the Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who came with orders from the above to arrest the judges on charges of corruption. Perceived opponents of government were indiscriminately arrested and clamped into detention without formal charges. Press freedom became endangered as many journalists were arrested for criticizing the President or high-ranking officials of his administration. Unemployment ballooned. Insecurity spiked dangerously despite government’s protestations to the contrary and billions of naira spent in fighting it. Herdsmen emerged to constitute an existential threat to rural communities around the country, with whole villages in many states of the federation sacked by rampaging herdsmen who routinely fall on and kill such villagers without reprimand from government.

Separatist agitations blossomed.

Calls for restructuring rented the air. The economy nosedived. Government went a-borrowing and may have borrowed more than the country can pay. Power supply stalled. Roads deteriorated...”

But, despite these challenges, Nigerians appear prepared to brush aside the antics of anti-democratic forces and work hard to sustain their hard-earned democracy.

Yet, as the nation marks this year’s Democracy Day, pundits say there is need to examine the forces against democracy with a view to addressing the challenges they pose to the system.

According to Prof. Ikechi Mgbeoji, a professor of law and Commissioner for Education in Abia State, the impediment to the growth of Nigeria’s democracy is the country’s Constitution, which he says concentrates so much power at the centre.

“My opinion is that by our experience, we are not yet on the right path because of the fact that the fundamental document that ought to chart the way forward is, in itself, a lie; I mean the 1999 constitution.

“It is meant to be a document enacted by Nigerians, as it says ‘we the people.’ But the truth of the matter is that Nigerians were never assembled for them negotiate and agree on such a very fundamental document. And we all can see that many of the problems that we face today, the tensions that we experience in the country are largely a result of that faulty constitution. There are so many things that have no business in the constitution that are there,” the Professor of Law said.

He identified as a major anti-people element in the constitution, its inability to allow Nigerians free expression, saying what it offers is a kind of hybrid between unitary and federalism systems, and therefore, not offering a clear map for progress.

“What really worries me is that the nature of the constitution

Cont’d on page 47

The Oracle Today Tuesday 29, 2018

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The Oracle Today

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Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION

Jonathan, Secondus, others demand free, fair guber poll in Ekiti

By VICTOR NZE

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ATIONAL Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, Governors of Abia, Ikpeazu Okezie; Rivers, Nyesom Wike; Akwa Ibom, Emmanuel Udom; Gombe , Ibrahim Damkwambo and traditional rulers in Ekiti have called for a free and fair governorship election in Ekiti State.

This is also as the PDP chieftains, including for former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, lauded state Governor Ayodele Fayose for his sound performance in erecting giant infrastructural projects in the state.

The party chieftains were in the state for the official inauguration of the new first Ekiti State purposely built Governor’s Office, in Ado Ekiti, Friday.

Remarking at the ceremony, the Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Chief Ayodele Fayose declared that the Nigerian populace were yet to find an alternative to the main opposition party ahead of the 2019 Presidential poll.

Fayose also berated the flag bearer of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election in the state, Kayode Fayemi alleging that he never won the 2010 poll but was ‘handed to him by the then Justice Ayo Salami on a platter of gold through legal technicalities.’

“Nigerians have not found an

alternative to PDP and l am sure that they are now regretting. I have not committed this state to any bank by one Naira with these many projects that I have done and that I am doing.

“I tell you expressly 70 percent of the infrastructure in Ekiti have been built by me. Fayemi never won any election in Ekiti. It was the Salami who gave him the mandate.”

Similarly, Wike lambasted the APC Federal Government for performing poorly saying: “I don’t associate with those who don’t know what development is all about. Anyone I associate with shows that there is something positive about him. Ayodele Fayose has shown that politics is all about development. Even though they try to distract him and victimize him and refuse to give him his due, he will triumph.”

On Fayemi, the Rivers governor said: “I learnt somebody said he would win Ekiti because of the performance of the President. He should have said that he would win because of what he has been able to do for Ekiti.

“Anywhere you see PDP all you see is development and programmes to better the lot of our people. Fayose has been able to do this because he believes in the agenda of PDP which is development for the nation.

“We will not commission wheelbarrows, no PDP state would go and hire tractors. The kind of laudable projects PDP governors

would be commissioning are the concrete ones like this new Governor’s office. It is clear that his humble and obedient deputy governor, Prof. Olusola Kolapo, will continue to do the great works of governor Fayose.

“APC are not coming to contest election, the only thing they want to do is to rig election. Let us protect our votes . Don’t give them any chance to rig the elections.

Stay till the votes are counter and results declared.

“What will the committee of 77 do in Ekiti. We are sure Eleka will win. I urge the Federal Government to allow the Jonathan standard to prevail during election. He never rigged the election and he conceded defeat even though he knew there were lapses.”

Wike described President Goodluck Jonathan, who was also at the occasion, as an example of a democrat, said: “The former

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria knows what democracy is all about, one who never uses his power to imprison opposition leaders and respected the rule of law. One who says no one should shed blood because of him which is not the case today in Nigeria.”

Pouring encomiums on Fayose, Secondus, said: “When Fayose came in 2014, he turned Ekiti around for good. Not only him, our PDP governors have always been commissioning projects. We are proud of all of you. You are all united and marching forward to reclaim our mandate in 2019, As you have continue to show that you can deliver.

“I believe Nigerians have seen the difference between promise keepers and those who fail to deliver their promises. They promised dollar would reduce to one Naira but today it has gone so high. They promised that petrol would be less than N50 but today

it is almost N200.

“Nigeria has become a killing field by herdsmen in daily basis.”

Ikpeazu who noted with Damkwabo that Fayose has scored high in putting in place developmental projects in Ekiti, said: “I am happy that in few months’ time people of Ekiti will be called out again to make a choice between continuity of good performance and perhaps uncertainty of what they don’t know. It is my pleasure to say the Ekiti people are very wise people and they will choose wisely. If you are confused about how to make up your mind just look at the infrastructure projects Fayose has out on ground and choose it rightly.

“I am also waiting for the very active and obedient deputy governor of Ekiti, who has been chosen as PDP candidate. I know Ekiti people will vote you. You are a leading light in Nigeria. We appreciate your courage and boldness.”

Truck accidents account for 129 deaths in Ogun

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ECTOR Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun State Chapter, Mr Clement Oladele, Thursday, said 129 deaths were recorded through truck accidents in the state in 2017.

Oladele disclosed this at a safety programme organised by “Temidayo Ogan Child Safety and Support Foundation,’’ an NGO, for schools in Abeokuta.

The topic of the debate is, “Road Safety Education More Effective Than Road Safety Enforcement.”

He noted that the command observed that 129 (or 61.4 per cent) out of the 210 traffic deaths recorded in 2017 involved trucks and articulated vehicles.

Oladele also said that the command had step up enforcement against route violation, failure to cover unstable materials, use of sub-standard tyres, drunk driving and other traffic offences common with truck and articulated vehicles.

He said the command was collaborating with Ogun State Branch of Truck Owners Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Road Transport Workers (NARTW) to educate drivers on traffic regulations.

“We are trying to reduce the dan-

gers these trucks and articulated vehicles pose to road users, especially children going or returning from school,’’ he said.

According to him, early in 2017, the FRSC decided to improve its youth safety education by increasing its visits to primary and secondary schools in the state.

“The aim was to educate pupils and students on how to use the road safely. Our efforts have yielded fruits but with some sad occurrences; some of us will recall the ugly incident of February 24 where a truck crushed a Primary School pupil,” he said.

Oladele noted that the collaboration was not to underscore either road safety enforcement or road safety education, but to raise awareness of teachers and students to be road safety conscious.

He commended the NGO for its efforts over the years in promoting the safety of the Nigerian child, adding that the debate was the maiden edition and would be expanded in subsequent years.

Earlier, Mrs Temidayo Ogan, the Foundation’s Executive Director, said the programme was a special Children’s Day project that would promote global road safety and the United Nation’s SDG’s agenda 2030.

•(From left to right): Governors of Akwa Ibom, Emmanuel Udom; Rivers, Nyesom Wike; Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, and former President, Goodluck Jonathan during the official inauguration of the new first Ekiti State purposely built Governor’s Office, in Ado Ekiti, Friday.

Amosun set to commission over 50 new projects on Democracy Day

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gun State Government has announced that over 50 new projects embarked upon by the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration and spread across the three geo-political zones will be commissioned on Democracy Day, Tuesday.

However, a statement by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Barr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, said due to the ongoing Ramadan fast, the commissioning has now been postponed, ‘till the last week in June, when the Ramadan fast would have been over.’

The projects, according the statement marks the Democracy Day commemoration as well as the 3rd anniversary of the 2nd term of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led

administration in the state.

“In keeping with our well known “Ogun Standard”, the State Government plans to commemorate this year’s anniversary with the commissioning of some of the over 50 new projects, spread across the three geo-political zones.

“We congratulate the good people of Ogun State and Nigerians on this auspicious occasion of yet another Democracy Day in the history of our dear country and the 3rd anniversary of the 2nd term of the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration in the state.

“However, in deference to our Islamic faithful, who are currently observing Ramadan fast across the country, the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has directed

that the commissioning of projects earlier scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 29th May, 2018 (Democracy Day), be postponed, till the last week in June, when the Ramadan fast would have been over.

“We use this special occasion to once again appreciate Ogun stakeholders, for their tremendous support and prayers over the years, which have been largely responsible for the massive turn-around of the fortunes of the state,” the statement by the SSG read.

It would be recalled that last year, the celebration was marked with an inspection tour of projects across the state, which was rounded off with the commissioning of the MITROS Residences, at the GRA, Ibara, in Abeokuta.

The Oracle Today

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Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION

Ebola may spread nationally, internationally – WHO warns

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HE Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains on an “epidemiological knifeedge” regarding the spread of the deadly Ebola disease, in spite of the quick response by authorities and international partners to the threat, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.

Speaking in Geneva at the World Health Assembly, Dr Peter Salama, WHO Deputy DirectorGeneral, who heads Emergency Preparedness and Response, said that there were several reasons why the current outbreak – which has claimed 27 lives since it was declared on May 8 – had yet to be contained.

Epidemiology is the branch of medicine which deals with the analysis of the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases’ conditions in defined populations.

“It’s hard to recall a situation of an outbreak where a Government has responded more quickly and more decisively than in this outbreak,” Salama said.

The WHO official added that it was “a multi-partner effort and it’s not over yet. We’re really just at the beginning”.

“I used the phrase yesterday that we’re on the epidemiological knife-edge of this response, the next few weeks will really tell if

this outbreak will spread to urban areas or if we’re going to be able to keep it under control.”

Unlike previous Ebola events in DRC – this is the country’s ninth since 1976 — the 2018 outbreak has been complicated by the fact that it involved rural and urban areas, he said.

“This has raised the chances that it might spread both nationally and internationally,” Salama said.

He noted particularly since the city of Mbandaka – where the disease was identified after first surfacing in the relatively remote Bikoro – is close to the Congo river, which acts as the main transport link to DRC’s capital, Kinshasa. ”With 58 confirmed, probable or suspected cases of the disease in the country as of Wednesday, effective tracing of anyone who had come into contact with the disease would “make or break” the response to Ebola,” Salama said.

He described the task ahead as “the detective work of epidemiology”, adding that medical personnel at a hospital in Wangata, Mbandaka, were tracing some 600 contacts from three separate chains of transmission.

One of these chains was associated with a funeral in a neighbouring town of Bikoro; another was linked to a health-care facility in the small village of Iboko; and the

Extortion: Lagos Task Force to commence clampdown on council traffic officials

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PERATIVES of the Lagos State Task Force would from this week begin a clampdown on illegal activities local government traffic officials across the state.

Lagos State Task Force Chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, who said this, in a statement that the clampdown was ordered by the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, CP Imohimi Edgal, said that the illegal activities of notorious traffic officials was worrisome to the state government as cases of extortion of motorists continued to rise.

According to him, the council traffic officials were harassing Lagos motorists under the guise of enforcing the Lagos State Road Traffic Law of 2012.

“We have received reports of instances of illegal arrest, extortion and general impunity on the part of the local government operatives.

“As a responsive and responsible government, the rights of Lagosians, including motorists, is paramount to Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode. The ban on all local government traffic officials from controlling or engaging in traffic duties by the governor still stands: Traffic management is not a responsibility of the third tier of government.

“Indeed there are traffic units in all 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas.

“CP Edgal Imohimi has therefore said that only Nigeria Police, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) Taskforce and

the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) can perform traffic duties in Lagos State,’’ Egbeyemi said.

He urged motorists to always adhere strictly to traffic regulations and report illegal activities of notorious traffic officials to the nearest police station.

He also enjoined chairmen of local governments and local council development areas in the state to maintain zero tolerance for illegal traffic duties in their respective domains.

The chairman said any traffic official caught would be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law.

•President Muhammadu, his wife Hajiya Aisha receiving in audience wives of the 36 states governors at the Aso Villa, Saturday night… Photo: Presidential Villa.

third related to a church ceremony.

“Each one has the potential to expand if not controlled,” Salama said.

The WHO official confirmed that a selective, or “ring vaccination” programme had just begun and that efforts were ongoing to ensure that the Ebola drug could be stored in “ultracold” conditions at

between -60 and -80°C. WHO has repeatedly stressed that vaccination was only one measure among many in any outbreak response.

That message was repeated in Geneva by Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, who praised the commitment and sacrifice of the communities and health workers on the front line,

as “the most important element in fighting this outbreak”.

The WHO chief also underlined that the coordination among international health partners was essential, too, before highlighting that even he had problems in accessing rural Bikoro to see the problem first-hand, during his visit to the area shortly after the beginning of the outbreak.

those spanning Ojo-UI-Sango-Dugbe-Mokola-Parliament-Iwo RoadWofun and in Saki area of the state.

This is as Ajimobi said roads in some parts of the state like IseyinOkeho, Iseyin-Baasi-Ago-Are, OyoIseyin and Saki Polytechnic and Saki junction to Agric roads demanded federal government’s intervention.

He further called for speedy completion of the Lagos-Ibadan road under reconstruction as well as the Oyo-Ogbomosho road which he said, had claimed several lives.

Also, he asked that the federal government hand over the maintenance of all federal roads to the respective state governments with corresponding funding.

Ajimobi then reiterated the state government’s support for the National Housing Project currently under construction in Ogbomosho.

He gave the assurance that the state had approved the request of the Federal Ministry of Housing for more land for the construction of the second phase of the housing project.

Speaking, Zarma assured that the Federal Government was committed to completing road projects across the country, aimed at improving infrastructure and commercial activities.

We still await refund of N32.9bn spent on federal roads – Oyo govt

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ECRETARY to State Government, Mr Olalekan Alli, on behalf of Governor Abiola Ajimobi, made this appeal when Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mr Suleiman Zarma led a delegation of the ministry to Governor’s office, Ibadan, for a courtesy visit.

The reimbursement being sought is for works done by administrations, even those predating Ajimobi’s, on about 13 roads to include

Nigerian children are our future – VP Osinbajo

By KAYODE OGUNWALE

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he future of our nation belongs to our children because Nigerian children are special and they have all that it takes to give the country a great future, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Osinbajo stated this on Sunday during the Children’s Day service at the Aso Villa Chapel, Abuja, where children gave various stirring performance in dance, music and drama. The service also featured a wonderful performance by children from the FCT School for the Blind, Jabi, Abuja.

The Vice President, who spoke to journalists at the end of the Sunday service, added that Nigerian children are “very bright, energetic, and they are very innovative.”

He said, “First I’d like to say all of our children, Nigerian children, are special. They are special because the future of our nation belongs to them

and they have all that it takes to give our country a great future. They are very bright; they are very energetic, they are very innovative, and they are very creative. Just listening to them, watching the drama, listening to the music; you can tell that there is so much innovation and energy.

And I am completely convinced that our nation’s future is truly bright because of all of the children that God has given us; the talents and creativity that he has given us.

“It is also a moment to reflect on the responsibility that we have, as government, as adults, to ensure that we give these children the very best that we can, especially the children of those who cannot afford education and healthcare. That’s why the commitment of our government is to that bottom of the pyramid.

Our focus is on trying to get the best for them and we’re going to do even more of that.”

Osinbajo further noted that in

spite of the country’s challenges, the Buhari administration would continue to do what is necessary to provide a bright future for Nigeria’s children.

Death toll from Mubi cholera outbreak hits 13

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he Adamawa Ministry of Health has confirmed that the cases of cholera outbreak in Mubi have risen to 434 with 13 deaths.

The Information Officer of the Ministry, Mr Abubakar Muhammed, confirmed the number, via a statement he issued on Sunday in Yola.

The statement reads: ” Total number of cases reported from Mubi North and Mubi South Local Government Areas as at 26th May, 2018 stand at 434 cases with 13 deaths. ”While the Case Fatality Rate (CFR ) is 3.0 per cent ; Mubi North has 211 cases and 7 deaths equivalent

to 3.3 per cent case fatality rate.

Mubi South has 223 cases with 6 deaths and case fatality rate is 2.7 per cent.”

The Principal Medical Officer of Mubi General Hospital, Dr Ezra Sakawa, however said that most of the infected patients have been treated and discharged.

It will be recalled that Mubi was hit by cholera outbreaks two week ago, a development expert linked to contaminated water.

About 90 per cent of Mubi residents obtain their water from water vendors, who source water from boreholes meant for irrigation along the banks of River Yedzaram.

6

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

Herdsmen killings: It’s your fault -- IPOB to Ohaneze Ndigbo, governors

By CHUKS COLLINS, Awka

T

he Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the reported deaths of about 8 members of the Biafra Independence Movement (BIM) activists and the detention of 206 others in Enugu during a gathering to commemorate 22 years of the founding of MASSOB. In its statement made available to journalists in Awka, signed by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB described the unfortunate incident as “another atrocity in a long list of shameful atrocities committed by predominately Hausa Fulani staffed Nigerian Army.

The group, however, blamed the Ohaneze Ndigbo and their governors, for what it termed “their repeated silence over the slaughter of their own people makes them an accomplice after the fact. Those agitators romancing with Arewa politicians by night but jump up during the day to shout Biafra must cover their faces in shame. Their duplicitous character will never endear them to the oppressor.

“That this level of brutality is not receiving the desired media attention and condemnation is indicative of the times we now live in where life has become so cheap that deaths of activists is now seen as routine.

“We are asking the Nigerian Government to focus their military hardware and fire power on Fulani terror herdsmen in Benue and other Northern terrorist groups active in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

The senseless killings of unarmed Biafra agitators must stop because it will only breed more diehard activists that may choose to abandon the non-violence stance of IPOB. One day, violence will surely beget violence if this ongoing anti-Biafra persecution is not stopped.

“Nigeria will have no one but itself to blame when eventually that Pandora’s box they have been forcing is finally opened. The world cannot continue to feign ignorance of the fact that innocent unarmed Biafrans are being slaughtered on a daily basis like cattle by Northern Nigeria troops stationed in Biafraland. The day this sustained level of brutality will drive splinter groups to take up arms against the Nigerian state, architects of these massacres should not say they were not warned.

“Self-determination is part and parcel of the Nigerian law. There is nothing illegal about secession in any of the laws in Nigeria. These killings must stop now or else we embark on a slippery slope to anarchy which IPOB may not be able to control. All Biafra detainees must be released,” the group said.

FG hands over completed gully erosion control site to Awlaw community F ederal Government on Tuesday in Enugu inaugurated and handed over a completed Gully Erosion Control and Flood Improvement site to the people of Awlaw community, Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The project was executed by the Ecological Fund Office (EFO).

Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, who inaugurated the project, said it was in fulfilment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise that no part of the country would suffer any neglect owing to its geographical location or political consideration.

“To further consolidate the gains of this giant stride, the Federal Government’s completion of this

project has demonstrated the president’s commitment to addressing problems confronting various communities across the country.’’

She said that the successful completion of the project would go a long way in enhancing economic activities and the general well-being of Awlaw community and its environs.

In his remarks, Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi thanked EFO for the laudable project, adding that it would help to stabilise the socio-economic activities of the community.

The governor called on the people of the community to cherish, protect and prevent indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the constructed drainage channels to ensure sus-

tainability.

Earlier, Mr Felix Okeke, the Director of Erosion and Flood Control in EFO, said the Awlaw project was one of the first phase of 53 projects completed by EFO awarded between May 15, 2015 and Dec. 2017.

He said that the project was initiated through a request for urgent intervention to address gully erosion and flooding that had been threatening the lives and properties of the people of the community.

Responding, Mr Geoffrey Tabansi, the former President of the Awlaw Development Union thanked Buhari for initiating and completing the project.

Tabansi said that the state of erosion menace in Awlaw was so bad

that some parts of the town were not accessible, particularly the road leading to Nduagu section of Ubaha Awake Autonomous Community.

He also appealed to the President to award the second place of the project in order to check the massive developing erosion toward the Mmam River at Nkwu and Umudunwanyi sections of the community.

According to Tabansi, the two communities have also been cut off by the Civil War broken Bridge from access road to Isuochi, Abia State and Okigwe in Imo. He said that erosion had caused havoc in these places and also damaged the only source of drinking water from the Ngele-Ogugara stream.

Anambra records 44 fires in 5 months

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• Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and wife with Founder of the House on the Rock Church, Snr. Pastor Paul Adefarasin during the service to commemorate the 3rd Year Anniversary of the his administration at Lagos House, Ikeja with the theme ‘Praise His Majesty, Sunday

33% C/River children have visual problems – Optometrists

N

igeria Optometric Association (NOA) has said that 33 per cent of children in Cross River have visual defects.

The state Chairman of the association, Dr Onyebuchi Ndukwe, made the disclosure at this year’s outreach programme tagged “Save the sight of the child’’ on Saturday in Calabar.

Ndukwe said the programme was a continuation of the 2017 intervention titled “My sight, My right’’.

“We are looking at ages 5 to 14, at that age, most children are in school and you know that we cannot separate vision from academics; poor vision can lead to poor academic performance.

“The state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Brian Holding Vision Institute which would last for two years and the Nigeria Optometric Association is part of that agreement,” he said.

Ndukwe however said his association’s major challenge was reaching children in rural areas.

“Most of our members are based in Calabar and you know the distance between one local government and the other in the state.

“We are advocating for the employment of optometrists in the

state civil service who will serve at the local government level to bridge the gap,’’ he said.

An optometrist, Dr Bernardine Ekpeyong, said a current research published by Ekpeyong et al, 2017, showed that refractive errors, conjunctivitis, cataract and glaucoma are some of the major eye defects affecting children in the state.

Ekpeyong revealed that out of the 33 per cent of the children with various eye defects in the state, 11 per cent would need glasses.

She also said that they discovered that 95 per cent of the children in the state had never had eye examination in their lives and that is what they were preaching against.

“We are pushing for physical eye examination for children before school entry because that way, we are sure that any problem would be detected early, early detection is very important for prevention of blindness.

“We target children to prevent amblyopia which becomes a condition when children are not given glasses early enough to correct their sight, thereby making the defect irreversible later in life,” she said.

The expert identified poverty and

ignorance as major problems in the fight as most parents were either too poor or did not see the need to take their children to a hospital when there are complaints.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, noted that the state had a vision to make sure that children did not have visual disabilities that were preventable or could be treated.

According to Asibong, the outreach will help check the major eye defects that children encountered and glasses would be given to those in need of glasses.

She said those whose cases could not be handled during the outreach would be referred to the State Eye Care Programme to be treated free at the College of Health Technology.

“We are collaborating with other ministries and departments, and would work with the existing eye care programme in the state to make sure that every child in Cross River is captured and the intervention is sustained,’’ she said.

The outreach was organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Optometric Association, Calabar branch.

o fewer than 44 fires were recorded in Anambra between December 2017 and April 2018, the State Director of Fire Services, Mr Martin Agbili, said on Wednesdayin Akwa.

Agbili told newsmen fire outbreaks had remained a big challenge in the state.

He identified the major cause of fire in the state as bush burning and careless handling of inflammable substances such as petrol in residential buildings.

The fire service boss explained that accessibility to scenes of fire was also a big problem because of the way houses and markets were constructed.

“In many cases when there is fire outbreak in the markets and residential areas, vehicular movement are often hindered because our people do not observe stipulated code while constructing houses or markets,’’ Agbili said.

He lauded his officials for their prompt response to distress calls and urged residents to always alert his office in the event of fire.

The director also urged members of the public to observe fire safety measures to minimize such disasters.

Agbili indicated that his office intended to partner with the State Ministry of Physical Planning to enforce fire service rules for those erecting buildings.

“We are targeting to ensure that every new building must observe fire safety rules by providing fire alarm and fire hose rail.”

In addition, he said buildings including residential were expected to have smoke detectors, sprinklers as well as create easy access.

Agbili advised landlords to insist that their tenants should purchase fire extinguisher, especially Co2 fire extinguisher.

He urged users of domestic gas in the homes to always open their windows and wait for at least 20 minutes while coming into the house before using it.

The director also urged members of the public to report cases of gas refilling stations located in inappropriate places.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

Ikpeazu sponsors 132 trainees on groundnut production in Onitsha

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ver 132 unemployed persons are currently undergoing three-day training in Onitsha, Anambra, on groundnut production, processing and packaging for selfemployment.

The training was sponsored by Mrs Lynda Ikpeazu representing Onitsha North/South Federal Constituency in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In a remark at the commencement of the training in Onitsha on Wednesday, Ikpeazu said the gesture was aimed at empowering members of her constituency.

Ikpeazu explained that the trainees were mostly members of widowers associations, town unions and members of Yoruba, Hausa and Igala communities residing within the 32 wards of the constituency.

She said the trainees would be provided with cash and equipment to start-off the trade at the end of the training period and urged them to take the programme serious.

The legislator, who was represented by Mr Uche Okiwe, said 120 persons were trained on beans flour production earlier in March in the first batch of the empowerment programme.

She noted that rehabilitation work on some roads and streets in Onitsha were also executed as part of constituency projects to ease vehicular movement in the area.

Intersociety frowns at non-participation of Anambra Catholic churches in protests

By IBE NWACHUKWU

I

nternational Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has expressed concern over alleged non participation of three Dioceses of Catholic Church in Anambra, including Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi in the proposed peaceful procession in protest against killing of Christians in various parts of the country.

They regretted that the three Dioceses could not participate in last Tuesday’s anti-Christian killings’ sacred processions across the country by members of the Laity and the Clergy of the Catholic Church in Nigeria which was intended to send a strong message to the Buhari Government and its grossly lopsided security forces that wanton killings in the name of Islam in

Nigeria leading to killing of over 9,000 Christians and destruction of no fewer than 700 churches since mid-2015 can no longer be tolerated or condoned.

In a press statement issued, Tuesday,, the leader of Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalasi noted that no fewer than 1,260 Christians have been killed and dozens of churches burnt or destroyed in the past six months by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen across Nigeria; all in the name of Islam.

Intersociety further noted that the killings included the recent massacre of 19 Catholic faithful-two Catholic Rev Fathers and 17 others in Mbalom, Benue State. The slain were interred same yesterday during which Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was reported to have shaded crocodile tears.

“The killings and destruction of

Christian sacred places of worship; taken place in the months gone be, specifically took place from beginning of December 2017 to 20th May 2018”.

“The Catholic and other Christians’ national processions are also a strong message to the same central Government that all forms of killings outside the law in Nigeria involving both state actor and non state actor killing of innocent and defenseless citizens irrespective of their faith or tribe must be checkmated and tamed”.

“We at Intersociety gladly welcome and commend the sacred processions and similar recent ones by the leadership of CAN. These sacred processions are in line with our recent calls on Christian leaders to strongly and courageously wake up in defense of endangered Christian faith in Nigeria

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human rights activist, Comrade Vincent Ezekwueme has called on Igbo leaders to restructure themselves and the entire South East region so as to make the nation’s restructuring pattern inevitable.

Ezekwueme who spoke to newsmen, Friday, in Onitsha, shortly after the summit, said Igbo political leaders must face existential reality, adding that they care less about the social, political and economic well-being of the people.

Ezekwueme who is also Anambra state chairman of Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), said: “Unless they live above self and think about the common growth of the people, the future, just like the present will continue to remain bleak.

“Recall when the PDP zoned senate presidency to the Southeast, all Igbo senators wanted to become the senate president and while they were struggling for it, many senate presidents were impeached and within a short while, their chances were overtaken by events”.

He lamented that Ohanaeze Ndigbo did not even invite civil society groups to the summit, describing the development as an oversight.

This is to certify that AMA NGOZI SOPHIA and AMA NGOZI OJI refers to one and the same person now wish to be known and addressed as AMA NGOZI SOPHIA. All Former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

Police, market leaders rescue mentally ill woman from mob action

By IBE NWACHUKWU

Restructure yourselves --Rights activist tells Igbo leaders

By IBE NWACHUKWU

and use all available legal and nonviolent means and measures to force the Buhari Government to stop such butcheries”.

“We therefore call on the three Bishops and their congregations in Anambra State to join the rest of the Nigerian Catholic and other Christian bodies at ensuring cessation of the killings and destruction of churches as well as forcing the Federal Government to go after, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators of heinous crimes against Nigerian Christians and other innocent and defenseless citizens. The CBCN is again commended and called upon not to rest on its oars until the ongoing orgy of anti- Christian violence in the country is completely nipped in the bud”.

• National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, during the official commissioning of the Bishop Fubara Street, Captain Amangala Street and Tourist Beach Road by the former Delta Governor, in Port Harcourt, Rivers capital Chief James Ibori.

Shell spends N202m on projects in Rivers communities S hell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Joint Venture said it spent N202 million on projects in its host communities in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers.

General Manager, External Relations, SPDC, Mr Igo Weli, said this in Omudioga community on Wednesday at inauguration of 18 projects spread across 12 communities in Emohua Local Government.

Weli, represented by Dr Chibuzo Anyim, SPDC’s Coordinator of Community Interface, said the fund was spent in line with its Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) agreement with communities.

According to him, the projects were funded by SPDC and executed by Emuoha Cluster Development Boards in the area.

“Some of the executed projects include; renovation of chapels and examination halls in Omudioga and Obelle communities and renovation of dilapidated town hall in Ibaa community.

“Others are; bursary awards to undergraduate students of Rum-

uekpe community and the provision and reticulation of neighbourhood solar powered water scheme in Elele Alimi community, among others,” he said.

Weli said that SPDC’s operations in its host communities of Niger Delta had thrived since the company first introduced the cluster development boards in 2007.

He said that the communities are now reaping the rewards of their support to SPDC and assured of more projects and programmes for the communities.

“The GMoU development model has proved to be workable, fruitful and beneficial to all parties. So far, we have 37 active GMoU clusters funded by SPSC and its Venture partners.

“Apart from ensuring sustainability in community development initiatives; the model serves to improve interface with communities and promote socio-economic development of our host communities,” Weli said.

He urged the people to take ownership of the projects by pro-

tecting the projects against vandals and thieves.

Also speaking, Shell Community Interface Coordinator, Land East Hub, Mrs Boma Alumina said that Emuoha Cluster Development Board receives N78.4 million annually, and that the fund would culminate to N392 million in five years.

She said the company recently funded its Ukwa West Cluster Development Board (Abia) and Etche 2 Cluster Development Board (Rivers) with N205 million and N176 million respectively.

The Chairman of Emuoha Cluster Development Board, Sam Uzuobor commended the company’s commitment to sustainable development of communities in Emuoha and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of the state.

He listed 12 communities that benefited from the projects and programmes to include; Akpabu, Ebele-Alumini, Egbeda, Ibaa, Isiokpo, Itu, Obelle, Oduoha-Emohua, Omudioga, Rundele, Rumuekpe and Rumuji.

The timely intervention of police officers attached to Nkpor Main market police post within Ogidi Police Division and executive members of the market saved a mentally ill woman from being lynched by a mob over suspicions of child theft.

According to the source, the woman whose husband, Patrick Igboko later identified as Celine Igboko had been surrounded by the crowd when they thought the child she was carrying was stolen from someone else and were about unleashing jungle justice on her, but the intervention of the market executive who smuggled her into the market office saved the situation.

Chairman of the market, Chief Kingsley Obadiegwu reportedly protected her inside his office before the arrival of the District Officer, DO in-charge of the market police post with his men and took the woman to Ogidi Police Division.

The source stated that because of her mental state, she was not providing the market leaders clear information as to whether she was the owner of the six-month old baby boy or not which made the crowd to suspect that she might have stolen the child from someone else. However, it was at Ogidi Division that her husband arrived and explained everything in clear terms to the police.

Obadiegwu told newsmen that the woman’s problem started when she stopped a commercial motorcyclist and told him to convey her to Obosi and when the cyclist asked her exactly where she was going to stop at Obosi, the woman, in her confused state, canged her mind and said she was now going to Nkpo-uno and on a second prompting, told the cyclist that she was going to Umuoji.

The cyclist then began to suspect that she might have stolen the baby with her and raised an alarm which attracted the crowd, moreso, when the child was seen stack naked.

But at the Ogidi Police Division, her husband who is a motor spare parts dealer at Old Motor Spare Parts market, Nkpor, explained that the baby boy was their eighth child, adding that it was after her third child that she became mentally ill.

He further explained that she is still going for her drugs at a psychiatric hospital where she registered since the mental problem started, adding that she went to a Pentecostal church earlier that day to pray and was just coming out from the church premises when she incident occurred.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

FG cares less about human lives – Wike

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ivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that people are being slaughtered daily across Nigeria because the Federal Government does not care about the protection of lives and property.

In a reaction, Wednesday, to a statement credited to the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed over the governor’s revelation that there was a plot by the Federal Government to assassinate him in a crowd, Governor Wike said it is unfortunate that the Federal Government will trivialize an issue of this sensitive nature.

Governor Wike said because the Federal Government has relegated the sanctity of human lives, that is why they give conflicting reasons for the security challenges that have led to wanton killings in different parts of the country.

“They don’t care about the issue of the protection of lives and property.

That is why people are killed in their numbers every day. But I will not be slaughtered easily. They will not be succeed in their plot”, Governor Wike said.

The governor expressed shock that rather than say that this weighty intelligence report will be duly investigated, the Minister of Information is struggling to trivialize the matter.

He said that there are laid down constitutional processes of handling weighty issues of this nature, pointing out that it is unfortunate that the Federal Government has deliberately refused to follow the constitutional path.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor has declared that the desperation of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-Federal Government to manipulate the 2019 General Election will only lead to crisis.

Governor Wike said that no amount of brute force or intimidation will stop the Rivers people from defending their votes in 2019.

Speaking during a Media Chat on Tuesday at the Government House, Port Harcourt, Governor Wike said: “They want to manipulate the electoral process in Rivers State in 2019.

They are simply laying foundation for violence and crisis.

“They have no projects on ground

in Rivers State upon which they can campaign on. Therefore, their only option is to attempt to rig.

“Our campaign is the commissioning of projects. All we are doing is to distribute projects. We have provided effective leadership to the state and the people are happy “.

The governor noted that the Police has arranged for Assistant Commissioner of Police, Akin Fakorede to be their point-man in the manipulation of Rivers polls.

“Fakorede is an enemy of democracy. I brought this matter to the public for the people to be vigilant.

Fakorede is sabotaging the security architecture of Rivers State”, he said.

He said the APC Federal Government ought to have realised that attempting to rig is an exercise in futility, in view of the few seats they won during the rerun.

Commenting on the threat to his life, Governor Wike said that the threat is real because of credible intelligence available to the Rivers State Government.

He said that the denials by the officials of the Federal Government is

expected.

On the political conflict in Rivers State, Governor Wike said that he has nothing personal against the Former Rivers State Governor, aside the need to protect the interest of the state.

He decried the situation where the Former Rivers State Governor leads a campaign to destroy and de-market Rivers State.

Governor Wike charged journalists to take action to promote the state, because as people who reside in the state, they are major stakeholders.

Governor Wike said that his greatest achievement has been to restoration of security in the state. He noted that security is also his greatest challenge.

The governor said that he will not respond to insults heaped on him by the defeated 2015 Rivers State Governorship Candidate for the APC, because they are borne out of frustration.

He, however, offered to provide official transport to convey the defeated 2015 Rivers State APC Governorship Candidate to Opobo on the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Unity

Democracy Day: We have a lot to celebrate – Okowa

Edo Assembly summons NDDC commissioner over abandoned road projects

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elta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has said the people of the state have a lot to celebrate as the country commemorates Democracy Day, Tuesday.

The Governor who spoke with enthusiasm, Tuesday, shortly after inspecting some of the landmark projects executed by his administration, told Journalists that three years after, Deltans have a lot to celebrate and thank God for.

“From 9 am on Tuesday, May 29, we will gather at the Event Centre to celebrate peace, to thank God for the peace and progress we have made as a state, the programme will be beamed live for Deltans who may not be able to join us at the Event Centre to participate in giving praise, dance and dance to the glory of God for His goodness.

“We have just inspected the Stephen Keshi Stadium, the Asaba Airport and the storm drainage projects and we are happy with the level of progress made in the execution of the projects, we have adopted regular monitoring of the projects to ensure that the jobs are done to specification and delivered on time,” the governor said.

The Governor who was accompanied by all the members of the State Executive Council as the inspection commenced immediately after their meeting, disclosed that the contractors have been ordered to work day and night to ensure that they deliver the projects before scheduled dates.

He noted that the runway of the Asaba International Airport will be completed before May 29, observing that the runway was very critical for the effective functioning of the airport.

I formerly known as ALEGU PEACE IFEOMA now wish to be known as NWORIE PEACE IFEOMA. All former documents still remain valid. Banks and General Public take note.

Road at the end of the year.

The governor said that the APC has politicised the issue of soot challenge in the state, creating the atmosphere where security agencies destroy illegal refineries crudely.

He noted that despite the actions of the APC Federal Government, the administration is working with Agip, Shell and Total to resolve the soot challenge.

He added that the Rivers State Government has briefed a prominent environmental lawyer, Lucius Nwosu to drag the APC Federal Government on the soot.

On women empowerment, Governor Wike he is empowering women with leadership positions, so that they can contribute to the development of the state. He said that all the PDP Deputy Chairmanship Candidates for the Local Government Elections are women, while there are 150 women councillorship candidates.

He added N500million has been set aside by the State Government for the women involved in small scale businesses.

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• Delta State Governor Sen Ifeanyi Okowa accompanied by members of the State Executive Council, including the Deputy Barr Kingsley Otuaro, inspecting the Ongoing Completion of Asaba International Airport Runway and Taxiways.

You will account for lives lost – A’Ibom Govt tells JOHESU

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kwa Ibom Government has warned Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) workers that they would give account of any life lost during the period of their strike.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Dominic Ukpong, issued the warning while fielding questions from newsmen in Uyo on Thursday.

Ukpong said health workers in the state had no genuine reason to go on strike as the state government had paid all expected salaries and allowances due to them.

He directed all matrons, chief nursing officers, senior nurses and all heads of departments to take charge of patients in the hospitals across the state to avoid further loss

of lives to the strike.

The commissioner advised that the health workers should not always go on strike for their own benefits alone but should also think of improved infrastructure in the health sector.

“Every time health workers go on strike it takes a lot of lives. Matrons, chief nursing officers, senior nurses, heads of laboratories and other heads of departments do not go on strike.

“If you go on strike and life is lost you will be held liable. There must be people in the hospital to save lives of people,” Ukpong said.

He disclosed that the state government had acquired five ambulance buses as part of measures put

in place to take care of emergency cases in the state.

The commissioner urged residents of the state people to avail themselves of the ambulance service in case of emergency situations.

He, however, said that while the ambulance services could be access free, the treatment when taken to hospital would not be free.

On Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, the commissioner advised health workers to have high degree suspicion index on every patient especially those outside the country to avoid falling victims.

Ukpong appealed to citizens to take their personal hygiene very serious, wash their hands regularly and avoid eating bush meat for now.

do House of Assembly has summoned Mr Saturday Uwuelekhue, the Commissioner representing the state in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board over abandoned road projects in the state.

The Speaker, Kabiru Adjoto, directed the commissioner to appear before the house on May 28 with a list of all ongoing projects in the state.

Adjoto said the Uwuelekhue should appear with the details of the 2018 budget regarding projects in Edo. Majority Leader, Roland Asoro (APC-Orhionmwon South), had earlier moved the motion and was seconded by the Deputy Speaker, Victor Edoror (APC-Esan Central).

Asoro said there was need for the NDDC to rehabilitate the BeninAbraka road and the commissioner should appear before the house to explain issues on this.

He said the Benin-Abraka road leading to some communities in Orhionmwon area of the state had gone bad, making it impossible for farmers in the area to move their produce to the city.

“The aim of the commission is to develop the Niger-Delta region and rehabilitate the roads. A lot of the road projects embarked upon by the NDDC has all been abandoned.

For the past four years, the road has been in bad shape. The road also connects Edo and Delta states,” he said.

Asoro urged the house to prevail on the NDDC to complete the road project and all ongoing projects in the state.

The motion was unanimously adopted.

Earlier, the house received a letter from Gov. Godwin Obaseki, requesting it to confirm a commissioner nominee, Mrs Omowa Oni-Okpaku.

The speaker subsequently directed the letter to the House Committee on Rules, Business and Government House to slate it for consideration on a later date.

9

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

POLITICS

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native of Ezinihite in Mbaise in Imo State, Chinedu Nwulu is one of the few legislators from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who won election in Lagos State. According to him, the mantra today in Imo state is ‘Change’. He pointed out that the best thing people of the state would do for themselves is to send Governor Rochas Okorocha and his All Progressives Congress parking from the Government House, as well as from the local government areas of the State.

“The people of Imo State are in tears over what befell them in the last seven days in the hands of Governor Rochas Okorocha and the APC. People from other states are now telling us ‘sorry’. It is unfortunate because ours is double dilemma; the State suffers from both maladministration and selfishness. The latter is responsible for the current fight among the gladiators in that party in the state. While this fight lasts, and the distraction deepens for the drowning governor, the economy of our state is degenerating. Imo people must rise and say, ‘enough is enough’ and rescue the state from them,” he stated Nwulu likened what is going on in Imo state among the gladiators of the APC to ‘The scramble for and partition of Africa,’ a term used by history pundits to describe the sudden rush, and eventual success, of the European nations to Africa for the intension of acquiring colonies. “The way the European nations competed and struggled to acquire various areas of Africa for their selfish gains is the same way governance in Imo state is going currently,” he said.

“But for some reason, God is using their fight to weaken them every day, and in the end it shall be freedom for our people.

Today in Imo state, it is not about who is ready to serve the people; it is about who would benefit what. It is about who is getting what. It is about who should grab, or who is grabbing more. The APC government in Imo state is not serving the people,” he said While calling on the youths in the state to lead the way in rescuing the state from the claws of the APC, Nwulu described the youths as ‘leaders of today, not tomorrow, stressing that Imo state needs selfless and vibrant young persons with impeccable characters and the political experience to move the state forward. “Our youths suffer from two things: fear and lack of money. But I can tell you it takes only courage and commitment to fight your way through in politics. Even if you don’t have the funds, as long as you are always around, committed, dependable and ready to serve, stakeholders may find you trustworthy and invest in you by casting their lot on you,” he said The lawmaker said that the voters in Imo State who are mostly youths should be able to openly say ‘enough is enough,’ having heard more than enough of the old brigade in governance. The youths, he said, should so openly express this by ensuring that, across the parties, the old politicians are discarded.

“We need vibrant, tested and trusted youth capable of effectively navigating the ship of governance in the State. I believe that I am eminently qualified, and I so present myself to truly rescue the State,” he stressed.

He dismissed as baseless the assertion that, coming from Lagos where he represents the Oshodi/Isolo II Federal Constituency, he is not on ground in the politics of Imo state. He explained that one must not get one’s political and administrative experience from one’s state of origin to be able to manage the affairs of the State.

“It does not happen that way. I am what you call son of the soil. I was born in the state some 38 years ago. I did my primary, secondary and university education in various parts of Igboland. I only migrated to Lagos and elsewhere in search of the

‘I disagree with Buhari; 2019: INEC and underage Nigerian youths aren’t lazy’ voting challenge Pg 10

Pg 12

‘The youths should be ready to take 2019’ - Nwulu The member representing Oshodi/Isolo II Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon Tony Chinedu Nwulu, has indicated interest in the gubernatorial seat at Douglass House, Owerri, Imo State. He has also called on youths from the State to take the bull by the horn by participating actively in politics come 2019. He spoke with GABRIEL EJIOFOR in Abuja.

•Nwulu

“The people of Imo State are in tears over what befell them in the last seven days in the hands of Governor Rochas Okorocha and the APC. People from other states are now telling us ‘sorry’. It is unfortunate because ours is double dilemma; the State suffers from both maladministration and selfishness.”

Golden Fleece,” he said.

While aspiring to take leadership positions, he urged the youths to equip themselves educationally and otherwise, and also garner political experience by participation in political activities in their various wards and local government areas. On the basis of age, education, political participation and political experience, Nwulu said he scores enough to be the governor of Imo state.

“I was appointed as Chairman, PDP Youth Restructuring Committee where I was saddled with the task of formulating strategies for the mobilisation of the PDP youth wing nationwide. The committee was inaugurated by Uche Secondus, then

in his capacity as acting National Chairman of the PDP. I did not spring from nowhere.

I did not wait to be resident in Imo State to be actively involved in politics. I was actively involved in politics in my Ward, in my local government, Lagos State and the national level. It is time to bring the experience home because the youths in the state are yearning for me,” he said According the lawmaker, if people, majority of who are considered not to be his kin, in another state, can find him politically experienced and qualified to represent them, why not his kin in Imo State? Hon Nwulu pointed out that his political foray in Lagos is a big advantage and benefit for the people of Imo State. “I have heard

same people say that having won elections in Lagos state, I have worn the shoes of legendary Zik of Africa. While I feel humbled by such sentiment, I should say that the opportunity shows that I have been tested and found suitable, and yet I have not failed my constituency, so I should come home and salvage the State,” he said He also said his journey in the National Assembly has opened and enriched his worldview in politics, and puts him in the best position to become governor of Imo state. He pointed at instances where governors won their elections, and are doing well as governors. “From where did Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Seriake Dickson, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and others move to become governors? On the other hand, proposing or supporting a bill is not an achievement, because that is what you are primarily elected to do. But I should be able to mention a particular Bill that received global reckoning. I initiated the ‘Not Too Young To Run Bill’ on the floor of the Green Chambers, which received unprecedented support from millions of Nigerian youths.

“The Bill encourages active participation of youths in governance at all levels.

Today, more than 30 State Houses of Assembly in Nigeria have adopted the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ Initiative. The Bill was laid at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), ECOWAS Parliament and the African Union (AU), where it drew robust debate.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

INTERVIEW What is your foundation all about and why did you decide to establish a foundation that focuses on the youth?

Fountains of Faith is a Christian nongovernment, non-profit making organization established with the mission of reaching the youth, particularly primary, secondary and tertiary school students with the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. We aim to achieve this through Bible conferences, special lecture and quiz programmes, excursions etc, wherein the youths are inspired and motivated towards knowing, loving and serving God, and the godly ways of achieving their life ambitions.

We also aim at providing the forum for healthy interaction and friendship among youths of diverse ethnic and cultural divides and, importantly, seek to raise the awareness of the youths to their economic, political and social rights, and their roles and responsibility in nation-building.

Besides, the Foundation also encourages individuals and corporate organizations who have significantly contributed towards the eradication of poverty, ignorance and unemployment among the youths. We not only visit and offer special prayers for such organizations, but also present them with special gifts and award certificates in appreciation of their noble deeds.

Our activities are mainly focused on the youths because the youths are the joy, hope and future of every society.

If we succeed in having youths that are born in Christ, and are truly regenerated in mind and in spirit and are encouraged to embrace the path of righteousness, and ideals, which are noble and excellent, then we would never anticipate a future where kidnappers, armed robbers, ritualists, prostitutes, cultists, fraudulent characters, etc; terrorize and rampage the land. And we shall not have a society where people seek victory, greatness, fame, wealth, position and power without minding if they have to sleep with a mad woman, shed innocent blood, commit adultery and fornication, loot and embezzle public funds, slaughter and bury live human beings at the altar of churches by criminals in the garb of pastors or men of God. How do you see the Nigerian youth of today, and how do you assess his/her situation especially in this time of economic recession?

I totally disagree with President Buhari who said recently in London that Nigerian youths are lazy. On the contrary, the Nigerian youth has over time proven to be vibrant, full of enterprise, and vigorously governed by an insatiable appetite and desire for excellence, and conquest in whatever endeavour he/she engages in.

This could be seen in the success and achievements recorded by Nigerian youths in the music, arts and other creative industry, sports, education, science and technology, among others.

And in the context of the economic recession facing the country, it would be trite to say that the recession has had far reaching negative socio-economic and political implications on the youths. This is because everything basically revolves around the economy, and no matter how beautiful your dreams and constructive your proposals may be, if the needed funds are not available, then one cannot go far in achieving his or her goals.

It needs not be over-emphasized that recession has thoroughly affected the attitudes, ambitions and attainment levels of the youths, as most cannot afford their desired educational needs, while those who are self-employed have seen their businesses collapse due to the excruciating economic situation.

What do you think are the major challenges facing the Nigerian youth today?

How does your foundation hope to solve or address these problems or challenges?

‘I disagree with Buhari; Nigerian youths aren’t lazy’

In this interview with IRETO TEMOFEH, Denwosu Chibuike, founder/president of Fountains of Faith Youth Foundation and a Deputy Director in the Abia State Civil Service speaks on Nigerian youths and other matters.

The problem and challenges facing the Nigerian youth are hydra-headed, fundamental and octopus in nature.

Firstly, you have a country so blessed with abundant mineral and natural resources, capable of making it one of the most developed and prosperous nations of the world. But for lack of visionary and focused statesmen endued with exceptional leadership abilities, we are still struggling to identify, harness and manage to optimum these vast mineral, material and human resources accruable to the nation 58 years after independence. This has made Nigerian youths to be confronted with unending poverty, chronic unemployment, and a future that is blurred and laced with uncertainty.

Secondly, the youths are confronted with a country lacking in well-organized systems, or structures to aid in achieving their life ambitions. I still insist that the Nigerian youth are competent and blessed with skills and great talents, and can always hold their own anywhere anytime. Unfortunately, the system does not encourage growth and development, making the youth stagnate and end up in obscurity.

To drive home my point, if sports stars like Kanu Nwankwo, Finidi George, Jay Jay Okocha, Anthony Joshua, Victor Moses etc, had not had the fortune of travelling overseas, I doubt if they would have been where they are today. And then you look at it in the context of their mates, who probably were even more skilful and talented, but because they never had the privilege of traveling overseas, their talents were never harnessed to the optimum, and they probably ended up wretched and unknown.

Now, assuming you are a youth who want to go into agriculture, or desire to be self-employed, where are the structures that will enable you effortlessly acquire land and other necessary inputs, which will enable you achieve your Eldorado in the field? There is no easy access to funds, no steady and reliable power supply, flawed and decayed educational system, no good roads, no security, no stability in government policies. And above all, government officials who preside over agencies set up to intervene

and mitigate over the prevailing circumstances are riddled with unbridled corruption.

And perhaps the greatest challenge facing the youths today is the unwillingness of the older generation to retire and quit the scene to enable the youths put into use the knowledge, skill and expertise they have acquired.

I will not also fail to bring to focus the use and dump attitude of politicians towards the youths. During elections, politicians recruit, arm and use the unemployed and vulnerable youths as political thugs, but after elections these youths are dumped and discarded like waste only fit for disposal bins. And with no gainful employment, they resort to criminal tendencies, and what happens next?

The same politician who armed

them, but who is now in authority after the election, will make laws for the arrest, imprisonment or total elimination of the unfortunate youths, and myriads of other challenges facing the youths.

In helping to address these challenges, we hold lecture/seminar programmes in which the youths are encouraged, inspired and motivated to build confidence in themselves and to realize that their dreams and ambitions in life are realizable with the right focus, commitment and an unshakeable faith in God. We ensure that the youths are sufficiently enlightened and sensitized to their political, economic and social privileges and obligations in nation-building, while strongly advocating good governance by our elected officials.

We also assist gifted but less privileged youths realize their potentialities in their given fields of human endeavour, through scholarship schemes, sponsorship of skill acquisition courses and programmes, among others.

We actualize these goals by enlisting the support and sponsorship of government, philanthropists and faith-based humanitarian organizations within and outside the country.

How has the journey been so far with your foundation, and what are the major challenges you are facing in your mission of helping to secure a future for the Nigerian youth?

Our foundation was registered in January 2013, and

Cont’d on page 12

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

POLITICS

2019: INEC and underage voting challenge

By CHIMA CHRISTIAN and OSELOKA H. OBAZE

T

he beauty of democracy and indeed its attractiveness to many is the broad participation as well as the guarantee of periodic, genuine and credible elections. Nineteen years after Nigeria returned to participatory democracy, it has made discernible progress, including a seamless handover in 2015. Yet, Nigeria’s democracy is fraught with some teething problems. Underage voting has become a national challenge and sore point.

As the election year approaches, it is natural for people to recall words attributed to former Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, as recalled by his former secretary; “I consider it completely unimportant who… will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how.”1 Going by Nigeria’s immediate-past history, such worries are not completely out of place. Not a few believe it is imperative to look critically at those who will count the votes during the 2019 general elections and the methodology they will use. Certainly, there will be challenges.

Already, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the body saddled with the responsibility is under intense criticism for what transpired at the Kano State local government area elections. The Nation, in a recent editorial piece could not be have been more critical of what happened in Kano State.

Trenchantly, the paper observed that, “A very sad reminder of this was the charade of an election recently conducted into the local government councils of Kano State.

In an age when technology has made it difficult to hide anything, photographs of children who were illegally accredited to vote soon filled the cyber space. Then, came the denials – from the state government, the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KNSIEC), the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and somewhat the INEC. No one wanted to accept that the constitution and the Electoral Act had been breached.”2 That broad brush appraisal echoes the views of most Nigerians. Some took to social media to vent their frustrations, especially concerning INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections in 2019. INEC’s Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, admitted that officials, often out of fear for their lives and threats by community members, do register underaged voters. This confirmed the suspicion of many and opened a new vista of public condemnation.

In a move to save face and apparently

restore the confidence of the national electorate, INEC set up a committee to investigate the allegations of underage voting that trailed the Kano State Local Government Area elections. The committee sat and presented their report expeditiously.

In the committee’s report, according to an op-ed piece by the INEC’s Chiarman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC swiftly but deftly walked away from issue of being forced to register minors, and distanced itself from the “charade” in Kano. Furthermore, INEC doubled down on its earlier stance that the only role it played was to provide the KNSIEC with the Kano State Register of Voters for the election.

INEC also tried to disassociate the alleged irregularity from where most of the accusing fingers are pointed - at the National Register of Voters. In denying any nexus between the alleged underaged voting and its register, INEC contended that its register “was substantially not used to accredit voters before voting,”3 and thus, “it is logical to conclude that if underaged voting occurred in the election, it was not due to any presence of underaged registrants on the Register of Voters.”4 INEC went on to state that “The few images and video clips from Kano show no accreditation of voters or any relationship with the Register of Voters.”5 That said, INEC sought to reassure Nigerians that the National Register of Voters, the sole determinant of who gets to vote and who

doesn’t during the 2019 general elections is “dependable.”6 A New Wave of Scrutiny The veracity of INEC’s contention remains in dispute. Indeed INEC and its operations face new wave of scrutiny. Many see INEC Committee’s self-absolving report as “a proverbial child that passes the exam it sets for itself.” The widespread allegations that dead people signed petitions for Sen. Dino Melaye’s recall, a matter also handled by INEC, has not helped INEC’s image . Indeed it is now compelling for INEC to update the National Register of Voters urgently. The body should work with National Identity Management Commission and other relevant government agencies with national demographic data base to redact names of dead and underaged voters and in so doing, invalidate those PVCs that may be used in ways that could undermine the credibility of every forthcoming state or the national election.

The issue of having a sufficiently credible National Register of Voters is too important a matter to be entrusted solely with the commission’s self-auditing mechanism. Political parties, civil society groups and other stakeholders should show more leadership in this regard. Beyond taking up the media space to call out INEC in the event of real or perceived shortcomings, relevant stakeholders should take the pain to thoroughly scrutinize the National Register of Voters. And in the event

of discovering any impropriety, including underage voters, file their fact-backed complaints appropriately and pursue necessary redress rigorously.

Understandably, in its self defense, INEC has passed the buck to various political stakeholders. According to INEC, “… we have consistently given political parties copies of the register for each year and ahead of general elections as well as Governorship off-season elections. Only recently…, we gave each of the 68 political parties a copy of the register containing names of the 3.9 million new voters registered in 2017. We urged them to use the register not only to reach out to voters, but also to check whether there are ineligible persons on the list and draw the attention of the Commission to them. Unfortunately, since this Commission was inaugurated in 2015, there has not been a single report from any political party of ineligible voters on the Register.”7 Despite INEC’s attempt at self exculpating, it’s clarion call to action has merit. Given what is at stake, much will certainly be achieved if political parties, especially the leading opposition parties, civil society organizations, the media, institute their own independent scrutiny of the rather voluminous National Register of Voters, with a view of highlighting the weaknesses to the electoral umpire, and also making theRegister really dependable.

It noteworthy that as required by law, INEC confirmed that it displays regularly the provisional register soon after each Continuous Voter Registration for periods usually lasting between 5 and 14 days, for claims and objections. Nigerian citizens, who inevitably bear the greatest brunt of flawed elections, should sustain the tempo by maximizing the opportunity of this display to alert INEC and indeed the whole world about “ineligible registrants, including underaged persons and aliens.”8 Two South-West states of Ekiti and Osun are scheduled to hold Governorship elections before the 2019 general elections.

Both states present sufficient basis and the litmus to test the preparedness of INEC. The only limitation being that these two states, unlike their counterparts in the north, do not particularly have a history of underage voting, resulting from “padding” the voters register.

Available evidence and data reveals an interesting pattern in the geographical spread of underaged voters in Nigeria. Recent data say Nigeria currently has 10.5million out-of-school children. The largest swathe of that population are domiciled in the northern part of the country. InciCont’d on page 12

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

POLITICS

‘I disagree with Buhari; Nigerian youths aren’t lazy’ Cont’d from page 10 since then has been making concerted efforts towards achieving all our targeted objectives. A lot of students in both secondary and tertiary institutions have benefited from our scholarship schemes, while some indigent youths were sponsored to acquire basic skills in areas like computer repairs, fashion & designing, bead-making, catering etc.

Besides, through our ‘’Gospel-4-All’’ Outreach over 2000 youths have been reached with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, with over 1500 Beams King James Bibles freely distributed to encourage newly born- again believers grow in their new found faith in Christ.

Furthermore, for three seasons now our foundation has been hosting the ‘’OKEZIE IKPEAZU:THE ABIA TOWER OF HOPE LECTURE & QUIZ COMPETITION’’ among Secondary and Tertiary students within and around Abia State, with the theme, “INSPIRING THE ABIA CHILD TO BELIEVE THAT IT CAN BE DONE.” Through this programme participating schools and students not only receive cash prizes, books, school bags, and other writing materials, but are also encouraged to learn and benefit from the ideals, philosophy and leadership qualities of Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia State.

Our challenges, which mainly bother on funds are enormous. Our foundation is unlike others where some rich and wealthy individuals or families like Bill Gates, Dangote, the Ford Family etc, set aside a fraction of their wealth for humanitarian concerns, but where out of our poverty and faith in Christ we strive to positively impact our society.

We do not believe that one must wait to become stupendously wealthy before touching lives. This has informed our resolve to fund the activities of the foundation with our meager salaries as staff of the Local Government Service. There is no doubt that the limited and periodic receipt of our salaries is greatly affecting our targeted programmes, and in that direction we are appealing to public-spirited individuals and corporate establishments to come to our aid, by supporting/sponsoring some or all of our programmes.

We are grateful to certain individuals who have identified with us, through their encouraging and hope- lifting donations to

the Foundation, like Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia State.

What programmes does your foundation have for the youth this year?

We have a lot of interesting programmes and special excursion visits lined up for the benefit of the youths. These include: i. The Bible for all Believers programme whereby we shall freely distribute the King James Bible to encourage the youths who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ to grow in faith. ii. The third edition of OKEZIE IKPEAZU: THE ABIA TOWER OF HOPE LECTURE & QUIZ COMPETITION, whereby students are encouraged to learn from the life, faith and Victory of Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia State.

Hopefully, the guest speaker of this year’s programme shall be Chief John Okiyi Kalu, the Abia State Commissioner for Information and strategy, while the Abia State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu is expected to be the special guest of honour. iii. HAVE YOU PRAYED FOR GOVERNOR OKEZIE IKPEAZU TODAY? A special prayer & fasting programme in which the youths, as well as workers and traders across the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia State shall be mobilized to offer special prayers for the State governor and the peace of the nation. iv. Jesus is the Answer Youth Conference & Bible Quiz Competition’’ with theme, ‘’Christ, Scholarship & a prosperous future for the youths’’. This is a conference in which the youths shall be encouraged to develop passion for Christ and the Word of God. Cash prizes, Christian books and other material gifts shall be presented to participants, among others.

the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Such basic necessities like security of lives and property, good roads, adequate and uninterrupted power supply, qualitative education, prompt payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities of workers should not be seen as a favour done to the populace, but something that is incumbent upon, or the whole essence of government.

The government should embark upon social security measures like free education for the youths, free medical services to all primary, secondary and tertiary school students, and payment of allowances to all unemployed youths, while creating an enabling environment for youths inclined to self-employment through unhindered access to soft and medium-term facilities.

Furthermore, the federal government should take bold and cou-

rageous measures to equitably re-distribute the nation’s wealth and resources. It simply amounts to man’s inhumanity to man for a Senator or other political office holders, who probably did not see beyond the walls of a secondary school, to earn well over 13 million naira in a month, while other categories of public servants like Directors, Permanent Secretaries, Engineers, Judges, police, the military, Medical Doctors, Teachers and Lecturers etc, whose job and services are very critical to the survival, growth and development of the nation earn peanuts.

The government should therefore cut their millions, use it to build industries, develop basic infrastructures, and enhance the living standards of public servants, because they are also critical stakeholders in the affairs of the nation.

The government should also scrap programmes like the feeding of school children and N-power, where token sums of money are given out in the name of alleviating poverty. Those programmes only end up enriching few individuals, and at the end will never see poverty eliminated or alleviated in any manner. The government should rather aggregate the money and establish industries that will provide concrete and durable employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed graduates.

And rather than feeding school children, the government should ensure that workers and pensioners are paid as at when due, as it is the responsibility of every household to cater for its children. No parent bears children with the expectation that government would feed them for him or her. The government should rather focus on measures that would make life easy and conducive for parents and families to care for their members.

What do you think government should do to make life better and easier for the youth? And how can government assist your organization to help the youth find meaning or purpose in life?

First of all, we strongly advocate for governments at all the levels in the country to be responsive to their primary obligation and responsibilities, as enshrined in

2019: INEC and underage voting challenge Cont’d from page 11 dentally, the same part of the country has the highest occurrence of underage voters. That these children who could not be compelled to enroll and stay in school, could be found and persuaded to obtain voter’s card illegally and eventually mobilized to exercise “a franchise that does not belong to them legally” during elections, speaks volume of the real interests of the national elites and political class.

Discomfortingly, the issue of underaged voting represents only a fraction of irregularities witnessed during recent elections.

During the 2017 governorship elections in Anambra State, there were allegations of grotesque manipulations of the card reader machine and a possible compromise of the ICT unit of INEC. Similarly, evidence

exist that the votes of those who were manually accredited, were not reflected in the final results announced after balloting. Efforts should be made to investigate those allegations and see that such exploitations, if they indeed happened, will not reoccur in 2019.

Conclusion INEC should strive to live up to its statutory mandate – an independent arbiter.

It should not allow both external pressure, vested interest and internal compromise to undermine the forthcoming general elections. In doing so, INEC ought to remember that the 2019 general elections could have broad national security implications. The country hangs on the balance and could be tipped over by the credibility or otherwise of the 2019 general elections. Great circumspection is called

for.

Nigeria can ill-afford to have an election that is not credible and sufficiently so, not with the increasing calls for national restructuring, broad feeling of marginalization, high youth unemployment, spiraling restiveness, ascendancy of armed groups, the threat posed by herdsmen killings and the anger generated by the government’s lackluster handling of the crisis, and new alarming level of ethno-religious divisions.

Whereas post-election violence is hardly a new phenomenon in the country, most violent incidences “often tend to be localised, short-lived and restricted to polling centres and communities.”9 Human Rights Watch reported that more than 800 people were killed in three days of rioting in 12 northern states following the April 2011 presidential elections. Experts

think the country is once again at the cusp of a major national crisis and that something in the similitude of what obtained in 2011 could trigger a major revolution.

Thankfully, the major political parties, barring a belated volte-face, are looking to nominate their presidential candidates from the Northern parts of the country.

That reduces the north-south divide. But experts continue to warn that the level of anger and frustration in the land is such that the nation need not experiment with policies that will become tripwires as wheel as engage in unnecessary brinksmanship ahead of 2019. Were underaged voters to be seen as the swing bloc on which any candidate is elected, it would be a matter of Nigeria, and more specifically INEC failing to make a stitch in time to save nine.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS Extra Orumba North/ South 2019: Ezenwankwo gets traders’ nod

By Theo Rays, Onitsha

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he aspiration of Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo for the Federal House of Representatives ticket to represent Orumba North and South Federal Constituency next year got a huge boost last week when the entire traders operating under the umbrella of Amalgamated Market Traders Association of Anambra State (AMATAS) endorsed him for the National Assembly race.

Ezenwankwo who is aspiring for the position under the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is also the President General of AMATAS, President General of Southeast Amalgamated Market Traders Association (SEMATA) and the Acting President of Nigeria Traders Association (NTA) The traders at a ceremony held inside the AMATAS headquarters in Onitsha issued a 12 point Communique upon which they listed their reasons for the endorsement.

According to the Secretary General of AMATAS Chief Chuma Eruchalu who read the Communiqué reasons for the endorsement were centered on Ezenwankwo’s achievements as the President General of AMATAS. Eruchalu said that Ezenwankwo among other things ensured peace and unity among the traders.in the entire markets in Anambra, strengthened good relationship between government and traders, brought democracy in the markets, built ultra-modern headquarters for AMATAS, floated Mass transit scheme known as AMATAS shuttle and mobilised traders into APGA to.boost the popularity of the party in Anambra State to mention but a few.

Giving more reasons for the endorsement, the Vice President of AMATAS Chief Gozie Akudolu observed that traders who constitute the largest number of electorates in Anambra are being marginalized in the political affairs of the State noting that they decided to support Ezenwankwo’s aspiration consequent upon the marginalisation they have suffered over the years.

Chief Akudolu said “When it comes to voting period, traders’ votes are the targets of politicians but when it comes to sharing of positions in the party,, giving appointments and awarding contracts they forget traders completely, this time one of us has join the political race to the National Assembly so we are fully behind him and by the Special Grace of God we are going to succeed hence we have the votes’ The Chairman of Plastic Market Iyiowa Odekpe Hon Obinna Okorie who doubles as the President of AMATAS Ogbaru Zone moved a motion for adoption of Ezenwankwo as traders’ choice while the GBO Market Hon Arinze Okoye seconded him after which all those in attendance said hi to cement the endorsement.

In his response Ezenwankwo said he is aspiring under APGA because of the quality works being done by national leaser and Board of Trustee BoT Chairman of the APGA Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra and National Chairman of the party Chief Victor Oye in moving the party forward noting that his victory would enhance the popularity of party.

Youth Corp doctor donates clinic, sick bays, desks to schools in A/Ibom INI BILLIE, Uyo

N

ational Youth Service Corps (NYSC) medical doctor, Mrs Esther Akpan has donated desks, clinic and sick bays to four schools in Akwa Ibom State as part of her personal community development service projects.

Akpan with NYSC registration number NYSC/AK/17A/3118 said she was motivated to make the donation on the realisation that health posts were absent in many schools in Uruan local government area, and some children sat on the floor to receive classes.

Speaking during the commissioning ceremony of the school clinic in Adadia secondary school, sickbays in Methodist and Adiaha Obong secondary school and 100 desks in Government school, Uruan local government area, Akpan explained that her services were borne out of her indebtedness to humanity.

She stated that all throughout her

life, she has received help from people who did not expect anything in return as such, she decided to contribute her own quota to humanity using the service year as a pivot.

“I am constantly under pressure to serve humanity because without which i will not be where i am today.

Therefore, in this community development service program by the NYSC, i am only trying to give back to the society a part of what was given to me from the society. This is my primary and most fundamental reason for the projects.

“Apart from initiating the donation of 100 school desks, and constructing this school clinic, i have also carried out free de-worming and supplementation for the pupils of government school, Ibiaku Issiet, i have set up sick bay in two other secondary schools, Adiaha Obong secondary school, Ekpene Ukim and Methodist secondary school, Ibiaku Issiet.

“I conducted free medical treat-

ment for adults and children here in Adadia, a program where over 230 adults and 80 children, according to the registration records, were examined, tested and given drugs for free, i donated drugs to the schools that i have set up sick bay and clinic, because i know that the sick bay or Clinic cannot function without drugs. I realised the need of a toilet for the clinic in the cause of construction and decided to construct a soak away and septic tank, thereby giving the school clinic a usable convenience.”

The graduate of Zaporozhye State Medical University, Ukraine and medical corps member serving in the Nigerian Medical Association Clinic, Idu Uruan, said she discovered during her Group CDS to a community secondary commercial school that the school lacked a first aid box and students who suddenly fell ill were asked to be taken home.

While commending the efforts of Akpan, the State Co-ordinator

of the NYSC, Mr JuliusAmusan said the corps was proud of the achievement of Dr Akpan, noting that the commissioning of the projects coincided with the 45th anniversary of the NYSC. He commended the sponsors of the projects, the village head and council Chairman of Uruan, Mr. Henry Udofia and the Nigerian Medical Association for supporting Esther, the initiator and executor of the projects, and called on the other corps member and students to emulate her example.

Presenting a plague and certificate of excellence to Dr Akpan, the village head of Government School, Ibiaku Issiet, where 100 desks were donated, Chief William Etim said, “We have suffered a lot and written to the government to provide seats for our children without success.

Through her, our children now have seats with which to seat and learn, we appreciate her efforts and pray God to bless her”.

Nigeria sliding into anarchy – Wike

• Gov. of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, flanked on the immediate right by the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev Dr. CVC Onaga; on his immediate right by the Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Onah, and joined by other principal officers in Enugu State government; heads of security agencies in the state, as well as National and state legislators after a special thanksgiving Mass at Holy Ghost Cathedral, to mark the governor’s third anniversary and Nigeria’s 19th year of uninterrupted democracy.

Buhari’s anti-corruption war faulty – Umahi

By CHINEDU NWAFOR

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overnor of Ebonyi state, Chief David Umahi has faulted the approach of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anticorruption approach saying he should jettison the proactive and adopt reactive measures.

Governor Umah said his administration adopted proactive rather than reactive measures in the fight against corruption.

He also advocated the separation of politics in the fight against corruption in the country.

Umahi spoke at the government House, Abakaliki during media chat to mark this year’s Democracy Day celebration and his three years in office.

He noted that corruption must be stamped out for the Nigeria to develop.

He added that it was an aberra-

tion for a person who is very corrupt to defect to a ruling political party become a saint.

“We must be able to separate fight against corruption from politics. Without tackling corruption, it is very difficult for our country to develop. Mr. President is a man of integrity but we must also ensure that we have the fear of God in the fight against corruption.

“So, in our fight against corruption, let it not have any political coloration, it will help us. I support that those who took our money should be able to bring back the money but somebody should not wear a cloth today in the name of a political party seen as very corrupt and now wear another cloth in another political party and became a saint.

“This is not a fight against corruption. Those that are working very hard should not be distract-

ed. Ebonyi state should not be distracted. Six months in office, they wrote all kinds of petitions against us and I was very angry because our books are open. We even have a mini EFCC in the state.

“We adopted a proactive measure in the fight against corruption in our dear state and this is a method I will recommend for the fight against corruption in the country. We will resist every political intimidation using any agency of government at any level.

“Ebonyi people are at home with this government and for those that are pretending that they are supporting the President, they just want to come and loot this state again. The lootings for eight years are nothing for them, we can’t be distracted and our books are ready and open.

We are very committed, we are very focused”, he said.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that Nigeria is sliding into anarchy because of the poor governance style of the APC Federal Government Commissioning the newly constructed Governor’s Office in AdoEkiti, Ekiti State, Friday in the presence of Former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Gombe State Governor, Dr Ibrahim Dankwambo, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel and PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, the Rivers State Governor said that Nigerians should use their permanent voters cards to vote out the failed APC Federal Government.

“Nigeria is sliding into anarchy.

Nigerians were deceived by the change lies. Nigerians should show that they are tired of this fruitless change.”

The governor reiterated that the intelligence on the plot to assassinate him is genuine and valid.

He said that the APC Federal Government has been involved in past plots to kill him.

Governor Wike charged the people of Ekiti to be vigilant ahead of the governorship election, saying that they will be intimidated by the security agencies.

He urged the APC Federal Government to emulate Former President Goodluck Jonathan who showed that the unity of the country is paramount by conducting credible polls.

“Jonathan knows what democracy is all about. He never used his power to imprison the opposition.

He never allowed anyone to shed blood for political gains. That is not the case today”, Governor Wike said.

In his remarks, Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose said that the PDP Governorship Candidate, Professor Eleka has a divine mandate to take over, adding that over the eight years that he spent in the office, his deputy was central to the development of the infrastructure base of Ekiti State.

14

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS Extra Ohaneze: Group hails Nwodo on Igbo leadership

By THEO RAYS, Onitsha

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Non-Governmental Organisation, Ogilisi Igbo Foundation has hailed the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo Chief Nnia Nwodo over what they described as “quality leadership offered” to Ndigbo by the later.

The group in a letter addressed to the Ohaneze boss which was signed by Dr Linus Okechukwu Uchey as Chairman and Mr Arinze Emmanuel Adogu as Secretary stated that NGO was moved to commend Nwodo for putting Igbo leadership in the right track like never before.

The letter reads in details, “Without mincing words, this Foundation is highly impressed with your performance so far hence the decision to forward a letter of commendation to you. The impact you have so far is a clear indication that the Igbo race now have a leader who cannot just serve us selflessly but also capable to give us direction towards the Promised Land.

“Your ubiquitous presence and voice on national issues have restored Igbo dignity and enhanced our deserving prestige in the Nigerian polity. Your fearless expression of the ill feelings of Ndigbo towards the marginalization of the southeast geopolitical zone by the President Muhammadu Buhari is a clear evidence that the Igbo nation have gotten a leader who can fight for them.

“We are most impressed with the kind of fierce respond you gave to former Governor of River State and Minister of Transport Mr Rotimi Amechi during the Unizik Convocation Lecture. What you gave Amechi will certainly go down memory lane to prove that Ndigbo should not and will never again be taken for a ride.

“To this Foundation, you have in deed proved critics wrong against their impression that Igbo cannot be led (Igbo Enwe Eze) and convinced us beyond reasonable doubt that no matter how republican, coarse, scattered and bewildered in nature, Ndigbo can indeed be led.

MASSOB confirms release of 254 detained members

By IBE NWACHUKWU

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embers of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike-led Biafra Independence Movement/Movement for Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (BIM/MASSOB) have confirmed the release of all their members who were arrested in various parts of Biafra land during May 22 New Biafra day celebrations.

In a statement issued yesterday in Onitsha, Anambra state, BIM/MASSOB’s Director of Information, Chris Mocha confirmed that their jubilation cut across Onitsha, Owerri, Aba, Port Harcourt and Enugu where a total of 254 members were released.

The statement gave the statistics of the number of those released from various cities as 122 from Owerri, 87 from Aba and 43 from Onitsha and attributed their release to victory of non-violence stance of Uwazuruike’s bold leadership..

The statement therefore advised other groups of Biafra agitators to emulate the Uwazuruike style of non-violence agitation.

IPOB dares police over sit-at-home order

By CHUKS COLLINS, Awka

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he Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has vowed that there would be no going back on the scheduled May 30 sit-at-home order it issued to citizens and those who identify with its cause.

According to a statement from the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the order was a religious obligation it owed her people killed unjustly over the years, including victims of the 1967-70 civil war.

The order, it noted, would take place simultaneously in about 100 countries of the world that day and therefore condemned what it called police meddlesomeness in her affairs locally.

It reiterated its resolve to proceed with the order as planned, pointing out that police had no powers under

any law to “interfere in anybody’s(or group’s) internal religious affairs”, stressing that it was an inalienable right of every human as enshrined in the human rights charter of the United Nations.

The statement read in part, “All Biafrans, no matter the states they are located, must honour and remember their heroes and heroines of the 1967 to 1970 Nigeria- Biafra war and others unjustly killed over the years”.

“Every family, kindred, village, clan, town across the length and breadth of Eastern region, Mid-West and Middle Belt is expected to remain indoors from 6pm on Tuesday the 29th to 6pm on the 30th of May. “It is expected that a team of local and international observers will be on ground to monitor compliance and interview people.

“This 30th of May 2018 sit-at-home is the clearest possible way for we Bi-

afrans to convey to the whole world our determination to forge a distinct path away from the murderous chaos that Nigeria has become.

It admitted that There is no other pain-free way to attract the attention of the world than ensuring that the entire East, Midwest and Middle Belt is completely locked down on the 30th(May) “All over the world in over 100 countries and territories, IPOB family meetings will gather to rally and offer prayers in memory of our heroes that sacrificed their lives that we may live.

“We owe our Biafran soldiers that fell in battle an eternal debt of gratitude which our annual sit-at-home is only but a minor but significant contribution this generation can make in acknowledgement and honour of their supreme sacrifice.

“All Fulani Police Commissioners that liter Biafraland must desist from

commenting about this solemn occasion. Some of them have offered comments that we deem insulting to the memory of the dead.

However, reacting, the Anambra State Police Command declared that IPOB as a proscribed organization lacked the legitimacy to declare a protest order.

The state command’s boss, Mr Garba Umar, urged citizens of the state to disregard the order and go about their lawful normal businesses, assuring that his office was on top of the situation.

According to him, “...the Command with other security agencies will not hesitate to deal decisively with any individual or groups under any guise that will disrupt public peace.”

He further described them as misguided elements.

Obiano vows to make Anambra most businessfriendly

By CHUKS COLLINS, Awka

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•From left: Wife of the President Hajiya Aisha, President Muhammadu Buhari being presented with a gift by the Wife of Imo State Governor Mrs Nkechi Okorocha during an audience with Wives of 36 State Governors at the State House Saturday night in Abuja. Photo: Presidential Villa

Democracy Day: Criticism of leaders cannot transform Nigeria – Bishop Onah

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atholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Rt. Rev. Godfrey Onah, says no amount of criticism of those in authority will transform the socio-economic fortunes of the country.

Onah, in a homily on Sunday during the 2018 Democracy Day thanksgiving mass at the Holy Ghost Cathedral, Enugu, said that good governance required visionary leadership and self-sacrifice.

The bishop said it was sad that the current democratic experiment which started in 1999 had not changed the fortunes of majority of Nigerians due to corrupt leadership.

The clergyman said that the 2019 general elections would provide another opportunity for the electorate to make their choices of the type of leadership they want.

He said that all those in elective

positions that had not performed needed to be shown the exit door, adding that the electorate should only vote those they were convinced would do well.

Onah blamed the decay of institutions, including the education sector on self-serving leaders whom he said had destroyed the future of up-and-coming ones.

“The only way to protect the future of our children is to give them good education, but because we have stolen our country dry, we can no longer guaranty their future,” he said.

The bishop said that Christians were expected to show good examples which would lead to a positive change in the way things were done in the country.

“As Christians, rather than blame people about the state of affairs in this country, we should ask ourselves what we have done

to engender love and equality of all human race.

“What have we done to show respect, leadership, service and real concern for others? These values need to become part of our culture if we must survive,” he said.

Onah said it was sad that the numerical strength of Christians in the country had not had any positive impact on the way things were done due to how some had made merchandise of the gospel.

“I believe that whatever will happen to Nigeria tomorrow will depend on how Christians will take their vocations,“ he said.

The clergyman said that Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was an example of what a Christian could do in governance.

The highlight of the event was a special prayer for Nigeria by the worshippers.

nambra State Governor, Willie Obiano has said that the state government will install streetlights along major streets adjoining the Onitsha Main Market area.

This was disclosed during his inspection tour of Onitsha and environs to assess the job done by a Special task force he set up to clear out Street trading along major streets of Onitsha Main Market and other key areas.

The task force was mandated to vacate street traders, remove illegal structures and shanties along these streets.

Among the places visited by the governor where he also promised to install streetlights within next one month were Ose Okwodu by Ajasa Street, Bright Street, New Market Road and others.

While speaking to the traders, the governor ascertained that his government decided to embark on the operation to salvage the condition of the street traders who were daily exposed to the risk of being knocked down by moving vehicles.

He also said the initiative became important to create passages to the markets to enable customers access shops inside the markets as well as for ease of evacuation of goods.

He reminded the traders that the operation was solely for their own good, urged them to support the initiative by ensuring that street traders do not return there and warned that anyone caught will have their wares seized.

He urged them to shun dumping of refuse in the drainages to ensure that the streets are not flooded during rainy season.

The Transition committee Chairman of Onitsha North Local Government Area, Mr Patrick Aghamba commended Gov Obiano for his strong will in enforcing the operation to vacate the street traders and said shop owners along the streets are now better off while the aesthetics of the area is now in full glare.

15

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

Sacked Commissioner joins APC in Ebonyi

By CHINEDU NWAFOR

T

he immediate past Attorney General of Ebonyi state, Chief Augustine Nwankwegu, who was sacked recently by Governor David Umahi has joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Nwankwegu while making his defection speech, vowed to deliver his entire Izzi Local Government Area to APC in 2019.

He was received by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu at his Uburu residence.

He accused Umahi of deviating from the dreams and vision of the founding fathers of the state.

“The current government of Ebonyi State has totally deviated from the dreams and visions of our founding fathers and we must resist it. I stand to be counted in”, he said..

Receiving the Nwankwegu, the state factional Chairman of the party, Pastor Eze Nwachukwu Eze, assured that the party would carry him along in its activities.

He announced that his name would be forwarded immediately to be part of the National Congress of the Party.

In a related development, a faction of the party led by former governorship candidate of the party in 2015, Senator Julius Ucha has flayed the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu for his alleged plot to endorse the reelection of the National chairman of the Party, Chief John Oyegun.

Nwambe noted that Onu’s activities in the state chapter of the party were antithetical to the directives of the leader and President, Muhammadu Buhari who had endorsed the election of the former Edo state governor.

22 Glo subscribers to win all-expenses-paid trip to Russia

T

wenty two lucky subscribers of the Globacom Mobile Telecommunications network will soon be on their way to the Russian Federation courtesy of a new promo that is designed to bring fun and pleasure to millions of Nigerians between 16 May and 8 July, 2018.

In the promo, a subscriber who uses N3, 000 on Voice calls or a minimum of N5, 000 on Voice and Data will qualify for a draw.However, incremental usage of N500 over N3000 for Voice or N5, 000 for Voice and Data attracts an extra entry to the draw . The more the airtime used by subscribers, the higher the chances of winning. Interested customers can participate in the promo by sending GO to 240 on the Glo network.

Titled “GO Russia”, the promo will give opportunity for the 22 lucky winners to emerge winners through raffle draws. Winners will be contacted

by Glo customer care.

The promo is open to all new and existing Prepaid/Postpaid customers on the Glo network nationwide.

The company enjoined Nigerians to make utmost use of the opportunity provided by the promo to be part of the trip.

In a statement issued in during the week, Globacom said that the GO Russia promo is a “golden opportunity to appreciate and reward our amazing subscribers for their overwhelming patronage and support over the years.”

I will never castigate Buhari – Umahi

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overnor David Umahi of Ebonyi has vowed never to castigate President Muhammadu Buhari just to prove that he was still in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Umahi made the declaration on Saturday night in Abakaliki during a media chat and dinner he organised for journalists as part of the 2018 Democracy Day celebrations.

The governor noted that his decision was a matter of principles, stressing that Buhari remained his only boss.

“I have left all those issues to political parties not because the president is doing everything right but because he is not God. He might not be doing everything 100 per

cent but it is not my duty to castigate my boss and will only face my duties.

“It is also not my duty to write petitions about the past administration in the state and I am focused towards my duties as child of God who has a calling and is committed,” he said.

The governor noted that corruption was not a party affair but an issue that has to do with the individual engaging in it.

“The Bible says that with the fear of God, men depart from evil and without effective tackling of corruption, Nigeria will never develop.

“It is not an issue concerned with the PDP and if those who decamped from the party to the coun-

try’s ruling party says it is corrupt, then they have infected their new party with corruption,” he said.

He declared that his constant mention of opposition members in the state during solidarity rallies in his honour does not mean that he was threatened by their activities and antics.

“No member of the opposition can stand for election with me because they have no base in the state and are only deceiving the people.

“They are not working for the president as they deceitfully claim but are big minuses for the opposition party because most of them don’t own houses in the state.

“They boast of using the federal might to rig the 2019 elections but

the youths have warned anyone planning to execute such act to write two things: the fake results and his will,” the governor said.

Umahi listed his administration’s development strides in education, health, human empowerment, infrastructure and security, among others, noting that Ebonyi would be Nigeria’s Dubai after his eight years tenure.

Top government officials including the Secretary to the State Government, the Chief of Staff, legislators and some cabinet members, among others, were however locked out because of lateness.

But they were admitted into the venue after the interactive session.

2019: Emenalo dreams Imo Govt House

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• From left: National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, Wife of former President, Dame Patience Jonathan, and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, during the commissioning of Old Creek Road (renamed the Dame Patience Jonathan) and the Bishop Johnson Street, in Port Harcourt

Rivers yet to receive Government Support Fund – Wike

R

ivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has revealed that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-Federal Government has denied the Rivers State Government Special Funds under the approved Government Budget Support Fund.

Governor Wike said that official sources noted that the Budget Support Fund for Rivers State was witheld because of the governor’s critical stance on national issues.

He said all other states have received the fund.

He spoke on Saturday in Port Harcourt Township during the commissioning of Bishop Fubara Street, Captain Amangala Street and Tourist Beach Road by former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori.

The governor said the arm-twisting tactics of the APC Federal Government will not stop him from

standing for the people of Rivers State and the Niger Delta.

“Nothing will stop me from defending Niger Delta and Rivers State. They denied Rivers State Government Support Fund which has been given to all other states.

“They denied Rivers State this fund, claiming that I should stop criticising the Federal Government. Stopping our funds will not stop me from defending Niger Delta and Rivers State “, he said.

The governor said that the roll out of projects will continue across the state because his administration is committed to sustained development.

On the three roads commissioned by Former Delta State Governor , Governor Wike said that his administration is committed to enhancing the living condition of the people of Port Harcourt Township.

He directed Julius Berger to re-

construct the remaining roads in Port Harcourt Township, adding that all the three roads will be furnished with streetlights.

“The residents of this area will agree with me that their roads were not motorable. I resolved that we must reconstruct the roads”, he said.

Commissioning the three road projects, Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori commended Governor Wike for his developmental projects.

“I associate myself with the commitment of the Rivers State Governor to infrastructural development of the state. I am glad that the governor has made further commitment to develop this area”, he said.

The commissioning programme was witnessed by the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus.

governorship aspirant in Imo, Mr George Emenalo, popularly called Boy George (BG), has expressed optimism to become the next executive governor of the state.

Emenalo, who has just joined the gubernatorial race in Imo, expressed the optimism while addressing newsmen in Lagos.

He said that his confidence was from God, whose mandate was for him to liberate the people of the state from their sufferings.

“The situation in Imo has made it compulsory for honest men with the fear of God to rise up and pick up the mantle of leadership. It is God’s time in Imo; I do not have the financial muscle like some of the other aspirants but with God and the people, the impunity in the state will come to an end in 2019” he said.

He said that his decision to join the race was influenced by agitations from the people for God fearing men with good reputation to take over the leadership of the state.

“The issues emanating from governance in the state; sufferings by all and sundry, non-payment of staff salaries, neglect of the rural dwellers are some of the reasons why there must be a shift in leadership.

According to him, if the people of Imo do not get it right in 2019, they may remain in abject poverty and sufferings for a long time to come.

“If elected, I will ensure that past leaders, who have used the state’s resources for personal use are brought to book.

“The fight against corruption must be extended to states and their leadership, including past governors, commissioners and council chairmen among others.

On the platform he intended to use for the election, Emenalo said that he would announce it later.

“I am currently talking with some political parties and as soon as we reach a decision, I will make the outcome known,” he said.

Emenalo is a 51-year- old businessman and a Mass Communication graduate of the University of Nigeria Nsukka.

16

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS Withdrawal of $1bn: Pay oil producing states their 13% derivation -- Wike tells FG

BY VICTOR NZE

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ivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has demanded that oil producing states be paid their 13 percent derivation of the $1billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) by the Federal Government to fight insurgency.

Speaking on Sunday at the Government House Port Harcourt during the presentation of the Leadership Newspaper Governor of the Year Award 2017 to him by the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani who represented him at the event, Governor Wike noted that it is mandatory for the constitutional procedure to be followed.

The governor said that he has been officially approached to lobby the Rivers State House of Assembly to approve the resolution mandating the withdrawal of the said funds.

He said while the State Government is not against the fight against insurgency, all required constitutional procedures must be respected.

The governor said: “They have approached us to lobby for the passage of a resolution by the State House of Assembly approving the $1billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account to fight insurgency.

“The law is clear. Every proceed from oil , you must remove 13percent derivation for oil producing states. We cannot be stampeded into doing the wrong thing. So, where is the 13percent derivation for oil producing states. In fighting insurgency, you must respect the law”.

He said that all the negative actions against the Rivers State Government are targeted at denying the State the balance of the Paris Club Refund.

Governor Wike also informed the Rivers State House of Assembly members of the refusal of the APC Federal Government to release budget support fund to the State Government, when all other states have received the fund.

“If you criticise the government, they deny the State funds due to it. This is a government that claims that it is fighting corruption “, he said.

He commended the Rivers State House of Assembly for their support, urging them to stand firm as the state approaches the political era.

The governor said that the numerous successes recorded by the state are due to the sacrifices of the people in the face of dwindling resources.

Earlier, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani described the Rivers State Governor as a leader with outstanding developmental qualities.

He said the imprints of the governor are found in all the local government areas of the state. He noted that the Leadership Newspaper Governor of the Year Award 2017 is a crown of all previous awards that Governor Wike has received.

The speaker was accompanied by the leadership and members of the House to make the presentation to Governor Wike. The speaker represented Governor Wike at the Leadership Newspaper awards in Abuja.

Group advocates end to obnoxious traditions, laws in Igboland

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group, Initiative For Eradication of Tradition and Cultural Stigmatisation in Our Society (IFETACSIOS), has advocated an end to obnoxious laws and traditions that infringed fundamental human rights, especially the ‘Osu Caste System.’

The group expressed its grudges with the obnoxious laws during a meeting and dinner in on Saturday in Lagos, saying that such traditions were no longer valued.

The Osu caste system is an ancient practice in Igboland that discourages social interaction and marriage with a group of persons called Osu (Igbo: outcast).

The group’s President, Mrs Ogechukwu Maduagwu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that its aim was to eliminate discrimination,

inequality, stigmatisation, marginalisation and segregation caused by ancient traditions still in practice.

“The purpose of this gathering is to introduce our group to the people and seek their support. We’re basically Christians with the belief that God created every human being equally.

“We hereby have no believe in laws and traditions which trap other human beings. We are also talking to kings and other traditional rulers on how these traditions can be abolished.

“Our major subject is the Osu Caste system in Igboland, an ancient practice which frowns against relationship and any form of interaction with any group of persons called Osu (Igbo outcast).

“The Osus are the ones being

dedicated to deities in Igboland, considered as outcasts and not allowed to mix with the freeborns.

“They are enslaved to these deities and made to make oath of allegiance that their unborn generation will also do same,’’ she said, vehemently condemning the practice.

“We are also investigating the Wife Money practice, a culture in Beechive tribe, Obanliku Local Government, Cross River. These tribes sell their little daughters for birth payments. Some are sold for N2, 000 and some are sold before birth.

“The inhuman aspect of these is that they are sold to old men who give gifts not to the girl but to the family. The girl is, however, left to survive through farming without any form of education.

“When the old man dies, the

•Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel and wife during the Special Inter-denominational Thanksgiving Service To Mark The 2018 Democracy Day & Governor Emmanuel’s Three Years In Office at the Uyo Township Stadium, with the theme, “For thou wilt light my candle’

Communication gap among Igbo groups worries Ohaneze Youth leadership

By IBE NWACHUKWU

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he leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Youth Wing from the seven states that make up the pan-Igbo territory has expressed concern over what it termed ‘the communication gap’ which existed among all Igbo youth groups, saying that the gap was responsible for the excesses of a majority of the Igbo youths, under the auspices of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other pro-Biafra groups.

The youth wing therefore called for immediate swearing-in of Mazi Uchenna Arthur Obiora (Chinetugo) as the National Leader of Ohanaeze Youth Wing, having been elected in a credible, fair and transparent election conducted by the Ezechi Chukwu-led Ohanaeze National Executive Council, NEC election committee, adding that the swearing in of Obiora would help to bridge the gap and bring about a harmonious relationship among all the Igbo youths, including those in IPOB and other pro-Biafra groups.

In a four-point communiqué issued, Tuesday, at the end of the meeting of Ohanaeze Youth leaders

in the seven Igbo states, the youths noted that in cognizance of the vaccum that existed for long now, they admit that the present leadership of the Igbo youths worldwide is acephalous or leaderless and as such remains in a jinx.

In the communiqué jointly signed

by Mazi Okechukwu Nwankwo, Abia state youth leader; Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, (Anambra); Ezeukwu Chris (Delta); Olughu Okoro (Ebonyi); Nnaemeka Ogbonna (Enugu); Chukwunyere Egbechuo (Imo) and Ezeilo Franklin (Rivers), the seven states youth leadership reaffirmed that in line with the leadership positions of Ohanaeze Ndigbo parent body, led by the President-General, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, they as the youth wing would embark on sensitization of every progressive Igbo youths to ensure a new restructured Nigerian federation that would be the pride of the black man.

The leaders contended that they were convince that the recent concluded one-day summit on restructuring of Nigerian federation held at Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, Anambra state, and its agenda shall

continue to foster unity and at the same time, enhancing economic development and a better society in Igbo land and Nigeria at large.

They expressed deep sense of gratitude and contentment over the success of the summit, adding that the role played by the Chief Nwodo leadership, the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo-led summit organizing committee, the leadership of Southeast Governors’ Forum, the Ike Ekweremadu National Assembly leadership, the leadership of Southeast traditional rulers council, the chairman of the occasion, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and many other leaders from Southeast, Southsouth, Southwest and Middlebelt for their support and success of the summit.

They reminded the parent body of the dire need to respect the mandate of the Igbo youths by inaugurating the newly elected national youth leadership as according to them, the unnecessary delay tends to truncate their popular mandate and at the same time promote the vaccum and as such widen the communication gap.

next of kin continues with the little girl and if the girl doesn’t give birth, her family will be made to provide another little girl to replace her.’’

Maduagwu said that the group had also met with some victims who were sold at the age of four that were now teenagers.

“We are conducting a kind of reorientation through our reconciliation programmes and advocacy against the continued practice of obnoxious traditions and cultures in our society which infringe on human rights and dignity.

“People often turn blind eye to these and instead talk about child bride, inequality and other forms of discrimination but a lot is happening. The biggest problem in Africa is tradition which keeps dividing us.

We speak against racism but discriminate against each other based on some obnoxious laws.

“There is this Ishan tribe practice too, whereby married women from the tribe are brought back to their homes by their husband when they die. The suitors are usually made to take oath whenever they want to marry from that tribe which sometimes make suitors to make a Uturn,’’ she said.

Contributing, the groups Public Relations Officer, Mr Jedichiah Onuoha, said he had realised the issue only comes up whenever it was time for marriage as people now lived in a global city where your neighbour’s dealings with you is not based on your background.

“It is time to call out to passionate people, we need to rise and stop this spirit of lawlessness. You can’t believe the extent at which it has gone into the society. It has even extended to the church. We sometimes ask ourselves if these things are real and yes they are.

“This is going beyond societal problems to demonic magnitude.

Our forefathers had people who serve the king and there was the upper class and the lower class, subjecting an individual to slavery should be stopped.

“There is need to take action.

This should be shouted at the rooftops. Human beings should not be subjected to slavery based on societal class,’’ he said.

Onuoha added that there should be confrontational militancy whereby traditional leaders were confronted and made to see the evil behind the obnoxious laws.

IFETACSIOS’ administrator, Evang Bassey Tochukwu, also urged the people to make the world a better place by not ignoring such issues whenever they come across them.

“We should seek out and say no to this wicked practices consuming our brothers and sisters. We all complain of racism but I feel it’s because of what we sow. People like Mungo Park and Mary Slessor left the comfort of their place to make the society a better place but we are doing too little to stop these outdated traditions that our ancestors left behind.

“Wherever it is happening, we should fight for the eradication of evil practices and restore joy and dignity to the lives of those trapped by traditions,’’ Tochukwu said, adding: “Besides our present career, we should try and spend little time to be part of a movement that makes the world a better place. It is so bad that I met with a pastor who told me how parents go hard on their children who try to marry an outcast.’’

17

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

BU$IN£SS •Energy •Finance

•Stock

•Insurance

•Aviation

•e-Platform

•Tourism

sector Buhari: Economy still Power debts spark among flounders after 3 years war players Energy

•Economy still surfs the oil tide despite diversification • Budgets recycle infrastructure projects •Insecurity threatens investments

P35 Insurance AIICO explains delay over new agric, micro-insurance policies

P36

Money Market

Analysts foresee CBN’s continuous intervention in forex market

•President Muhammadu Buhari

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

N

IGERIA’S economy is yet to wean from total dependence on revenue flow from petroleum resource exploitation, a situation which has left the growth of domestic capacity for production of goods and services creeping behind peer economies.

All economic indicators advanced by Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and financial analysts show that all the various economic recovery and diversification measures enunciated by the present administration of the federal government are yet to yield palpable contributions to the country’s economic growth.

Instead, two major factors have

determined the direction of the Nigerian economy since present administration of the government came into effect three years ago: petroleum commodity production numbers, and their benchmark prices at the international petroleum exchanges Available data show that despite inheriting the continent’s fastest growing economy established on Africa’s largest gross domestic product index of $509.9 billion, the current President Muhammadu Buhari led administration which took over from former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 is still struggling to keep the economy from total collapse as petroleum revenues begin to falter.

Buying(NGN)

Central (NGN) Selling(NGN)

US DOLLAR 304.9 POUNDS STERLING 407.1025 EURO 356.1842 SWISS FRANC 307.1112 YEN 2.7875 CFA 0.526 WAUA 431.9459 YUAN/RENMINBI 47.7046 RIYAL 81.2937 SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 24.3669

P38

Aviation

Ebola: FAAN deploys more personnel to screen int’l travellers P39

Cont’d on Page 21

CBN EXCHANGE RATES MAY 25TH, 2018 Currency

305.4 407.7701 356.7683 307.6148 2.7921 0.536 432.6543 47.7833 81.427 24.4068

305.9 408.4377 357.3524 308.1185 2.7967 0.546 433.3626 47.8619 81.5603 24.4468

Stock Market Highlights As At 25TH MAY, 2018

Summary

ASI DEALS VOLUME VALUE EQUITY CAP BOND CAP ETF CAP

S/N

41,161.39 871.00 930,731,630.00 N12,421,222,735.19 N14,909,893,616,255.80 N10,189,732,837,705.00 N0.00

Coy (By Volume) Volume

ZENITHBANK STDINSURE LINKASSURE DAARCOMM STACO

Value(N)

253,252,463 N7,324,630,582.50 129,598,949 N53,425,693.22 100,279,999 N90,251,999.10 72,359,804 N33,701,124.68 68,905,488 N32,052,056.92

5 Top Gainers

Symbols Last Close DANGCEM N244 NB N122.2 GUINNESS N104 INTBREW N51.8 GUARANTY N43.5

Five Tope Losers

Symbols SEPLAT SKYESHELT UNIONDICON TRANSCOHOT NCR

Current Change %Change N253.7 9.7 3.98% N126.7 4.5 3.68% N108 4 3.85% N54 2.2 4.25% N45.65 2.15 4.94%

Last Close N734.7 N100 N13.45 N7.45 N6.3

Current N699 N95 N12.8 N7.1 N6

Change -35.7 -5 -0.65 -0.35 -0.3

%Change -4.86% -5.00% -4.83% -4.70% -4.76%

18

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

BUSINESS

Investors to stake $2b in Petrobras’ Nigerian assets

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

B

RAZILIAN national oil company, Petroleum Brasiliero popularly called Petrobras, is positioning to pocket about $2.0 billion (N720 billion) as it prepares to leave Nigeria.

The divestment which implies that the company’s business in Nigeria would transfer to new owners is part of the company’s plan to liquefy its African portfolios to scratch up funds.

Last November, Petrobras launched the sale of 100% of Petrobras Africa as part of the heavilyindebted company’s plan to offload $21 billion in assets through 2018.

The company stated, “The appropriation of POGBV’s net reserves totals approximately 204 million barrels. Current production there stands at 48,000 barrels per day, and it is expected to reach about 75,000 barrels per day until 2019.”

The Petrobras’ stakes which in-

clude interests in two offshore blocks operated separately by Total and Chevron. Winners in the bid process which started last month are to be announced anytime from today.

Petrobras holds stakes in two major Nigerian offshore oil blocks that contain two producing fields, the major Agbami field in OML 127 operated by a local Chevron affiliate, and the Akpo field in OML 130 operated

by Total.

Investment analysts and deal brokers across the world fix attention to the progress on the asset divestment as trading companies with interest in securing long term equity production volumes trade partnerships with operators to secure allocation.

The Oracle Today gathered from sourced close to the deal that Petrobras’ local partners including Chevron and Total are surprisingly silent on the scramble in which they have advantage of preferential bid.

It is not clear whether Total would

absorb its exiting partner’s share in the prolific oil mining lease (OML) 130 which hosts three deepwater fields including Akpo, Egina and Porowei. Akpo is in production of about 180,000 barrels of condensate per day while Egina is about to come online with 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day by end of the year.

Porowei whose development plan is recommended for a tie back to existing facilities for cost efficiency is still the subject of investment conversations between Total and a host

of partners in the oil block.

It is a surprise to industry observers that indigenous South Atlantic Petroleum (Sapetro)which actually pooled all the partners into equity participation is not keen at buyback opportunity after making huge financial returns from a combination of proceeds from equity divestments and Akpo production Instead, it was gathered that Shell, Vitol, and Glencore are vying for the position of Petrobras in the deepwater business. Shell has a trading

arm but it is not clear that all the three contenders are trading firms.

Again, another Petrobras’ business is in the hands Chevron which operates the deepwater Agbami field on behalf of indigenous Famfa Oil; and all parties including Africa’s richest woman watch as foreign independents position to grab the stakes. The world’s top oil traders are not bidding on their own, however: they are each partners in three consortiums that submitted bids for Petrobras Africa in early May.

UBA rewards loyal customers in ‘Refer-a-Friend’ promo

U

nited Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc will be rewarding its loyal customers who refer friends and family to the bank in its new diaspora campaign.

The campaign is designed to reward customers of the bank who refer their Diaspora friends/relatives to open a UBA account.

Specifically, this campaign will last for three months and the bank will be rewarding any customer who refers other customers with the reward of N5,000 for every successfully opened new and funded account.

For instance, new and existing customers who refer friends and relatives in the Diaspora to open new UBA accounts will be eligible to grab the reward for as many times as the number of people they refer.

According to the campaign managers, the referrer who must have an account with UBA, will have his/ her account number inputted in the provided field by the referred.

The account number is expected to serve as a reference code for pay-

ing the reward, and once the new Diaspora account is funded with a minimum of $100, $100, £100, €100 or N50,000, for a one-month period, the reward sum of N5,000 will be automatically credited into the Referrer’s account.

They further explained that the campaign which kicks-off on May 22, 2018, involves no raffle draws, customers just refer, and redeem •From left - The Deputy Managing Director, Mohammed Balarabe; Company Secretary, Ezinwa Unuigboje; Chairtheir cash prizes after successful man, Board of Directors, Ernest Ebi; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo, all of Fidelity Bank Plc at the Bank’s 30th Annual General Meeting, AGM, held in Lagos, 25 May. funding of the new account.

AfDB achieves historic disbursement of $7.81bn, exceeding 2017 target NBA/SEC partner to

By KAYODE OGUNWALE

T

HE African Development Bank (AfDB), has increased disbursements to support the structural transformation of countries in Africa, according to its annual report, released during the Annual Meetings in Busan, Korea.

The Bank disbursements reached $7.81 billion in 2017, a 15 percent per-

cent increase over 2016 and the highest on record for the Bank. This increase was driven, to a large extent, by the 42 percent increase in project loan and grant disbursements, which reflect in part, improved portfolio management. The Bank approved 249 operations amounting to $8.93 billion. This was reflected in its core financing, disbursements, operational strategies and portfolio management.

Commenting on the development, AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said, this “reflected a 56 percent increase in disbursements for nonsovereign operations. A clear sign of the Bank Group’s increasing engagement with Africa’s private sector, non-sovereign operations accounted for 38 percent of African Development Bank approvals, the highest on record.”

In the suit filed by 13 Gencos they also prayed the court to compel government to make all outstanding payments tom them, dismantle impediments hindering access to payment assurance funds, and provide them sovereign guarantee and partial risk guarantee for all payment accruals.

In his reaction, last month, Minister of Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, described the aggrieved Gencos as ungrateful blackmailers, saying that government had approved new tariffs for them, provided the disputed N701 billion Payment Assurance Guarantee, and shored up their monthly payments from 50 percent to 80 percent.

He added that government now pays Gencos dollar revenues collected from international customers from the Republics Benin, Niger and Togo.

He explained that government was making 100 per cent payment to a new GenCo that has a different contract with a Partial Risk Guarantee.

He wondered why the Discos went to court when the issues they raised were still being discussed.

The minister advised Nigerians to embrace renewable solar energy options to escape threats and harassments from players in the gas-to-pow-

er programme, assuring consumers that the mini grid regulations allow up to 1.0 MW solar capacity without license.

“This is bigger than what many traditional generators supply. There is no law that compels them to take public power,” he advised.

The Buhari led administration of the government had in 2016 waded into the debt crises which has been simmering since 2015 with a power sector recovery plan conceived to restore investor confidence in the programme and restore regulation in the industry.

The recovery plan was conceived to improve regulatory governance, reduce technical and commercial losses and guarantee efficient sector investments.

However, if the current arrangement that places the commercial fate of multiple investors in the faltering hands of Discos is to succeed, analysts strongly advocate strengthening of the regulatory agency in the industry for strict enforcement of the rules.

They believe that the commercial failure that has plunged the industry into debt impasse is essentially a consequence of pathetic regulation.

Power sector debts spark war among players Cont’d from Pg 20 He pointed out that NBET and GACN are meant to be transient establishment agencies that should wind down now that commercial arrangements have stabilized. He said NERC, as the regulator was all the industry needed to enforce standards, Investigation carried out by The Oracle Today showed that the Discos actually exploit helpless customers in their network concessions to enhance revenue. The practice which has defied regulatory directives, pronouncements and deadlines on metering coverage couldn’t have sustained without weakness or compromise in regulation.

Angry Gencos and Gascos had in early 2017 engaged the Buhari government on the power debts and the weakness of many government agencies in the sector to strictly enforce contractual agreements among players in the loop.

The engagement led to activation of eligible customer provision in the EPSRA and debt rescheduling under which cumulative debt of N600 billion

accruing to Gencos as at November 2016 was warehoused.

The government also activated a N701 billion Payment Assurance Facility to enable NBET offset Gencos invoices in a timely manner from December 2016.

Dr. Ogaji told The Oracle Today that the generation companies were not getting full payment for invoiced supplies as agreed, explain that only 80 percent of accrued payments were made to them after deducting corresponding accruals for Gascos. The new payment model, she said, has not addressed illiquidity in the power production segment.

But currently, it appears the referee has been dragged into the competition as the Gencos have sued the government for trying to admit more upstarts as beneficiaries into the hard won payment guarantee.

The Gencos prayed an Abuja High Court to restrain government and its agencies responsible for processing payments from admitting additional beneficiaries into the N701 billion assurance facility without increasing the value, pointing out that such an arrangement would adversely affect all players involved in the arrangement.

deepen capital market

By KAYODE OGUNWALE

T

he Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) is seeking collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the latter’s efforts to deepen the capital market.

Chairmann of the NBA Section on Business Law (SBL) Mr. Olumide Akpata, made the call when members of the NBA-SBL visited the SEC office in Abuja While assuring the Acting Director General of the support of his members, Akpata said the members will work with the SEC to ensure that the capital market is free, fair and transparent for all to operate.

He disclosed that on its part, the NBA-SBL has embarked on a number of initiatives like its annual conference and the setting up of various committees to build capacity in business law.

He said: “We are building capacity among our members to assist in capital market operations and we hope to partner with the SEC to deepen this understanding. Our members also go to the Nigeria Law School to mentor the students on the operations of the capital market and we are working with the Nigeria Stock Exchange to get a proper framework.

“We are also contemplating a collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) to commence a diploma in advanced commercial law so that our people can better understand the workings of the capital market”.

19

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

BUSINESS

Fidelity Bank shareholders endorse N3.19b dividend for FY 2017 …Secures N500m for SME operators, mulls acquisitions

By VICTOR NZE

S

HAREHOLDERS of Fidelity Bank Plc., have moved to approve the dividend of N3.19 billion recommended by the firm for the financial year ended December 31, 2017.

The shareholders who gave the approval at the bank’s 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos, Friday, also commended the bank’s board, management and staff for the impressive performance posted during the review period.

The dividend translates to 11kobo per share payable to shareholders whose names appeared on the register of members at the close of business on May 11.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr Farouk Umar, President of Association for the Advancement of the Rights of Nigerian Shareholders, lauded the bank for declaring dividend in spite of the challenging operating environment.

Umar said a lot of shareholders panicked when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that banks with low Capital Adequacy Ratio and high non-performing loan would not be allowed to pay dividend.

“For Fidelity Bank to declare dividend showed that it is in the good books of the CBN,” he said.

Umar also commended the bank for the $400 million five-year Eurobond at 10.5 per cent raised in 2017.

Remarking, the bank’s Managing Director, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, said the bank was aware of the growing opportunities in the nation’s market, adding that it would continue to focus on redesigning systems and processes to enhance service delivery.

According to him, the bank would deepen cost optimisation initiatives to reduce operating expenses and cost-to-service.

“Clearly, our success in 2017 financial year has set a strong pedestal for sustained growth in revenue.

“We are optimistic about a favourable operating environment

and we look forward to delivering decent set of numbers at the end of 2018 financial year,” Okonkwo said.

On the donations to the police, Okonkwo told the shareholders that it was an initiative of the Bankers Committee aimed at supporting the Nigeria Police.

He said the committee agreed to support the police by equipping them and as well provide other things needed to make their job easier.

Fidelity Bank Chairman, Mr Ernest Ebi, said the firm was strategically poised to successfully navigate the business environment in 2018, just as eh further expressed optimism that the expected improvements in the global landscape would trickle down to the domestic economy to consolidate the comforting business climate witnessed towards the end of 2017.

While the bank’s profit after tax soared by 94 per cent to N18.9 billion compared with N9.7 billion in the comparative period of 2016, the profit before tax also grew by N9.24 billion or 83.6 per cent to N20.3 billion from N11.0 billion in the preceding year.

The gross earnings rose by N27.89 billion or 18.34 per cent to N179.9 billion from N152.02 billion in the comparative period.

Total assets increased to N1.379 trillion at the end of December last year from N1.298 trillion recorded in the preceding year.

Its net interest income increased by 15.4 per cent to N71.5 billion in 2017, Net Operating Income rose by 9.9 per cent from N86.0bn to N78.3 billion.

The bank’s total assets grew by 6.2 per cent to N1.4 trillion from N1.3trillion in 2016 financial year.

Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank Plc, has confirmed working in partnership with some venture capitalists and angel investors to provide funding packages for those in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector of the economy.

This is also as the bank has expressed its intention to acquire some other financial institutions in the future as part of its determi-

nation to attain the tier-1 status.

Speaking earlier Tuesday at the 250th edition of the Fidelity Bank SMEs seminar in Lagos, Managing Director of the financial institution, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, explained that the initiative was mainly to strengthen the non-oil sector of the nation’s economy.

According to him, the bank and the investors will organise an event later this year called ‘Fidelity Bank SME Funding Fair’ and it will give SME owners the privilege to meet and interact with the investors for the funding package.

He hinted that this will likely take place in September, but quickly pointed out that details of the event would be made known as the time draws closer.

However, he explained that the Fidelity Bank SMEs Funding Fair would be like “a marketplace where a lot of SMEs that don’t have access to finance will meet people that are looking for viable SMEs to support.”

According to him, “A lot of in-

ternational organisations provide finance beyond traditional banks but they find it difficult to reach the SMEs.” Okonkwo promised that the financial institution will continue to ensure small business owners in the country have access to funds.

Similarly, the Fidelity bank boss also expressed the bank’s intention to acquire some other financial institutions in the future as part of its determination to attain the tier-1 status.

Addressing some financial reporters in Lagos on Thursday, the bank chief said whenever an opportunity opens for such acquisitions, the bank would grab it without hesitation.

Fidelity Bank is categorized as a tier-2 financial institution.

THERE are five banks in the tier-1 category in Nigeria and they are First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), Access Bank and Zenith Bank.

The above lenders were categorised at tier-1 banks because of the size of their balance sheet.

Okonkwo expressed confidence that Fidelity Bank will join the ‘big five’ of the banking sector in the country.

According to him, the completion of the financial institution’s four-year strategic growth plan showed that the bank was in the right track to join the elite caucus.

The bank CEO also said at the parley with the media that Fidelity Bank is not ruling out approaching the capital market to raise fresh funds.

However, he emphasised that the financial institution was presently adequately capitalized at over 16 percent ratio despite the application of the International Financial Reporting Standard, IFRS9, with stress tests.

Fidelity Bank has successfully risen to the leadership position amongst tier-2 banks with its robust performance in the 2017 financial year and the first quarter of 2018.

In its Q1’18 results, Fidelity Bank savings deposits kept to its plan for the 5th consecutive year of double digit growth.

•Minister for Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun with Director-General of the African Risk Capacity (ARC), Mohamed Beavogui, during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and ARC on addressing extreme weather events in Nigeria, which took place on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Thursday, in Busan, Korea.

Forte Oil gets shareholders’ approval to divest stake in subsidiaries Sell off hits stock market as shares

By KAYODE OGUNWALE

S

hareholders have empowered Forte Oil Plc’s board to divestment from its subsidiaries as part of the restructuring plan.

This was one of the key decisions arrived at the 39th Annual General Meetings hosted at the Bespoke Event Centre, LekkiEpe Expressway, last week in Lagos.

The subsidiaries include; AP Oil & Gas Ghana Limited (“APOG”, 100 percent owned), Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited (“APDC”, 57 percent owned) and Forte Upstream Services Limited (“FUSL”, 100 percent owned).

Forte Oil Plc will have its flagship petroleum marketing segment as its surviving businessline post-restructuring period.

The restructuring process is expected to take between 6-9 months before completion.

Speaking at the meeting the Group CEO of the company, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa said, “We had a board meeting to deliberate on the future of the company in a deregulated market. We concluded on focusing our resources on our core competence, and streams of uninterrupted divi-

dends for our shareholders.”

Akinfemiwa shared that despite the challenging 2017 financial year, Forte Oil prioritized the shareholder value of the company.

The Group Executive Director, Finance & Risk Management Forte Oil PLC Mr Julius Omotayo-Owotuga also confirmed at the AGM that shareholder dividends will be paid at the end of the 2018 financial year.

Highlights of the AGM was the re-election of Mrs. Salamatu Suleiman and Mrs. Maira Mandara as members of the Audit Committee.

The company early this month said is planning to sell its upstream services and power businesses in Nigeria and exit Ghana to focus on core fuel distribution operations in Nigeria.

value drops N416b a week

By KAYODE OGUNWALE

N

igeria’s equity market tumbled last week with N416 billion resulting in seven consecutive trading sessions of pullback amidst a heightened sell off.

The equities value on the bourse sliding to N14.244 trillion at the end of the week from N14.660 trillion it opened the week, while the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index sliding to 39,323.62 basis points, a level not seen since January.

The main stock index fell to its lowest level in more than four months after shares in banking and consumer goods companies declined.

This was despite the array of healthier company fundamentals and positive economic data that indicates the economy is still on course in its recovery drive, not minding that the Q1 GDP data released previous

week showing slower growth momentum represents a awake up call on the nation’s economic managers and policy makers to rethink and improve implementation strategies to give the economy more push and thereby sustain real sector expansion and drive growth.

At the end of the week, a total turnover of 1.372 billion shares worth N16.022 billion in 21,099 deals were traded by investors on the floor of the exchange in contrast to a total of 1.457 billion shares valued at N23.666 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 19,674 deals.

The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.010 billion shares valued at N8.670 billion traded in 12,049 deals; thus contributing 73.62 percent and 54.11 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

20

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

ISSN: 2545-5869

EDITORIAL

www.oraclenews.ng

VOX POPULI SACRUM

Buhari - Three years of long excuses Cont’d front page 1

points on the agenda of the administration, is mired in controversy. From the methods of execution to the collapse of many an EFCC case in court, it would appear that the anti-corruption agencies do not have sound evidence before heading to court.

in which we live. They have phantom projects, which they execute, or manufacture blames for the failure of the administration on the actions of the previous administration.

The times that should have been invested in Possibly more controversial is that allegations of seeking solutions to the challenges that corruption among the members of the adminNigeria faces, the basis for electing Buhari, istration are dismissed without investigation. have been wasted in travelling the world The impression is created that some are above and telling global audiences that Nigerians the law, while others are under the law. These are corrupt. Critical appointments for govhave damaged the credibility of the adminisernment agencies at home and our foreign tration immensely. missions have been left empty for more than Agriculture was promoted as the fulcrum of a two years. What was done for the millions of government programme for rural developunemployed people who have been expectment, youth empowerment and the developing his monthly stipend of N5, ooo since May ment of many industrial chains that would 2015? Where are the jobs he promised? Has help in processing farm products. Whatever he protected Nigerians from being killed at progress that was made in agriculture nosehome and abroad? dived with the security threats from Fulani IF one of the expectations of Nigerians is that herdsmen. They destroy farms and wipe out Fulani herdsmen should be punished for killwhole villagers. Farmers have fled from the ing, looting, raping and appropriating other onslaught that seems to have gained momenpeople’s farmlands, has Buhari reacted to tum with a Buhari government that never that? Has he even agreed that the herdsmen condemns the attacks, or mandates the police are criminals and deserve punishment? Has to find the Fulani herdsmen who perpetrate he admitted that the nationwide attacks by the crimes. herdsmen are more security risks than ones IT is insulting to tell Nigerians that a government unleashed by Boko Haram, whose attacks are that promised them change, a government concentrated in the North East? that condemned everything the previous What is there to boast about in the North East? administration did and promised to make life More than two years ago, the administration better, claims it has fulfilled its promises when said Boko Haram had been ‘technically’ deNigerians are in a deeper crisis than the one feated; that it had been degraded to a point they wanted to escape. Unemployment is at an that it no longer posed danger to Nigerians. all time high, employers in the public and priIt has become another false claim of the advate sectors owe salaries, the economy is on a ministration. Corruption, one of the cardinal spin, inflation is rising and the growing uncertainties about the President’s health and his policies make every decision tentative. How far can a country run in these circumstances?

THREE years after Chief Tony Momoh, one time minister of information, stated that in two years, Nigerians would see a new country – he intended no puns. Every line of the interview dripped with the high standards of performance the All Progressives Alliance (APC), had set for itself, especially the President, whose performance, the likes of Chief Momoh explained would have no room for excuses.

MOMOH underlined his faith in the eagerly awaited new country and the determination of APC to achieve it with a charge: “If after two years we have not performed, you can stone us.”

MONEY was not expected to be a challenge. “Where will the money come from? The money will come because the money we have which is diverted will be channeled properly.

We are going to do it through discipline. Every wrong-doing is as a result of indiscipline. The fact is that Buhari does not protect anybody who breaks the law. Once discipline is restored, the backbone of incompetence, the backbone of fraud, the backbone of

corruption will be broken. In less time than you expect, order will return and Nigeria will work again,” Chief Momoh explained. “If you look at the manifesto of the APC, the issues are settled there and they will be addressed. If we made the promise, we will feed school children. And once it starts, I won’t fail because Gen Muhammadu Buhari cannot sleep if he cannot fulfill the promises he made. If we block all the leakages, we will have more money not only to feed the school children but also their parents. Let me tell you, there is money in this system, but the money is going somewhere. What is needed is blocking the leakages. Then, there will be money to channel to all other areas-education, roads, power, job creation and so on.”

FUEL importation has not ceased as Chief Momoh professed. “Gen Buhari will not look at Nigeria importing fuel and be satisfied and say that is what we need. When he was a Head of State, Nigeria was exporting finished products from our refineries.”

SIMILAR wastes, excuses, in place of fulfilling promises that won APC the elections, divisive policies, and abnegation of the Constitution, have been the most momentous contributions of the APC and the President to national issues.

People are wondering whether the government that three years ago said “change is possible” is the same one that says, “Change is impossible”.

IN place of the apologies that Nigerians are expecting over the lethargic performance of the Buhari administration, it chooses to mock Nigerians with unfounded claims of performances.

Electricity supplies have so deteriorated that the administration has used three years to explain it.

WHAT interests Nigerians now is a peaceful conduct of next year’s general elections so that they can make choices that would improve their lives, choices that would address the mistakes they made three years ago.

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.

21

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

OPINION

Snapshot of a moving target (1)

I

have been given the honour and privilege as well as responsibility of reviewing Mr. Oseloka Obaze’s new book: Prime Witness: Change and Policy Challenges in Buhari’s Nigeria (2017) and I am delighted to do so.

In order to accomplish that task, I have divided my presentation into SEVEN parts: (1) A synopsis of the author’s professional career; (2) My first encounter with his intellectual output – his collection of poems; (3) My second encounter with his intellectual output – Prime Witness; (4) Summary of the guts of his book; (5) My views on his motivation(s) for writing the book; (6) My Deductions and Insights and (7), My Exhortations.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, please do not panic at what might seem a rather long list of segments to my talk today; I promise you, I do not intend to subject you (or myself), to a longwinded exegesis. I promise to avoid becoming pedantic and to be analytical without becoming unduly esoteric.

1.Mr. Oseloka Obaze: A Synopsis of the Author’s Professional Career: •Top International Diplomat – at the UN – for over twenty years.

•Author (Poet Extraordinaire, Scholar & Raconteur) – Four works to date and counting: (1) Co-Author of a work on the Legacy of Joseph Garba (2012); (2) Regarscent Past: A Collection of Poems (2015); (3) Here to Serve (2016); and now, (4) Prime Witness: Change & Policy Challenges in Buhari’s Nigeria (2017).

•Politician (or better still, aspirant Statesman or Statesman-in-Waiting) – Former Secretary to Anambra State Government & Former Anambra State Contestant for State Governor.

•Scholar, Businessman and Gentleman Extraordinaire.

Given his educational background and professional career, Oseloka Obaze appears tailor-made for two hugely consequential roles:

In this piece, EMEKA ANIAGOLU reviews Oseloka Obaze’s widely acclaimed book, PRIME WITNESS: CHANGE & POLICY CHALLENGES IN BUHARI’S NIGERIA (2017) Public Service and Public Scholarship.

1.My First Encounter with his Intellectual Output – His Collection of Poems: Two years ago, I was approached by Mr. Obaze’s publisher in the U.S to review his collection of poems, which was to be launched in the U.S several months later. Initially, I refused to review the work, because I have never been enthusiastic about reviewing poetry books. History and social science books, novels and plays, yes, but poetry books? Not my cup of tea. That, I felt, is strictly for stargazers and gypsies!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading a good poem whenever I come across one, and I have tried my hand at composing a number of poems myself, some of which are included in my various works—novels and scholarly books. But to review an entire collection of poetic musings by someone I had never read any of his works? That was beyond the pale for me!

Mr. Obaze’s publisher in the U.S whom I happened to know, prevailed upon me, and with great reluctance I agreed to review the work and was sent a copy of Oseloka’s book of poems.

Much to my great surprise, when I started reading the collection, I was slowly but surely drawn into the spell of Mr. Obaze’s exquisite vignettes. Each new poem I read in the volume became a great pleasure and joy. I began looking forward to coming home from work and settling down, after dinner, to reading Oseloka’s collection of poems. That was how

I got to the point of writing the following as part of my review of his collection of poems (quote): “…Poem after poem, the quality of expression, thematic clarity, parsimony and elocution, remained solid. The dreaded verses had turned into exquisite ones. Obaze’s poetic snapshots of the past, present and future; of nostalgic pain and promise, of ancestral and national nativity and global commons, of politics and pathos, and of disappointments and hopeful ebullience; covers a wide-ranging and beguiling canvas.”

After reading and relishing Mr. Obaze’s beautiful collection of poems, I kept wondering to myself: is this a “one-time-wonder,” a “flash in the pan,” or does this gifted writer have the intellectual and creative wherewithal to deliver more goods—especially over weightier subject matter than poetry?

Prior to my reviewing Oseloka’s collection of poems, I had not read anything else by him; and, after all, at the time, he had only one other authorial feather to his cap: his coauthorship of Joseph Garba’s legacy. Here to Serve was yet to be published in 2016; but here we are today launching his fourth work: Prime Witness, published in 2017.

It was, however, because of the sweet after-taste Oseloka’s collection of poems left on my tongue, that when he asked me to review this fourth intellectual output of his, I eagerly agreed to do so; especially given that it is right up my alley: a social science work on

policymaking and governance!

2.My Second Encounter with Oseloka’s Intellectual Output – Prime Witness: Although I will do my best to provide a trenchant review of Oseloka Obaze’s book today, do not expect me to dissect Mr. Obaze’s book in its entirety, so you can pretend to your friends and colleagues that you have read the book! Oh no! You will have no such luck today.

I will only give you an appetizer, enough to whet your appetite for the main course – which is reading his book yourself; for as the saying goes: ‘the taste of the pudding is in the eating.’

To that extent, Ladies and Gentlemen, be sure to leave this August event with your own autographed copy of Mr. Oseloka’s book; and if at all possible, buy extra copies for family members and friends.

Read the book – from cover to cover – so you can earn not only “bragging rights,” but a solid pulpit or rostrum upon which to authoritatively learn from, discuss and critique the book yourself!

Towards the tail end of my review of Oseloka Obaze’s collection of poems, I made a statement that appears to have proven prophetic. I stated that: “. . . I have one final thought before I stay my garrulous pen.

I feel disappointed even deprived that this scintillating poet did not try his hand at the novel, for as I read through his beautifully crafted poems, I could not help feeling that Oseloka Obaze might be one of the few able to [bridge] the false divide between and betwixt poetry and prose.”

Little did I realize at the time that I was making a prophetic statement; and here we are today, celebrating the “birth” of Oseloka’s “forth intellectual child;” for all literary and scholarly writers are expectant mothers!

The priming of APC congresses for failure

By EHICHIOYA EZOMON

s the All Progressives Congress picked Saturday, June 23 for its national conA vention, it’s yet to get over the internal cri-

ses that resulted from the conduct of the ward, council and state congresses nationwide. Members and supporters hope the party would resolve the problems before the convention.

That said, following the “confusion and controversies” that marred the congresses, bystanders and many party faithful, especially those at the short end of the stick, feel that enthusiasts of the aborted tenure elongation for officials deliberately created loopholes to discredit the elections, so as to feed into their narrative.

An “aggrieved” chieftain, Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara State), even smells “conspiracy” by the leadership of the APC at the national headquarters in Abuja to “sabotage” the system, in order to get at the party and President Muhammadu Buhari.

The vocal senator, who alleged that Governor Abdul’Aziz Yari wanted to scheme him out of the congresses, prompting him to conduct parallel balloting, was quoted thus: “After looking at the whole congresses, the way it (they) started, what the party did and everything, to me, there is a massive conspiracy against the party and against the leader of the party - I mean the President of the country.

“The whole thing was like a kind of sabotage, so that this thing will become rancorous and there will be parallel congresses but a set of executive will be established for each state. The whole thing comes to just one thing: sabotage.”

Not many will dispute Marafa’s line of reasoning, considering the obvious shambolic arrangement for the congresses. Why would the party decide on a 24-hour period for aspirants to obtain and return forms,

and the congress committee members to report to the field?

The National Working Committee only met in the evening of Thursday, May 3, with the congress committee members, who were to leave for their respective stations the next day (Friday). Trust politicians, some of them left Abuja or their abodes on the day of the congresses, and got late to the field.

Was the APC constrained, financially, such that the congress committee members could not be mobilized to travel at least two days to their assignments? What about the millions, if not billions the party raked (or will rake) in from the sale of forms to thousands of aspirants?

The congress committees were to meet with “all stakeholders” on the eve of the voting. But where some members made it to their stations that Friday, they either refused to hold the meetings, or convened same with a section of the stakeholders, usually the camps controlled by the state governors.

In some states, the congress committee members deliberately made themselves unavailable to the mainstream delegates, preferring to monitor the congresses attended by delegates that did not buy or return the prescribed forms, as required by the guidelines for the elections.

And where there were stalemates, resulting in parallel congresses, the NWC would tacitly uphold one faction’s returns, or quickly cancel the entire balloting, and reschedule it without first trying to resolve the issues that led to the splintering of the chapter’s members.

Summing up, the NWC of the APC would seem to have embarked on a dog-whistle politics, by which political messaging employs “coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population, but has an additional, different, or more

specific resonance for a targeted subgroup.”

In other words, the NWC promised the APC members its desire to conduct free, fair and credible congresses, only to apparently whistle to the congress committee members to do the exact opposite: muddle the exercises, to create room for crises in the party.

How did the APC get to this sorry pass?

Recall that in the February 27, 2018 meeting of the National Executive Committee, the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC secured, for the party officials, a 12-month extension of tenure, that statutorily ends in June 2018 (next month), to June 2019. But another NEC meeting of March 27 reversed the one-year reprieve, and set the stage for the congresses from May 5.

The reversal of the “elongation of tenure” was officially based on President Buhari’s presentation at the March NEC gathering. While Buhari was concerned about the political and legal implications of “caretaker committees” running the affairs of the APC in an election year, aspirants to the new executives hoped that the congresses would tip the balance of power in the NWC, down to the ward level.

But reports from the states have blunted that optimism, as the tenure elongation proponents consolidated, rather than have their powers whittled. In most states, the governors, christened, “Leaders of the Party,” devised various strategies to conduct the congresses, “so long as they were within the ambit of the APC constitution.”

Discarding direct and/or open/secret voting, except where compromises failed, the governors adopted consensus, voice vote or Option A4 method of balloting, in which delegates queue behind aspirants of their choice.

Thus, the exercises left the opposing camps in the state chapters with no option

than to conduct parallel congresses, some in secret locations, without the required materials prescribed by the party, and the presence of the congress committee members or representatives of the INEC. The congresses meant to ensure internal democracy and unite the APC actually divided the party in virtually all the states. So, resolving the fallouts, and harmonizing the disparate tendencies is the major headache of the party, as it heads into the national convention in June.

•Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

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 Business Manager Kelechi Nze Circulation Manager Felix Oti

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Office of the Secretary To Abia State Government

GOODWILL MESSAGE

O

n behalf of staff of the Office of Secretary to Abia State Government, I congratulate the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu as the Administration led by him completes 3 years in office on May 29, 2018 Governor Sir, under your watch, Abia State has taken giant strides to build a State of hope, peace, progress and prosperity. We have within the resources available repositioned Enyimba City to become SME capital for the Nigerian nation. We have dealt a deadly blow on the poor infrastructure that has bedeviled this state. We have sustained continuity of the democratic process under the PDP flagship. We shall encourage you to take greater strides to keep faith to promises made to Ndi Abia in very realistic terms.

Weusethisopportunityofyourcompleting the 3rd year in office to rekindle the hope for Abians who will continue to work to build this administration and to support it to accomplish the dream and vision of your humane leadership. The narrative so far gives us the courage to ask all Abians to continue to identify with the progress so far.

Our hope which is anchored around God Almighty will lead us looking to the future as you enter the second tenure.

Happy Democracy Day from all of us at the Office of the Secretary to Abia State Government.

Signed Dr. Eme Okoro Secretary to Abia State Government

Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

By FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU

T

oday, Nigeria marks the 19th year of its current democratic dispensation, otherwise known as the Fourth Republic. After almost 40 years of military interregnum, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former General of the Nigerian Army and one-time Military Head of State, was sworn in on May 29, 1999 as a democratically elected President of the Federal Republic.

Since then, democracy has held in the country, despite some hiccups here and there.

In fact, since the country gained its political independence from Britain in 1960, this is the longest period at a stretch that we have been governed democratically.

After political independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria’s parliamentary system of government lasted only six years before the military overthrew the civilian administration in a coup de tat in 1966 thereby truncating the First Republic. Thirteen years later, that is, in 1979, Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was sworn in as the country’s first executive President, the country having jettisoned the British parliamentary system and adopted the American presidential system. But, he was also overthrown by the military four years later in a coup led by then MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari who was to become Head of State.

Buhari himself was overthrown in a coup led by then Major-General Mohammed Babangida, who also became military head of state—he called himself President.

In the next eight years, Babangida simply dribbled the country while claiming to be transiting to civilian rule. It was not until 1991 that the armour officer emplaced a diarchy whereby the country had elected civilian governors while Babangida, a serving army general retained the position of President. The presidential election of June 12, 1993, which was organized to elect a President to complete the civilianization of the nation’s leadership, was to be annulled

by Babangida. The crisis of that annulment and a combination of other factors finally led to the execution of a transition programme that eventually enthroned the current dispensation.

A Day like no other Given the tortuous nature of our political history, it is understandable that the May 29 Democracy Day is a day held dear by Nigerians. The day reminds us of the deleterious effects of military rule and why we must all join hands to work on our democracy, to ensure that we don’t, as they say, “return to Egypt.”

Throughout the country today, the President, governors and leaders of the legislative houses will make declarations reiterating the virtues of democracy and enjoining all of us to defend it. Although elections in these parts have not been exactly transparent, free and fair, many would agree that such exhortative messages from the political leaders urging us all to work hard, in words and actions, to ensure that this democracy is sustained for much, much longer, are very much in order.

Where the drums may beat louder If there is any State in the federation where this year’s Democracy Day will be celebrated the most, that State is probably Enugu. This is because, in the Coal City State, there is a harmonious interplay of most of the factors that recommend democracy over and above other systems of government: One, it is a peaceful State.

Two, dividends of democracy literally flow like water here and are evenly distributed among the State’s three Senatorial districts.

Three, there is regular interface between the government and the governed via stakeholders/ town hall meetings and mega rallies where major decisions that influence governance in the State are taken.

Four and more importantly, a functional, democratically elected local government administration is firmly in place, effectively catering to the needs of the electorate at the grassroots.

If the foregoing is anything to go, there is arguably no other state in the federation where the electorate is as massively mobilized to participate in democratic governance as in Enugu State. Under Ugwuanyi, Enugu is really pointing the way to go in a

Democracy @

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Democracy Day, Gburugburu Movement and Igbo-Eze North

•Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi goes round to greet the crowd on his arrival at Township Stadium, Ogrute, Enugu-Ezike, venue of the launch of the Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area chapter of Gburugburu Movement. He is accompanied by LG chairman, Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja (2nd right)

democratic dispensation, for the rest of the South East States. So, indigenes of the Coal City State have every reason to celebrate loudly today.

How the celebration will play out in the LGAs Again, focus will be on Enugu, a 100 per cent PDP State. Here, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s populist leadership style has spawned hundreds of support groups, which have devised ingenious ways of drawing attention to the man’s stellar performance and, by extension, drumming up support for his re-election bid without necessarily breaking any provisions of the Electoral Act as it affects campaigns. The launch, at regular intervals, of a chapter of GBURUGBURU MOVEMENT (GM), a wellorganized mass mobilization platform, in each of the 17 local government areas of Enugu State, which started in August last year, has ensured that there is, in the State, a celebration of something akin to Democracy Day practically every other week. And this, needless to say, has put the electorate in Enugu in a state of permanent political alertness. So, today, political leaders across the 17 local councils in Enugu will lead party (mostly PDP) faithful, council workers, artisans, women groups and youth groups to mark this year’s Democracy Day in style.

Igbo-Eze North enters Democracy Day from successful GM launch On Saturday, May 19, the Igbo-Eze North chapter of the Gburugburu Movement was launched. It was the last of such outings for the Movement before the grand-finale, which is slated to hold in the governor’s Udenu Local Government Area on a date to be announced sooner or later. And the event lived up to its billing: it was massive With 119 primary schools (all of Jigawa State has 120) and nearly 2000 teachers, Igbo-Eze North is among Enugu’s three

largest, including Nsukka and Nkanu East local councils. In the 2015 election, the local government produced the highest number of votes cast for Governor Ugwuanyi in the Nsukka cultural zone and the second highest in the entire State, second only to Nsukka council area. The local government and its people have a reputation for doing things big, as big as their size and number.

To be sure, Ogrute Township Stadium was a sight to behold on May 19th. The crowd was extraordinarily large—larger than any that had previously gathered elsewhere for the same purpose. The uniforms won by groups came in a thousand hues, an indication of the high number of groups that organized themselves and came to honour Gburugburu at the launch. Among the boisterous, gaily attired groups were the ones that accompanied some of IgboEze North’s political leaders to the venue.

Council Chairman, Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja was escorted into the venue by a group of enthusiastic youths and party faithful who sang and danced him into the arena. Engr.

Simon Atigwe, General Manager of Enugu State Rural Electrification Board (ESREB), a pragmatic professional and respected political leader, came in with a huge retinue of Gburugburu supporters whom he kitted for, and entertained at, the occasion. So did Prince Emeka Mamah (IDE), a crowd puller and youth favourite who is also Chairman of Ifesinachi Industries Nig Ltd and MD/CEO Ifex Express Ltd. Mamah’s Ambassadors for Gburugburu support group was among the first set of groups to arrive at the township stadium for the GM launch and luckily witnessed the historic commissioning of a new Fire Service Station built by the Ugwuanyi Administration for and in the Igbo-Eze North Council. There were also groups led by Honourable Dennis Agbo, Member representing Udenu/Igbo-Eze North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, whose Integrity Group was well represented at the

event, and Ambassador Fidel Ayogu, former Member House of Representatives for Udenu/Igbo-Eze North Federal Constituency, whose uniformed group was very much around. Senator Chuka Utazi’s Foot Soldiers for Gburugburu 2019 Support group, led by Hon. Cyril Chinedu Onu was also there. Utazi is the Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial Zone of which Igbo-Eze North is part. He is also married to an Igbo-Eze woman.

The Igwes and their cabinet members, resplendent in their varied robes and attires were equally on hand to honour the august visitor.

What was, however, most intriguing about the event was that it was a very peaceful and orderly endorsement rally.

Although the crowd was very large, even tumultuous, the event was peaceful and characterized by camaraderie even among politicians whose usually vaulting ambitions routinely clash with one another’s and tend to make them undeclared enemies of one another. An elated Governor Ugwuanyi, who represented Igbo-Eze North and his own council area, Udenu in the House of Representatives for 12 years, in his speech, told the people, “You are my pillar.”

Assuring the appreciative crowd that he would continue to do more to cater to the needs of the people of the area and Enugu State in general, Ugwuanyi vowed to sustain the enviable status of the State as “a model for peace, security and good governance.”

Thereafter, he was endorsed for a second term by the people of Igbo-Eze North following a motion moved by a former Member of the State House of Assembly, Hon. David Atigwe. And, then, he inaugurated the Igbo-Eze North chapter of Gburugburu Movement support group.

Cont’d on page 26

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Ikpeazu’s projects touch

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N less three years of the Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu Administration, his spread of projects has improved lives throughout the State. He is just starting. Working with the various Local Governments – and he has visited each of them – he has commenced projects that aligned with the needs of each area.

The Chairmen of the 17 Local Governments in Abia State under the auspices of our body, the Association of Local

Governments in Nigeria, ALGON, Abia State Chapter, duly acknowledge the impact that the Governor Okezie has made in the different LGs. For most, roads and bridges are critical, other want projects in electricity, agriculture, skills acquisition, health centres, schools, law enforcement, security, and markets.

Our members can testify how working together with Gov-

ernor Ikpeazu, our various LGAs have enjoyed improvements in the lives of the people through projects that have been possible with the co-operation of the Governors.

We can unequivocally say that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is working for the good of Abia State. He is making Abia better, it is still work in progress, but we are happy with the results so far...

From roads, bridges, drainages to provision of electricity, renovation of schoos, skills acquisition, industrialisation, agriculture and rebuilding Aba, the Okezie Ikpeazu administration has managed meagre resources to keep improving lives in the 17 LGAs of the State. Abia State chapter of ALGON congratulates Gov Ikpeazu on the spread of projects across the State.

Special message powered b

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

h everywhere – ALGON Gov Ikpeazu’s harvest of projects: 1. Rehabilitation Kaduna, Abam and Awolowo Street, Umuahia North LGA 2. Construction of Kamalu Road, Aba North LGA 3. Reconstruction of Umuwaya Road, Umuahia North LGA 4. Reconstruction of Road II, Federal Low Cost Housing Estate, Umuahia North LGA 5. Rehabilitation of Niger Road, Umuahia North 6. Rehabilitation/Reconstruction of Ukaegbu Road, Aba 7. Rehabilitation/Reconstruction of Umuola Road, Aba North LGA 8. Rehabilitation of Umuocham Road, Osisioma LGA 9. Reconstruction of Umule Road, Aba 10. Reconstruction of Ommene Drive, Aba 11. Rehabilitation of Jubilee Road, Aba 12. Rehabilitation of Ehi Road, Aba 13. Rehabilitation of Hospital Road, Aba 14. Rehabilitation of Ube Road, Aba 15. Rehabilitation of Adazi Road, Aba 16. Construction of Okon-Aku Main Bridge, Ohafia LGA 17. Construction of Owerri Road, Aba North LGA 18. Construction of Echefu Road with Spur, Aba South LGA 19. Rehabilitation of Enoch Road, Osisioma LGA 20. Rehabilitation of St. Michael’s Road, Aba 21. Rehabilitation of Azikiwe Road, Aba 22. Rehabilitation of Pound Road, Aba 23. Rehabilitation of Uwalaka Street Link Road to Factory Road, Umuahia North LGA 24. Rehabilitation of Ubakala Street, Warri by Club Road, Bende Road, Army Checkpoint, Bank Road, Abia Tower Round About, Umuahia North LGA 25. Reconstruction of Owerrinta Road, Aba 26. Reconstruction of Week’s Road, Aba 27. Rehabilitation of Park Road, Aba 28. Rehabilitation of School Road, Aba 29. Rehabilitation of East Road, Aba 30. Rehabilitation of Okwunauka Road, Aba 31. Reconstruction of Cameroun Road, Aba 32. Reconstruction of Queens Road, Aba 33. Reconstruction of Ehere Road, Obingwa LGA 34. Reconstruction of MCC/Umuojima Road, Osisioma LGA 35. Reconstruction of Ndikpa Bridge, Umunneochi LGA 36. Construction of Umuojima-Owerrinta Road, with Spur from Owerrinta to Umuocheala (4.7km), Isiala Ngwa South/Obingwa LGAs 37. Reconstruction of Bata-Railway Crossing- Brass Junction, Aba North LGA 38. Construction of Ibadan Road, Aba South LGA 39. Construction of Aharandu Road, Aba South LGA 40. Construction of Onyebuchi Road, Aba South LGA 41. Construction of Umuehigbu Road, Aba North LGA LIST OF AWARDED/ONGING ROAD PROJECTS 1. Expansion/rehabilitation of Ururuka Road from Obikabia Junction to Umuobiakwa, Obingwa LGA 2. Construction of Old Express Road, Aba South LGA 3. Construction of 3 No Roads Government Station Layout (ICC, ASUBEB Building Road and JAC Building) Umuahia North 4. Rehabilitation/Reconstruction of Mbawsi Road from King Mortuary to Umuala Nsulu, Isiala Ngwa North 5. Construction of Agbama Housing Estate Ring Road, Umuahia North LGA 6. Construction of 3 No. Roads in Federal Low Cost Housing Estate, Umuahia North 7. Construction of Eke-Eziama Obuzu Ngodo Road, Umunneochi LGA 8. Construction of Abiriba Ring Road with Spur to Amaukwu, Ohafia LGA 9. Construction of Eluama Amilo Acha and Amino Otampka, Isuikwuato LGA 10. Construction of Umuovom-Okwueze Housing of Assembly Road, Umuahia North LGA 11. Rehabilitation/Reconstruction of Abia Nkwo Ahiaba Umueze – Udeagbala PH Express Junction with Spur to Umuimo Junction on Aba Owerri Road, Aba North LGA 12. Construction of Ebenma/Egege Road, Aba North LGA 13. Construction of Interchange (Flyover) and Bridges for decongesting Ogbor Hill, Aba 14. Asphalt Overlay of 1.3km dualised Aba Owerri Road (2.6km single lane and channelization of Aba Phase 1), Aba 15. Rehabilitation of Umuaro-Umuokoro-Mgbokonaya-Umuokegwu-Omoba Umuerie-Umuekia Road, Obingwa/Isiala Ngwa South LGAs 16. Construction of Ariam-Usaka Ring Road, Ikwuano LGA 17. Construction of Umuagu-Ossa Ukwuowo Obikabia-Ohuru Ring Road, Obingwa LGA 18. Construction of Umueze-Agbor-Ubani Ibeku Modern Market Road, Umuahia North LGA 19. Construction of Ozuabam –Ndi Okereke-Arochukwu Road, Arochukwu LGA 20. Construction of Amuihe –Umuokehi-Umunkaru Afugiri Road, Umuahia North LGA 21. Construction of 3 No. Roads in Umuahia (Umuana 1st Gate, Umuana-Ahiaeke Road and IBB GRA Dual Car-

riage Way), Umuahia North LGA 22. Construction of Bende –Idima Aba Road, Arochukwu LGA 23. Construction of Ebem Layout Road 24. Expansion of Aba-Obikabia Road, Isiala Ngwa North LGA 25. Reconstruction of Uratta –Umuekechi-ObekweOgwe Road, Ukwa West LGA 26. Construction of Umuobiakwa –Itukpa Crescent, Obingwa LGA 27. Construction of Umuojima – Owerrinta Road with Spur to Owerrinta Umudigha Road, Isiala Ngwa South 28. Construction of Abiriba Junction to Etitiama Nkporo, Ohafia 29. Construction of Umuobiakwa- Owo Onicha Ngwa Road, Obingwa LGA 30. Construction of Amaoba – Nnono Ndoro-Oboro Road with Spur to Ikputu, Ikwuano LGA 31. Construction of Amuda Isuochi Community Road, Umunneochi LGA 32. Construction of Lohum –Nkpa to Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway, Bende/Umuahia North LGA’s 33. Dualisation/Expansion of Umuahia –Aba Road, Ururuka (Phase II), Umuahia North/South/Isiala Ngwa North/South/Obingwa LGA’s 34. Reconstruction of Umuahia Railway Crossing to Eastern Comfort Hotels, Umuahia North LGA 35. Construction of Ariam Usaka Ring Road, Ikwuano LGA 36. Reconstruction of Emelogu Road, Aba 37. Reconstruction of Faulks Road, (4.8km) Rehabilitation and Expansion of Ifeobara Pond, Aba 38. Rehabilitation of Trinity College – Afara Technical Secondary School Road, Umuahia North AGRICULTURE • Large-scale mushroom production and Training Programme • Palm Production with over 4,000,000 tenera specie seedlings grown and sold across the State • Embarked on enhanced poultry and fish production with phase 1 of 100 poultry pens of 150,000 birds executed.

• Funding for FADAMA III projects, 300 young Abia farmers benefiting from N2.5Million per person grant as part of the Farmpreneur project of the World Bank (FADAMA) TRADE, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY • Partnering with Federal Government to provide steady power supply at Ariaria International Market area of Aba with 10,000 shops already connected • Attracted Federal Government support for MSMEs at Aba leading to executive order prioritizing procurement of Aba made brands.

• Umukalika leader and garment cluster construction (ongoing) • In partnership with the World Bank, reactivation of the moribund Igu Dam to ensure all year round Rice production in the State.

• Launched Government enterprise empowerment programme (GEEP) in partnership with FGN that provided up to N50, 000 to selected Abians who are grouped in cooperative societies So far the programme has funded more than 5,000 Abians and in process of domestication to support additional 100,000 Abians.

• Facilitated direct sells valued at over N1.3 billion from the NAVY, NYSC, ARMY, IDP Camp etc for made in Aba brands • Sending 30 Shoe makers to China to learn automated shoe production.

EDUCATION • Abia State has maintained 1st position in WAEC and NECO examinations for consecutive 3 years as a result of increased monitoring and enhancement of private and public sector • Ongoing reconstruction of Ohanze Community Primary and Secondary School in Obingwa Local Government Area • 4 new model schools under construction with 132 schools being renovated and 10,000 new school furniture.

• The Ikpeazu administration has partnered with the private sector to provide free made in Aba school sandals to over 2000 school children in the State. More will benefit from this programme which also supports our made in Aba promotion agenda.

OTHERS • Ultra-modern Abia Investment House • Dr Okezie Ikpeazu administration introduced the use of Rigid Pavement (Cement) Technology in road construction to guarantee minimum of 30 years life span • Ongoing construction of Ovom Mechanic Village at Ovom, Aba

by ALGON, Abia State Chapter

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Igbo-Eze North Local Government Council

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@19,

Nigerian Democracy maturing O

n behalf of the Council and good people of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, I felicitate with the people’s governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Lawrence Ugwuanyi (Gburugburu) and the entire people of Enugu State as Nigeria marks 19 years of democracy.

Exactly 19 years ago today, Nigeria returned to democratic governance from military rule. However, in the past three years, democracy has taken firmer roots in Enugu State under Governor Ugwuanyi than was hitherto thought possible.

Apart from his high voltage performance, which has seen him deliver democracy dividends to the people in every nook and cranny of Enugu State, Ugwuanyi has democratised governance in the State to the extent that virtually every major

decision taken by his government often comes as a product of the collective decision of the people reached at town-hall and participatory meetings with the governed.

More importantly, there is probably no other State in the country today where the local government system is as functional and grassroots-based as in Enugu State.

For these and more, we celebrate our great leader, Enugu’s consummate democrat and marvelous political organizer, His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyichukwu Lawrence Ugwuanyi (Gburugburu) on this 19th anniversary of our hard-worn democratic dispensation.

Truly, Enugu State is in the hands of God

Happy Democracy Day, Your Excellency Long live Igbo-Eze North, Long live Enugu State, Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria Signed: Comrade Uwakwe Fredrick Ezeja, Executive Chairman, Igbo-Eze North LGA.

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Democracy @ 19: Special Report on Igbo-Eze North LGA

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•Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja •Governor Ifeanyi Ugwaunyi •Augustin Nnamani

Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja: Change agent and his changes in Igbo-Eze North LGA In this report, FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU writes on the emergence of Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja, labour leader per excellence, as caretaker committee, and later elected, chairman of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State and the positive changes that have since followed.

T

o determine how effective his appointees were, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State set up a Local Government Performance Monitoring Team to rate the performance of the local government caretaker committee chairmen whom he appointed in January 2016 to head the 17 councils in Enugu.

The Team was to rate the caretaker chairmen’s performance in terms of regular payment of workers’ salaries, peace and tranquility, security of life and property, provision of social amenities and mobilization of the citizenry for effective participation in the democratic process.

By the time the Team returned its verdict towards the end of the two-year tenure of the caretaker chairmen, Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja, Chairman, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area had bested his colleagues in the remaining 16 local councils in the State in all scores. This, needless to say, paved the way for his return as an elected executive chairman of the local government.

POOR STATE OF THINGS HITHERTO In an interview with Enugu Local Government News, a publication of the State Ministry of Local Governments, Comrade Ezeja agonized over the state of things in the local government when he assumed office: “I met a local government area that had completely collapsed in all aspects. I can declare to you that this local government is a failed one. You can go round the local government headquarters’ buildings to see

Cont’d on page 32

•Something to laugh about: Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja (centre) shares a joke with some local government executives in front of the new Chairman’s office under construction at the council secretariat premises, Ogrute, Enugu-Ezike.

Democracy @19

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

28

On Saturday, May 19, 2018, the Igbo-Eze North Local Government chapter of Gburugburu Movement, a support group for Enugu governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi was launched amidst fanfare @ Township Stadium, Ogrute, Enugu-Eze, headquarters of Igbo- Eze North. Here is the event in pix Photos: Courtesy, Williams Nwodo, PA to Comrade Ezeja on social Media.

•Vice Chairman, Igbo-Eze North LGA, Hon. Luke Uroko (centre) and others.

•Gov. Ugwuanyi in a handshake with security agents at the occasion

•Engr. Simon Atigwe (Muo), General Manager Enugu State Rural Electrification Board (ESRB) arrives at the venue in company of Comrade Ezeja (right) and others.

•(R-L) HRH, Igwe Felix Attah, Isienyi 1 of Umuida Autonomous Community; Igwe Ogbonna Ekere of Ogrute Autonomous Community, Engr. Atigwe and another traditional ruler at the occassion.

•(L-r) Hon. Tony Ogidi, Chairman Water Resources, Enugu State House of Assembly; Hon. Ethel Oyibo Ugwuanyi, Deputy Chief Whip, Enugu State House of assembly and Hon. Hillary Ogili, Secretary to Council, Igbo Eze North LGA.

•Prince Emeka Mamah ( Ide), Chairman of Ifesinachi Industries Ltd and MD/CEO, Ifex Express ushered into the venue by members of his Good Ambassadors for Gburugburu support group

•Simeon Eke (right), PRO, Igbo-Eze North Local Government going through the day’s programme with another participant at the event.

•L-R: Former Member, Enugu State House of Assembly and current zonal chairman, PDP, Enugu North Senatorial District, Hon. Mike Onyeze and Chairman PDP, Igbo-Eze North, Hon. Alex Uramah.

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Democracy @

•Senior Special Assistant to Gov Ugwaunyi on Liaison Affairs, Abuja, Hon. (Mrs.) Ngozi Ezeja (centre) with others.

19

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•Mrs. Cecelia Ezeja (Mayoress), wife of Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja, Chairman, Igbo-Eze North LGA

P

•Former LG Chairman, Igbo-Eze North, Hon. Chijioke Ugwu (2nd left)

•HRM Igwe (Dr.) Simon Osisi Itodo, Ezeoha 1 of Aji, Esodo, exchanging pleasantries with Engr. Atigwe on the Igwe’s arrival at the venue.

•(R-l) DG of Gburugburu Movement, Igbo-Eze North, former LG Chairman and former Secretary to the Government of Enugu State, Hon. Innocent Agbo; Businessman and treasurer of Gburugburu Movement, Chief Festus Ayogu (Bravo) and Hon. Emeka Ukwuaba, former Chairman of the LGA and former Commissioner for Special Duties, Enugu State.

•A line-up of Good Ambassadors for Gburugburu with Prince Mamah, their patron.

•Hon. (Barr) Godwin Ogbo, former Chairman of Igbo-Eze North LGA and former Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs in Enugu State (right) in a tete a tete with Comrade Ezeja while Hon. Ngozi Ayogu, a woman leader in Igbo-Eze North (centre) discusses a participant.

•Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja (centre) flanked by his CSO Hon. Chinedu Abugu (right) and SA to Governor Ugwuanyi, Onyekachi Eya (left).

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

ENUGU STATE RURAL ELECTRIFICATION BOARD

Hurray! Nigerian Democracy is

T

19

he management and staff of Enugu State Rural Electrification Board (ENSREB), wish His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Lawrence Ugwuanyi (Gburugburu), our amiable, dynamic and hard-working governor, a happy Democracy Day. His Excellency, we are grateful to God that under your watch, Enugu State has, in the past three years, seen unprecedented development and progress, as much in the area of socio-economic infrastructure as in the democratization of governance.

We are all witnesses to how you emplaced a functional, democratically elected local government system in the State, and to the mass mobilization of the grassroots to participate in the democratic process to a degree that is only possible in present day Enugu State of which you are governor.

So, as the nation celebrates 19 unbroken years of civilian democracy today, we share in your immense joy as the democratic beacon of Enugu State, our indefatigable leader and peace-loving administrator.

Truly, Enugu State is in the hands of God.

Happy Democracy Day, Your Excellency Long live Enugu State, Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria Signed: Engr. Simon Atigwe, General Manager.

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

ALL HAIL DEMOCRACY

@ 19!

M

y family and I felicitate with His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Gburugburu of Africa), Enugu State governor of Enugu State, the good people of the State and Nigeria as the country marks 19 consecutive years of democratic governance in the country.

We celebrate with His Excellency who is not only a democratically elected governor but also a true democrat whose every action is governed by democratic principles.

The people-oriented policies of Governor Ugwuanyi, the participatory governance he encourages both at the State level and the grassroots, his inimitable sense of justice, equity and fairness, evident in the even distribution of democracy dividends in the three senatorial zones of the State, among others, are evidence that democracy in Enugu State, with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on the driver’s seat, is alive and thriving.

Enugu State is truly in the hands of God

Happy Democracy Day, Your Excellency.

Long live Udenu/Igbo-Eze Federal Constituency Long live Enugu State Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria

Signed:

Prince (Dr.) Chukwuemeka Mamah (Ide), Chairman, Ifesinachi Industries Nig. Ltd, MD/CEO, IFEX Express Limited

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Democracy @ 19: Special Report on Igbo-Eze North LGA

32

you can sit down in your house and expect miracles. I was a trade unionist and I know as a worker the first thing you do is to protect your work environment because if the local government system collapses, the workers automatically lose their jobs. I also put it to them that I am one of the workers.

I am the number one worker in this local government. I have been in the struggle for better conditions of service for workers for more than 23 years. I was 27 years old when I joined trade union. I spent all my time fighting for the interests of workers. So, if they cannot believe me, they cannot believe anybody. The response has been encouraging.”

•Comrade Ezeja inspecting ongoing water project @ Umuadogwa, Umuida The premises are overgrown with weeds. I met a local government area where there was no one naira in its treasury. I met a local government that has N330m debt; where workers are spiritually hopeless...”

Indeed! But, once he assumed, Ezeja changed the narrative in Igbo-Eze North for the better. Take security, for instance. Before his appointment, the security situation in Igbo-Eze North was precarious, to say the least. Ritualists and organ hunters were on the prowl, killing and dismembering people practically unchallenged. In one instance, criminals butchered a man and his wife and removed their vital parts, either for sale or for money ritual purposes. The situation was so bad that social life in Igbo-Eze North practically died as people ensured they were not seen outside their homes (which were also not safe) after 7pm. The people were almost at the nadir of their hopes until Governor Ugwuanyi appointed Comrade Ezeja, a seasoned administrator and an activist trade union leader as caretaker chairman and sooner than later, the scale began to tilt against the criminals. For, the people’s chairman quickly reorganized the security architecture of the council for more effective service delivery. He appointed new leadership for the local vigilante, equipped the local security outfit and brought them under police control through a local security committee in which all security services have representatives and which, till date, determines the direction community policing in Igbo-Eze North must go.

The result is that today, Igbo-Eze North is easily the safest community in Enugu State, what with people and businesses up and about as far into the night as 11pm to 12 midnight—everyday.

•The fire service station built by Gburugburu

•Igbo Eze-North Council Secretariat

Cont’d from page 27 how the premises look: everything is dilapidated. I met a local government that cannot pay workers’ salaries for four months. I met a local government area where the revenue of the council was in the hands of contractors. I met a local government area where there is a high level of corruption; where the entire local government system including

the entire revenue sources, were in private hands and nothing was being paid into the treasury of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Council. I met a local government area where everybody, starting from the chairman to the workers, has their individual receipts. I met a local government area where there is no order. Workers actually don’t come to work. There are about 600 workers and few of them come to work.

MEASURES TAKEN TO SALVAGE SITUATION In his own words, these are what Comrade Ezeja did on assumption of office as caretaker Chairman: “The first thing I did to salvage the system was to call the entire local government workers for a prayer session led by Rev Fr. Paul Obayi and a priest from the Carmelite Order, Rev Father Walter Mary. We asked God to intervene in our lives and in the administration of the council. I recall the old Anambra state when local government administration functioned well. It was an era when local government system functioned without allocations.

Workers were being paid salaries as and when they were due. The issue of allocation started in the Babangida period. Before then there was nothing called allocation to local governments but workers were paid through internally generated revenue.

“After the prayers, I told the workers to start coming to work. There is no way

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT In the area of social infrastructure, the Ezeja administration started three big market projects in Umuida, Amufie and Ogrute, all of them near completion. All the markets are being constructed on the basis of owner-occupier stalls/shops.

In line with the Ugwuanyi Administration’s philosophy of regular salary as economic stimulus in a not-too-industrialised state, Ezejah as caretaker chairman paid salaries not just regularly but as and when due. This was more than a feat because Igbo-Eze North, compared to a number of other local councils in the state, has a high number of primary schools and teachers.

For instance, compared to a neighbouring local government, which has only 43 primary schools, and 700 teachers, Igbo-Eze North has 119 primary schools and 1,700 teachers whose salaries are deducted from the council’s monthly allocation at source.

Imagine, one local government alone has 119 primary schools while Jigawa as a state has only 120!

It was against this background that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following a successful primary election, fielded Comrade Ezeja as the party’s candidate for the November 4, 2017 local government election in Enugu State. With no strong opposition in the local government to challenge PDP’s choice, Ezeja expectedly won a landslide victory in the November 4, 2017 election and was sworn in on December 4, exactly one month after the election.

BACK TO FAMILIAR TERRAIN The Igbo say that age does not dim a woman’s prowess in a native dance at which she is good. So, as soon as he was sworn in as the elected executive chairman of Igbo-Eze North, a sprawling, practically one-town local government that boasts a dynamic population, Comrade Uwakwe Eze swung into action, happy and honoured to be back to a familiar terrain, to continue from where he stopped as caretaker chairman. Since his swearing-in on December 4 last year, Ezeja has caused a rain of projects to fall on Igbo-Eze North.

In addition to two major roads that Governor Ugwuanyi is building in the local government, two to-be-asphalted feeder roads that link communities in the largely agrarian local government, the Comrade Ezeja council administration is grading and upgrading 16 roads in the local government, renovating primary schools and sinking boreholes.

Ezeja has also started the construction of a new chairman’s office complex; he is re-roofing the old secretariat building, which has not been given a face-lift since it was built in 1976; he is working to complete an imposing legislative council complex started by one of his predecessors and has embarked on a general clean-up of the local government secretariat premises, which had remained unkempt under previous council administrations.

Equally importantly, Comrade Ezeja is speeding the completion of the new markets his caretaker administration started in Umuida, Amufie, Ogrute, and other places.

Once on a projects inspection tour of Igbo-Eze North Local Government, the National Assembly consultant on Projects Monitoring, Kayode Adebayo had this to say about the Ezeja Administration: “What

Cont’d on page 33

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Democracy @ 19: Special Report on Igbo-Eze North LGA Cont’d from page 32 I saw in Igbo-Eze North is a testimony of (Governor Ugwauanyi’s) encouragement for the council chairmen in the state to execute people- oriented projects,” praising Comrade Ezeja for commitment towards providing massive dividends of democracy to the people even as he disclosed that his team had witnessed spheres of physical development projects springing up in all sectors such as building of class room blocks, roads, health centres, rural electrification and provision of electric transformers for distribution to different communities.

To this, a moderate, self-effacing Ezeja replied that since the emergence of Governor Ugwuanyi, the local government council had keyed into his development agenda in a bid “to emulate the people’s governor in providing massive dividends of democracy that would impact on the lives of the people.”

“I want to point out that His Excellency’s concern about the plight of rural dwellers has made us to engage in concrete projects that touch on the lives of the people. By this development, it becomes obvious that local government administration is returning to what it ought to be,” he added.

HONOUR TO WHOM IT’S IS DUE For his achievements as a seasoned local government administrator, Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja has received accolades from his very own constituency—the labour movement.

Indeed, it was an avalanche of awards recently for the transition Comrade Ezeja as three organizations in the labour movement conferred awards of excellence on him.

The first was by the Grass-Roots Magazine, a publication of the national body of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). Chairman of the Board of Trustees of ALGON, Odunayo Ategbero, while presenting the award to Comrade Ezeja at the Merit House, Abuja, said the award was meant for outstanding local government chairmen in Nigeria.

“Comrade Ezeja is given this award because of his immense grass-roots development in Igboeze North LGA of Enugu state.

He is among the few who have shown that they can be entrusted with public offices,” he said.

Comrade Ezeja commended the organizers of the award, pledging to continue to embark on people-oriented programmes that would impact positively on the people of his area. “I pledge to work harder to justify this award. I dedicate it to the people of Igbo-Eze North LGA,” he said.

Comrade Ezeja was also conferred with the ‘Legendry Labour Leadership Award’ by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Enugu Chapter, for his achievements as the labour leader in Enugu State.

He also bagged the award of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE0, Enugu State, for being the mostfriendly labour local government chairman in Enugu state.

The award was presented to him by the union’s state president, Comrade Ken Ugwueze.

As past caretaker Chairman who was campaigning to be elected chairman, Ezeja was also honoured by Igbo- Eze North Youths, in recognition of excellence in the discharge of his duties.

Presenting the award, the coordinating youth leader in the LGA, Hon. Ifeanyi Oyiga, said: “We decided to honour the chairman considering his efforts towards curbing insecurity in the local government area. Before now, we had issues that bothered mostly on security, which had to do with killings and mutilations of mad people, old women and men in different villages and communities in the local government.

“But since he came, he has strengthened the security apparatus to the extent that we have not had such cases again. As council chairman, that particular problem that confronted our local government was reduced, at least from 100 per cent to 10 per cent. So we give God the glory for his efforts.”

Corroborating Hon. Oyiga, the PDP youth leader in the local government, Mr. Francis Arji said they gave Ezeja the award in appre-

33

Change agent and his changes in Igbo-Eze North LGA

•Comrade Ezeja, accompanied by his deputy Luke Uroko (middle) and the PRO Simeon Eke, inspects the chairman’s office under construction

•Comrade Ezeja (right) with a SLG, Hon. Hillary Ogili (centre), others in front of the newly commissioned Fire Station build by the State govt.

• Roads constructed by the State govt in Igbo-Eze North ciation of his role in bringing peace brought back to Igbo-Eze North.

“We are celebrating the second tenure of Hon. Uwakwe Ezeja; we are also celebrating the peace in the sense that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers, where two political giants fight, it is the youths that are going to suffer,” he said, adding: “Because of the peace that pervaded Igbo-Eze North, there has not been anything like fight but peace in the local government and we the youths are very happy for this peaceful environment.

“We are thanking our leaders for coming together and acting with one voice and in one accord. Since his assumption of office, Comrade Ezeja has responded well in the area of security. Hitherto, our people were not sleeping with both eyes closed, but today, they sleep and wake up sound because there is peace.

“Our expectation from his second term in office is for a continuation of his good works because he has been doing very well and if somebody is doing well and he is asked to go back, he is bent to do more in the task ahead. Youths are being empowered, workers’ salaries are paid and a lot of other good things are happening in the local government, thanks to his purposeful leadership.”

Receiving the award from the youths Ezeja said: “I excelled in the area of resolving security issues in the local government through the cooperation of the youths.

These youths actually know who is a criminal and who is not. I mobilised them; they worked with me and ensured that the local government is safe.

“I succeeded because of the partnership between me and the youths in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, to make our place safe for investment and good govern-

ance so that our people living in all parts of the world could come home and stay.

“Where there is no security, there will be no development and the youths supported me aggressively and massively to succeed in what I was able to do when I was a caretaker chairman.”

While appreciating the youths for the trust and confidence reposed in him, Ezeja assured that his manifesto had many youthfriendly programmes, which he would execute if elected the council chairman in the scheduled November 4, 2017 council polls in Enugu State.

“I will embark on aggressive youth empowerment. We will have skill acquisition centres to provide skills and employment for so many youths. I will also empower them the much I can to ensure that the leaders of tomorrow are also given opportunity to put food on their tables,” he pledged.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

ENERGY

Power sector debts spark war among players

•Discos defy regulation •Gencos battle off upstarts from payment scheme

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

A

COMBINATION of regulatory failure, market operations rascality and consequent huge debt overhang has formed the biggest threat to the intricate commercial arrangements that underpin government’s gas-to-power programme. And the current administration of the government appears to have been roped into the ancient war for commercial returns among frightened investors.

Currently, a section of power producers and gas players are in court for a declaration against government and two other companies from interfering with the sharing of the dividends of series of battles earlier waged by upstream players to cut down debilitating debts.

The warring parties and government’s policy drivers are lumped together in a commercial arrangement in which the fortunes of their businesses are entwined.

The arrangement forms part of the direct outcomes of the Nigerian electricity industry reforms conceived to dismantle public sector monopoly in the sector, open up the sector to the efficient hands of private investors, diversify investments through multiple stakeholder participation and liberalize the sector in the long run.

Standing on the legal provisions available in the Electric Power Sector Reforms Act (EPSRA) of 2005, government had sold legacy assets and 17 of the 18 business units the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc to private investors in a privatization process conducted by the National Council on Privatization (NCP) and processed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

However, the privatization came with gas supply challenges as the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a unit of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was relieved of mandatory supply obligations to thermal

power stations earlier owned by government. Government responded with rapid commercial reforms in the domestic gas sector to make supplies to local consumers attractive to investors.

The Gas-to-Power programme that emerged flaunted attractive policy and commercial incentives for participation in several segments of the power sector investment loop.

And huge investments poured in.

The Oracle Today reports that under the gas-to-power arrangement, a commercial relay among investors was forged and managed by government to encourage gas companies (Gascos), electricity generation companies (Gencos), a power transmission company (transysco) and electricity distribution companies (Discos) to collaborate in building the industry’s capacity to meet demand in the economy.

Investors also counted on the commercial opportunity in plugging huge domestic electricity demand gap in the country, fixing their focus on the multi-year tariff order (MYTO) that promised incremental income as the system gets more efficient with reduction in average technical and commercial losses. These losses are supposed to be wiped off with fresh private sector investments in network and operations facility upgrades.

In the relay, gas producers supply gas for electricity production, Gencos feed the national grid with volume output for transportation to Discos in various regions of the country. The commercial returns also flow back from the Discos in the downstream to Gencos and Gascos in the upstream. The transactions are processed by independent bodies that manage allocations to meet government’s social services obligations to all business and domestic consumers in the country.

Under the arrangement, government also established deal brokers that manage transactions in the sys-

tem without direct dealings among the players. The Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) were established to manage gas supplies to Gencos and power supplies to Discos respectively. Thus, the arrangement while guaranteeing equitable supplies to Gencos and Discos under a uniform market tariff for gas and electricity respectively, it also offers payment warranties to gas suppliers, Gencos and the Transysco.

All private and public sector participants in the arrangement are supervised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) which is the omnibus regulator overseeing technical activities, fiscal regime implementation and commercial operations in the sector.

However, the expected backflow arrangement for commercial returns from the Discos to players in the upstream end of the loop did not function as conceived. Also, expected investments in plugging technical and commercial losses are yet to be made, while most of the 11 Discos are in innumerable disputes with angry customers across the country.

By the end of 2016, the debt profile of the distribution companies crossed the trillion Naira milestone, while Gascos and Gencos fume at government over delays in meeting payment obligations in line with warranties.

Managing Director of AMNI International Petroleum, Mr. Tunde Afolabi, told The Oracle Today that his company lost over $150 million in the Gas-to-Power programme, pointing out that the regulatory weakness in the sector has shaken investors’ confidence in the whole arrangement.

Chairman of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), Mr. Dada Thomas, said in an interview that the programme exposed gas players to bad debts because “the commercial end of the arrangement is a mess.”

Generation companies including government owned Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) also lament debilitating impact of the mounting debts on their operations, warning that the arrangement has put billions of dollars investments supported by the money market at huge risk.

Spokesman, Dr. Joy Ogaji, declared in a statement that the Gencos currently face huge debt service obligation to banks as a result of delays in payment from NBET. Most of the Gencos who spoke on the matter agree that NBET has regularly failed abide by the terms invoice settlement which requires full payment within 45 days of invoice receipt after which prevailing interest rate on the invoice value applies in favour of the Gencos.

Gascos alao allege that GACN which processes gas invoice for is helpless with securing payments from Gencos as well. The arguments get cyclical when NBET brandishes published payments from Discos which show that all the 11 distribution companies that form the center for the entire investment chain cannot meet 50 payment of invoiced power supply.

Published January figures show that the average energy sent out by the GenCos was 3584.55 megawatts hour of electricity (MWh) out of which international customers and other net importers consumed 232.21MWh or 7.07% of total supply.

NBET paid GenCos some ₦6.08 billion for the January invoices of ₦48.23 billion which represents 12.62% payment.

In the same month, NBET published that the average energy sent out by the GenCos was 3820.37MWh/h while the the average energy received by DisCos was 3225.22 MWh/h of 92.05% of the total. The gap shows probable technical loss of 595.15 MWh or 7.95 percent of the produced power.

For the power received, DisCos

paid NBET ₦11.38 Billion for the February 2018 invoices of ₦44.44 Billion which represents 25.62%. They also paid additional N9.36 billion to sum up total payment of N20.75 billion.

With that level of payment from the Discos, according to the Managing Director of Green Energy Limited, Engr. Chris Akamnonu, it would be difficult for investors in the sector to break even. He said collection needed to jump by over 200 percent for the Discos to meet their obligation to Genco invoices.

For that level of collection to happen, The Oracle Today gathered from various experts, generation also needs to rise from the current average of 3500 MWh to about 20,000 MWh. But a senior official of one of the generation companies differs on the viability requirement, arguing that what is demanded of the Discos was payment for physical volumes of electricity supplied them not projected. He pointed out that debt crisis in the industry would worsen if more power is supplied to the Discos under the prevailing arrangement.

He said the Discos were collecting revenue through a lot of sharp market practices including estimated billing but fails to meet their obligations to upstream suppliers.

A spokesman of one of the Discos told our correspondent that government’s “toll gates” in the system help in draining funds that would have been paid to Gencos, adding that NBET, GACN and NERC still depend on commercial revenues gleaned from lean electricity bill payments to run their different operations.

“In other sectors, government pays the regulators. Why is it only in the power sector that we pay for electricity, we pay for gas, we pay for transmission, we pay NBET, we pay GACN, and we pay NERC?

Cont’d on Pg 18

35

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

ENERGY

Buhari: Economy still flounders after 3 years

Cont’d from Pg 17

When adjusted to current exchange rate of N305 to a dollar the country’s GDP at the time President Buhari assumed office was N155.52 trillion, supported mainly by sectors outside oil. But his government is currently struggling to keep GDP from further slide from $394.8 billion or N120.4 trillion as world’s oil producers cooperate in salvaging the value of oil at the export market.

Since 2015 therefore, the economy has been surfing on the unsteady tide of petroleum income flow. In fact, oil price movements led Nigeria into and out of economic recession in 2016, and continue to lead key growth indicators up till first quarter of 2018 despite hypes about various economic recovery and growth strategies announced by the government.

Already, key economic indicators show that despite threats to the leading position and role of crude oil and natural gas in the global energy mix, Nigeria’s dependence on petroleum income has remained nearly total.

And the changing demand-supply dynamics in the global oil market as well as constantly changing and expanding supply sources expose resource dependent economies like Nigeria to the vagaries of endless oil price movements.

Economic performance indices released by NBS and other agencies responsible for monitoring the performance of sectors of the economy show that economic expansion based on numerous economic diversification programmes enunciated by the present administration of the federal government are yet to stream.

The NBS data for first quarter of the year showed that oil revenue provided about 70 percent of total financial support and over 90 percent of total foreign exchange revenue to government. Along with the national accounts data, the NBS also released revised oil production estimates for third and fourth quarters of 2017.Oil output was 2.00 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the first quarter, which was above the revised 1.95 mbpd recorded in the previous report of the data building agency.

The NBS report also showed that petroleum sector grew in first quarter of 2018 by about 14.77 percent, indicating significant 30.4 percent points increase from first quarter of 2017.

However, whereas petroleum income provided the bulk of cash revenue to government, it contributed less than 10 percent to the GDP. NBS said petroleum sector contributed 9.61 percent to the overall real GDP, up from 8.53 percent and 7.35 percent in the first and fourth quarters of 2017, respectively.

According to chronological data available at NBS website, the country’s GDP recorded growth rate of 5.31 percent in 2011, 4.21 percent in 2012, 5.49 percent in 2013, and 6.22 percent in 2014.

In 2015 when the current administration took over, the nation’s GDP growth rate dramatically slowed to 2.79 percent before falling below zero to -1.58 percent in 2016. And despite oil price recovery in 2017, the GDP recorded very slow recovery with a rate of 0.83 percent. The growth slowed further this year when evaluated on quarterly basis with revised GDP falling from 2.11 percent in last quarter of 2017 to 1.95 percent in first quarter of 2018. In historical context, NBS showed that Nigeria’s GDP maintained steady growth from 2011

to 2014 before slowing down in 2015 and eventually slipping into recession in 2016 when oil prices went very low.

And the highly celebrated national economic recovery which set in with the oil price rebound in 2017 suffered a stall in first quarter of 2018 despite strong performance of the petroleum sector. Also on quarterly basis, the non oil sector of the economy also showed slowed growth rate with combined GDP contribution from agriculture, manufacturing, banking and financial services, transport, real estate, mining, information and computer technology (ICT) and others falling by 0.70 percent from the growth rate recorded in the last quarter of 2017.

The data also showed that contribution of non-oil sector to GDP fell from 92.65 percent in fourth quarter of 2017 to about 90.4 percent in the first quarter of 2018. The figure is also lower than to the 91.5 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2017.

With all sectors of the economy except petroleum collectively contributing over 90 percent of the total the GDP, less than 30 percent of government revenue and very little above zero foreign exchange earnings, the economy is obviously clay footed, fragile and incapable of sustainable growth.

The economic performance shows that the Nigeria’s economic recovery actually halted in the first quarter, breaking a post recession sequence of five consecutive quarters of improving activity. And the first quarter’s growth deceleration was due to a weaker performance by the non-oil sector, indicating strongly that not only is the economic recovery weak but also that the economy is still heavily reliant on cash inflow from a petroleum industry that has weak linkages with the GDP. For instance, whereas upsides in crude oil production and price sentiments in the export market secured improved cash earnings for government, petroleum industry provided little or no support for domestic productivity as it has lean connection with the local industrial sector.

Besides the disconnect between the revenue yielding oil sector and other underperforming sectors that support domestic economic growth, internal economic plans, policy measures and implementation strategies also play important role in driving development.

Again, while government launched an economic recovery plan that laid out a short to medium term strategy for accelerated infrastructural development to support activities that drive local industrial development, a combination of faulty fiscal planning, poor budget performance, worsening debts burden as well as unstable social and security challenges appears to overwhelm the programmes.

The Oracle Today reports that despite exiting recession in second quarter of 2017, the austere economic measures deployed against economic depression of 2016 have not been dismantled, leading to prolonged squeeze in the economy.

The Naira devaluation which triggered inflation; Treasury Single Account (TSA) which mopped up cash from the economy, caused illiquidity in the money market, shook the commercial standing of banks and led to massive retrenchment in the financial services industry; policy of income concentration; and many other measures that tightened financial control from the centre are still in place even after the economy technically exited recession.

These have resulted in budget underperformance following stringent processes in financial release to fund appropriations within limited time cycle. Most of the critical projects that regularly make entry into annual budgets since the inception of the present administration have remained largely unexecuted due to funding failures associated with tight financial control.

This has resulted in recycling of budget failures while critical infrastructure projects like the second Niger Bridge, a number of highways, the Bonny-Bodo Road, airport rehabilitation and expansion and many other projects strongly canvassed for appropriation to support economic growth activities since 2015. Sadly, most of the projects like airport upgrades and second Niger Bridge were actually started by the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. Whereas these projects make entry into the budgets, they consistently suffer funding failures.

The result, The Oracle Today reports, is that despite the strong economic fundamentals evidenced by improved funding flow, the country’s domestic economy is still weakened by huge infrastructure deficits attributable to poor economic management. And the stringent austerity measures introduced to consolidate financial controls also caused strictures that affected budding industries in the domestic business environment. Other banes of the economy that are poorly managed by the Buhari regime include acute power supply, lack of fiscal clarity for commercial investors, restrictive trade policies, an inconsistent regulatory environment, insecurity, poor financial transparency and resistance to accountability. For instance, the inverse relationship between strong oil sector performance and stall in economic recovery indicates worrisome interruption in the flow of resources in a manner that translate to stalled economic growth. The first quarter paradox of revenue improvement and economic growth deceleration exacerbates analysts’ fears about the impact of the looming 2019 elections on the fragile economy.

Worse still, a range of domestic

issues including abrasive political manoeuvres, internal insecurity and associated bloodletting, weakening financial sector and cash drought in the economy continue to worsen local business environment and scare away new investments needed to spur trade and industry activities.

In terms of policy dividends, data show that the economic diversification programme has failed to help the vast majority of the country’s population out of extreme poverty; and hopes that the inter-party change of power in 2015 would engender improved economic conditions for the masses are far from realized.

Thus, the Buhari government is still laden with the obligation to meet the realization of the far reaching changes which the public expect to stabilize the administrative environment for smoother governance and solidify the business environment for commercial investments that propel economic growth to deliver wellbeing to the people.

Nigerians still await results of the economic diversification programme the Buhari government announced to position agriculture, telecommunications, and services as real drivers of the economy. While improved flow of petrodollars has assisted Nigeria to notionally emerge from the economic recession of 2016, unstable oil prices in the export market amid gloomy medium to long term outlook, worsening business environment, and emerging political fireworks expected to heat up ethnic and religious tension ahead of the 2019 elections raise analysts concerns that the domestic economy still wears the veil of uncertainty despite the series of policy pronouncements by governments.

Looking ahead, analysts say that the economic recovery would generally remain moderate and fragile as firmer oil prices and improved foreign exchange rate liquidity are expected to support activity.

With the passing of the delayed 2018 budget on 16 May, public spending is expected to trigger economic activity. However, continued delay in passing the components of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) still leaves big foreign portfolio drivers without fiscal clarity for investment decisions.

Also on the positive note, the N720 billion currency swap deal with China is supposed to help boost liquidity and encourage trade between the two countries and boost Nigeria’s import power without depleting her forex reserves.

However, political uncertainty ahead of 2019 elections, raise concerns among economists. And Analysts at Quartz insist that economic policy and decisions in 2018 will likely be weighed against political expediency over much else.

Promoter of the global Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), Professor Joseph Stiglitz, had told The Oracle Today in Lagos during his visit to Nigeria that overdependence on resource revenue is the greatest bane resource rich countries, adding that scramble for resource wealth has remained the biggest curse on African oil producers. He advised government to deploy resource wealth in building robust infrastructure that would support domestic industrial growth, adding that countries that must remain stronger in post oil era must build strong industrial base with fleeting oil wealth.

He pointed out that there must be direct proportional relationship between government revenue and GDP drivers for a country to achieve strong domestic economy.

He made it clear that resource curse essentially incubates in the huge gap between deep pocket enclave industries that feed government with revenue and the sectors that support GDP growth. He added that governments of resources rich countries must create critical linkages between the huge budget petroleum industry and the local economy by building the local industrial capacity for production of goods, services and equipment.

According to Theodora analysts who use factbook on countries from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the government runs a model to develop stronger public-private partnerships for roads, agriculture, and power. But the Managing Director of Agip companies in Nigeria had told delegates at the Nigerian Petroleum Industry Summit in Abuja February that government has all the money it needed to provide Nigerian with the means of good life if the will were there.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

INSURANCE & PENSION

AIICO explains delay over new agric, micro-insurance policies Stories by VICTOR NZE

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IICO Insurance Plc has explained the delays experienced over its planned rollout of two new policies in the market, the agric and micro-insurance policies, earlier fixed for the second quarter of the year.

The insurance firm in an exclusive e-mail to the Oracle Today over the delays in the introduction of the products announced during a media parley in April, said it was still finetuning strategies with regulatory agency, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) on the planned agric insurance policy, while the micro-insurance product’s unveiling was being stalled by feedback from appropriate quarters before commencement.

“AIICO’s Agric. insurance is still a work in progress as stated during the last media briefing. We are looking forward to offering this service however we are still working with NAICOM on our application process.

“AIICO recognizes that Micro insurance is an area that cannot be excluded. Unfortunately, we have no feedback regarding commencement and will keep you informed once we do,” the firm stated.

It would be recalled that AICCO had in April announced plans to venture into the agric and micro-insurance markets with detail products to address need of consumers.

General Manager (Retail Life), Mr Sola Ajayi, said as part of AIICO efforts at exploring other investment options, the company will be venturing into agriculture by rolling policies for that sector.

“Our agric policy will soon roll out.

We are at its concluding stages and when we announce it, you will the first to know. But very soon the policy will hit the insurance market.

“Despite challenges encountered during last year operations, we still intend to diversify our operations and expand our market base with new products tailored to address new demands in the market. Another of those demands will be in the area of the continuously evolving micro-insurance market.”

Executive Director (Operations), Mr. Babatunde Fajemirokun, corroborated, saying: “In other words, we are concluding arrangements to venture into these markets with new policies as part of our broader plans to expand our market base as earlier stated,” . We shall keep you posted when we are set to unveil them,” MD/CEO of AIICO Insurance, Mr Edwin Igbiti, had last April, at its Victoria Island Head Office, said his company experienced significant growth as a company in 2017.

“We had to significantly increase our capacity and improve our processes to meet up with customer demands. Over the next few years, we have plans to grow our businesses; this means we must invest in technology and people to ensure our processes are more efficient to increase customer service levels.”

According to Igbiti, the company wrote gross premiums of N32.1 billion in 2017.

“The growth of 19 per cent compared to 2016 was because of; improved performance in the life business, our life business grew 15 per

cent from N18.8 billion to N21.6 billion in 2017. This growth was driven by the increased popularity of our traditional life products. Similarly, the ordinary life business grew 29 per cent in 2017 to N16.4 billion from N12.8 billion in 2016.

“Growth in the non-life business , from N7.6 billion in 2016 to N8.7 billion in 2017, (representing N1.1 billion or 15 per cent). We have worked to improve our relationships with agents, brokers and various intermediaries this year to improve performance.”

He disclosed that gross premium income reduced by 29 per cent or N8.7 billion in 2017 to N21.3 billion from N30 billion in 2016.

According to Igbiti, gross claims increased by 55 per cent to N23.3 billion from N14.9 billion in 2016.

“This was due largely to the increase in benefits payments in the life business; benefits payments grew N6.1 billion or 53 per cent to N17.6 billion in 2017. Our life business is dominated by contracts with

our clients that stipulate payouts at pre-determined times. It is therefore logical that as the business grows, payouts grow accordingly. Critical activities are cash and investment management, two activities that we keep a very close eye on.

“Claims in the non-life and health management increased by N1.1 billion each. Claims in health management increased due to the recognition of capitated premiums. These premiums are paid out directly to hospitals and are thus recognized as claims. In the non-life business, our net claims ratio increased marginally in 2017, from 37 per cent to 42 per cent.

“As a company, we realize that we exist, not just to create wealth but to provide protection for our clients in return for premium payments.

We, therefore, expect that as the company continues to grow, claims expenses will grow accordingly. The importance of investment operations is thus quite clear.

Investment and other income also

grew by 92 per cent in 2017 to N15.1 billion from N7.8 billion in 2016.

“We continue to pursue an active investment strategy to take advantage of market conditions and improve our investment performance.

The relatively low-interest rate environment provided an opportunity for the company to make some gains through trading. This was responsible for net realized gains of N5.3 billion compared to N336 million in 2016,” Igbiti said.

While AIICO’s profits after tax declined to N1.3 billion from N10.2 billion in 2016, total comprehensive income, however, increased to a profit of N2.4 billion from a loss of N655 million in 2016.

Further fielding questions by the media, Fajemirokun decried the stringent laws besieging the insurance industry, especially in the tax, as he wondered why insurance companies in the country are made to tax on claims.

“FIRS is very aggressive in tax collection and it’s becoming unbear-

able, very unbearable and we are going to join hands together with other insurance firms to pull our resources together in the industry to ensure that the Insurance Act is changed this year. As you know, sponsoring a bill at the National Assembly is an expensive venture, but we will try to effect that needed change.

“As it is today, if I pay N1 billion in claims, the FIRS comes the following day to collect tax on the claims, nearly half of that payment. For us, that is eating into our cost of sales and it is not conducive for the business environment in the insurance industry.

“We paid claims of up to N1 billion and the FIRS is on our neck to tax us on the claims. How can an insurance firm pay tax on claims, that’s our cost of sales,” said Fajemirokun.

African Risk Capacity provides insurance cover to 9.7m Africans in 4 yrs – Okonjo-Iweala

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Representative of British High Commissioner, Ms. Natasha Anjekwu (1st left) making her congratulatory remarks to the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) MD/CE, Umaru Ibrahim (1st right) and NDIC ED(Operations), Prince Aghatise Erediauwa (middle) during the formal presentation of three International Standards Organisation (ISO) Certifications of the British Standards Institution (BSI) to the Corporation.

NDIC bags three ISO certifications

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HE Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has become the first public sector organization in Nigeria to be awarded three International Standards Organization (ISO) certifications by the British Standards Institute (BSI) simultaneously.

At an elaborate ceremony in Abuja, last Tuesday, the Corporation was presented with the three certificates by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria who was represented by the Lead Trade Adviser for Education Sector Opportunities, Ms. Natasha Anjekwu.

The three certifications achieved

by NDIC are on Information Security Management System ISO/IEC 27001:2013, IT Service Management System ISO/IEC 200001:2011 and Business Continuity Management System ISO22301:2012.

Expressing her delight at the development, the National Coordinator/CEO SERVICOM Office in the Presidency, Mrs. Nnenna Akajameli, lauded the NDIC for the feat, even as

she urged the Corporation to view the certifications as its most valuable assets which should spur it to greater performance.

She concluded by stating that the SERVICOM Office intended to project the NDIC as a model to other public institutions in its efforts to optimise service delivery among public institutions in Nigeria.

Earlier, in her own remarks, Ms. Natasha Anjekwu described the feat as a great achievement. She said NDIC’s fulfilment of the requirement for the certification bore eloquent testimony to its adherence to international best practice in its operations. Also speaking at the event, the Director of Home Finance in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Olubunmi Siyanbola, who represented the Minister, also lauded the Corporation and urged it to view the development as a spur towards achieving greater heights.

Responding, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the NDIC Umaru Ibrahim reiterated the com-

mitment of the Corporation to lead in addressing the challenges of the financial services industry in Nigeria with a view to engendering professionalism and accountability.

While expressing his delight at the emergence of the Corporation as the first public institution in the country to be certified with the three standards at once, the NDIC Boss added that the feat was consistent with the implementation of its renewable 5-year strategic plan, and its desire to be the best deposit insurer in the world by 2020.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation successfully obtained the three ISO Certifications from the British Standards Institution (BSI) in 2017 after a rigorous process of satisfying the conditions precedent to accreditation. The British Standards Institute UK thoroughly engaged and audited the Corporation operational processes between April and July of the year to determine the conformity of the Corporation to the standards.

he African Risk Capacity initiative says it has underwritten about 400 million dollars of drought risk and provided cover to 9.7 million Africans in its insurance policy in the four years of its operation.

The initiative, a specialised agency of the African Union, was designed to provide current responses to climate-related food security emergencies.

Chairperson of the initiative, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced the package on Wednesday in Busan, South Korea, at a high level session organised to highlight importance of disaster risk financing in building resilience among African countries.

The event was part of activities marking the five-day Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), hosted by the Asian government.

“In four years, we paid over 36 million dollars to four countries and it has helped 2.1 million people and over one million livestock,’’ she said.

The former Minister of Finance said the establishment agreement of the initiative had been signed by only 33 of the African countries and was able to set up an insurance agency as a neutral body in 2014.

She said Germany and the United Kingdom committed about 200 million dollars in the risk capital through a 20-year non-interest loan and had already disbursed 90 million dollars of the fund to shore up the agency.

She, however, added that only eight of the countries were able to participate in the drought risk policy through the facility and were able to pay 54 million dollars to transfer their drought risk through the facility.

Okonjo-Iweala, who was elected Chairperson of the agency’s Governing Board in 2013, explained that 95 per cent of the premium paid by the countries was sourced from their national budgets.

“This is the only organisation among those doing weather-based insurance where people’s monies are coming from our own resources and that is why we want to promote the need to rely on ourselves.’’

37

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

EQUITY & Capital Market

Why NSE may not sustain its 5th global position

•Kemi Adeosun, Finance Minister

By JEROME USHAKANG

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NVESTORS and stakeholders in the Nigerian Capital market won’t forget the near crash of the market during 2008/9 as a result of the global economic meltdown. This was characterized mostly by losses, due to depreciation in value of stocks, glut and low purchasing power of prospective investors.

Since then, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has not regained its composure as in the days of market boom. It has rather been recuperating gradually until 2017. The most challenging years of the NSE after the near market crash are 2014--2016.

For the first time in three years, the NSE closed the year 2017 on a positive note. Specifically, The Nigerian Stock Exchange AllShare Index (ASI) returned 42.30 percent year-on-year. In the same vein, the Market Capitalization rose sharply to close the year at N13.6trillion in contrast to N9.25trillion recorded at the end of year 2016.

Following the NSE performance in 2017, the S&P Dow Jones indices ranked the NSE as one of the fifth best capital markets in the world for 2017. According to the rating body, the 42.30 percent growth achieved by the Nigerian Stock Exchange made it the fifth best performing capital market after Argentina, Turkey, Hong Kong and the United States. Similarly, another rating agency known as Alexa ranked the NSE as the highest stock exchange in Africa.

•Mary Uduk, SEC Acting DG

However, the investing publics have expressed concern that going by the high rate, the NSE has been delisting companies from its official list, it may not sustain its positive result achieved in the previous year.

For instance as at May 26, 2018 this year, when this write up is being put together, three companies whose shares were formerly on the quotation list of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) exited the market.

These are Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) Plc, one of Nigeria’s foremost beverage producers; African Paints (Nigeria) Plc; and Afrik Pharmaceuticals Plc. The three had their shares delisted on the NSE. While SBC Plc filed to delist voluntarily, the two others were forced to go. Prior to their present low profile, these companies had enjoyed access to long- term fund to grow their businesses. Perhaps, a worse fate befell their shareholders who will no longer be able to make money from the shares they own in the companies. Shareholders make money through capital appreciation, dividend or bonus from investing in the shares of quoted companies.

“Delisting” of securities means removal of listed securities or companies from The Exchange.

As a result, the securities or shares of an affected issuer will no longer be traded on the Exchange and the issuer’s name will be removed from the Daily Official list of the Exchange”.

Meanwhile, in about 16 years, the Nigerian Stock Exchange has delisted 93 quoted companies

from its list, an average of about six per annum. The following Corporates below were delisted from the Daily Official List of the Exchange between 2002 and April 2018 .

Investors Reaction In January this year, majority of investors who commented on the fate of the delisted companies when Seven-Up exited, accused both the NSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the apex regulator of the capital market of not doing anything to support the listed companies as their target is the fees they collect and whose value come in millions on naira.

One of the investors, Sir Sunny Nwosu, National Co-Ordinator of Independence Shareholders Association of Nigerian (ISAN), said, “Both the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) are not talking to the government on the challenges and plight of the listed companies, including post listing requirements”.

Nwosu also noted that the regulators are exhibiting the same attitudes to shareholders who are risk bearers by investing their hard earned money in the firms.“It baffles me as the regulators do not seem to know the importance of investors, they cannot do without us”. He said.

The ISAN boss said the regulators are only interested in what they can get from the quoted companies in terms of value as taxes, sanctions, commission among others not minding whether the company is healthy

•Oscar Onyeama, CEO Nigerian Stock Exchange

business wise or not.

He suggested that Research and Development department of the NSE should find a way to assist the companies, stressing that if nothing is done, more companies will delist from the NSE this year.

NSE Stance Indeed, over 80 per cent of the 93 companies that had their shares delisted from 2002 to April 2018 were kicked out by the regulators of the market. NSE and SEC said the companies were no longer fit to retain their listing statuses because they could not meet the necessary conditions for listing.

The Exchange position is that it will delist securities where the issuer has not complied with the Listings Rules of The Exchange, or for breach of the terms and conditions of the General Undertaking executed by the issuer when its securities were listed by The Exchange; or further to the Issuer’s application for voluntary delisting of its securities,” NSE said.

Other reasons for delisting a company, according to NSE terms , include where the National Council of The Exchange considers that there is insufficient public interest in the issuer, or the securities of the issuer in the hands of the public are insufficient to make a market in the securities.

However, the decision to delist a security is taken only after thorough and careful analysis. “It is not a decision arrived at without full consideration of the interests of all stakeholders involved,” this

is the position or one of the conditions of the NSE. SEC’s concern Reacting to the delisting of companies from the NSE recently, the Acting Director General of SEC, Mary Uduk, said there are plans in the offing to check the debilitating trend of delisting.

Uduk said the Capital Market Committee (CMC) of SEC at its last meeting held in Lagos, was mandated to look into the reasons why quoted companies were delisting from the NSE. She added that this is aimed at coming up with a lasting solution to the problem.

According her, the Commission would meet with shareholders groups to determine the reasons for the de- listings.

Apart from putting a stop to excessive delisting of companies, Uduk said SEC will go the extra mile to see an improved listing of multinational companies in Nigeria on the capital market.

“Increase in de-listing by public companies pose a threat to the market in view of the fact that quite a number of them are highly capitalised,” she said reiterated.

However, it is common knowledge that high annual fees and other listing requirements which involves huge expenditure by listed companies is the major reason why companies are delisting. This does not necessarily need the setting up of committee. On the other hand, no attempt has been made to meet with shareholders who are the risk bearers who are always on the receiving end, each time a company is delisted.

38

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

MONEY Market

Analysts foresee CBN’s continuous intervention in forex market Stories by KAYODE OGUNWALE

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OR foreign exchange market to trade at similar levels across segments, there is need for Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to maintain its frequent intervention.

Afrinvest analysts anticipated much more frequent interventions by the CBN as it sustains efforts to maintain stability in the FX market.

Last week, the CBN continued with its weekly FX intervention sales, offered $210.0 million on Wednesday, 23rd May 2018 via the Wholesale Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) window in a bid to sustain liquidity levels and maintain stability in all segments of the market. This was in addition to weekly auctions at the SME and Retail Invisible segment of the market. Despite this intervention, continued pressures from the sell-

offs of sovereign bonds holding by offshore investors further led to pressures on exchange rate as well as the external reserves which marginally declined to $47.8 by Thursday.

The CBN’s Spot rate opened the week at N305.35/$1.00, unchanged from the close of the previous week, but declined on Tuesday to N305.40/$1.00 a depreciation of 5 kobo and remained at that level till the close of the week.

Similarly, the naira remained flat at the parallel market trading at N364.00/$1.00 for the first three trading sessions in the week before losing N1 on Thursday and Friday respectively to close the week at N366/$1.00. At the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing, or (NAFEX) rate opened the week at N361.46/$1.00, depreciating by 28 kobo from the previous close of N361.18/$1.00.

However, by midweek, it appreciated to N361.25/$1.00 but reversed to close the week at a 2-week’s low of N361.64/$1.00 by Friday. Also, activity level in the I&E Window waned last week as total turnover declined by 21.7 percent to $883.9 million on Thursday from $1 billion recorded in the same period of the previous week.

In the FMDQ OTC futures market,

the total value of open contracts of the naira settled OTC futures increased by $258.4 million to $4 billion relative to $3.7 billion recorded the previous Friday; implying a 7.0 percent increase in market size.

The APRIL 2019 instrument (contract priced: N362.44/$1.00) was the most subscribed with a total value of $60.0 million while MAY 2018, JUNE 2018, JULY 2018 and

AUGUST 2018 instruments were flat week on week. The MAY 2018 instrument, which has a subscription value of $503.1 million, will mature this week Wednesday and in line with trend, financial analysts expect it to be replaced by the CBN. The analysts however expect rates to trade at similar levels across segments this week.

Fidelity Bank pledges better 2018 for shareholders

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TEAMING from the impressive performance in 2017 financial year, the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo has assured shareholders of the bank that they will get value from their investments at the end of the ongoing 2018 financial year.

He disclosed this on Friday May 25, 2018, at the bank 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

Just as shareholders unanimously approved the payment of N3.186 billion as final dividend for the full year ended December 31, 2017. The dividend which is subject to withholding tax amount to 11 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each, and it will be paid on May 25, 2018 to shareholders whose names appears on the register of members at the close of business on May 11, 2018.

Okonkwo who was responding to shareholders questions concerning the 2017 audited financial statement, noted that “clearly, our success in 2017 financial year has set a strong pedestal for sustained growth in revenue. We are optimistic about a favourable operating environment and we look forward to delivering decent set of numbers at the end of 2018 financial year” He explained that with the relative stability experienced in the last quarter of 2017 and the improved macroeconomic indices, declining headline inflation rate, improving business climate and economic growth as well as foreign exchange liquidity. The outlook for 2018 financial year is positive.

In his words “we aware of the growing opportunities in our markets. We will continue to focus on redesigning our systems and processes to enhance services delivery, deepen our cost optimization initiatives to reduce operating expenses and cost to serve, and enhance our overall risk monitoring capacities to ensure both internal and external risks are identified and mitigated before they crystalize”.

He pointed out that in view of the evolving dynamics in the industry, the bank will continue to increase the adoption and migration of customers to their digital platforms and increase their retail banking

market share through innovative products and services. Adding that “we will enhance our robust electronic banking processes and products thereby deepening our hold on the retail and commercial markets, small and medium scale enterprises and niche corporate clientele”.

Highlight of the audited account shows that revenue grew by 12.9 percent, while decline in total expenses translated by N1.5 billion translated to N9.1 billion increase in profit after tax to N18.8 billion from N9.7 billion that was recorded same period in 2016 financial year. Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria, with over 3.9 million customers who are serviced across its 231 business offices and various other digital banking channels.

L – R: Brian Dhliwayo, BANKSETA; Bafundi Maronoti, South African Reserve Bank; Bulelwa Soyamba, ABSA; Ms. Tinuade Awe, Executive Director, Regulation Division, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Dr. Franklin Ngwu; Senior Lecturer, Lagos Business School; Dr Uche Olowu, President CIBN; Lilian Uwaeme, Lagos Business School; Jared Bleak, Lagos Business School during the Closing Gong Ceremony of the Participants of the International Executive Development Programme (IEDP), Lagos Business School at The Exchange.

UBA Foundation reading through regions in Africa …launches ‘Read Africa initiative in Gabon, Mozambique

A

S part of its mission to improve the lives of the communities in which the United Bank for Africa operates, UBA Foundation continues to encourage African youths to adopt the culture of reading through its ‘Read Africa’ initiative.

Read Africa aims to rekindle the reading culture amongst young Af-

ricans. Designed and introduced in 2011 by the UBA Foundation, the initiative has donated hundreds of thousands of books to African schools since its inception.

This past week, The Foundation took its initiative to the francophone city of Libreville to the students of the George MABIGNATH high school

Deutsche Bank’s Representative Office in Nigeria, Andreas Voss, said the Awards for Excellence in Cash Management and Trade Finance in Nigeria was introduced as a demonstration of the institution’s commitment to the development of Nigerian businesses and to support continued development of the West African financial markets.

The award, according to Deutsche Bank, is in recognition of Stanbic IBTC Bank’s consistent improvements in the quality of both commercial and treasury payments.

“This is a solid demonstration of commitment, passion and sheer hardwork from all your staff who have sustained this effort consistently,” stated Deputy Country Head, Deutsche Bank AG, Mrs. Adeola Azeez.

The STP or Error-free processing award is given by Deutsche Bank annually to institutional and corporate clients with whom the bank cooperates at an international level and who have achieved a specific level of operating excellence in the area of payments in US Dollars.

Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Dr. Demola Sogunle, said the

award is particularly uplifting as it is the third time Stanbic IBTC Bank will be so recognized. “We are especially pleased to receive this recognition for our efforts. It is a further confirmation of our capacity to provide the highest level of service to our clients, focusing on continuously improving our systems, processes and solutions in order to surpass client expectations. Stanbic IBTC will continue to deliver exceptional performances across all segments of the business. Thanks must go to all our clients and staff who made this possible,” he said.

As a member of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets and earnings, Sogunle said Stanbic IBTC will continue to leverage on the 155-year experience, expertise and strong financial clout to deliver superior sustainable shareholder value by meeting the needs of its clientele.

Stanbic IBTC Bank and other winners in this category were presented the awards by Mr. Ulf-Peter Noetzel, Managing Director & Global Head of Trade Finance Financial Institutions (TFFI), who came in from Frankfurt, Germany, for this special event.

Stanbic IBTC Bank leads in cash management and trade finance

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TANBIC IBTC Bank Plc, has emerged winner of the Gold Prize at the 2017 edition of Deutsche Bank Awards for Excellence in Cash Management and Trade Finance in Nigeria. This is the second time the bank is being awarded as the top performer in this category. The category tagged Straight-Through Processing (STP) Excellence Award has been a feature of Nigeria’s financial markets over the last seven years. Stanbic IBTC Bank also won Gold in 2015, Bronze in 2014 and Silver in 2016 editions.

The 2017 USD Straight-Through Processing (STP) Excellence Award, according to Deutsche Bank, recognizes institutions delivering outstanding quality in payment efficiency. The nominated banks successfully implemented an STP rate of over 99 percent throughout 2017, serving to greatly reduce the administrative impact of payment processing, increasing efficiency and ensuring strict compliance with globally recognized payment standards.

The 2017 award was presented to the bank at a gala dinner at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Speaking at the event, Head of

in Gabon.

The launch of Read Africa in Gabon saw in attendance, the author of the selected book Sidonie, written by famous Gabonese writer Chantal Magalie MBAZOO. It was a colorful ceremony that witnessed the CEO of the Foundation, Bola Atta reading to and interacting with the students in high energy in the presence of their Principal, Mrs. BOUDOUNGHOU BIBOUTOU Isabelle and other staff members.

Bola Atta summarized the Foundation’s initiative saying “At the UBA Foundation, we are committed to improving the lives of the youths on the continent and one of the ways we can achieve this is to help you read more. I am here to talk to you a little about the importance of reading and how it can radically change your life. Reading encourages you to dream, it expands your knowledge, your vocabulary. It is a path to achieving your ambitions.”.

Chioma Mang, the CEO of UBA Gabon also reiterated the mission of UBA and emphasized the bank’s commitment to the Gabonese community. ‘ I love children and I am happy to be here with you all today.

I’d like to encourage you to read very well so that you can reach great heights in your life like me. UBA is going to be there for you all the way. You can count on us’ said Mrs Mang.

The Read Africa initiative then moved on to Zambia to the Horizon Secondary School in Lusaka where the Director in the ministry of higher education in charge of Vocation, Education and Training, Mr. Alex Simumba, thanked UBA and the Foundation for the good work that is being done across Africa.

39

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

AVIATION

Ebola: FAAN deploys more personnel to screen int’l travellers Stories by VICTOR NZE

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OLLOWING Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the consequent directive by the Federal Government to aviation management authorities to tighten screening at the airports, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Port Health Services personnel have now deployed additional personnel to screen international passengers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, (NAIA) Abuja.

General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, explained that the Authority had not relaxed its surveillance at the airports since the case of the virus was first recorded in Nigeria in 2014.

Yakubu said that all the equipment and personnel used in combatting the virus in 2014 were still very much on ground at the air-

ports.

She explained that the thermal scanners that monitor temperature of passengers and capture their pictures were still functioning very well in all airports.

“When passengers walk past the scanners, it registers their temperature and if yours is high, you are pulled aside for observation.

“Since the virus was reported in Congo, all relevant agencies, including the Port Health Services have been mobilised and are collaborating effectively to ensure the safety of passengers and airport users at all time,” she said.

The Federal Government had on May 9 directed the federal ministry of help to step up emergency surveillance activities at all land and airport borders, so as to actually keep Nigerians safe.

In a related development, the new terminal under construction at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, will

begin operation soon, considering the pace of work going on at the Airport, according to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Managing Director, FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, said, Thursday, that the major challenges hindering the timely completion of the project had been addressed.

Dunoma, who listed the two major challenges as inadequate power and water supply capacity to cater for the new terminal, added that there was need to boost their capacities.

He explained that the Federal Government had awarded the contract to boost the power supply into the airport, while the Ministry of Federal Capital Territory had handled the water challenge.

“In terms of power supply, government has graciously awarded the contract that will sort out the power supply. The other thing is water supply, and the Minister

Aviation Institute honours three tourism writers

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HREE tourism writers and members of the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) have been conferred with the Honourary Doctorate in Travels and Tour Management by the StayUP Aviation Institute of Technology, Ibadan, Oyo State.

The event which took place during the graduation ceremony of its Batch 028, last month at the institute’s premises gathered a number of important dignitaries, including tourism stakeholders in attendance.

The three tourism writers honoured include; the Travel and Tourism Editor of the New Telegraph Newspaper, Mr. Andrew Iro Okungbowa, Mr Wale Olapade of Tribune Newspapers as well as Mr Omololu Olumuyiwa, publisher of Travelscope Magazine.

According to the Director of Studies of the aviation institute, Capt.

Kenneth Oudah, the certificates of academic excellence (Honorary) were awarded to the trio in recognition of their immense contribution to the growth of aviation and tourism in the country, adding that ‘they have shown competence and proven ability through hard work and unflinching commitment to the industry.’

In presenting the certificate to Okungbowa, who was represented at the event, Oudah said : “We did not just pick him for the honourary PhD but his aces which are undisputable in travel reporting which has awarded him numerous travel accolades as a travel expert and writer are testimonies of facts on which he was honoured.

“The selection was carefully done and when we did the screening and narrow it down, Mr. Andrew Iro Okungbowa of New Telegraph

Newspaper, Mr. Wale Olapade of the Nigerian Tribune and Omololu Olumuyiwa of Travelscope Magazine where the only three names that scaled the hurdles and they are the first to be conferred with honourary Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Travel and Tour Management by the institution.’’

Others honoured by the aviation school include; EreluAsa of Nigeria, Funmi Rotiba, Femi Oke of Galileo South West Nigeria and the Oguntoyes’ Twins.

While the new graduates produced in different field of studies, such as Professional Pilot round school, Airport and Airline Operations, Cabin Crew Executive, Travel Agency Management and Tour and Airline ticketing were presented with their certificates and awards.

Oudah said that the school has continued to not only to build capacity for the growing aviation and tourism sector but also serves as a bridge in connecting its graduates with international aviation institutes to update themselves and acquire further certifications.

thiopian Airlines is set to take delivery of its 100th aircraft, a Boeing 787-900, on 5 June 5, this year to become the first African airline to operate 100 aircraft fleet in the history of the continent.

On the planned delivery of the 100th aircraft, Ethiopian Group CEO, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam said: “It is an immense honor for all of us at Ethiopian to reach the milestone of 100 aircraft. This milestone is a continuation of our historical aviation leadership role in Africa and a testimony of the successful implementation of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth plan, Vision 2025.

“Ethiopian was the first to avail

ing and Construction Company (CCECC), Mr Kolawole Akande, said remaining works were just final fittings and setting of equipment.

Akande said that facilities needed to run the terminal were already in place, adding that all mechanical services were already on ground.

According to him, all the elevators, escalators, lifts are already installed and tested.

“Our scanners, both body and baggage scanners are already on ground, we have also installed the check-in counters and there are 66 of them. We have completed the installation of the conveyor belts. “So, what we are basically doing now is the final fittings. We are doing the final checks to ensure that everything is good to go. What we have left to be done that is on a bigger scale than normal is the outside civil work, which is ongoing currently to link the airport and parking space,’’ he said.

•Presentation of Business Case Compliance Certificates for the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility and the Aviation Leasing Company, both to be established as part of the Aviation Roadmap, by the Director General of the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission, Engr Chidi Izuwah (l) to theMinister of State for Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika (m), as Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Engr. Saleh Dunom (r) watches, Tuesday.

Dana Air introduces ‘Cash Back’ reward for guests

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NDIGENOUS carrier, Dana Air has introduced an initiative that gets its passengers a good discount on every booking which can be used to shop at any partner outlets.

The airline introduced its latest customer-centric initiative de-

Ethiopian Airlines set to take delivery of 100th aircraft

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of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Minister of State for Aviation have discussed and agreed to improve our sewage and water supply system.

“The FCT has the capacity.

What it needs to do is to extend this facility to the new terminal.

So those issues have been resolved and what we are waiting for now is the connection between the new terminal building and the train station.

“Once that is done and the upgrade is done, there will be few things that we need to do internally before we can start to use the new terminal building in Abuja. So in the next two months, maybe, we will be ready to commence operation there,’’ he said.

Dunoma also disclosed that other terminal building projects in other airports such as Port Harcourt, Lagos, Kano and Enugu, were at various stages of completion.

Site Engineer, Chinese Terminal Project, China Civil Engineer-

jet service in the continent back in 1962, and operated the first African B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010, the first African B787-800 Dreamliner and B777-200 freighter in 2012 and the first African A350 in 2016 and the first African B787-9 aircraft in 2017.

Ethiopian now operates one of the youngest and most modern 100 aircraft, with an average age of less than 5 years. Fleet modernization and expansion is one of the four critical pillars of our Vision 2025 strategic roadmap, in support of our fast expanding network, which has now reached over 110 international destinations covering 5 continents.”

signed to gift its guests with some ‘cash back’’ on every booking.

The initiative according to, Communications Manager of Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, requires the airline’s guests to get a ”Thank U’’ card at its Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 sales outlet, pay for their booking using the card, to get a good discount on every booking which can also be used to shop at any partner outlets.

Mr Ezenwa, ‘’Dana Air is pleased to have again moved a notch higher towards achieving its vision of becoming Nigeria’s most customerfriendly airline with the launch of the ‘thank you’ initiative, which is designed to further appreciate and reward our guests for their loyalty.” . ‘’A customer with the thank you card doesn’t need to queue to pay for booking at any of our outlets. Its just a swipe and the card is debited.

The passenger also gets the cash back reward instantly. This means our guests get rewarded instantly for every booking. It’s just our little

way of creating a seamless travel experience for our guests while still rewarding their patronage.’’

Speaking further, Kingsley said, ”we will continue to explore technology to ease booking, and exceed the travel experience of our guests. We are a creative brand with a knack for innovation and ingenuity. Our self-service kiosk is also located at MMA2, where guests can choose to avoid the queue and book tickets, reschedule their flights or even pay for their booking without an interface with our agents. The kiosk is the first of its kind at the airport and created to suit the needs of our time-conscious guests.’’

Dana Air is one of Nigeria’s leading airlines with over 27 daily flights from Lagos to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo, and Owerri. The airline is reputed for its innovative products, world-class in-flight service and unrivaled on-time performance

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

Glo powers international confab for Girls in ICT

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otal telecommunications Solutions, Globacom, recently collaborated with eBusiness Life Communications Limited, publishers of e-Business Life magazine to celebrate the 2018 Edition of the International Girls-in-ICT Day which brought together students from 11 schools across Lagos.

Globacom’s representative at the event, Mrs Kemi Fadipe explained at the ceremony that the company partnered with the organizers in order to expose participants to the gamut of career opportunities available in the ICT sector and encourage them to aspire to such jobs.

“The world now revolves around ICT; the future holds a lot of promise for you should you go into the ICT sector,” she told the students, adding that every endeavour including commerce, banking, manufacturing, construction, medicine and social interaction now depends on ICT to thrive.

She said this was the reason for the company’s continued massive investment in the telecommunications sector to boost telecom service delivery in different parts of the country and power economic and social life.

“Since inception, we have pioneered innovative solutions in the industry and our reliable data services and affordable tariff plans will help you in your school research,” Mrs. Fadipe said, stressing that Globacom offers a veritable platform for them to excel in different career areas in the telecommunications industry.

Convener of Girls in ICT Day in Nigeria who doubles as Publisher of e-Business Life magazine, Mrs Ufuoma Emuophedaro, said the event was geared towards ensuring that Nigerian girls in ICT “join our voices to the rest of the world to encourage our young girls to delve into ICT-based careers or at best intensify its use in what they do.”

Participants were drawn from Lagoon Secondary School, Chrisland School, Wahab Folawiyo Secondary School, Kuramo College, Victoria Island Secondary School, Peaklane College, Baptist Girls Academy, Reagan Memorial Baptist College, Grace High School and Faith Academy.

The International Girls-in-ICT Day is observed in 166 countries around the world and is the initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

It is backed by all ITU members to create a global environment, which would empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in the field of information and communications technology (ICT).

S/East stakeholders seek stronger extant laws against domestic violence

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takeholders in marriage institution in the South-East have advocated strengthening of extant laws and reintroduction of moral education as panacea to curb spousal abuses and domestic violence in the country.

They made the call while fielding questions in a national survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the new face of domestic violence in the country.

In Enugu State, Prof Osita Ogbu, Dean, Faculty of Law, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUTH), told NAN that strengthening of extant laws could assist in curbing increasing incidences of spousal abuse.

Ogbu said that the constitution prohibit all forms of inhuman and degrading situations on the human person.

He said it was sad that spousal violence had taken a new dimension, adding that all relevant legislations needed to be activated to check the menace.

Ogbu attributed the menace to the harsh economic situation as well as the underlying cultural factor which seemed to accord more importance to men in the society.

“A hungry man is an angry man.

What do you expect when people find it difficult to pick their bills; there will always be a transfer of aggression. Morality is also going down. It is either the man is going after women or the woman is going

after men.

“Under Igbo culture, it is believed that a man is at liberty to chastise his wife and till now that culture has not changed much,” Ogbu said.

In Awka, respondents advocated re-introduction of civic and moral education as a way to promote good morals to stem the tides of rising cases of domestic violence in the society.

Rev. Fr. John Bosco Okorie, Parish Priest, St. Theresa Catholic Church, Nibo in Awka South, said that spousal violence was on the increase because of decline in morals and lack of basic knowledge on what couples really need to know in home management.

Okorie said because of ignorance, little matters snowball to misunderstanding between couples and end up in conflict and divorce.

Mr Austin Nwana, a legal practitioner, blamed the spate on economic hardship and lack of good moral upbringing.

Nwana said that government should do more to emphasise the teaching of civic and moral in primary and secondary schools in the country, adding that if children are properly trained, they mature into responsible adults.

“Hardly could you visit any Customary court in Anambra without hearing cases on misunderstanding between family members, especially husbands and wives,’’ Nwana said.

A divorcee, Ms Uche Ibekwe, said

she left her husband after five years because of frequent battering from her estranged husband.

“My former husband was a smoker, womaniser, and a drunk and hardly provides money for the upkeep of the home. In spite these obvious negative lifestyle, before I could speak on any of these misconduct, he would give me beating of my life,’’ Ibekwe said.

In Abakaliki, a clinical psychologist, Dr Clement Onya, attributed the incidences to poor child upbringing.

Onya, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), also told NAN that spousal violence was destroying family values and the sanctity of marriage.

He said the development had given rise to children who grew up without proper home training, who lack formal education and later become nuisance and menace to the society.

Similarly, Dr Amos Nnachi of Sociology and Social Works Department, EBSU, decried the spousal violence resulting in deaths.

He warned of looming dangers this posed to the family unit as foundation of society unless conscious efforts were made to contain the social vice.

The sociologist said statistics on domestic violence in Nigeria was shocking, and explained that reports released by the National Population

• Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi (r) with former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, at the Ivo solidarity rally to endorse the governor’s re-election bid.

Umahi appoints former ambassador, minister as chairmen of rice mills

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overnor David Umahi of Ebonyi has appointed a former Nigerian ambassador and a former minister to manage two rice mills in Ikwo and Izzi Local Government Areas.

The appointees are Chief Lawrence Nwuruku, former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico and former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner, to manage the Ikwo Rice Mill.

The other appointee, Chief Goddy Ogbaga, a former Minister of

State for Power and Steel, is the Chairman of the Rice Mill, located in Iboko, Izzi LGA of the state.

Umahi made the announcements on Friday during the novelty football matches involving the various arms of governments and parastatals in the state as part of events to mark the 2018 democracy day celebrations.

The governor commended the organisers of the novelty matches, noting that the excitement had reduced the blood pressure of spectators at the refurbished Pa Ngele

Oruta Stadium.

He also announced a donation of N5 million to participants of the matches with the six winning teams getting N500, 000 each.

“The four-runners up will get N400, 000 each, while the officials would also get N400, 000,” he said.

Ogbaga and Nwuruku recently declared their intentions to run for the Ebonyi North and Central Senatorial seats of the state respectively.

Commission (NPC) in 2009 revealed that Nigeria had one of the highest rates of domestic violence in Africa.

“It is sad that as many as two thirds of Nigerian women are believed to experience physical, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of their husbands.

“The trend has now changed as men now suffer domestic violence in the hands of their wives.

“Victims of domestic violence cuts across age, social, cultural, economic and educational background,” Nnachi said.

The spokesperson of the Police Command in Ebonyi, Mrs Lovett Odah, said that the command had not received reports on domestic violence where men were victims.

Odah noted that though the trend had reversed with women becoming often perpetrators of domestic violence, such reports had not been received by the command.

“Domestic violence has always been an issue of men against women because we live in a society where men are expected to be physically strong in fight than women.

“It is culturally regarded as shameful to see a woman beat a man, for a man will never be bold to say, ‘my wife is beating me’ and that may be reason we are yet to receive any report of violence against the husband.

“I am not saying that it does not happen in Ebonyi, what I am saying is that such reports have not been made in this command,” Odah said.

She said that the law was made to protect everybody, and urged men who had been domestically attacked or abused by their wives to report to police authorities for appropriate action.

Meanwhile, a marriage counsellor, Mrs Chinyere Onwe, has advised intending couples to always undergo marriage counselling before consummating the marriage to acquire relevant knowledge needed to have a successful marriage.

She also advised intending couples to focus interest on making their marriages work instead of concentrating energies in organising ‘societal’ weddings in order to reduce incidences of marriage break ups rampant in society.

In Owerri, a psychologist, Mrs Chiamaka Udemba, identified excessive need to control one’s partner as a major contributor to the rising incidence of spousal abuse and domestic violence.

Udemba told NAN that jealousy, inferiority complex and interaction of situational and individual factors were other contributory factors.

According to her, children who witness abuse in their environments and who may have been abused are more likely to grow up and become abusers.

The psychologist noted that men especially who find themselves in violent marriages were often too ashamed to make it public, further warning against shaming victims of abuse as this made them stay in toxic relationships to avoid judgment Also, Ms Peace Dike, the founder of Virgin Heart Foundation and girl child’s right activist, said women who kill their husbands were often women who have endured abuse for years, adding that such women often see the death of their spouse as their only way out of a life threatening situation.

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The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

NEWS Bishop Onah to Ugwuanyi: Beware of hypocrites, fake supporters

By CHUKS EZE, Enugu

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atholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Godfrey Onah, has advised the governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi ugwuanyi to be aware of negative individuals parading themselves as his supporters, especially as the 2019 general election draws closer.

He gave the advice at the Holy Ghost cathedral, Ogui, Enugu, during a special thanksgiving Holy Mass to celebrate the governor’s third anniversary in office, and Nigeria’s 19th anniversary of uninterrupted democracy, as well.

The service, which was presided over by the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most. Rev. Dr. C.V.C Onag, also had several high-ranking priests and the religious in attendance. Governor Ugwuanyi also led

a large number of dignitaries to the church, including his deputy, Hon. Mrs Cecilia Ezeilo; Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Edward Ubosi; Senators Gil Nnaji and Chukwuka Utazi, as well as Chief Judge of Enugu State, Service Chiefs in the state and various other principal officers of government and private establishments.

According to Bishop Onah, he was concerned that 12 months to the 2019 general election, Enugu State is already inundated with various posters and billboards mounted by the governor’s multiple support groups, even as it was possible that many of them do not have voter cards.

He also alleged that, in the same vain, many politicians have been aligning with the governor, professing his acclaimed slogan, “Enugu State is in the hand of God,” but in

actual sense, several of them are hypocrites, who are, and know they were apostles of the devil.

“Today, a year ahead of the next general election, Enugu State is littered with billboards of supporters of Gburu Gburu 2019. Some of those who are erecting those billboards have never done anything to support the people-oriented administration of the governor. But I am sure that the governor, who comes from a commercial town, knows that they are all traders who ate aiming for returns come 2019.

“Many have been daily endorsing and re-endorsing Ugwuanyi for 2019 but several of those people may not have obtained their permanent voters care; and even if they have, they may not care to go and cast their vote on that day. We know that more and more groups will still

endorse the governor in the coming days. Before you do that, go and get your voter’s card, so you can vote for the person you are convinced would do the right thing; that is the best endorsement that you can give.

“It is good when people voluntarily express their satisfaction in their government, but all those who think that they can deceive and hoodwink all of us should realise that we know them. And I urge the governor, his party, at least in this state, not to take it for granted that some people must complete a certain number of terms. Our take is that whoever that is not performing should be sent packing,” the bishop noted.

Still warning the governor not to take all his praise-singers as true friends and supporters, Bishop Onah continued, “We know that there are many Christians in public

offices in Enugu State, who, with the governor, are constantly affirming that Enugu State is in the hand of God, while they themselves, by their works, show that they are entirely in the hands of Satan”.

And on the state of the nation, he lamented that life had become so difficult for majority of Nigerian citizens, especially the youths, adding that it was unfortunate that the nation’s leaders were not doing enough to stem the tide, adding that poverty, suffering and misery had become the order of the day in the country.

The cleric stressed that as the country celebrates another democracy day, that rather than making merry, citizens’ minds would be preoccupied with numerous questions about the state of the nation.

PUBLIC NOTICE AND CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as ALEGU PEACE IFEOMA now wish to be known as NWORIE PEACE IFEOMA. All former documents still remain valid. Banks and General Public take note.

This is to certify that my name was wrongly written as EMEKA JOHN EBUBEALOR instead of NNAEMEKA JOHN EBUBEALOR. Born on 15th April, 1984. All Former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

JIDEM FOUNDATION This is to inform the general public that the above named foundation has applied to the corporate affairs commission Abuja for registration Under part c of the companies and allied matters act of 1990.

Trustees are: 1 Chioma Precious Ejimofor =Chairman 2 Mr. David Ejeba 3 Mr. Francis Ejimofor 4 Mr Chukwuemeka Okoloigwe= Secretary Aims and objectives: • To nurture children unto total health.

• To raise awareness for the uncommon disabilities of children.

Any objection to this registration should be forwarded to the registrar general corporate Affairs Commission within 28days of this publication.

Signed Chioma Precious Ejimofor (Chairman )

• A Manager of Glo Call Centre, Mrs Kemi Fadipe (3rd left), Mrs Justina Abdulateef of Public Sector Enterprise, Globacom, (4th left); Publisher, E-Businesslife, Mrs Ufuoma Emuophedaro (3rd right), with representatives of the secondary schools that participated at the 2018 Girls in ICT Day sponsored by Globacom at Lagos.

2019: INEC advocates composite governance standards

By ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

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head of the next general elections in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has advocated a composite governance standard for political parties and politicians by the media.

This it hopes will help ensure that the performance of political office holders, as well as parties, is properly assessed with the aim of deepening and strengthening democracy in the country.

The call was made by the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini who spoke as a guest lecturer during a public lecture tagged “Engendering Issue based campaigns in an electioneering year--the media perspective”, organized by the Correspondents Chapel of the NUJ in the state.

“More importantly the media can also develop a governance index akin to the stock market index for assessing the delivery of benefits and the maximization of public welfare delivered by elected officials at all levels.

In making this recommendation, I am fully aware of the diverse awards given by different media organizations to past and present office holders.

“While not diminishing their importance, it’s my well-considered opinion that the media as a body should have one composite governance award for publicly elected officials, a scorecard for performance that reduces subjectivity in scoring public officials.

“Such an indicator will not only help the voting public to make informed choices during elections but also insulate our politics from the corrosive and divisive matters of ethnicity and religion and focus on real issues that affect the people”.

While underscoring the pivotal role of the media in deepening democracy in the country, he maintained that the media should at all times be mindful of its role as the watchdog of the society.

As members of the fourth estate of the realm, he said the media should be alive to its duties of setting the agenda on national issues and help make the citizenry make informed choices during the forthcoming elections.

“Let me remind us again of my principal submission that the most important function of the media in a democracy is the media’s role as a watchdog.

“As water makes plants to grow so is the Nigeria media well positioned to water the tendrils of our democracy as we prepare for the 2019 elections by setting the agenda on issues and policy debates on Security, Economy, Job creation and Employment, Education, Health, Infrastructure and foreign policy for political parties and their candidates that will enable the Nigeria people to make informed choices of qualified and competent leaders that would occupy the legislative and executive arms of government at all levels and be able to deliver on the electoral promises made

to the people”.

While acknowledging the role of the media in the nation’s democratic progress, he said the commission welcomes the partnership with the media in voter’s education, consensus building and transparent processes ahead of the next general elections.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission covets and cherishes your partnership in the continuing efforts at sustained voters’ education and in building public consensus on innovative and transparent processes that would deliver free, fair and credible elections in 2019 towards the consolidation of democracy and building a Nigeria where there will be opportunity for all and responsibility from all”.

The chairman of the occasion, Chris Agara in his presentation, commended the role of the media in strengthening the country’s democracy and challenged the media to embrace the principle of social responsibility.

“The challenge for journalists, especially the mainstream media in which the correspondents’ chapel belongs should take up the gauntlet by embracing the principle of social responsibility.

“This theory entails holding government and public officers accountable to the people; participating in national development through promoting government policies and programmers as well as exposing the ills of the society as well as anti-democratic elements”, he said.

42

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

Crime Woman caught with 2-year- old stolen baby

…as man 73 impregnates girl 14 two-year old baby who was reA portedly missing at the mile 12 market has been found in the hands

of her abductors.

The Police Lagos command spokesman Chike Oti who confirmed the story told The Oracle newspapers that the girl was stolen when the mother was busy selling yam tubers at Mile 12 Market, Lagos.

According to him the child was rescued from one Elizabeth Ibezim who allegedly took her away without the consent of her mother.

“The incident took place at Mile 12 Yam market, Ketu, Lagos, where the child was taken away from the stall of her mother who was busy selling her wares at the popular market.

“When she eventually noticed that her child was missing, she became frantic and a search party was immediately raised to help her find her child.

“Luck, however, ran out on the suspect when she was spotted with the child on her back as she was about to board a commercial vehicle at Ketu bus stop, a reasonable distance from where the child was taken.

“The desperate mum rushed to the suspect and struggled to collect the baby from her. She raised the alarm which attracted a mob that nearly lynched the woman but for the quick intervention of a nearby police team,” he said.

The police spokesman said that the case is currently under investigation at the Gender Section of the Lagos State Police Command.

In another development, the police has said that it was investigating a case of defilement against a 73-year-old man identified as Pa Fola Olowoigbo for a case of defilement.

The suspect a resident of No 2, Fela Ahmed Street, Agric, Ikorodu, Lagos State was alleged to have defiled a 14-year-old girl and impregnated her.

Oti who confirmed the story said “The suspect who hailed from AgoIwoye, Ogun State is a local taxi driver and next door neighbour to the child’s mother.

“It was said that the victim was always sent on errands by the suspect unknown to the mother that he had ulterior motives until he allegedly impregnated her”he said.

Meanwhile, the police spokesman has warned parents to be wary of whom they entrust their children with.

He further explained that the suspect will be charged to court after investigations.

•Ibezim

Killers of Nasarawa state varsity don in police web

syndicate, Sunday Jatau, a native of It was gathered that of the of the Kaduna State whom the lecturers 14 suspects arrested, a 27- years old illers of a Senior lecturer with iPhone and car was found in his pos- Chadian national, Ibrahim Daniel, who was caught in possession of the Nasarawa State University session. the Don’s iPhone and nine of the Lafia Dr Ibrahim Mailafia have However, six months after the suspects were actually confirmed been arrested.

The University lecturer was killed dastardly act was committed and members of the syndicate, while between Kaduna-Zaria- Kano Ex- in continuation on the mandate five other suspects are receivers press Way by deadly kidnappers/ of “Operation Absolute Sanity” of stolen goods and cars from the armed robbers, while on his way to launched by the Inspector General gang.

Police said three brothers, SunKano to visit his family after obtain- of Police (IGP), the police Technical ing a Doctorate Degree on Artificial Intelligence Unit in collaboration day ,Solomon and Ayuba Jatau, are intelligence from United Kingdom. with the IGP intelligence response members of the gang while others Following his death the Inspec- team (IRT), swung into action and are Bature Adamu, Bello Abdullahi, tor General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim arrested 14 members of the noto- Mamuda Mohammad, Ibrahim DanIdris had given a marching order to rious gang, whom police alleged iel, Emmanuel Garba and Ishaku police operatives to track down the were responsible for most of the Luka alias Dogo, who Police alleged kidnappings, murders and armed was the supplier of arms and amperpetrators of the crime.

He was alleged to have been shot robberies along Niger-Abuja- Kadu- munitions to the gang.

Others in the police net as receivby a 35 years old gang leader of the na-Zaria-Kano Express ways.

Stories by XAVIER NDAH

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Fraudsters swindle man N31m after fake money making ritual T

wo suspected fraudsters has been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for defrauding a victim of N31, 000,000 (Thirty One Million Naira only) in the guise of making “money medicine” for him.

The suspects: Balogun Olumide Ojo and Augustine Opaso were arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They were arrested based on a petition by their victim, who alleged that the suspects deceived him into believing that he could access his family wealth through some “special prayers” that would offer him “money medicine”. One of the suspects, Ojo was arrested at the Reception hall of Presidential Hotel, Port Harcourt where he was waiting to collect more money

from the victim.

Investigation by the EFCC showed that the suspects were operating in Port Harcourt and Akungba, Ondo State. Ojo confessed that they were operating a shrine in Akungba where “ special money-making prayers” were being offered.

A search was conducted at the shrine by the EFCC and different kinds of images and spiritual items were recovered. The suspects also confessed that money was paid into their bank accounts by the victim and in some cases, cash was collected from him to purchase materials needed for the money making rituals.

The suspects would be charged to court soon.

•Ojo and Opaso

ers of the stolen goods who were all arrested in Kaduna State are Alhaji Usman Mohammad and Hassan Ibrahim.

Police operatives said that they recovered two AK47 Rifles loaded with ammunitions, one Baretta pistol, iPhone belonging to the lecturer and several vehicles which they stole from the suspects, who they alleged have confessed to several armed robberies, Kidnappings, and murders within Kaduna – Kano and Niger State Highways.

Police said efforts are in top gear to arrest other gang members and also to recover the remaining operational weapons in their possession while the suspects will be charged to court after investigations.

43

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

ENTERTAINMENT

With Douglas Omoyooma

I’ve no plans to go into politics

– Mercy Johnson Actress and Kogi State Special Adviser to the Governor on Entertainment, Mercy Johnson, has declared that she has no intention of going into politics any time soon.

I

“We are so excited to have top Nollywood actors coming in to the state to celebrate our culture with us in view of a movie for the big screen.

It was really challenging we “I have no plans to go into politics. It is not on my to-do-list. The truth is that I had so many issues here can actually effect change in my community without holding political office. and there but we scaled My husband is a politician and I think through. that is enough for the family. Besides, there is enough on my shoulders right “I think what now as an actress as I am under a lot of kept me going scrutiny from the media. I could actually do better and assist people around was I had much faith in me from this position. However, I am the project. not scared of going into politics; I am I had a lot just being careful.” of responsibilities on How has the mother of three been my shoulder combining motherhood, acting and and I wanted to her appointment as Senior Special prove that there Assistant on Entertainment, Arts and is something I Culture. could do to the best of my abilA smile breaks her features as she ities so it was a responds: “I wouldn’t say it is easy bit challenging because it is extremely challenging but we fought and hard. It has always been about a got it.” system of priorities for me. God comes through and we first, the family second and then, work.

How does she feel working for the The family has to be settled before you talk about work. When I am not happy government of? “Extremely excited. at home, I cannot function properly so I am always thankful to his excellency for bringing me on board. I am exit has always been a bit of priority for tremely honoured that he had faith me; I follow it in that order.” that there was something that I could do to bring change in the system and “There were a lot of challenges. Like I honestly hope that I don’t let him I always say, I love appreciating peodown.” ple who deserve it,” the actress says opening up on her second movie which she produced herself entitled Inikpi and For years, Mercy Johnson has been which showcases Egbira culture. “From under public scrutiny. How has she been coping? “It has been God. Like I the governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to always say; no one can undermine the his chief of staff, down to the political office holders and the sons and daugh- centrality of the media. You guys are ters of the land, I must confess, we got powerful and there is no saying that I a whole lot of assistance and that kind want to be careful or dodge you guys.

I am as real as it comes so I think it is of made it easy because Kogi State is friendly and the people are hospitable. just God. You guys are stakeholders in he industry and I am not in competition We want NIgerians to come in to see with anybody; I am just being myself.” what we represent and what we celebrate as a people. n a chat with Oracle Today, the actress who recently unleashed her latest movie effort, Inipki, which showcases Egbira culture said that even if her fans should call on her to go into politics, she wouldn’t budge.

44

The Oracle Today Tuesday May 29, 2018

True Confession

May my husband’s soul rest in pieces for keeping a mistress without my knowledge

K

ayode and I courted for a year.

Whenever I visited him, he would kiss me and carry me in his arms from the parlour to the bed and make sweet love to me.

His kiss was a collection of sweet dreams. And his lovemaking was a treasure, because I treasured the way he touched me and made me climax.

Sometimes after our lovemaking, Kayode would tell me to pose naked on the bed and then he would take pictures of me naked with his GSM phone.

Kayode told me that I had eyes like a cat; that my skin was the colour of honey, and that my hair was as beautiful and dark as midnight.

Kayode always looked into my eyes to say I love you. I couldn’t resist him when he kissed me, because his kiss was as tender as the dawn and as fulfilling as a bright day after a dark night.

My blood pressure rose whenever I thought of Kayode. And I thought I would die of hypertension if I didn’t have Kayode in bed by my side every night.

Kayode knew from the onset that I wouldn’t be able to bear a child for him. I’d told him from the beginning that my womb was damaged due to an abortion I had many years ago, yet he had insisted on going ahead with our wedding.

I’m a Catholic and my parish priest had advised me not to hide anything about myself from a man who wanted to marry me.

So I told Kayode everything and he said he didn’t mind and that he wasn’t even interested in having children.

As a result, we wedded and lived happily for 10 years without bothering ourselves with the thought of having children until my husband died after a brief illness early this year.

In March, I buried my husband. And during the burial ceremony, I received the shock of my life. A strange woman appeared with three children and wanted to sprinkle sand on my husband’s grave as his wife.

I confronted her immediately, but she only laughed at me and introduced herself as Kayode’s second wife.

She pointed to her three children, saying; “Aishat, these are Kayode’s kids whether you like it or not.” It was then that my mother-in-law intervened and confessed that my husband had quietly taken a second wife five years ago because he knew I would never be able to bear a child for him.

I would have avoided this shame if I had heeded advice to investigate my husband’s activities before his death.

With hindsight, I now realize that I should have listened more to gossip about my husband’s adulterous life, because there is no smoke without fire.

My mother-in-law says that my husband didn’t tell me in order to save our marriage. But that is no excuse. Men are deceivers. And I feel so hurt.

May my husband’s soul rest in pieces for keeping a mistress outside our matrimonial home without my knowledge.

After all, I told him from the beginning that I won’t be able to bear him a child. And he agreed. Then why did

Kayode have to be unfaithful to me?

I have decided not to mourn my late husband. Instead of mourning him, I’ll get a boyfriend immediately and move on with my life. There’s no point mourning the death of a man who betrayed me and injured my feelings

so callously.

Do you have a story or comment about this confession? Call 07031028714.

The Oracle Today

45

Tuesday May 29, 2018

SPORTS Democracy Day:

Football fares better under democracy – Obaseki, others

Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

A

S Nigeria look forward to celebrating 19 years of uninterrupted democratic rule in the country, the longest in the history of the most populous black nation on earth, football stakeholders are unanimous in casting aspersion on the military era.

Some of the stakeholders that responded to the comparison between civil rule and military rule as it affects sports and football in particular in the country did not blink an eye in declaring that comparing the two stages of the country’s history is like comparing day and night and that the difference is very clear like the 7Up slogan.

For former chairman of Nigeria Premier League, otherwise known then as Glo Premier League or the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), Chief Oyuki Obaseki, comparing the two

governments is like comparing day and night, saying military regime in the first place is an aberration as the military are not trained to be in government to govern the society, hence their activities while in government negatively affect all sectors of the society.

“Well, it is an open secret that there is no basis for comparison between democratic government and military dictatorship in any society, not only in Nigeria,” Chief Obaseki began.

“Comparing the two governments is like comparing day and night and you know what that means. Military rule is considered an aberration in the first place. Aberration in the sense that they are not trained to govern the society rather they are trained to defend the territorial integrity of any given country and Nigeria is not an exception.

“To buttress my point a little bit,

Nigerian football and sports generally fares better under a democratic government than during the military era.

“Here in Edo State, the famous Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin have been transformed completely and this could not happen during the military era. The same applies to other sports in the country both at the state, local and national levels.

“So, Nigeria has gone far ahead in sports development during civilian rule otherwise known as democratic rule unlike during the military interregnum,” Chief Obaseki submitted.

Also bearing his mind on the subject matter, former Kenya national team coach, Christian Chukwu also toed the path of Chief Obaseki, saying comparing democratic government with the military government is like comparing light and darkness.

He explained that as far as sports is concerned and football in particular,

World Cup not for rookies – Etoroma

D

ESPITE praising the Super Eagles Team B to high heavens for acquitting themselves very well in their friendly match against Atletico Madrid last Tuesday, former member of Delta State Sports Commission, Hon Ejiro Etoroma has declared that the Super Eagles Team B should not be included in the main team.

He explained that the reason for his view is based on the fact that the World Cup which is the biggest football fiesta is not a tea party for all comers’ affairs.

The renowned sports administrator explained that despite his believe that one or two players from Eagles’ Team B may be injected to the team to enable them gain experience and see for themselves what it means to be at the world’s football biggest stage, that does not entail that they should be made an integral part of the squad because the World Cup need people with bag of experience.

“Just like you aptly captured the performance of the Super Eagles Team B or the home based Eagles, they did wonderfully well against visiting Atletico Madrid last Tuesday in Uyo,” Hon. Etoroma began.

“Their performance is a proof that football talents are littered every-

where in the country. Mind you, this Super Eagles Team were just assembled for the game in less than four day and yet, they were able to match Atletico one on one.

“You see, I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that the Madrid based Europa champions were able to win the game based on experience if not, the game would have ended in a draw. Atletico had to dig dip in their bag of experience before they were able to secure victory against the hard fighting home based Eagles.

“As for me, despite their impressive performance against Atletico Madrid, I wouldn’t want them to be a part of the main squad that the Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has already penciled down for the Mundial.

“I am saying this because the World Cup is the highest stage of global football and it needs experience players for you to make any meaningful impact. The Super Eagles Team B do not have that experience.

So, it will be wrong to add them into the main team for the World Cup. “The technical adviser could decide to inject one or two players into the team to enable them gain experience but not that they are going to make the main squad for the Mun-

dial. This is how other countries do it.

“As for me, I would suggest that this team be kept together to serve as feeder team to the main team from where players would be selected to replace the aging national team players.

“I am of the opinion that doing that will help the country a lot because the players have shown with the game against a formidable opposition like Atletico Madrid that the future of the national team and Nigerian Football is secured.

“I, therefore, called on Amaju Melvin Pinnick led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to endeavor to maintain this team so that many of them could migrate to the main team in near future,” Hon. Etoroma advised.

•Hon. Etoroma

•Obaseki

no right-thinking person will touch military administration with the longest spoon because it has set the country several years backward.

“I am not a politician, why are you asking me to compare the military government and democratic government; you got me when you brought in sports as basis for my comparison of the two different types of governments in the country.

“As far as I am concerned, I don’t think that there is anything to compare because the two are wide apart.

Comparing them is like comparing light and darkness. Democracy is light in this instance while military rule is darkness.

“We have done well under democracy compared with what we witnessed during military era. It is true that we are not yet where we expect to be but I can assure you that we have made a quantum leap from where we were during the military

era.

“Take for instance it was under democratic rule that Nigeria was able to break a 38 year old jinx. Before the return of democratic rule in Nigeria, no Nigerian club was able to win the CAF Champions League but Enyimba did it in 2003 and defended it in 2004.

“Nigeria has won three continental trophies, the African Nations Cup. Out of the three, two were won under democratic dispensation while one was under military rule. Nigeria and Nigerians are respected more now than during the military era.

“If you remember, during the military era of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, Nigeria was isolated by the greater percentage of the civilized world particularly the western countries and Nigerians did not find it easy.

“So, there is no basis for comparison. Like I said earlier comparing them is like comparing light and darkness,” Chukwu declared.

Asaba 2018: LOC happy with Zenith’s sponsorship

T

he Local Organising Committee (LOC) of African Athletic Championship tagged Asaba 2018 has expressed happiness over the sponsorship deal it has entered with one of the country’s leading financial institutions, the Zenith Bank for the athletic event which is coming up in August.

This is just as activities of the championships billed for Asaba, the Delta State capital have picked up with the indigenous financial institution (Zenith Bank) stepping in as the official sponsors of the event.

This much was made public by an official of the LOC. The sponsorship of the championship by Zenith Bank is bound to go a long way in the successful hosting of the championships, which the organisers have vowed to make a reference point on the continent.

The Oracle Today Sports reliably gathered that the sponsorship deal was brokered by the Championship

Consultant and Head of Brand and Communication, Mr. Bukola Olopade who is the Managing Director of Nilayo Sports Limited.

The Oracle Today Sports can equally report that works at the venue of the athletics championship, Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba are ongoing, as every effort is being made to ensure that all the gray areas are tightened before the start of the competition which the first in the country in recent times. The Asaba 2018 African Senior Athletics Championship will hold from August 1-5, 2018.

•Gov. Okowa

The Oracle Today

46

Tuesday May 29, 2018

SPORTS

Buhari’s motivation will spur Eagles in Russia – Oduah Stories by MADUABUCHI KALU

F

ORMER member of Nigeria Football Association and the founder of Red Carpet Advertising, Prince Isidoreh Oduah has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari motivation to the Super Eagles will spur them to soar in Russia.

Prince Oduah said the way the late Head of State, Gen Sani Abacha motivated the Super Eagles that made them to win the 2nd continental trophy in Tunisia and went ahead to display one of the best performances of the 1994 World Cup should be emulated

by President Buhari to enable the team replicate the outstanding performance of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States of America.

The Anambra State born football administrator disclosed that the late Gen. Sani Abacha was in the habit of calling the players one after the other in order to motivate them and that worked wonderfully well for the team and the country. He urged President Buhari to emulate that in order to spur the team give good account of themselves in Russia.

According to the former member of Lagos State Football Association (LSA), there is no bigger motivation than when a President of a country invites a team to a dinner and in the process talked to them on the need to put in their best for the glory of the

country.

Prince Oduah said the late Sani Abacha did it and it was magical.

That was why when Abacha died, the players mourned him because he was close to them as he knew most of them by their first names “I want to start by saying that I am delighted that President Muhammadu Buhari played host to the national team; the Super Eagles before they depart the shores of the country to England where they are to face the Three Lions in a Grade A friendly tie in Wembley as a part of their preparations for the world Cup,” Prince Oduah began.

“Why am I delighted that Mr. President played host to the Super Eagles? You may ask! The reason is that as a seasoned sports administrator, I know what motivation from the No1 citizen of the country means.

“Look, let me tell you, there is no greater motivation than the motivation of the president of a country. I am talking from experience.

“When the late Gen. Sani Abacha was the Head of State, my very good friend Chief Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo was the Minister of Sports. Abacha was the No1 motivator of the Super Eagles then. He was so passionate about the Super Eagles that he was calling them even when they are prosecuting any match. He knew them very well individually and collectively.

“He knew the players by their first names and because of that the players could go to any length to defend the fatherland.

“That Buhari hosted the players in the Villa is a very big motivation.

The motivation is not only about

giving them sumptuous meal and handshake. No! no! no! It is making a promise to the team and saying, look, if you do so, so, I will reward you with so! so!

“As the father of the nation, his interaction with the players will go a very long way in spurring the

Mayweather spoils daughter with $5m ring

F

LOYD Mayweather is not afraid to flaunt his wealth, but some are saying he went too far with his latest present to his daughter Iyanna, Celebrity Insider reports.

On Sunday, Miss Iyanna Mayweather, who is the daughter of Melissa Brim, celebrated her 18th birthday. Most parents, who are fi-

•President Buhari

Chukwu thumps up Eagles Team B •Says “home based players should be fulcrum of Eagles”

F

ORMER national team captain and coach, Christian Chukwu has given kudos to the Super Eagles Team B for their wonderful performance against visiting Atletico Madrid of Spain in a friendly tie that took place last Tuesday inside the main bowl of the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

According the former Enugu Rangers captain and general manager, the Super Eagles Team B performed beyond the expectations of many Nigerians. He said the team have shown with their performance that Nigeria is home of untapped football talents.

Chukwu, therefore, used the opportunity to reiterate his call to make the home based players the fulcrum of the national saying there is nowhere in the world that national teams are peopled with foreign based players.

“First and foremost I must give kudos to the Super Eagles Team B as you people prefer to call them for their wonderful performance against visiting Europa champions, Atletico Madrid,” Chukwu began.

“The team surpassed the expec-

tations of many Nigerians through their performance. It was a good outing by the boys despite losing the match. As far as I am concerned, the loss is insignificant because this is a group of players that were assembled together for less than four days to confront a formidable team like Atletico Madrid.

“The reigning Europa League champions; who have been playing together for almost 7 to 10 years, it is not an easy thing to confront such a formidable side within a short notice as that and still give good account of yourselves the way the reserved team did.

“The performance of the boys against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday has reaffirmed my age long believe that we have abundant football talent in this country waiting to be discovered, harness and nurtured to stardom.

“We have players here that can match any team in the world and hold their own and the friendly game against Atletico has proven that.

Speaking further, Chukwu disclosed that the problem with the country is that those charged with

team to stretch itself beyond limit in order to do well in Russia and get rewarded.

“My mind is telling that the Super Eagles will perform wonders in Russia particularly with President Buhari’s motivation,” Prince Oduah enthused.

the responsibility of administering the game are not interested in working as they prefer to make use of already made materials instead fishing out the raw talents that bound in the country and nurture them to stardom as it is done in other countries of the world.

“I think that the problem that we have is that those charged with the responsibility of administering our football are lazy if not why can them scout for the abundant talents in the country and harness and nurture them to stardom?

“Because they don’t want to

work, they now prefer already made players. That is why they have subjected the country to solely rely on foreign based players for the country’s football engagements which as far as I am concerned is wrong.

“So, I want to charge the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) led

by Amaju Melvin Pinnick to ensure that we have a good home based squad that can be called upon any time and they will be able to deliver.

“It is even cheaper to maintain the home based side as they can be called upon from time to time to come to camp and after that they can go back to their respective clubs.

nancially apt, give their teens a car, a lovely party or maybe the latest gadgets.

No, not the controversial boxer and Donald Trump supporter. Floyd spent several millions of dollars on a massive diamond ring.

According to BET, the 30-carat diamond is worth $5m.

The designer behind Iyanna’s colossal bling wrote, “Happy birthday@moneyyaya … That 18ct Canary PRISTINE looking great.”

On social media, many are happy that the Mayweather family is blessed with wealth, but they are confused by the bling because they wonder which young man will ever be able to compete with Floyd the day they are ready to propose to Iyanna. Uploading a picture of the ring on her Instagram story, Iyanna captioned the image, “First birthday gift I’m so in love. Thank you so much dad.”

One person wrote, “My dad spoiled me too, but I was spoiled with love, attention, family vacations to the beach, etc.., flowers, education and lunch dates… All the little things that help mold a young girl into a woman and so I grew up with an appreciation of what hard work is and what are responsible expectations for my husband…I feel bad for whomever tries to marry her. “Like my dude this the birthday ring you got to top. This was unnecessary. Nice gift but unnecessary. No man can beat this imagine her meeting her soulmate, but he can’t even afford this. I feel bad for the poor guy because she gone look right past him shame.”

Another commenter wrote, “I hope this ring is to wear on special occasions..diamonds on the other side..no one does that…you can chip a diamond…Let us just hope it was an investment purchase to be put up in a safe….sorry that ring is over the top and by the looks of her hand..too young to wear it..she turned 18! Shame, it’s a blessing for her to be able to receive something like that but definitely not a safe situation for a young woman.”

47

The Oracle Today Wednesday May 29, 2018

NEWS

@ 19, democracy blooms …despite hiccups Cont’d from Pg 2 doesn’t allow for the expression of the will of the people in the sense that is it virtually an impossible document to amend.

“The faults are there, deeply entrenched. To change any part of the constitution requires a kind of unanimity that is not possible in a democracy: whether it is to devolve more power to the states, or whether it is to devolve more power to the local governments, whatever it is, the constitution is almost cast in stone.

“I believe that as inaccurate as it is today, the constitution enables the capture of political and economic power by a few members of the elite and it doesn’t allow the average Nigerian to have his dreams, ambitions expressed through the constitutional pro-

cess,” he lamented.

The way to deepen Nigeria’s democracy, he says, is to amend the constitution.

“If we are to make progress, I will urge the National Assembly and all the main political actors in the country, to take a big breath and look at that constitution with a clear eye, while freeing some parts of those areas where there is so much tension or those areas where Nigerians ought to have the ability to decide their future without having to struggle for the ultimate power at the centre.

“I would love to see that more powers, including police powers, are devolved to the local governments.

“We have to work towards reducing excessive concentration of power at the centre, that is the bane of our current democratic

experience,” he added.

In his views, Chief Jude Udeachara, Special Adviser to Abia State Governor on Trade and Investment said Nigerians should be thankful to God that the country has experienced 19 years of uninterrupted democracy, adding that it is up to the leaders to entrench democracy in the country.

However, he said that Nigerians have resorted to prayers, to ask God to intervene and touch the heart of the present federal government to emulate the democratic governance of America, Europe and even South Africa.

“We, at least, thank God today that the democratic process has been allowed to endure for 19 uninterrupted years in the country.

But at the same, we also pray our leaders to allow democracy to be

entrenched and strengthened,” he said, while pointing out that President Buhari’s military background was influencing his style of administration, which, he said, is tilted towards dictatorship.

“President Buhari has a military background and is currently acting like a military administrator, attempting to hound people into police cells when they have not been proven to have done anything wrong; arresting people arbitrarily just like the Police were arresting people in 1984 when he was the military Head of State and putting them in jail without trial, and while they were facing trials, he was not granting them bail. Putting a person in jail without any court proving him guilty is an abuse of one’s fundamental human rights,” the Bio-Chemist-turned-politician asserted.

Umahi faults Buhari’s anti-corruption war Cont’d from Pg 2 cupied in the North East.”

For businessman Precious Dike, a major regret is that requent fuel scarcity and epileptic power supply has shot up the price of doing business in Nigeria.

“Business people have to buy petroleum products at exorbitant prices to keep their vehicles on the roads as well as run their generators at extra cost. As a result, businesses are closing down and factories are being shut because overhead expenses are shooting through the roof,” he agonized.

According to Dumena Kpor, a retired public servant who is now a farmer, the federal government’s policy of diversifying the economy by embracing agriculture appears to be limited to state governments and big farmers with well-oiled political connections.

“I have made concerted efforts to identify the agencies representing the federal government’s agricultural programme in Rivers State so that I can key-into it, but I am yet to find one. I am still searching,” he lamented.

“How do small scale farmers like me benefit from the federal government’s agricultural programme? I plant maize, vegetables, yam, plantain and casava.

I have access to land but do not have the wherewithal to plough as much as land as I would have wanted to.”

He observed: “I think the federal government’s resolve to diversify the economy through agriculture is good. But, it will not attain its ultimatum goal if farmers in the rural communities where the actual farming takes place are not appreciated and involved in the agricultural programme.”

For his part, Sotoye Briggs, a lawyer and human rights activist, said the Buhari administration has failed in bringing Nigerians together.

He insists that Nigerians are more divided today than they were three years ago.

“I have not seen Nigerians so divided along ethnic lines. Most Nigerians today argue along ethnic lines because of what they are seeing happening at the federal level,” Briggs contended. “There is a worrisome perception that the federal government is tilting seriously towards one ethnic group, as can be seen from the appointments that are being made at the centre.”

Umahi added that the current

Dr (Mrs.) Sally Adukwu-Bolujoko (left), former Chairman of Council, Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM) and Member, Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), chats with Mrs. Cecelia Ezeja (Mayoress), wife of the Chairman, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, Comrade Uwakwe Ezeja, at Township Stadium, Ogrute, venue of the recent launch of the Igbo-Eze North chapter of Gburugburu Movement.

Photo: Williams Nwodo approach to the anti-corruption crusade is rather disruptive: “This is not a fight against corruption. Those that are working very hard should not be distracted. Ebonyi state should not be distracted. Six months in office, they wrote all kinds of petitions against us and I was very angry because our books are open. We even have a mini-EFCC in the State,” he said.

“We adopted a proactive measure in the fight against corruption in our dear state and this is a method I will recommend for the fight against corruption in the country.

We will resist every political intimidation using any agency of government at any level.”

“Ebonyi people are at home with this government and for those that are pretending that they are supporting the President, they just want to come and loot this state again. The lootings for eight years are nothing for them; we can’t be distracted and our books are ready and open. We are very committed, we are very focused,” Engr. Umahi further stated.

In a similar development, the Enugu State government, in a bid to eliminate cases of multiple property tax and create a platform for property owners to seek redress, has inaugurated a 10-man Land Use Charge Assessment and Appeal Tribunal.

Swearing in the 10-member tribunal chaired by Barrister Chigozie Nnadi, Governor Ifeanyi ugwuanyi said the inauguration of the tribunal is consistent with the vision to consolidate the state’s reputation as one of the most investor-friendly states in the country, describing it as a giant step towards easing the tax burden of property owners.

The tribunal, the governor stated, was further necessitated by complaints from property owners about the multiplicity of taxes on their lands and landed property.

“There have been stringent complaints that local governments and agencies of state government impose all manners of taxes, rates and levies on land and landed property.

“In response to these complaints, the Enugu State House of Assembly in September 2016 passed into law the Land Use Charge Law. This was amended in 2017, thus consolidating all property, land use rates and charges payable under the Property Rates Law, Local Government Law and assessment law in Enugu State into a new Land Use Charge to be called Land Use Charge,” he said.

Ugwuanyi noted further that the new law has ended the era of multiple taxation of property in the state, saying: “Property own-

ers in the state will no longer receive varieties of demand notices on their property. Instead, they will receive and pay a single charge on their property.”

He also explained that by streamlining the hitherto haphazard levies on property, the Land Use Charge will help boost the internally-generated revenue of both the state government and participating local government councils.

The state’s Chief Judge, Justice Priscilla Emehelu commended Governor Ugwuanyi for performing a very important aspect of the Enugu State Land Use Act and in choosing members who have distinguished themselves in various endeavours.

She explained that the tribunal has the powers to summon anyone to appear before it, adding that the state’s judiciary would next week commence training workshops for members of the tribunal to ensure they are “grounded and well prepared in line with the law”.

Responding on behalf of the members after their inauguration, Barrister Nnadi thanked the governor for giving them the opportunity to offer their service and promised that the tribunal will discharge its duties with a sense of fairness and justice.

“It appears that the opposition is being hounded at the moment, harassed, that is the way the federal government is going about fighting corruption, not just the political opposition but also APC party members who don’t appear to agree with the President on certain national issues and his style of government are also being harassed,” Udeachara said. the Senior Special Adviser to Abia State Governor on Trade and Investment.

He counseled President Buhari to adhere to and make rule of law and respect for fundamental human rights integral parts of democracy in the country.

Udeachara also called on the President to try to secure the country. By stopping the killings in many parts of the country; work to deliver on his promises to Nigerians, particularly, security and development, “Let the President concentrate on governance, let him concentrate on securing the life and property of Nigerians, let him concentrate on development, including provision of infrastructure – water, road, light, cheap food,” he advised, lamenting that the government appears to have abandoned governance for politicking.

Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Sir Don Ubani, is heaping blames on the APC-led federal government for any drawbacks Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation may have suffered.

Ubani asserts that when PDP held sway, democracy fared well.

“There was a clear indication of democratic governance because when you talk of democracy, the major aspect is adhering to the rule of law. It is the rule of law that makes the society a democratic one..

“So, between 1999 and 2015, the rule of law was adhered to, it was respected; court verdicts were obeyed. But unfortunately, since we came into the present dispensation, that is starting from May 29, 2015 till date, it is evident that democracy has taken a different shape.

“Today, court judges are not respected; public opinion is not taken kindly to; people cannot come out to protest without being badly molested and at times being physically injured.

“So, I think there is a difference between the democracy we seem to be practicing today, as opposed to the democracy we saw when PDP was in government at the centre,” he said.

“So what I think we should in order to make sure that our expectations of a democratic governance are met is one: that the APC government at the centre should change its attitude towards governance because today, President Buhari still sees himself as a military dictator and whatever he says, it stands as a decree, without taking into consideration, the pulse of the ordinary citizens.

“So, my thinking is that it is either the government at the centre will change or Nigerians should mobilise effectively, using their permanent voter’s cards, to make sure that by 2019, the present administration of Buhari is voted out because if, in his first tenure, citizens could be so recklessly killed and slaughtered and he doesn’t give a damn, it doesn’t pain him, he doesn’t even believe that something is happening, you can imagine worse things that could happen if he is returned.”

WEDNESDAY May 29, 2018

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Don’t panic, it’s a democracy

W

HATEVER happens do not panic, it is a democracy, though there are times you think it is a dictator without a ship, meaning once the ship is discovered and attached, we would have a dictatorship. While we are at the search, there is a general feeling that we know who is President, but remain uncertain about who runs the country. The feeling has nothing to do with the President’s health.

It has everything to do with the complicating decisions and indecisions that appear not to serve the President’s interests. We only assume what those interests could be outside the platitudes about loving Nigeria, which translates to patriotism.

One of the drawbacks of the vast expanses that democracy provides for choices are the arguments for the rights of people to make choices that could harm democracy and themselves. The right to association, in particular, subsumes and guarantees the right to any association that we consider “right”, as long as it is legal. In the long drawn efforts to stretch the frontiers of freedom, rights are blurring from both ends – those who say they must be regulated (using noses as boundaries, not good enough for space management) and others who vote for limitless rights, in the perpetual expectations that all their choices would automatically become right.

It is a long way to choices and rights. The circumstances of whose rights are in contention circumscribe the rights of others with the law winking hence they say the law is an ass for all to ride, an uncharitable remark on the law.

Rights that our politicians hold dear include moving from one political party to the other. Spates of crossing from one party to the other are on again. In the legislative houses, there are muffled noises about the propriety of another party gaining seats it did not win at the elections.

The position of the law is vacuous. Crisis

in a party is deemed enough reason to move to another party. What is a crisis?

Suppose I prime my supporters (thugs) to disrupt party meetings, raise my voice high enough about the democratic abnegations our great party patronises, and as a respect for the law, file multiple suits against the party, would that be a crisis in the opinion of the law?

Other changes in party affiliations have been the decade-long practices of groups (any associations, or affiliations) gathering a crowd of hundreds or thousands, depending on their resources, to accompany a known political merchant to change his business address. The accompanying crowd becomes his supporters who are following him to the next party. A close look at some of the faces shows that they have so professionalised political merchandising that their expertise is in assembling crowds for rallies, cross carpeting, and sometimes as thugs.

For many politicians, these moves are pre-election re-alignments. It is a time to re-assess their involvement in the previous election season; time to prepare for a

future counted in terms of success at the next election. Nothing could be wrong in these except that they constrict the political sphere and make it indiscernible.

The people do not seem to be a consideration until the next election. From the way things are going, the people would not count for much in the elections. All the noise about the importance of the permanent voter’s card, PVC, does not reflect on how the people are treated.

Hunger can do a couple of things to an individual. He could get angry, go for anything to quash the hunger, without minding the conditions or hold on to his convictions, no matter what. Where the hunger for power is involved, our politicians have few qualms if any. It is power at all costs, every cost, which could be an appropriate attitude, if you consider that for most parts, no costs are spared in the pursuit of power and its maintenance. I hope it is clear that we are not discussing electricity.

Power is for their immediate families, and for attainment of positions to oppress others. Compromise has gained more notoriety lately. Serial compromises hold Nigeria

down. Joining the ruling party in the local government, State, or at the centre, is an admission that a day is too long in politics.

Why wait until 2019, the future, as some euphemistically call it? Ministerial appointments were made. In case someone is evaluating the performances of Ministers, most of who, in fairness to them, are anonymous, it would be the tasking side of democracy.

Board positions remain largely vacant, and 2019 no appear too many months away, politically speaking. The gateways to political appointments may seem shut, but they are never locked. Hopes are high that 2019 would be some people’s year of entry into “the next level” of their political sojourns. Some have waited since 1999, not coming the years of hoping the military would depart. The wait has been long and age is not on most people’s side.

These attainments are expensive. You have to be well-behaved to those who make the decisions. You have to pledge your unflinching loyalty. I have a friend who defines the blindness of his loyalty by the fact that though his sight may be failing, he has refused to wear glasses, in case, he saw something wrong. How does he see the good work His Excellency has done? He explained that he did not need to see them. Whether they existed or not, he said, all that was required of him was to parrot the comments of other mainstream supporters of His Excellency. Blind loyalty is not mere stringing of words.

If the ruling party plays its cards well (poor visibility permitting) it would soon have enough members, coverts, new comers – all steeped in old ways – that fears about the stability of our democracy would heighten. In those doubtful moments, our leaders would paraphrase every speech with, “Let me remind you that we are in a democracy.”

Our consolation would be in knowing, that they know, that we are so steeped in democracy, 19 years into it, yet we need to be reminded that we are in a democracy.

Enough said; enough understood. Whatever happens, nobody should panic, because no matter how democracy is defined, things Nigerian defy logic, possibly our biggest contribution to humanity.

Happy Democracy Day

•President Buhari

•Bukola Saraki

•Yakubu-Dogara

IF you have made it this far, you possible would be around for the final leg of this segment of the journey. What are your impressions of our democracy? I know we are a forgiving people, a trait that our leaders take for granted. If we were to follow Prince Tony Momoh’s promise, we were supposed to have started casting stones at the APC government since 29 May 2017, the two-year frame that Prince Momoh said APC required to change (improve?)

Nigeria. On his own, he suggested that we cast stones at the APC government if it failed to deliver. Prince cannot dictate violence to us.

The Oracle Today is published by The Oracle Newspapers Limited. Head Office: 116 Awka Road, Onitsha. Lagos Office: 25 Remi Fani-Kayode Street, GRA Ikeja. Abuja Office: 1st Floor, Plateau House, Central Business District, Abuja, FCT. ISSN: 2545-5869 Email: oracletoday2016@yahoo.com, Twitter: @oraclenews.ng Facebook: oraclenews.ng@facebook.com Website: www.oraclenews.ng Advert hot lines: 09078310060, 09061836916. Editor: FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU.