Wednesday January 24, 2018 Edition

Fulani herdsmen: Impunity must stop

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VERYONE knows that a Fulani herdsman is above the law. The remaining contention is why he is above the law. Government officials in their responses appear surprised that Nigerians are unwilling to accept that Fulani herdsmen should be free to kill (in the most gruesome manners), rape, burn villages, destroy farm lands and move to next destination to repeat the crimes.

GOVERNMENT denies that the

The Oracle Comment

criminals are Fulani herdsmen, or admits that they are Fulani herdsmen but foreigners, warn Nigerians that they should learn to accommodate the excesses of the Fulani herdsmen or seek their abode outside Nigeria.

It is impossible to know how to co-exist with Fulani herdsmen, who have risen

The

VOX POPULI SACRUM

to a height in impunity that befuddles any reasoning.

EXCUSES that government officials make that the attacks are reprisals for cattle rustling are not true. Why do Fulani herdsmen not report their stolen cattle to the police? Where do they acquire the sophisticated weapons with which they annihilate

villages? Who trains them?

Where do they train? Why are they so certain that they would not be punished?

Why does the Federal Government not condemn the attacks?

WHY do officials of the Federal Government treat victims of the attacks as if they are the aggressors? In the countless

instances of these attacks, there are indications that they are massacres, executed to the last details, with the leisure of time on their side. The security agencies would arrive after hours to record the horror, usually minimising the impact in their account. The villagers are blamed if they defended themselves.

WHEREVER these attacks

racle

WEDNESDAY January 24, 2018

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Today

VOL.3 No.3 N200

FG battles Dangote, other over $76m debt

By SOPURUCHI ONWUKA

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• President Muhammadu Buhari in a handshake with Benue Sate Governor, Samuel Ortom, as his Deputy, Steve Abonu looks on, after a meeting involving Service Chiefs, Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd), Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari,Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha; National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno; Director General of Department of State Services, Lawal Daura; and other ministers, among others, as well as some members of the Benue State Council of Chiefs led by the Tor Tiv, HRM Orchivirigh, at the Presidential Villa, Monday

inistry of Power, Works and Housing has terminated commercial concessions granted two companies to operate the fibre optic networks of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for providing technical support services to players in the telecommunication industry.

The concession deals were voided over allegations of piling debts, conflicts of interest and false claims of ownership, according to documents released by the ministry.

Government is also deploying measures to compel the two firms,

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Operation rescue Nigeria

By FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU

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HE need to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, restore basic democratic freedoms, restructure the country and, by so doing, break the hegemonic and divide-and-rule tendencies of the political establishment, has been adduced as the major reason behind current moves to restore Igbo-Yoruba political camaraderie.

The moves are coming against the backdrop of a federal administration that is perceivably weight-

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• Why Ndigbo, Yoruba met • We did not organise heckling against Nwodo — IPOB • Benue massacre re-echoes • Where is Nnamdi Kanu?

– Wailing women • Restructure now

ed heavily in favour of one section of the country, leaving the rest of the country struggling for a foothold in a system that should oth-

erwise be an all-inclusive set-up in which all sections of the country are supposed to participate equally and contribute their quota to

national development.

Last week Thursday’s well-attended Handshake Across the Niger Conference in Enugu came at

the instance of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba social political organisation and was

Cont’d on page 2

‘Southern Nigeria at the mercy of the North!’

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS

... Dangote, other over $76m debt Continued from Pg 1

Phase 3 Telecom Limited and Alheri Engineering Company Limited, to defray outstanding debts totalling $75,500,000.00 million in addition to losing rights to operate the assets.

The Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who informed President Muhammadu Buhari of the details of the disputes leading to termination of the concessions, said the two companies linked to Alhaji Aliko Dangote have breached payment agreements that underpin the commercial concession and also tried to illegally acquire the fibre optic infrastructure without due process.

In a letter with reference number FMP/OPS/06/I dated October 31, 2017 the minister informed the President of his support to the TCN in terminating the two separate concession agreements with Phase 3 Telecom Limited and Alheri Engineering Company Limited.

According to him, the agreements were voidable, adding that they stand terminated due to the manifest breach of the Fiber Network concession Agreements by the concessionaires, and the existence of conflict of interests in consideration of the two companies for the deals.

Mr. Fashola explained that the concession agreement provided for the companies to take over the operation of TCN’s fiber optic network hosted in the nation’s electricity transmission line, build, operate and transfer enhancements of the fiber optic network, over a period of fifteen years and use the assets to provide telecommunications services to third par-

To be serialised in The Oracle Today soon

Read about the great Rangers story from next edition

ties.

According to him, the concessionaires were to pay a concession fee of $40 million each for the use of TCN’s assets to service their customers.

He added that the concession fee was not just for the right-ofway upon which the transmission lines are constructed, but also for the use of the fiber optic network, which was built by TCN along with the transmission lines.

He explained that the agreements also provided for shelter fees of 2.5 percent royalty on gross revenue.

The, minister, however regretted that since 2006, Phase 3 and

Alheri have paid only $2 million and $3.5 million concession fees respectively, adding that the concessionaires have also failed to build most of the enhancements their agreements required them to build, operate and transfer.

“All effort by TCN management to ensure the Concessionaires pay their outstanding debts failed, notwithstanding the significant revenue they collect from the customers they service using TCN assets. Their customers include all the Mobile Network Operators in Nigeria, who rely on TCN fiber optic network, through the Concessionaires, to deliver services to their 139 million subscriber lines nationwide,” Mr Fashola stated.

He urged the President to de-

ploy the relevant government law enforcement agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), State security services, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Communications, Idependent Corrupt Practices Commission and (ICPC) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to assist TCN “recover its outstanding concession fees, and to fully recover these critical assets of government, without avoidable disruption to the third parties who rely on TCN’s fiber optic network.”

He said: “These steps are essential for the stability, optimization and continued expansion of the national grid.”

In faulting the processes that

led to the concessions, Mr. Fashola blamed the festering malfunction of the concession agreements on conflict of interests during the transaction negotiations, explaining why previous TCN management failed to protect and enforce the rights of TCN under the concession agreements.

According to the letter, it has been discovered that Phase 3 is owned and managed by Mr. Stanley Jegede, son-in-law to Mr. Cornelieus Adebayo who was the Minister of Communications when the the company obtained the long distance license (NLFL).

He also pointed at the role Engr.

Joseph Makoju in the transaction

herdsmen. There were calls for the Federal Government to act, there were condemnations of the refusal of government to act, that had resulted in the deaths, the latest in a series of annual killings that have been going on for decades.

“Our sympathies are with Benue people,” one of the event’s organisers said. “We observed a minute’s silence to honour the dead. If it was possible, we would have put off the event to be with them, but this had been planned long before the killings.

“The conference is also about the issues that lead to the sort of killings that we are witnessing across the country, without firm action from the Federal Government which is responsible for security.”

What was the purpose of the

gathering, some of the women who cried in Enugu wanted to know. They related their oppression at the hands of governments who did not care about them and their children.

“What are we doing here when we cannot say what happened to our children who the army arrested since last year,” one of the women shouted. “Where is Nnamdi Kanu? Why is everyone quiet?,” she continued as more attention was drawn to her questions.

The same questions, about the future of Nigeria, a future so present, that it has to be discussed immediately, was at the centre of the Enugu meeting. How would Igbo-Yoruba relations be restored to levels that could rescue Nigeria from collapse? The conference is about rescuing Nigeria,” another of the organisers said. “If you call

it operation rescue Nigeria, you would be right.”

The Igbo-Yoruba political affinity started way back in the 1930’s and 1940’s when the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Owelle of Onitsha co-founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) with Olayinka Herbert Samuel Heelas Badmus Macaulay, who led the political organisation until his death, following a fall in Kano, in 1946.

The NCNC was a patriotic organisation designed to bring together Nigerians of all stripes to demand independence. Most of its principal actors were Igbo and Yoruba.

While Macaulay is regarded the father of Nigerian nationalism, it was Zik that the lot fell on after Macaulay’s death in 1946 to lead the NCNC. In concert with other important players in both the NCNC and other political organisations, Zik was to eventually lead Nigeria to political independence from Britain in 1960.

It has been revealed that, more than anyone else or group, it was the British who sowed the seed of discord and suspicion between the Yoruba and the Igbo, in London’s apparent bid to ensure that the undue political advantage it had created for the North over the South was not truncated by the two Southern heavyweights working together.

The effect of the British conspiracy can be seen in today’s Nigeria where the North, indeed, just one ethnic group in the North, is accused of ‘lording’ it over the rest of Nigeria unchallenged, because the two heavyweights in the South-Igbo and Yoruba--are constantly played against each other in a fruitless supremacy contest and are, therefore, unable to work together to insist that the right things be done by the nation’s political leadership for the good all citizens.

It is widely believed that the “robust” outcome of the Handshake Across the Niger Conference signals the beginning of a new epoch in Igbo-Yoruba relationship such that the two groups would henceforth join forces to oppose any anti-democratic decisions or policies they might consider inimical to the interest of the generality of Nigerians.

“We want to end the era of suspicion and mutually antagonistic actions that only end up hurting us both and the rest of Nigeria--politi-

Operation rescue Nigeria Cont’d from Pg 1

powered by a group called Nzuko Umunna (literally, the meeting of kith and kin).

Emotions were high and visited the gathering with initial rowdiness. Some women were wailing over the killings in Benue State.

Benue was laying its dead to rest, more than 70 caskets were wheeled into the IBB Square in Makurdi, where a funeral mass preceded the mass burial of those who Fulani herdsmen had killed.

“When will the killings stop? What are the governments doing about the killings?,” some of the women queried as they cried.

In Makurdi, more wailings were gong on as political, religious, traditional leaders, across religions, regions, and relations condemned the unrestrained attacks by Fulani

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION

Sokoto Govt adopts preventive health strategy

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he Sokoto State Government says it has adopted preventive, responsive and curative strategies for healthcare delivery in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Balarabe Kakale, disclosed this when he received Federal Government officials on Tuberculosis control programme in Sokoto on Thursday.

He said that the government is collaborating with development partners with a view to facilitate maximum achievements in all health interventions.

He said the state government had streamlined its work plans on health programmes in recognition of its importance.

He said that government is however reintroducing passionate services of community environmental health workers and routine immuni-

Benue killings: Catholic Bishops call for prayers

sation.

The services, the commissioner added would also provide drugs and consumable at hospitals with adequate TB drugs and others.

State Coordinator of Tuberculosis (TB) and Leprosy Control Programme, Dr Bello Tambuwal, who identified poverty, poor sanitation and malnutrition as major causes of the prevalence, also commended efforts of the federal and state and governments at reducing the diseases to the barest level.

Tambuwal said a three-day National Tuberculoses and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) review meeting was held in Sokoto last year and was attended by former minister of health, Dr Halliru Alhassan, with participants from the 36 states and FCT. Director in Public Health Department in the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Ahmad Ozi, said the leprosy programme recorded 100,433

cases in 2016, the figure said to be the highest annual TB cases notified since the inception of the programme in 1989.

He reiterated the federal government commitment on fighting tuberculosis disease and solicited increased support from states, local governments and communities in reducing the scourge.

He said that Nigeria has recorded significant reduction on tuberculosis infection and expressed appreciation over achievements recorded so far and called for more efforts.

The director however noted that the notifications represent only 24 per cent of the estimated cases in the country.

He decried the many cases that were still undetected which contributes to continues transmission of the disease in communities.

The director said that missing TB cases in Nigeria included men, wom-

en and children with different forms of TB, including drug resistant TB which became worrisome, especially among children.

“TB is a major threat to the rights of children, adolescents and their families which is posing potential negative impacts on their survival, growth and development,’’ he said.

According to him, the federal government adopted shorter regiments with new DRTB treatment sites as at present, there is 22 treatment centres against 15 in 2016 besides community treatment outfits.

The director commended the interventions from KNCV Foundations, USAID, Wellness on Wheels (WoW) Project, WHO and others that facilitated a lot of achievements.

He added that Nigeria was among 14 other countries that recorded significant progress on implementation of TB/HIV and leprosy collaborative activities.

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ishops of the Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Abuja, have called for prayers to forestall the re-occurrence of the killings in villages in Benue State communities by herdsmen.

In a communiqué after its meeting on January 12 and 13 in Makurdi, the bishops, while condemning the massacre of over 73 people in Guma and Logo local government councils in the state, called on the church to remain resolute in prayers.

They said prayer remained the only portent weapon against wickedness and such acts of inhumanity.

They also advised the Federal Government to immediately arise to ensure the security of the communities to forestall its recurrence.

The communiqué which was read by Rev.Fr. Moses Iorapuu, at the Holy Ghost Parish, Makurdi, the state capital, also condemned the killings and called on government to immediately take steps to safeguard human lives and property.

The bishops commended Gov. Samuel Ortom for enacting the anti-open grazing law as permanent solution to the frequent skirmishes between farmers and herders in the state.

They also called on the relevant security agencies to live up to their responsibilities by preventing the reoccurrence of the human carnage suffered by the communities in the state.

The communique was signed by John Cardinal Onaikan, the Archbishop of Abuja, Bishop William Avenya, Catholic Diocese of Gboko, and five other bishops

• President Muhammadu Buhari (m) flanked by Senate President Bukola Saraki (left) and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara after a meeting at the Presidential Villa on the security situation in Benue and other parts of the country, Monday

Lagos begins sale of screening test forms for new academic year From VICTOR NZE

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he Lagos State Examinations Board has commenced the sale of Screening Test forms for Primary Six (6) Pupils seeking admission into Lagos State Junior Model Colleges and/or Upgraded Junior Secondary Schools with Boarding Facilities in the State.

According to a statement issued and signed by the Director, Examinations Board, Mr. Oluwafemi Hassan, sales of the forms which already commenced, January 8, 2018 will end Friday, April 27, while late registration starts from Wednesday, 22nd May to Friday, 14th May 2018.

It, therefore, implored parents and guardians of interested candidates, Headteachers, Proprietors and Proprietresses of schools to contact the Accounts Department of the Lagos State Examinations Board for the payment N10,000 for registration and collection of forms.

Late registration, the statement added, would attract an additional fee of N5,000.

While noting that Screening Test is slated to hold on Saturday, 2nd June 2018 at various designated centres across the State, the statement emphasised that successful candidates would be offered admission into any of the sixteen (16) Model Colleges or Upgraded Junior Secondary Schools irrespective of the first or second choice indicated on their forms.

657,000 PVCs abandoned in Oyo State -- INEC

Enugu approves N36m for World T Bank Project against malaria

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he Enugu State Executive Council has approved N36 million as commitment fee to participate in a World Bank-sponsored programme aimed at reducing malaria in the state.

The Commissioner for Health in the state, Fintan Ekochin, who made this known in Enugu, at a news conference, said 12 other states in the country were selected for participation in the programme, powered by the World Bank through the National Malaria Elimination Programme.

The commissioner said that the programme was significant for the state as it would be the first time the state would be benefitting from an international funding for malaria in recent times.

He added that “at the inception of

this administration in 2015, the state had no international partner or donor agency funding for malaria.

“The burden of malaria in the state had been fought with funds available in the state and this was in stark contradiction to what other states enjoyed in malaria eradication efforts.”

Ekochin said the current administration in Enugu State put in much effort from 2017 culminating in this success story.

He added that the state government was able to meet all conditions necessary for participation in the programme but one, which was a commitment fee.

He said “to qualify for funding therefore, a commitment fee of N36

million was required and that was what the council just approved.

“With this approval, we have now met all the conditions and we are sure to make the nomination list because not all the selected states will be funded. With the programme, the state can go into active malaria control in a multi-disciplinary approach.”

The commissioner said that the programme would involve distribution of free mosquito nets, as well as subsidised malaria treatment for children under five years, pregnant women and adults.

He noted that the programme was expected to commence in the first quarter of 2018 if the state was selected.

he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State has said a total of 657, 267 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were yet to be collected by their owners in the state.

The INEC’s state Administrative Secretary, Mr Surajudeen Junaid, who made the disclosure in Ibadan, urged those who had not collected the PVCs to come forward and collect the cards.

He also encouraged Nigerians who attained voting age to utilise the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration to obtain their voter cards.

The administrative secretary urged Nigerians to participate fully in the electoral process ahead of the 2019 elections and vote for candidates of their choice.

Junaid cautioned politicians against any act that would derail the electoral process, stressing that they must play by the rules.

He said the commission had intensified public enlightenment to educate the electorate on their rights and responsibilities in the electoral process.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS ACROSS THE NATION INEC Creates 10 additional centers in Kwara, Jigawa

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ndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has registered 68, 079 voters in Kwara since the commencement of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

INEC Administrative Secretary, Mr Paul Atser, made this known on Thursday in Ilorin while briefing stakeholders on the exercise.

He said that the commission had created 10 additional mobile registration centres in the state to bring the exercise closer to the people.

The continuous registration began in April 2017 in all the 36 states of the federation including Abuja.

Atser however frowned at the low pace of collection of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) since the commencement of the registration exercise in April.

“It was sad to note that collection of permanent voter card was at its lowest ebb since April, 2017 to date. Only 3, 069 PVCs have so far been collected out of the total 242, 069 unclaimed cards after 2015 elections.

“As we speak, 239, 000 Permanent Voter Cards yet to be unclaimed,” Atser said.

The Administrative Secretary, therefore, called on the people that had registered as voters to come for the collection of their voter cards.

He said the new registration centres were located in Ilapa in Asa Local Government, Ilesha in Baruten, Tsonga in Edu, Igbaja in Ifelodun and Iponrin in Ilorin East.

Other centres are Oro II in Irepodun, Kemanji in Kaiama, Shao in Moro, Igbana in Oke-Ero and Kpada in Patigi.

Atser also appealed to eligible voters who had not register for their permanent voter card to do so to enable them exercise their franchise during the coming elections.

Meanwhile, the Commission has also opened 10 more continuous registration centres in the Jigawa State.

Head of Voters Education and Publicity (VEP) in Jigawa, Mr John Kaiwa, disclosed this in Dutse, Thursday.

“Initially there were 33 centres for the exercise, so, with the addition of 10, there are altogether 43 centres in the state presently. The addition came as a result of outcry from the people requesting for additional registration centres to ease the process,” he said.

Kaiwa urged people in the state to use the opportunity to turn out en masse to register in preparation for the 2019 general elections.

He said that officials of INEC would go to hard-to- reach areas, for people to have the opportunity to be registered.

Kaiwa said that addition of more registration centres was not done in Jigawa alone but in all the states of the federation.

This, he said, was due to continuous increase in population of people who have reached voting age.

“I am therefore appealing relevant stakeholders, particularly the media and the security agencies in the state, to assist in the course of our continuous voter registration exercise,” he said.

Ortom again rejects FG’s proposed cattle colonies

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enue State Governor, Samuel Ortom of Benue has again rejected the suggestion for the state to create Cattle Colony or Grazing Routes for herdsmen, saying the suggestions were not acceptable to the Benue people.

Ortom who restated this, Thursday in Makurdi during a service to mark the mass burial of the victims of the herdsmen invasion, it would be recalled, has also declared this position last Wednesday at a stakeholders’ meeting attended by the Inspector General of Police. Idris Ibrahim.

On Thursday, he said since the state does not even have adequate land for farmers, it does not have the space to give herdsmen for grazing.

He insisted on ranching, saying “it is the best way to go and it is in conformity with global best practices”.

Ortom said that if the recent killings by herdsmen were meant to intimidate the state government to repeal the law, the herdsmen had failed woefully.

He also blamed the killings of Benue indigenes on the silence of the Federal Government and others responsible for the security of lives

and property, an accusation he also made on Wednesday.

Ortom lamented that if the Federal Government had acted on the reports he gave it concerning the threats of attacks by the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, the killings would have been averted.

He urged the Federal Government to arrest the leadership of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore because they had severally made incisive statements against the state.

He, therefore, stated that the recent killings were a pointer to the fact that they had threatened and executed their devilish threats.

He condoled with the families of the slain victims and those that were injured as well as those that lost their property.

Meanwhile, Federal Government has explained the reason for its planned establishment of cattle colonies, saying it is a measure to quickly curb the incessant bloody clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said this when Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau visited him in Abuja.

The Director, Information, Mr Tolu Makinde, said this, Thursday in a statement by Mrs Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa.

The minister noted that the policy would not transfer communal land ownership to herdsmen wherever it was established.

Ogbeh was reacting to fears by some citizens that the policy was an attempt by the Federal Government to forcibly collect land from citizens and hand them over to herdsmen.

He noted that there was no truth in speculations that the government was conspiring to grant supremacy over communal land to herdsmen.

The minister commended the Plateau Government for its interests in developing agriculture.

“Cattle colony is not using herdsmen to colonise any state. It is going to be done in partnership with state governments that will like to volunteer land for it. The Federal Government will fund the project and those wishing to benefit from it will pay some fees.

“While ranching is more of an individual venture for the herdsmen and those wishing to invest in the

livestock sector, cattle colonies is a larger project where up to 40 ranchers can share same facility that will be provided by the government at a reduced rate.

“Already, 16 states have volunteered land,’’ he said.

The minister said the Federal Government would soon hold a stakeholders’ forum with the herdsmen and other stakeholders on the implementation of the new policy.

Earlier, Lalong said that he was at the ministry to understand the new policy.

He said that the state would key into the policy to maintain peace in the state.

“I happen to be one of the persons that keyed into the ranching policy when it was introduced. ‘We saw some lands in Plateau and we provided them for the implementation of the policy. The introduction of this policy is of interest to us, that is why we are always here.

“We also heard about the introduction of another one, that is the cattle colony and I said let me still come back again. We will also key into this policy,’’ he said.

Edo fixes council elections for March 3

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do State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), has fixed March 3, for the conduct of local government election in the state.

The commission’s chairman, Prof Stanley Orobator who disclosed this in in Benin, last Thursday, said other details concerning conduct of the poll would be released after meeting with members with the political parties and other stakeholders on Monday.

He also said that nomination forms for chairmanship and councillorship position had been fixed for between N250, 000 and N50, 000 respectively.

Meantime, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state said it would commence process for the conduct of primaries for its aspirants in earnest.

The state secretary of the party, Mr Lawrence Okah, said the party had begun preparations for the elections.

“We are already working hard for the elections because we are ready to consolidate on Governor Obaseki’s victory in the state,’’ he said.

Similarly, the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said they had yet to get information concerning the elections from EDSIEC. According to the state Publicity Secretary, Mr Chris Nehikhare, I can only • Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode congratulating consumer rights advocate and lawyer, Mrs Olu- speak of what I know of. We are yet to funmilola Falana during the inauguration of the Board of the State Consumer Protection Agency, chaired by Falana be communicated.

Oyo kicks off house-to-house sanitation exercise

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he Oyo State Government has commenced house-to-house enforcement of the state environmental laws to curb diseases.

The state government which announced, last Wednesday, that it will commence the exercise from January 15, also warned that it would seal houses that do not have waste bins.

State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Chief Isaac Ishola, who disclosed during a ministerial briefing in Ibadan, said that officials

of the state government would from Monday be inspecting houses for their waste bins, warning that any house without it will be sanctioned.

“The law stipulates that every house must have a waste bin. Every person that generates waste must dispose it in a sustainable manner and through government accredited waste collectors.

“We will be inspecting the houses and anyone without waste bin will be sealed, after a three-day grace period.

Violators are liable to six months jail term or option of N50,000 fines. Whoever disregards the seal order on any house will pay N200,000,’’ he said.

Ishola stated that the state government observed the abysmal level of compliance with the state environmental laws, saying that people now dump refuse indiscriminately across the state.

The commissioner said that the people should confirm the list of accredited waste collectors from the ministry,

urging them to pay collectors with the state Waste Management (OYWMA) receipt.

He said that 1,342 offenders were arrested and prosecuted in 2017, while 124 street traders were arrested with their wares.

Ishola said that all wares seized from street trading would henceforth be confiscated as directed by the state governor.

Similarly, Mrs Lolade Oresanwo, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), West

Africa Energy Limited, said that the people needed to understand the enabling environmental laws in the state.

Oresanwo, representing the consultant agency on waste management, said that they were collecting only 50 per cent of waste generated in the state, as other wastes were lying in drains.

She said that the agency and ministry would collaborate with landlords association to extend the coverage to uncovered areas.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS Gov. Ganduje lifts ban on Kano popular actress Rahama Sadau

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ano Actors’ Guild has commended the state Governor Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, for lifting the ban on Rahama Sadau, popular female actress suspended from Kannywood for featuring in a romantic musical video.

Rahama, one of the leading actresses in Hausa film industry was expelled by the regulators of the Kannywood film industry, the Motion Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN).

Her appearance in the music album by a musician “Classique,” was said to have been immoral and against the ethics of the Hausa film industry.

Chairman of the Guild Alhaji Alhassan Kwalli, said “the development was timely as stakeholders and practitioners in the Hausa movie industry are using films as a tool for national development.”

A statement issued by Rabiu Rikadawa, Assistant Secretary of the association on Monday, said Kwalli expressed gratitude to the governor for lifting the ban.

He also lauded Ganduje’s support to the Hausa Movie Industry and its practitioners over the years.

He said that Nigerian and the North in particular has good stories and cultures to exhibit to the world adding that this can be achieve with good movies and film making.

Rahama had written an apology letter to the state government and the Kano Emirate Council as well as (MOPPAN), expressing regrets for her action.

Rahama made her Nollywood debut in a new TV drama series titled, “Sons of the Caliphate.”

The 13-part drama series is produced by Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife TV.

Don’t resume work in states owing salary arrears – NUT directs teachers

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he Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has restated its position that the teachers in 10 states that still owe salary arrears should not resume work until all arrears were paid.

General-Secretary of the union, Dr Mike Ike-Ene, who spoke on the

directive, Monday in Abuja, stated that 10 out of 36 states still owed teachers several months of salary arrears in spite of the Paris Club Refund given to states by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He listed the states to include; Abia, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Benue,

Delta, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo, Kwara and Taraba, describing them as chronic debtors as far as teachers’ salaries are concerned.

According to him, Abia owes primary school teachers four months and secondary school teachers one month, Adamawa; two

• Caption: Governor of Enugu State Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (3rd left) General Officer commanding 82 division Nigerian Army (4th right) the Chief Judge Enugu State Hon. Mrs. Ngozi Priscilla Emehelu (2nd left), the Air Officer commanding Nigerian Airforce Enugu Air Marshal S.O Akpasa (2nd right), Deputy Governor of Enugu State Hon. Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, the Chairman Nigerian legion Enugu State, Barr. Emeka Igwesi and the Deputy Director Army Public Relation, Col. Sagir Musa during the 2018 Nigerian army Remembrance Day Celebration held at Okpara Square Enugu

months to primary school teachers and one month to secondary.

“Others are Bayelsa; seven and half months to primary school teachers and four and half months to secondary, Benue owes 12 months to primary school teachers and seven months to secondary.

“Ekiti owes eight months to primary school teachers and five months to secondary, Kogi; three months to primary school teachers and three months to secondary.

“Taraba; six months to primary school teachers, Delta; four months to primary school and one month to secondary. Kwara and Ondo owe teachers three and four months’ salary arrears of 2016 respectively,’’ he explained.

Ike-Ene said that the union has directed its members in the affected states, especially the primary school teachers not to resume work until all the arrears were cleared.

He also said that NUT had in 2017, appealed to the governors concerned to use the period of the Christmas holiday to clear all the arrears, but yet some still failed to do so.

CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as MISS IGBOAMAEZE UKAMAKA LUCY, now wish to be known as MRS ONWUBAH IGBOAMAEZE UKAMAKA LUCY. All former documents bearing my former name remain valid, the High Court, and the general public please take note.

I formerly known as MISS ILODUBA ANULIKA ETHEL, now wish to be known as MRS OJIONWEYA ANULIKA ETHEL. All former documents remain valid, the general public please take note.

I formerly known as MISS UGBOR CHIKA VIRGINIA, now wish to be known as MRS OKONGWU CHIKA VIRGINIA. All former documents remain valid; the general public please takes note.

I formerly known as MISS NWANKWO STELLA-MARIS CHIDIMMA now wish to be known as MRS OLI STELLA-MARIS CHIDIMMA. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as CHIJIOKEM IFEANYI JOSHUA NNAJI; CHIJIOKEM IFEANYI NNAJI and CHIJIOKEM JOSHUA NNAJI now wish to be known as CHIJIOKEM IFEANYI JOSHUA NNAJI. All former documents remain valid.

Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as OBETA EBERE GLORIA now wish to be known as ANISOM EBERE GLORIA. All Former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note.

I formerly known as LIVINUS JOSEPH now wish to be known as LIVINUS ABASIONO JOSEPH. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as ENYEASI JACINTA OKWUDILI now wish to be known as OKIWE JACINTA OKWUDILI. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as MISS EZEONU CHINASA MARYJANE PAMELA now wish to be known as MRS OKEUGO CHINASA MARYJANE PAMELA. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as MISS MEKAOWULU CHIOMA GLADYS now wish to be known as MRS AMAKEZE CHIOMA GLADYS. All former documents remain valid.

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This is to confirm that UDEH MARYMAGDALINE ULOMA; UDEH ULOMA MARY and OKOLIE ULOMA MAGDALINE is one and same person. Now wish to be known as OKOLIE MAGDALINE ULOMA. All former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as EZE GILBERT CHUKWUEMEKA now wish to be known as EZE GILBERT CHUKWUELOKA. All former documents remain valid Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as OBINEME NJIDEKA BLESSING now wish to be known as CLEMENT NJIDEKA BLESSING. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as OKWUCHUKWU OHANUSI NELSON now wish to be known as CHUKWUNWIKE OKWUCHUKWU NELSON. All Former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

I formerly known as UGWUOKE MERCY CHINWE now wish to be known as AGU MERCY CHINWE. All former documents remain valid. Banks general public take note

I formerly known as MBAM EMMANUEL ONYEKACHUKWU now wish to be known as MBA EMMANUEL ONYEKACHUKWU. All former documents remain valid.

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I, formerly known as MISS CHILE TINA CHIZARAM, now wish to be known as MRS CHIBUNNA TINA CHIZARAM. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public, take note.

I formerly known as MISS OKOGWU ONYINYECHI SANCY now wish to be known as MRS NWACHUKWU ONYINYECHI SANCY. All former documents.

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This is to certify that A.O ANYARA and ADDA OBIAGELI ANYARA is one and same person now wish to be called ADDA OBIAGELI ANYARA. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

This is to confirm that J.O ANYARA and JOHN OKECHUKWU ANYARA is one and same person now wish to be known as JOHN OKECHUKWU ANYARA. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

I Formerly known as MICHAEL ONYEKA MADUKA now wish to be known as MICHAEL ONYEKACHUKWU ALOR. All former documents remain valid.

Banks and General public take note.

Formerly known as AKUNNA EZENWAIKE AIYBA now wish to be known as EZE CHUKWUEMEKA OGBA. All Former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

I formerly known as ANI IFEOMA NORA now wish to be known as ANI IFEOMA VERA. All Former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note

I formerly known as NWAFOR IJEOMA ANTHONIA now wish to be known as MRS IWUNO IJEOMA ANTHONIA. All former documents remain valid. Banks and General public take note.

This is to certify that SHITTU TOPE and SHITTU NOFISAT is one and same person. Now wish to be known and addressed as SHITTU NOFISAT and my date of birth was wrongly written in my BVN as 15th June,1991 Instead of 15th July, 1991. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General public take note.

I formerly known as NWAIKPA CHIOMA FLORENCE now wish to be known as NWUBA CHIOMA FLORENCE. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General public take note.

I formerly known as NWAIKPA PAULINA IHEMBALUM now wish to be known as NWAIKPA IBEAGBULEM PAULINA. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General Public take note.

I formerly known as NWANKWOEZE CHIDIMMA GERALDINE now wish to be known as NWANKWOEZE CHIDIMMA MARYJANE. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General public take note.

I formerly known as IBE OGECHUKWU now wish to be known as IBEH OGECHUKWU FAVOUR. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General public take note.

I formerly known as COLE BLESSING NKECHINYEREM now wish to be known as COLE NKECHI ONYINYE. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General public take note.

I formerly known as NWADIGWE NKECHI now wish to be known as NNAZUBA RITA NKIRUKA. All former documents remain valid,Banks and General public take note

I formerly known as MISS OGBUEHI EDITH CHIAMAKA now wish to be known and addressed as MRS EKWURUKE EDITH CHIAMAKA. All former documents remain valid,Banks and general public take note.

I formerly known as MISS EBERE CHIDINMA PEACE now wish to be known and addressed as MRS, ADINDU CHIDINMA PEACE. All former documents remain valid, Banks, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and general public take note.

I formerly known as EKEKWE FRANSCICA CHINENYE, now wish to be known as MRS ELEKWA FRANCISCA CHINENYE. All former documents remain valid. Banks and general public take note.

I formerly known as ANI GLADYS now wish to be known as EMMANUEL GLADYS. All former documents remain valid.

Banks and General public take note.

6

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS

A’Ibom governor cautions politicians against disunity

Maritime Varsity: Ugborodo Community supports location •

From INI WILLIE, Uyo

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he Akwa Ibom State governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel has cautioned politicians against inciting disunity in the state as political activities intensify for the 2019 elections.

In his 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebrations message in Uyo on Monday, the governor urged politicians to ensure that the unity the departed heroes fought and died for was sustained.

He encouraged politicians to be committed, and to regard the state and country as one irrespective of religion, tribe and political affiliations.

“As we gather here to honour them, let us also use this moment to reflect on our dear state and nation, Nigeria. We should project the ideas of which these heroes and compatriots paid the ultimate sacrifice.

“Let us banish for once, all the ancient animosity of hatred and destructive tendencies that for long has stood against our march for greatness. We must play politics of inclusion, guide our utterances and behaviour knowing full well that as leaders of the State, the words we utter and actions we take have deep and profound meaning to our own people”.

The governor advised the political class to channel their resources to improve the welfare of widows and children of the departed heroes instead of fanning the embers of war.

He promised that the government will continue to support the widows and children of the fallen heroes, and added that their pain and sacrifice was well appreciated.

He said that the departed heroes were not divided by political or religious affiliations but defended the state and country as one Nigeria.

He said in the battle field to keep Nigeria one, the fallen heroes saw themselves as brothers irrespective of tribe and religion but were united in pursuit of a course that was stronger than their personal beliefs.

He said: “Why are we still creating hatred instead of embers of love, unity and togetherness. Let that sense of brotherhood remain with us today.

“As government, we will continue to support our legionnaires. I reassure them that the pain and sacrifice they made for us is highly appreciated.

“Let us stand by the families of the departed soldiers, the widows, the children and ensure that we minimise their sense of loss”.

•

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Alleges Olu of Warri trying to cause fresh Warri crisis Wants to leave Warri Kingdom

HE people of Ugborodo Community in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State have said that they are satisfied with the current location of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkeko and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to speed up its take off. They also alleged that the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Ikenwoli was trying to cause fresh crisis between the Ijaws and Itsekiris in the State.

In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari signed by Pa Douglas Omagbemi (Ugborodo Community), Pa Pasco Oritsegbami (Elder, Ugborodo Community) and Hon Thomas Metseagharun (The Toritsemogha of Ugborodo Community), the community made it clear to President Buhari that the location of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko was not in doubt.

According to the letter, “Mr. President, let no one deceive you about the location of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko. The place where the university is located belongs to the people of Gbararmatu Kingdom of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State and we the people of Ugborodo Community are in support of the university and its location.

“We the people of Ugborodo Community want to go to school and therefore, we need the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko.

The Federal Government should let the university get off the ground now. The university will bring rapid development to the entire Niger Delta Region”.

The community added that they were highly disturbed by recent activities of the Olu of Warri and some individuals and groups around him, urging the President to call them to order now to avoid crisis in the area.

They also alleged that the constant crises in Ugborodo were always caused by the monarch and his palace through some individuals or groups mostly aliens or maternal relations who use the palace to undo the decision of Ugborodo elders.

In the letter titled, “Ugborodo Community is not part of Warri Kingdom, we are not answerable to the Olu of Warri: We are in total support of the location of Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko,” the community, added that Ugborodo was a kingdom of its own.

“Mr. President, we want to let you know through this open letter that since the time of Chief Dore Numa vs Chief Dick Olue in an Edede land

case at Ajudaibo till today, the Ugborodo people have never accepted that they are under the Olu of Warri.

Ugborodo is a Kingdom of its own and we have our own ruler. We are autonomous Kingdom. The unity of all Itsekiris should be paramount with a good structure because the present structure will not bring out any good thing. It will only take us backward. We will only continue cheating ourselves and going round in circles if we continue with this present structure. Mr. President, do all that is within you to stop the oppression of the Ugborodo people, as we are not part of Warri Kingdom.

“Your Excellency, there are many autonomous kingdoms in the area called Warri, which has three Local Government Areas to its name; Amongst these is the Gbaramatu Kingdom and others too numerous to mention in a write up of this nature. These kingdoms were supported by former Governor Uduaghan of Delta State who is an Itsekiri man.

“During the last presentation of staff of office to the king of Gbaramatu Kingdom, the ‘Olu of Warri’ sent two of his renowned Chiefs to represent him at the occasion thereby also supporting the staff of office presented to the Pere of Gbaramatu

• Gov Rochas Okorocha, and his wife Nneoma at the Armed Forces Day service, Government House Chapel, Owerri.

Cameroon crisis: C’River to host UNHCR field office From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

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ountry Representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Antonio Jose Canhandula, has disclosed that a field office of the commission will be established in Calabar, in Cross Rivers State, as part of moves by the United Nations to address the migrant crisis that has engulfed it following the secession unrest in the Southern Cameroon region.

Canhandula who disclosed this in Calabar during a courtesy call to the Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency

(SEMA), Mr. John Inaku in his office, said the new field officer will coordinate relief efforts by the various international and local agencies towards mitigating the challenges faced by displaced persons who are presently in Cross River State.

He commended the efforts put in place by the state government which he said has helped substantially in addressing the challenges faced by the migrants.

He said that in the course of interacting with the refugees, it was discovered that a lot more needs to be done in making succor available to the displaced persons and that the United Nations body will do its best

in addressing the problem.

He, however, pleaded with border communities to continue to accommodate the refugees as the international community was working out ways to support them by establishing camps between Obudu, Obanliku and “around Ikom local government areas.”

“We have seen the situation and we will do something about it to ameliorate the sufferings of the refugees. In fact, the state government has done well in filling the gap created by the inability of the federal government and international community and that is why we have decided to establish the UNHCR office

in the state,” he said.

Responding, John Inaku, the Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency in his expressed appreciation over the visit of the UN team and noted that the establishment of the UNHCR field office was the best thing to happen to the state.

Inaku appealed to country representative to expedite action on the setting up of camps for the displaced persons in the state, adding that with the influx of more immigrants as the crisis in Cameroun continues to escalate, there was need for a permanent solution.

Kingdom. During this ceremony, no Itsekiri man raised an eyebrow including the ‘Olu of Warri’.

“He accepted Gbaramatu Kingdom as an autonomous kingdom with a king. How then do they become subservient to him? This shows the Olu knows what is going on more than his body language and utterances are making us to believe.

“Mr. President, in as much as we want the name to reflect Itsekiri name, we must not also fail to look at the facts on ground. Which villages make up Gbararmatu kingdom as reflected in Delta State Gazette, which former Governor Uduaghan approved? Is the said Omadino land part of the land that makes up the Gbararmatu kingdom? Which the Olu also approved by sending his Chiefs to the coronation of the Gbararmatu king?

“These are facts we need to verify. If you have seceded part of your kingdom, you should also allow the people to do things on their own without interfering. The Olu and his numerous Chiefs should also allow the Ugborodo people to rule themselves without influencing and interfering in their affairs. All these palace meetings with the sole aim to invade Ugborodo when we do not have any strategy yet to handle other threats are laughable. We are only good in fighting ourselves.

“Your Excellency, Mr. President, secondly, the word Olaja means king or owner of a property or thing. According to historical facts, the Olaja Orori or the Eghare Aja is not installed by the Olu of Warri and none of them is answerable to him in any capacity.

“The Ugborodo culture and traditions are very different from that of other Itsekiris in burial rites and even where they are buried. All the lands that have been given out in Ugborodo till date is through the Olaja Orori and the Eghare Aja on trust on behalf of Ugborodo people.

The Olu has never given out any land belonging to Ugborodo Community because he does not have such powers.

“There are many more kingdoms inside Warri axis and they are all recognized by Government and so what is the big deal if there is kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Council and it Environs after all the same Ogiame Ekenwoli 1, sent some Chiefs from the Warri Palace to represent him when the Delta State Government presented the Gbararmatu monarch with Staff of Office!

“Let not be cowed and our sense of reasoning be allowed to be tempered with because Ogiame Ekenwoli 1, is about setting the stage for yet another round of crisis with the same movement of an Institution.

Omadino people must be wise so that you do not fall prey to selfish people who do not your interest at hearts. We should embrace peace because crisis is not helping the development of the Community. Ugborodo is in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, close to Gbararmatu kingdom and not near to where the Olu kingdom is which Warri South Local Government.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS Delta to tackle flood menace From Jonathan Awanyai, Asaba

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elta State Government has now approved further action geared towards finding a lasting solution to the menace of flood in Asaba, the state capital. This follows initial moves outlined by the state government.

State Executive Council, during its first meeting of the year on Wednesday, January 10, 2018, approved the construction of Storm Water Discharge Channel along Ambassador Ralph Uwechue Way to Anwai River, and that of DBS/Cabinet/Umejei Adudu Way to Amilimocha River both in Asaba.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, in a statement issued after the meeting, said the approval is to address the flood menace along Okpanam Road and its environs.

According to the statement, the meeting also approved the completion of the rehabilitation of Runway and Taxiways, Extension of Box Culvert and Ancillary Works at the Asaba International Airport.

Ukah revealed that the State Executive Council further approved the construction of Trauma Centre in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area, due to its central location on the Asaba/ Benin Expressway, to provide Comprehensive Specialized Multidisciplinary Emergency Medical Services to patients suffering from major traumatic conditions.

Also approved in the health sector is the revalidation of the contract for the conversion/partitioning of the Pathology Department into 80 Bed Ward at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area, to accommodate more patients.

The Commissioner for Information stated that the installation of 280 (Nos) Smart Off Grid Solar Solutions at OwaEkei Road, and another 280 (Nos) at Old Lagos-Asaba Road, both in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area, to provide illumination at night for the security of lives and properties, were equally approved.

Ukah disclosed that the Executive Council also approved the construction of Owerre-Olubor/Ekwuoma Road in Ika North East Local Government Area.

Anambra Community holds cultural day

By Theo Rays, Onitsha

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n a collective move to ensure that the norms and values of their culture are intact as they were in the days of their forefathers, the people of Oraeri in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State have organized a cultural fiesta called Oraeri Cultural Day. The event, which held at the playing field of Community Secondary School Oraeri, amid pomp and pageantry, was also used to entrench peace and unity among the people and accelerate the pace of development in the town.

Chaired by Chief Ignatius ILoh, the event attracted the who is who in the community.

Among those present were former President of Anambra State Association (ASA) in United States of America, Professor Harrison Anadi, popular businessman at Nnewi, Chief Pius Okechukwu Ogbuawa, renowned hotelier Chief Sunday Abanafor, veteran journalist and philanthropist Okey Ibeke and Chief Ifeanyi Ifediotu.

The traditional ruler of the community, His Royal Highness Ogbuefi Emma Nriagu (Ezenriagu 11 of Oraeri) and his counterpart from Nnokwa His Royal Highness Emma Ajamma in

company of their cabinet chiefs were also in attendance to add traditional face and color to the occasion.

Groups such as age grades, women associations, youth folds, students union and cultural dance outfits with masquerades had conspicuous presence and features at the occasion.

In his address, the Presidential General of Oraeri Town Union, Hon Okey Atuenyi said the town union decided to stage Oraeri mass return on the platform of the cultural day to encourage interaction among the people of the community, demonstrate the huge cultural heritage of the community to the glance of the world, appreciate the goodness of God in the lives of Ndi Oraeri, make merry and rejoice with one another in celebrating the existing peace and unity among the people in the community.

Atueyi said: “Today is a great day in Oraeri. Without being told, the turn out shows that Oraeri is a family of people who love themselves.

The turn-out depicts our passion for peace, unity and progress of our land.

The leadership of this community under my humble self is grateful to all Oraerians for the massive support being accorded to us since the inception of my administration

“Let me use this opportunity to thank all of us for the contributions made toward the development and progress of Oraeri in our various capacities, most importantly for giving peace a chance to reign. I have no doubt in my mind that the mass return programme is a success. I thank God that we were able to defy the high cost of transportation due to the sudden increase in fuel price. I also wish to thank all those who contributed meaningfully for this occasion to take place. May God bless all of you in hundred folds.

“To all of us, I say it is forward ever backward never. Let us not slack in our collective effort to move Oraeri forward. The town union as I always assured us is ever ready to play its role in line with our expectations and set goals as a community that is facing competition for progress from our neighbours and I believe we have just been doing that. This gathering today is consequent upon the efforts of the efforts of all us who have taken up to come together and move Oraeri to the next level.”

Atueyi who is also the President of New Motor Trye and Tube Market Nkpor, also informed the gathering that the town union is at the centre of everything that the State govern-

Umahi applauds Nigeria Legion From CHINEDU NWAFOR, Abakaliki

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CHANGE OF NAME I formerly known as MISS NWAFOR BLESSING OGECHI, now wish to be known as MRS. OBIJI BLESSING OGECHI. All former documents bearing my former name remain valid, and the general public please take note.

I formerly known as MISS EZIAMARA BLESSING EBERE, now wish to be known as MRS. OKOLI BLESSING EBERE. All former documents bearing my former name remain valid, the High Court, and the general public please take note.

I formerly known as MISS NDULUE EUCHARIA ONYEMA, now wish to be known as MRS. ANUCHUE EUCHARIA ONYEMA. All former documents bearing my former name remain valid, LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE COMMISSION, AWKA STANBIC IBTC BANK, and the general public please take note.

I formerly known as MISS UGBOR CHIKA VIRGINIA, now wish to be known as MRS. OKONGWU CHIKA VIRGINIA. All former documents remain valid, the general public please take note.

I formerly known as MISS IGBOANUGO BLESSING AFOMA, JP, now wish to be known as MRS NWADIKE BLESSING AFOMA, JP. All former documents bearing my former name remain valid, and the general public please take note.

ment is doing, adding that Oraeri is not lagging behind from the State government community development project initiatives.

He said the community is comfortable with Governor Willie Obiano and that is why they voted for him in the governorship election last year.

Earlier in his remark, Chairman of the occasion Chief ILoh said the occasion provided the opportunity for outsiders to take a look at the cultural attributes of Oraeri and also offered the people of the community the opportunity to look at themselves and the challenges before them, adding that such occasion is very good for the people. He thanked the town union for organizing it, hoping that the cultural day is a platform for Oraeri to build on for the future.

In his words, Professor Anadi said the occasion was wonderful as it brought the people together to see themselves, showcase their rich cultural heritage and celebrate the goodness of God upon their lives, adding that the event offered him and other people to the chance to see Ndi Oraeri in their full strength.

Highlights of the occasion were welcoming of new age grades into the system and a raffle draw which saw 3 lucky winners smile home with a 7-seater bus, a motorcycle and a generator set respectively.

• Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike laying wreath during the 2018 Wreath Laying Ceremony to mark the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day on Monday in Port Harcourt.

Lagos High Court strikes out EFCC forfeiture application against Mrs. Patience Jonathan

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resh efforts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-impose a suspension order on the accounts of former First Lady Mrs. Patience Jonathan and her relatives have suffered a setback as Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday struck out an application for an interim forfeiture order brought before it by the anti-graft agency.

The EFFCC had filed an application for interim order of forfeiture against the accounts of Mrs. Jonathan and her siblings but her lawyers led by Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) opposed the application based on the fact that similar applications were pending before other courts in Abuja, which they claimed amounted to forum shopping and judicial abuse of court process.

The team of lawyers, which also included Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), and Charles Ogbolu submitted at-

tachments to prove that the same process was currently before other courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction, including the applications before Justice Binta Nyako and Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, both of the Federal High Court Abuja.

It was based on the evidence of multiplicity of an action provided by Mrs. Jonathan’s lawyers that Justice Olateregun rejected EFCC application for an interim order of forfeiture.

It would be recalled that Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja had last December lifted an order made on May 30, freezing 16 bank accounts linked to the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience.

Justice Nyako in her ruling ordered the lifting of the freezing order that barred Mrs. Jonathan, her relatives and 10 organizations linked to her from accessing the accounts containing aggregate sums of $5.8million

and N3.5billion.

The ruling followed an application that Mrs. Jonathan and the 10 companies filed to challenge an ex-parte interim freezing order earlier obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Listed as applicants with Mrs. Jonathan, in the application, are the Incorporated Trustees of Ariwabai Aruera Reachout Foundation, Pagmat Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, Flinchley Top Homes Limited, Incorporated Trustees of Women for Change and Development Initiative Nigeria, Transocean Property and Investment Ltd, Seagate Property Development Investment Company, Globus Integrated Services and Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited.

Justice Nyako upheld the applicants that the interim forfeiture order had elapsed and could not be renewed by the EFCC.

overnor David Umahi of Ebonyi state has assured members of the Nigerian Legion that his administration will continue to give them more assistance as well as establish the kind of cooperation that exists between his government and other security agencies in the state to the organization.

Governor Umahi who was represented by the Director of Executive Council Secretariat, Mr. Ogbonnaya Otah gave the assurance while reviewing the passing out parade of the newly trained 2017 cadet/ widows’ empowerment corps of commissionaires of the Nigerian Legion, Ebonyi state command, at Unity Square Abakaliki.

The Governor who said he was visibly happy with the legion’s performance in their period of active service expressed optimism that the cadet officers commissioned in the state would emulate their patriotic spirit to complement the existing security operations in the state.

In his address, the national chairman of the Nigeria Legion, Brigadier General Adoke Akpa (rtd) represented by the Director of Administration in the National office, Mr. Julius Adegbo explained that the corps of the commissionaires was established to complement the efforts of the conventional security outfit in the fight against crime in the country and also to assist in the upkeep of the widows of fallen heroes including disaster management in the state.

Earlier, the state chairman of the Legion, Captain Fidelis Ogodo, charged the newly commissioned cadet corps of commissionaires to live above board in carrying out their responsibilities which included fighting crime in the society, disaster reduction management, mounting surveillance at private and public infrastructure, warning that those who contravene the ethics of the profession would be dismissed and prosecuted.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS

Ayade Rice: Cross River APC questions Ayade’s integrity From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

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he Cross River State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have called to question the integrity of the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade following the recent launch of his personal rice project, Ayade Rice, which, according to him, was produced and packaged in Ogoja.

It would be recalled that the state governor, Professor Ben Ayade recently launched a new rice in the state named Ayade Rice, which he hopes would help shore up the state’s economy.

During its unveiling last Thursday, January 11, members of the state executive council and the political class made commitments to purchase thousands of bags.

But speaking in Calabar, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Cross River State chapter accused Governor Ben Ayade of playing with the intelligence

of the public, describing the recent unveiling of some bags by the governor was “fraudulent.”

Mens Ikpeme, the State Publicity of the party in a statement berated the governor for misleading the public, accusing him of selling smuggled rice from neighbouring countries to the public.

He said investigation by his party revealed that several trucks carrying rice were impounded by the Nigerian Customs Service, which the governor imported into the state.

“A fraudulent fake rice factory in the state powered through smuggled rice from neighboring countries is his newest fraudulent act. Using same landed property as a facade to re-bag and rebrand smuggled rice which he named after himself to deceive the entire people of the State.

“His (Ayade’s) several trucks with thousands of bags of rice smuggled into the State were apprehended and impounded by the Nigerian Cus-

toms and Excise. This is a commodity banned by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Cross River State Rice Production And Packaging Farm has seen Governor Ayade’s numerous inconsistent wonder projects setting Cross River State in consistent fraudulent bad picture.”

“His idea of dredging Calabar Sea Port, still fresh in our minds, was an alarming fraud. His claim to have financiers who were ready to invest 500 million Euros for same purpose was a lie of the decade,” the party said.

However, the State government through the Chief Press Secretary, Christian Ita has debunked the allegation stressing that the state chapter of the party is trying to divert attention from the crass irresponsibility the party has plunged the country into.

According to Mr. Ita, “Cross River APC are black market liars ... just like its national headquarters, Cross River

APC has learnt the ropes in the art of telling bogus lies to divert attention from the crass irresponsibility it has plunged the country”.

Mr Ita stressed that there is no iota of truth in the allegation stressing that Ayade rice was milled at MIKAP NIG LTD producer of MIVA rice. The mill is owned by Mr. Michael Andokaa, the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice who served under Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

However, members of the public who are eager to purchase the rice have to wait longer as the rice is not yet available for sale to members of the public. Field survey by The Oracle Today shows that the rice is yet to be sold in any designated outlet across the state.

While launching the rice, which is in two categories, the governor disclosed that a 50 kg bag will go for 12, 000 while a 25 kg bag will go for 6,000.

Court dismisses suit against A’Ibom Speaker From INI BILLIE, Uyo

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he Federal High Court, Court 2 sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State has cleared the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Speaker, Mr. Onofiok Luke of allegation that his convoy assaulted a clinical doctor, David Udo and restricted his freedom of movement.

The presiding judge, Justice Fatun Riman, said in his ruling on Monday that the suit lacked merit as the Speaker did not directly assault the applicant or restrict his movement.

In his response to the ruling, Counsel to the Speaker, Ekemini Udim said the suit filed by the applicant had been determined by the court to be frivolous and lacking in worth.

He said: “Today, the applicant was unable to demonstrate and substantiate his allegations against the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and that clearly informed the decision of the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.

“The implication is that the Speaker is as clean as he has always been-- no stain whatsoever on his personality. There is every indication that this suit was clearly intended to malign the personality of the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.

“The judge has clearly taken time to deliver the judgment as you have all heard that the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly is very innocent of the allegations against him. Now, it is clear and we are very happy about it.

“We thank the judge, for being able to separate the truth from falsehood; separate the weed from the chaff and to separate facts from fabrication.”

Counsel to the applicant, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, said though he had reservations on the court’s ruling, he would respect the judgment.

“The court gave judgment to say tat the applicant has not proved his case. We listened to the judgment; we have reservation about the judgment, we respect the court but we strongly disagree with the judgment because we feel there were issues on the evaluation of evidence.

“The court has given its own reasons on the case presented, but on our part as applicant in this case, we believe what we came to the court to say nothing but the truth. We are going to review that judgment to determine its maintainability,” he said.

• Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, laying a wreath in honour of the falling heroes during the grand finale of the 2018 Armed Forces remembrance day in Asaba. Photo:Jonathan Awanyai

Ohuhu League winners get N2m From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia

W

inners of the 2017 edition of the Ohuhu Unity Cup football tournament smiled home with over N2 million prize money at the weekend.

The champions, Afugiri Ward 1 football team, apart from a giant gold trophy, was rewarded with N1 million for their gallantry, second placed Isingwu Ward team got a Silver Cup and N500, 000, while the Okaiuga Alike Ward team which came third received N300, 000.

Also, the remaining five teams the participated in the annual tournament got N50,000 consolation prize each.

Eight teams selected from the eight INEC wards in Ohuhu clan in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State usually slug it out in the annual Ohuhu football fiesta also christened Dr Okezie Ikpeazu Unity Cup. Speaking during the prize presentation ceremony at his Akpahia Ohuhu country home, the sponsor of the Ohuhu Unity Cup, Hon. Chigoziri Gabriel

(a.k.a Stainless), also promised to sponsor the 2018 edition of the competition, while assuring that he would see to it that Ohuhu clan gets a standard football team.

“I will take up the challenge of registering and sponsoring a football team for Ohuhu clan to help in promoting football as a business venture whereby our players could be exported to Europe and elsewhere,” Gabriel said, while responding to a request by Ohuhu Football Federated.

Gabriel who came to the rescue when those who had promised to sponsor the competition some years ago reneged, maintained that his sole objective was to foster unity among Ohuhu people.

Being first time he would be physically present to present the prizes since he began sponsoring the competition, an elated Gabriel commended the Organising Committee for doing a good job; the players and spectators, for comporting themselves very well.

Earlier, Chairman of Ohuhu Football Federated, Chika Okeiyi, had lamented

that the non-existence of “a formidable registered football club” in Ohuhu clan was hindering identification and export of talented players from the area.

“We can raise a good team but we are lacking sponsors. Ohuhu has players capable of playing in the State League, Challenge Cup and other competitons.

If we register in these competitions, I am confident we can do very well because we have the players,” Okeiyi said.

Chairman of the Organising Committee, Chinedum Obilor, said his earlier prediction that Ohuhu Unity cup would soon become very competitive has come to pass as many clubs which hitherto shunned the league were now scrambling to be part of the league.

Prominent Ohuhu sons who witnessed the ceremony, including the Chairman of Umuahia North Local government area, Chief Chidiebere Nwachukwu, who promised to support the 2018 edition, the Secretary of the Council, Chief Chris Nwokocha and Chief Willie Ekeleme, commended Gabriel for being liberal with his God-given wealth.

kidnapped colleague: We won’t resume until our safety is guaranteed – Doctors From ANIEKAN ANIEKAN, Calabar

T

he ongoing impasse between the Cross River State branch of the Nigeria Medical Association and the government of Cross River State over the safety of doctors in the state seems to be degenerating as the association has debunked the news making the rounds that their kidnapped colleague was released unconditionally.

The association in a statement stressed that Dr. Emem Udoh, a pediatrician with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital who was recently abducted by kidnappers was not released unconditionally but that a ransom was paid to secure her release.

Dr. Ernest Ochang, the Public Relations Officer of the association stated this in Calabar while responding to issues bordering on the current strike action and the actions taken by the state government to ensure the security and safety of doctors in the state.

Said Dr. Ochang: “Contrary to public perceptions and information bandit around which is anything but correct, no rescue was made. The family of Dr Emem Udoh paid a ransom to the kidnappers. So she was not released unconditionally as demanded by us.

“Therefore doctors feel there are still not safe as nothing has changed.

We feel the kidnappers will likely grab another person once they exhaust their booty. The NMA is also irked that at this moment, a Red Cross volunteer who is a primary school teacher in Akpabuyo is still in captivity and his captors are demanding 1million naira ransom.

“Some arrests were made by the DSS at the local community at Etankpini were both Dr Usang and Udoh were abandoned but there is yet no information that they were connected to the kidnapping. Much we can say is that the Ransom has not been recovered”.

The NMA, Cross River State also decried the attitude of the state security adviser and the shallow steps taken by the government to secure doctors in the state stating that the steps taken thus far shows that the government lacks proper understanding of the security situation in the state.

In the release which was sighted by The Oracle Today, the NMA disclosed that the association “received a letter signed by the Chief Security Adviser Mr. Jude Ngami, which members felt was a clear demonstration of either incompetence or lack of the prevailing issue.

“For instance, the letter promised to provide a homeland vehicle in front of UCTH when doctors are kidnapped on their way home or in their houses as in the two cases in question. It is also appalling that facts revealed by the victims showed that there is hardly any police presence in the hours of 12 to 2 am as at no time where 4 able bodied young men moving in a car at this unholy period stopped”, the statement read.

As a result of this and the precarious security situation which the doctors have had to contend with over time, the association in its emergency general meeting, considered all the issues surrounding the kidnappings, Ransom payments and actions or inactions of government and decided its members should still be on lock down to stay safe.

The association also demanded that, among others, the state government should as a matter of urgency, sign the bill proscribing kidnapping which is awaiting the governor’s assent and also raid the villages with a view to apprehending those who indulge in kidnapping.

9

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 17, 2018

POLITICS

Umeh wins Anambra ‘Southern Nigeria at Central, court matters the mercy of the pending North!’’

Pg 11

Pg 14

Face to face with Libyan returnee ‘who saw hell’ in detention They all appeared frail and visibly hungry, malnourished, haggard and hopeless. They were ten male citizens of Enugu State, who were among the batch of 490 of Nigerians that had been rescued from Libya.

The governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, had sent a delegation to pick them up at the Port Harcourt International Airport, where the plane that flew them back to Nigeria had landed; and upon their arrival, they were received by the governor at the government house, Enugu. They were eleven in number, but the unnamed eleventh person, a woman, was said to be currently at a hospital in Port Harcourt, where she is being treated of head injury which had reportedly, been inflicted on her at a detention camp in Libya.

But for the fact that they had been screened and profiled by both the federal government and the State Emergency management Agency, in Enugu State, nobody would have agreed the returnees were Igbo, or indigenes of Enugu State, for that matter.

Meanwhile, others dignitaries who joined the governor at the ceremony were top government functionaries including the Commissioner for Gender Affairs and Social Development, whose ministry is saddled with the responsibility of rehabilitating the returnees, as well as Chairmen of all the 17 local government areas in the state, who had probably, come to ascertain true identities of the returnees, among others.

Presenting the returnees to the governor, the Executive Secretary of State Emergency Management Agency, Enugu (SEMA), Mrs Nkechi Eneh, noted that the returnees would later be handed over to their respective local government Chairmen, upon completion of their rehabilitation process.

“Your Excellency, seated before you are ten Libya returnees, who arrived the Port Harcourt Airport on the night of January 8, 2018.

We had received a call from the co-ordinator of NEMA for SouthSouth, informing us that eleven indigenes of Enugu State were among the 490 Libyan returnees that had arrived Port Harcourt that night, “They are ten males and a female. But the female did not return to Enugu because she is presently receiving treatment at a hospital in Port Harcourt because medical check, upon their arrival, revealed that she had sustained a head injury at a detention camp in Libya,” she explained.

According to Mrs Eneh, who thanked Ugwuanyi for his continued show of compassion on the needy, as soon as she related the development to the governor, he quickly provided special logistics for the returnees to be brought back to Enugu.

The ten male returnees, with

• Ugwuanyi orders their immediate rehabilitation From Enugu, CHUKS EZE writes relates his encounter with Libyan returnees from Enugu State, saying that going by their dishevelled looks, one would almost think they are non-indigenes of the State

• Gov. Ugwuanyi receives Enugu Returnees from Libya their Local Governments of origin, according to the SEMA boss include, (their surnames withheld): James, 40 years old (Aninri,), who travelled in 2017; Clifford, 39 (Ezeagu), travelled in 2015; Okechukwu, 26 (Oji River), travelled in 2017; Okwesili, 30 (Ezeagu), travelled in 2017; and Monday, 32 (Aninri), travelled in 2016. The rest are Chukwuebuka, 32 (Anninri), travelled in 2017; Hyacinth, 32 (Uzo-Uwani), travelled in 2016; Sunday, 24 (Nsukka), travelled in 2016; Christian, 29 (Aninri), travelled in 17, and Ebuka, 27 (Enugu East) travelled in 2016.

Returnees narrate their ordeal: Two of the returnees narrated their experiences on behalf of the team. Their stories were chilling and mind-boggling. Some dignitaries were even moves to tears as they took turns to relate their ordeals in the hands of Libyans while in detention at the Arab country.

James, an indigene of Aninri Local Government Area spoke first: “I was pushed into travelling (to Libya), in March 2017, due to series of difficulties that I was experiencing back home, at the

time. My friend, who was aware of my predicament had encouraged me to move over to that country, assuring me that I would be so rich and that my financial problems would be over as soon as I got there,” he began.

According to him, he agreed with his friend and sold his shop and vehicle and took off, with his friend, from Sokoto.

“We were first, quartered in Sokoto, where they trained us on how to dodge security agents on the way. We later moved from Sokoto to (The republic of) Niger, from where we entered the Sahara Desert. Along the line, we entered Libya, and then entered the Mediterranean Sea, so we could cross over to Europe”.

James explained that as they were intercepted by security agents in the process and that was when their trouble started “They took us back to Libya, where they subjected us to untold inhuman treatments. It was there that I discovered how much Libyans hated Nigerians. If they discover that you are a Nigerian,

you are in bigger trouble because your manhandling would be much worse and inhuman”, he said.

“They kept moving us from prison to prison”, he said, adding that while the Libyan security agents shot many people on the process, several others died of effects of injuries the were inflicted on them, without any form of medical help or food.

“Many people also died of acute starvation in detention.

They starved us so mercilessly, and even when they choose to serve us some food, they would first, spit on us severally and inflict heavy punches on us before serving us the little food – small pieces of bread that looks like Gala sausage roll – to feed once a day.

And when they want to be generous, they would serve about five people of their choice, little portions of Macaroni, accompanied with various mockery and abusive words”, he narrated.

Mathias expressed profound gratitude to Governor Ugwuanyi and the federal government of Nigeria for rescuing him and his colleagues from, what he called,

their deadly situation in the hands of Libyans, and pointed out that their survival was an act of God. “We never knew that we would be alive to tell our stories to others. I thank Governor Ugwuanyi and the federal government of Nigeria for coming to our rescue.

We saw hell in that land. You would be with someone in detention and the next hour he is dead,” he concluded.

Hyacinth, indigene of UzoUwani: Another returnee, Hyacinth, also narrated his ordeal and it was similar to Mathias’ account.

“I have to first, appreciate our governor, (Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi), for his kindness and for extending special assistance to us. I also thank the federal republic of Nigeria for coming to our rescue. I left Nigeria on July 26, 2016 and my story about what I passed through in Libya is enormous such that I do not even know where to begin.

But on the whole, I thank God that I am still alive today,” he said.

Continuing, Hyacinth disclosed that his movement to Libya com-

Cont’d on page 13

10

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Commentary How do you see the state of the Niger-Delta at the moment?

The Niger Delta is still in a comatose state, ravaged by environmental degradation, harassment by security operatives and staved from sustainably developing itself.

However, there is relative peace in most host oil communities and that should be applauded and appreciated by the government and oil companies.

Would you attribute the gradual economic stability being experienced by the nation to PANDEF’s intervention?

PANDEF has done a lot and is doing a lot to maintain peace and growth in the economy of the Niger Delta and this translates to bigger economic development for Nigeria in general. PANDEF is committed to peace and sustainable development of the Niger Delta and Nigeria and, therefore, will continue to intervene positively.

Do you think Buhari is committed to Niger Delta development and peace?

The visit by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo some time ago, indicated a positive direction or, say to say, Buhari’s commitment to a peaceful Niger Delta including approval for take-off of academic activities at the Maritime University, Okerenkoko. However, more should be done and the security and military operations in the Niger Delta should wear a human face and not to infringe on the rights of the people How do you rate the current NDDC board? Do you see them alleviating the plight of the people of the Niger-Delta?

I have not seen any significant achievement by this current Board as to rate them high. To rate them appropriately, a lot still needs to be done. I charge them to look at the development index and blueprint of the Niger Delta and go back to

‘Niger Delta should also benefit from $1b Boko Haram fund’ The National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Centre for Peace and Environmental justice, Comrade Sheriff Mulade says that although there is relative peace in most oil communities, the Niger Delta is still largely comatose, ravaged by environmental degradation, harassment by security operatives and lack of sustainable self-development. Additionally, he believes that the military operations in the Niger Delta should wear a human face and not infringe on the rights of the people; that the $1 billion that the federal government intends to collect from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) should not be used to fight insurgency alone in the North, but should also be used to develop the Niger Delta and equip the police to provide security for all Nigerians, among other issues. OBI OTESIRI was at the press briefing and provides the excerpts: uhuru for the Niger Delta There has been clamour for restructuring of Nigeria as a way out of the current political problems confronting the country. Do you concur?

We need economic and political restructuring in terms of carrying every group along. The unity of the country is non- negotiable.

Are you really convinced that Nigeria is making positive impacts under Buhari?

The fight against corruption is making positive impacts. Government and elected officials are now careful because they know that the people will hold them accountable.

•Sheriff

re-jig the system for meaningful development. They should concentrate on projects that have direct impact on the lives of the people and then the plight and sufferings of the people will be drastically reduced.

How do you the move by some persons in the Presidency to extend the tenure of Victor Ndoma Egba-led board of the NDDC? That is politics. What does the

Law establishing the Board and Commission say and what has been the precedence? These can guide us to make informed opinions on this.

Can we really say that the Niger Delta is enjoying the dividends of democracy?

Dividends in terms of free expressions and grassroots politics-yes. A lot is yet to be done in terms of economic dividends. It is not yet

How do you see the Federal Government’s plan to collect $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight Boko Haram insurgency?

The money should not be used to fight insurgency alone in the North; it should also be used to develop the Niger Delta and equip the police to provide security to all Nigerians and not to fight Boko Haram alone.

What is your take on resource control and devolution of power?

The Niger Delta has clamoured for resource control for years now.

States should control their resources and pay an agreed sum to the central government. Equally, oil-producing communities should have a set percentage from proceeds from the resources in their communities, which they can use to develop based on their priorities and needs. Local government autonomy is imperative. When power is devolved to the grassroots, development is faster and more impactful.

One Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), what is your take on this issue?

My take is that the Bill should be passed in such a state that it will be a win-win for all stakeholders including oil host communities and in such manner that it promotes and upholds transparency.

In what way can we address Nigeria’s security challenges for sustainable peace and development?

A true democracy will guarantee freedom, liberty and equity as well as enhance security of lives and property. These will eventually promote the culture of peace and engender sustainable development. Patience and continuous dialogue, respect for individual rights and a cordial military (security)- civilian relationship with mutual respect invariably will ameliorate the security challenges and then, peace will reign.

Prime Witness: Change and policy challenges in Buhari’s Nigeria

By IZU J. OKOYE

R

ecently, a trending analysis attributed to the Economist categorized President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership and tenure as being “plagued with failures across every single sector in the economy, the like as has never been seen before.” This synoptic evaluation, its veracity not withstanding, correlates with the extensive chronicle and exposé by Oseloka H. Obaze in his just released book, Prime Witness – Change and Policy Challenges in Buhari’s Nigeria.

Coincidentally, Mr. Obaze, for whom Prime Witness is his fourth book, was the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recently concluded Anambra State governorship election. The retired Senior United Nations official known for paying attention to details and being a stickler for policymaking driven by public interest didn’t disappoint in laying bare those attributes.

Nonetheless, he chronicles in an unbiased way and clinically too, the policy challenges confronting Nigeria under President Buhari, despite the President’s acclaimed change mantra and promises. The challenges documented are fact-based and as expressed by Nigerians.

The 38-chapter and 448-page book, arranged in six-part thematic clusters, is on sale online internationally, on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. According to the author, the book is “a product of his observations, exchanges with his interlocutors in and out of government, Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike during Buhari’s first year in office.” The

Forward to the book states that the book “represents a first draft of detailed analytical history of the administration’s performance in the first two years.”

Appreciating the value and balance of the book warrants starting from Obaze’s concluding thoughts and lines: “...In order to seek a new beginning and attempt to foster the illusive change Nigerians yearn for, Buhari must undergo personal remediation and transmute; but Buhari has proven in over thirty years since he left office as Head of State that he is near immutable and thus unmasked the hypocrisy of political rhetoric of those who did and still consider him a change agent “(p.383).

Obaze, given his political leanings, did well to post a disclaimer by asserting early in the book, the following: “This author is a five-per center. I did not vote for Buhari, despite my very high personal regards for his integrity, discipline, frugality, and honesty. These were the values I cherished in him, but could not ascribe to his cohorts in APC. Many Nigerians, including the national elite, as members of the attentive public, toed a similar line and reasoning (p.lvii).”

To Obaze’s credit, this book is on balance, and not jaundiced by partisan consideration and politics.

Obaze draws on his vast public policy experience and indeed, on prevailing published works on governance and public policy, to evaluate the challenges confronting Nigeria and thus Buhari. Such challenges, most of them inherited, include some imponderables. As he asserts, “the fallacy of Buhari’s ‘change’ mantra was that it casually over-

looked Nigeria’s complexity and sought to solve rather than manage the nation’s many and often times humongous and incongruous challenges (p.lvii).”

He documents how Buhari’s first year in office was spent not on governance, but in making excuses and blaming the previous government.

Most of the issues dealt with in this volume relate to policy somersaults and related matters Nigerians grapple with and debate daily.

However, Obaze has added a comparative and analytical dimension to the salient policy topics covering areas such as governance and politics, foreign policy, security concerns, constitutional questions, economic and fiscal policies, and change mantra in retrospect.

Four chapters in the book relate to issues that continue to trouble Nigerians deeply.

These include the diminution of due process and ordered liberties, fuel subsidy, herdsmen attacks, restructuring and national security.

Nigeria’s stagnated economy and development are also dealt with extensively.

The value of Obaze’s book is that each chapter while evaluating a specific policy challenge, also includes policy prescriptions and solutions. In a Chapter 19, Obaze showed considerable concern about the incremental evisceration of national security agencies and their exposure to public ridicule. Some of his concerns have now manifested.

As many Nigerians have come to acknowledge, the emergence of Buhari and the APC-led government was contingent on the failings of the preceding PDP government, led by President Goodluck Jonathan. Obaze

asserts that such contingency was not a guarantee of a better performance, more so, since the APC government either did not expect to win, or was ill-prepared to govern. He draws on other sources to confirm that Jonathan’s broad failings made Buhari’s emergence possible.

Obaze asserts that Buhari was perhaps largely a misunderstood man, considering that not much biographical notes had been written about him over the past three decades, and that some of the published materials were not always in good light. He gives credit to Buhari for his international engagements and for deciding to be his own foreign policy ‘Vicar’. He offers a glimpse into the possible origin of Buhari’s exclusionary “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody” mantra, and hints on some of his erstwhile military colleagues who might have opposed his emergence.

Prime Witness is analytically written with lucidity and engaging prose and its references well-documented. Its possessive title is a loss-leader that could be misinterpreted and indeed, misunderstood. Nevertheless, the book is a good reference book and an addition to public policy books on Nigeria and thus belongs rightly in any worthy library.

• IZU OKOYE wrote this piece as a review of former Secretary to Anambra State government and PDP flag-bearer in last November 18 Anambra governorship election, Mr. Oseloka Obaze’s book entitled Prime Witness, a critique of Major-General Muhammadu Buhari’s two years in office as Nigerian President.

11

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24 2018

POLITICS

• Chris Ngige

• Ekwunife

By THEO RAYS, Idemili; JONATHAN AWANYAI, Anaocha; CHUKS COLLINS, Awka

The details of the turnout throughout the seven local government areas follow:

• Obiora Okonkwo

• Umeh

Umeh wins Anambra Central, court matters pending

V

ICTOR Umeh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, was predictably winner of the Anambra Central Senatorial District election. Declaring the result of the rerun, the Returning Officer, Prof Charles Esimone, said Umeh won with the highest number of votes cast 64, 878 (95.6 per cent of the votes) and therefore was returned elected.

Esimone, who is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said the total number of registered voters in the seven local government areas was 745, 828 out of which only 67, 872 (9.1 percent) was accredited.

Chris Ngige, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was second with 975 votes while Progressive Peoples Alliance came third with 116 votes. Other parties that got votes were the Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP), 111 votes; Labour Party, LP, 95; National Conscience Party, NCP, 72; Alliance for Democratic Congress, ADC, 57; United Progressives Party, UPP, 55; Green Party of Nigeria, GPN, 48 and Action Congress for Democrats, ACD, 33.

Votes were cancelled in four polling units in Awka South where there were cases of overvoting and in Agulu, Anaocha council where people were reportedly accredited manually as well as in Idemili South where over-voting was recorded in two polling units.

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, thanked voters, election officials, observers and journalists for contributing to the success and peaceful conduct of the poll.

APC is just one of several interests that are in court contesting different issues they wanted resolved before INEC could conduct the election. Dr. Ngige had a day before the election threatened that he would sue INEC if APC was on the ballot paper. He said that APC was at the Court of Appeal over INEC’s refusal to replace Ngige, who by January 2017, had indicated his lack of interest in the election through a letter that APC forwarded to INEC. Voter turnout was low, averaging 9.1 per cent, with Awka North’s 13.97 per cent being the highest turnout, and Idemili South with 4.83 per cent had the lowest turnout. Idemili North with the highest number of registered voters, 187, 693, had the second lowest turnout 5.2 per cent.

Several factors accounted for voters’ apathy. One of them was the long drawn legal suits that left many voters wondering if the election would hold. The last of the cases was heard a day before the voting. There also appeared to be election fatigue. Many appear not to have recovered from the long drawn campaign for the governorship election that was held 18 November 2017.

Although 15 parties appeared on the ballot paper, 10 won votes at the election Cases trailing the election • The Anambra Central Senatorial District had been without a Senator since 7 December 2015 when the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, sacked the occupant of the position, Mrs. Uche Ekwunife following a petition filed by Victor Umeh. The court asked

Anaocha LGA APC 120

No of Reg. Voters 95,915 No of Accredited Voters 12,634 APGA 12,245 ADC 10 % Of Turnout 13.17

Awka North LGA APC 81

No of Reg. Voter 56,290 No of Accredited Voters 7,864 APGA 7,572 ADC. 4 % Of Turnout 13.97

Awka South LGA APC 231

No of Reg. Voters 151,599 No of Accredited Voters 13,029 APGA 12,384 ADC 22 % Of Turnout 8.59

Dunukofia LGA APC 124

No of Reg. Voters 64,054 No of Accredited Voters 7,667 APGA 7,307 ADC 6 % Of Turnout 11.96

Idemili South LGA APC 104

No of Reg. Voters 101,484 No of Accredited Voters 4,911 APGA 4,647 ADC 4 % Of Turnout 4.83

Njikoka LGA APC 158

No of Reg. Voters 88,793 No of Accredited Voters 11,989 APGA 11,566 ADC 3 % Of Turnout 13.5

Idemili North LGA No of Reg. Voters 187,693 No of Accredited Voters 9,778 APC. 157 APGA 9,218 ADC 8 % Of Turnout 5.2 Parties Total Vote Cast APGA 64, 879 APC 975 MPPP 111 PPA 116 LP 95 NCP 72 ADC 57 UPP 55 GPN 48 ACD 33 Number of Reg. Voters 745, 828 Number of Accred. Voters 67, 872 % Of Turnout 9.1 Total Valid Votes 66,507 Rejected Votes 1,203 Total Vote Cast 67,710 INEC to conduct a re-run in the district within 90 days, while disqualifying Ekwunife and her political party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from participating in the re-run.

• PDP challenged its exclusion in the re-run at the Federal High Court, Abuja that granted judgment in its favour. On the appeal against the High Court judgment Umeh contended that the PDP would not field a candidate in the re-run since it was on its instance that the election was nullified on 7 December 2015.

• On Monday, 20 November 2017, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja delivered a judgment in favour of Umeh in which it ordered INEC to conduct the re-run election within 90 days of the judgment. The judgment excluded PDP from contesting the election. Following this, INEC fixed the re-run for 13 January 2018.

• On 13 December, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declared Dr. Obiora Okonkwo of the PDP as Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District in a judgment Justice Tsoho delivered. Tsoho, among other reliefs, asked INEC to issue certificate of return to Okonkwo and ordered the Senate President to swear in the PDP candidate immediately as the Senator for Anambra Central Senatorial District • Dr Nwachukwu Orji, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State said, “Our legal department has asked us to go ahead and obey the Court of Appeal order against the Federal High Court judgment. So, we are going ahead to conduct the election on January 13. We are going on with the election as scheduled.”

•As if to confirm that the last had not

heard about the litigations on the election, a law firm, S.T. HON (SAN) & CO has written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to suspend the Anambra Central Senatorial re-run election slated for Saturday, January 13 2018.

In a letter to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu titled ‘Request to stay action or suspend conduct of the re-run election in the Anambra Central Senatorial District, Slated for Saturday, 13th January, 2018’, and signed

by Sebastine T. Hon, SAN and Festus Keyamo, SAN, the firm averred that conduct of the re-run election for the Anambra Central had been overtaken by an extant court judgment of December 13, 2017, which ordered INEC to issue Dr. Obiora Okonkwo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with a Certificate of Return, COR as the Senator-elect representing the Anambra Central Senatorial District.

“For the avoidance of doubt, certified copies of the said consent judgment and the judgment order have already been served on your office by bailiffs of the Federal High Court. Our office also wrote several letters to you, not only informing you of that judgment but also forwarding certified copies of same to you.

“Till date, you have refused to, failed and or neglected to comply with the judgment of this court of competent jurisdiction,” the firm wrote in the letter to INEC. “Also, bailiffs of the Federal High Court went to your office today, 8th January, 2018 to serve you with Form 48, but you refused service and instead directed them to serve the legal department of INEC, when you

know or should know that personal service, unless substituted service is ordered is mandatory when Form 48 is issued.”

The firm accused INEC of deliberately refusing to acknowledge service, noting that the Chairman’s body language and that of the Commission, “suggest that your Commission is preparing to go with the disputed rerun election, in spite of the consent judgment of Coram Johns Tsoho J of the Federal High court, Abuja.”

It, however, warned Prof. Yakubu that his Commission that “it cannot lawfully or validly go on with the planned rerun, hence it has briefed a Senior Lawyer, Asiwaju Solomon Awomolo, SAN, to file a Motion on Notice at the Federal High Court, seeking to vary the consent judgment of Tsoho, J. We have already been served with this Motion and we have responded thereto accordingly.”

“However, in paragraph 9 of the affidavit in support, Alhassan A. Umar of INEC’s Legal Department has acknowledged the existence of prior Court of Appeal decisions and the decision of Tsoho J., and has stated that the ‘Commission is bound by the subsisting orders’,” the firm said.

The firm declared that in the light of the documents before the courts, voluntarily foiled by INEC admitting that unless and until the judgment of Tsoho, J., is set aside, the rerun cannot go ahead, it would be preposterous of Prof. Yakubu and his Commission to go ahead to conduct the Anambra Central re-run on January 13.

On • 12 January 2018, Justice John Tsoho of a Federal High Court, Abuja, set aside its earlier judgment directing the Senate President to swear in Dr. Obiora Okonkwo as the Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District. The court had, on December 13, 2017, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately issue a Certificate of Return to Okonkwo as the Senator for the Senatorial District on the strength of the consent judgment. Tsoho said Okonkwo, had misled the court into getting the consent judgment. He added he took judicial notice of three earlier judgments from the Court of Appeal ordering INEC to conduct a re-run election for the Senatorial District within 90 days. The court also excluded the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from taking part in the election held 13 January 2018 for failing to participate in the primaries.

He admitted the Court of Appeal’s decision took precedent over and above that of any lower court. He therefore submitted that his court, being a lower court, was bound by the decision of the appellate court in the instant case. According to Justice Tsoho, that Okonkwo was not a party to the case was immaterial since his party, PDP, was.

He consequently adjourned the case indefinitely pending the outcome of the appeal filed by PDP at the Supreme Court.

So the outstanding cases in the Anambra Central Senatorial District election are – APC’s Court of Appeal matter to substitute Dr. Ngige; PDP’s appeal at the Supreme Court that it should field a candidate in the election, and Dr. Okonkwo’s case at the Federal High Court that he was the winner of the primaries and should be declared the winner of the 2015 election.

12

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

POLITICS

Abia progressively narrowing gap on salary issues – Ikpeazu

Egg production In Agriculture, the new thing here is that we have rolled out poultry cluster initiative and incidentally, it is coinciding with a similar initiative in terms of egg production which the federal government is also launching out and making Abia the focal state in the South East. Just for reminders, the poultry cluster initiative in Abia is a response to our findings that many young poultry farmers are unable to sustain their interest in poultry farming because of the vagaries of that business and because of lack of proper understanding of the dynamics of poultry farming.

The idea of the poultry cluster is to keep the variables as constant as possible. The variables include provision of adequate feedstock in the right quantity, quality and at the appropriate time because there is a very delicate balance between how well, how best you are in feeding your chicken and the output. This delicate balance is so important that if you starve your birds for a few hours, the result, at the end of the day, can be very profound and many new farmers are unable to appreciate this. The other one is the need for regular vaccination and the availability of good water and, most importantly, the most critical input which is the capital-intensive one -provision of poultry house or pen.

So, the state decided to start these three clusters in the three geopolitical zones and the idea is for the state to provide the buildings, provide veterinary extension services, stock it with appropriate drugs, vaccines and then provide water, electricity and a classroom, so that when the time comes for us to begin to empower our youths, if we give them cash or give them day-old chicks, as people used to do in the past, we take them into the clusters, first to the classroom and teach them the economics of Poultry farming: that if you want to maintain 1,000 birds, you will need x quantity of feeds in terms of bags and this is the right kind of feeds; you don’t use feeds for layers and go and give to broilers, you must get the right stock and the right quality of feeds.

They will be taught these kinds of things so that whatever they expect at the end, will be after taking off their input; so that they go with the mentality of check and balance some input and then whatever the profit is as a fallout of your efforts.

Again, by holding the variables constant, most of them, you will see that even if most of the youths go away, the state will take over the feeding and raising of birds, so that we will not lose everything. At the end of the day, whenever he returns, we can show him the books that we kept, so that when we remove whatever is spent on feeds and vaccination, whatever is left now can be his profit and he can continue his life.

Finally, within the poultry cluster, we are going to have a cold store as well as a processing line. What it means is that for the new farmer, if he wants to sell to the chickens, of course, he can. If he wants the cluster to process for him to go and sell to hotels in town, he would be allowed to do so.

There are three things we want to achieve: minimize casualties and losses, sustain the interest of our young ones in poultry farming and by clustering together and learning together, advance our skills in poultry farming. Probably someday, we may become the poultry headquarters of this country.

Starch processing plant Beyond poultry farming, we hope that in 2018, we will be able to launch out our cassava programme. The unique thing about

Abia State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, says his administration has conceptualized a few things that are unique, which, if properly handled, will certainly create hope that someday soon, things will happen in the state. So, penultimate Monday, he addressed newsmen on the projects his administration was executing in the areas of agriculture, road projects, and the controversial salary issue; among others, and why he banned Council Chairmen from borrowing from the banks. BONIFACE OKORO was there. Excerpts:

• Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu our cassava programme is that we have taken into cognizance of our land holding challenges because we are small land holders.

We want to see how we can get the buy-in of the average village woman, so that if you cultivate a few plots, we will reach an uptake agreement, first by providing you with the right cassava stems (Protein A stems) and then following up in your farms. The villagers or local woman can register. When they take out the ones they want to use to for the table, the other ones government can uptake and process into starch.

We have reached agreement to start a starch cassava processing farm to produce cassava starch. Starch is a very important raw material for pharmaceuticals, as well as an important raw material for production of starch-based foods like pasta, noodles, etc.

Between now and the next four months, we should be looking at the pieces of equipment for starch production in our environment and our agro-industrial area is the Ubani area where we have the market now.

There is an acquired estate there, which we intend to drive, using private sector initiative.

Mushroom farming We are also running strong on our mushroom farming and we want our youths to pay attention to mushroom farming because it is the type of farming you can do, you don’t need to soil your hands. The

pilot farm is in Ministry of Agriculture. We are waiting for the first set of youths that underwent training in the Ministry to begin to show interest in that area, and we launch out.

Road construction Road infrastructure is one important enablers that is driving our efforts, both in terms of security, trade and commerce, small and medium scale enterprises and manufacturing.

Our one Local Government, 10 kilometres of road initiative is on-going. In the next two months, we are going to have, at least, five or six of those rural roads ready for commissioning. We are working hard, using this dry season window to ensure that by the time we close the dry season, we will be ready to commission some of those roads and probably start the next set of six. We want to do it in three batches because there are 17 local governments and if do six roads in three batches, you can easily arrive at 17 or 18 roads, as the case may be.

Our flagship work on Bende-Ndi Oji-Ndi Okereke-Arochukwu road is advancing very well. We have successfully launched that 60-metre bridge at Ndi Okereke and today, it is easier to go to Arochukwu than it was last year.

We want to spend the rest of the dry season to see if we can do further two or three kilometres towards Arochukwu from

the bridge.

We think the bridge was well done and it has the capacity to stand heavy trucks because we envisaged that in a few years’ time, the cement manufacturing outfits around Arochukwu will come because part of why we are unable to utilize the lime stone deposit there is because there is no road to convey those heavy materials from that location to other parts.

Work will begin on Port Harcourt road in Aba in earnest this week because they have done site mobilization and they have their pieces of equipment in place.

The design of Port Harcourt road is supposed to be a six-laner: two lanes will be dedicated to the BRT bus service because we anticipate heavy traffic on that road because the two ends of the road, Cemetery end has Cemetery market which is an economic road, the other end has Asa Nnentu which is the motor-spare parts market. So, we know that traffic will be huge. That is why we want to see if we can provide buses to take people en masse to and fro that road.

Our second road to evacuate goods and services from Ariaria, apart from the work that is on going at Faulks Road, is in progress. The SAMEK Old Expressed Road is also progressing very well. That road is also coming with end-to-end drainage. The idea is to create as many exits and in-routes as possible into Ariaria International Market.

We have also begun the asphalting of internal roads in Ariaria. The road is about six and half kilometres. I visited Ariaria last week and I saw the job the contractor was doing. This is the right time to do asphalting of internal roads in Ariaria because the drainage from Ifeobara to Waterside is ready and is working, so we can collect all the storm water in Ariaria into that drainage and then we can be sure that the flooding problem of the environment, especially that of our market, will be a thing of the past in the days ahead.

In Umuahia, we are also continuing with Agbama Ring Road. The contractor has returned to site and that road is very strategic and we are aware that before the rainy season sets in, that we may have gone far on Agbama Ring Road. And it will be my pleasure to conclude Agbama Ring Road before the next rainy season and we have given the contractor the mandate to do that.

Same thing for our work on Nkpa road.

The contractor is on duty and working; the same thing with Bulletine on Nkporo road.

We are also going to work hard to ensure that we get into Nkporo by the close of this dry season window because we have arranged the funding and we will make sure that they are well provided for.

One Ward, One Project Initiative We tried to flag off our One ward, One Project initiative, which is another thing that is new. Under the One Ward, One Project, the new thing there is that it is an initiative that ensures a bottom-top approach. We are engaging the President-Generals of various town unions, traditional rulers, the market women to feed us back on what

13

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

POLITICS

Face to face with Libyan returnee

Cont’d from page 9 menced in Kano State, from where they moved to Niger Republic, from where they proceeded to a place called Agadesse.

According to him, from Agadesse, they passed through Sahara Desert to Libya.

“The entire process was so critical such that human beings were being packed in a van and covered like wares. And many people died on the process, from heat, suffocation and dehydration, just as many others fell of the van and died. And the Libyans would throw the dead away into the desert and covered their remains with sand, like mere animals. Our survival today is a mystery, and by God’s special Grace,” he said.

Europe as initial target: Hyacinth disclosed that, like many victims of similar failed trip abroad, he never planned to travel to Libya, in the first place.

“My aim was to move to Europe – Germany to be precise – but we were intercepted in Libya and taken to prison. Libyan prison was hellish; there is no better word to describe it. Libyans treat African prisoners like animals. They would tie prisoners’ hands and legs and hang them on a pole before

• Returnee from Libya hitting them repeatedly with rods. Most times, they would hit us on the head and when blood starts gushing out, they would start making gest of you, while your fellow African inmates watch helplessly and await their turn.

“Their wickedness is so bad that whenever their victim fainted in the process of acute beating, they would start mocking him and chorus ‘mien-mien,’ which means ‘very good’. They would then order fellow inmates to untie him, lay the victim on the floor and sprinkle water on him for him to get revived. And after that, the victim would be abandoned without any medical attention. Many prisoners died in that process as well. I also experienced such near-death situation and I never knew that I would ever return to my country alive,” he said.

Like many of the deportees from various countries, Hyacinth said he was forced to travel out in search of greener pastures by poor living condition back home, in Nigeria.

“Both of my parents are late; I was a shoe maker before I travelled, but things got to a standstill at a point and I became helpless. I sold all my property and equipment and used the money to travel, hoping to ‘make it’.

“I had desired to get married but I could not raise the funds; I had also hoped to make some money in Europe and return home to married a wife and take care of my family, but all too avail,” he regretted.

Meanwhile, responding to their narration, the State Commissioner for Gender Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Princess Peace Nnaji, thanked Governor Ugwuanyi for taking a bold and snap step in the handling of the Libyan returnees. According to Nnaji, who also congratulated the returnees for making it back to the country alive, they were now in a position to inform other citizens back home about the reality of reports of deadly implication of embarking on illegal trips abroad.

“As I congratulate you for making it back to Nigeria and Enugu State alive, I want to assure you that with our amiable governor here, you are a lucky people. I would say that God is on your side because governor Ugwuanyi is equal to the task. He is a governor who bears the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria on one hand and the Holy bible on the other. I am certain that he will ensure that you are rehabilitated and re-integrated back into the society and your

tion here, I did not conduct it because I was very comfortable financially. I conducted it because I really do not want to have anything to do with the local government money and how they manage their finance; for the simple reason that they are poorer than the state.

They are poorer; you can’t steal from a church rat. The only thing I have done is that I have said to them, I will not allow you to borrow money from the bank. And the reason is clear. During the time of some previous administrations, Aba North was owing two years staff salary and almost owing the banks N200 million. It was the other administration that came that paid that money.

CBN and Debt Management Office will aggregate all the money the local governments are owing and put on the debt profile of the state. So, we said, don’t borrow money. You have to work with the state to increase your internally generated revenue.

That is the only way to go. What we have done here is to say that if you don’t want to increase your Internally Generated Revenue as local government chairman, there are certain privileges you cannot enjoy. However, we have not abandoned them.

On Friday, precisely, the Nigeria Labour

Congress, Trade Union Congress, Nigeria Union of Teachers, all of them were locked up in a meeting to distribute and share and appropriate the N3.2 billion that I gave them from the Paris Club Refund.

And they are coming up with what looks like N3.4 billion. Though I swore I wasn’t going to go beyond N3.2 billion because I have other things contending for money, but I am sure by the time they appropriate whatever, whether it is N3.2 billion or N3.4 that goes to them, whatever backlog that is left of teachers’ salaries - secondary and primary school teachers - may not be completely be wiped out but it will constrict to such a point that everybody will understand that Abia State is progressively narrowing the gap on salary issues.

But if I have successfully paid 65 or 75 per cent of the workers, and less than 30 per cent have issues, and every month, as God blesses our hands, we do something towards narrowing the gap; at a point, it was seven, probably now, it is three months and after the appropriation of the Paris Refund, it may become one month or two months, depending on what formula they use and how they want to deal with it.

... Gap on salary issues – Ikpeazu they think are the projects that can touch their lives in a more profound way.

We are engaging in renovation of market stalls in the villages, installation of streetlights around market places and economic centres, as well as building of town halls, meeting places and all that; even renovation and equipping of primary health care centres, all these fall under the kind of things we want to do in the One Ward, One Project initiative.

I assure you that by the time we will do a review in three months, we would have delivered between 15 and 20 rural-based projects under the One Ward, One Projects Initiative.

Salaries and Pensions 75 per cent of Abia workers are either working in the Ministry of Health, or Education, or Agriculture, or Information or Science and Technology. They are the core civil servants of the state. If not 70 per cent, slightly less than 70 per cent; all of these people, without exception, have received their December Salary.

But we have some backlog among Primary and Secondary school teachers.

When I conducted local government elec-

respective families. There are so many things in Nigeria that we can put our hands on to put food on our table, and I am sure that you are now better informed,” she said.

Nnaji pointed out that her ministry would liaise with other relevant agencies to ensure that while the returnees undergo processes of rehabilitation, they would also have to go on air and educate other citizens about the dangers of embarking on illegal trip abroad; to inform them that embarking on illegal and dangerous trip, to suffer in the desert and die, is not an option to any life challenges, be it economic or otherwise.

Returnees receive special blessing: The Chaplain of Enugu Government House, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Chinedu Ozor-Ude, and the Vicar of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Ven. Victor Ezeji, who represented the Anglican Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Emmanuel Chukwuma, were at the reception to pray for, and as well bless the returnees. Ven. Nwafor said the prayers while Fr. Ozor-Ude administered the special blessings.

But before the prayer was said, Fr OzorUde thanked Gov Ugwuanyi for “being the father of the state and for the show of love given to our brothers – the returnees from Libya,” adding that what was being done was to thank God on their behalf, and to say Happy survival to them.

He advised citizens to desist from allowing themselves and their wards to be brainwashed into being ferried abroad illegally, in search of greener pastures, pointing out that whatever difficulty that exist in the country, that it was worse in most other climes. And with the song, “We are grateful, O’ Lord, Ven. Nwafor prayed for the returnees and asked God to bless them, give them good life and sustain them and their families.

Ugwuanyi speaks: While wrapping up the speeches at the occasion, Governor Ugwuanyi thanked God for granting the returnees safe trip back home.

He also appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for facilitating the process of bringing back to Nigeria, many Nigerians that had been stuck in Libya.

According to the governor, “we are certainly glad to have you back and we promise to help you undertake the necessary medical check-up and as well re-integrate you back to your families and the society at large”.

The governor, however, advised Nigerian citizens to henceforth desist from embarking on illegal trip to Libya and other similar places around the world, describing such adventure as unsafe and deadly.

The governor later directed that the returnees be “cleaned up” and lodged in an unnamed guest house. He also assured them that the relevant ministries and agencies would take care of them for a while, adding that during that process he would liaise with the affected local government Chairmen and other relevant agencies to work out “something” for them.

More Nigerians still stranded in Libya.

Recall that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had on January 5, embarked on a special mission to Libya, after which he had stated that the Nigerian mission in that country was being supported by the International Organisation for Migration and a technical team from NEMA, Nigerian Immigration Service among other relevant agencies, to secure the release and evacuation of thousands of Nigerians that are stranded in over 50 detention camps in Libya.

But according to the minister, the evacuation process was being hindered tremendously because the central government recognised by the United Nations, do not have full control of the territories that have been occupied by the rebels many, coupled with the fact that many of the detention camps are under the control of Libyan rebels and militia groups.

14

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

POLITICS

‘Southern the mercy of • Ben Nwabueze

By BEN NWABUEZE

E

lder statesman, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN) has called on Nigerians living in the South to be wary of the fact that their entire security apparatus rests in the hands of Northerners in what he believes coheres to President Muhammad Buhari’s northernisation agenda.

In a statement entitled Whether The Eradication Of Corruption Is The Motivating Object Of The On-Going War Against It, the elder statesman who is also Chairman of The Patriots, a think tank of Nigeria’s elder statesmen, Said: “Northerners are occupying the offices of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Director- Generals of DSS, NIA, Inspector General of Police, Chief of Staff to the President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Controller-General of Customs and Immigration, Minister of Internal Affairs, National Security Adviser, Minister of Petroleum, 15 out of the 22 Assistant Inspectors General of Police among other sensitive positions.”

Noting that the “15 appointments listed above are strategic appointments as they relate to the prosecution of the war against corruption,” Nwabueze, the first academic to be conferred with Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), further explained: 1.

Ibrahim Idris, IGP, appointed over the heads of some southern officers senior to him: “The IGP is heading a Police Force, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), in which 15 out of the 22 Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIG), who exercise much of the function of the operational control of the Force, are northerners, while three are from the South-West and two from the South-East.

“These blatantly lopsided appointments, all of which were

made since the inception of the Buhari Administration, portray the NPF as an army of occupation deliberately designed to carry out President Buhari’s Northernisation Agenda in furtherance of the dream of the Sardauna to reduce the South to a conquered territory and thereby prevented from having control over its future.

“The President’s implacable opposition to re-structuring which envisages the establishment of State Police should not, therefore, surprise us. He wants to be able to continue to exercise control over the internal security of the Southern States and to continue to hold them hostage. It caricatures true federalism that a constituent state in a Federation should be under the control and yoke of the Federal Government in the matter of its internal security.

2. Daura, Director-General, Department of State Services, DSS, replacing Ita Ekpenyong “Apart from the DG, the directors are mostly northerners.

The control of the NPF and DSS by northerners must be taken together with the fact that the Minister of Interior and the Permanent Secretary of the ministry are northerners; that the Army and Air Force are headed by northerners and, above all, that President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner, is the Commanderin-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, and has the power under the Constitution to direct the operational use of the NPF for the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order; his power to direct the operational use of the DSS is even more plenary.

“The implication of the control of security by northerners is that the security of Nigeria and Nigerians is an exclusively northern affair, thereby putting the rest of us at their mercy.

3. Abubakar Malami, SAN, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF):

• Ibrahim Idris, IGP

• Lawal Daura, DG, DSS

• Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General

• Hamed Ibrahim Ali, Controller -General, Nigerian Customs Services

• Mohammad Babandede, ControllerGeneral Nigerian Immigration Services

• Ahmed-RUfai-Abubakar Acting Director-General, NIA

“(He is) a young SAN, who was raised to the rank in 2008, i.e. seven years before his appointment as AGF. 4. Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Danbazau (Rtd), Minister of Interior.

5. Magaji Abubakar, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior “He has publicly admitted to have wrongfully sidetracked the Head of Service (HoS), Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, a southerner, in the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina, and has apologized to her accordingly: see the Vanguard of December 1, 2017.

6. Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial

Crimes Commission, EFCC: “Still kept in office in an acting capacity since 9 November, 2015 because of repeated refusal by the Senate to confirm his appointment.”

7. Hamed Ibrahim Ali, Controller-General, Nigerian Customs Services: “Customs is the underbelly of corruption in Nigeria.”

8. Mohammad Babandede, Controller-General Nigerian Immigration Services: “Immigration stands implicated in Maina’s escape out of Nigeria after his sack from the civil service and his subsequent re-entry into it.”

9. Ahmed-RUfai-Abubakar, Acting Director-General National Intelligence Agency (NIA): “(He) replaced Ayo Oke, a southerner, after he was sacked, following the discovery in the NIA offices in the Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, of the sum of $43 million, £27,800 and N23 million.

10. Alhaji Amed Idris, Accountant-General of the Federation, replacing Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, a southerner.

11. Maitanti Baru, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC): “(He) replaced Ibe Kachikwu, a southerner, who, as Minister of State for Petroleum and Chair-

15

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

POLITICS

Nigeria at the North!’

P • President Buhari

• Lt-Gen Abdulrahman Danbazau (Rtd), Minister of Interior.

• Magaji Abubakar, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior

• Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman, EFCC:

• Alhaji Amed Idris, Accountant-General of the Federation

• Maitanti Baru, Group Managing Director, NNPC

• Abdulrasheed Maina, Chairman, Task Force on Pension Reform

man, NNPC Board, was sidelined

by Baru in the process for the award of some NNPC contracts; earlier he had been downgraded from Minister of Petroleum to Minister of State for Petroleum, with the President taking over as his own Petroleum Minister.

12. Abdulrasheed Maina, Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform: “Although his initial appointment took place before the Buhari Administration, his reinstatement after he was sacked occurred during that Administration, with the President’s approval as the evidence shows…

“There are of course other lopsided strategic appointments, such as the appointment of Professor Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman, Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), and Hadiza Bala-Usman as Head of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). The listed appointments raise critical issues as to the intention or design behind them.

“They look like a swoop on the South, a jihad designed to foist Northern domination, or even subjugation, on the South in pursuance of the Sarduana’s agenda, announced as far back as 1960, to subjugate the South and reduce

it to a conquered territory, with the object of preventing it from having control over its future,” an agenda which President Buhari, in a speech in May 2015 as President-elect, re-echoed and vowed to carry to a finish.

“What other reason could there be for concentrating in the North the appointments to all the positions vital to the effective prosecution of the war against corruption? We need to be told.

One hopes that the order for the purchase of warplanes from the U.S., ostensibly to fight Boko Haram terrorism, is not connected with the hidden agenda for a jihad.

“The 15 appointments stand uncontroverted. And yet in a futile attempt to controvert the incontrovertible, the President, responding to a newspaper report that 81 of 100 appointments made by him were from the North, published a list of 159 appointments made by him, 85 of which were from the South and 74 from the North: see the Vanguard November 6, 2017.

“We are being treated again to another irrelevancy designed to befog a critical issue and to hoodwink the Nigerian people. The President is simply preying on the gullibility of the public in anything that comes from him.

“What all this means is that corruption is being fought, not by an all-inclusive team of officials, but by officials drawn from one section of the country, the North, separated in interests, outlook and attitude from the South, which makes the war look like an exclusively Northern affair, hence the increase in public cynicism about the President’s sincerity as leader.

“The cynicism seems to have reached its peak in the Maina case, tagged by the media as the Maina saga or Mainagate, involving several billions of naira allegedly stolen from the Pension Fund Scheme superintended by the Presidential Task Force Reform Team of which Abdulrasheed Maina was Chairman.

“The aspect of the Maina case that aroused great public interest and heightened public cynicism about the sincerity of the President as leader of a crusade was the threat by the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, a northerner, to “query” the Head of Service of the Federation (HoS), Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, a southerner, for saying that she informed the President of Maina’s reinstatement which was effected against her opposition.

“The threat was made in the view of people, including the Vice-President, arriving at the Council Chambers for the weekly

meeting of the Federal Executive Council. The threat and the HoS instant but angry response triggered public reaction. Is the HoS under the authority of the Chief of Staff as to make her amenable to a query by him?

“Why should he publicly utter such a threat, except perhaps as an over-zealous show of solidarity for a master from the same section of the country, the North? Was the motive a concern to shield a fellow northerner?

The public was not told anything more about this scandalous exhibition of sectionalism other than that the controversy had been settled by the President meeting privately with the two quarrelling officials.

“But, the public cynicism remains. Was something being concealed from the public about the whole Maina saga? Was the President, in fact, privy to Maina’s return to the country and his reinstatement into the civil service, and did he authorise it?

Maina’s testimony came on 29 November, 2017, as reported in the Vanguard of that day.

He said: “When this government came in, the President gave his note that go and sit down with Maina. I have given you the approval. They sat down with me…

The process of my reinstatement started after the Attorney-General, Mr Malami, visited me. As soon as the present government decided to sit with me, and after sitting with me, I told them I will not leave you to go back to Nigeria without something in your pocket. I’m going to give you something in your pocket, and the Minister laughed.

“Maina’s testimony has not been countered by government.

The eradication of corruption requires the concerted efforts of all Nigerians fighting together as one people under an all-inclusive government, not a government perceived to be one for one section of the country only, the North, and from which the other section feels alienated.”

16

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

FOR THE RECORD SCRIPTURAL TEXTS: JEREMIAH 8:20-22; 9:1-9.

Introduction For today’s State of the Nation broadcast, I have chosen as a theme: “It is Time to Renegotiate our Union,” and for the texts of Scripture, please turn your Bible with me to Jeremiah 8:20-22 & 9:1-9.

Fellow Nigerians: Happy 2018 once again. This year promises to be an unusual one and a turning point in the history of our nation. In conveying my optimistic salutations, I am not unmindful of the unpleasant circumstances that characterised the turn of the year, including the fact that the first “Merry Christmas” uttered by many Nigerians was to their fellow compatriots in fuel queues at petrol stations. I am also saddened by the terror attacks on places of worship during the festive season. My heartfelt condolences go to the families and communities in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas in Benue State who began the year in grief because of the murderous activities of heartless criminals. I pray that they, and every hurting Nigerian, will experience the comforting hand of God and find the fortitude to hope for a happy and joyous year in 2018.

Tomorrow, the fifteenth of January, is Armed Forces Remembrance Day; a day set aside to remember Nigeria’s fallen heroes, those who fought in the First and Second World Wars, as well as those who laid down their lives during the Nigerian Civil War to keep Nigeria one. I salute these heroes and every member of our Armed Forces still fighting in various missions in the world and, in particular, those in the theatre of the prolonged war against Boko Haram.

I am also mindful that tomorrow will mark fifty-two years since the shots were first fired that eventually destroyed the federal foundations upon which our union was originally constructed. We remember the fathers of our nation who lost their lives in the process, the likes of Sir Ahmadu Bello and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. We celebrate the legacies of these heroes past, together with those of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and we reaffirm that their labours shall never be in vain.

I stand here today as I have done in previous years to constructively examine the state of the nation, to evaluate our progress, to appraise our governmental systems and structures against the backdrop of our national purpose and promise, and to awaken leadership to the solemn call to dispense good governance. Very importantly, I stand today to prick the conscience of a nation that has turned the other eye in deliberate sinful silence of a conspiratorial magnitude while Nigerians are being murdered in various parts of the country by marauding herdsmen. I will proffer structural solutions to these and other challenges facing our nation in the course of this address, but first I will clarify issues arising from my public statements regarding my role in the future of our nation.

Setting the Record Straight On the first day of the year, I shared twelve prophecies regarding the nature of the year 2018 as I had received from God. For instance, the tenth prophecy indicated that there will be an upsurge in the price of mineral resources as well as oil and gas in 2018. Barely had these statements been made when the price of oil topped $68 for the first time since 2015.

However, the twelfth prophecy has become the theme of myriad speculative interpretations and enquiries. While it has brought excitement to some, it has brought anxiety to others. I have since been inundated with messages from politicians and journalists as well as friends and well-wishers seeking clarification or offering advice based on their understanding of those declarations.

I did say that, while waiting on God, the Spirit of God said to me: “Politics is not over for you. There is still one thing left for you to do: Run for President…I will work it out Myself and make it happen in due course.”

I went ahead to put this in context as I appealed for prayers. I hereby further clarify the twelfth prophecy with the following ten points: 1. The declaration was not a presidential campaign announcement; it was an invitation to prayers sent out to fellow labourers initiated in our corporate destiny as nation builders; 2. To the uninitiated, that declaration was news, but to my partners in destiny, to whom indeed the request for prayers was extended, my journey and trajectory in the call to nation building is well known. It began on April 10, 1967 when, as a thirteen-year-old, I saw myself in a vision discussing the future of the nation

It is time to renegotiate our union – Tunde Bakare Being text of speech by Pastor ‘Tunde Bakare at the state of the nation broadcast on Sunday, January 14, 2018 at The Latter Rain Assembly, End-Time Church, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

• President Buhari and Pastor Tunde Bakare in a handshake

with two Nigerian leaders, General Yakubu Gowon and Chief Obafemi Awolowo. That vision changed my life; it sustained me as a teenager and propelled me into student politics at the University of Lagos as I ran for the post of Student Union President; it took me into active politics as I stood on the platform with the elders the day the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) was launched in Lagos; that vision shaped my uncompromising non-conformist value system in legal practice, business, ministry, and politics.

The subject of the twelfth prophecy is therefore not new; 3. Nowhere in that declaration did I mention running for election. It is, however, not surprising that politicians and the politically-minded have interpreted it as such. Their narrow interpretation reminds me of Joshua’s description of the sound from the Israeli camp while Moses was away on the mountain with God. Whereas the Israelites were making merry, to Joshua, a man of war, every sound from the camp was a sound of war. In like manner, every time the word “run” is used in a statement, the politician thinks of elections, while a statesman thinks of the next generation. I am, by God’s grace, a nation builder propelled by the dream of a New Nigeria and hopefully will become a statesman someday 4. I am indeed running, but not for elections; it is a race of destiny and the destination is certain.

The certainty of this destination is reminiscent of the statement Jesus made before Pilate: John 18:37 (NKJV): 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then? “Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

In like manner, to everyone asking what the twelfth prophecy actually means, my unequivocal response remains, “To this end I was born, and for this purpose I came into the world: To lead Nigeria into her prophetic destiny.” It will happen in due course, in God’s way, and in God’s time 5. Some may ask, “How then can it happen, if not by elections?” My simple response is that there are biblical precedents, including the stories of Joseph, David, Nehemiah and Daniel; there are also historical precedents, including

the case of George Washington whose unanimous election was merely an endorsement, and Gerald Ford who, under the terms of the 25th Amendment, took the oath as Vice President on December 6, 1973, and, following the resignation of President Richard Nixon, was inaugurated as the 38th President of the United States on August 9, 1974, without a single election; 6. Furthermore, as Jesus said when Nicodemus came to Him by night to make enquiries: “…The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

If God leads me to serve my nation by election into political office, I state boldly that I will accept it with all my heart. In the year 2011, when the opportunity came to be running mate to then General Muhammadu Buhari, God said to me, “You are walking on a path that I have mapped out for you.” In His wisdom, God knew that phase of His plan was not going to lead to election victory, but it was a crucial phase of His plan, and I dare say that the dress rehearsal was worth it. As God unfolds the next phase, my response to Him is simply, “Here I am. Send me.”

7. The important point to note is that it is my destiny to shepherd this nation into her prophetic destiny, and the time is at hand. The method by which God intends to do it is up to Him; I am neither flagging off an election campaign nor building political alliances. Like David, I will continue to shepherd God’s flock and, in His time and manner, I will shepherd the nation according to the integrity of my heart and the skillfulness of my hands 8. For the cynics who query the authority and audacity by which I speak of my assignment to Nigeria, let me remind them of the statement

by Papa Chief Obafemi Awolowo before the High Court on September 11, 1963, just before he was sentenced to prison for treasonable felony: “It is, therefore, with a brave heart, with confident hope, and with faith in my unalterable destiny, that I go from this twilight into the darkness, unshaken in my trust in the Providence of God that a glorious dawn will come on the morrow…I…will not die in prison…I am confident that the ideals of social justice and individual liberty which I hold dear will continue to be projected beyond the prison walls and

bars until they are realized in our lifetime.”

History later justified these bold claims. Shortly after his release from prison, he became the Federal Commissioner for Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council in the Gowon administration (today’s equivalent of Vice President and Minister of Finance rolled into one). In this capacity, Chief Awolowo helped Nigeria prosecute the Civil War without borrowing a dime, to the extent that General Yakubu Gowon, in a tribute to Chief Awolowo, acknowledged that the late sage helped save Nigeria from breaking up. My question to the cynics is therefore: How did Papa Chief Obafemi Awolowo know that he would not die in prison but would be released to serve Nigeria? If they cannot answer this question, then neither will I tell them by what authority I make these audacious declarations 9. Having established the fact that I am ready to follow God’s leading in the service of my nation, let me reiterate that what Nigeria needs now is not another election but a return to the drawing board to renegotiate our union. You will recall that, in 2015, I made a similar declaration in the message titled “The Gathering Storm and Avoidable Shipwreck: How to Avoid Catastrophic Euroclydon”. In that address, I called for restructuring when others were clamouring for elections. Three years later, the majority that was wrong has become the minority, and the minority that was right is becoming the majority, even as restructuring has become the buzzword in our nation; 10. Finally, I am reminded of David’s response to his brothers’ spiteful cynicism when he accepted Goliath’s challenge. This is recorded for our learning in I Samuel 17:28 & 29 (NKJV): 28 Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”

Fellow Nigerians, given the state of our nation, is there not a cause? Therefore, rather than waste time on cynical critics, we draw strength from the words our ears have heard: The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand…”

The State of the Nation Some measure of progress has been made within the first thirty-one months of this administration. However, as was the case with previous administrations, the current government appears to be merely patching the cracks on the wall. This administration anchored its policy outlook on three main thrusts, including security, job creation through diversification, and anti-corruption, yet all around us are signs of retrogression.

As at June 2015, the unemployment rate was 8.2% of a labour force of 74 million, meaning that about 6 million Nigerians were unemployed.

By September 2017, despite such efforts as NPower and a range of policies aimed at improving enterprise development and facilitating job creation, the unemployment rate had risen to 18.8% of a labour force of 85.1 million, indicating that between 2015 and 2017, the number of unemployed Nigerians rose from about 6 million to almost 16 million.

On diversification, despite ongoing efforts, reports indicate that oil continues to significantly dominate Nigeria’s exports revenue, leading to the shortfall in foreign currency in the first half of this administration. In essence, we have been unable to export much beyond crude, as oil still accounts for over 90% of total exports revenue.

• Read full statement on www.oraclenews.ng

17

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

•

BU$IN£SS Energy

• Finance

• Stock • Insurance

• Aviation

•

e-Platform

•

Tourism

e-Platform

Lagos, others buoy telecoms revenue in 2017 – NBS P22

• Bukola Saraki

• Kemi Adeosum

• Babatunde Fashola

Challenges of physical budget performance Sopuruchi Onwuka

T

CBN EXCHANGE RATES JAN. 15, 2018 Currency Buying(NGN) Central (NGN)

Selling(NGN)

US DOLLAR Pounds Sterling EURO SWISS FRANC YEN CFA WAUA YUAN/RENMINBI RIYAL S/AFRICAN RAND DANISH KRONA SDR

304.8 415.6558 369.7529 313.8062 2.7413 0.5393 433.0029 47.1526 81.2713 24.5496 49.6288 434.7362

305.3 416.3376 370.3594 314.321 2.7458 0.5493 433.7132 47.2304 81.4047 24.5898 49.7102 435.4494

305.8 417.0195 370.966 314.8358 2.7502 0.5593 434.4235 47.3082 81.538 24.6301 49.7916 436.1625

pressive. And the performance the ministry headed by Mr. Babatunde Fashola forms the lead pointer to theoverall budget performance of the present government.

Since 2016 when the present administration of the federal government presented its first full year budget, Nigeria’s fiscal projections have consistently failed to deliver the critical social and economic development aspirations following sharp disconnect between set objectives and targets on the one hand and actual deliveries and corresponding impact on the social economy on the other hand.

Despite the controversies that normally overwhelm the principal revenue and cost templates that underscore the budgets, government has consistently failed to meet self set implementation targets. This has continued to fuel agitations that form the uncontrollable socio-seismic dynamics that translate to security challenges and associated instability.

The budget, the product of fiscal calculations and financial projec-

tions that underpin implementation of government’s policies and programmes in delivery of social and economic benefits to the people, is traditionally declared to stakeholders early to provide critical pointers to what the entities in a sovereign socio-economic environment should expect in the year. Information contained in the budget also provides guide to investors and service providers about the set of goods and services that would command deployment of capital in the short tom medium term.

In the socio-political space, budget announces to the people, especially citizens of the country, what government intends to do with the power and authority vested in political leaders to manage the wealth and welfare of the people.

Thus, the performance of the government’s annual budgets forms a critical appraisal parameter for measuring the efficiency of financial management in the public sector. Also, budget performance

he outrage over poor implementation of infrastructure growth plans consistently captured in the federal budget by the present administration of the government amplifies the combative posture of the National Assembly in considering the 2018 budget proposals by President Muhammadu Buhari led federal executive.

The worsening state of infrastructure showcase the unpardonable malfunction of the administration’s fiscal projections and the country’s slow pace of economic recovery.

For three years running, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing which is considered to be the most important infrastructure development agency in the current administration has consistently failed in all fronts to position the domestic business environment to attract the right set of investments to accelerate the country’s economic development.

Experts, business leaders, investor groups and professional bodies

that provide policy alternatives to the government have consistently emphasized the need for the state to grow the nation’s infrastructure and facilities to base level in order to make the environment congenial enough for shallow pocket investors expected to drive the engines of small and medium scale enterprises.

The centroid of communiqués issued after scores of conferences and workshops hosted by professional groups, business associations and chamber movements has remained the urgent need to grow the nation’s infrastructure, boost electric power supply and boost business vibrancy in the country.

These demands and the imperatives of meeting them inform the allocation of the lion share of annual federal budget provisions to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. But the capacity and actual performance of the ministry to deliver on the critical mandates of addressing infrastructure and facility deficits in the economic environment has been less than im-

Aviation Global passenger traffic up by 8% – IATA P27

Insurance lPTAD releases timetable for verification of pensioners P28

P20

Stock Market Highlights As At 15 January, 2018 Summary

ASI DEALS VOLUME VALUE EQUITY CAP

43,119.00 7,964.00 730,618,168.00 N6,301,097,727.65 N15,447,325,438,567.57

Most Traded S/N Coy (By Volume) Volume 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

TRANSCORP DIAMONDBNK FCMB FIDELITYBK ACCESS

Value(N)

193,900,395 N400,079,246.83 85,661,662 N221,862,530.87 57,574,452 N157,895,690.24 55,853,640 N179,742,163.99 35,309,593 N414,246,403.37

5 Top Gainers Company INTBREW DANGCEM GUARANTY PZ ZENITHBANK

Last Close N60 N252 N49 N22.99 N31.26

Top Losers Company WAPCO FO NB FLOURMILL DANGSUGAR

Last Close N56.9 N52.62 N151.05 N31.35 N21.27

Current N63 N255 N50.1 N23.99 N32

Change 3 3 1.1 1 0.74

Current Change N54.06 -2.84 N50.15 -2.47 N149.08 -1.97 N30 -1.35 N20.3 -0.97

18

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

BUSINESS News ECA harps on quality urbanization in Africa I

t is critical for African countries to strategically integrate and link urbanization to their national development priorities, plans and visions if urbanization is to contribute to structural transformation and economic development, according to Ms. Edlam Yemeru, Chief of the Economic Commission for Africa’s Urbanization Section.

Yemeru further said urbanization needs to be seen as a core driver of productivity and economic growth, and located at the core of national visioning and planning.

“The strategic integration of urbanization into national development planning, linked as a vehicle for the achievement of growth and transformation targets, including through accelerated industrialization, is crucial for realizing the visions of the New Urban Agenda in Africa,” she said.

Africa, said Yemeru, is grappling with the challenge of achieving inclusive economic growth raising the need for quality urbanization that can be harnessed to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth.

“Only when it well planned and managed can urbanization contribute to greater economic dynamism, job creation, and poverty reduction,” she told participants brought together by the ECA, UN Habitat and the African Union Commission to discuss and validate the Harmonized Regional Framework in support of the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Africa.

Yemeru said the overarching priority for Africa today, as encapsulated in Agenda 2063, is structural transformation through economic diversification and value addition, underpinned by commodity-based industrialization.

“It is therefore important that the proposed implementation framework we are reviewing at this meeting will realistically enable African countries to focus on specific policy and implementation priorities over the next five, ten, fifteen and twenty years, linked to national development priorities and targets,” added Yemeru.

UN-Habitat’s Regional Office for Africa Director, Naison D. MutizwaMangiza, said African countries cannot achieve a structural transformation of their economies without significant improvements in how cities and towns are planned and managed and without fully recognizing the contribution of urbanization to sustainable national development.

“If translated into effective policies implemented in an integrated way, building a robust urban governance structure, as well as deploying supportive rules and regulations, sound urban planning and design assisted by viable financial strategies, the New Urban Agenda can ensure that cities function as transformational drivers of sustainable development,” he said.

He said the New Urban Agenda, which is grounded on bold transformative commitments articulated across the three pillars of sustainability, provides a framework for the achievement of sustainable urbanization and for maximizing its contribution to sustainable development.

Habofanoe Lehana, Lesotho’s Minister of Local Government, said Africa, more than any other region needs to look at the New Urban Agenda more closely as it is urbanizing faster than any other region and therefore bearing the biggest challenge associated with unplanned and unmanaged urbanization.

IGR: Lagos rakes in N503.7b

By VICTOR NZE

L

agos Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has disclosed that the state generated a total of N503.7billion revenue in 2017 despite the harsh economic climate in the country.

Ambode who made this known during the state’s first quarter 2018 Town Hall Meeting in Ikeja, said that he would vigorously pursue all infrastructure projects and remain focused to the task of building a virile Lagos.

“Despite the harsh economy, our state budget performed at 82 per cent. Total revenue generated was

N503.7bn representing a performance of 78 per cent; total recurrent expenditure was N281.33bn representing a performance of 92 per cent, while total capital expenditure was N387.60bn or 76 per cent performance,” the governor said.

Ambode said that the state was entering into the New Year with confidence of being on a solid prosperity footing, with interesting prospects for all Lagosians.

He said it was gratifying that the support of the people enabled government to achieve a lot and commence the transformation of the landscape of the state.

Ambode who listed some of the

key projects delivered last year to include the new Tafawa Balewa Square Bus Terminal, new Ojota Pedestrian Bridge, Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge and adjoining inner roads, cited others as Ojodu Berger Slip Road and Pedestrian Bridge; Jubilee Bridges in Ajah and Abule Egba; Freedom and Admiralty Road in Lekki; new Lands Registry; newly upgraded Jubilee Chalet in Epe, among others.

Giving a report of activities of his administration in the last quarter, Ambode said the state government commissioned the first stateowned DNA Forensic Centre.

He said that in the coming weeks, he would sign a contract to up-

grade the facility to offer toxicology services.

“In fulfilment of our promise to our students in tertiary institutions across the state, this administration disbursed a total sum of N635.5million to 8,419 students across the state. Our government acquired healthcare equipment worth N2.5 billion.

“The equipment will strengthen the capacity of our health facilities to render improved health services and also facilitate smooth take-off of the Lagos State Health Scheme, which is designed to enable residents enjoy unfettered access to qualitative healthcare,’’ he said.

• From left: CEO, UBA Francophone Africa, UBA Plc, Mr. Emeke Iweriebor; Group Head, Online Banking, UBA Plc, Mr. Austin Abolusoro; GMD/CEO, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; and Executive Director and Group Chief Operations Officer, UBA Plc, Mr. Chukwuma Nweke, during the launch and introduction of Leo, a Chat Banking Personality on Social Media Platforms by UBA in Lagos.

Nigeria to grow by 2.5% in 2018 - World Bank

he World Bank forecasts that Twould economic growth in Nigeria edge up to at least 2.5 per

cent in 2018, as the country benefits from improved commodity prices, investments and trade.

According to the World Bank’s January 2018 Global Economic Prospect report launched on Tuesday in Washington DC, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 2.8 per cent in 2019 and 2020.

The World Bank forecast that global economic growth will go up to 3.1 per cent in the year 2018.

According to the bank, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to continue to rise to 3.2 per cent in 2018 and to 3.5 per cent in 2019, on the back of firming commodity prices and gradually strengthening domestic demand.

However, the report showed that growth would remain below pre-crisis averages, partly reflecting a struggle in larger economies to boost private investment.

“South Africa is forecast to tick up to 1.1 per cent growth in 2018 from 0.8 per cent in 2017. The recovery is expected to solidify, as

improving business sentiment supports a modest rise in investment.

“However, policy uncertainty was likely to remain and could slow needed structural reforms.

“Nigeria is anticipated to accelerate to a 2.5 per cent rate this year from one per cent growth in the year just ended. An upward revision to Nigeria’s forecast is based on expectation that oil production will continue to recover and that reforms will lift non-oil sector growth.

“Growth in Angola is expected to increase to 1.6 per cent in 2018, as a successful political transition improves the possibility of reforms

Fidelity Bank rewards 13 customers with N16m

T

hirteen customers of Fidelity Bank Plc, Thursday, won the sum of N16 million in the third monthly draw of “Get Alert in Million Reloaded’’ promo in different regions of the country.

Speaking at the promo draw in Lagos, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo , the bank’s Managing Director, said that the bank had given out a total of N50 million and 54 consolidation prizes in the reloaded promo.

Okonkwo, represented by Mrs Chijioke Ugochukwu, the Executive Director, Shared Services & Products, said that the bank had an outstanding balance of N60 million to give to lucky customers

under the initiative.

She said that the N60 million included N10 million grand prize to be won to round off the promo.

Okonkwo said that the initiative, seventh in the series of promos organised by the bank, was introduced to reward customers for their unflinching loyalty and patronage over the years.

He said that the promo was instituted to boost savings culture among Nigerians in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) financial inclusion policy.

Okonkwo said that the bank had used the initiative to improve the standard of living of many of its customers.

The winners emerged from a transparent randomisation process which was vented by the bank’s control team and witnessed by officials from Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and other regulators and stakeholders.

Two customers from Lagos, Mr Chigozie Christopher from Alaba 2 Branch, and Chidinma Favour won one million naira each.

Other lucky cash prize winners for the monthly draw include Odion Kenneth and Anthony Nwachukwu (Abuja), Johnson Peter and Stella Molokwu (South-East) who also won one million naira each, among others.

that ameliorate the business environment,” it stated.

According to the report, Côte d’Ivoire is forecast to expand by 7.2 per cent in 2018, Senegal by 6.9 per cent; Ethiopia by 8.2 per cent, Tanzania by 6.8 per cent, and Kenya by 5.5 per cent as inflation eases.

The World Bank said that the regional outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa was subject to external and domestic risks. It showed that any unexpected activity in the United States and Euro Zone could have a negative impact on the region.

Also, an abrupt slowdown in China could generate adverse spillovers to the region through lowerthan-expected commodity prices.

“On the domestic front, excessive external borrowing without forward-looking budget management could worsen debt dynamics and hurt growth in many countries.

“A steeper-than-anticipated tightening of global financing conditions could also lead to a reversal in capital flows to the region.

Protracted political and policy uncertainty could further hurt confidence and deter investment in some countries.

“Rising government debt levels highlight the importance of fiscal adjustment to contain fiscal deficits and maintain financial stability. Structural policies including education, health, labour market, governance, and business climate reforms could help bolster potential growth,’’ it stated.

19

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

BUSINESS

CAPEX: Rivers Govt to spend N379b in 2018 R ivers Governor Nyesom Wike, has presented the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N510 billion to the state House of Assembly, even as he disclosed that the 2017 Budget recorded 74 per cent performance.

The bill tagged; “Budget of Consolidation and Empowerment,” was presented during plenary, in Port Harcourt, Thursday.

The governor said the proposed revenue would be spent on recurrent expenditure which would take N132 billion while capital expenditure (CAPEX) would gulp N379.99billion.

The governor who explained

that the bill when signed into law would improve key sectors of the state’s economy, noted that said in preparing the fiscal proposal, his administration was guided by the need to consolidate and advance the state investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare, security as well as job creation and empowerment.

“I have always believed in the boundless potentials of our state and with our human and material resources, a brighter future is possible for everyone. I am sure all of you also share in this optimistic idea,” he said.

He explained that the 2018 budg-

et would be funded from federal allocation (N40billion), 13 per cent oil minerals fund (N120 billion) and VAT (N6 billion). Other sources, he said, are the internally generated revenue (N132billion), reimbursement (N70billion), domestic/international credits (N70 billion) and capital receipts (N20billon.)

Meanwhile, Wike has further disclosed that the state’s 2017 Budget recorded 74 per cent performance, which he added, represented a significant improvement on that of 2016.

While presenting the 2018 Appropriation Bill to the legislature, Wike who revealed that the state wit-

nessed a 31 per cent shortfall in its targeted revenue for 2017, said that aggregate revenue receipts as at December 31, 2017 stood at N278.2 billion, representing only 69 per cent of total projected revenue.

“This left us with a shortfall of over N192 billion in spite of the sharp drop in revenue receipts. We resisted the temptations of funding the budget through borrowing.

This is because it will make no economic sense to spend more than what we earned and plunge the

state into unnecessary debts,’’ he said.

He said the government spent N64 billion on payment of salaries; N12.5 billion on overhead and N10 billion on pensions.

According to him, N155 billion, representing 63 per cent of actual receipts, has been spent on capital projects.

Wike said his administration had been able to efficiently utilise available resources to successfully deliver on verifiable projects.

Diamond Bank bags ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 certification

• Diamond Bank appointed WEF Adviser

By VICTOR NZE

tute (BSI) Group.

The certification, which was awarded after a rigorous process and systems audit by qualified BSI auditors, is a seal of approval that the Bank’s network architecture, software design, security policies, procedures and protective practices conforms to global security standards in data and financial service delivery system.

The ISO 20000:2011 certification for Service Management System (SMS) is the World’s highest standards of information technology service delivery, demonstrating Diamond Bank’s commitment to a world-class, customer-focused service culture and environment.

Commenting on the award, Uzoma Dozie, the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, stated that Diamond Bank’s commitment towards quality IT service delivery is unwavering, adding that the Bank will continue to pursue and meet world class standard in the provision of IT infrastructure that will enable it deliver unequaled and satisfactory financial services to its millions of customers.

Reiterating Uzoma, the Bank’s Chief Information Officer, Lanre Bamisebi, noted that the certification and award has positioned and strengthened Diamond Bank in its quest to continually deploy cuttingedge technological platforms and processes that will enhance its delivery of world class financial services, boost customer satisfaction, meet regulatory requirements and increase staff productivity.

According to him, the Bank has also successfully passed her surveillance audit in ISO 27001 for Information security, ISO 22301 for busi-

ness continuity and PCIDSS for card security.

In another development, Diamond Bank has been appointed as a Forum Member Adviser to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The Forum aims to shape global, regional and industry agendas to deliver WEF’s mission of improving the state of the world.

With this appointment, Diamond becomes the first Nigerian company and only the second African company to be named a World Economic Forum Adviser. Membership is on an invitation only basis and is extended only to the most dynamic businesses thatare using tech-driven disruption to drive growth.

CEO of Diamond, Uzoma Dozie, will also attend the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos to discuss a number of key themes including: promoting financial inclusion, particularly amongst women; Nigeria’s emerging technology-enabled entrepreneurial culture and Lagos as a hub for innovation; and the role of digital, technology and data in transforming banking.

Dozie is scheduled to speak on a panel at an interactive workshop session entitled A Shared Vision for Financial Inclusion at 1530 on Wednesday 24 January at the Congress Centre, Jakobshorn.

Commenting on the appointment and his attendance at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, Diamond Bank’s CEO Uzoma Dozie said: “I am delighted that Diamond Bank was invited to join as a Forum Member Adviser of the World Economic Forum, as it is testament to our status as one of Nigeria’s leading innovators. I am also thrilled to be attending this year’s Annual Meeting in Davos, where I will be presenting my views on the three key areas of financial inclusion, Nigeria’s positive outlook and the future of banking.

he Kwara State Internal Revenue Service has announced the commencement of automation of its services ‎in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Executive Chairman of the service, Dr Muritala Awodun, who made the announcement Ilorin when he paid a courtesy visit to the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Alhaji Mahmud Ajeigbe, said the automation would ensure seamless collection of revenue through services rendered in government agencies and establishments.

He explained that the process, by implication, would block leakages and encourage direct payment into the coffers of the state government.

The chairman said that the service used last year to develop platforms that would enhance the process of collecting revenue through automation and called for more synergy for its success.

He said that the state could not run away from modernising the method of tax collection if it intended to move forward in the wake of the dwindling resources confronting all tiers of government.

Awodun who revealed that the state ‎ government had been investing its revenue on provision of infrastructure, said that the automation of revenue collection in MDAs was due to the directive of the state executive council that the implementation must begin this month.

iamond Bank has been awarded D the ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 certification by the British Standard Insti-

• Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola on an inspection visit to the National Meter Test Station of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), in Oshodi, Lagos

Restructuring: NSE names new Executive Director

By SAMSON AKINTARO igerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has announced the N promotion of Ms Tinuade Awe

to the position of Executive Director, Regulation with effect from 1 January, 2018.

According to NSE, the development is part of its ongoing organizational restructuring.

As Executive Director, Regulation in the NSE’s revised structure, Awe has oversight functions for the Broker Dealer Regulation, Listings Regulation, Market Surveillance & Investigations, and Regulatory Technology. The Rules and Interpretation and Disciplinary Units of The Exchange will also report directly to her.

Prior to her promotion, Awe was the General Manager, heading the Legal and Regulation Division of The Exchange, in which role she also served as General Counsel of The Exchange. She served as Secretary to the Council of The Exchange from January 2011 to October 2015. She became affiliated with The Exchange in a consulting capacity

in August 2010 and joined the employment of The Exchange in August 2012. She has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Exchange since August 2012.

“I am very proud that the National Council has recognized Tinuade for the exemplary role she has played in transforming the Legal and Regulatory landscape of the Exchange and would like to warmly congratulate her on her elevation as Executive Director, Regulation. Tinuade’s passion, energy and commitment to driving and executing on the Exchange’s transformation agenda has no doubt been instrumental in revolutionizing the Exchange and I am confident that she will continue to exert her influence and leadership attributes in her new role for the betterment of the market and its stakeholders,” remarked Mr. Abimbola Ogunbanjo, President, National Council of the NSE while commenting on the development.

Also speaking, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, NSE CEO said: “As we restructure and reposi-

tion the Exchange for the fourth industrial revolution, Ms. Awe’s well deserved promotion is indicative of the great career advancement opportunities that exist at the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

I congratulate her and look forward to working with her in this new function to build a globally competitive Self-Regulatory Organization.”

Reacting to her promotion, Awe said: “I am both deeply appreciative and humbled by this recognition for my modest contributions to The Exchange.

I look forward to continuing to provide quality service to The Exchange and its ecosystem by engendering an improved compliance culture based on substantial engagement as well as deployment of appropriate enforcement mechanisms; fully embracing and further deploying technology to serve our regulatory purposes; furthering our regulatory remit through key relationships with other regulators; and providing proactive and in-depth surveillance of our market.”

Kwara begins automation of IGR collection in MDAs T

20

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

ENERGY Cont’d from page 17 indices provide key tools in tracking financial releases and matching them with set goals and timelines.

In a resource dependent economy like Nigeria, tracking of resource wealth follows movement on revenue from federal to lower tiers of government; and balancing of wealth distribution is realized in delivery of physical infrastructure, social services, amenities and facilities. Thus, trailing the performance of the budget is a time tested strategy of holding political leaders accountable to the people.

According to Dr. Sina Malomo of the Ministry of Solid Mineral Development, natural resources as well as all revenue resources available to government belong to the past generation, the present generation and future generation of the country’s citizens. He made it clear that application of finite resources in national development programmes must be convincingly transparent and reflective of best practices.

In a country like Nigeria which has a complex social, religious and ethnic configuration, budget also forms the scale of equity with which distribution of resources and spread of wealth are measured in line the national ethos of even development.

It is therefore in the foreground of critical role of budget implementation in shaping the business environment, delivering social goods and services to the people, and balancing sectional interests in the country that the quality of governments annual fiscal projections forms the subject of prevailing debates over what the present administration of the federal government has done with funds mapped out for development of the country in the past three years.

Doubts over efficient deployment of resources in line with approved budget proposals found expression in the strident arguments at the National Assembly during the presentation of the 2018 budget proposals by President Muhammadu Buhari. Ministers and legislators are vehemently polarized over the quality of actual financial de-

Challenges of physical budget performance

ployment in key national projects like rehabilitation of airports and federal roads across the country as well as development of new infrastructure like the Second Niger Bridge, Bonny-Bodo road and interstate rail lines.

Right from the 2016 budget in which government mapped out N1.58 trillion for capital projects, application of fully cash backed releases is mired in controversy

following failure of the funds to translate to palpable physical infrastructure.

Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, who announced N1.2 trillion full financial release to support capital projects captured in the budget stated that the capital releases excluded the capital element in releases to statutory agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission and the judiciary.

Details of the capital releases showed that power, works and housing received the largest allocation of N307.41bn. But the key projects for which the funds were released including the second Niger Bridge and maintenance of federal roads in parts of the country did not take off the ground.

The minister’s statement might have formed the basis for dispute between the executive and legislature over repetition of some of the key projects in the 2017 budget.

Another question borders on what happened to the released funds if they were not utilized for the budget objectives.

Spokesman for the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, had in altercation with Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, berated the minister for sitting on the second Niger bridge project, explaining that the executive budg-

eted N12 billion for the 2nd Niger bridge in 2016 but that the money was not spent on the project.

In responding to allegation of tinkering with contents of the 2017 budget presented to the National Assembly, Hon Abdulrazak Namdas declared: “To the specific issues raised, it is very misleading and calculated mischief to simply say that N5 billion was taken from the budget for 2nd Niger bridge. The truth is that in the 2016 budget, N12 billion was appropriated for the 2nd Niger bridge and not a kobo was spent by the ministry. Not a kobo. The money was returned. The ministry could not provide the committees of the National Assembly with evidence of an agreement on the public private partnership (PPP) or a contract for the 2nd Niger bridge.

“The national assembly, in its wisdom decided to fund other pro-

Cont’d on page 17

Nigeria pumps 1.9 mbd in December, breaks OPEC quota Sopuruchi Onwuka

N

igeria’s average crude oil production for the month of December rose by 60,000 barrels per day (kbd) to 1.9 million barrels per day (mbd), breaking the production cap slammed on the country by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

According to a table of crude oil production Platts, Nigeria’s crude oil production rose from 1.84 mbd in November to 1.9 mbd in December.

The country produced at 1.78 mbd in October, making the cumulative last quarter production gain to be around 120 kbd.

The rise in December consolidates a recovery trend that prompted OPEC to require Nigeria to tighten production.

Nigeria was among the seven members of OPEC to increase production in the month, pushing the group’s output by 50 kbd from 32.35 mbd in November to 32.40 mbd in December.

Algeria increased production by 30 kbd from 1.01 mbd in November to 1.04 mbd in Decembr; Angola’s

Member Algeria Angola Ecuador E/ Guinea Gabon Iran Iraq Kuwait Libya Nigeria Qatar Saudi Arabia UAE Venezuela Total

Dec. 1.04 1.64 0.52 0.13 0.19 3.82 4.41 2.70 0.98 1.90 0.60 9.90 2.87 1.70 32.40

Change 0.03 0.03 -0.01 -0.01 0.00 0.02 0.06 0.00 0.03 0.06 0.00 -0.07 0.01 -0.10 0.05

production also rose by 30 kbd from 1.61 mbd in November to 1.64 mbd in December; Iran grew production by 20 kbd from 3.80 mbd in November

Nov. 1.01 1.61 0.53 0.14 0.19 3.80 4.35 2.70 0.95 1.84 0.60 9.97 2.86 1.80 32.35

Oct. 1.00 1.71 0.53 0.14 0.20 3.81 4.38 2.70 0.98 1.78 0.60 10.02 2.89 1.83 32.57

to 3.82 mbd in December; and Iraq added 60 kbd from 4.35 mbd in November to 4.41 mbd in December.

Other countries that increased

crude oil production include Libya which hiked output by 30 kbd from 0.95 mbd in November to 0.98 mbd in December; and United Arab Emirates (UAE) which topped 10 kbd from 2.86 mbd in November to 2.97 mbd in December.

Four OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia collectively reduced crude production by 100 kbd. Saudi Arabia’s output dipped by 70 kbd from 9.97 mbd in November to 9.90 mbd in December, while Venezuela, Ecuador and Equatorial Guinea lost 10 kbd respectively.

Gabon, Kuwait and Qatar each maintained output at November levels.

Key global oil producers led by OPEC and Russia agreed on a production cut which began January 1, 2017. The pact called on OPEC and 10 non-OPEC partners led by Russia to cut about 1.8 mbd from October 2016 levels in a bid to stabilize the oil market and boost prices.

Nigeria and Libya which were grappling with domestic security challenges were exempt from the production cut in order to enable them earn more money to fund battle with insurgents.

OPEC and 10 non-OPEC producers also met on November 30 and decided to extend the existing production cuts by a further nine months to keep nearly 1.8 mbd of crude oil off the market till the end of 2018 and keep prices afloat.

This time, OPEC called on Libya and Nigeria, which were exempt from the cuts, not to exceed a combined output of 2.8 million b/d from January next year.

Compliance among the 12 members with quotas under OPEC’s production cut agreement remained robust at 135% in December and 115% for the entirety of 2017, according to Platts.

All 14 members will be subject to quotas starting this month, including formerly exempt members Libya and Nigeria, who were assigned a combined 2.8 million cap at OPEC’s November 30 meeting.

The two countries exceeded the cap in December with Libyan production rising to 980 kbd and Nigerian output rising to 1.90 mbd. The two nations produced a combined 2.88 mbd, 80 kbd higher than the OPEC ceiling.

• Full story:www.oraclenews.ng

21

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

ENERGY

... Of physical budget performance Cont’d from page 20 jects from the south-east leaving N7 billion for the 2nd Niger bridge that may yet be unspent. The projects include – N2.5 billion extra for Enugu/Onitsha eoad, N1 billion more for 9th Mile/Nsukka/Makurdi road; additional N500m for Oturkpa- Makurdi to take care of evacuation of agricultural produce up to Maiduguri ; N1 billion more for Ikot Ekpene-Aba-Owerri road etc.

These are strategic roads in the south-east and north central parts of Nigeria that had inadequate allocations.”

Despite the refusal of Mr. Fashola’s ministry to activate any level of work on the second Niger Bridge in 2016, the same project saw no site activity in 2017 despite the appropriation of N12 billion in the budget. Instead, Vice President Yomi Osinbajo had during a political campaign tour in Anambra stated that $2.0 billion or N720 billion was released for the project from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). He later de-escalated the amount to N2.0 billion.

Questions arise over the use of mere N2.0 billion was drawn from SWF to finance the Second Niger Bridge after the project got N12 billion budget for 2017. Besides, there is the issue of whether any money for the project has been released at all since 2015 when the present administration came to power.

Another project that maintains a regular feature in the annual budget is the Bonny-Bodo road project which is planned to provide a virgin link between the Bonny kingdom and the rest of the country. Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited which operates in the Island has donated princely N60 billion to support the N120 billion project but no financial release has been made by the Ministry of Works towards meeting the other half of the project financing.

Checks on the project rollover in the annual national budgets since 2016 include the N446.3 million first phase rehabilitation of UmuahiaIkot Ekpene road in Abia and Akwa Ibom States captured in reference number FMOWP66273524 and Contract NO.6083.

Also recycled in the budgets since 2016 is the N401.6 million rehabilitation of Calabar-Itu-Ikot Ekpene-Aba-Owerri road, Ikot Ekpene border - Ikot Umuessien-Aba in Akwa Ibiom State, captured in Contract No.6036 with reference No. FMOWP19587929.

There is also the N714 million rehabilitation of Owerri - Umuahia road with roundabout at Nkwogwu with a second section with spur at Enyiogugu to Aboh in Imo/Abia States. The projectrs with reference number FMOWP00113406 are captured in Contract No 6126.

Another questionable inclusion is in reference number FMOWP73424328 rehabilitation of Apapa-Oshodi rexpressway in Lagos Phase II Sections I & 2 with a contract value of N 7.834 billion.

Only N9.0 billion was also provided in the 2017 budget for the N120 billion Bodo-Bonny road with a bridge across the Opobo Chan-

nel in Rivers State with reference number FMOWP04386547and contract number 6247. Also the N31.3 billion rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of LagosShagamu-Ibadan dual carriageway sections I & II in Lagos and Oyo States with reference number FMOWP95277802 recycled.

Project reference number FMOWP76545560 involving bridge at KM 26+300 along Ontisha-Owerri dual carriageway close to Madonna University entrance, Okija and construction of new bridge as replacement for fire-damaged bridge valued at N446,264,708 as well as the N50 million rehabilita-

tion of street lights on NsukkaEnugu road, 9th mile Enugu, Enugu state with reference number FMOWP22958701 form the regular features in the federal annual budgets.

Reconstruction of outstanding sections of Benin-Ofosu-Ore-Ajebandele-Shagamu Expressway in Ondo and Ogun States reference number FMOWP13062059 valued at N5,5 billion; rehabilitation of Ozalla-Akpugo-Amagunze-Ihuokpara-Hkomoro-Isu-Onicha, Enugu-Onicha road with a spur to Onuweke at N625 million under contract number 6078 and reference number FMOWP97924904; and N450 million replacement

of bailey/sub-standard bridges in South East Zone with reference number FMOWP59691552 form regular features in the budget.

Again, project number FMOWP41156091 involving rehabilitation Of Onitsha-Enugu dual carriageway in Anambra and Enugu States at N5,0 billion; project FMOWP41372976 involving rehabilitation of burnt marine bridge and maintenance of Eko (Apkpongbon) and Iddo Bridges in Lagos under 650,million C/NO.6223; as well as FMOWP34231517 for rehabilitation of Calabar-Ugep-Katsina Ala road In Cross River State with contract value of N3.0 billion permanently sit in the annual budgets.

Other regular provision in infrastructure budgets include N200 million FMOWP74921282 for road construction In Ikpokpan Street off Sapele Road Benin City; road construction in Omoragbon Street off Elele Road,GRA Benin City, and Utomwen Street off Elele Road GRA, Benin City in Edo State; N1.2 billion FMOWP52393188 for access road to Apapa/Tincan Port, Atlas Cove NNPC Depot to Mile 2 vide Contract No..6005; and FMOWP39251432 for construction of road in Ikwuano Lga , solar power street light in Umuahia North LGA, construction of ICT Centre in Osioma LGA and solar power borehole in Isialangwa South LGA at N200 million.

Other infrastructure projects yet to get funding fillip include reference numbers MOWP58742794 for construction of Yenegwe-OkakiKolo-Nembe-Brass Road in Bayelsa State vide C/NO.5990 with value if N750 million; FMOWP80891659 for replacement of bailey/sub-standard bridges in South South Zone at N450 million; FMOWP10325298 for construction of Apakun-Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road in Lagos State at N2.2 billion; and FMOWP29283135 for emergency repairs of access road to Apapa/ Tincan Island Port-NNPC Atlas Cove depot with C/NO.6246 valued at N700 million.

There are also the N50 million Isukwuato/Uturu road construction with reference number FMOWP40922457; The N50 million Atani/Ugwuavo Arochukwu Road in Abia North Senatorial District with number FMOWP90567761; N450 million project for replacement of bailey/sub-standard bridges in South West Zone numbered FMOWP72030370; and project number FMOWP71265894 for rehabilitation of 9th Mile - Enugu Port Harcourt dual carriageway in Enugu/Benue States vide contract numbers 5983 & 6018 respectively both valued at N600 million.

There are also N150 million projects captured in FMOWP87530525 for construction of hostel blocks at Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education Owerri and Federal Polytecnic Owerri; FMOWP54734399 for Rehabilitation on Benin-Agbor Road, Umunede valued at N73 million; FMOWP50756256 for dualization of Onitsha -Owerri Road in Anambra and Imo States for N1 billion; and FMOWP05495225 for rehabilitation of bakaliki-Afikpo Road sections I & II in Ebonyi State at N1.2 billion.

Also in the list of questionable projects are FMOWP99250256 for completion of Mbok -Ikom road in Cross River State at N2.8 billion; FMOWP22475153 for completion of Enugu - Abakaliki road in Enugu/ Ebonyi States valued at N276.5 million; FMOWP14324089 for rehabilitation of Ikot Ekpene-Aba-Owerri road in Akwa Ibom and Abia States vide Contract Nos.6021 & 6155 col-

lectivley valued at N1.2 billion; and FMOWP00443158 simply labelled ffor construction and rehabilitation of roads and drainages N30 million.

In the list are also projects captured referenced in FMOWP48616670 for rehabilitation of Aba - Azumini-Opobo Road (Aba -Azumuni Section) in Abia State valued at N1.0 billion; FMOWP77799972 for rehabilitation of Akure -Ondo -Ore road vide C/NO.6115 valued at N300 million; FMOWP52427987 involving N300 million for payment of outstanding quantum of compensation for crops, economic trees, buildings and structures in Umunya (Anambra), Yenagoa (Bayelsa), Abakaliki(Ebonyi), Iriebe (Rivers), Calabar (Cross River), MbierebeObio, Uyo (Akwa Ibom), Juji Kakau, Chukun, (Kaduna), Egba, Benin City, (Edo).

Federal Ministry of Works also consistently tabled projects referenced FMOWP82007870 N150 million Oseakwe Bridge in Anambra vide contract number 6043; Dualization Of Yenegwe Road JunctionKolo-Oyuoke-Bayelsa Palm in Bayelsa State vide C/NO.6248 valued at N1.35 billion; FMOWP65881672 for repair of fire-damaged bridge deck (60m) Ijora-7up Bridge in Lagos valued at N 223 million; and FMOWP58066915 for construction of Nsukka-Obollo-Afor-EhamafuNkalagwu road vide C/NO.5962 valued at N700 billion.

Others repeatedly tabled in the budget of the Works Ministry across three years consecutively are FMOWP12506562 for rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway Sections I-IV in Enugu, Abia And Rivers States valued at N9.0 billion; FMOWP40459276 for Construction Of 2nd Niger Bridge including access roads Phases 2a & 2b in Anambra And Delta States at N12 billion; FMOWP64218487 for consultancy services for the design and supervision of roads and bridges valued at N3.75 billion; as well as FMOWP53553886 for rehabilitation of Oba-Nnewi Road Sections I & II in Anambra and Imo States vide contract numbers 5986 & 5986A with financial value of N1.036 billion.

Our fact checks on allegations of repetitions in the infrastructure development, rehabilitation and upgrade projects in the budget showed positive indications with similar project labels captured under different reference numbers, different contract numbers and different contract values.

There is also visible failure to segment the infrastructure projects in the budget along the three sectors supervised by the ministry. The features of repetition, poor arrangement and shuffling of unrelated project in one document lay basis for poor implementation.

Thus with trillions of Naira repeatedly declared as yearly working capital for government, citizens still make back breaking journeys through bumpy roads and rough sea waves, pay heavy bills at private and overseas hospitals, patronize costly private schools and cope with stressful conditions at the nation’s airports, while project failures form the subject of heated arguments between cabinet ministers and legislators.

Meanwhile projects fail, government has continued to declare annual budget deficits, embark on borrowing spree and present incremental financial demands with each new budget. It is in this context that the current tough stand of the National Assembly on accountable budget implementation finds logical support.

22

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

e-Platform Lagos, others buoy telecoms revenue in 2017 – NBS Stories by SAMSON AKINTARO

B

y recording the highest subscriptions in voice and internet, Lagos State and two other Southwestern states, Ogun and Oyo were the major drivers of telecoms revenue in the third quarter of 2017. This is according to the latest statistics from the National Bureau of statistics (NBS), which reveals that the top three states recorded together 26.10 per cent of the total voice subscriptions in the country.

The NBS data also reveals that Lagos led in telecommunication usage with 20,393,052 active voice subscriptions and 20,126,338 GSM users by the end of the third quarter, equaling to 14.58 per cent of the total nationwide subscriptions.

“Following the three southern states, FCT, Kano and Kaduna established another cluster of heavy voice subscription, each of which reported over 6 million active voice subscriptions in the reviewing quarter. Most states in Nigeria recorded negative growths in active voice subscriptions in the third quarter of 2017 on both year to year and quarter to quarter basis. FCT, Edo, Adamawa, Ondo, Lagos and Oyo are the only states which recorded positive year on year growths in active voice subscriptions in 2017 Q3, by 5.48, 3.10, 2.42, 1.63 and 0.98 percent respectively” NBS said.

In terms of data subscription, Lagos state also recorded the highest active GSM internet subscriptions within the country, which stood at 14,192,283, representing 15.2 per cent of all active internet subscriptions. Lagos was followed by Ogun State at 5,893,286 (6.3 percent), Oyo State at 5,177,046 (5.6 per cent), F C T at 4, 913,800 (5.3 percent), and Kano at 4, 035,407 (4.3 percent).

“Together the top ten states for active internet subscriptions (Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, FCT, Kano, Kaduna, Rivers, Edo, Delta, and Niger states) account for 54.9 per cent of all internet subscriptions in Q 3 2017. Amongst this group, the FCT, Edo, and Lagos States contributed the highest growth in internet subscriptions at 16.4, 7.7, and 10.4 percent growth respectively over the previous quarter (Q2 2017); and 12.7, 13.0, and 9.5 percent growth respectively over the same period in 2016” the NBS noted in the report.

Niger state is said to have recorded the highest loss in active internet subscriptions, declining 22.4 percent when compared with the previous quarter, and declining 18.7 percent when compared to the same period in 2016. “The South West region has the highest percentage of active mobile internet subscriptions at 33.3 percent with 31,013,481 subscriptions, this is followed by North Central at 19.2 percent with 17,891,050 subscriptions, and South South at 15.1 percent with 14,046,821 subscriptions”.

“Subscriptions in the South West also grew by 7.6 percent when compared with the same period in

Q3 2016, and along with the North East region, were the only two regions who recorded a growth in subscription when compared to the same period last year. The South West region has the highest percentage of active mobile internet subscriptions at 33.3 percent with 31,013,481 subscriptions, this is followed by North Central at 19.2 percent with 17,891,050 subscriptions, and South South at 15.1 percent with 14,046,821 subscriptions.

South West and South South region recorded some growth when compared with the previous quarter, 7.8 percent and 5.1 percent growth, although active internet subscription in South South declined marginally by 0.1 percent when compared with the same period in 2016”.

By network subscription, G lo represents 34 percent of all active GSM internet subscriptions, while MTN represents 32 percent, Airtel 21percent, and EM TS (9Mobile) represents 13 percent respectively in the South West region. Similarly, in the North Central region, Glo represents 38 percent of all active GSM internet subscriptions, MTN 30 percent, Airtel 17 percent, and EM TS (9Mobile) represents 15 percent respectively. “Together, these two regions, South West and North Central, account for 52.4 per cent of all active GSM internet subscriptions” the NBS said.

The distribution of licensed providers also varies across regions.

For the top two licensed GSM internet providers MTN and Glo, the South West region contributes 31

percent and 39 percent of their active GSM internet subscriptions, while the North West region is the second largest market for MTN at 18 percent of all active GSM internet subscriptions and the North Central region is the second largest market for Glo, contributing 26 percent of all its active GSM internet subscriptions.

Meanwhile, in the general sectoral overview, total active Voice Subscriptions in the third quarter of 2017 decreased by 8.73 percent compared with the same quarter in 2016, from to 153,295,152 in 2016 Q 3 to 139,907,213 total active subscriptions in the reviewing quarter.

The total figure recorded in the 2017 Q 3 also indicates an 2.21 percent decline from the second quarter of 2017.

Facebook to de-emphasize news on social network

T

he social networking site, Facebook, said it has begun the process of changing the way it filters posts and videos on its centerpiece News Feed, in a series of changes aimed at prioritizing what friends and family share, while reducing the amount of non-advertising content from publishers and brands.

Facebook’s co-founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg disclosed this in a post on his Facebook page. Facebook, which owns four of the world’s most popular smartphone apps including Instagram, has for years prioritized material that its complex computer algorithms think people will engage with through comments, “likes” or other ways of showing interest.

But Zuckerberg, said that would no longer be the goal. “I‘m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions,” Zuckerberg wrote.

The shift was likely to mean that the time people spend on Facebook and some measures of engagement would go down in the short term, he wrote, but he added it would be better for users and for the business over the long term. Advertising on the social network would be unaffected by the changes, John Hegeman, a Facebook vice president, said in an interview.

Facebook and its social media competitors have been inundated by criticism that their products reinforce users’ views on social and political issues and lead to addictive viewing habits, raising questions about possible regulation and the businesses’ long-term viability. The company has been criticized for algorithms that may have prioritized misleading news and misinformation in people’s feeds, influencing the 2016 American presidential election, as well as political discourse in many countries.

Last year, Facebook disclosed that Russian agents had used the network to spread inflammatory posts to polarize the American electorate.

Zuckerberg said an overhaul of the company’s products, beginning with changes to the algorithms that control the News Feed, would help to address those concerns. Similar changes will be made to other products in the coming months, he said. “We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being,” Zuckerberg wrote.

With more than 2 billion monthly users, Facebook is the world’s largest social media network. It is also among the world’s largest corporations, reporting $36 billion in revenue, mostly from advertising, during the 12 months that ended on Sept. 30.

A shift away from non-ad content produced by businesses is a potentially severe blow to news organizations, many of which use Facebook to drive readership, but Zuckerberg said many such posts have been unhealthy.

23

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

e-Platform

NCC downplays 9Mobile’s acquisition deadline …Says due process will be followed

Stories by SAMSON AKINTARO

C

ONTRARY to speculations in some sections of the media that a new owner had emerged in the ongoing bidding process for the acquisition of embattled telecom operator, 9Mobile, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the process is still ongoing. While the regulator had earlier fixed December 31, 2017, which was later extended to January 16 this year for a new owner to emerge, the Commission in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo, said the January 16 deadline is for the receipt of binding offers from the prospective bidders and not for naming the winners.

In the statement debunking media reports purporting that a winner had emerged, the Commission wrote: “Our attention has been drawn to newspaper publications alleging that a preferred bidder has been anointed to acquire 9Mobile and otherwise speculating on the outcome of the ownership transfer process. For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to provide the following clarification and update on the process: Barclays Africa remains in full control of the process leading to the emergence of a new owner for the company.

Barclays has not authorized any publica-

tion on the matter and is obliged to maintain full confidentiality thereon.”

The statement added that “an approval of the request for extension of time by the 9Mobile Interim Board was given by the two regulators - NCC and CBN. This set the deadline for the receipt of binding offers from the prospective bidders till 16th January 2018. Contrary to speculations that a “winner” will be announced on the same day (i.e. 16th of January 2018) we wish to clarify that Barclays is expected to review the bids received by the deadline and to make recommendations to the 9Mobile Interim Board thereafter”.

“The NCC and CBN will be duly notified once the 9Mobile Interim Board accepts Barclays’ recommendations and a winning bid is determined in accordance with the terms of the exercise. The winner will now apply to NCC in order to commence the processes for securing the regulatory approvals from the Board of the NCC necessary to give full effect to the transfer” it said.

9mobile is being sold after regulators saved the company from collapse when both an investment fund and Etisalat exited the country in June 2017 following the default of a $1.2 billion loan. Market Analysts believed that the battle for the soul

• Umar-Garba-Danbatta-NCC-EVC

of 9Mobile rest strictly between Globacom and Airtel because of their financial war chest and experiences in the Nigerian market. Should either be successful in the bid, the additional connections may see them overtake MTN as market leader.

LG to showcase rollable OLED TV at CES 2018

L

G Display, the world’s leading innovator of display technologies, has said it would showcase cutting-edge display products including the world’s first 65-inch UHD rollable OLED display that prove its global leadership in all areas of displays at CES 2018 in Las Vegas.

“LG Display will introduce OLED displays used in various aspects of everyday life, not only highlighting picture quality but also a range of applications and design, so that customers can directly experience the value of OLED. The company’s latest advancements of its IPS technology will also be exhibited to emphasize its industry-leading LCD displays.

All these latest innovative technologies will be showcased under the slogan ‘Display Your Lifestyle’” the company said.

It added that it would also unveil several world-first OLED displays that fully utilize the unique advantages of OLED, including a 65-inch UHD rollable OLED display and an 88-inch 8K OLED display. The recent improvements to the company’s Crystal Sound OLED technology that makes sound emanate directly from the panel will also be showcased.

“The newly-unveiled 65-inch rollable UHD OLED display especially highlights the distinctive technological edges and unlimited potential of OLEDs. It can be rolled up and hidden when not in use, and the small size of the rolled-up screen means that it can be more easily moved and stored, allowing for better space utilization, something existing displays can’t deliver. With this unparalleled portability, the 65-inch rollable display ensures that users can enjoy bright, high-resolution content anytime, anywhere. With the innovation of rollable displays, LG Display will continue to lead the industry by creating new opportunities and markets” it said.

LG Display has successfully developed the world’s first 88-inch 8K OLED display and upgraded the audio complexity of Crystal Sound OLED displays from the current 2.1

channel sound to 3.1 channel sound. The company will also exhibit products that emphasize additional advantages of OLED, such as a 55-inch transparent display and a 77-inch wallpaper OLED TV display.

“LG Display is all about innovative products that provide new value to customers,”

said Dr. Sang-Beom Han, Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Display. “We will firmly establish our position as a leading company by responding to market expectations and providing differentiated value in the rapidly expanding OLED market as well as the existing LCD market.”

FG to hold Tech- innovation Expo in March

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HE Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) has said it would hold Technology and Innovation Expo 2018 to promote commercialisation of research and development results to aid diversification of the economy.

The information, which was made available on the website of the ministry, said the theme of the Expo 2018 would be “Fast tracking Sustainable Development of Nigeria through Science and Technology“.

The expo is scheduled to hold from March 5 to March 9 in Abuja. It said the success achieved at the 2017 edition of the Science, Technology and Innovation Expo held from April 3 to April 7, 2017 had further spurred the interest of the investors to commercialise research and development results to aid diversification of the economy.

“The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology wishes to inform the general public of the next edition of the Science, Technology and Innovation Expo 2018 coming up from the March 5 to March 9, 2018 at the Eagle Square, Abuja, Nigeria. “Expo 2018 will build upon the objectives of the foregoing Expo of 2017, “ it said.

According to the statement, main objectives of the 2018 edition will include follow-up on Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed as a result of the previous expo and promoting collaborations among research institutions and researchers/inventors. It said that the event would encourage interactions between researchers and investors with a view to commercialising research results, inventions and innovations from Nigeria’s research and tertiary institutions.

It said the Expo 2018 would facilitate growth of indigenous manufacturing hinged on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as well as generally promoting STI culture in Nigeria. “Fast tracking the implementation of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Road Map -2030 to bring to fore capabilities of Nigerian Scientists, Engineers, and Inventors/Innovators in contributing to economic diversification of Nigeria,“ it said. The ministry said the 2018 edition of the Technology and Innovation Expo would feature exhibitions of research and development results, inventions, innovations, STI Products/Services. Others are researchers/investors forum, technical sessions on emerging issues, Special Days for States, conglomerates, awards of prizes, certificates to outstanding exhibitors and researchers.

Nigeria ends 2017 with 101,695 domain names T

HE Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) has said that 101,695 domain names existed in the country’s domain registry as at 2017, up from 76,907 names recorded in 2016.

The President of NIRA, Mr Sunday Folayan, who made this known in a statement , said that in December 2017, 5,547 domain names were recorded, showing a decrease of 753, as against 6,300 domain names recorded in November.

According to him, of the 5,547 domain names in December, 3,560 were new registration, 1,917 were domain name renewal, while 70 were transfer of domain names. He said that of

the 6,300 domain names recorded in November, 3,974 were fresh registration, 2,280 were for renewal and 46 were for transfer.

“We noted a slowdown in fresh registrations and renewal of .ng domain names from November to December 2017. “The general slowdown could be attributed to many reasons, including consumer spending slowdown and focusing on essentials. The total number of active .ng domain names in December 2016 was 76,907 while by December 2017, the number of active domain names had grown to 101,695,’’ Folayan said.

He said there was the need for Nigerians to

adopt the Nigeria’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), which is the ”dotng (.ng)”.

The NIRA president said that .ng was the official ccTLD approved for Nigeria by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for the Internet and was like Nigeria’s currency, the Naira.

He said that the availability of names was better on the .ng ccTLD than on the generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) like .com, .org.

Folayan said that hosting businesses on the .ng would help to support the Nigerian economy and provide jobs for local Information Technology professionals.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

ISSN: 2545-5869

VOX POPULI SACRUM

www.oraclenews.ng

EDITORIAL

Fulani herdsmen: Impunity must stop

office, afraid that a condemnation of the attacks Cont’d front page 1 could offend his party, which controls the secuhave taken place, the grisly pictures of the dead, rity agencies that have consistently failed to stop throats silted, pregnant women disembowattacks, or protect villagers who warn of impendeled have become common sights. The crimiing attacks. nals threaten to return and they often do with Nimbo in Enugu State was viciously attacked in deadlier outcomes. The reactions have become 2016, leading to the deaths of tens of villagers. normal: media headlines, visits by some officials EIGHT months after the attacks, there are no to scene of attack and promises to apprehend indications that any arrests have been made nor the offenders, which never happens. necessary compensations paid. Indeed, informed THERE have been attacks in Plateau for ages. sources say that even before the federal governOther States that have been attacked are Abia, ment announced plans to establish cattle colonies Delta, Oyo, Taraba and Ekiti States. Southern in parts of the country, Nimbo is already contendZaria has the latest attacks. Governor Nasir ing with one, with villagers allegedly stripped of el-Rufai, for the months that the attacks lasted, their right to farm their lands without “permisused public funds to finance missions by the sion” from the herdsmen.

Nigeria Air Force, to secure the cattle of Fulani herdsmen, which he said were being rustled. He On a visit to Enugu shortly after the Nimbo attack, on the invitation of the governor “to honour must must learnt from President Buhari, who Rangers International (who won the National on a visit to Sokoto State, promised that a batLeague after 32 years) and to commission protalion of the Nigerian Army would be deployed jects,” the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Alhaji Muhamto the area to deal with cattle rustlers. mad Sa’ad Abubakar III, speaking in defence of Benue and Nasarawa States have been attacked the Fulani herdsmen, being their political, cultural variously. Within the week, there have been a and spiritual leader, as well as the patron of the series of protest matches in Benue State over cattle owners association --the Miyett Allah, the attacks. Tiv villages seemed to have borne stunned many when he declared, in part: “It is the brunt in Benue State until 2016 when Agatu, indeed absurd and most unfortunate that certain an Idoma settlement was attacked. Nothing has groups or people ascribe the incidents on ethbeen done about finding the killers. Instead, nic and/or religious premise and to whimsically meaningless meetings to appease the Fulani apportion blame in order to batter the gradual herdsmen have been held in some of the places. restoration of peace and security in Nigeria. Well, the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State has GOVERNOR Sam Ortom’s new-found anger is debunked the rumours, likewise the Inspector belated. When the attacks raged in 2016, he igGeneral of Police has also debunked the insinuanored them. His preference was to hold political tions over those being blamed.” The insult stood; some even applauded the speech.

ATTACKS in the South West have been far between. Clashes with farmers in Iseyin, Oyo State, lasted for years. Remarkably, Muhammadu Buhari, now President, made a visit to Oyo State in 2001, after an attack in which the Fulani herdsmen did not fare well, to lambast Governor Lam Adeshina on the handling of the crisis.

Governor Adeshina stood up to him, wondering why an elder statesman, a former Head of State of Nigeria, would take sides, without finding out what happened. Buhari stormed out of the meeting.

SIXTEEN years after, it is the turn of Alhaji Mohammed Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State, to turn up in Ile-Ife to ask why Ifes defended themselves after the Fulani settlers attacked a man, whose wife one of them molested.

The whole town erupted and more lives were lost. What was Kwankwao’s point except to emphasise that the Fulanis were above the law, whether they were herdsmen or settlers?

LIKE his brother governors, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State incensed people with his comments that tended to blame the Ifes, while it was known that the Fulanis were the ag-

gressors. The attack against Yorubas in Sagamu in 2008, just like the Ile-Ife attacks, generated a lot of media attention, possibly because of the proximity to Lagos, the hub of the media.

A COUNTRY that once condemned discrimination in all its known forms, a country that crafted its Constitution and condemned discrimination in all its ramifications, now applauds, justifies, encourages and identifies with the oppression of its people, under guises that promote principles that negate democracy and civil rule.

SECTION 17 (3) of the 1999 Constitution abhors discrimination and pointedly expects that Nigeria would direct its policies towards equity, fairness, and justness. “The State shall direct its policy towards ensuring that- (a) all citizens, without discrimination on any group whatsoever, have the opportunity for securing adequate means of livelihood as well as adequate opportunity to secure suitable employment.”

IS that the Nigeria we have? Is government making any effort to cater for the interests of Nigerians, even if the question is limited to the management of the clashes between Fulani herdsmen and other Nigerians? Why does the Federal Government concede the right to destroy others’ lives and means of livelihood to Fulani herdsmen?

WHEN would governments punish Fulani herdsmen for their various crimes? Why has the earlier lull in the attacks since 2017 been broken? Every unpunished impunity created more impunities. It is time we broke the cycle by punishing the guilty, whoever they are, without fear or favour.

PATIENCE is running thin on several fronts. The calls for self-help are no longer mere suggestions. The more people know that government security agencies would not defend them, when they know that government security agencies would belittle their pains, as the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris referred to the killings in Benue State as communal clashes, the more they would find means to defend themselves. The consequences may include escalation of inert tensions.

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.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

OPINION

Butchers in Benue: What a nation!

By OLUBUNMI OKOGIE

N

igeria wobbles from one major crisis to another. She ended the year 2017 in excruciating fuel scarcity and began the year 2018 with the massacre of innocents.

While Nigerians were still exchanging New Year greetings, from Benue State came gory pictures of pregnant women, children, adults and the aged cut to pieces like animals in an abattoir.

From Rivers State came pictures of Nigerians slaughtered on New Year’s Day. From Ilorin in Kwara State came pictures of Churches vandalized and innocent Nigerian Christians physically and sexually assaulted within their Churches on New Year’s Eve, with chants of another religion in the mouths of their assailants. Nigerians are no longer abducted on the streets or highways. Abductors now invade the privacy of their homes, even violating the sacredness of their bedrooms, to pick them up, demanding millions of naira as ransom.

The Northeastern part of Nigeria remains an expanding theatre of war as we read of the killer instinct and atrocities of terrorist herdsmen in Adamawa and Taraba. Apart from Benue, other states in the Middle Belt like Kaduna and Plateau are regular targets of bloody herdsmen. Southern States of Delta and Enugu have also been visited by the same murderous herdsmen, who left traces of sorrow, tears and blood in their trail.

In the present situation, there are some questions to which a supposedly responsible and accountable government must provide clear answers: where is the government in all this? Where were the security agencies when innocent Nigerians were being as-

saulted and slaughtered? Why is it that our policemen and soldiers, notorious for brutalizing innocent civilians, are conspicuously absent and impotent when those same civilians are being attacked? We read credible reports of herdsmen attacking police posts and killing policemen with their superior firepower.

Who is providing herdsmen with arms?

Nigerian citizens living in states where herdsmen and kidnappers are operating have senators and governors representing them. In the case of Benue State, as at the time of writing this piece, apart from the governor, no word has been heard from any senator or Assemblyman or woman from Benue State. Why is it that, in a democracy, where every citizen is represented at the local, state and federal level, those who were voted into office to represent the citizens are completely ineffective?

It is the responsibility of government to protect the life of every citizen. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, despite its many dangerous flaws, stipulates that every Nigerian has a right to life. The life of every Nigerian citizen, whether that citizen comes from the south or the north, the east or the west, must be protected at all times and in all places within the borders of Nigeria. But, Nigerians look to this government for protection in vain.

A truly responsible government acts proactively. Treating matters of security with levity does not form part of the job description of a Commander-in-Chief. When Nigerian citizens are slaughtered like cows, as we saw recently in Benue State, in a recurrence of herdsmen’s butchery, those who lead us must be held accountable. For, when they took the oath of office, they promised

to uphold the Constitution of our country.

But, a government that fails to protect the citizen cannot convince Nigerians that it is alive to its responsibility. There is an urgent and compelling need for the President and Commander-in-Chief to show leadership in this regard.

What obtains in Nigeria at this point in time is the unmitigated tragedy of spectacular failure of government. But, instead of a serious attempt on the part of the government to mend its ways, its spokespersons find a hobby in insulting Nigerians with dissenting voices, while preparations and propaganda for re-election have already begun. It is reprehensible that while Nigerians are disturbed at the butchery in Benue, the President and his party are campaigning for votes in Abia State. We are thus being told in a rather crude and arrogant manner that the fortunes of the politician take precedence over security and welfare of citizens of Nigeria.

Politicians who truly rely on the votes of the people to be in office respect the people because they know that the day of reckoning shall surely come.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have not forgotten President Buhari’s statement when he took the oath of office on May 29, 2015.

Paraphrasing the nihilist subtitle of Friedrich Nietzsche work, Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for Everybody and for No One, our President said: “I belong to everybody, I belong to no one.” For the past three years, however, Nigerians have been waiting for these words to take a concrete expression in the way Nigerians are treated by his government. Shall they wait in vain?

The President of Nigeria must be for all Nigerians. He has a non-negotiable moral ob-

ligation to rally all the security agencies under his command to protect the life of every Nigerian. That obligation is to be assumed now, not later. Not to do so would amount to a betrayal of trust.

While we hear some arrests have been made, the insufficiency of the arrest of foot soldiers must not be overlooked. Those who mastermind the killings of innocent Nigerians—and the utterances of leaders of Miyetti Allah make them prime suspects— must be apprehended and diligently prosecuted, with the aim of securing their conviction, with appropriate sanctions imposed.

Days after some leaders of Miyetti Allah have spoken in support of the killings in Benue, none of them has been arrested, none invited by the police for interrogation.

This act of omission on the part of government lends credence to what many Nigerians have been suggesting: that those behind these killings are left to go untouched because of their ethnic and political affiliation.

If that is the case, then we have another illustration of two Nigerias—the Nigeria of the rightly connected and the Nigeria of the wrongly connected. President Buhari needs to demonstrate convincingly that there is only one Nigeria - a Nigeria of the law-abiding, a Nigeria where no one is above the law, a Nigeria where those who break the law are treated according to the law irrespective of their political affiliation.

• His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, writes from Lagos.

Buhari, herdsmen and traumatised citizenry

By EHICHIOYA EZOMON

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he horror of man’s inhumanity to man was starkly on display in Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State, on Thursday, when an unboarded trailer drove into the IBB Square, bearing 12 coffins of the “remains” of victims of attacks by “herdsmen” on January 1 and 2.

Several mini buses brought in additional 61 caskets of the 73 people killed for mass internment, witnessed by wailing family members, friends, government officials, traditional institutions, the Christian Association of Nigeria, a representative of the United Nations, and the general public that might include some of the culprits.

It was a spectacle not even dreamt of in an obviously annahilative proxy war, with 47 episodic attacks, according to the Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, visited on innocent and defenseless peasant farmers in the Middle Belt and other parts of Nigeria, by so-called herdsmen, who brandish AK47 riffles in place of sticks traditionally associated with cattle herders down the ages.

At the solemn and sombre rites, the Mourner-in-Chief, Governor Samuel Ortom, had a message for the purveyors of the massacres: “If the herdsmen think that the killing of our people will make us to stop the enforcement of the law, they have failed. We will not be deterred because I am ready to pay the supreme price for the implementation of the anti-open grazing law. I will continue to insist on the arrest of the factional leader of Miyetti Allah Kautal Houre.”

Recall that the Miyetti Allah Kautal Houre of the umbrella body, Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, “confessed” that the Benue attacks were reprisals for alleged stealing of 1,000 of their herds by “some people?” What disrespect: Human

lives for “stolen” cattle!

Ortom honed his defiance the previous day at a meeting with the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris. Reflecting the sentiments of the Benue people, the governor cautioned: “I must state that Nigeria is passing through serious security challenges. I pray we don’t get to the level that our people resort to self-defence, because, when people are not sanctioned for their lawlessness, anarchy and confusion would set in and nobody will be safe.”

But admitting that anarchy has already bestrode the land, the Chairman of the Northern Elders’ Forum, Wantaregh Paul Unongo, gave the Federal Government a two-week ultimatum to stop or arrest those behind the killings or “we shall raise an army of our own.”

“I am telling Nigerians that my people cannot continue to be cannon fodder for this country,” Chief Unogo said. “If the government can’t protect us, we will mobilize and train our people into an army to defend us... I am the spiritual and ancestral leader of the Tiv nation; enough is enough.”

Equally craving for government’s decisive action against the killings he described as “genocidal conspiracy,” and spoiling for self-mobilization to defend his people was former Military Governor of Plateau and Katsina States, retired Maj.-Gen. Lawrence Onoja.

Walking down memory lane, Gen. Onoja said: “Some of us, in 1966 (1967), fought the Nigerian civil war. Benue has contributed to the unity of this country. If the Federal Governmrnt refuses to address the killings in Benue, and if we decide to raise our army, as advocated by our elders, to defend ourselves, l will not mind to command that army despite my age.”

Exasperating, heartbreaking, heartrending! These are patriotic, elder statesmen,

who should be living a blissful life, but here they are still carrying the mantle of defending their people against rampaging “herdsmen” that sow blood and sorrow everywhere, using their cattle as baits.

Enough has been said, but not done about these mindless killings. Yet, while the murdering, raping and destruction of homes and farmlands almost always appear one-sided, from the perspective of Inspector General Idris, they result from “communal crisis.” He has since recanted and apologized for that insensitive categorization.

The herdsmen’s activities have no links to “communal crisis” compelling police operations. They are programmed for certain ends, which could inadvertently threaten the security and corporate existence of the nation.

For once, the government must come clean about this issue, which has become an albatross on the necks of President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress administration he heads. Why is it difficult to mandate the Military to take charge, and label the armed “herdsmen” as terrorists the way Boko Haram was named, and unarmed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was proscribed and pigeonholed?

Why would the president, despite spirited denials, allow the festering of the notion, perception and direct allegation of using the herdsmen as foot solders for a socalled plan to Islamize Nigeria? Doesn’t this discernment bother him, as it worries even his most ardent supporters of other faiths?

With a patriotic fervour, Buhari should juxtapose his stance on the herdsmen issue with his famous inaugural proclamation to keep his oath and serve as President to all Nigerians because, “I belong to no nobody and I belong to everybody.”

The time to act is now, and with the bare

knuckles, not kid gloves, that demands immediate deployment of military troops to the troubled spots, so that the “Pythons can dance” and the “Crocodiles can smile” to the perpetrators of the heinous crimes against Nigerians. That’s the only way to disprove the president’s perceived “body language” towards the herdsmen’s notoriety, and to pacify a harrowed, traumatized and beleaguered citizenry!

• 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 Advert Manager Andrew Udeh Circulation Manager Felix Oti

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Travel & Hospitality Sheraton Abuja Hotel celebrates ‘Chocolate Day’

HE Sheraton Abuja Hotel has concluded plans to celebrate TChocolate Day in all its restaurant

venues from this month.

According to the hotel, Foodies and Chocolate enthusiasts already commemorate the Chocolate Day every January 27.

“We are happy to start this year with a lineup of creative and compelling food and beverage activities for our patrons.

We look forward to welcoming all our diners and in-house guests to an exceptional experience on the 27th of January; Sheraton Abuja Hotel will celebrate Chocolate Day in all our restaurant venues.

“At the Papillion Restaurant our guests will enjoy our mouthwatering black forest cake which is one of our specialties from our very own Chef Maroof and team.

While at the Obudu and Luigi’s Restaurants our female diners will be treated to a chunk of wholesome rich chocolate cake slices.

“Those visiting our Pool Bar and Restaurant will not be left out of our free offer of chocolatey forest goodness as the cake will be presented to female diners at the Pool Bar and Restaurant as well.

Our Chocolate day will definitely illuminate the eyes and spark off your taste buds,” enthused Irshad.

Meanwhile, the icon Abujabased hotel kick-started the New Year with the introduction of the grilling seasons BBQ nights at the hotel’s poolside.

Executive Chef for Sheraton Abuja Hotel-Nicholas Geba and his team have put in efforts towards creating a tasty assortment of BBQ flavors for food and entertainment enthusiasts within the Federal Capital Territory.

The BBQ night which officially launched January 13, holds every Saturday at the Poolside bar for both our in-house guests and customers.

“We have made the best selection of various live band entertainers within Abuja City so there will never be a dull moment. Our special free-flow-salad will be available for all diners. For beverages, you will be spoiled for choice with our compelling selection of wines, beers, soft drinks and cocktails. And for your added pleasure, we have Shisha with various flavors-on request.

“Last but not least our collection of fun and interesting board games such as Ludo, whots, chess, local Ludo, scrabble and draft are available for you to have an interactive and engaging time with new or old friends; the idea is that this creates the perfect activity during family bonding time.

“A relaxed evening around the most transformative ambience with great food and inspiring music is what we offer our loyal patrons and customers and so we encourage all our visitors to come experience something truly unforgettable on that Saturday onwards,” said Irshad.

Debt: InterContinental Hotel Lagos to be deflagged Stories by VICTOR NZE

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HE 358-room InterContinental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos is to be deflagged following the collapse of talks between the United Kingdom-based property owner and its local partners over terms of rescuing the portfolio from receivership.

InterContinental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, the first property of the U.K-based Milan Group, was commissioned for business in September 2013 by immediate

past Governor of Lagos State, and now Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

It is also the first InterContinental flagged hotel in Nigeria by the hospitality chain which also has portfolios in South Africa, Mauritius and Zambia.

The move to exit the Nigerian market following the collapse for debt repayment talks was confirmed by Mr InterContinental Hotels Group’s (IHG) Director of African Operations, Simon Stamper, in an emailed statement, last Wednesday, while also adding

that the landmark high-rise hotel on Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island will no longer operate as an InterContinental-branded property as from January 18.

“We remain committed to Africa and continue operations in all our other properties across the continent as usual,” he said.

It would be recalled that a Lagos High Court last May ordered Skye Bank Plc, one of the lenders to the N30 billion InterContinental Hotel, to take over the property from its owner, Milan Group, over debts of

$29.8 million and N3.8 billion.

However, IHG continued to manage the property, which then went into receivership.

IHG has 5,272 hotels worldwide with 785,544 rooms and owns brands including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza.

The InterContinental hotel is not new to deflagging of its properties as it undertook the same measure in 2011, when it exited about 10 per cent of its Crowne Plaza hotels portfolios for not meeting product quality and consistency standards.

• From left: Executive Director, Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria Limited, Kazeem Tajudeen; Managing Partner,AT3 Resources, Tosin Adefeko; Director Legal, Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria Limited, Olaitan Tajudeen; General Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel Lagos Ikeja, George Balassis; and Director of Projects Avalon

Lagos reactivates tourist infrastructure

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AGOS State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has disclosed that said his administration had embarked on projects to regenerate, redesign and reactivate special cultural and tourist infrastructure in the state.

Ambode who spoke, last Tuesday, at the ground-breaking for the

redevelopment of the J.K Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture in Onikan, noted that on completion, the projects would be converted to centres for recreation, tourism and entertainment.

“At the inception of this administration, we made a promise to Lagosians that we will execute only programmes and projects

that will be to the benefits of all our people.

“We identified some areas for special attention in our bid to accelerate growth and development.

One of the areas we have identified which holds a lot of potential and opportunities for high growth and employment, is tourism.

“It is an area in which a little in-

members include Mr. Hakeem Fahm (Ministry of Science and Technology); Mr. Ladi Lawanson (Ministry of Transportation); Mr Segun Banjo (Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget); Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) and Mr. Hakeem Sulaiman (Communities and Communications).

The Statement added that major deployments have also been effected.

Mr. Rotimi Ogunleye from Commerce and Industry to Physical Planning and Urban Development; Mr. Steve Ayorinde from Ministry of Information and Strategy to Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Kehinde Bamig-

betan from Communities and Communication to Ministry of Information and Strategy; Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi Etti from Ministry of Wealth Creation to Ministry of the Environment; Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf from Ministry of Youth and Social Development to Ministry of Wealth Creation; Mr. Agboola Dabiri from Central Business District to Ministry of Youth and Social Development.

Others include Dr. Samuel Adejare from Ministry of the Environment to Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development; Engr.

Ade Akinsanya from Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructure Development to Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.

Ambode appoints new tourism commissioner

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AGOS State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, has announced the appointment of Mr Steve Ayorinde as the new Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture. He was previously the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy.

A major Thursday cabinet reshuffle by the governor saw the dropping three commissioners and appointment of five new ones.

In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, the three dropped cabinet members are; Mrs. Adebimpe Akinsola, Mr. Femi Odubiyi and Mr. Anifowoshe Abiola.

The newly appointed cabinet

vestment in infrastructure will generate a lot of economic activities, leading to job creation. One of such edifices is the J.K Randle Centre which was originally built in 1928,’’ Ambode said.

The governor who said that the new J. K. Randle Centre would consist of an exhibition centre, a library, a multi-purpose hall, learning spaces, restaurant and lounges, revealed that the centre would retain its swimming pool and sports facilities and also have a pavilion for stage performances.

According to Ambode, the government had also embarked on the development of the Eko Park which would comprise the Lagos Heritage Centre for Leadership at the former Presidential Lodge, Marina, adding further the park would also comprise of the Lagos Historical Centre at the former State House, Marina, a Lagos Museum and the erection of a 55-foot Eyo statue at the Lagos History Centre.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure, Mr Ade Akinsanya said that the projects would improve tourism and cultural activities on Lagos Island, alongside the National Museum.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

AVIATION

Global passenger traffic up by 8% – IATA Stories by VICTOR NZE

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HE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has disclosed that global passenger traffic for November 2017 rose by eight per cent, compared to the same month in 2016.

A statement signed by IATA’s Director General, Alexandre de Juniac, on its website on Thursday, noted that it was the fastest growth rate in five months and up from a 7.3 per cent year-over-year rise in October.

The apex aviation body said capacity increased by 6.3 per cent,

Expert hails Aero’s C-check on B737 aircraft feat

and load factor rose by 1.2 percentage points to 80.2 per cent.

“The airline industry is in a good place entering 2018. November’s strong demand gives the industry momentum.

“The number of unique city-pair connections now tops 20,000. Passengers not only have more travel choices than ever, the cost of travel in real terms has never been cheaper. Along with delivering great value to consumers, airlines are rewarding their shareholders with normal levels of profitability.

“We expect 2018 to be the fourth year in a row where the industry’s return on invested capital will exceed the cost of capital. In sum, we begin the New Year with confidence,’’ de Juniac, said.

According to him, challenges such as security threats, infrastructure issues, fees and charges need to be addressed.

The DG pointed out that in many

cases, airports and air traffic management were struggling to keep pace with demand and technology advancements.

“These and other challenges can only be addressed in partnership with governments. And doing so requires governments to recognise the enormous value that aviation, being the business of freedom, provides to their economies and the world,” de Juniac said.

He said African airlines posted a 7.9 rise in demand compared to November 2016.

“Volumes have started to trend upwards strongly again in seasonally-adjusted terms in recent months.

This is in line with an improvement in business confidence in key economies, including Kenya and Nigeria.

“Indicators in South Africa, by contrast, are still consistent with falling economic activity. Capacity rose 3.7 per cent and load factor climbed 2.7 percentage points to

68.3 per cent,” said de Juniac.

Meanwhile, demand for global air freight, measured in freight tonne kilometres, rose 8.8 per cent in November compared with a year earlier, according to IATA, Wednesday.

The rise in November puts the air cargo industry on track for the strongest operational and financial performance since the post-global financial crisis rebound in 2010, IATA said.

The growth in freight demand, coinciding with the traditional period of strong demand seen in the fourth quarter, comes despite indicators pointing to air cargo having passed a cyclical peak.

Available capacity rose 4.0 per cent in the month, marking the 16th consecutive month of demand growth exceeding capacity growth, which is positive for industry load factors, yields, and financial performance.

A

former President, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Mr Isaac Balami, has maintained that the successful C-Check by Aero Contractors’ engineers on its Boeing 737 aircraft is an indication that the country’s aviation sector is improving.

Balami, also a pilot and engineer at Aero, made this known in Tuesday in Abuja, adding that the airlines’ engineers that carried out the check were 99 per cent Nigerians, adding that the country had enormous human capital in the sector.

According to him, airline owners before now have failed to look inwards as they do not have confidence on Nigerian aircraft engineers except for expatriates.

“As a national president of NAAPE for eight years, we were able to build human capital through a lot of trainings and I can tell you boldly that Nigerians are capable.

The truth of the matter is that the people that did that job are 99 per cent Nigerians and it is an indication that Nigeria can succeed in the business of aviation.

“Nigerians can do everything whether engine or landing gear, restructure, repair or metal work, we have capable trained Nigerians and most of them are trained in the U.S. and different parts of the world.

“We have both international and local certification, but all the Nigerian engineers need is just encouragement and what has happened in Aero Contractors is an eye opener and it will send a strong signal.

“We have been able to prove that we can do it locally and also prove to the international community that Nigeria has the manpower to carry out C-Check,’’ he said.

Balami, therefore, commended the management of Aero Contractors and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for their confidence that the local aircraft engineers could carry out the C-check, noting that the check was the first of its kind to take place in Nigeria since the demise of the defunct Nigerian Airways, and commended the Federal for creating the enabling environment.

FG approves additional funding for NAIA new terminal T

HE Federal Executive Council (FEC) has now approved additional funds for ongoing works at the new Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja Terminal already funded by the Chinese EXIM Bank.

The terminal project, one of the four, which is part of the US$500 million dollars loan from the Chinese EXIM bank and 100 million dollars counterpart funding from Nigerian government is said to have a foundational issue which had altered the master plan of the airport.

Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, had confirmed last week that the completion of the project is now dependent on correcting certain problems including works on power and water supply as well as its location to avoid blocking the control and fire towers which were not factored in the earlier costing of the project.

He hinted that there may be some relocation of some structures to ensure that the terminal functions at optimum and does not hinder safety or security for that matter.

“The new Abuja Airport Terminal, inherited by this administration suffered defected design and construction, affecting Power supply, water, Sewer systems, the Apron etc. Remedial work is now ongoing. Today’s FEC approval for power is the first step in the remedial work.#FECBrief,” confirmed a tweet from @AsoRock, the Twitter handle of the Presidency.

NANTA, NCAA partner on unified ID cards for agencies

N •Chief Executive Officer, Top 50 Brands Nigeria, Mr Taiwo Oluboyede (l) presenting the Communications Manager of Dana Air, Mr Kingsley Ezenwa with an award to Dana Airlines for its innovations, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Popularity, National Spread and Online Engagement, during the Brands Nigeria Leadership Forum which held at the Oriental Hotels, Lagos.

Delta named 2017’s Most On-Time Global airline

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ELTA Air Lines was named the World’s Most On-Time Airline among mainline carriers by the aviation data and analytics company FlightGlobal, incorporating FlightStats, and is the first United States airline to earn the industry-leading distinction in the nine years FlightGlobal’s FlightStats has presented its OPS a, according to a release by the company Tuesday.

In 2017, Delta’s mainline operation saw 85.94 percent of flights arrive within 14 minutes of the scheduled arrival time, the industry’s widely used definition of on-

time, according to FlightStats.

“We are extremely proud of what Delta employees have been able to accomplish in service to our customers to drive a safe and reliable global operation,” said Gil West, Delta’s Executive Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

“The results reported by FlightStats are humbling and yet another proof point that Delta employees worldwide are redefining operational excellence. Hats off to all Delta employees who come to work every day looking for ways to

make meaningful improvements to the airline and continue to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.”

Delta was also recognized as North America’s most on-time major carrier—a title that takes into account the Delta Connection regional operation. FlightStats reports that Delta, together with its regional partners, saw 84.06 percent of flights arrive on time in 2017, based on FlightStats’ analysis of flight status and arrival data pulled from over 600 global sources and data feeds.

ational Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), says its proposed Unified Identity Card Scheme for genuine travel agencies in the country will checkmate fraud in the sector.

President of NANTA, Mr Bernard Bankole, said, Thursday in Abuja that the association was in final round of talks with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“Our industry is the downstream sector of the aviation industry and we have about 6,000 members; and there are others that were not members but are just trading. The only recognised body for travel agency by the government is NANTA; we are working in conjunction with NCAA to bring out a suitable ID card that would serve the industry.

“NCAA set up a task force which has submitted their reports. We are waiting on NCAA so that we can launch it and create awareness to the public. When Launched, it will help to reduce any form of fraud because we have notice that some Lebanese and foreigners come into our industry and defraud people of their hard earn money.

“The Unified ID cards for practitioners will go a long way to checkmate these type of fraudulent acts and provide better and professional services to our clients,’’ Bankole said.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

INSURANCE & PENSION lPTAD releases timetable for verification of pensioners T Jigawa pays beneficiaries N711m

he Jigawa State and Local Government Contributory Pension Scheme Board said it had paid about N711 million as entitlements to 419 beneficiaries.

Director of Administration and Finance (DAF) of the board, Mallam Muhammad Musa, made this known while speaking with newsmen in Dutse on Tuesday.

Musa said that the benefit was paid to those who retired from service at the state and local government level, as well as those from the Local Education Authority (LEA).

He said relatives of workers who died while in active service were also paid, adding that all the beneficiaries were thoroughly screened before they were given the money.

“All payments were supposed to be made in December 2017, but we are paying in January 2018 due to the death of our Executive Secretary. We are upto-date in the payment of entitlements to retirees, including those who died in active service.

“The scheme does not cover only state and local government employees, but also those who work with the LEAs. And for the survivors of deceased workers, we don’t give cash, they collect their cheques from the court registrars, to avoid any problem,’’ Musa said.

U.S insurance revenues to hit $3trn in 2021

Stories by VICTOR NZE

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HE Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has unveiled a timetable for verification of pensioners in some states of the country.

This is even as the agency further disclosed that over 20,000 pensioners of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and its mobile subsidiary, MTEL under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), are expected to be verified from January 15.

Executive Secretary of PTAD, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, who disclosed this in Abuja, Tuesday, also unveiled a timetable for the exercise across the country.

According to Ikeazor, the phase one exercise will take place in Enugu, Lagos and Port Harcourt form January 15, while phase two will be conducted in Gombe, Kano and Abuja from February 5.

For Lagos, Ikeazor said affected pensioners will be verified from January 15 – 27 in Ikeja.

She also said pensioners in Lagos could also get verified at in Ojota, Ketu.

“In Enugu, pensioners are expected to converge from January 15-23. For Port Harcourt, the verification is scheduled to hold from January 15 -20. For Abuja, pensioners will be verified from February 5- 13.

“Gombe center, pensioners are to visit the Federal College of Education from February 5- 8. Pen-

sioners in Kano would make themselves available for the exercise from February 5-13,“ she disclosed.

According her, categories of affected pensioners are required to come with originals and photocopies of their required employment records and documents for the exercise.

She said Next-of-Kins were also mandated to obtain a Letter of Administration from the High Courts of Justice for the deceased pensioners, among other relevant documents.

Ikeazor further said that affidavit for loss of mandatory documents, including letter of retirement, would not be accepted for the verification.

According to her, security agencies will be stationed at the venues to check fraudsters.

Meanwhile, PTAD has explained that its collaboration with Military Pension Board and other pension agencies is to evolve measures to enhance the services rendered to pensioners in the country.

PTAD’s Executive Secretary, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, said this when she received the Chairman, Military Pensions Board, Brig.-Gen. Adekunle Adesope, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ikeazor said that continuous stakeholder engagement meant to broaden and deepen PTAD’s relationship and outreach to its external stakeholders, especially those with coordinate responsibilities, was key.

She said collaboration would

enable PTAD to tap into the experiences of older pension agency and further replicate same in the treatment of all pensioners, especially those from the paramilitary services.

According to her, the collaboration was necessary to synergise advocacy efforts of pension agencies, to ensure adequate budgetary allocations to defray outstanding liabilities of all pensioners, military and civilian.

According to Ikeazor, there is an urgency for stronger collaboration between the military board and PTAD. She said collaboration was needed to “ensure the payment of all outstanding pension benefits, especially the arrears of 33 per cent increment and death benefits to Next-of-Kins (NOKs).

It is also needed for prompt payment of monthly pensions to all eligible pensioners and enforcement of uniform treatment of pensioners.

Ikeazor also said that there was the need to also partner and enforce the enrollment of all pensioners into the National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS), to drive down their cost of healthcare.

She said the issuance of combo cards to pensioners, to serve both as discount cards and means of establishing the proof of life by the leadership of the military pensions board was a great initiative.

She said the Directorate was now enthused in finding new ways in

improving the welfare of pensioners in not only the short-term, but also the long–term.

According to her, the new paradigm being proposed seeks to create additional values that can be leveraged upon to deliver more value in Nigeria’s pension administration to the benefit of the pensioner and ultimately, the Nigerian society.

Earlier, Brig.-Gen. Adekunle Adesope told PTAD management that the visit was basically to have an exchange of ideas on some challenges faced by the pension board.

“The visit is to have a common ground on how to resolve the challenges of pensioners which we are saddled with.“ Adesope said the most fundamental among the challenges was measures to safe-guard the integrity of its pension data base, given the possibility of inputting wrong data presented by pensioners.

He said the visit was also to leverage on the method adopted by PTAD in conducting its verification.

“So we want to leverage on whatever experience PTAD had side by side our own in improving our own verification. We will like to know how you were able to budget for provision of meals for your pensioners during verification so that we can also make plans for that.

“Another issue is on recovering of erroneous payment made to deceased pensioners from banks,“Adesope said.

United States insurance revenues are foreTcastheindustry to reach $3.0 trillion in 2021,

according to Insurance: United States, a report recently released by Freedonia Focus Reports.

According to the report, population growth and continued expansion in economic activity are also projected to drive demand.

Revenues for establishments primarily engaged in providing direct healthcare insurance are projected to outpace all other discrete segments. Gains will be attributable to expected growth in population and employment, resulting in higher insurance enrollment.

In addition, providers will continue to benefit from rising healthcare spending, which will lead to some increases in premiums and boost demand in value terms.

Life insurance revenues are expected to grow as younger population cohorts start families and drive a rebound in the number of births, an event which often prompts life insurance purchases. Demand for property and casualty insurance is projected to rise as the size of the building stock, number of motor vehicles in use, and business activity continue to expand.

• From left: Managing Director, Alhaji Lanre Malik; Gelim Macrodiylluor, Director, Accounts, Mr. Deji Koko; Mrs. Clara Ibirogba, Permanent Secretary; Dr. Akintola Benson Oke, Commissioner of Establishment, Training and Pensions; Hon Adedayo Famakinwa, Chairman, House Committee, Establishment, Training, Pension, during a two-day workshop on Leadership Management Training for Senior Civil servants.

Low patronage hinders industry’s contribution to GDP – Expert

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he National Coordinator, Annual Insurance Colloquium, Mr Johnson Adedapo, has stated that low patronage of insurance has been hindering the industry’s contribution to national development.

Adedapo who, Tuesday, in Lagos, maintained that the low patronage was reflected in the industry’s contribution to Gross Domestic Prod-

uct (GDP), said it was unfortunate that insurance, which had been in the country for over a century, could only contribute 0.8 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP. According to him, the low GDP being realised from the sector is depriving the country of enormous benefit, just as he explained that writing premium from more Nige-

rians can provide finance for long -term economic growth for the country’s absolute recovery.

“Moreover the low patronage has deprived the industry the ability to create 70,000 jobs annually.” he said.

He said that it has become imperative in view of the various national experiences that all hands should

be on deck to trace and track down this malaise.

“This malaise that has bedevilled our beloved industry calls for Federal government support. The duty to educate and be educated is a joint duty of all including the Insurance Companies generally, Insurance Regulators, Government and finally the consumers.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

INSURANCE & PENSION

Expert urges insurance firms to explore social Stories by VICTOR NZE

A

n Insurance Expert, Mr Richard Borokini has urged in-

surance companies to explore the advantages presented by social media platforms to increase product penetration nationwide.

Borokini, who is the DirectorGeneral, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), said this, Thursday, in Lagos, noting

that the sector’s 0.32 per cent growth in the third quarter of 2017 was low and unacceptable.

The director-general said that for the sector to contribute meaningfully to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), companies in the sector must be innovative in 2018.

According to him, many insurance firms must become more innovative and begin to tailor insurance policies that must meet

the need of the poor in the society.

“We must exploit the advantages of the social media platforms so as to increase product penetration and contribute meaningfully to the economy.

“Since we are in the informative age, the spread of technology has become easier. Insurance packages can be disseminated through phones and other tablets so as to ensure that the

products are in the domain of the poor,’’ he said.

He noted that more sensitisation should be made in various dialects about the importance of taking an insurance product.

“The need for more enlightenment campaign, especially in the hinterland, cannot be overemphasised, because majority of the people are based there.

“If the insurance sector can contribute about five per cent to

the GDP, many of our people will be engaged leading to a robust economy,” he said.

In the third quarter 2017 GDP report released recently by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the sector’s 0.32 per cent growth was put at -24.53 per cent.

This is lower than its growth performance in 2016 and -21.56 per cent lower than the growth rate in 2015.

NIA decries proliferation of fake insurance papers

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•Diamond Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Uzoma Dozie, (l) with bank’s Chief Information Officer, Lanre Bamisebi , displaying the prestigious ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 Certification awarded it by the British Standard Institute (BSI) Group.

Premium Pension appoints Mairami new MD/CEO

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REMIUM Pension Limited has confirmed the appointment of Mr. Umar Sanda Mairami as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive officer.

He succeeds Mr. Wilson Ideva who formally retired from the company.

Mairami is a seasoned banker of repute, a distinguished member of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). He began his career with the then Habib Nigeria Bank Limited as a Trainee Officer of the Yola branch of the bank.

As a thoroughbred professional, Mairami joined the then Intercity Bank Plc in 1999 where he served as an Executive Assistant to the Managing Director.

He acquired inestimable robust experience having traversed and headed major strategic core banking groups which comprised Corporate Planning; Corporate Promotions; Credit Administration; Training and other aspects of banking covering Credit Management, Relationship and Branch Management as well as Branch Coordination at the bank’s Head Office. He also served as Deputy General Manager, Group Head Corporate Services covering, Human Resources, Administration, Financial Control and Information Technology departments.

Until his current appointment, he was an Executive Director Business Development and Investment with Legacy Pension Managers Limited.

In the course of his illustrious banking career spanning over two (2) decades, he attended several prestigious local and in-

ternational training programs and Business schools across the globe. He was a member of the Education Committee of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria as well as Director of Northlink Insurance Brokers Limited.

The appointment of Mr. Umar

Mairami is in tandem with the strategic focus of the Premium Pension Limited to become the foremost Pension Fund Administrator in the country. He is expected to bring to bear his several years of cumulative experience in banking and financial industry.

eye care services and focused geriatric services.

She explained that the plan to initiate the scheme was hinged on the constraint to accessing health services which revolved around out of pocket payment for health services and its impact on household funds.

“This impact can be even more marked among pensioners, who relatively have a higher demand for health services and typically small earnings from their pensions,” she said.

According to her, health services to the pensioners within the scheme will be domiciled at primary and secondary health centres in the locality of the pensioners.

“In essence, this health insur-

ance programme will allow the pensioners gain more mileage from their meagre pensions, through a pooled health financing mechanism, whilst improving ease of verification of life for PTAD. “This is a worthy legacy programme to complement the strengthened digital registration and database of pensioners.“ She said given the national guidelines, and to facilitate implementation, beneficiaries of contributory health insurance scheme would require dedicated methods of identification linked to a central database that facilitated record keeping and easy identification by health service providers.

PTAD to initiate health insurance scheme for pensioners

T

he Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has announced plans to initiate a contributory social health insurance scheme for pensioners in the country.

PTAD’s Executive Secretary, Sharon Ikeazor, who announced this in Abuja, last Tuesday, disclosed that the contributory scheme would be a social protection programme for pensioners.

Explaining that the proposed scheme would allow pensioners to make stratified contributions commensurate with their earnings into a single fund pool that would be used to guarantee them access to defined health services, Ikeazor said the pensioners would also be entitled to drug refills for chronic diseases,

IGERIAN Insurance Association (NIA) has raised alarm over the proliferation fake insurance policies in the market especially vehicle particulars and drivers’ license, saying the problem informed the creation of the industry data base by the body.

Spokesman of the NIA, Mr. Sunday Thomas who was speaking in Asaba, the Delta State capital, noted that this development had not gone down well with operators in the industry.

“The vehicles on the Nigerian roads are between 16 million and 17 million but what we have registered in our data base is about 4.3 million, it is possible that insurance cover of some expired and have not been renewed.’’

Noting that the association was trying to separate the expired policies from the current ones to determine the actual number of vehicles with genuine insurance, Thomas explained that the industry data base was introduced to curb the proliferation of fake motor insurance papers, provide information on the details of vehicle on the Nigerian roads as well as enhance the verification of certificates in owners’ possession.

He said from available statistics on the number of motorists that are using fake insurance papers, it was obvious that many motorists are unaware of the position of the law on defaulters.

• Director-General, Ayo Oke

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Crime Robbery suspect killed in early morning raid

N armed robbery suspect has A been shot dead by men of Ogun state police command in the early

morning raid at the Ososa junction of shagamu/ ore express way.

Making this known was the states police spokesman Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, Abimbola Oyeyemi.

Oyeyemi tld The Oracle Today that the killing was necessitated by a distress call received by operatives from Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS)that robbers has blocked the express road at about 2:30 am and were dispossessing people of their properties.

“Upon the distress call, the officer in charge of FSARS DSP Uba Adam led his men to the scene where the robbers engaged them in gun duel which lasted for about 45 minutes.

At the end of the encounter, one of the robbers was shot dead while others escaped with gunshot injuries. Two locally made single barrel guns and seventy eight live cartridges were recovered from them” Oyeyemi explained .

• The suspected robbers The commissioner of police cp Ahmed iliyasu who commended his men for the prompt response to the distress call appealed to members of the public especially hospitals to quickly informed the police if they see anybody with gunshot wound in their areas.

Stories by XAVIER NDAH

Lady in court for not trafficking young girls

LADY, Jessica Ubakwere has A landed in trouble after failed attempts to send some ladies abroad

under the false pretence of securing them jobs although with a sinister motives of trading them as sex workers.

The Oracle Today gathered that she lied to them that she had opened African kitchen in United Kingdom and promised to employ them over there.

She gave the condition that the victims will have to pay certain amount of money for the procurement of their travel visas and other documents to enable them stay there of which they all complied by paying her the amount demanded.

It was gathered that, after she had collected almost N2.5m from the victims, she was unable to procure visas or any documents for them to travel. The victims having waited in vain, demanded for a refund but to no avail. But by then other negatives issues had come up against the suspect which the victims did not know before.

Our source revealed that the girls had contacted some of her close friends who confided on the girls that the suspect had no such business abroad but was involved in a prostitution ring which she had tried to engaged the girls but she failed as she couldn’t secure them some travelling documents.

Consequently, the matter was reported to the police and she was arrested at her Okota, Lagos home where the transaction took place.

It was gathered from one of the victims simply known as Alice who revealed that many other women and men were involved in the scam.

Our source said the victims having realized that she was duped had requested for a refund of which she refused insisting that she had spent the money on the failed visa procurements.

Kidnappers, killers of Dangote Portuguese staff arrested T HIRTY suspected criminals amongst those who kidnapped and killed a Portuguese expatriate attached to Dangote group of company and two policemen attached to him along Obajana, kabba road, Kogi state, have been arrested.

Making this known was the Force Public Relations Officers, Chief Superintendent of Police, Jimoh Moshood who disclosed that the implementation of Security Arrangement directed by Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris has been yielding positive results.

Moshood said in order to add new impetus to the fight against kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes in Kogi State, the Inspector General of Police has deployed the IGP intelligence

Response Team who was responsible for the arrest of Kidnap for Ransom Kingpin, Evans and his Gang and killing of vampire during a gun duel between the Police and gang; to team up with the personnel of Kogi State Command to expand the operation and ensure the arrest of all the suspects involved in various kidnap cases in Kogi State.

He said the IGP had mandated the joint team to root out kidnappers in kogi State and other contiguous states such Edo, Benue, Kwara, Enugu and FCT and this has led to a very fruitful result.

“The IGP-Intelligence Response Team and Kogi State Police Command, working on actionable intelligence and in compliance with

IGP’S directives to clamp down on highway robbers and kidnappers have arrested the gang responsible for the unfortunate Kidnapping and killing of a Portuguese Expatriate attached to Dangote Group and two mobile policemen attached to him in Kogi State.

Moshood gave their names as Yahaya a.k.a Halti, Bello Tukur a.k.a Gwojor 27, the gang leader that led the gang that kidnapped and killed the Portuguese Expatriate along with,Aminu Adamu a.k.a Kashi 35, Abubakar Bello a.k.a Babangida 23,Bello Hassan a.k.a Nasara 35,Umar Isiaka a.k.a Baddi 25,Abdulkadir Abubakar a.k.a Nagari 32,Sanusi Saleh 22,Abubakar Hassan a.k.a Kadel 34, Shede Zekeri 25.

I deny my husband sex for fear of contracting HIV, wife tells court

B

AYONLE Bamidele, a housewife has told an Idi-Ogungun Customary Court in Agodi, Ibadan that she denied her husband, Adeyemi Bamidele, sex for fear of contracting HIV. Bayonle said this while defending herself in a divorce suit filed by her husband over her refusal to have sex with him.

She said her husband is a womaniser who is fond of bringing his female friends to our matrimonial home.

“I have warned him to stop promiscuity to avoid contracting HIV, but he will not listen to me.

“So, I denied him sex for fear of contracting HIV, due to his carefree sexual attitude,” she said.

Bayonle urged the court to grant the request of her husband, saying she was not ready to give her body to a flirt.

The husband, a retiree had ap-

proached the court for dissolution of his eight-year marriage with Bayonle on the ground that she denies him sex.

He also alleged that the defendant always beat and threaten to kill him whenever he demanded for sex. ”My lord, I married her to give me kids and satisfy my sexual urge, but the reverse was the case.

The union of eight years is yet to produce a child, worst still, she deny me sex and beat me whenever I make move to sleep with her.

She is a wicked woman, am tired of living with a wife that refused to give me sex,” he said The President of the Court, Chief Mukaila Balogun, dissolved the marriage and directed the plaintiff to pay N5,000 to the defendant to pack her belongings from the plaintiff’s house.He also warned the parties to restrain from trouble, but to go their separate ways.

The second gang who were arrested for Cattle rustling are Adamu Garba aged 23,Adamu Bello who confessed to have participated in the killing of one Haruna Baso of Achoze and carted away with his cattle are Goma Hamza 26, Isah Usman Abarba 20,Abdulkareem Idi 30, while the third gang involved in Kidnapping and armed robbery are Abdulwahab Idi,22, Umoru Adamu 21,Daniel Musa 24,Junior Adams 23,Sanusi Sufyanu 26,.

The fourth gang also involved in kidnap for ransom and armed robbery are Usman Musa 30,Lukman Abdulsalam 34,Musa Yahaya Bello 35, Ismailla Momoh 34, Ochefije 23. The fifth gang members are Abuh Ali 25, Obinna Okpai 29,Lawrence Uchegbu 45,Chinwale Chima 34, Chinedu Obi a.k.a Obison.

The police also displayed exhibits recovered from them which include eleven AK-47 Riffles, two Beretta English Pistol, two revolver pistol, 334, 7.56mm AK47 Ammunitions,six rounds of 9mm Beretta ammunitions, one cut to size locally made revolver gun, two locally made Pistol, 54 rustled cattle,9 pairs of suspected fake military uniform.

“The suspects mentioned were apprehended in their various hideouts in the forest and other locations along the Abuja-Lokoja-kabba highways. They have confessed to their various criminal roles in the commission of the crimes and admitted to have carried out several kidnappings/armed robberies attacks on innocent travellers on the Kogi-Kabaja roads including some high profile kidnap for Ranson in Edo, Delta, Oyo and Ogun States. Investigation is ongoing to arrest other members of the gangs at large. The suspects will be arraigned in Court for prosecution on completion of investigation Moshood said.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Crime

19 Abuja-Jere-Kaduna-Zaria highway robbers, kidnappers in police net

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INETEEN suspected criminals comprising of kidnappers,armed robbers, cattle rustlers who has been terrorizing the Abuja-Jere-Kaduna-Zaria highways including suspected kidnappers of Imam Hakeem Kosoko recently, have been arrested by the police.

The suspects were arrested by the Inspector General of Police, IGP,-Intelligence Response Team IRT, attached to Operation Absolute Sanity, working on actionable intelligence.

Making this known was the Force Public Relations Officers, Chief Superintendent of Police, Jimoh Moshood who disclosed that their arrest was in line with the IGP’S directives to rid Abuja-Jere-Kaduna-Zaria highways and other major roads within FCT, Niger and Kaduna.

Moshood said the 19, suspects include kidnappers, armed robbers and cattle rustlers.

Giving a breakdown of the suspects Moshood said the suspects involved in kidnapping and armed

robbery are Bature Adamu 40, Sani Nasiru 28,both were caught in military uniform, Samaila Yahaya 30, who admitted to have sold three AK47 Rifles to kidnappers,Buhari Abubakar 35, Kabiru Abubakar 29,Abdulrashid Riba aka Baba Wakili 79, who admitted to have sold five AK-47 to Kidnappers, Sani Umar 25,Sani Nasiru 25.

The second gang who were also rounded up were involved in Kidnapping, armed robbery and cattle rustling are Ibrahim Sulaiman 22,Yahaya Abdullahi aka Kechi 27,Bello Anji 30,Ahmed Abubakar 35, Adamu Lawan 25,Audu Lawan 30,Usman Mohammed 20.

The third gang whom he said were involved in kidnapping and armed robbery are Ahmadu Abdullahi 34,Yahuza Yahuba 25,Abubakar Abba 25,Adamu Haruna 21.

The Police said all the suspects were responsible for several kidnappings including that of one Imam Hakeem Kosoko and others on Abuja – Kaduna Roads.

Moshood said most of the sus-

pects were arrested in the act after exchange of gun fire with the personnel of the IGP-Intelligence Response Team attached to Operation Absolute Sanity in their hideout along Kaduna – Abuja Road.

“Four of the kidnapped victims were rescued from their captivity and have been reunited with their families. The arrested suspects have confessed and admitted to their involvements in various criminal acts and investigation is ongoing to arrest other members of the gangs who are at large. I can assure you the suspects will be arraigned in court for prosecution on completion of investigation.

“The Nigeria Police Force deeply appreciates the support and cooperation of members of the Public in achieving the success story being showcased before the public today. The renewed commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to guarantee adequate protection of lives and property remain unequivocal and unwavering” Moshood stated.

• The kidnappers

• Desmond Okotubo

Don Waney’s associate arrested

C

oncerned by the gruesome murder of Innocent people in Omoku Rivers state on the 1st January, 2018 by the vicious and Notorious kidnap for ransom and cult syndicate leader Don Waney and his gang, the police have arrested Desmond Okotubo an associate member of the Don Wanny kidnappers gang in Rivers state.

Making this known was the Force Public Relations Officers, Chief Superintendent of Police, Jimoh Moshood who paraded the suspect disclosed that the Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris set-up special Police joint investigation team, comprising the IGPIntelligence Response Team IRT, the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Force Department of Operations and the Rivers State Police Command to immediately unravel those behind the killings and bring them to Justice.

According to Moshood, “ The IGPIntelligence Response Team IRT attached to the Joint Police Special Investigation Team engaged some of the suspects in their hideouts in Awara Forest boundary between Imo and Rivers State, the shoot-out lasting several hours resulted in the death of six of the suspects while others escaped with bullet wound injury to other locations in Rivers, Delta, Imo and Bayelsa States and the Police Teams are currently on their trail.

“The IGP-Intelligence Response Team IRT working on an actionable intelligence further identified Desmond Okotubo who escaped on the

3rd January, 2018 to Abuja after a shoot-out with the Police Team in a location in Imo State, he was trailed to Mpape in Abuja where he was arrested after serious resistance on the 9th January, 2018. “ This principal suspect, Desmond Okotubo 32 -yrs, is a Native of Egbenma from Onelga LGA Rivers State confessed to be one of the masterminds of the gang and actively participated in the killings of innocent people in Omoku Rivers state on the New Year day. He further gave details of how they planned the Operation in Awara Town Imo State before they carried out the act. “ The suspect, Desmond Okotubo also revealed to the police how their gang leader Don Waney gathered them and briefed them on the night of 31st December 2017 on the mission to attack and kill the residents of Omoku town.

“Thirty of them armed with over 20 AK-47 rifles crossed the river from Awara to Omoku forest and proceeded to Omoku town and opened fire on innocent Citizens celebrating the new year. “ Investigation is being intensified to arrest other members of the gang still at large to get to the root of the matter. The suspect will be arraigned in court on completion of investigation.

“The renewed commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to guarantee adequate protection of lives and property across the country remains unequivocal and unwavering” Moshood explained.

Police parade 55 suspects recover arms and ammunitions T

he dragnet of police detectives Ogun State command has caught 55 suspected criminals during the yuletide season.

Parading the suspects recently at the state police command headquarters, Eleweran in Abeokuta, Commissioner of Police, CP Iliyasu Ahmed, reiterated that the state was not conducive for criminal elements to hibernate adding that the suspects were arrested for offences ranging from armed robbery to kidnapping, cultism, murder, illegal possession of fire arms and dealing Indian hemp.

Ahmed, while giving account of the command’s achievements in the last few months disclosed that 41 assorted arms, 396 ammunition and nine exotic vehicles, snatched at gun points were recovered from the suspects. He explained that of the number of guns recovered were 10 AK- 47, 15 pump action

• CP Ogun state, Ahmed Iliyasu psc

• Ogun harvest of robbers

and 16 locally-made pistols.

In his earlier remark, CP Iliyasu said, “In furtherance to our efforts to make Ogun State a better place for all and sundry, security-wise,

the command embarked on total cleansing of criminal elements during the last Christmas and New Year festival, the result of which culminated in a crime-free yuletide

period.

“Those who were hell-bent in making the state a criminal zone were hunted for and caged. The result of our operation is what we

are showcasing today”, the police boss stated.

The CP, however, expressed, on behalf of officers and men of the command, his profound gratitude “to the good people of Ogun State and government for their support so far in the timely rendition of information and intelligence, which assisted us greatly in ridding the state of crime and criminality.

“We hereby wish to reiterate our earlier resolve to fight crime to a stand-still in this New Year, 2018.

We are not going to rest on our oars, and the battle will be taken to the door steps of the criminals and men of the underworld, until the state is rid of all sorts of crime and criminality”, he concluded.

The CP, however, assured one of the victims of a smashed robbery gang, whose vehicle was among the recovered ones, of releasing his it to him immediately.

32

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33

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Love and Living

...With Ireto Temofeh

MODEL OF THE WEEK

LOVE NEWS

UKIP chief’s glamour model lover apologises over texts about Prince Harry’s fiancée

T

Name: Joy Tel: +2347030801774 •

If you want to be our next ORACLE GIRL, e-mail or forward your photos/data to ireto007@yahoo.com. Call 07031028714.

ODD NEWS The strategies that will have YOU thinking like a slim person

W

hen it comes to changing eating habits - whether it’s to lose weightor just make healthier choices - having some strategies on-hand can make all the difference.

Leading Australian dietitian, Susie Burrell, believes it’s more beneficial to consider taking the long view when it comes to altering dieting patterns, rather than reach for short-term benefits.

Here, FEMAIL reveals Susie’s top five recommendations for creating new and healthy eating and dieting behaviours for long-term, and sustainable, success.

SELF-MONITORING According to Susie, one important aspect of weight control - whether this is done by keeping track of your food intake, daily step number, or how much you actually weigh - is constant awareness of how much you are eating or moving.

‘Being mindful of our day-to-day food and activity habits and incremental changes in body size is a crucial aspect of long-term weight control,’ she wrote.

Susie said self-monitoring has been proven in studies as an effective tool for those who wanted to stay accountable, namely to themselves.

She cites research from the US Weight Control Registry which tracked a group of people who lost 15 kilograms or more and kept it off.

The data from that study revealed those who reported reduced rates of self-weighing, tended to show greater weight gain over time.

‘Keeping an eye on our weight via regular check in’s with the scales reminds us to pull back when we see those numbers start to creep up,’ Susie said.

CHOOSE LIMITING NOT RESTRICTING Though conventional dieting wisdom holds that you need to cut out everything from your diet to lose weight, it can be better over the long term to practice moderation, rather than restriction.

The expert said there are two

he girlfriend of the scandal-hit Ukip leader Henry Bolton has apologised for racist remarks she made about Meghan Markle, calling them ‘reckless and unnecessary’. Jo Marney, 25, sent a series of shocking messages in which she said Prince Harry’s ‘black American’ fiancee will ‘taint’ the Royal Family with ‘her seed’ and pave the way for a ‘black king’. Speaking outside her home today, Ms Marney told MailOnline: ‘I’m absolutely devastated by the messages that I’ve sent and the distress that I’ve caused.

They were unnecessary, they were reckless, they were overly exaggerated purely for effect.’ The 54-yearold party leader, whose relationship with Ms Marney has also led to demands for him to quit, was told

by Ukip West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge after the texts surfaced: ‘Go now. Go quietly and leave us to deal with what’s left.’

Mr Bolton, whose relationship with Ms Marney is under investigation by the party, said today that she had been suspended ‘immediately upon us receiving this information’.

In a Facebook video message Mr Etheridge said: ‘It appears that we are now seeing Ukip resources, which are at best scant, being used to defend Henry’s private life.’

He said he would step down as a Ukip spokesman if Mr Bolton, who was elected leader last September, ‘insists on prolonging this agony’.

A senior UKIP source insisted Mr Bolton had not resigned and was not intending to tonight.

Fellow former Ukip leadership candidate Ben Walker also called for Mr Bolton to resign, accusing him of having ‘deeply flawed judgement’.

Mr Bolton tweeted this morning that he was in London and preparing to head down to London to deal with ‘other matters’.

The Mail On Sunday also revealed Ms Marney’s use of the word ‘Negro’ and a message reading ‘This is Britain, not Africa’ during a discussion about the royal engagement.

In a statement last night Ms Marney said: ‘The opinions I expressed were deliberately exaggerated in order to make a point and have, to an extent, been taken out of context. Yet I fully recognise the of-

fence they have caused.’

Mr Bolton replied to a young party member online who urged him to publicly call for Ms Marney to have her membership removed.

‘She has to go or he and @UKIP are doomed if we let this behaviour happen in the party,’ the teenage activist said.

In replying Mr Bolton tweeted: ‘Jo was suspended immediately upon us receiving this information.’

Peter Whittle, leader of Ukip’s delegation in the London Assembly, also called for Ms Marney to be ‘expelled altogether’ for the ‘disgraceful remarks’.

Party chairman Paul Oakden said he decided to suspend Ms Marney’s party membership immediately after he was made aware of the messages.

‘Ukip does not, has not and never will condone racism,’ he told the Mail on Sunday.

The report of Ms Marney’s use of highly offensive language about people from different ethnic backgrounds comes as Mr Bolton faces an investigation into his controversial private life by senior party officials.

Mr Bolton left wife Tatiana, 42, who gave birth to their second daughter at London’s St Pancras station in 2016 after going into labour on a train, prior to his relationship with Ms Marney becoming public in early January.

Romantic Joke FINALLY TOGETHER

Maria, a devout Catholic, got married and had 10 children.

After her first husband died, she remarried and had 10 more children. A few weeks after her second husband died, Maria also passed away. At Maria’s funeral, the priest looked skyward and said, “At last, they’re finally together.” Her sister sitting in the front row said, “Excuse me, Father, but do you mean she and her first husband, or she and her second husband?” The priest replied, “I mean her legs.”

34

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

True Confession

‘My fiancé rejected me because I’m an outcast’

M

y name is Ngozi and I’m going to be 30 years old in December. I have had many men in my life whom I had expected to marry me. But things changed after we had sex. And although some of the men were personally willing to marry me, they never told me their reasons for dumping me instead of going ahead to marry me.

When I met Obinna, he was so different, he was the kind of man i had been praying for. Initially, I told him that I was not ready for any relationship and that we should just be friends. But as days passed we became closer and he told me that he wanted to have something to do with me for a very long time. Obinna promised to marry me as soon as his business stabilized. I waited for Obinna for three years and slowly but steadily, his business stabilized and he became comfortable.

That was when he informed me that he was ready to travel to my village in Imo state and meet my people and do my introduction. I was overjoyed and I sent word home to my parents that very soon, my fiance was coming to marry me. Obinna’s people also wanted to meet me as their future wife and I happily went with him on one weekend to visit his parents. On getting there, they welcomed me and asked me many questions about my background. I didn’t tell them that my family were regarded as outcasts or osu because I felt that the caste system in Igboland was obsolete and that enlightened people no longer cared about such things.

But i was devastated when Obinna told me two weeks later that his parents had investigated my background and were now opposed to our marriage be-

cause I was an ‘osu’ or outcast. Obinna told me not to worry and that we should carry on with our relationship as though nothing had happened. I believed him initially. But as days turned to weeks, Obinna stopped calling me as much as he used to before. I suspected he now had another girl he wanted to marry and i asked him about it. But he denied it and said that i was his one and only.

Obinna had always told me to respect his privacy because he disliked girls that invaded men’s privacy by doing things like taking his phone and reading his text messages. But one day, out of desperation and curiosity, I went through his phone and noticed the text messages he sent to a girl and the girl’s reply. It was clear that they were having an affair.

When i asked Obinna, he started pleading with me to forgive him and that he loves me but he cannot marry me because i’m an outcast. I wept that day.

Now i’ve lost everything. I’ve lost all the men in my life just because I’m an outcast. I’ve never been happy all my life because the ‘osu’ stigma has been hell for me. My love life has been ruined. If only my Igbo kings, elders and people can understand the pain and emotional & psychological trauma of the osu caste system on their daughters of marriageable age, I’m certain that they will eradicate the evil tradition. I’m only telling the story of the osu caste system from a traumatized spinster’s point of view.

Maybe Nollywood actors & actresses can help by making a film on the Osu caste system and telling the story from the perspective of a traumatized young lady whom no man wants to marry because she’s an outcast.

“On getting there, they welcomed me and asked me many questions about my background. I didn’t tell them that my family were regarded as outcasts or osu because I felt that the caste system in Igboland was obsolete and that enlightened people no longer cared about such things.”

UKIP chief’s glamour model lover apologises...

Contd from page: 33 reasons for why restricting can be problematic: one, people like to eat tasty food and restricting can set up a binge cycle, and two psychological restriction impacts blood glucose regulation, which may, in turn, cause a craving for the very thing we’re trying to abstain from.

Susie said a moderate dietary approach can is a more sustainable, especially over the long term.

She said ‘Including an occasional glass of wine, or dessert or whatever your vice is should not be frowned upon, rather encouraged.’

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT Though it would seem logical to remove tempting treats if you’re making every effort to lose weight, Susie said she’s often

astounded by clients that continue to bring high-fat foods into their homes, and then get upset when they eat them.

Again drawing on science, Susie cited the work of behavioural food researcher Brian Wansink whose research shows that people will eat more food when it is readily available.

Susie explained: ‘If we can see the lollies, we will eat double the amount we would if we could not see them.

‘The larger the plate, the more we will eat.

Working backwards this simply means if you do not want to eat it, do not buy it, and simply serving yourself less is a powerful weight control technique that we have 100 per cent control over.’

PLAN SNACKS AND MEALS

‘Planning is the key to dietary success,’ the nutritional expert said.

Susie explained that if you have foods onhand you need to eat, you don’t fall into the trap of eating whatever is most convenient.

‘How many times do you travel, go to a conference or to a social function and find yourself eating poor quality, high-calorie food because you have nothing else on hand and are hungry?’,’ she asked.

To avoid this, Susie suggests always having a backup supply of nutritious food available so you can make choices aligned with your dietary goals.

AIM FOR CONSISTENCY A blowout for a special occasion can often seem justified.

However, Susie believes it’s better to aim

for a more consistent approach to creating and maintaining eating habits.

‘It does not matter if it is Christmas, a birthday or if they have been “good” in the week, individuals who control their weight keep their basic dietary intake consistent,’ she states.

In practical terms, Susie outlined this means always eating breakfast, and always drinking water, and not becoming to hung up on the fact an extra treat might slip in every now and then.

She added: ‘Just as exercise consistency is the key to success so too is dietary consistency.

‘So no more taking the weekend off, or starting again Monday, just start now, with your very next meal or snack choice.’

35

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Relationships and Love Advice

“She gets too wet for comfort”

Love Search Women seeking relationship/ marriage Joy, 29, a caterer in Lagos, from Delta Igbo, needs a responsible, matured, working man based in Lagos for marriage and job support. 08158522286.

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Age 40-50 years. 07089059144.

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Dear Love Doctor, My wife is too sensitive sexually. She is simply too wet for my comfort. I mean she gets wet too easily! If I say let me observe foreplay before real sex you’ll see that her private part gets excessively wet and becomes slippery. Sex is not enjoyable without the grip and friction between the vaginal walls. Please help.

Thanks, Julius.

Love Doctor’s Advice: Dear Julius,

Quite a number of women have such an unusual problem. During intercourse, their vaginas produce too much of fluid. At the beginning, their partners don’t usually complain, but later it starts to get on the nerves of both the woman and her husband. That’s why you shouldn’t think that your wife herself is happy about the development. Why do some women get too wet during intercourse? The fact is that many people think that sex is best when wet. That’s true, because a woman needs to be lubricated to a certain level, otherwise sex might be too painful for her.

Again, if you feel she gets too wet, you can help by licking and sucking her dry before penetrating her or before continuing with

sexual intercourse. She might enjoy it even more that way, and in so doing you might make her reach orgasm faster and sweeter by licking and sucking her dry even before, during or after you penetrate her.

However, the question is: What constitutes too much wetness in a woman? The answer to that question depends largely on her male partner (you) and the way he touches or plays with her during foreplay like I said before, and also on several other factors such as the size of the man’s penis, looseness of the woman’s vagina, child birth, among others.

Some men love it. Such men who love women who get very wet during sex say, ‘the wetter the better’. Therefore, what you see

as a problem might not be a problem to another man.

However, on a general note, too much natural lubrication or wetness, during sex reduces pleasure for both partners. The woman stops ‘feeling’ the man’s penis or loses the sense of stimulation along the vaginal walls, and the man also loses that sensation of ‘tightness’ which he ought to feel.

So if excessive wetness is a problem for you and as a result you are not satisfied, you should see your doctor to see if there are some infections or other problems causing your wife’s excessive wetness, especially if it’s a recent development and if it doesn’t vary according to your wife’s Menstrual cycle.

Do you have advice on this problem? Please share your thoughts. Call 07031028714 or 08131161840. Email: ireto007@yahoo.com Do you have a marriage/wedding, birthday, anniversary or club or town meeting announcement to make? Call 07031028714 now!

Note: If you have fertility problems like childlessness, inability to conceive or get pregnant, miscarriages, fibroid, low sperm count, STDs, or need a male child or female? Call 07031028714, 08131161840.. Love Doctor can help you succeed in your marriage/ relationship.

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36

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

It happened to me:

‘I started flirting with men as a teenager’ How does an ambitious sixteen-yearold go from wanting the world to becoming a hooker?

I was only fourteen when I was casually browsing the web. Somehow, I ended up on the weird side of the Internet, and I stumbled upon an article about an escort that was living the dream in lower Manhattan. Less than fifteen minutes later, I was captivated by the glamour, the luxury, the allure of it all.

At that very moment, I was on my new computer, in a stereotypical Asian household, with parents that wanted me to become a doctor— preferably, a neurosurgeon. My teachers expected nothing less than the very best, and they held me to high standards based on their fairly accurate perception of my ability. My family was and still is upper middle class, rich enough to afford figure skating lessons, private ice time, and world class coaches; but the one thing they ingrained in me was that we weren’t rich enough for me to do nothing.

So I went out and did something.

Rich, older men, for the most part.

I’m intelligent, scoring at least three standard deviations above the mean on a Stanford-Binet IQ test. I’m attractive, with perky 32C’s sitting on top of a 25-inch waist and 36-inch hips—thanks to lackluster hours at the gym and an above-average set of chromosomes. I’m ambitious and my strong sense of self leads many to believe I’m more intelligent and more attractive than I actually am, and I know how to play right into their overeager imaginations. Unfortunately, if I reach too far, the branch might break, and I just might tumble all the way down, back to where I started.

I’ve always believed that I was special—better—than everyone else, and it’s led me to take shortcuts in life that are unconventional at best and immoral at worst. It started when I cheated in elementary and middle school. I never got caught, but people definitely had their suspicions. Luckily I realized I was too smart to cheat, as studying wouldn’t take much longer. My brain soaks up everything I read like a sponge, so the risks and the consequences of getting caught just didn’t appear to be worth my while. That was when I started taking “calculated risks”… but unlike a calculator, my brain is a bit harder to calibrate.

Fast forward a few years, and this time, I wasn’t seeking grades, but rather, dollars. I learned this quote

by Ayn Rand from a very young age, “Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” I had places to go and people to see, and by God, I would not be held back by a lack of money.

My parents were willing to spend a fortune on education, but a candy

When I was 15 going on 18, I realized I had no problem passing for much older, as long as I could cultivate an aura of maturity and a story to back it up. Although some people questioned my age, I always had a believable story about attending college in the fall just waiting in my back pocket. I “accidentally” left my ID at home, but if they’d like, I could go home and get it? bar? Hell, no. My mom certainly was not wasting ninety-nine cents to satisfy my cravings for some chocolate-nougat-caramel goodness. The same logic applied when I wanted to buy makeup, clothes, and accessories. I felt deprived…so being the ambitious child that I was, I sought to create my own source of income.

When I was 15 going on 18, I realized I had no problem passing for much older, as long as I could cultivate an aura of maturity and a story to back it up. Although some people questioned my age, I always had a believable story about attending college in the fall just waiting in my back pocket. I “accidentally” left my ID at home, but if they’d like, I could go home and get it? That paired with a few gentle touches and the effect of widening my eyes to appear sincere always resulted in an offhanded laugh about how it wasn’t

necessary…how could someone as genuinely sophisticated as me be just a child?

Not only was I missing an ID, I also didn’t have a car, but some breezy remark about my car being in the shop was enough to satisfy most. These men believed me not because my story fit, but because they wanted to.

I wasn’t sure how to get started, but I figured I should poke around on Craigslist, especially after all that I had heard. Being the strategic conspirator that I was, I figured out which tone worked, which information was necessary, and what these men wanted to hear. I took a few sexy pictures, developed the perfect story, and created a template for my responses. It all felt like a game. They wanted me and I wanted their wallet.

I probably exchanged emails with 50 different men before meeting a

few and deciding upon one as my first customer. He was a lawyer, too busy for relationships, merely looking to fulfill his physical needs, and simply perfect for me. I didn’t get paid much, only $350, but considering the fact that he only took twenty minutes, it was fine by me. Back then at the age of 16, a few hundred was enough to last me six months.

I budgeted frugally and I promised myself I would only see another man when I needed to. Little did I know that I had just taken the very first step on a downward spiral. With a somewhat flawed rationale, I had quantified my self-worth and cashed it all in for money.

• Do you have a story or comment about this confession?

Call 07031028714.

37

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Love & Living

I

Who cares about resolutions?

DIDN’T make any resolutions this New Year and I have no regrets, who resolution epp? I just think it rather foolhardy making resolutions for their sakes even when the “ resolution maker” knows that words alone don’t cut it. It’s just a waste of useful thoughts and time.

I stopped resolving over and over to be the saint I can never be because it’s just unrealistic. What we term resolutions are mostly about quitting things our church mind judges as bad and even sinful: smoking and drinking, womanizing or “manizing”, masturbation or gayism etc. Others include blackmail, witchcraft, gossiping, fighting, “knifing” and “matcheting” Then again, can resolutions curb bribery/ corruption and armed robbery/ kidnapping in Nigeria? We wish.

Why do resolutions mostly fail?

Could it be that we resolve to stop what we didn’t start in the first place?

Or that we play God thinking that we can press pause when we never pushed the play button initially?

Hey, if you keep doing stuff you wish to stop then you don’t have to wait for the new year to change course neither do you need any resolutions.

You also don’t have to pencil down all the wrong things you do neither do you have to burn innocent pieces of paper to ashes thinking that the mere act washes away your sins. Take heart, dear, but truth be told, it works

Ify ARONU ifyaronu@gmail.com

Take heart, dear, but truth be told, it works not.

Tell you what, resolutions don’t change us, it takes much more. Any day is a good time to start fighting and resisting your own “devils” one day at a time.

”

not. Tell you what, resolutions don’t change us, it takes much more. Any day is a good time to start fighting and resisting your own “devils” one day at a time.

On the flip side, you may require smart and purposeful resolutions to

work better and be more effective in the New Year say in business. The start of a new year is a fantastic time to review and maybe rethink strategies and approaches and then set new milestones. No matter your line of business, I’m sure you want to reach

more people and increase chances of making sales.

At this material time in 2018, the year is fresh and new, I’m sure no one wants to be reading love stories this early. Lol. But for real, who still makes love these days? Well, maybe just people who are in the love making business. I’m thinking we are all about increasing income this year at least for now. So, this month of January, I’m led to share simple yet effective ideas about how you can breath new life into your source of livelihood. Take it or leave it, customers/clients have new and changing expectations these days and to stay ahead, you must progressively redefine the expectations and meet same.

This new year with new goals spurred by new possibilities can only yield new and good things given a new outlook and renewed mindset.

Is someone wondering why I’m opting to go biz on this love page at this time? Let’s just say that love is sweetest when we are making money at the same time, or bout the same time.

And for what it’s worth, I’d rather talk money first then love later, shekina!

Catch you next week...

• Please send comments to ifyaronu@gmail.com

Over populating Nigeria, culprits, their motivation

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RE you like me who has seen the rise in childbirth in Nigeria and worry has become yours and now you can’t seem to get your mind off this trend? It is a relief to know that I may not be the only one concerned about the growth in the number of Nigerians.

Now, I wouldn’t have had issues with more people if things were different.

Put differently, I would have been celebrating our rising numbers if the resources were there to support them.

There is a rather ugly trend that has risen to become a national cry from the issue of the rise in childbirth, and that is child labour, child torture and of course lack of proper training of the child. Other issues flow from there.

Sadly so, these trends when fast-forwarded have given rise to juvenile delinquency and then subsequently truancy and some of the social vices recorded daily. The increase in crime, some experts say, issues from the inability of parents to cater for the needs of their children.

I know of a NUCLEAR family that has up to eight children. Some would tell you that eight is regular if you know the numbers in other places.

I have also read of families that have 13 children, and usually it is one mother who does all the pushing (I salute their strength) It has been noticed that many of these parents who give birth to many children are mostly those who do not have the resources to provide for the children. It is in rare cases that the wealthy have many children, compared to those who can barely man-

M

ability to keep a large family was an achievement. The large family in turn meant enough hands to work at their farms and plantation as most of their children became farm hands and reduced their cost in getting others to do the farm work for them. They also literally fed themselves from their farm productions.

e& ore

Maureen Alikor maureenalikor@gmail.com

What still amazes me is that parents of the 21st Century have not learnt from the mistakes of our fathers. With the huge farms that our forebears had, with jobs, with dwindling purchasing power of whatever they earn; many of them are birthing more children, they say children are blessings.

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age to look after themselves. You can call them the lowest class.

Every society has three major classes, the upper class, the middle class and the lower class.

If you noticed my choice of words, I was intentional in saying lowest, which connotes that there is a class lower than lower.

That means they may be on the upper, middle, and lower class, but may be undergoing the reasons stated be-

low which in turn qualifies them for the lowest class. In lowest families, many factors lead to them to make many children.

I will deal with just two Ego During the era of our fathers and grandfathers, we learnt it was the fad to have so many children. Well being, health, fertility and importance then were reckoned with had. Even the

Ignorance, sex as only ecstasy For many parents of old, they had little or no knowledge of what parents these days have come to know easily.

They knew nothing about withdrawal methods during sex, contraceptives, in fact the entire family planning package.

I believe ignorance plays a role in this too as most of them didn’t know when to stop birthing more children.

And they were unashamedly ignorant of the fact that proper child training goes beyond what they had come to know.

What still amazes me is that parents of the 21st Century have not learnt from the mistakes of our fathers. With the huge farms that our forebears had, with jobs, with dwindling purchasing power of whatever they earn; many of them are birthing more children, they say children are blessings.

You cannot win an argument with them in this matter, after all, they would add, it is their life, and the decision is personal, except that the consequences are public.

• Please send comments, suggestions and questions to maureenalikor@gmail.com

38

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

The Law and You

With Barr. Ken Akpom 08162016410

Is there need for a lawyer?

T he answer to this important question in my mind is capital YES! I said so not because I am one but because of a lot of circumstances in my life and in the lives of some others that I know which if only there was a lawyer around them would not had been as it happened to them or be so in their lives. Some always confused the need and importance of this noble profession with religion. Must it be so? No should be the right answer. In one of my unpublished novels titled Lawyers are not Liars. I tried to differentiate what the religious book “Bible” classified a lie to be with just two scenarios, I know that the whole Pastors will come out to justify their own beliefs of it and I am ready to make their views known in my series but they should note that this column is the Law and You not religious column. The case of Abram and Sarai in the Bible Genesis 12:11-17 and Acts 5:1-10 about Ananias and Sapphira. In both cases, there were some aspects of lies but in the first case, I may put it as an acceptable lie because it was done to save a soul (Abram) while in the latter lie it was done for greed. My argument is that if one sees lawyers as liars, one is making mistakes because whatever they do is pure in life with the first aspect of lie, if at all it is, just save soul.

I normally hear some people who, out of ignorance, would say, I do not want a lawyer around me because they are usually liars. Their generalizing as have been the way of most people in Nigeria today. Yoruba is not good, Igbo is not good, Hausa is not good. The big question is which one is good? Yet, you make friends to them and enjoy the resources that come from them.

Likewise do some people out of ignorance talk what they do not understand about lawyers? They create wrong impression about lawyers. I had lived in a house where the landlady was quarrelling with me just because I am a lawyer and according to her, “none of her children will ever become lawyer, her reason of such impression is that lawyers tell lies contrary to the Word of God”. And, when I asked her to point out one single lie told by the lawyers she knows, she told me that somebody who was caught by the police as an armed robber when a neighbor shouted so was argued by a lawyer in the court when he was arraigned as innocent and he was set free. I laughed at her because she was not there to know exactly what transpired between the accused and the person who raised the alarm before the police came into the matter and charged the accused as armed robber. When I enquired further, she told me that “the accused was a tenant in the house of the alarmist and because the daughter of the landlord was befriending the man contrary to the warning of her father, he framed up the tenant as armed robber and being that the tenant is poor and not from his state of origin, he used his friends to execute the plot”. She only believed one side of the story without balancing the other side to determine the truth and when somebody well trained and experience in determining lies from truth assisted in saving a soul who would have been unjustly condemned to death are tagged liars. Come to think of it, are lawyers’ liars? The answer is No! From this scenario, it is very clear that the lawyers are trained experts in crime and injustice prevention. Lawyers are best classified as pastors in the temple of justice. Without lawyers a lot of injustices, anarchy and fair-plays will be perpetuated by evil and criminally minded people. Recently, there had been wild outcries about the activities of an arm of the police known as IGP-SARS. These boys are like alpha and Omega in the nation because they can kill innocent people and cover it up as criminals as well as can arrest and detain indefinitely innocent people as long as they liked. But, it is on record today, that it was the act of lawyers that made the courts to order the immediate release from their detention cells of those illegally arrested to regain a temporary or permanent freedom and in some cases the courts awards substantial damages against the police authorities for unlawful arrests and killings. This leads me to the elementary government or civic taught me in the primary school, secondary school and the university on the topic, Separation of Power – in this topic, I was told that in government that there are three arms – The Executive, The Legislature and the Judiciary.

That the propounder of the theory Montesquieu was analyzing a nation where one person or group of persons act as the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary that the nation will turn to “Animals Kingdom”, there will be anarchy, injustices, unfair treatment of the citizenry. That suppression and lies will be the order of the day. Can you remember any government that had or has this attribute in this our country and century? Who make the judicial arm of government in a state functional? Is it not the lawyers? The judges that you see and talk about rose from the level of lawyers to become judges. They are human beings like us but because of their exposure in life and vast knowledge and experience in law they were elevated to the level of judges. They act like God in the affairs of every nation because their judgment holds both life and death. Therefore they deserve very high respect and honour from every arm of government who then is talking wrongly about lawyers who are like the mediator between the oppressed and God. If the lawyers are not

there to solicit and advocate for the victimized, oppressed or wrongly and unjustly accused persons imagine what their fates would have been. Many would have met their untimely and not God’s ordain deaths in the hands of the wicked and callous sets of persons in the society. Politics is almost around the corner and in no distance time campaigns, voting and elections results will be announced, whether correctly or incorrectly. The question is who will determine electoral malpractice and ensure that the decisions of the masses/voters in a democratically election is upheld? Once again it is the lawyer that challenges elections malpractices. Most people in developing communities do not understand what election is all about except that they should vote and what happens to their votes is usually beyond their understanding and it is only a lawyer that can legally commence the needful in court to protect their votes. Mr. Obi, a trader at Alaba Marker in Lagos, bought a plot of land from the family of Adegbenro in Alimosho Local Government and paid all the necessary charges by the vendor. He was advised by the lawyer to survey it, register it, and obtain the C of O (Certificate of Occupancy) on the land and he did so and unknown to some other land sellers (Omoleles). These land sellers went ahead even after he had mould blocks on the land and erected a dwarf fence to sell the same land to a new buyer at a higher price and asked Mr. Obi to vacate that land for another uncomfortable plot at Ogun State. Trouble ensured thereafter and eventually the land was judged to Mr. Obi even after the new buyer his erected a boy quarters there. Who made it possible for Mr. Obi to reacquire his right on the land? Is it not the lawyer? Who say lawyer is not needed in our daily affairs?

Furthermore, when I heard and read in the media about Law/constitutional reform by the House of Assembly, I usually ask myself those to reform the Law/Constitution legally in the National Assembly. Are they all trained fully in law? Or is at least two-third of them trained as lawyers/Political Scientists to determine the correct legal reforms to be effected in the constitution so as not to create problems in future. Also, I asked myself the question if those in the legislature are trained experts in law for such purpose. Will there be at times problems in the interpretation of the law made by them as was the case on the death of a sitting President as was the case during the Late President Musa Yar’adua? This almost cause very big problem in the country then until it was amended and so many others. Some may say that they have legal draftsmen but those draftsmen drafts to suit the intention of the House and not to suit the intention of the law as is the original intention of the law from its sources. It is my humble view that since the legislatures are most often been referred to as the law makers of the Nation that at least two-third of its members should be made up of trained and qualified lawyers who know and understand the law and shall use their wealth of knowledge and skills as lawyers to make the House more effective and efficient to the intentions of the voters. Lawyers are more often bold, truthful as the ethics of their profession demand.

In addition, just like I said earlier, a lawyer is needed in almost every aspect of human endeavors. Most people think it is only in trouble times that lawyers are needed. I want to educate those with such thinking that lawyers services is not only in trouble times, but also in peaceful time. One does not wait until there is trouble to seek the advice of a lawyer in every major engagement or undertaking. A slight legal mistake may cause a

Million or Millions of Naira regrets. Hence, prevention they say is better than cure. One thing in life that is sure to happen is death and after that death what happens to the lives, pleasure and comforts of ones loved ones is unknown. However, one can determine even at death what happens to one’s loved one by simply engaging the services of a lawyer. This aspect of the job is assigned to lawyers because they are experts on it. The cultural way of relying on relatives have been found to put the life, peace, pleasure and comforts of dead person’s loved ones in a lot of regrettable situations where the dead will be weeping and crying even in the greave and not have peace. But with the professionalism of a lawyer a WILL will be put in place to safeguard the dead from weeping and crying in the grave and not rest in peace. With a lawyer, WILL will be made earlier in one’s life as legal intentions of anyone before death and can be changed several times as one desire before ones death so as to safeguard ones continuous control of the affairs of one’s family and loved ones even at death. Also, even when there is no WILL put in place but there is a statutory (Court) Marriage put in place at one’s life before marriage, a lawyer can still protect the interest and wishes of the dead to one’s nuclear family and against “Gold Diggers” through obtaining Letters of Administration (without a WILL) for the beneficiaries. Examine the families of most rich people after the death of the bread winners, you will shade tears and even pray not to be excessively rich as they were. There is always troubles, quarrelling and in some cases untimely deaths of their loved ones. This is simply because those wealthy people always think that they can control their lives and determine when they should die, thereby not thinking it necessary to engage the services of lawyers early enough before death to ensure that they speak from their graves after death. They trust friends, associates, members of same societies to protect their assets after death. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse and the lawyer knows the law and applies it adequately. One cannot do without them.

Also, in the office environment is a lawyer needed? The answer is YES. Any office that engages the services of a lawyer either as staff or as consultant hardly make legal mistakes. This is why you discover that most multi-national and big organizations like banks, oil companies, etc. have legal departments which are involve in their day to day businesses. One may ask the question, is it only the big organization or companies that require the services of lawyers as advisers/consultants? Also, the answer is NO. Even private individuals who can afford their costs need them. Thus, lawyers are indispensable in our daily lives and livings.

Finally, the title “Lawyer” or “Barrister” commands respect.

Every matter or organization that one deals with and it is noticed that lawyer is involved, adequate care and respect is accorded to it. History has shown that in all state governed by lawyers or has lawyer’s relationship, such state perform tremendously well in the affairs of governance. All over the world, lawyers are noted as a noble and honored profession and treated as such. Every home/family needs at least a lawyer.

Stop having bad impression about lawyers. Note that they are important in our daily affairs.

•

Please direct your comments/views through text messages only to my phone numbers or e-mail.

• Do you have questions or seek legal clarification on issues concerning your marriage, probate, property, etc? Call or send a text message to Barr. Ken: 08162016410, 08075763840. Email: kenakpom@yahoo.com

39

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

ENTERTAINMENT

With Douglas Omoyooma

I’m not in a hurry to get married again – Juliet Ibrahim

• Explains how new lover wooed her

After a messy marriage to her ex-pilot husband, which crashed only after a couple of years and a daughter, actress, model, moviemaker and entrepreneur, Juliet Ibrahim has found love again. This time it is in the arms of fast rising rapper, Iceberg Slim. In this chat with The Oracle Today, the curvy actress who made her acting debut in Crime to Christ in 2005 opens up on how she met and fell in love with Iceberg Slim, the rapper who stole her heart.

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ecalling how they met, the actress went down memory lane? “His confidence, intelligence and his bubbly personality were the first qualities that caught my attention. He is a fun person to be around and he is very straightforward. I guess many of his followers on social media can attest to that by the kind of things he posts and talks about randomly. We have very similar characteristics so it was quite easy to click with each other.

“We met in South Africa and became friends and he made the first move. Our initial conversation kicked-off on our similar tastes in music. However, after I left South Africa we didn’t cross paths again until some months later. We built a friendship at first and then every other thing fell into place and today the rest is history.”

Now that she has found love again, is marriage near or far her? “Just like every other relationship out there, things are meant to be taken one step at a time. We are happy together and that is all that matters for now.”

Nollywood With over 50 movies under her belt, Juliet Ibrahim is indeed a force to reckon with both in Nollywood and Ghallywood. She shares her early years: “I started acting at a very young age. I performed at talent shows in school and in church. I was also singing at those talent shows and in the choir. I spent my entire childhood dreaming of becoming a superstar.

“Luckily, in 2004 I won a beauty pageant and I got a call for an audition. I went there and I got the lead role for my first movie Crime to Christ. That is how it all started for me and the rest they say is history.”

13 years later, what has the journey been like?

“It has been wonderful and I thank God everyday for allowing me to live my dream. I have been able to use my career to impact many lives and create other avenues for myself and my brand. Apart from acting, I am a professional compere, I am into music and I run a production company, Jewelz Productions and we produce and direct films, musical videos, TV series, you name it.

“I am also an entrepreneur and I have my own line of beauty products, Moda Lipstick Line & Shades by Juliet Ibrahim Eyelashes. I also founded the Juliet Ibrahim Foundation.”

Every Woman Has a Story?

Currently, her TV series which she wrote, directed and produced is currently making waves. What inspired Every Woman Has A Story? A smile lit her features as she responds: “It was my directorial debut. It follows the lives of five women who have been through pain and struggles which has left them marred in a way but through it all, they have gained the power to share the joy, the happiness, the heartbreak, the pain, the disappointment and the love in their individual stories.

“They live every single day with the hope of having a man strong with love, deep with care and high on passion. The series features several first time actors handed the opportunity to showcase their talents as well as upcoming acts whose prowess would be highlighted. The first Season of Every Woman Has a Story was shot in Accra, Cape Coast and South Africa, while season two will be shot in Nigeria and Ghana. The series is currently showing

on ONTV Nigeria every Monday and Wednesday at 7pm.”

She and her lover, Iceberg Slim clinched an endorsement deal with international perfume brand, Oros. Could you shed light on that? “We were announced brand influencers of Oros Perfumes in Nigeria last year. Oros perfumes was launched officially in Lagos, Nigeria in February, after it’s launch it’s most recent launch in Dubai, UAE. I believe the best duo to interpret the message Oros is putting out to its potential customers is the Iceberg Slim and Juliet Ibrahim brands,” she adds with the confidence of a woman who knows her onions.

New projects According to the actress, she is as busy as a bee. she says: “I do a whole lot more than people think or know. I act, produce, direct and I run a production company. I am a master of ceremony, a business owner. I am a humanitarian and I run an NGO focused on creating awareness on kidney related diseases, malaria, ebola, HIV, kidney cancer, hepatitis C and other deadly diseases.

“So there is a lot to always expect from me.

However, I will be dropping more music this year. Talking movies, I will be on the screens more often, hosting your favourite events and a dropping a reality TV show.”

Obviously a workaholic, how does he juggle all of this? “Honestly, I am a superwoman (laughter).

Because sometimes I ask myself, how I do it all. But at the end of the day, it is by the grace of God; He is the one that keeps me going. I am able to juggle them perfectly well.

Secret to your success “Success means creating a business that empowers customers, employees and a community all at equal measure. Success is simply knowing that what you are doing is helping you and others lead a better, happier, healthier life.”

Having done it all and seen it all, Juliet Ibrahim who was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in West Africa by A Listers Magazine has a word of advice for wannabes: “Whatever you want to do in life, you must first of all make sure that it is exactly what you want to do. You must have a passion for it, learn it or give it your best and strive to be the best at it.”

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Juliet Ibrahim

40

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

Entertainment

Okoroji begins indefinite demonstration at federal high court lagos

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(From left) Chief Tony Okoroji, COSON Director, Hon. John Udegbunam and MUPMAN President, Engr. Sharon Wilson at the COSON Big Conference. hairman, Copyright Society of Ni- (MCSN) truly an approved collecting geria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, society and authorized to collect monhas begun an indefinite one-man ey on behalf of innocent Nigerian musidemonstration in front of the Federal cians? Okoroji was insistent that some High Court, Lagos. Chief Okoroji said people desperately do not want that that his action has become necessary question answered hence the muscling to draw the attention of the world to a of Justice Ibrahim Buba and the failed new and dangerous attempt to destroy machinations to remove Okoroji himself the Nigerian judicial system by the black- as Chairman of COSON. mail of a Nigerian judge to force him not It will be recalled that on December 19, the COSON General Assembly met to deliver a judgment written by him.

The former president of PMAN, very in Lagos and condemned in very strong well respected for his depth of knowl- terms what it termed the brazen actions edge in intellectual property issues of the Attorney-General of the Federaacross the continent, said that he is ask- tion & Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar ing all lawyers and judges in the Nigerian Malami in ordering the Nigerian Copylegal system to insist that the case file right Commission (NCC), despite the in Suit No FHC/L/CS/1259/2017 which he Commission’s strong protestations, to said was taken away in bizarre circum- blatantly go against Nigerian law and stances from Justice Ibrahim Buba of approve the MCSN syndicate to collect the Federal High Court, Lagos, just as copyright royalties on behalf of innohe was about to deliver judgment in the cent Nigerian musicians, while the Attorsuit, be returned to the judge so that he ney-General knows that MCSN togethcan deliver his judgment and any of the er with its leadership are facing seven parties dissatisfied with the judgment different criminal cases at the Federal High Court which cases were filed by can proceed to the Court of Appeal.

According to Chief Okoroji, the key the same NCC, an agency of the Federal question Justice Buba was scheduled Government. The Assembly described to answer in his judgment is this: Under the action of the Attorney-General as Nigerian law, is the syndicate known defying common sense while warning as Musical Copyright Society Nigeria that Nigeria is not a Banana Republic

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and Mr. Abubakar Malami cannot be law on to himself.

The COSON General Assembly also called on President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Nigerian Bar Association, the National Assembly, the National Judicial Council, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to take necessary steps to save the Nigerian creative industry from the meddling of Mr. Abubakar Malami and the raging fire lit by him and ensure that the MCSN syndicate and the seven members of its leadership presently on bail and facing seven different criminal cases at the Federal High Court are fully prosecuted and no steps whatsoever are taken to let any of the accused persons escape justice through the back door.

The General Assembly also forcefully condemned the heavy-handed actions to harass, arm-twist, intimidate and blackmail a Federal High Court Judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, which actions twice aborted his attempt to deliver Judgment in the case brought by COSON against MCSN and the Attorney-General of the Federation challenging the dubious approval of MCSN. The Assembly described the intimidation of Justice Buba as a dangerously frightening effort to muzzle the Nigerian judiciary which development must be condemned by all lawyers, judges and every self-respecting Nigerian citizen.

The COSON Assembly stated that in a nation in which courts regularly rule against governors and even the Federal Government, MCSN and the Attorney-General of the Federation cannot be above the law and that the case file taken from Justice Ibrahim Buba just as he was about to deliver judgment in Suit No FHC/L/CS/1259/2017, should be returned to the Judge immediately and that Justice Buba should be allowed to deliver judgment as he deems fit in the case because justice delayed is justice denied. The Assembly said that any party in the case dissatisfied with the judgement of Justice Ibrahim Buba, including COSON, can thereafter go to the Court of Appeal to seek a reversal of the judgment.

I got Fela role by accident –Adeniji Heavywinds

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he lead actor in Bolanle Austin-Peters’ Fela & The Kalakuta Queens, Adeniji Heavywinds, has revealed that he got the role of Fela, in the musical currently showing at Terra Culture by accident.

In a chat with TS weekend, Adeniji who while ago dropped a brand new single entitled Jambala and who revealed that he is working on another single, Scatter Scatter said: “I got the role for Fela by accident. I came here to rent their hall and they asked me what do I play and I said Afro jazz and they asked, how about Fela? I said Fela is my role model and they said can you do this and I said yes.

“So they got me some trainers. i watched a lot of Fela videos and I talked to Duro Ikujenyo and Yeni and they explained how Baba behaved in the house so I couldn’t get it wrong. I feel privileged acting Fela. In my dreams I believed one day i would do the few thing and it did come true. it is so surreal,” Adeniji, whose depiction of Fela has won rave reviews added.

Commending the producer, director and writer of Fela & The Kalakuta Queens he continued: “The response has been encouraging. We could relate to the crowd. everything is so natural. Bolanle Austin-Peters has been very bold and confident taking up this project; she is so audacious and it calls for an applause.”

Me.2Kay releases photos of new video shoot

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ratin records artiste, Mr. 2Kay has just released photos and behind the scene video from his recent photo shoot ahead of his upcoming album.

The pictures were shot and directed by multiple award winning photographer, Shola Animashaun and styling by Oluwafemi Lagos.

Speaking on the concept of the shoot, Mr. 2Kay said, “If you have followed my story in recent time, you’ll understand that I have gone through some difficult times and these images are proof that I have survived and transcended away from where I used to be.” The “Belema” singer continued, “I just want my fans to know that I’m in a happy place right now and I believe these pictures relates the same.”

Singer’s crew member arrested for assault

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member of Davido’s entourage Umarudeen Kayode was arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrate court on Friday, January 12, on a 5-count charge, including assault, breach of public peace and for resisting arrest.

Pulse reported on Friday, that a member of Davido’s entourage had caused a scene at the Murtala Mohammed Airport.

One of the crew members of the music star simply identified as Kayode, got into a fight with the customs officers and baggage check officials when they attempted to check the tags on the checked luggage of Davido who arrived on an Emirates flight.

According Sahara Reporters, the first charge levelled against him was of obstructing and resisting a public officer, an offence contrary to section 117(1) and punishable under the same section of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

Count 2 reads, “That you, Umarudeen Kayode ‘M’, on the same date, time and

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Day Fela rejected $.1m deal

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Davido

place, in the aforementioned magisteri- section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos al district did unlawfully assault a public State 2011.” officer causing him harm and thereby The reports reveal that the magistrate committed an offence punishable under granted him bail in the sum of N50, 000 and two sureties in like sum.

Both sureties must have variable addresses within the jurisdiction of the court.

Umarudeen was unable to meet the ping new singles, a full album and start- bail condition as at the time the court ing a TV Program christened Unbroken closed for the day. This means that Wings, which I am seriously working on Umarudeen will be spending the weekright now,” the divrbed mother of three end in prison until he perfects his bail told Oracle Today. conditions.

“It is entitled Baba Na You and it is all A video uploaded by Sahara Reporta about what God as been too me over ers, shows Umarudeen being conveyed the years. It is a gospel song dedicated out of the court premises a few minutes to praise and worship of the Almighty.” after 4 pm.

Gloria Doyle returns

inger, Gloria Doyle has returned with a bang! As you read this piece, her single entitled Baba Na You is currently ruling the airwaves.

Opening up on what she has ben up to she said: “I was doing a lot of travelling and concentrating on my kids. The new thing about Gloria Doyle is that I am coming out bigger and stronger. Drop-

Mr 2Kay

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t has merged that Afro beat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti once rejected a deal worth a hundred thousand dollars a short while after Kalakuta Republic was razed by ‘unknown soldiers’ in 1977.

According to sources who spoke to Oracle Today: “This happened a short while after Kalakuta was raced. He was homeless and squatting when Jim Bishop, Fela’s manager who also managed flutist, Tee Mc Omatsola Iseli flew into the country with a suitcase loaded with cash to the tune of $.1m.

“Jim and Tee mac had paid Fela a visit where he was squatting in Lagos and Jim made a proposal to him. He wanted to remix Fela’s songs to between four or five minutes in order to make them commercial. But Fela refused and was angry.

He warned him to stay off his music because he wanted nobody fooling around with his sound. Even the offer of $.1m dollars was not enough to make him change his mind and the American flew back to America angry and disappointed.”

41

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

JUST HUMAN

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ne look at Chidi and what strikes you is that this young man is not given to frivolities. Novelist James Hardley chase would say he has character on his face. A university graduate from Nawfia in Njikoka Local Council of Anambra State, he runs a carwash as one of his several other businesses. And you are to find him at the place every so often. Whenever his washers get too busy to attend to customers, Chidi would spring to his feet, grab one of the water-hoses and begin to wash any of the customers’ unattended cars by himself. And it’s no big deal to him, actually, because, what a heck, it’s all part of running the business, anyway!

Last Saturday at Chidi’s carwash, the stoutly built entrepreneur saw a marked car belonging to The Oracle Today and approached the driver.

“I would like you to advise me on what to do,” he began, his brow furrowing in pain, apparently at the thought of the incident about which he was raring to volunteer information. “I have a neighbour who has been treating her maid very badly and I can’t keep quiet any longer; I want to tell the whole

Concerned neighbour squeals on child abuser

KELECHI NZE encounters a conscionable entrepreneur who told him the chilling story of a woman who is in the habit of bathing her maids with hot water! world about it.”

The driver of The Oracle Today car turned out to be a reporter who instantly recognized the news value in Chidi’s story and told him to shoot. And, so, here, now, is Chidi’s story…

“My name is Chidi and I reside in Ajao Estate, in Oshodi/Isolo LGA of Lagos State. I would like to use this medium to report a serious case of child abuse.

“Around 2 am on Sunday, January 7, 2018, I over-heard my neighbour, by name Mrs. Comfort (surname unknown) who resides on Benson Anorue Street Ajao Estate,

beating her maid by name Oluebube, a 14- year old girl, whom Mrs. Comfort refused to send to school. The woman is in the habit of maltreating her maids. In fact, one was ‘fortunate’ to run away.

“I took interest in this particular one when I saw the maid called Oluebube, a few minutes after 8 am, limping. I asked her why she was limping and why her madam was beating her at such an ungodly hour. She said her madam woke her up at about 2 am and gave her some work to do but that because she didn’t do the work to her Madam’s satisfaction, the woman tied

her up, beat her and poured hot water on her. I have since reported the case to the Human Rights office located at Isolo Local Government Secretariat.

“After I reported the case on January 8, officers were dispatched to her residence. But Mrs. Comfort, sensing that she had committed an offence, absconded with the maid and her kids to an unknown location before the Human Rights officers could get to her. I have attached photos of the maid’s injuries to substantiate my claim. I hope that my complaint would be taken seriously, thank

you.”

Chidi said his objective in going public with his discovery was so that the concerned authorities would take action against Mrs. Comfort and save that little girl from the custody of “that deranged woman.”

While commending the human rights officers of Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, when contacted the, Chidi would like the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to also take up Oluebube’s matter with a view to rescuing her from the custody of Mrs. Comfort.

Where’s my son? octogenarian mother of missing IPOB member cries out IBE NWACHUKWU captures the pain and anguish of a widow whose son, following soldiers’ attack against IPOB members praying in a church, has been missing since May 2016.

“M

ay God curse the day soldiers of the Nigerian Army invaded St. Edmumd’s Catholic Church, near Onitsha, Anambra State, which may have resulted to the disappearance of my son.

“May the Federal Government of Nigeria consider my age and find my son for me. I want to see my son either dead or alive!”

These were the lamentations of Madam Usulor Nwali, an 82-year old octogenarian mother of Mr. Abraham Nwali, a native of Umunwagu, Idembia community in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State whose whereabouts is yet to be ascertained since May 29, 2016 when soldiers swooped on the church premises and allegedly attacked some members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who had gathered from various places to pray.

Madam Nwali, who spoke to newsmen, stated that her son, Abraham Nwali who would be 34 years this year was reported to have travelled to Onitsha from his Amachai New Site residence, in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State to join other members of IPOB of which he is a member and has not been sighted after the soldiers’ attack

on the group.

She said that although her other children have continued to assure her that her son Abraham is alive, she would not be convinced until she has heard her son’s voice or seen him in person.

Looking pale and withdrawn since the news of the disappearance of her son was broken to her, the aged widow, who lamented the death of her husband a year after she gave birth to Abraham, also demanded to be given an opportunity to have a chat with President Mohammadu Buhari.

“I laboured so much to bring Abraham into this world. I don’t have people to help me at this old age. It was my son Abraham who was well-to-do and had been caring for me before soldiers attacked them on the church premises where they had gone to commemorate the anniversary of the declaration of the defunct State of Biafra,” Madam Nwali wailed.

“My son was not carrying any gun or machete to warrant such brutality. Who must have taken my son away from me,” the aged woman lamented as she wept uncontrollably.

It would be recalled that the incident at the heart of Madam

Nwali’s lamentation, took place on the night of 29th May, 2016 when some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra[IPOB] who had arrived from their various locations within the South East Region of the country and the Igbo speaking areas of Rivers and Delta States of the South South Region were suddenly attacked by soldiers at St. Edmund’s Catholic church, Nkpor near the commercial town of Onitsha.

At the last count, about 200 bodies of dead victims were reportedly evacuated by the army to unknown destination, while several members of IPOB sustained various degrees of injury in that gruesome military onslaught against the defenceless civilians who were agitating for independence from Nigeria.

Members of the group recently went underground after the attack on the home of the group’s leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu by soldiers under “Operation Python Dance II” in Umuahia, the Abia State Capital.

The military immediately after the attack pronounced IPOB a terrorist organization leading to clamp of hundreds of suspected members into detention.

42

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

NEWS Cont’d from Pg 2 cally and economically,” a member of Nzuko Umunna and Conference Organizing Committee, who would his name in print, told The Oracle Today, in Lagos. “You can see what Ndigbo and the Yoruba not working together has done to Nigeria. There is no better evidence of the deleterious effects of non-cooperation between our two peoples on the Nigerian polity than what is going on now where only one leg of the tripod is dictating to everyone and threatening the very foundation of our existence as a nation. I believe that by working together, we would be able to bring order to the very chaotic political situation in the country at the moment.”

The Handshake Across the Niger Conference is believed to have been endorsed by the mainstream political and cultural establishment in Yoruba land.

The Oracle Today gathered that even within the ruling APC, there is a tactical agreement that a formal attempt at working out a mutually beneficial relationship between Ndigbo and the Yoruba should be given its best shot.

In a goodwill message to the Conference, Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Aare Ganiyu Adams vowed that as he would fight for justice and the good of Yoruba Land so would he also fight for justice and the good of Ndigbo.

Similarly, Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose commended the conference and the courage of its organisers, saying the time had come for Yoruba and the Igbo to work together to save Nigeria from what he described as anti-democratic forces.

Their messages were delivered by former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who also urged greater cooperation between the Yoruba and Ndigbo “to stem the tide of misrule” in the country.

In a 12-point communiqué issued at the end of conference, the conferees noted, among others, that after the meeting of all strata of persons of Igbo and Yoruba origins in Enugu, the erstwhile capital of Eastern Nigeria, the conferees comprising leaders of the South West (SW), South East (SE), the South South (SS) the Middle Belt (MB) observed and resolved as follows: 1) That the Igbo and Yoruba share close affinities of kinship and brotherhood, shared origins and cultural/ethical values, a common worldview and inherent love of freedom and justice.

2) That the Hand Shake Across the Niger (HSAN) Conference, anchored on the heroism of Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi and Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, though long overdue, has finally burst the myth of Igbo-Yoruba irreconcilable differences and spiteful rivalry, thus, providing new impetus for resurgence of the same bold, patriotic and nationalist solidarity of the two ethnic groups from the 1930s to the 1950s that earned independence for Nigeria in 1960; 3) That in a long history of close relations and association, the Igbo and Yoruba have no recorded instances of violence against each other’s ethnic group, such as inter-ethnic mass killings and destruction and/or seizure of property; that instead, they have lived, worked and prospered together, accommodating and respecting their differences; 4) That grievances generated by past errors on both sides can no longer justify or sustain dissention between the two groups whose solidarity and mutual collaboration have the capacity to dramatically

Operation rescue Nigeria change the fortunes of Nigeria, thereby also, changing the fates of the African continent and the black race; 5) That the HS has brought about a new dawn of irreversible amity in the horizon of Igbo-Yoruba relations, that they have today declared time-up for, and permanently buried, the hatchet of distrust and spiteful rivalry, leading to a credible tipping-point of optimism and opportunity in realizing the destiny of Nigeria as a startup nation-state that can achieve great things In consequence of the foregoing, therefore, the conferees of the HS arrived at the following decisions and commitments: 1) Decided to collaborate closely to create mutually beneficial opportunities, build a strong alliance to advance their ever-growing mutual interests, while striving together to meet the common responsibilities of building a unit-

ed, coherent and prosperous nation-state of free peoples, freely relating to one another across the dividing lines of tribe, religion, region and politics.

2) Declared unflinching support for a truly federal union of Nigeria that is democratic, stable, secure, peaceful, just and fair to all its citizens.

3) Committed to work in close partnership and through peaceful means to restructure Nigeria, reducing and restricting the duties of the federal government to only matters of national import on the exclusive list, while granting the federating units the right to take full responsibility for local, developmental and residual matters, as this will lead to healthy competition and cooperation among the federating units, in place of the present dysfunctional arrangement that merely superintends over the sharing and consuming of rents, and holds some States and Zones down

for others to play the elusive game of catch-up; 4) Committed to insistence, therefore, on peaceful devolution of powers, fiscal federalism, land/resource ownership/control, reforming component structural and systemic institutions to radically reduce the escalating cost of governance; 5) Committed to working tirelessly towards joining the economically performing nations–China, India, Brazil, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand etc. – not as a dependent State, but a competitive producer and exporter of knowledge-based goods and services; 6) Committed to immediate implementation of pro federalism recommendations of the 2014 National Conference, in particular those affecting the efficiency of governance.

The conferees expressed the belief that the measures adopt-

From left to right): Special Adviser to Rochas Okorocha, the Imo state Governor, Barrister Steve Asimobi, Accountable Manager/ COO of Dana Air, Mr Obi Mbanuzuo and Heartland FC Chairman, Mr. Goodfaith Etuemena during the signing of Dana Air’s sponsorship deal with Heartland FC of Imo state.

FG battles Dangote, other over $76m debt Cont’d from Pg 2 as conflict of interest, arguing that Mr. Makoju who signed the Concession Agreement on behalf of NEPA’s TCN as the then Managing Director is currently an Executive in Dangote Group.

He emphasized that the same Mr. Makoju also signed letters on behalf of Alheri about the concession Agreement.

Thirdly, “Infrastructure Concession Reg ulatory Commission (ICRC) mediated between TCN and the Concessionaires over non-payment. The former DG, Aminu Diko was, before his appointment in ICRC, an employee of the Dangote Group for several years. This clear case of conflict of interest casts doubts on the integrity or the mediation report.”

“Additiona[y, there are reports reaching TCN that phase 3 is in the process of acquiring Alheri. This is evidenced by the fact that Alheri staff are managed and paid by phase3, and the two companies have elected to be represented by the same counsel in the case they recently fired against TCN

• Dangote

and Ministry of Power Works and Housing,” he said.

“TCN believes the non-disclosure of the above facts constitutes a fundamental breach of the terms of the concession agreements and provides additional

grounds for termination, beyond the egregious and brazen default in payment,” Mr. Fashola stated.

Efforts to get response from the spokesmen of Dangote Group failed as they did not pick calls put across to their cell phines.

ed at the conference will reposition Nigeria to reach credible nationhood, attain its full potential and respect in the community of nations thereby enabling us to effectively lead the campaign for the political and economic renaissance of Africa and the black race – the very goals for which the Zik of Africa and the sage Chief Awolowo and a host of other founding nationalists lived and sacrificed so much.

They decided that the Hand Shake should not be a one- off event, but only the first of a progressive and continuous re-socialization project that would, in short order, reach out to embrace other compatriots in the South South (SS), Middle Belt [MB], North Central (NC) North East (NE) and North West (NW) zones of the country.

In the communiqué signed

by Chief Nnia Nwodo, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and Ayo Opadokun, leader of the Afenifere, the conferees also decided to, therefore, establish a standing Joint Action Committee to drive this process, and to continually articulate fresh ideas and strategies to sustain the current zeal and momentum of mutual understanding and collaborative actions aimed at resuscitating Nigeria politically and economically in order to position her to earn her rightful place among the contending nations in the world.

The composition and mandate of the Joint Committee and its sub-committees, along with the full report of today’s Hand Shake, they said, would be posted in due course.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has distanced itself from a an online media report that IPOB women heckled the President General of Ohanaeze, Chief Nnia Nwodo, at the Handshake Across the Niger Conference held in Enugu last Thursday, January 11.

In a statement signed by its director of media and publicity, Emma Powerful, IPOB said, “nothing could be further from the truth. We had nothing to do with it.”

“Had IPOB mobilized our women to storm Enugu, the entire metropolis would not have contained our angry mothers,” Powerful added.

Noting that “IPOB has a pedigree, culture and proud tradition of announcing is activities ahead of time and also accepting responsibility for all its actions,” Powerful declared: “While we respect the event and the presence of our brothers and sisters from the great Yoruba nation, we venture to state that the heckling of Nwodo in Enugu on Thursday was most probably a spontaneous reaction by ordinary people of our land who find it quite amusing that the patently false narrative being driven by Lai Mohammed, Nnia Nwodo, S/E governors and Buratai that the agitation for Biafra restoration has been crushed was still published by a section of the press.”

“The inescapable truth is that our people are solidly behind our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

The fact remains that the under-reported brutal genocide of mid-September 2017 has totally eroded whatever respect Nwodo, Okezie Ikpeazu and other S/E governors had among the people,” he surmised.

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

SPORTS

By MADUABUCHI KALU

S

uper Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, has mandated the duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa of Leicester City who have been frozen in their club, to seek transfers to other clubs where they could have regular playing time.

The Franco-German Eagles’ gaffer is troubled that the two Super Eagles forwards have not been playing in their Club as Kelechi Iheanacho who moved to the former champions in August has only started twice for the former champions, while his compatriot Ahmed Musa who had a big money moved to the English club at the beginning of 2015/16 league season has not featured this season as he doesn’t even make the bench unlike Kelechi who has been confined to the Leicester City bench.

According Rohr, the two Super Eagles players need to find a club this January Transfer Window to enable them have playing time that will keep them in shape if they seriously desired to be in Russia later in the year.

“The two players Kelechi and Ahmed Musa are very important players in our squad and their lack of playing time is troubling me and I also know that they are not happy that they are not playing,” Rohr began.

“They must seek transfer to clubs where they will have the opportunity of playing regularly to enable them be inform before the Mundial later in the year.

“There is no player who does not want to be at the World Cup and the two are not exception.

Rohr orders Iheanacho, Musa to quit Leicester City “So, for me, the only option as far as I am concerned is for them to seek transfers to other clubs since they lack playing time at Leicester City.

We cannot force their club manager to use them if he feels that they cannot give him what he wants.

“At times players find themselves in this type of situation but you must have to brace up to the challenge by working hard so that nobody will ignore you.

“I would like them to look for ways of getting transfer to other clubs where their services would be required and appreciated. We need them just as they need to feature at the World Cup. They are important to us not only for the World Cup but for our duties as national team.

“Nobody can doubt the talent they have. This is a trying time for them and we need to encourage them to get out it. That is why they must leave Leicester to other clubs and start playing.

“Time is fast running out on us and we need to do something very fast.

Thank God this is January, when players can request for a transfer to other clubs that have shown interest,” Rohr said.

Nigerian sports successful in 2017- Etoroma

By MADUABUCHI KALU

A

member of the immediate past Delta State Sports Commission, Hon. Ejiro Etoroma, has sensationally described Nigeria Sports in 2017 as successful particularly the round leather game, football.

According to the renowned sports administrator, Nigerian sports in 2017 will go down in history as one of the best years in Nigerian sports particularly football as the country successfully qualified for her sixth World Cup despite having been written off by bookmakers immediately the qualifying draws were made for the African Zone of the 2018 World Cup. The Engineer turned sports administrator per excellence is of the opinion that apart from the Super Eagles qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in grand style in a group dubbed ‘Group of Death’ that have top African teams like the reigning continental champions, Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia, Nigeria scored yet another vital goal via the election of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Amaju Melvin Pinnick into the executive committee of the continental football governing body CAF. He opined that no matter from which angle one looks at the two achievements recorded by the country in 2017, one will have no choice than to score Nigerian Football high-

ly because since the exit of Dr. Amos Adamu from the executive committee of CAF, the country’s efforts at getting back into the mainstream of the continental football politics have always suffered consistent failure.

He explained that three past Nigerian Football Federation eggheads in Sani Abdullahi Lulu, immediate past President of the Federation, Alhaji Amin u Maigari and Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima tried to get back to the executive committee of the continental football governing body but failed.

He equally pointed out that Nigerian national women team, Super Falcons also made history as they won the African Women Football Nations Cup for a record 8th times.

“Well, as far as I am concerned, I strongly believe that the year 2017 was a huge success for Nigerian sports particularly Nigerian Football,” Hon Etoroma began.

“The year 2017 will go down in the annals of Nigerian Sports as a year that the country recorded the most outstanding success in football.

“Why am I saying so you may ask? I am saying so because Nigeria recorded two great feats in 2017. The first feat which is still very fresh in our minds is the success recorded by the Super Eagles during their World Cup Qualifying campaign.

“Of course nobody gave the Super Eagles any chance of coming out of that group described by bookmakers

as “Group of Death” owing to the calibre of teams in the group.

“But to the glory of God, Eagles did not only qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup but qualified in grand style as they didn’t recorded any defeat throughout their campaign though due to the mistake of fielding an ineligible player, the world football governing body sanctioned the team by awarding their last qualifying game against the Desert Foxes of Algeria to the Algerians and at the same time fined NFF the sum of $6000.

“Even with the point deduction, Eagles still qualified with 13 points as against eight points for our closest rivals, the Chipolopolo of Zambia.

“One interesting thing about the whole thing is that the team’s Technical Adviser, succeeded in building a team peopled by young talented players. Of course, this fact was confirmed by FIFA when they declared the Super Eagles as the youngest squad that will feature in the Mundial next year.

Continuing Hon. Etoroma said: “Another great success recorded

by Nigerian Football in 2017 was the election of Amaju Melvin Pinnick into Confederation of African Football (CAF) after many years of the country’s absence in the continental football politics.

“With Amaju’s election into the Executive Committee of CAF, Nigeria has returned to the continental football politics after many years of

absence.

“It is recalled that since the exit of Dr. Amos Adamu from CAF Executive Committee, all the efforts made in the past to get the country back to the CAF Executive Committee have ended in failure.

“So, with Amaju’s election into the CAF Executive Committee, the country is back to the mainstream of the continental football governing politics and we can go to sleep as far as the politics of the game are concerned because Amaju will definitely protect the interest of the country which is the reason he threw his hart into the ring against all odds,” Hon. Etoroma declared.

“It is also important to mention the exploit of our women on the continent. Despite every odd, the Super Falcons put smiles on the faces of Nigerian when they lifted the African Women Nations Cup for a record 8th times at the expense of the host nation, Cameroon.

“Nobody should forget the sacrifices made our women in ensuring that our image and name was positively projected even in extreme bad conditions as there were not well taken care of and even after having done the country proud it took the intervention of President Buhari for the national embarrassment that resulted in the inability of the NFF to full their obligations to the ladies to come to an end.

“Despite this sour point, I think Ni-

gerian Football in 2017 did extremely well though it would have done better,” Hon. Etoroma said.

It is also recalled that it was in 2017 that the D’Tigresses won the Afrobasket for the third time while the Ike Diogu’s captained D’Tigers played in the final of the 2017 Men Afrobasket Championship even with new set of players except for Diogu.

Apart from the fact that Nigeria went into the Men Afrobasket Championship with unknown players, they didn’t prepare well as they had only three weeks of preparations while other countries had at least between eight to 12 weeks of preparations for the tournament.

It is also important to point out the reason old players of the team refused to participate in the 2017 Men Afrobasket tournament. The reason was that due to their experience in 2015 when they won the tournament for the very first time, they had issues with the administrators of the game in respect of their allowances during the championship.

As a matter of fact, it was alleged that they were shortchanged in 2015 which make the players to resolve to demand that their allowance be paid upfront which the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation refused to accept.

Hence, the players opted out of the 2017 edition thereby creating opportunities for other players to fly the country’s flag at the tournament.

44

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

SPORTS Rohr’s boost CHAN Eagles’ morale with presence, W/Cup promises

By MAUABUCHI KALU with agency report

L

iverpool Manager, Jurgen Klopp is excited that his players did what nobody gave them chance of doing by beating EPL rivals, Manchester City who have not suffered any defeat in the league since the commencement of 2017/18 league season.

The Pep Guardiola coached Manchester City have been on a coaster rid since the beginning of the season but their fairy tale came to an end on Sunday as Manchester City suffered their first defeat of the season in the hands of Liverpool.

Reacting to his team’s victory, an excited Liverpool’s Manager, Jurgen Klopp says his charges’ victory over Manchester City on Sunday has sent out “right statement” to other Premier League rivals.

The victory came six days after their talisman, Coutinho joined Barcelona in £143m deal and despite the absence of £75m defender, Virgil van Dijk, who was out with injury. Liverpool held on to beat the league leaders 4-3 at Anfield.

“It is a very important statement, but that’s all,” said Klopp.

“It was not that I said in the meeting before the game: ‘It would help a lot if you could win then nobody would talk about Coutinho.’ But it is important we showed it is possible to play without him.”

The defeat was City’s first in a league match since April, and ended their hopes of emulating Arsenal’s 2003-04 ‘Invincibles’.

S

uper Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, on Sunday boosted the home-based Eagles otherwise called the CHAN Eagles’ morale with his presence and promises of World Cup places if they do well at the ongoing Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) in Morocco.

He assured the team that outing players among them will be included in the World Cup squad to Russia and as a result they should endeavor to ensure that they do well in the championship just as he also reminded them that they stand a chance of moving to top European clubs.

Rohr is expected to name his 23– man team for the World Cup finals 48 hours after the friendly with England’s Three Lions at Wembley on June 2.

Head Coach Salisu Yusuf told thenff.com: “The players know what is at stake. We are not here just for the CHAN. Everyone is thinking of the World Cup as well.

“For the players, they have a massive opportunity to play their way into the A team for the big one in Russia.

“However, at every opportunity, myself and my assistants have made it clear to the boys that they must work as a team.

“If they win the tournament, the chances of several players making the team to Russia will be high. No man can clap with only one hand.

Team work is critical in this business.”

Rohr said: “The CHAN is a major competition and opportunity for us to take another look at the home boys. There could be some of them who will convince the technical crew that they can fight for places in the A team.”

Liverpool’s victory over Man City excites Klopp • Says “Victory sends out “right statement”

Liverpool led 4-1 midway through the second half thanks to goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah - the last three of which came in an eight-minute spell around the hour mark.

Leroy Sane had cancelled out Oxlade-Chamberlain’s opener - and substitute Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan scored in the last six minutes to set up a thrilling finale.

But the hosts held on to move up to third in the table, level on points with Manchester United in second and fourth-placed Chelsea.

Continuing Klopp said: “Maybe it is an historic day,” said Klopp. “Maybe it’s the only game they lose in the whole season because they are so strong. I really think we deserved it.”

Liverpool employed similar tactics to those used by Championship side Bristol City as they lost 2-1 to Man-

NAqF to hold Board Meeting – Williams • As CNS holds next month

Parker expects ‘angry’ Joshua on March 31

J

oseph Parker, the WBO heavyweight titleholder from New Zealand, expects to face a “rattled and angry” Anthony Joshua on March 31 in Cardiff, Wales, when the two unify belts.

Parker (24-0, 18 KO) also expects it’ll be the best version of Anthony Joshua, acknowledging that he’s in the fight of his life, but also expecting to come out victorious and add the WBA and IBF titles to his collection: “I truly believe I’m going to come out victorious and I’m going to fly back home to see my family and I’m going to celebrate it and enjoy it. But you can never predict what is going to happen. It comes down to the day, who performs better and who feels better. ”This will be the biggest fight of my life so far and the excitement that I have to be part of this massive event fighting someone like Joshua who is undefeated. The challenge he is going to bring, I am over the moon. I am excited. The world should have one champion.”

Joshua (20-0, 20 KO) is getting the lion’s share of the split, has the home field advantage, and is the clear favourite. But Parker is not to be overlooked, either, as a young, unbeaten champion in his own right. Some fighters need a challenge like this to be their very best, and that could be the case for Parker.

chester City in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final earlier this week.

“The pressing in and around the box in the second half was from a different planet... outstanding,” added Klopp.

“We were playing football against a brilliantly organised side. Everyone says how great City play football, but they are also brilliantly organised.”

•

Babatunde Fatayi Williams Stories By MADUABUCHI KALU

T

he Board of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation (NAqF) led by Mr. Babatunde Fatayi Williams will hold its first board meeting in a few day time.

This much was disclosed to The Oracle Today Sports by no other person than the President of the Federation, Babatunde Fatayi Williams in exclusive telephone interview. According to him this will be the first board meeting since the new board came into office last year.

Williams said the board will deliberate on a number of important

issues including their proposed registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the election of Board of Trustees of the Federation a compulsory requirement by the CAC for any organization to be registered with it.

He equally disclosed that that the Federation is looking forward to global aquatics governing body’s assistance to enable them move into action in some of the programmes they have already mapped out for the year for the development of aquatics sports in the country.

“Well, on what we are doing? We are going to have our first board meeting since coming into office of

this current board this month after our elections last year,” Williams began.

“We have many issues to deliberation on in our forthcoming meeting.

One of the issues the board will be deliberating is the issue of our registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

“We are looking forward to deliberating on those that will constitute our “Board of Trustees” which is one condition for the registration of any organization or association with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) “We are also going to deliberate on our new constitution which the

world aquatics governing body, FINA has already approved.

“We are also going to deliberate on the constitution of our various committees and many other issues.

It is going to be an interesting board meeting,” Williams promised.

Speaking further, the experienced sports administrator disclosed that the much awaited Chief of Naval Staff Open Swimming Championship is expected to hold next month all thing being equal.

He said the Federation is looking forward to partnering with Lagos State Government for the hosting of the championship which has suffered uncountable postponements.

This Chief of Naval Staff Open Swimming championship that is expected to hold next month is a carryover event as it was supposed to have been held last month in Lagos but due to circumstances beyond the board of the Nigeria Aquatics Federation the championship couldn’t hold throughout last year.

It is recalled that following the successful hosting of the Federation’s flagship event in 2016, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode made a pledge at the closing ceremony of the championship via his representative that Lagos is to play host to the next edition of the annual Chief of Naval Staff Swimming Championship.

Unfortunately, that promise was not kept. However, Mr. Williams is looking forward to revive the hopes of both the athletes and officials of Lagos partnering with the Federation to have the championship staged in the Centre of Excellence in order to equal the record set by Delta State who played host to the championship in 2014/15 respectively.

45

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

SPORTS

Chukwu thumbs up Eagles in 2017 • Charges NFF on youth development

By MADUABUCHI KALU

F

ormer national team captain and coach, Christian Chukwu has taken a critical view of Nige-

rian Football in the just ended year 2017 and returned a positive verdict on the national team, the Super Eagles saying the year was a successful year for the Gernot Rohr coached three time African champions.

However, despite giving a pass mark to the Super Eagles for their performance in 2017 which culminated in the team securing the sole ticket of Group B of Africa Zone of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in a group that was tagged “Group of Death” by bookmakers, the former Enugu Rangers captain and coach said there was still much to be done.

He singled out the youth teams of the national team like the Under-17, Under-20 teams as areas where the football governing body the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should intensify effort to change the narrative because according to him, the NFF’s Youth Development Programme does not seems to be getting the desired result.

The former Harambee Stars of

Kenya coach explained that the youth teams of any country is the engine room of any national team as it is from that players are sourced to replace ageing national team players.

The immediate past General Manager of the Coal City Flying Antelope stated this in exclusive telephone interview with The Oracle Today Sports.

“In my view, I think Nigerian Football did well in 2017 though we ought to have done better,” the experienced former international began.

“The Super Eagles for instance did well in 2017 and I don’t think that my view is different from the views of millions of football loving Nigerian.

“The fact that we did not resort to permutation during our 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification is a big plus for the Super Eagles. The team and their handlers saved us from the anxiety of permutation that is usually associated with our World Cup

Qualifying campaigns in the past. I give kudos to the team and the technical crew led by Franco-German tactician, Gernot Rohr, Chukwu said.

Continuing Chukwu said: “Having said that I am also of the opinion that we ought to have done better last year because when you talk of the national teams, the Super Eagles are the flagship team in the national teams set up.

“Inasmuch as I applaud the Super Eagles for their exploit last year, I am of the view that the youth teams like the Under-17, Under-20 teams didn’t do well as none of them qualified for any FIFA tournament.

“I think it is high time the Amaju Pinnick led board of the Nigeria Football Federation started taking serious look at their youth programmes.

“It’s like their youth programmes are not yielding the desired results.

And if NFF’s Youth Programmes are not yielding the desired results, I think it is proper for them to take a second look at their programmes.

This is because youth development programmes of any country’s football federation will go a long way in ensuring that the country has a solid youth teams which will in turn impact positively on their national teams.

“That is why the importance of youth development programmes of any country cannot be over-emphasized because it is from the youth teams that players of the national team are sourced.

“So, if we do not have sound youth development programmes; it will certainly have negative effect on the national team as there will not be good replacements for retiring and ageing players. And I think this should not be allowed to happen,” Chukwu said.

Nigeria not threat to us, Croatian legend, Brosnesky

By MADUABUCHI KALU

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roatian legend, Roberto Brosnesky, believes his country currently possesses the quality to beat Nigeria and other teams in Group D of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The Croats will face the Super Eagles in their face group game of the Mundial at the Krasnodar Stadium and this will hold on the 16th of June 2018.

Argentina and debutants, Iceland are the other teams in Group D. Brosnesky, a former midfielder who scored 10 goals in 49 appearances for his national team said they have the quality to not only to beat their Group D foes but make a strong impart at the Mundial.

“If we have a top class and we have the quest, it means then we cannot talk about Nigeria and Iceland as rivals. That can’t stop us from making it out of Group D,” Brosnesky began.

“Respect and respect absolutely, but with the quality we have, we are far ahead of them. Croatia has a fantastic team, as a loved standing generation that has shown its ambition

and character, that is why we are optimistic of doing well in Russia.

“In France we were as good as the Euros but now we are even better,” Brosnesky declared.

Continuing Brosnesky said Nigeria does not have a world class player even as he is looking forward to fantastic Croatian team beating the Super Eagles in Russia. He explained that he can’t wait for the Mundial to get under way.

Reacting to Brosnesky’s declaration of Super Eagles as being inferior to their Croatian opponents, former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Joe Erico, popularly called Jogo Bonito (beautiful game) who added extra year during the festive period frowned at the statement created to the Croatian legend and urged him to keep his peace until the tournament begins in Russia.

In his words: “Whosoever says that should not be taken seriously.

That is a silly statement. Silly statements are not taken to the house.

“How can Croatia say that? Well, we have to wait till we get there,” Erico declared.

CAF congress approves new format for club competitions

By MADUABUCHI KALU with agency report

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ontinental football ruling body, Confederation of African Football (CAF) has ratified major reforms to the continents club competitions.

The decision is part of the implementation of the resolutions passed in the Football symposium held last year in Morocco. The members proposed a change in periodicity of the competitions to run from September to May like the European format.

According to CAF, the next continental tournaments, would commence in December and end May 2019. The current calendar for the club competitions commences in February and ends in December the same year.

It is however, expected to run a full cycle by 2019, as the season would then run from September to May of the following year. This was ratified by the Executive Committee of the continent’s football body, held in Casablanca, Morocco, on Wednesday.

Speaking further the continental football ruling body said the new transition would be executed with a more rigorous application of the club licensing regulations and also approved a calendar of the inter club competitions for the year 2018, with modification of the regulations and an additional draw before the quarter-finals stage.

2018 fixtures: The 2018 season will kick-off on the weekend of 9-11 February and end on December 2nd.

Lukaku to seek legal advice over voodoo claim

By MADUABUCHI KALU with agency report

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anchester United striker, Romelu Lukaku is to seek legal advice over claims made

by Everton owner, Farhad Moshiri that he opted to leave the club after receiving a “voodoo message”.

Moshiri told a shareholders’ meeting that Lukaku, 24, received the message from “a pilgrimage to Africa”.

Lukaku joined United for £75m in July after rejecting a new deal at Everton.

A representative for the player told BBC Sport: “Romelu’s decision had nothing to do with voodoo.”

The spokesperson added: “He distances himself from these beliefs and this statement and will now see what judicial steps can be taken in relation to them.”

His representative says Lukaku rejected the opportunity to become the highest paid player in Everton’s history in order to pursue his desire to play at the highest possible level.

His representative added: “Romelu is very catholic and voodoo is not part of his life or his beliefs.

“He simply had no faith in Everton and no confidence in Mr. Moshiri’s project. That is why he did not want to sign on any condition.

“He wanted to make the next step in his career and wanted the security to be able to leave.”

Last March Lukaku’s agent, Mino Raiola, had claimed a new deal to remain at Everton was “99.9% done”.

Premier League champions Chelsea had bid for Lukaku, but he then opted instead to join Jose Mourinho’s United.

“We offered him a better deal than Chelsea and his agent came to Finch Farm to sign the contract,” Moshiri told Everton’s annual general meeting.

“Robert (Elstone, chief executive) was there, everything was in place, there were a few reporters outside,” he added.

Moshiri said Lukaku then “called his mother” before the player revealed he had received the message telling him to join Chelsea.

The Iranian billionaire, who has put £150m of his own money into the Merseyside club to clear debts, said the Toffees offered the striker an “unbelievable” amount of money to stay and the “issue was not financial”.

Moshiri added: “I wasted two summers to keep him. First summer with his agent, him and his family we managed to keep him. Last summer we offered him a better deal than Chelsea - whatever they offered we matched but he just didn’t want to stay.”

It is understood he rejected numerous opportunities to discuss a new contract as his desire to leave Everton was absolute. He then rebuffed further attempts to keep him at the end of last season. Twelve months previously Everton rejected offers from Lukaku’s former club Chelsea to resign the player.

The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

BOLD & BLUNT

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Reinventing would require • I am with Secondus 100% Frontline politician, leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), two-time commissioner and political Adviser in Delta State, Senator Ighoyota Amori is very much at peace with the emergence of Prince Uche Secondus as the National Chairman of PDP. In this interview with OBI OTESIRI in Warri, he described the emergence of Secondus as “a very significant development” in the democratic evolution of the Nigerian State. He assured, among other things, that under Secondus, the PDP would push for the reinventing Nigeria for peace and justice through restructuring of the country and practice of true federalism.

The first and most important index is the ability of the PDP at the national level to overcome the leadership tussle that would have resulted in the party going into extinction. The protracted legal battle over who is the authentic national chairman of the PDP fuelled by the APC was intended to weaken the solid foundation of the party to continue to provide the needed opposition and put up a good fight in the 2019 general elections.

Added to the judicial victory regarding the national chairmanship position is the recent successful conduct of the party’s national convention. With the prolonged leadership problem, many Nigerians particularly those in the APC, did not anticipate that PDP would be able to have a successful convention. In fact, days to the convention when it became apparent that the party would witness a peaceful conduct of her convention, certain plots were allegedly orchestrated by some overzealous persons in the present corridor of power to either discredit the convention or scuttle arrangements to ensure its success.

• Senator Ighoyota Amori How do you see the emergence of the newly elected National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus?

I am 100 per cent in agreement with the emergence of Prince Uche Secondus as the new National Chairman of our great party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). His emergence as the new Chairman of PDP on December 9 last year is very significant to the democratic evolution of the Nigeria State. As a matter of fact, the transparent, fair and orderly conduct of the PDP national convention that ushered in the new national leadership of the party has become a major blow to the quest of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to clinch power again come 2019. I say this because the elective convention of the party was a make or mar one. It was so crucial that if the party had not gotten it right, the APC would have been celebrating its victory ahead of 2019

general elections, particularly that of the President.

With Prince Secondus in the saddle, the APC should be preparing to vacate Aso Rock come 2019. He is someone I can describe as a native of PDP and a stabilizing force as PDP prepares for the onslaught in 2019. Secondus has demonstrated immense commitment and sacrifice to the growth and stability of the party. He is the kind of person the PDP needs to reposition and reengineer itself for the 2019 general elections. I congratulate him and his entire executive members on their victory at the convention and plead with all genuine PDP faithful to give them the needed support to succeed in the onerous task ahead.

What are the indices to show that PDP is prepared to take over power from APC in 2019?

You think Nigeria would be worse off if Buhari got a second term?

It is not about me thinking. It is about the current realities in the country and what Nigerians are experiencing. No Nigerian or someone living in the country for the past six years need a soothsayer to tell him or her that there is a big wall of difference in the economic situation under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration and the existing APC administration under President Muhammadu Buhari. The economic hardship in the country under Buhari is unprecedented. It is worse because both the rich and poor are complaining. Big and small businesses are closing down and thousands of jobs have been lost.

Whatever the excuses being adduced by the Buhari administration for the economic woes, most Nigerians are of the view that economic failure is synonymous with the name Buhari. In fact, some view the situation now as a reincarnation of the Buhari military regime of 1983 to 1985, when a pot of soup would be stolen even while still on

fire. In the two instances that he has had to govern the country, Nigeria has been worse off. And should he get another term as a civilian president, the situation would not be different, just as a Leopard cannot change its skin.

Where do you stand on this and how do we reinvent a new Nigeria built on peace and justice?

Reinventing Nigeria for peace and justice, to me, would require the restructuring of the country and practice of true federalism. The concentration of power at the centre has hampered the growth and development of the country. States are not competing amongst themselves because every month the respective State governments go to the federal government to be allocated revenue, more than 90 per cent of which is got from a section of the country, the Niger Delta region. Power should be devolved and States made to generate their revenue and remit or pay tax to the federal government as it applies in the United States from which the country copied the concept of federalism.

Also, the concept of federal character needs to reviewed or abolished as its practice is skewed in favour of a particular section of the country. The implementation of the federal character policy has retarded the development of the country, as scholarship, merit and hard work are thrown overboard. A situation different cut-off marks are set for students based on their geopolitical zones cannot build a nation that is sound educationally. Same federal character is applied for employment into federal civil service and other aspects of the national life of the country. Restructuring the country is long overdue as the lopsided nature of the country cannot engender peace and justice.

Dogara once said that “fiscal indiscipline is as grievous a problem as corruption.” Do you concur with him?

He is absolutely correct. It is corruption for critical areas in a budget that would benefit Nigerians to be underfunded while areas of interest for a few get the needed approvals and funding. It is fiscal indiscipline for

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The Oracle Today Wednesday January 24, 2018

BOLD & BLUNT

Nigeria for peace and justice restructuring--Amori plans to withdraw such money from the Excess Crude Account.

Do you concur with Ex- president Goodluck Jonathan that the ruling APC government has delivered more corruption than the promised change?

It is corruption for the APC government, which promised that it would fix the electricity problem of the country in six months, yet the power situation is now worse than it was before they came to power. Those who are APC members who have been indicted for corruption have been shielded from prosecution. Whereas same government has flagrantly refused to obey court judgments in favour of some persons in the opposition PDP prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

A typical case in question is the continued detention of Col. Sambo Dasuki despite multiple court rulings granting him bail.

What about the payment of subsidy and current scarcity of fuel nationwide? The government promised to lower the cost of petrol that is now being sold above N200 (in some places).

• Secondus millions of Nigerians to be in abject poverty yet the government of the day is planning to spend a staggering $1b to fight a Boko Haram insurgency that the same government said a long time ago it had defeated.

The APC government says it is fighting corruption yet answers are not being provided regarding some irregularities surrounding the monies that are being recovered.

When the government of the day fails to implement up to half of its annual budget, some Nigerians would rather be blind to it because they belong to the party in power.

What has happened to the East-West road?

Don’t you think the federal government and States are causing hyper-inflation and killing business with multiple taxes?

True federalism is the way to go for the country to achieve meaningful growth and development. There are a lot of things that the federal government is handling that ought to be within the purview of the State governments. Some State governments are reconstructing and rehabilitating federal roads, buying vehicles and giving other forms of assistance to the Nigeria Police and so on.

And with sharp decline in the monthly allocation to States, some of the State governors are now looking at areas they can work on to improve on their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) profile. This is one main reason the multiple taxes are now being noticed. Sincerely, under the prevailing economic realities in the country, the citizens cannot bear the financial burdens of both governments. They should harmonise the existing taxes so they do not continue

to impact negatively on the wellbeing of the citizenry.

How do you see to the federal Government’s plan to spend $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fight the Boko Haram insurgency?

The plan by the Buhari-led APC administration to fund Boko Haram insurgency is a scam. I view it as a calculated ploy by the administration to stockpile huge sums of money to prosecute the 2019 general election. The plan is very ridiculous because the money in the Excess Crude Account does not belong to the federal government alone but to the entire component States in the Nigerian federation.

It amounts to fiscal indiscipline for the federal government to unilaterally decide to withdraw money from the Excess Crude Account to fund its programmes. Annually budgetary provisions are made for the federal, States and Local Governments based on the expected revenue from the sale of crude, which is the main source of revenue to the nation. For the federal government to plan to withdraw from the account to fight Boko Haram is like asking the States to also withdraw from it to tackle their own security challenges.

On the other hand, why is the federal government planning to withdraw such money for the Boko Haram insurgency that it says has been defeated ‘technically’? What happens to the annual budgetary provision to the military for the same purpose? When you look it critically, you see that there is no sincerity on the part of the federal government regarding the purpose for which it

How do you think PDP can enthrone democratic best practices that would endear the party to the people?

The PDP has been evolving since it came to power in 1999. Note here that the development of any political party cannot be divorced from the citizenry. For me, PDP is a reflection of the Nigerian society. Nigerians make up the party.

Kudos need to be given to the PDP for steering the mantle of leadership of the country for 16 years. It is not easy. Just less than three years in power, signs of the possible disintegration of the APC before 2019 are daily manifesting. Some Nigerians have even started predicting that there will be no APC come 2019.

Successive PDP administrations over the years have demonstrated commitment and taken several steps geared towards enthroning democratic best practices. Electoral reforms were undertaken by past PDP administrations. Though not yet perfect, the introduction of Card Reader for the conduct of elections was done by the Dr. Goodluck Jonathern-led PDP administration.

In the buildup to the 2019 general elections, there were pressures on the ruling party to remove the then national Chairman of INEC over perceived alliances with the then opposition APC, but the administration did not succumb to the pressures. The party did not deploy any machinery to discredit the presidential election to pave the way for its annulment.

Less than a month ago, the PDP, despite coming out from a prolonged leadership tussle that shook its foundation, successfully conducted its national convention.

This is what the APC has found difficult to do. And it is not unexpected that should the party go ahead to conduct its national convention, the outcome might spell doom for the party.

In all, the PDP under Prince Uche Secondus would continue to be a party for all Nigerians irrespective of tribe or religion.

The party has set a standard, which the APC is struggling to sustain.

How will you appraise various policies and reforms of the federal government under Buhari for the almost three years of his administration? Are we on the right path towards economic recovery?

The way the administration said it has

‘technically’ defeated Boko Haram yet the insurgents are still raging in the North, is the same way the administration has come out to say the country is out of recession without practical recovery.

Today, Nigerians are groaning under the worst fuel scarcity to hit the country in an administration that boasted it would in the shortest time bring down the price of petrol from the price (N87) they met it in 2015. Prices of goods and services have risen astronomically. The administration is not creating new jobs and crime wave is rising every day.

The facts speak volume of the poor performance of the federal government under Buhari. Like every other Nigerian who is experiencing the harsh economic situation reminiscent of what happened between 1983 and 1985, the policies and reform of this government if any, are yet to yield any result. As it stands, Nigeria cannot be said to be on the path of economic recovery.

Looking at the challenges facing Nigeria, what would be your advice to president Buhari?

President Buhari and his APC-led administration should settle down to govern Nigeria. More than two years after clinching power, the administration is still struggling to come to terms why they are in Aso Rock.

That Buhari is fighting corruption will not put food on the tables of Nigerians. The administration should focus on fulfilling its electioneering promises to Nigerians instead of clamping down on its perceived political enemies. He should tinker with his economic team to achieve results. Buhari continually and patiently sought to become a democratically elected president. Now that he has achieved it, he should strive to prove to Nigerians that he is now better prepared for governance compared to when he was a military head of State.

What is your impression of the current National Assembly led by Senator Saraki The current National Assembly led by Senate President Bukola Saraki has lived up to expectation. The 8th National Assembly under Senator Saraki has a focus, proven to be independent and fearless in standing on the side of Nigerians.

Senator Saraki has provided leadership, which accounts for the unity and oneness exiting amongst members. Several attempts to halt the continued smooth sail of the leadership of the House have met with brick wall. Saraki has the wealth of political experience to move the National Assembly from being a puppet or stooge of the executive arm to an assertive, independent second tier of government that it is.

How would you conclude this interview?

It is going into three years in the life of this administration, and Nigerians can make a better assessment and judgment on the performance of the administration.

Obviously, what Nigerians are presently passing through is certainly not what they bargained for. I think they have experienced it in a bitter way the effects of the wrong decision they took in 2015. They are now wiser I want to believe and they cannot afford to make the same mistake in 2019.

We can only continue to pray and hope for the best for our dear country Nigeria. North, East, South and West, home is still the best.

And with a rebranded PDP under the stewardship of Prince Uche Secondus, Nigerians can boast an alternative come 2019 general elections.

WEDNESDAY January 24, 2018

The

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It’s about us, not Benue

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VERYWHERE you go, you see corpses delineating the finality of humanity, though dispatched with cruelty that borders on bestiality.

Do these lifeless bodies remind us of our end, and the savagery that may attend it, if we do nothing about the way we are living?

These are conspiracies against Nigerians. Typically, we think it is about Benue State, just as people were falling over one another other in the pending project of annihilating the South East. People who rate themselves reasonable, wise, patriotic, were in agreement that the South East brought the harm that it passed through late last year upon itself.

Unarmed young men and women, who were expressing their angst at institutionalised frustrations in Nigeria, had all arms of the security agencies unleashed on them.

In Benue, massacres have flowed from Nasarawa, through Taraba into their territory. Fulani herdsmen killed hundreds, devastated their villages. They were buried Thursday 11 January 2018.

After Benue, the cattle and their rearers would move on, then return and we keep moving in the same circles. The only differences could be location, number of dead, the new investments in delivering the deaths in the most advanced stages of savagery, and a government that prefers sophistry to justify the waste of lives. As we mourn Benue, reports of other massacres, unresolved, new, on going, have been muffled by the passage of attention to otherwise more pressing matters; it is part of the conspiracies against Nigerians by their government which millions enthusiastically elected into office.

People are misreading the signals of these dangerous occurrences. More danger lurks. The Fulani herdsmen are the purveyors of the danger. They spread it everywhere their herds pass.

The differences lie in the degree of the pains they inflict on the people, the tensions they generate and the loss of faith in the willingness of government to deal with the Fulani herdsmen like the criminal they are.

How did we degenerate to the point where the only thing that matters in Nigeria is Fulani herdsmen? Governments, elected by the people, for the people, are ready to give everything to defend Fulani herdsmen, who in the milieu of defence, the Federal Government told us were not Nigerians and therefore above the law?

Impunity used to be a word until Fulani herdsmen knew it. Fulani herdsmen have erected pillars of impunities around themselves. Scarce government resources are allocated to protecting them. They

are the law and fully in the knowledge that they can do as they please.

Self-help is illegal under our laws. Fulani herdsmen openly admit that they killed people because they stole their cattle. Nothing happens to those who confess to the crime. Their law is the law. Once their victims try to defend themselves, official assistance arrives for the Fulani herdsmen; the same security that would be unavailable while attacks last.

Fulani herdsmen confess participation in massacres. The law ignores their claims. Fulani herdsmen threaten that they would not obey laws unless they are made to suit their terms, at the expense of the entire existence of other people. Nobody touches them, nobody tells them there are laws in Nigeria and that the laws are for all.

They decide what grass suits their cattle. Where the grass is found, they take it over and they are armed enough to

devastate the location, if anyone dares suggest that they should leave. Lives and livelihoods are ruined because of the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.

Most startlingly, the activities of the Fulani herdsmen are not discussed as crimes. How could they be crimes when the Fulani herdsmen are above the law?

Attacked communities are blamed for not respecting the higher ethos of the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.

They are advised to accommodate people who are decidedly insatiable in their drive and demand for trouble. Why are there no laws to curb the excesses of Fulani herdsmen? Why does the Federal Government jump to their defence?

What is it about beef that it should rule and ruin our lives? What is happening cannot make sense to anyone except the Fulani herdsmen and their supporters. They get support from surprising quarters, in addition to illegally bearing their combat machine of choice, the

deadly, though romanticised, Ak-47 After the shouts about the massacres in Benue, Taraba, southern Kaduna, Kwara, Enugu, we would return to discussing Donald Trump, in elevation of our civilization and affinity to the United States of America. Others would feast on the prime football league competitions in the world, with a flourish that denotes our place on global matters.

Fulani cattle, not John Pepper Clark’s poem, but the way our government is increasingly ordering our lives is a reality.

We must check it, before it would take being cattle to have any rights in Nigeria.

Our Minister of Agriculture Innocent Audu Ogbeh, from Benue State, has spent his entire tenure promoting ranching, importation of grass from Brazil to feed Fulani cattle. He hardly discusses food for human Nigerians. The owners of the cattle he wants to ranch have rejected that proposal, preferring colonies, a choice for their intention. The Federal Government of Nigeria would create colonies all over Nigeria, in locations Fulani cattle rearers choose for the benefit of their private businesses.

Ranches, cattle colonies, impunity for Fulani and their cattle, are being placed well above human being? Yet there is no law stating that the Federal Government should deploy national resources to individual business that produces a minuscule of our needs - meat – really, just beef. Some people don’t even eat it.

Until this government, we never knew that Fulani cattle rearing was government business with such premium placed on it that security agencies, and the Presidency read Section 14 2 b of the 1999 Constitution which states, “The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, as “The security and welfare of Fulani herdsmen shall be the primary purpose of government”.

The proposed colonies would be just episodes in the impunities of the Fulani herdsmen for the greed that informs the conduct of the Fulani cattle and their rearers is a rarer version that is completely insatiable, no matter what it is fed.

We cannot entrust our future in the pleasures of Fulani herdsmen and their cattle. We cannot enthrone a lawless society because of the dictates of a few, who boast about their superior to our laws. We cannot feign ignorance of the consequences of allowing Fulani herdsmen to rampage through the land at the detriment of others.

Instead of further indulgence of the Fulani cattle and their owners, we should lawfully bring them to conducts that are amenable to the understanding that is there is enough for everyone, but not enough for anyone’s greed.

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.