The Nation April 26, 2015 by The Nation

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

Woman who hit Venezuela leader with mango rewarded

CAPTURED

WOMAN who bashed President Nicolas Maduro on the head with a mango has been promised a new house for her troubles in a surreal tropical tale that has gone viral in Venezuela. The 52-year-old president was driving a bus through a crowd last weekend in the central state of Aragua when someone in the crowd tossed the fruit at him. “It says: ‘If you can, call me’,” the former bus driver said later during the week, as he displayed the fruit with a name and phone number scrawled on it on television. “Marleny Olivo had a problem with her house. (Officials) called her. She was scared. She couldn’t believe it was true. ... I’ve approved an apartment for you, Marleny, as part of the ‘Grand Venezuelan Housing Mission’,” he added, vowing to eat the mango. Venezuela’s ever ebullient cybersphere did not miss a beat, with the president’s populist gesture drawing admiration and derision, plus plenty of jokes. “If for a mango they give you apartments, then you know what to do: throw him a pineapple!” quipped Dolar Today, a website that quotes the black market for dollars and is hated by Maduro. Like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013, Maduro collects heaps of petitions during trips, although most are scribbled on paper rather than hurled at him on fruit. In a habit that delights many poor supporters but irritates critics, Maduro - like Chavez - often personally gives away homes, appliances or pensions to low-income Venezuelans. However, lacking Chavez’s charm and good fortune with high oil prices, Maduro’s popularity has plummeted since he took office.

People line up in shock beside a collapsed building following a deadly earthquake in Nepal on Saturday in which over 1,500 persons died.

UST as this newspaper speculated two Saturdays ago, President Goodluck Jonathan finally yielded to pressures to toss out the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba from his post. An Acting IGP was immediately announced. Also, as expected, the president declined to offer reasons for the sack, though the media gave enough reasons to convince everyone that Mr Abba, notwithstanding his shortcomings, inconsistencies and lack of character, was less than altruistic and smart in many of his actions during and after the epochmaking general elections. Mr Abba’s poor judgement is truly startling, and it manifested early in his leadership of the police. He exceeded limits and boundaries, displayed irrational loyalty to the president in the early weeks of his appointment, provoked and ridiculed the National Assembly, and seemed uninterested in carrying out major, fundamental and impactful changes. But paradoxically, during the polls, he appeared in some respects to be neutral, though some police commands were already on autopilot, unstoppably partisan and uncontrollable. Moments after the outcome of the presidential poll became public, however, Mr Abba performed what must qualify as the most amazing volte-face ever. He threw in his lot with President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, met with him a little beyond the bounds of duty, and seemed to give the unwholesome and embarrassing impression he knew which side his bread was buttered. Together with what was de-

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The exit of Suleiman Abba

scribed as his indiscretion in the Rivers State governorship poll, to wit, his reluctance to support the president’s political agenda, and his pussyfooting over the reposting of Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Tunde Ogunshakin, the president was sufficiently enraged to fire him.

However justified or otherwise the sacking of Mr Abba was, what is quite remarkable about it is not the serial indiscretions of the former IGP but the equally appalling poor judgement displayed by the president in consenting to the drastic action against the police chief barely four or five weeks to the transfer of power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the victorious All Progressives Congress (APC). What did President Jonathan hope to achieve? It was learnt from the media that the president wished to arrest any act of disloyalty before it became a trend, especially among the security services. And given the fact that a few house of cards remained, such as the one delicately inspired by the president in Ekiti State under the obstreperous

Mr Fayose, the president feared that Mr Abba’s postings exposed some of his loyalists, among whom was the witless braggart and compulsive liar in Ekiti. Expectedly, Mr Fayose will now receive support from the Acting IGP, and the army, which had reportedly recalled the conniving Brigade Commander in the region, Brig-Gen Aliyu Momah, might no longer be tempted to want to conform with or second-guess the incoming administration of Gen Buhari. But the cost to the president’s integrity and so-called statesmanlike disposition in sacking Mr Abba will be huge and permanent. After conceding defeat to Gen Buhari, President Jonathan was widely described both locally and internationally as a statesman. He was also seen as a

genuine democrat who allowed free and fair elections. But, now, given his obvious connivance at the Rivers State electoral madness, which Mr Abba’s sacking emblematised, his fury over the AIG Ogunshakin fuss, his indefensible condoning of Mr Fayose’s mad gambit in Ekiti, and his supine acquiescence to many other acts of constitutional subversion, such as the ones masterminded by his wife, Dame Patience, few Nigerians are going to be convinced he actually meant well for the country by his famous act of condescension, or that he was in any way capable of true acts of statesmanship. If the president worried that by appointing Solomon Arase as Acting IGP he was undermining or abridging the officer’s career, he hid that fact

Time to switch gear on Fayose and Ekiti

HE more outsiders get worked up over Governor Ayo Fayose’s crazy antics, especially his hysterical eruptions, expletives, and undignified behaviour, the more Ekiti indigenes appear to like him. He lies compulsively, but he has managed to paint himself as the victim. He and his supporters have insulted and undermined the constitution, and stepped maddeningly on the law, but Ekiti’s apoplectic elite, rather than single-mindedly fight their governor’s obnoxiousness, have appealed for moderation and are looking for ways to reconcile Mr Fayose with his APC opponents.

Now, women in Ikere-Ekiti, are threatening to trample on whatever is left of their chastity by protesting naked if Mr Fayose’s enemies do not sheathe their swords. The power of their superstition proves impotent against Mr Fayose’s moral wrongs, but is expected to prove potent against his enemies’ moral rights. Surprise! It is time to go beyond the nonsense in Ekiti. If Ekiti is befuddled and their moral compass distorted, outsiders who do not subscribe to their superstitions and are not intimidated by their quaint worldview must rise above Ekiti’s pronvicialism and insularity to

compel them, whether they cried and screamed or not, to do what is right. They disgrace the Southwest and humiliate the values of the Yoruba. The nonsense should stop. They may have the right to elect idiots, for that is one of the attributes of democracy, but they do not have the right to give the impression the Southwest is one huge expanse of unremitting ‘assdom.’ It is clear to all of us how the legislature, the judiciary and the constitution are being pummeled, and how that state has been reduced to a mockery of humanity and civilisation. Admittedly, Ekiti is inured to this horror. This is why

we must ignore their feelings and proceed to deal effectively and firmly with the Hobbesian descent into chaos in that blighted Yoruba province.

it conveniently. In his flirtations, Mr Abba might not have demonstrated exemplary character, nor the skill, judgement and balance his job required, but the president’s response was far worse, both in terms of calibration and timing. Both men will be haunted by their actions for a long time to come.

Southwest’s wanton habits

EVENTEEN persons reportedly died almost overnight in the Ondo town of Ode-Irele for reasons baffled doctors and health officials in the state are yet to uncover. Pending tests and investigations to identify the causes, the women of the town, in this 21st century and in the supposedly educated and enlightened Southwest, went to town to appease angry, unknown gods which they identified as the reasons behind the sudden, inexplicable deaths. And while the women were engaged in their tomfoolery, Ondo State students in some tertiary institutions took their protests to Government House in Akure asking for the impeachment of the deputy governor, Ali Olanusi, essentially for defecting to the APC days before the general elections. They were of course instigated. And they’ll probably get their wish. The students forgot they did not ask for the impeachment of the governor when he defected to the PDP. Well, given the Supreme Court judgement on the issue of defection, somebody or a group of people will not too long from now go to court to ask for the sacking of Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

COLUMN

The tragedy of the black person

nooping around With

Tatalo Alamu

• Africans rescued off the coast of Italy

HESE are not the best of times to be a Black person. They have never been. The phrase man’s inhumanity to man pales into utter insignificance when put side by side with the other proposition: Blackman’s inhumanity to the Blackman. This is the crying shame of all Black people. Throughout recorded history and ancient mythologies, through the gradual differentiation of the human species into separate racial categories, the worst enemies of the Black race have been their own people. Either as colonial slaves or post-colonial serfs, either in outright captivity or coded confinement, Black people have been the worst tormentors of their own race. The Black race has been particuS the world settles into the new millennium, a radical shift in the balance of demographic composition appears to be under way. A huge change in global population and the pattern of human settlement is taking place before our very eyes. As the phenomenon of globalisation abolishes time and space, as its momentum dissolves barriers, as its dynamic collars and corrals nations into involuntary cooperation, those left behind in the remaining hells on earth are also “globalising” with their feet. The result is human migration of awesome proportions which often rivals the best space adventure in terms of imaginative daring and resourcefulness. The world, particularly its better managed metropolitan centres, is under siege from this human armada. For the first time in its history, the Hispanic population in the United States is poised to outstrip the Black populace as the dominant minority. In Britain, unwanted guests show up at royal banquets. Primeval cousins long abandoned in ancestral homesteads suddenly pop up at dinner in the affluent west. A huge human tornado with origins in the distressed nations of subSaharan Africa is assaulting the European coastline. From Mexico and Cuba, and particularly from the human fiascos of Haiti and the Dominican Republics, it is a daily battle of wits and will with American coastguards; from Central Europe, the Western European gateway is often subjected to amphibious assaults combined with an infantry dash across the Channel tunnel as human initiative and sheer will power make nonsense of impregnable fortresses; from Asia, the boat people still take to the perilous seas. Accompanying the tragedy of this people are tales of extraordinary courage in the face of unimaginable adversity. These are epics of heroism stretching the limits of human endurance and the threshold of pains. They would make the fabled Moses wince in admiration. Almost without exception, the ordeal invariably ends in forced cannibalism as the logic of survival takes over from the imperative of civilising refinement. They tackle their grim fare with mournful restraint rather than the joyous relish of the truly famished. When rescued, survivors are usually in a state of delirium babbling insensate nonsense or staring at their rescuers in terminal disorientation. The desert

larly stricken by a failure of leadership. The worst specimens of the race often end up as leaders. Among the half-mad, it is the comprehensively insane who are often the most selfassured. It is the iron law of human society. Among African leaders of the past half a century, there are at least four documented cases of certified cannibals: Marcos Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Jean-Baptiste Bokassa of Central African Republic, Samuel Doe of Liberia and Idi Amin Dada of Uganda who famously noted that human flesh is just a little bit saltier than normal venison. It is not enough to eat up their countries and their resources, they must also consume the flesh of the best and the brightest. This past week as horrid tales of

xenophobic fury from South Africa gripped world attention, the global media were also beaming pictures of thousands of helpless and hapless Africans openly drowning from sinking flotillas in an attempt to reach salvation in mainland Europe. Many of them who fled Africa in search of greener pasture would never be seen again. It is a scathing indictment of postcolonial Africa and its laggard leadership. The unfolding tragedy of South Africa is a searing rebuke to the post-apartheid Black leadership and its failure to provide solace and succour to the South African multiracial underclass after the millennial misery of White separatist and supremacist rule. Xenophobia naturally takes over

when ordinary people find it difficult if not impossible to make ends meet or even to feed. As it so happens even in the most advanced nations, whenever utter scarcity prevails, immigrants are often the target of furious resentment boiling over to insensate violence. Hell is indeed the Other and the new order. It is now over twenty years since apartheid rule formally ended in South Africa. To be sure, it was not going to be easy. It takes time and arduous planning to overcome centuries of entrenched inequity and inequality. The poorly educated and psychologically repressed cannot become captains of industry and industriousness overnight. But it would seem that the ANC ranking leadership have been too obsessed with taking over the perks and perquisites of the former apartheid masters rather than working for the true emancipation of their people and the amelioration of the plight of a populace on the verge of despair and despondency. In the event, they have only suc-

A long walk to freedom and the high seas are not the most hospitable of places. Whatever it is that would make human beings subject themselves to this extreme torture and tribulation must be quite unsettling. Human migration, to be sure, is the first condition of humanity, and is the biological equivalent of shifting cultivation. No nation, tribe, race or people can boast with any assurance that their current location is the precise origin of their ancestors. Reeling before victorious armies, escaping from social hostilities, absconding from pandemic pestilence and other epochal disorders, or literally in search of greener pastures, mankind has always been on the move. Indeed, it is said that during the glacial age, certain precursors of the human race went back to water from whence they came rather than face the intense hostilities on land. Hence, the anomalous features of certain sea mammals, particularly the whale and the dolphin. But migration can also be an internal continental affair. The Yoruba wax eloquent about their origin in ancient Egypt which they left after a fierce battle of succession. The Fulani almost certainly left the Atlas mountains, incubating and mutating for several centuries in the Futa Jallon Plateau from where they eventually fanned across northern West Africa. The Itsekiri of the Niger Delta are almost certainly of Yoruba extraction. Sometimes, a triumphant army can engender dislocation and dispersal of epic proportions. This is what is behind what is known as the Mfekane phenomenon in South Africa when the victorious Zulu army scattered all the tribes to the wind. The one hundred year civil war which attended the collapse of the old Oyo Empire in the eighteenth century altered the demographic constitution of the Yoruba nation forever, engendering little local difficulties such as the Modakeke phenomenon, the Owu “ Diaspora” and other contemporary political imbroglios. Africa, as usual, occupies a unique position in this migratory conundrum. Something new always comes out of Africa. And we are not talking of bizarre exotica. There are three features unique to the benighted continent. First, there is no record of human migration back to Africa. The much storied captivity of the children of Israel in Egypt ended when Moses led his people back to freedom.

The Jews have travelled long and hard ever since then, but certainly not back to Africa. Human beings may have erupted from the plains of East Africa, but it would seem that the natural human instincts lead away from the stifling heritage of the founding continent. When the heroic Colonel Netenyahu led his men on the famous Entebbe raid against the murderous thugs of Idi Amin, he was re-enacting an atavistic ritual. The second distinguishing characteristic for Africa is the absence of a civilising hub or nucleus to act as a magnet for the disconsolate and discontented of the continent with the exception of negligible and miniscule oases such as Botswana, Namibia and Senegal. North America has its United States and Canada; Europe has its affluent western nations and Asia has its Asian tigers. With Zimbabwe having joined the common ancestry of failed postcolonial states, with South Africa slowly unravelling as the revolution begins to consume its children and noble ideals, with the Nigerian mammoth taking its time to fulfil its manifest destiny as a multinational haven for the black person, Africans are left with no alternative than to flee Africa. The third characteristic is a function and a working out of the logic of the first two. It is true that Africa is not unique when it comes to hellish spots on earth where everything is short, nasty and brutish. The hell-hole of Haiti, the voodoo-ravaged disaster zone that is the Dominican Republic, the stone-age barbarity of the Taleban conquerors of Afghanistan, the triggercrazed weirdoes of Chechnia, the morbid cruelties of the Balkan triangle of Kosovo-Macedonia-Serbia and of course the dark caves of Irian Jaya all compete for supremacy in the absolute misery index. But it needs restating that it is in Africa, particularly the vast human zoos of the sub-Sahara, that hunger, disease, want , famine of biblical proportions, epidemics of dereliction such as AIDS and the pestilential Ebola virus have combined with evil governance to produce a new paradigm of human affliction and destitution. Those who are looking for a vision of the apocalypse need not look very far. It is here on the continent that gave birth to humanity. Those who have not been devastated are voting with their sturdy limb.

Their patience exhausted by the moral, spiritual, economic and political bankruptcy of the continent, they turn their back on family and friends forever. Let the dead bury the dead, they seem to be saying. But to reach civilisation, they must first confront the immense void of the Sahara, a monstrous wasteland stretching over three thousand miles teeming with ancient and recent bones. As the scalding sun singe their hair and the roasting sand burn their feet, they turn into hallucinating wrecks often before wild animals put finishing touches to them. This Old Testament suffering has now been memorably captured in a documentary titled, Exodus From Africa. It is a crying shame for humanity in general and Africans in particular. Those who subject themselves to this terrifying ordeal are by no means feckless or irrational. Indeed it may be one last act of stupendous will as they seek to rejoin remote cousins whose ancestors’ better honed survivalist instincts led them away from a sinking hulk. It is a leap from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. To be devoured by wild animals in the Sahara desert may well be a better fate than to be eaten alive by the RUF savages of Sierra Leone. To die with hope in the Sahara inferno is probably a better deal than to expire under the heaving institutional debris of post-colonial Africa. Meanwhile as this goes on, as the flowers of Africa are daily scorched in the Saharan hell, African leaders are busy changing the name of their moribund and comically inept organisation, as if a name-change has ever kept receivers at bay. The question then is: Who will save Africa? Certainly not the hypocritical West and its institutions and instruments of domination. Too selfishly preoccupied with the gains of globalisation, Western nations have failed to note the debilitating effects of this phenomenon on fragile economies and still more fragile nations, delinked, decoupled and un-networked as a result of a different mode of production and the different logic of their mode of insertion within the structure of the modern nation-state. Without ever consolidating the gains of the nation-state, African nations are compelled to abolish embryonic national institutions and seek their fortunes in a solidarity of aberrant states. As it was with the internationalisation

ceeded in creating a new Black super elite while deepening inequality and socio-economic anomie in South Africa. Yet by the same token, the failure of the South African post- apartheid elite also beams unflattering light on Nigeria, the other potential African giant, and its failure to fulfill its manifest destiny as a welcoming Mecca of the Black race and a transforming economic hub for the continent. Had Nigeria become an economic success rather than a poster boy for thieving incompetence, it would definitely have relieved the pressure on South Africa. In default, Nigeria has become a nation of absconding refugees at the mercy of xenophobic South Africans. Luckily, it is morning yet on day of salvation. Nigerians have just gifted themselves a rare chance of a new beginning. In the light of the national mood of expectation, we publish this morning a piece which was written about a decade ago which directs attention to the plight of the Black race. of slavery when Africa was occupied and its territorial mass forcibly organised along the image of the conqueror without any regard to internal dynamics, so it is with globalisation. Yet if one cannot argue with an earthquake, one can at least study its momentum and master its inner logic. Rather than being demonised and diabolised, globalisation ought to be rigorously encountered. This is the urgent task for the intellectual and political elite of Africa. Human development is not a charity ball, and western nations do not owe any obligation to any continent, beyond their own enlightened self-interest. To be at the periphery of any mode of production is not the disaster it seems. Western nations were able to overcome the contradictions of feudalism precisely because they were at its peripheral formation. This feat would have been impossible in the classically feudal economies of ancient Ethiopia, China and the old Tsarist Russian Empire. While consolidating their national institutions, African nations can creatively deploy the political devolution and economic deregulation of globalisation to overcome the contradictions and monstrosities of the authoritarian colonial state. If astutely handled, an unviable and unworkable monolithic behemoth like the current Nigerian nation can transform into a genuine multi-national state which can then serve as a transforming hub for other failed colonial contraptions. Either way, it is going to be a long walk to freedom. Where reforms fail and earthly authorities falter, people lose interest in the pursuit and possibility of worldly happiness, and those who remain will be driven to seek otherworldly succour and solace accordingly. This is not because religion is the opium of the people but a result of a basic human need for reassurance that life itself is not an expensive joke. In periods of political and social disorder and the total collapse of values, humanity seeks refuge in the transcendent morality which ennobles suffering and canonises pain. If this makes them vulnerable to religious charlatans, it also prepares the ground for the emergence of genuine redeemers, prophets and twelfth imams who will be at the head of rampaging social forces with absolutely nothing to lose. By then it will be too late for the undeserving elite of Africa and for many who would have taken one long last look at the crumbling cradle of mankind. (First published in 2003 )

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS

OTERS in Imo state yesterday re-elected Governor Rochas Okorocha for a second term in office, endorsing him ahead of his closest opponent,Honourable Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was declared winner early this morning by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with a total of 416996 votes as against the 320705 for Hon Ihedioha at the end of yesterday ‘s supplementary election held at 200 Polling Units across 23 local government area of the State. The supplementary election fetched the governor 31,326 votes on top of what he got during the main election on April 11 leaving 13,624 additional votes for Ihedioha. Okocha’s performance yesterday defied efforts by the PDP to manipulate the process through rigging . Poll returns announced last night are as follows: Nkwerre Local Government. Re-run held in two wards. APC: 255 PDP: 164 Oru West APC: 395 PDP: 129 Okigwe (re-run in two wards) APC: 603 PDP: 76 Orlu (re-run held in three wards) APC: 687 PDP: 179 Ihite Uboma (re-run held in one polling unit) APC: 131 PDP: 66 Nwangele (re-run held in three polling units) APC: 279 PDP: 55 Orsu (re-run held in three polling units) APC: 471 PDP: 218 Njaba (re-run held in six polling units) APC: 1095 PDP: 236 Obowo (re-run held in two wards) APC: 697 PDP: 505 Owerri North APC: 674 PDP: 620 Onuimo APC: 412 PDP: 207 Ezinhitte Mbaise (re-run held at four polling units) APC: 213 PDP: 715 Ihime Mbano APC: 604 PDP: 393 Abo Mbaise APC: 686 PDP: 939 Owerri West APC: 1342 PDP: 793 Ohaji Egbema APC: 1210 PDP: 996

Okorocha wins re-election as PDP’s Ikpeazu leads in Abia •Early returns favour Darius Ishaku in Taraba • PDP Senator Uzodinma, INEC officials arrested for thumb-printing From Sam Egburonu, Ugochukwu UgojiEke,Umuahia/ Okodili Ndidi, Owerri/ Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo/Bolaji Ogundele,Warri

Mbaitoli APC: 3997 PDP: 2422 Oru East APC: 7154 PDP: 118 Ngow Okpala APC: 4150 PDP: 323 Isu APC: 2773 PDP: 979 Similar governorship supplementary elections took place in Abia and Taraba states. Dr Okezie Ikpeazu of the PDP was in a comfortable lead in Abia with Dr Alex Otti of APGA trailing,while Mr.Darius Ishaku of PDP was coasting to victory in Taraba ahead of Senator Aisha Al-Hassan of APC. A serving senator of PDP,Mr.Hope Uzodinma, was arrested by the police in connection with illegal thumb printing of ballot papers in a private house in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo as the election got underway yesterday. Arrested with him were his uncle ,elder sister and fake INEC officials were yesterday arrested by security men while thumb printing ballot papers in a private home at Oru East Local Government Area. The Senator who was later released on personal recognition, was said to have mobilized hoodlums who set bonfires on the road

The April 11 Governorship election was declared inconclusive by the State Returning Officer, Professor Oye Ibidapo-Obe, who said the margin with which the APC candidate was leading his closest rival was not up to the number of registered voters in the areas where elections were either cancelled or could not hold. Voters turn out was not different in Abia State,although polling was generally peaceful .The election which was scheduled to take place in 299 polling units of nine local government areas started in some polling centers as early as 8am while in others it started at about 9am. The nine local government areas for the supplementary election were Aba North and South, Ikwuano, Ohafia, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, Umuahia South Umunneochi and Bende, while Umuahia North was for state House of Assembly. In Umuobutu/Saint Silas Primary School, Old Umuahia and Umuezeala in Umuahia South council areas, accreditation started at about 9am while in Umuobia it started by 11:30am because of delay in rectifying the card reader which developed a little fault. The restriction order for vehicular movement was not strictly enforced as vehicles, other than those on election duty, were seen plying the roads. Inter and intra city Commercial buses and tricycles did their normal busi-

ness. The PDP governorship candidate,Dr.Ikpeazu said the tension occasioned by the supplementary election was more artificial than natural. He told reporters in Aba that if the results of the governorship election conducted on April 11, 2015 had been declared, there would have been no tension in the state. He however expressed the hope that "the tension will diffuse naturally because that tension was created, it was not natural, it was artificial." The candidate, who expressed confidence that he would win the p election, also advised political aspirants to be less desperate in order to reduce tension in the polity. Voters turn out in Taraba was high and reports last night said Mr.Ishaku was well ahead in the early returns from the polling units. Winner of the elections is expected to be announced today by INEC. At the close of voting on April 11, Ishaku, an architect and former Minister of State for Power, Environment and Niger Delta Affairs, was leading with 54,812 votes. He won the election in nine of the 16 local government councils with 317,198 votes, while Alhassan, a lawyer and got 262,386 votes garnered in six local government areas. 127,125 voters were registered in the 10 local government areas of the state where the supplementary election took place yesterday.

•L-R; Former Interim Government Chief Ernest Shonekan; former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon; President Goodluck Jonathan and National President Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor during the Presidential Prayer Breakfast meeting at the Presidential Villa Abuja yesterday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN

Boko Haram kills four in Plateau UNMEN suspected to be Boko Haram members have attacked a village in Plateau State, killing four persons including two members of the state security outfit code named Operation Rainbow. The gunmen struck at Shonong village in Riyom local government area. The other victims were residents of the village. The gunmen were said to have stormed the village at about 12 noon, taking the residents by surprise. A source in Shonong said the invaders first killed two of the villagers. Others managed to escape and subsequently sent a

to prevent security men from taking away the suspects. It took a reinforcement of soldiers and men of the Department of State Security to rescue the Policemen and take the suspects to the Police Headquarters in Owerri, where they were detained. Also arrested were fake INEC officials who posed as Returning Officers at the Collation Centre. The Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, who was among the INEC team deployed for the election, said that the fake INEC officials were arrested at Umumma Primary School Ward 10 Polling Unit 008, Polling Unit 003 and three others. He said: "myself accompanied by the Assistant Inspector General of Police and Commissioner Police have arrested poll officials in Oru East involved in mass thumb printing and have now been taken to Owerri. "Upon my suspicion, an imposter who claimed to be lNEC staff without proof ,acting as a presiding officer, l ordered his arrest and it was effected by the Police". At another location, an APC chieftain was shot by hoodlums when he resisted their plan to hijack the election materials. Another victim and a supporter of the APC, Chief Rex Anunobi, who was kidnapped from his home by the PDP thugs at the instance of a PDP Senator, was rescued by policemen led by an AIG. Voters turn out was generally low.

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos distress message to the security agency. The agency's response was swift but its men were no match for the well armed terrorists who proceeded to kill two of the security agents. They made away with two rifles seized from them. The commissioner of police Nasiru Oki ordered the withdrawal of the remaining security personnel from the village, an action that has forced the people to seek refuge in Riyom, headquarters of Riyom local government area. Repeated attacks on the village have claimed over 130 lives within the last three years.

HE Ondo State Government has banned the production and consumption of locally-made gin, commonly called 'ogogoro' in the state, following the recent strange deaths in Ode-Irele. The Commissioner for Health, Dayo Akinyanju told reporters in Akure yesterday that medical reports showed that the deaths were caused by ethanol poisoning He said: "Our clinical analysis reveals the fact that there were no known viruses, while toxicology reports have confirmed our prime suspicion of ethanol poisoning. "We have reviewed our

Senator representing Southern Taraba Emmanuel Bwacha boasted yesterday that Ishaku would be returned as winner. "If you like conduct this election 10 times, the same result would be produced; because the people will not change their opinion of the candidates," Bwacha said. Poor outing in Delta The supplementary election in Delta Central Senatorial District was also characterised by low voter turnout, despite prompt despatch of electoral officials and materials. In Unit 9, 10 of Ward 9 and Unit 8, Ward 10 all in Ekpan community, the atmosphere was very calm. In Effurun Ward 1, Unit 10, the same was the case. Electoral officers complained of poor voters turnout, but added that there was no issue of violence, as those who came out conducted themselves in an orderly manner. Agents of the three major political parties in the state, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) who spoke to newsmen said the exercise was going smoothly and materials were intact. Speaking with journalists at his country home in Jesse, Ethiope West council area, Hon. Halims Agoda, the APC senatorial candidate said he was optimistic that he would come out victorious in the election. "Every human being is incurably optimistic. Why shouldn't I be when I know that out of the three of us, I am the most credible candidate to represent Delta central," he stated. "I spent 12 productive years of my life in the House of Representatives. I will continue to render services to my people. Whatever you hear is a masquerade of the PDP. "There are currently 17 federal positions for Delta state. They won't come through Okowa, those will come through APC. Very soon, the PDP hierarchy will be looking towards APC.” Candidate on the platform of the PDP, Chief Ighoyota Amori who spoke in his Mosogar residence noted that although there was no supplementary election in his area, reports so far gathered from their agents indicate that the process was "peaceful and favourable" to his party. Lamenting the poor turn out of voters, he said, "We don't blame the electorates because they have gone through two to three elections and are tired of coming out. The enthusiasm cannot be the same. "All the same, PDP faithful came out and we are very hopeful. We are waiting to see the units that we will lose in this rerun. If big figures emerge, INEC will be blamed."

Strange killer disease: Ondo bans production, consumption of ogogoro strategies and embarked on sensitization to let people know that locally-made gin is prohibited. "We will also embark on searches because this batch of methanol-containing gin must have gone round because four cases: two alive and two dead have been found in Odigbo Local Government Area," he said. Mr. Akinyanju said stakeholders such as religious leaders, transporters, youths, market women, and the relevant

association would be informed of the development. He said, "We will start with the entire South Senatorial District, then move to the Central Senatorial District." According to the commissioner, the unknown disease has so far claimed 23 lives with 10 other people receiving treatment. "Two of them have regained their sights and are back home. "We appeal to the general

public to desist from drinking the gin until we are able to identify the source of contamination or find out how the methanol got into the drinks," he said. The commissioner said that the state government was working closely with the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control and the National Orientation Agency to sensitise members of the public to the dangers of consuming such drinks.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS

Buhari lauds role of media in elections

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•From L-R: Chief Marketing Officer Etisalat Nig, Angelone Francesco, Captain of the victorious Government Secondary School, Imo State, Amadi Chukwuebuka; President, Nigerian School Sports Federation (NSSF), Ibrahim Muhammad and Sports Editor, Vanguard News paper, Tony Ubani at the grand finale of this year's Etisalat U-15 School Cup Competition between Government Secondary school, Imo State and Government Model School, Bida, Niger State held at Campus Square Mini-Stadium Igbosere, Lagos.PHOTO:MUYIWA HASSAN.

PDP: S’South, S’East move against Muazu A

N outgoing governor from the Southsouth is being tipped to take over as national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the plot to unseat the incumbent, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, thickens. Mu’azu is being targeted by many party faithful for the party’s disastrous outing in the recent elections, its worst since it swept into power in 1999. The ‘Mu’azu must- go’ campaign is being spearheaded by chieftains of the party including governors in the Southsouth and Southeast who see the two zones as the new power base of the party and which must now be in the PDP’s driver’s seat with a view to repositioning the party ahead of the 2019 elections. More party members are being recruited to join the campaign which sources said may terminate Mu’azu’s leadership as early as May 29, the same day President Goodluck Jonathan will be handing over power to General Muhammadu Buhari. The PDP chairman is from Bauchi in the Northeast geopolitical zone. His critics blame him for the inability of the party to do well

•Position S’South governor to replace party chairman •Govs, Clark, Anyim fingered in plot By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor in the north in particular and the nation in general in the elections. The Nation gathered that the plot to move against him came about at a meeting of all the PDP governors, governors- elect, Senators, Senators- elect, Reps and Reps-elect last week. The meeting was said to have x-rayed the party’s performance in each of the six geo-political zones. According to sources, the meeting was characterised by accusations and counter accusations of disloyalty, betrayal and anti-party activities amongst chieftains, especially in the northern zones. Soon after the Abuja meeting, one of the Southsouth governors openly blamed PDP’s loss at the federal level on what he described as indiscipline and disloyalty by some party members. He spoke at the inauguration of a special committee to examine the

performance and conduct of the PDP leaders during the polls. The governor who warned that dire consequences awaited any member found to be involved in anti-party activities, emphasised the importance of party discipline and loyalty towards achieving success in any political contest. “From proceeding at the meeting, it was obvious that the party urgently needs a new direction. For this to happen, we must get new leadership immediately. And there is no pretending that the leadership can no longer remain in the north following its woeful performance in that region,” a party source told The Nation. “We cannot be led by people whose commitment to the party is now questionable. Those who have stakes in the party must take charge and rescue the party at this crucial stage. This is the idea behind the resolve to bring the chairmanship back to the south. But I am not aware that a particular is mentioned to

occupy the seat,” the source, a defeated Senatorial candidate who was at the meeting added. It was also gathered that at the end of the Abuja postmortem, PDP governors from the southern states met with some prominent party leaders including Senator Pius Anyim and Chief E.K Clark and urged them to support the replacement of Muazu with a respected Southsouth Governor before May 29. “The presidency has bought into the idea and Muazu’s days in office may be numbered. Prominent party leaders like E.K Clark and others have endorsed the candidature of the outgoing Governor who has not been elected or appointed into any public office for now,” another source said. “It is a popular opinion amongst us that the leadership of the party should return to the south now that a northerner is the next president of the country,” another source added. The Nation learnt that a repeat of the meeting has been scheduled for this week. It is expected that the anti-Muazu governors will move against the PDP boss anytime after the said meeting.”

Xenophobia attacks: Nigeria recalls ambassador

HE federal government yesterday recalled Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa as an immediate fallout of the xenophobic attacks on foreigners in that country. Acting High Commissioner Martin Cobham and Deputy High Commissioner Uche AjuluOkeke were directed to return home for consultations in the latest sign of African countries’ discontent at Pretoria’s handling

of attacks on immigrants. “The invitation is in connection with the on-going xenophobia in South Africa targeting foreigners, mainly African migrants,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Seven people have been killed in attacks on migrants since March 20, when Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini spoke out against foreign workers. “Let us pop our head lice,”

he said. “We must remove ticks and place them outside in the sun. We ask foreign nationals to pack their belongings and be sent back.” He has since said those remarks were taken out of context and that he opposes violence. Nigeria had earlier summoned South Africa’s high commissioner over the unrest as protesters picketed the South African embassy in Lagos. A Nigerian group has called for

the International Criminal Court to investigate Zwelithini for “hate speech”. South Africa has deployed troops to try to quell the violence, after criticism by nations including China and Zimbabwe for failing to protect their citizens against armed mobs. South African firms such as mobile phone giant MTN and supermarket chain Shoprite have significant interests in Nigeria.

AnotherBuharisupporterbeginsYola-Abujatrek

NOTHER supporter of President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday commenced a trek from Yola in Adamawa State to Abuja to express his joy at the outcome of the March 28 election. Abubakar Duduwale from Yola North local government

area set out on the 705 kilometre journey from Yola gate at 6.30am. He said he had wanted to start the journey the day after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Buhari as winner of the election but was beaten to

the proposal by Suleiman Hashimu who walked from Lagos to Abuja. “The reason why I am trekking from Yola to Abuja is to express my joy and solidarity with president-elect Muhammadu Buhari,” Duduwale said.

“I want to trek from Yola to Abuja to witness the inauguration ceremony of President-elect.” Suleiman Hashimu was personally received by General Buhari in Abuja at the weekend. He praised him for his support and endurance.

RESIDENT-ELECT, Mohammed Buhari, has commended the role of the media in the 2015 general elections. Speaking at the 2015 Biennial Convention of the Nigerian Guild of Editors at Airport Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday, Buhari said the media deserve commendation for facilitating a peaceful and credible poll. He said any meeting of the guild is always an important national event because of the role which the press plays in the overall development of our nation’s democracy. Buhari said the press influences millions of people daily, adding that there is no society or government agency that can exist or function without the media. He, however, urged the press to continue the role of ensuring good governance . Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, who declared the event open called on the media to take the lead in the development of the nation. Represented by Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lateef Ibirogba,

By Olatunde Odebiyi Fashola said the media should take the lead discussions in the area of corruption, xxx lamenting that corruption has almost become a normal way of life in our society and we must do something to get rid of it. He added that the main purpose of the government is to protect life and property but the media is needed to help leaders know how to go about it. President of NGE, Femi Adesina, said the guild had been able to raise N200 million for the construction of its National Secretariat in Abuja. He added that The Federal Capital Territory Minister according to his promise has allocated land to the guild in Kyami area of Abuja, noting that what is delaying the commencement of the project is that the contract awarded by the federal government for infrastructural development in the area has not been funded yet. Former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh, described any editor who compromises in fulfilling his duties as a disgrace.

Three Nigerians get 72hr execution notice in Indonesia

HREE Nigerians on the death row in Indonesia have been told they may be executed as soon as Tuesday. Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze are to be executed along with two Australians, a Ghanaian, a French, a Filipino and a Brazilian following their conviction for drug trafficking. Julian McMahon, counsel to the Australians - Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan returned from a meeting with his clients on Nusakambangan Island yesterday with three selfportraits by Sukumaran. One canvas was dated April 25 and signed “72 hours just started”. Australian embassy officials were earlier called to a meeting in Cilacap, signaling the beginning of the process to execute the Australians for the Bali Nine plot ten years ago. Indonesia must give at least 72 hours’ notice of the executions. Mr. McMahon did not comment to reporters but showed Sukumaran’s self-portraits, the others signed “Our new prison. A Bad Sleep Last Night” dated April 25 and “A strange day” dated April 24. Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, born on July 6, 1965, was sentenced to death in September 2004 by a court in Tangerang. The court found him guilty of trafficking 2.6lb of heroin via Sukarno Hatta Airport in Jakarta in 2002. In January 2015 the Indonesian National Narcotics Body said that Sylvester was running a drugs ring in Nusakambangan jail, where he is being held. Raheem Agbaje Salami is believed to be Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, but entered Indonesia using a Spanish passport with the name Raheem Agbaje Salami. Salami was caught with 11lb of heroin inside his suitcase in Surabaya airport on 2 September 1998. A court in Surabaya gave him a life sentence in April 1999, which was reduced by the High Court to 20 years.

Salami appealed and the Supreme Court gave him a death sentence. His clemency application was rejected on January 5, 2015. He tried to challenge the rejection of his clemency but the challenge failed and he is in the process of an appeal. Okwudili Oyatanze, 45,was given the death sentence by the Tangerang court for trafficking 2.4lb of heroin through Sukarno Hatta airport in 2001. His clemency was rejected in February 2015. Families of foreign drug convicts set to be hauled before the firing squad in Indonesia issued desperate mercy pleas yesterday, as France warned of “diplomatic consequences” if one of its nationals is executed. Consular officials and relatives were arriving at a town near Nusakambangan, the highsecurity prison island where Indonesian executions are carried out, and where all of the death row convicts are now congregated. The convicts have all lost appeals for clemency from President Joko Widodo, who argues that Indonesia is fighting a drugs emergency. The sister of Australian drug trafficker Myuran Sukumaran issued an emotional plea for his life to be spared, appearing in a YouTube video clutching a photograph of her brother as a young boy wearing a school uniform. “My brother made a mistake 10 years ago and he’s paid for this mistake every single day since then,” Brintha Sukumaran said. “From the bottom of my heart, please President Widodo, have mercy on my brother... change punishment for humanity.” Jakarta had pledged to wait for all 10 prisoners in line for the firing squad to exhaust their legal avenues before naming what the attorney-general’s spokesman Tony Spontana termed “D-day”. Indonesian Zainal Abidin’s bid for a judicial review is expected to be determined tomorrow.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS

Two soldiers die as explosion rocks Jos army barrack

Chinese labourers flood Nigeria’s mining sector •Miners association seeks FG’s intervention From John Ofikhenua, Abuja

HINESE labourers have reportedly invaded mining sites across the country, displacing hundreds of Nigerians. The Nigerian Miners Association is blaming Chinese companies for the development and wants the federal government to step in immediately. President of the association, Alhaji Sani Shehu, told The Nation in Abuja that the Chinese companies brought in their people to do jobs that should ordinarily be for Nigeria’s lower and middle class workers. The association is already harmonising a paper to be presented to President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on the alleged lawlessness in the mining sector. “There is nowhere in the world, where foreigners go to a site and start competing with the indigenes. You never see this anywhere in the world,” he said. He hoped the incoming government “will support the agencies that are responsible for monitoring the mining fields so that we have some level of law and order.” He said the Mining Inspectorate Department of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development which is supposed to monitor the operation of miners in the country is incapacitated to do the job. According to him, “These people met a lawless mining sector. The laws are there but the department that is supposed to ensure the implementation of these laws and order is incapacitated.” The president urged the next administration to insist on adding value to solid minerals in the country instead of exporting the raw materials. Shehu explained that the edge which the Chinese have over Nigerian miners is that they get soft loans with as low as two per cent interest rate while Nigerian banks offer facilities for as high as 26 per cent. “All what you need is to get machinery and machinery is there. Machinery is everywhere in the country. You can lease it. So the federal government should, through the ministry, make a strategic planning of what we need. We need gypsum, we need barite, we need kaolin. Where are they?”

From Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Jos N attempt by the authorities of the Three Armoured Division of the Army in Jos to clean up the armoury turned deadly yesterday, claiming at least two lives, all of them soldiers. The victims were blown up accidentally at Maxwell Khobe Cantonment as they packed expired ammunition meant for destruction, a military spokesman said,confirming two deaths. “Some of the unserviceable ammunition exploded in the process of moving them to the demolition site in the bush. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives and one sustained injuries,” Colonel Sani Usman said on Facebook. The explosion occurred at about 9:45 a.m. triggering pandemonium in a city that has witnessed several bomb explosions in the last few years. Sound of the explosion was heard across the city and its environs. The barrack was immediately cordoned off as a pre-cautionary measure. A similar explosion at the Ikeja cantonment on January 27, 2002 killed many people and destroyed a large section of Lagos metropolis. As people fled the flames ignited by the explosion, many residents fell into the Oke Afa canal at Isolo, and drowned.

•President Goodluk Jonathan cutting the tape with him are L-R FCT Minister Senator Bala Mohammed, Executive Secretary Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission John Kennedy Opara, CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, his wife Hellen and others during the; Inauguration of the Christian Association of Nigeria Jubilee Resort and Leadership Center in Abuja. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN.

Ekiti lawmakers to Fayose: Impunity can’t save you T

HE 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly yesterday alleged misrepresentation of the proceeding in the ex-parte motion filed by their seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) colleagues at the Federal High Court, Abuja. But they vowed that the “impunity and manipulation of facts of his impeachment case in the media” cannot save Governor Ayo Fayose from impeachment. Media reports yesterday

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado Ekiti suggested that the court restrained the 19 legislators from impeaching Fayose. However, Speaker Adewale Omirin in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Wole Olujobi, said there was no such pronouncement from the court. He said : “While the judge clearly ruled that it (court) could not stop Fayose’s impeachment without hearing from the APC lawmakers, the governor’s storm troopers went to town in

a contempt of court to turn full circle the ruling by the judge.” The lawmakers expressed dismay over the ease with which Fayose is trampling on democratic institutions. Omirin said:”He first raided the courts and chased the judges under their tables and subsequently closed the courts. After that, he closed the House of Assembly and chased the lawmakers out of town. “Then it is the turn of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, the media, in a mindless fraud and manipulation of the press to have an upper hand in the face of

flagrant trampling on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “Just a few days ago, the governor’s agents hacked into Channels Television’s website to plant a story implicating Speaker Adewale Omirin and Senator Babafemi Ojuduý as engaging in impeachment funding fraud totalling N250 million.” Fayose, according to him, is now creating for himself a reputation as an enemy of the state by killing all democratic institutions and their supporting structures in a mindless pursuit of power.ý

I’m ready to step into Gowon’s, Shonekan’s shoes, says Jonathan

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is keen on playing the role of a statesman once his tenure is over on May 29. He said yesterday in Abuja that he is already warming up to join the likes of former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Head of the defunct Interim National Government (ING),Chief Ernest Shonekan, in serving the country and the international community in whatever capacity he is assigned. Jonathan who spoke during the fifth Presidential Prayer Breakfast at the State House, Abuja, also harped on the need for sacrifice at the different levels of governance with a view to turning around the nation’s fortune. He said: “I will continue to do my best as I’m gradually joining Gowon and Shonekan to serve our country in different capacities. “For the eight years I have been here as vice president and president, whenever we called upon them wherever they were in this world, they would try to come. I have seen that they are extremely patriotic and they believe in this country.”

•Says no development without sacrifice From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja Nigeria, according to him, would achieve its potential easily if all leaders could show that level of commitment and patriotism. He added: “Everything about human life as an individual, a child, if you don’t make the required sacrifice you can’t get to where you want to go. “If you don’t sacrifice your pleasure, of course you will know where you’ll end. As parents we know the kind of sacrifice we make for our children to go to school, to feed. “To build a family you need sacrifice. So for those who have the privilege of leading at local, state and national, at all times we should be ready to make sacrifice for our nation to grow. “Ministers must make the required sacrifice, our lawmakers because they look at all our laws, they can create crisis in the country if they are not ready to do things the right way. “So all of us in leadership position must be ready to make sacrifice and with our prayers

and with our commitment Nigeria will surely get to where it wants to go.” He said Nigerians must not stop praying for the country to overcome its challenges. “At times, you are forced to think that the nation is ending. Definitely this country will overcome these challenges. That is the reason for this prayer. Just like prayer helped Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, our constant prayers will help us rebuild this nation,” he said. He thanked God for giving him the privilege to serve Nigeria as deputy governor, governor, vice president and president for over 16 years. “That is a reasonable length of time and so I have to thank God, first because if God did not will it, it won’t have happened,” he said. In a short exhortation entitled ‘Destiny and Decision’, Pastor Paul Enenche maintained that the choices we make in life determine our destiny. Quoting Joshua 24:15, he said that Adam, Esau, Samson and Ruth in the Holy Bible had to make choices that affected their

lives. Also speaking, the Aso Villa Chaplain, Ven. Obioma Onwuzurumba, described the session as the last presidential prayer breakfast under President Jonathan and that the country owes God immense gratitude for averting bloodshed during the last elections. He said:”We are aware of the fears in the land before, during and after the general elections, but the President’s decision has ensured peace. “There were predictions that either the president or his wife would die in office. But we thank God they will walk out of office alive.” At the service were Gen. Gowon who read a passage from Philippians 2: 1-11, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, Chief of Staff to the President, Gen. Jones Arogbofa (rtd) and members of the diplomatic corps.

Boko Haram retakes Marte from army

USPECTED Boko Haram insurgents are back in control of Marte, Borno State, a border town along the shores of Lake Chad, after forcing soldiers to flee. It is among several retaken in recent weeks by Nigerian troops, who have launched an offensive against the insurgents as part of a regional operation supported by Chad, Cameroon and Niger. The terrorists stormed the town on Thursday, a local official and witnesses said. “The terrorists, numbering over 2,000, appeared from various directions on Thursday and engaged the soldiers in Kirenowa town and adjoining communities in Marte,” said Imamu Habeeb, a local community leader. Fighting raged all night on Thursday and continued on Friday. Local fighter Shehu Dan Baiwa said the more than 2,000 fighters had been armed with bombs and tanks. “They used the weapons without restraint and succeeded in killing several people,” he said. This is the third time Boko Haram has seized control of Marte. But Boko Haram has been fighting back, and Nigerian troops were also forced to retreat from Boko Haram’s Sambisa Forest stronghold last week after a landmine blast killed one soldier and three vigilantes. A senior local politician confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that the insurgents had retaken Marte.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS

Three dead in NDLEA, hoodlums clash in Kwara

Assassins after me, says pastor who accused CAN of N7b bribe

From Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

By Sunday Oguntola ASTOR Kallamu MusaDikwa, who alleged President Goodluck Jonathan bribed leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) with N7billion to influence voters for him before the just-concluded presidential poll, yesterday said his life was in danger. Musa-Dikwa claimed he became a marked man because some undisclosed church leaders accused him of being responsible for the defeat of President Jonathan. "I have not known peace at all since the March 28 elections. As soon as the results were released, I started receiving threat text messages and calls," he told our correspondent on phone. He said some prominent Christian leaders have labelled him an enemy of the church, a development which he said made them blame him for the defeat of Jonathan at the poll. "They said I hate the church and worked against our interest. They accused me of being one of those that worked for the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC)," the Borno-based pastor stressed. The cleric said he received a call yesterday from an unidentified person, who claimed that "Buhari gave him my number." According to him: "When I asked which Buhari, he cut off the line. I have made efforts to reach him on the line since to no avail." Musa-Dikwa alleged some forces in the Department of State Security (DSS) and prominent church leaders have hatched plans to assassinate him before May 29. "They want me dead because to them I caused the defeat of Jonathan," he stressed. The cleric, who said he has since gone underground, called on security operatives to offer him protection.

HREE persons were allegedly feared killed during a clash between street urchins and officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Two of the dead persons were said to be passers-by and the third person one of the hoodlums. But the state police command confirmed that only two persons died in the incident. The fracas affected Oja-Oba, Gambari, Ipata and Okelele areas of the metropolis. The rampaging hoodlums also allegedly attacked sanitation officers and disrupted the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in parts of the metropolis. The miscreants were said to have invaded two mobile courts sitting at different locations in the state capital and disrupted proceedings. It was gathered that the hoodlums were protesting the enforcement of restriction of movement by law enforcement agents. The duration for the exercise was between 7 and 9.00am. In the ensuing fracas, the hoodlums allegedly torched shops, houses and property worth millions of naira. While about eight hoodlums armed with dangerous objects invaded a court session at Oja-Oba area, it was the same scenario at Ipata mobile court where some youths protesting closure of road threw the court into disarray. The situation forced the court's presiding judge and sanitation officers to flee the scene for fear of being attacked. The hoodlums, including some ladies, sporadically fired gunshots into the air, brandishing various dangerous weapons and throwing pebbles, broken tiles and bottles at their targets. The protesters were said to have used clay pots to cover their heads to protect themselves from being shelled while they unleashed terror on the community. In the middle of the crisis, men of the state fire service department were drafted to put off the raging fire with various properties set ablaze. Speaking on the incident, spokesperson of the Police Command, Ajayi Okasanmi, said: "There was a kind of an ugly situation there. There was confrontation between miscreants and security operatives. "It was as a result of problem between the NDLEA and drug users in that area. "That was what caused the crisis and the police came and rescued the NDLEA officer and we are trying to control the miscreants there. "Some houses have been attacked. We have arrested some people. I can confirm that two people died. "They were attacking anything they saw. They did not identify any special place to attack. They were just attacking. The matter started with the issue of the NDLEA that arrested one of them in the past. "The hoodlums today sighted one of the NDLEA officers involved in the arrest in that area. He ran to police station and police tried to rescue him. The hoodlums became annoyed and started attacking places and people. "

• L- R: Commercial Manager, Sina Olonade; Head, Drilling and Operations, Mike Andino; Field Operations Superintendent, Fatai Adegbuyi and Mustapha Oyegunle of Conoil Producing and Continental Oil & Gas, at the 2015 Oil & Gas Awards in Lagos where the two companies won the Best Company in Local Content and Best company in CSR respectively… at the weekend

Jonathan inaugurates N600 million CAN centre in Abuja

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday inaugurated the over N600 million Christian Association of Nigerian's (CAN) Jubilee Resort and Leadership Centre in Abuja. The Centre, which is within the premises of the National Christian Centre, Abuja, provides rooms, accommodation and halls for conferences to the public at a fee. Thanking God that he decleared open the beginning and ending of the project,

From Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja

Jonathan said that with unity of purpose, the body of Christ can achieve greater things. He said: "I urge Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of unity and with it nothing can stop us from reaching greater heights." He noted that one of the greatest assets from a family to the nation is good leadership. "I believe this centre will be used to re-orientate and refocus us," he said.

He warned that it will not be good if the edifice cannot generate income to at least cater for its maintenance. Commending the prudence in the cost of the building, he said that such building and its facilities would have cost three times the cost expended if it was handled by the government. CAN President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, stated that the cost of the building came down because some engineers and other people gave their services free of charge.

Stressing that there are many five-star and four-star hotels in Abuja, he said that none of them provides a quiet and godly place like the resort. Also noting that the presence of God is worth more than any other thing, he said that the resort has become a revenue earner for the association. Among those who received plaques for their donations to the project included Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio and FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed.

Nobody could have stopped Buhari tsunami -PDP BoT scribe T HE Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Walid Jibrin, has declared that it was impossible for anybody to have stopped what he termed the "Buhari tsunami". Walid, in a statement in Kaduna, said: "Nobody could have stopped the Buhari tsunami but God. "The tsunami came with such a terrific strength that

From Abdulgafar Alabelewe, Kaduna

made some contestants under the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hide under it to win their elections especially in the Northern Region." Reacting to an allegation that top members of the PDP in Nasarawa State collected gratification of large amounts of money from Governor Tanko Almakura to support him, he warned Nasarawa

PDP to stop peddling falsehood and start developing strategies for the party to bounce back in 2019. Walid explained that his resolve to congratulate the President-elect and Governor Almakura was borne out of the show of statesmanship and patriotism displayed by the leader of the party, President Goodluck Jonathan. "Similarly President of the Senate, Senator David Mark,

not only congratulated Gen. Buhari but paid him a courtesy call. "Exhibiting the same statesmanship, our vice president congratulated the Governorelect of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, and the PDP governors that lost election congratulated their successors," he pointed out. Walid advised the party to always accept the will of God since power comes from Him alone.

SAHCOL warns workers against external influence

HE Management of Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) has cautioned its workers against being used by external forces in the aviation sector to cripple operations. The caution from the passenger- and- ramp- handling firm is coming on the heels of threats by two unions: the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) to frustrate operations of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL). The unions threatened to stifle the operations of the firm over the arrest and detention of some their leaders who led the agitation for improved welfare of workers. SAHCOL's general manager Public Affairs, Basil Agboarumi, said the firm was aware of external influence to cripple its operations by unions

•Unions kick against arrest of leaders By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

in the aviation sector. He said: "We are aware that some external forces who areu unhappy with SAHCOL's current achievements are working towards discrediting our successes through blackmail and incitement of the stakeholders against the company. "SAHCOL places so much value on the welfare of its staff and as a result since the privatisation of SAHCOL in 2009, the Management of SAHCOL has ensured that salaries are paid as at when due, while every staff is aware of the move by the Board to carry out a review of staff incentives after the completion of the new warehouse project." Agboarumi said the issues raised by both unions concerning four workers of SAHCOL amounted to gross insubordi-

nation and willful disobedience to constituted authorities. He said the gross misconduct by the said staff could lead to loss of revenue to the company. "It is conclusively clear that the four officers in question have turned themselves into a parallel government within the company. "These individuals were invited for a meeting with the Management through a memo dated 13th April 2015 and they failed, neglected and refused to attend the meeting," he added. Meanwhile, NUATE and ATSSSAN had earlier written to the Managing Director of the company demanding the resignation of the GM, Human Resources, David Olorundade, for gross acts of impropriety, victimisation, harassment and violation of the rights of their members to decent wages, lack

of review of their conditions of work, casualization and contract engagements, lack of promotion, stagnation and against unwholesome anti-union hostilities. A statement made available by the General Secretary, NUATE),Comrade Olayinka Abioye and Assistant General Secretary, ATSSSAN, Captain Tarnmongu, yesterday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport(MMIA), confirmed that four leading union officials of the unions have been arrested by officers from the Airport Police Command. The bodies listed the names of the arrested union members to include Chairman, ATSSSAN SAHCOL branch, Comrades Aminu Kolawole and the Secretary, Lawson Imotto. Also, chairman, NUATE, SAHCOL branch Comrades Chukwu Jude and the secretary, Kingsley Ejiogu were also arrested.

IVF centre produces 1,860 babies in 16 years By Wale Adepoju N In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) centre, The Bridge Clinic, yesterday said it has produced 1,860 live births in its 16 years of existence. The centre's Team Lead Clinical Manager, Dr Tayo Abiara, said the centre has progressed from a mere 20 per cent successful rate of IVF in 1999 to 50 per cent currently. She spoke at the centre's 16th anniversary in Ikeja, Lagos. The success, she said, was due to the availability of a state-of-the-art facility and expertise. She said the clinic's goal is to provide healthcare of international standard to couples with fertility challenges. Besides, she said the centre wants to stop Nigerians from overseas travels to seek IVF treatment. Dr Abiara said the centre has a proven record of consistent and verifiable results and quality management system (QMS). "With our partners, we are able to provide the latest technology available in Europe here in Nigeria," she said.

NEWS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

Group urges FG to evacuate Nigerians in SA

Why Christian leaders prefer Buhari to Jonathan -Abiara T

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

SUN Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) has called on the Federal Government to begin the evacuation of Nigerians from South Africa following xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in the country. In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ismaeel Uthman, the group urged the government not to wait further and allow more Nigerians in South Africa to be killed before it swings into action. Describing the allowance being proposed by the government for Nigerians in South Africa due to the xenophobia attacks as a misplacement of priority, the group said what is needed at this point is the evacuation of Nigerian nationals as soon as possible. The human rights group reminded President Goodluck Jonathan that his primary responsibility is to protect lives and properties of Nigeria citizens both at home and in Diaspora, adding that the President should, without delay, commence the process of taking Nigerians out of South Africa.

'Ajimobi has buried Accord, Ladoja politically' From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan IAISON Officer to Governor Abiola Ajimobi in Ibadan North Local Government, Hon. Yinka Akinbode, has said that the Accord Party (AP) and its governorship candidate, Senator Rasheed Ladoja has been buried politically following the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just concluded general elections in Oyo State. Akinbode made this claim during an interactive session with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. He said, "The victory of Senator Abiola Ajimobi and our National Assembly candidates has brought political doom for Accord and its leader, Senator Ladoja. There is no doubt that they have been finally buried politically." He continued, "It is a known fact that Senator Ladoja cannot aspire for any political office again, because age has definitely caught up with him. Not only that, he has lost his political relevance and now consigned to the dustbin of Oyo State politics." Ajimbobi, the council chief noted, deserves accolades despite going into the election as an underdog. He noted, "Senator Abiola Ajimobi is a lion in the political forest of Oyo State, everyone knows this and the just concluded election has attested to this. A man that many of his aides, SAs, the SSAs and even commissioners resigned from his cabinet believing that he would lose the election now winning three senatorial seats, 12 seats into the House of Representatives and majority of seat into the State House of Assembly for his party deserves commendation." Akinbode said Ladoja's decision to challenge his loss at the election petition tribunal would not yield any positive result.

HE General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Worldwide, Prophet Samuel Abiara, has proffered reasons why many Nigerian Christian leaders supported Gen. Mohammadu Buhari in the last presidential election. According to him, Buhari's choice is premised on the fact that he has the capacity to foster

peace and development that Nigerians desire. The cleric stated this during the inauguration of a new General Superintendent of the church, Pastor Samuel Olusegun Oladele at the All Saints' Chapel of the CAC in

Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. Speaking on the outcome of the election, the clergy said: "I prophesised before the election that there would not be any problem before, during and after the general elections and thank God that it came to

pass." While describing the President-elect as an embodiment of peace, Abiara added that the support of Christian leaders for the retired general was for the good of the country.

He explained, "The Christian leaders are not partisan, but considered peace as paramount as our concern is about who will engender security of lives and properties. Therefore, we don't care whether a Christian or Muslim becomes our president; all we wanted was someone who would bring about peace that people desire."

APC chieftain congratulates Ambode, hails Tinubu By Kunle Akinrinade

•Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (left), groom's father and Chairman, Ogun State Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Tunde Okewole (2nd right), his wife, Serifat (right), bride's father, Alhaji Musiku Oreagba (2nd left), his wife, Falilat (3rd left), groom, Jamiu Babatunde Okewole and bride, Omotoke, during Jamiu and Omotoke's wedding held in Ikorodu, Lagos ...yesterday.

‘All eyes on APC to meet Nigerians' expectations’

House of Representatives member-elect, Hon. Oluwole Oke, has said that all eyes are on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to meet the aspirations of Nigerians when the Presidentelect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is sworn in on May 29. Oke, who would be representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. The PDP, Oke added, will put the new ruling party on its toes and ensure that it delivers on all its electoral promises.

From Adesoji Adeniyi, Osogbo

He commended the outgoing President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, for his patriotism in accepting defeat, saying with that singular act, he has won the confidence of the international community particularly foreign investors. Oke, however, berated politicians defecting from the PDP to the APC, describing their action irresponsible. He said: "It is very irresponsible; though they have their fundamental human rights to join any

party of their choice, but to me, if the APC people had defected to PDP in the last 16 years ago, would they be where they are today? "These people laboured, they toiled day and night for16 years and they strategised to capture power and because they have captured power, you now suddenly jump to APC. It is bad. You heard what the President-elect said, you heard what the National Chairman of the APC has said, that all sinners are allowed to come to the church, but they would not allow them to go to the pulpit. That is a clear

message. "Being in opposition does not mean being an enemy of the state or being an enemy of the government. Our duty is to form a shadow government in line with international democratic practices and to hold the majority party to its electoral promises and to ensure that they discharge their duties constitutionally so that at the end of the day, every Nigerian will benefit from good governance. Don't forget that if Nigeria gets better, it is not only the APC members that would benefit. All of us collectively will benefit."

Tejuoso declares interest in Lagos speakership

former Deputy Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mrs. Funmilayo Tejuoso, has declared her interest to become the next Speaker when the 8th Assembly is inaugurated in June. The four-term lawmaker, who said she is the most qualified for the job, further told a gathering of her colleagues in Lagos that in terms of ranking, legal practice and experience, she is better placed above the other contenders to take the House to the next level. She said: "I have been the Deputy Chief Whip and the Deputy Speaker of this House. I am a fourth term legislator in the 8th Assembly scheduled to commence in June 2015 and the only legislator that has served as a principal officer in two capacities particularly as Deputy

…Lawyers urge Agunbiade to run Speaker among all of us aspiring to be the Speaker. "As Deputy Speaker then, I acted as the Speaker at various times. I have equally served in several committees including Finance, Women Affairs, Education, Budget, Judiciary and Works among others. Presently, I am the most senior legislator in the forthcoming Assembly, having served in those principal positions." Tejuoso said that apart from her long service in the House, she has also been a committed and loyal party member, having functioned in different capacities, including member, Gubernatorial Advisory Committee (GAC) and Convener, APC Presidential and Gubernatorial Candidates'

Town Hall meeting with Nigerian Women in the SouthWest, which took place in Lagos. "I am the only female aspirant and believe that in the spirit of change that our party canvasses, it is only logical and fair that Lagos too enjoys the benefit of a female speaker for the first time in the history of the state, similar feat having been achieved in states like Ogun, Oyo and Ondo. "Furthermore, in terms of the quality of votes for my party's candidates in the last general elections, my local government came first as against all other aspirants. If there should be any compensation for hard work, I believe my local government deserves to be compensated with this position."

In a related development, a body of legal practitioners under the auspices of Lagos Lawyers for Good Goverance (LLGG) has called another member of the Lagos House, Sanai Agunbiade, to vie for the speakership position. Speaking when its leadership paid a courtesy visit to the lawmaker, the group through its Coordinator, Barrister Dayo Awodun, said the next House of Assembly in the state needs a tested and trusted democrat as the Speaker in order to fulfill its core mandate. LLGG called on all members-elect to consider the overall interest of the state by ensuring that they elect reliable and capable hands to pilot the affairs of the House in the next dispensation.

ORMER Chairman of Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, Hon. Benjamin Olabinjo, has congratulated the governorelect of Lagos State, Mr. Akin Ambode, on his victory at the governorship poll. Olabinjo said Ambode's victory signified the fact that Lagosians are satisfied with the performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the leadership of its National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The former council boss also congratulated the Presidentelect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as an epitome of discipline and leadership virtues in Nigeria. Speaking on the victory of Ambode, he said: "I want to felicitate with Akin Ambode for emerging victorious at the governorship election despite the noise made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Jimi Agbaje, that the days of APC were over in the state. "Indeed, the outcome of the election has further confirmed that the people of Lagos are happy with the sterling performance of our great party, APC. The victory of the party is an undisputed testimony to the uncommon leadership qualities of our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu."

Ajimobi declares open Global Energy Conference tomorrow From Tayo Johnson, Ibadan

yo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi will tomorrow declare open the 8th edition of International Conference of the ?Nigerian Association for Energy Economics ?(NAEE) taking place at the University of Ibadan between April 27 and 28. This year's conference, which is coming up at a time when Nigeria and other oil dependent countries are facing significant challenges as a result of the dynamics in the global energy market, according to the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), would contribute to the understanding ?of the dynamics, as well as formulating policy options to respond to the changes in the global energy sector. The conference with the theme: 'Future Energy Policy Options: Assessment, Formulation and Implementation,' will draw scholars, policy makers and stakeholders in the energy sector from across the globe, it was learnt.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS

RE-RUN ELECTIONS Five INEC ad hoc officials arrested in Imo

One killed, others wounded in Kogi

From James Azania, Lokoja

NE person was yesterday confirmed dead while others sustained various degrees of injury during the supplementary elections in some wards and polling units across six councils of Kogi State. The election took a violent turn in Okura state constituency of Dekina local government area when youths of parties engaged in sporadic shooting. The incident left one person dead while several sustained injuries from gunshots. The shootings, which began on Friday night, according to sources, were to discourage voters from turning out. According to Alhassan Ogwu, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 26year-old deceased, Ibrahim Oyibo , was his cousin. It was gathered the deceased had been buried according to Muslim rites while the wounded were being treated in some unidentified hospitals. The Kogi Command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Shola Adebayo, confirmed the incidents. He, however, said no arrest had been made but investigations have commenced.

Voter apathy dents Abia guber rerun From: Sunny Nwankwo, Aba HE rescheduled governorship and House of Assembly elections in Abia State yesterday were greeted by low turnout of voters. Our correspondent, who monitored the exercise in some of the 75 units in Aba North (24) and Aba South (51), observed that voters stayed away from polling units. At Onyeador ward, 107 persons were accredited out of 646 registered voters. It was the same thing at unit 9 ward 12, Constitution Crescent in Aba South LGA where out of over 700 registered voters, only 73 persons were accredited for voting. At Umuola Council Hall ward off Ogbor Hill in Aba North Local Government Area, (Hon. Uzo Azubuike's ward) with 13 units and over 10, 000 registered voters, it was gathered that only 1,000 voters came out for accreditation while less than 600 had voted as at the time of the reporter's visit. Sources at Ugwunagbo and Osisioma local government areas said the situation was the same. Some residents blamed the situation on lack of trust and shoddy preparations of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). They also pointed out the opening of major markets such as Ariaria, Ahia and Ohuru among others except for Asanetu motor spare parts and Orie Ohabiam markets also accounted for the apathetic response of voters. Some others fingered the overheating of the polity by politicians before the rerun for the disinterest of voters. They pointed out that the placement of caskets at some strategic places in Aba by a faceless group scared many voters away.

â&#x20AC;˘ Voters awaiting accreditation at Polling Units 8-20 in Aba North during the rescheduled governorship election... yesterday

Heavy security scares Ekiti voters H

EAVY deployment of security forces scared many voters from the supplementary House of Assembly election in Ilejemeje local government area of Ekiti State yesterday. Security men drafted to monitor election included soldiers, riot policemen, officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). Elections took place in 22 units in Iye, the council headquarters, Iludun and Eda Oniyo. The House of Assembly election conducted on April 11 was marred by violence, ballot snatching and other malpractices, forcing rescheduling of the polls yesterday. The Ilejemeje Constitu-

From Odunayo Ogunmola, Ado-Ekiti

ency seat is a straight fight between the incumbent, Segun Erinle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Mrs. Cecilia Dada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). At many polling units visited, few people were accredited while some units only had policemen and election officials sitting idly without much to do. Many of the residents stayed indoors while others simply sat at their balconies. A resident, Mrs. Mopelola Adedara, attributed the low turnout to the heavy presence of security officials in the communities where voting took place. The entire council area was like a war zone as mili-

tary and police operatives patrolled the streets to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order. Checkpoints were seen at Ewu, Obada Ijesamodu, Iye and Iludun communities in the council area. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Abdulkadir Mohammed, supervised the ground operation of policemen at the election. APC chieftain and former Commissioner for Youth and Sports during the Fayemi's administration, Folorunso Olabode, attributed the low turnout to what he called "sporadic shooting by suspected thugs" the night preceding the election. PDP chieftain and Senatorelect for Ekiti North, Duro Faseyi, commended security

agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the arrangement put in place. Faseyi said the large presence of security operatives would deter those planning to unleash violence and make away with polling materials. He expressed confidence that his party would carry the day provided there was a credible election. Special Assistant to the Governor on Due Process, Segun Akinwumi, said it was better to have heavy presence of security men and low turnout to guarantee a peaceful, free and fair poll than a large turnout marred by violence and malpractices. Results had not been declared at the time of filing this report.

Voting peaceful in Umuahia

ESTERDAY's governorship supplementary election in Abia State was generally peaceful but marred by low turnout of voters. It was gathered many voters did not see the need to exercise their rights. The election, which was scheduled to take place in 299 polling units of nine local government areas, started in some polling centres as early as 8am. The nine local government areas for the supplementary election are: Aba North and

By Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia

South, Ikwuano, Ohafia, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, Umuahia South, Umunneochi and Bende, while Umuahia North was for state House of Assembly. In Umuobutu/Saint Silas Primary School, Old Umuahia and Umuezeala in Umuahia South council areas, accreditation started at about 9am while in Umuobia it started by 11:30am because of delay in rectifying the card reader, which developed a little fault. In Ipupe, Umuosu and

Mgbarakuma in Ubakala, Umuahia South local government area, accreditation started at about 9am and ended at 1pm while actual voting started at 1:30pm. But the common feature in all the polling centers was the low turnout. At the Umuobutu/Saint Silas Primary School, Old Umuahia polling centre, only 650 voters had accredited at the time of voting out of 1262 registered voters. In Umuezeala, only 152 were accredited out of 650 while Umuobia 1 and 11 had 248 out of 1195 total registered

voters and in Ohafia and Umuahia North. The restriction order on vehicular movement was not strictly enforced as vehicles, other than those on election duty, were seen plying the roads. Inter and intra city commercial buses and tricycles operated normally. The restriction order was only in areas where the supplementary elections held. In many other places, most shops opened for business while social engagements went on normally.

APC chieftain shot, another rescued from kidnappers in Imo

ESTERDAY's supplementary election in Imo State was marred by serious irregularities and low turnout of voters. At Oru East local government area, where majority of the polling units are located, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were arrested

From Okodili Ndidi, Owerri

while thumb printing ballot papers in favour of one of the political parties. Also arrested were fake INEC officials who posed as returning officers at the collation centre. The Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini, who was

among the INEC team deployed for the election, said that the INEC officials were arrested at Umumma primary school Ward 10 Polling Unit 008, Polling Unit 003 and three others. At another location, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was shot by hoodlums hired by the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) when he resisted their plan to hijack election materials. Another victim and a supporter of the APC, Chief Rex Anunobi, who was kidnapped from his home by the PDP thugs at the instance of a PDP serving Senator, was rescued by a team of policemen led by one of the visiting AIGs.

IVE ad hoc officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo were yesterday arrested for thumbprinting ballot papers in the governorship re-run election in the state. The officials were arrested at Omuma Primary School in Oru East local government following an order by Mike Igini, one of the resident electoral commissioners deployed to Imo for the election. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Imo, Dr Gabriel Ada, who confirmed the arrest, said that the officials were already in police custody. Ada said the ad hoc workers connived with agents of a political party to thumb-print ballot papers leading to their arrest. Also, the election has been cancelled in Ozuh Primary School, Omuma following the arrest of 25 persons claiming to be INEC officials by military men. The arrested persons and the election materials in their possession were taken to the Oru East local government headquarters.

Voters stay away in Delta Central From Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

ESPITE the early arrival of electoral officials and materials, voters largely stayed away from the supplementary elections in Delta Central Senatorial district yesterday. In Unit 9, 10 of Ward 9 and Unit 8, Ward 10 all in Ekpan community, the atmosphere was very calm. In Effurun Ward 1, Unit 10, it was the same. Electoral officers complained of poor turnout but added that there was no violence. "We arrived here before 8:00am. The turnout is low but people are still coming for accreditation. The exercise is fair," an electoral officer in Ekpan Ward 10, Unit 8 stated. Agents of the three major political parties in the state, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) who spoke to newsmen assured that the exercise was going smoothly with materials were intact. Speaking with journalists at his country home in Jesse, Ethiope West council area, Hon. Halims Agoda, the APC senatorial candidate, said he was optimistic he will emerge victorious. He further called for more research work and proper handling of the card readers, which he said were not "not perfectly in order". Agoda noted that despite the deployment of card readers, outrageous figures were still collated for the recently concluded elections. PDP's candidate, Chief Ighoyota Amori, who spoke in his Mosogar residence, noted that although there was no supplementary election in his area, reports so far gathered from agents indicated that the process was "peaceful and favourable" to his party.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS RE-RUN ELECTIONS

APC, LP allege multiple thumb printing in Delta Central

GENTS of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) have accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of promoting multiple thumb-printing by inducing voters with N500 during yesterday’s rescheduled Delta North senatorial district election. The agents alleged PDP chieftains were busy buying voters with N500 and intimidating them. On their part, chieftains of the PDP expressed confidence of winning the election. But the exercise was

•Voters undergoing accreditation at one of the polling units in Aba North while security operatives keep watch in Aba North

From Polycarp Orosevwotu, Ughelli

marred by a poor turnout. There was, however, no recorded incident of violence. In Abraka ward 2, unit 7 by Ebenezer Baptist Church, the exercise was peaceful though there were allegations of electoral malpractices. The House of Rep- elect for Ethiope constituency, Hon. Lovette Idisi, told reporters after casting his vote that the PDP candidate, Chief Ighoyota Amori, will emerge victorious. This, he said, was because of the structure of the party across the state.

Voting ends as counting starts in Imo

OTING has closed in most places in the Imo governorship re-run election while counting was ongoing, correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report. At Ossemotor in Oguta local government, voting ended around 3.40 p.m while counting commenced immediately while it ended in most other places around 5 p.m. The election has been characterised by violence and other electoral malpractice, especially in Oru East local government. The election was held in some polling units in 23 local

government areas which were cancelled or inconclusive in the April 11 election. Meanwhile, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Marshall Anyanwu, complained that there were too many unaccredited observers at the election, especially in Omuma, Oru East local government. Anyanwu, a former chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state, told newsmen at the Omuma Central School that state government officials, posing as observers, were all over the place in contravention of the electoral law.

Peaceful exercise in Taraba •INEC to declare winner today

•A soldier on election duty in Imo State yesterday

Tension in Abia was artificial, A says Ikpeazu BIA governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has said the tension in the state before yesterday’s rerun governorship election was not natural. Speaking to newsmen at Row May Hotel in Aba, yesterday, Ikpeazu explained that if the results of the governorship election conducted on April 11, 2015 had been declared, there would

•Re-run records low turnout By Sam Egburonu

have been no tension in the state. He, however, expressed the hope that “the tension will diffuse naturally because that tension was cre-

ated, it was not natural; it was artificial.” The candidate, who expressed confidence that he will win the election, also advised political aspirants to be less desperate to reduce tension in the polity.

Meanwhile, voter turnout was generally low apart from a few polling units, which recorded appreciable voters. As early as 8.30am, accreditation had started in some units. Other units which started late commenced accreditation around 9 am in Aba area. Voting was peaceful and orderly in the units monitored in Aba North, Aba South, Osisioma and Ugwunagbo local governments.

Abia supplementary polls record appreciable voter turnout

ESTERDAY’S governorship and state assembly supplementary elections in Abia witnessed an appreciable turnout of voters in Umuahia and its environs. The exercise commenced around 8.30 am with the arrival of electoral officers and materials at some of the polling centres in the area. Accreditation of voters started at about 9 am at units 006 and 007 Ibeku East situated at Isieke Community Primary School, Umuahia

while the exercise commenced at about 8.30 at units 004 and 005 at Lagoro Ubakala Primary School, Apunmiri. Card readers were deployed in the accreditation process and were reportedly functional, taking an average of two to three minutes to accredit a voter. Some of the voters expressed satisfaction with the process of accreditation, describing it as faster than in the general elections. There were, however, re-

ports of pockets of violence in some of the wards, including Mbom in Umuahia North Local Government Area, where thugs allegedly attacked eligible voters. An agent of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Obinna Abariukwu, told NAN on telephone that thugs invaded Isieke ward. He said that an unidentified voter, who was wounded by the thugs, had been rushed to a hospital through the intervention of the security agents at the cen-

tre.

The police could not be reached for confirmation as the Commissioner, Joshak Habila and the Abia command’s spokesman, Ezekiel Onyeke, did not pick their calls. Meanwhile, voting commenced at some of the polling centres, including Lagoro Ubakala and LA Umuosu Ubakala at about 1.15 p.m. and 1.45 p.m., respectively. There was also heavy presence of security men at the polling centres.

HE supplementary election in Taraba State held peacefully yesterday. Tension was high in the morning but the proactive approach by security agencies saved the day. Trucks of heavily armed police and soldiers were seen moving round and inspecting the exercise. Some hoodlums attempting to disrupt the supplementary poll were apprehended by soldiers and their weapons confiscated. The rerun was purely between Darius Dickson Ishaku of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Aisha Jummai Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In the last collation of votes cast, Ishaku, an architect and former Minister of Power, Environment and Niger Delta Affairs, was leading with 54,812 votes. He won the election in nine of the 16 local government councils with 317,198 votes. Alhassan, a lawyer and

From Fanen Ihyongo, Jalingo

Senator of Northern Taraba district, trailed with 262,386 votes garnered in six local government areas. 127,125 registered voters participated in the exercise in 159 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state. The councils where the poll held were: Bali Zing, Takum, Yorro, Donga, Wukari, Ussa, Karim Lamido, Kurmi and Jalingo. Because of the vast nature of the state, counting and declaration of the winner by INEC will take place today. Our correspondent visited Wukari, Donga, Takum and Bali during the accreditation and voting yesterday. The atmosphere was generally calm. The election went on in the entire 165 polling units of Donga local government, which were cancelled by Returning Officer for Taraba Prof. Mohammed Kyari.

Card reader malfunctions in Udenwa’s village

HE card reader at Amaifeke, the country home of former Imo state governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, malfunctioned yesterday during the rescheduled governorship election. The situation forced the exercise to be put on hold while officials of the Independent National Electoral

Commission (INEC) worked round the clock to replace the device. The officials refused to resort to manual accreditation, forcing voters to await the replacement. At Umuduru, Isiala Mbano, voters trooped out en masse with security operatives also in attendance.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

NEWS RE-RUN ELECTIONS

• Stranded voters in Okigwe Primary school, Aba yesterday

• Voters on queue in one of the polling units in Oru East yesterday

• Voters watching after casting their votes at GBO unit in Abia

• Accreditation at in a centre in Imo State yesterday

• A woman casting her vote in Chanchanji village in Taraba state… yesterday

• An electoral official accreditating a voter in Imo State yesterday

•Voters and policemen on duty at a centre in Abia State yesterday

•• Accreditation at Tordamisa village in Taraba… yesterday

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26 , 2015

Ropo Sekoni

Page 14

Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

An unrepentant PDP tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

ROM the angry reactions of some stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the party’s defeat in the last presidential election, and in many states where it used to hold sway, it is clear that the party chieftains had not been telling themselves the home truth. And, in any human relationship where such honest truths are missing, the result is the kind of defeat that the ruling party suffered. Of course, no one expected that a party that had been dreaming of ruling the country for 60 consecutive years should not bemoan its loss in only 16 years. So, ruing over the loss of such a golden opportunity is legitimate. The good news though is that PDP’s loss is Nigeria’s gain because it would have been disastrous for Nigeria if PDP had won the last elections. The way things are, Nigeria would not forget in a hurry that a political party called PDP once held sway in the country. Of all the people that have been blaming other persons for their defeat; everyone else but themselves, Ahmed Gulak, a former senior special adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan is perhaps the most strident. Hear him: “There is no party chairman of the PDP since 1998 that has led the party to such a disastrous outing. As a result, the national chairman should consider himself one of those who have to give way for the new party to come up. In fact, he doesn’t need to be told to turn in his resignation letter.” Although Adamu Mu’azu had denied the allegation that he worked against the president during the election, saying it was an “allegation made long ago without any substance,” it is doubtful whether the explanation would be accepted. The ‘Muazu must go’ people are even threatening to fire the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) and Central Working Committee (CWC). One imagines how many chairmen they would sack. They seemed to have forgotten that Muazu came in after the former party chair was removed. It is instructive that none of those adducing reasons for the party’s defeat mentioned anything about corruption, the first major sin for which Nigerians said change was inevitable. Maybe like President Jonathan, the PDP leaders too do not see that as in issue. Of course, why should they worry about mere stealing which some people chose to describe as corruption so as to soil the ruling party’s image? None of those who want Muazu’s head in a platter is talking about the party’s cluelessness on the country’s economic problems. They do not remember the thousands that leave schools yearly without any hope of getting jobs. Many of them died in search of near non-existent jobs at the Immigration in March last year. As a matter of fact, many of those with jobs have been retrenched under the Jonathan administration as a result of the inclement business climate. Power supply remains as problematic as ever, with the government giving excuses instead of light. Rather than celebrate the number of hours they give Nigerians uninterrupted power supply (if they can’t assure it 24/7), they kept referring to the privatisation of the power sector as an achievement, as if that translated into improved power supply. But their cronies that they sold the power firms to who complain of lack of funds to do their business were able to cough up N500m for the political campaign of the PDP. These were the same firms that the Federal Government has so far given a whopping

Angry party chiefs do not know the harm they did to the country

• Muazu

N57.72bn.loan under the N213bn Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility, to boost their operations. So, we have a situation where both the government and the power firms are entertaining themselves with Nigerians’ money. Or, what do we call ‘the money they are sharing’ after the firms had been sold to private individuals? When during the campaign Nigerians wanted the PDP to render account of what it had done to earn their reelection, the party was busy accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer in the election, General Muhammadu Buhari, of not having school certificate. At some point, they said he was too old; at another, they said he was brain dead. Were these PDP’s achievements? Unknown to the PDP, the party helped Nigerians to make up their minds that it was because it had nothing to say that it made fishing for excuses about Buhari its preoccupation. Even fools in the country knew that the PDP was in trouble the moment APC came up with Gen Buhari as its presidential candidate. Moreover, the party chieftains accusing Muazu of not leading the party to victory must have been living in fool’s paradise to think that their party would still have won the election despite the losses it suffered with the defection of several of its heavyweights to the opposition party long before the election. When those people were leaving, some of us warned them of the consequences, they ignored us. Of course when we were warning, it was not because of our love for their party and whatever it represents, but more because when the chips are down and their electoral misfortunes begin to manifest, they would want to cry foul where none existed. A Yoruba adage says ‘he flogged me but it did not pain me; it can never be the same as when one was not flogged at all’. If a political party lost five governors at a go, with many others remaining in the party only in name (their hearts were somewhere else); the same party lost the country’s number four citizen to the opposition and still maintained that it had no problem, then, someone must have been deceiving someone. Of course we cannot overlook the effect of

Indeed, that the ‘remnants’ of the party’s leaders are thinking the way they are regarding their losing the election gives the impression that the PDP harbours a lot of unrepentant politicians, despite the damage they have done to every facet of our lives in the last 16 years

the use of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC), the Card Reader, etc. that the PDP for long kicked against but which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insisted on using in the election, because it made it more difficult for the party (and maybe others) to freely rig the elections as they used to do. Only an insensitive party or one that has any other means to win the election apart from the votes of Nigerians would have expected that President Jonathan would fly in the elections. Indeed, fielding the president was an insult to the sense of judgment of Nigerians to elect a president with the capacity to meet up with their great expectations. But the party’s hierarchy stayed fixated with him and even went to the extent of conning some of their members who were allowed to pay for the party’s ticket when they knew there was no vacancy for the office, at least as far as their party was concerned. So, why blame all of this on Muazu and the CWC? Where were they all when all these anomalies were taking place, that they could not put their foot down that the party must look for someone else to contest the presidential election? The point is, it is immaterial if the PDP sacked Muazu 10 times over; he is not the problem. What the party needs to shred is its heart and not its garment. If PDP survived this long, it is because Nigerians have become so pauperised that many of them have lost a sense of what is morally permissible and what is morally reprehensible. They have been bitten by what I call the ‘Ekiti bug’. PDP has so far made life unbearable for Nigerians that many of them would see paper on the ground and take it for money. So, when the party gave them N1,000 in exchange for their votes, they accepted happily. When the party offered N5,000 to some of them in exchange for their Permanent Voter Cards, they accepted, in some cases, with thanks. This was part of the strategies the party adopted in places where the opposition is strong. They knew people would not vote for them there but that was not their headache; their concern was to make it impossible for such people to vote for the opposition. In countries where people are politically conscious, there is no way the PDP would have scored the millions of votes that it got in the presidential election. One must admit though, that the level of political consciousness was higher in the last elections; and that was one of the reasons for the defeat of the ruling party. I have been writing weekly columns long before the country’s return to civil rule in 1999. But, never have I been bombarded with e-mails and short messages by Nigerians who were eager for change in the political equation like I got in the last elections. That the party’s leaders could not see the handwriting on the wall speaks volumes about their disconnection with Nigerians. Anyone thinking of resurrecting the PDP in its old image must think twice because it would be dead on arrival. Indeed, that the ‘remnants’ of the party’s leaders are thinking the way they are regarding their losing the election gives the impression that the PDP harbours a lot of unrepentant politicians; despite the damage they have done to every facet of our lives in the last 16 years. But the good news is that Nigerians are happy that finally, Papa Deceived Pikin and Pikin Deceived Papa (PDP), until they wobbled and fumbled out of Aso Rock Villa.

CHIBOK GIRLS. STILL IN LIMBO. SINCE APRIL 15, 2014.

Scary news from South Africa By Tayo Ogunbiyi

HE images were frightening and at the same time mind-boggling. If not for the credibility of the cable news platform where one was viewing the image, it would have been wished away for a make belief. But then, this is real and by no means a scene from any popular horror movie as fierce looking men with murderous instinct surrounded a hapless man. With the precision of a mad lion ready to tear its prey into pieces, these vicious looking men, clutching various objects, pounced upon the ill-fated man hitting him hard on every part of his body. Intermittently, the unlucky man tried to make an attempt to resist his attackers until he lost every strength in him. By now, he had resigned himself to fate as he lay down with blood gushing out of his body like water from a running tap. He was vulnerable and helpless. Welcome to the horror world of xenophobic inclined South Africans! In the colonial era, it was normal to see whites brutalizing and oppressing blacks as epitomized by the atrocious Trans Atlantic slave trade. Colonialism has since ended in Africa and Africans could walk freely in their continent. But then, the chilling news from the rainbow nation, the country of the Madiba himself, has made nonsense of this hypothesis of freedom for Africans in Africa. In South Africa, the equation has changed. Brothers are now killing brothers. The hapless man in the scene described above was a Zimbabwean immigrant living in South Africa. The ferocious men who attacked and dealt mercilessly with him, to the point of death, are chauvinistic South Africans, who have been on rampage, pouncing on African immigrants living in their nation. What complicates the whole matter, giving it a rather dangerous dimension, is what could be termed as the complicity of some South African security personnel. In the ugly scene described above, it is amazing to observe that all the security personnel that were around simply chose to look the other side while the humiliation and dehumanization of the poor Zimbabwean immigrant lasted. It is quite curious that he received no help from the law enforcement officers whose primary duty was to protect him from the deadly grip of the savage and barbaric South African xenophobia monsters. Could the indifference of these South African security personnel be considered as official approval of the dastardly acts of the heartless and crude South Africans? Although the South African government has vowed to crack down on xenophobic violence, only a few would actually believe the sincerity of this declaration. Just a few days ago, South African President, Jacob Zuma, visited a refugee camp in the port city of Durban after a fresh outbreak of anti-foreigner violence. While at the camp, Mr. Zuma told those who had fled the violence that it went against South African values and that he would bring it to an end. But, rather than applaud Mr. Zuma for this statement, he was jeered by some in the crowd who accused him of acting too slowly, just like his country’s security personnel. Conservatively, more than 1,500 people have been displaced after violence against foreign nationals flared up in the country’s coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, whose capital is Durban. The attacks soon spread inland to the country’s financial hub, Johannesburg, in Gauteng province. From official reports, the death toll in the latest wave of attacks on foreign nationals in the country has risen to twelve. This, perhaps, explains why the crowd did not take Zuma’s assurance to bring the situation to an end seriously. Victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa are from various African nations, including Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Somalia and Ethiopia. As it is usually the case with such predicaments, the victims are already counting their losses. Meanwhile, the AU should prevail on the South African government to take immediate measures to protect and safeguard the lives and properties of African migrants and, indeed, all nationals resident in South Africa and ensure that real compensations are paid to the families of all who lost their family members and relations and also for the loss of properties. The whole of Africa rose up against apartheid regime in South Africa. The South African government, therefore, has a moral responsibility to protect all Africans living on its soil. Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit Ministry of Information & Strategy, Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

COMMENT

Implications of Change Manifesto (2) Moving away from the state of anomie that has been a part of the country’s experience over the years certainly requires heavy-duty calibration of all dimensions of governance and government ture and embarking in his first day in office. It

AST Sunday, we examined the alienation between the State and the citizenry on account of a political and economic system that has denied citizens of their political efficacy through a governance system that is powered by rents collected from sale of petroleum. We concluded the piece on the need to move from a rentier state back to a productive economy, such as was in vogue in the country in the years before the civil war. We will today focus on the implications of the post- civil war political structure and culture (that should now be a part of the Manifesto of Change) on subnational units of government. As we mentioned last week, corruption in our country has two causes: remote and immediate. While immediate cause can be traced to character flaws of individuals in positions of authority, remote cause can be traced to the character of the country’s political economy over the years. The change of the economy from productive activities (agriculture, manufacturing, and service provisions) to rent collection from petroleum since the 1970s created a very fertile land for the growth of public and bureaucratic corruption. Multiplying states from 12 to 36 in the years after the civil war and designing such states to run on the steam of allocated funds from revenues from petroleum led to estrangement between citizens and governments all over the country. The fragmentation of the four regions in existence before the civil war marked the beginning of a political economy that enabled political leaders to personalise governance and freely appropriate public resources at the national and subnational levels. The revenue from petroleum was enough for the elite to share and settle scores among them, just as it was sufficient to establish and sustain security forces to keep citizens in line to cheer their political leaders as they enrich themselves. The relationship of alienation between citizens and the State made it easy for governance institutions to be built and nurtured, not for the contributions they could make to national development but for the symbolism of progress they can evoke. For example, the educational system grew

in size with the same speed that it lost its purpose. Credentialing replaced learning all over the country. Infrastructure was neglected by leaders whose goal was to acquire enough funds to open accounts in foreign countries to train their own children, not minding what type of education the average citizen receives at home. The public school, known as the institution that generates literacy and development in most parts of the modern world was ignored by governments while citizens with access to funds created private fee-paying schools to replace or eclipse public schools. Academic standards and quality assurance were thrown to the wind by most learning institutions, and the consequence is what both citizens and political leaders now refer to as educational decline. The federal governments has viewed for the past 50 years freedom and development at the subnational level as a threat to national unity and integration. In the process, those holding the lever of federal power have been preoccupied with loading powers and functions on the federal level of governance. Politicians and public servants at the federal level with oversize revenue allocation have found pork everywhere and have been cutting without qualms as much for themselves as could be done in a system that promotes impunity to shield those who defraud the state. At the subnational level in 36 or more capitals, the mimicry of federal style of personalistic and patrimonial governance has grown. At every level of government, those who seek political office also feel bound to privilege immunity over integrity, to the extent that even lawmakers also seek immunity for themselves in an amended constitution. There is no doubt that General Buhari has been voted by majority of Nigerians to inherit a broken nation, not in territorial terms but clearly in moral and political terms. Generally, the local parlance: “Nothing works in this place and nobody seems to be in charge” remains true until May 29. In a few states where there is an appearance of governance and progress, such situation is more of aberration that brings more danger to such states as citizens rush in droves from their states to such places. Moving away from the state of anomie that has been a part of the country’s experience over the years certainly requires heavy-duty calibration of all dimen-

sions of governance and government. But building or re-building institutions that can sustain good governance also requires new thinking, more so now, that what has made it easy for both leaders and their supporters to abandon rules of engagement at all levels— easy flow of funds from petroleum— may be approaching its long lean years. It is common knowledge that no modern nation has been built or sustained with just one commodity: rent collection from petroleum. Most modern nations are sustained by revenues raised from activities of citizens and companies by way of taxation. No modern nation has survived without proper infrastructure, particularly energy provision for manufacturing, just as no modern nation can remain so without respectable mass transportation systems. No modern nation exists without internal and external security. In short, no modernity without infrastructures for modernisation. Correspondingly, no multiethnic nation can thrive under a political structure and culture that concentrates power and functions at the centre.A system (such as has been in existence in the country for decades) that grows a central government that controls subnational governments is not likely to be conducive to national development and unity. Most multiethnic federations that have succeeded are those that have promoted an ethos of cooperation among constituent groups, not those that have held subnational governments by the jugular all in the name of promoting national unity. There are plenty examples of multiethnic polities and societies that seem to have built national unity and development on the pillar of freedom for subnational groups to serve as centres of production and innovation. The United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, and even South Africa are illustrations of successful multiethnic governance. It is instructive that none of these countries has denied any section of it the fiscal autonomy of federalism that it needs to innovate and flourish. Given the magnitude of the systemic damage that has happened to Nigeria over the years, it may be unrealistic to expect that General Buhari will hit the ground running by leaving aside the problem of growing insecurity, endemic corruption, and dilapidated infrastruc-

will also be delusional to govern in a way to suggest that national development can ensue from a system in which the central government controls subnational units like vassals, the way Nigeria has been governed for almost 50 years. It is salutary that outgoing President Jonathan has refrained from accepting cosmetic constitutional changes sent to him by the outgoing legislatures. Even if President Jonathan had won the election and have been given the opportunity to implement the recommendations of the national dialogue that he established last year, he still would not have addressed the problems militating against freedom and development in the country, because the recommendations from his own conference are not any more substantial than those from the departing federal lawmakers. As daunting as the problems of corruption, insecurity, infrastructure deficit, and educational decline might be, suggestions to General Buhari should include finding ways to think creatively and courageously about how to govern Nigeria with a constitution and a political structure that Nigerians like. The existing constitution was almost used to prevent him from getting elected, if the rest of the world had not warned against deployment of overbearing federal might— police, military, and other security agencies— to intimidate voters across the country. Assuming, as usual, that the problems of Nigeria pertain only to the content of governance and not its form is to miss the point about how to return government to citizens through establishment of a productive economy in the different regions with the view to facilitate the growth of each region to create an education and an economy that can nurture a federal system. General Buhari may not need to rush into solving the country’s lingering political problems. However, he and his governing team need to get the matter of re-federalising the country back to the top of the list of Must-Dos, without doing anything to take political advantage of citizens’ yearning for an integrated multiethnic nation-state that is positioned constitutionally and structurally to benefit from unity of purpose than one that is designed to generate suspicion among its constituent units, as Nigeria has been for the past 50 years. To be continued

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

COMMENT

Law supports impunity That is the long and short of the INEC stand on the Rivers governorship and state legislature polls, despite observers’ verdict that both were charades

EGALITY aids travesty to trump electoral sanity. That is a fair summary of the April 11 electoral debacle in Rivers State. Yet, in spite of all we know, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), cites the law to say the elections were sane; or, in any case, it is legally taboo to pronounce them otherwise, without a court’s sayso. On Rivers, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the INEC chair, declared: “There is no evidence the elections in Rivers were flawed. Although allegations have been made, there is no evidence to prove those allegations.” Kayode Idowu, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, also weighed in: “The law does not allow us to cancel any result, after it has been announced. Everyone knows this. It is only the election petition tribunals that can order that or even cancel the elections. We would advise anyone who is aggrieved to go to court.” And if the courts somewhat rubber-stamp an electoral heist? Too bad for the victims! Or more correctly: too bad for the democratic system — for the more electoral crimes that escape sanction, the more weakened the system is, the less potent Nigeria’s democracy becomes. The logical result of that would be underdevelopment and poverty. Now, if the best democracy could produce is structured underdevelopment, then there is fire in the roof! Still, our grouse is less the legalistic position the Jega INEC has taken. As far as the extant law goes, they are fully covered. In any case, it is trite to tell aggrieved parties to seek redress at the tribunals. It is rather, the crass institutional insensitivity that comes from the INEC stand. It suggests that no matter how bad electoral brigandage was, the moment it is beatified by the resident electoral commissioner (REC), it becomes as immaculate as snow! That is the legalistic folly, with all due respect to the immaculate INEC chair, in the Jega declaration on the Rivers polls. Almost to the last group, all the electoral monitors, foreign and local, returned damning reports on Rivers, with Akwa Ibom. An integral part of these unenviable reports was the alleged compromise of the RECs in these two states. To think the reports of these same RECs would be final in the INEC court of artificial legality, just underscores the ludicrousness of the present Electoral Law; and calls for its fast re-tinkering. The European Union Election Observer Mission (EOM), Independent Election Monitoring Group (IEMG), the Stakeholder Democratic Network (SDN), among others, were near-unanimous that the governorship and state assembly polls in Rivers (and even the

HERE have been three unmistakable landmark moments in the annals of national elections, when the electorate almost unanimously opted for presidential candidates they deemed ‘game changers.’ The first was June 12, 1993. That particular election won by the business mogul and philanthropist extraordinaire, MKO Abiola. It recorded several ‘firsts.’ It was the first time northerners preferred a southern candidate in their numbers over a northern candidate. It was the first time a major presidential candidate lost his ward, local government council and state to his opponent, and the first time a winning ticket comprised a presidential candidate and a running mate of the same religion. It was the first time a Yoruba man won a state in Igbo land and equally shared honours in the remaining state where the vice-presidential candidate of the other party hailed

presidential and National Assembly polls there on March 28) were grim travesties, that not only nailed, to the cross, the electoral system but also claimed innocent lives, aside from wanton arson. For starters, in INEC’s own preliminary report on the April 11 elections, it listed 66 reported cases of alleged violence and other electoral crimes, Rivers was top on the list, viz: Rivers (16 cases), Ondo (8), Akwa Ibom (5), Bayelsa (4), Lagos and Kaduna (3 each), Jigawa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun (2 each), Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and Ogun (1 each). In its preliminary statement, released on April 13, EU EOM gave this verdict: “EU EOM did not find any evidence of systematic manipulation of results. However, the available presidential results from Rivers State include highly implausible data, such as zero rejected (invalid) ballots out of 25, 174 ballots cast in Omuma local government area (LGA), no difference between the number of accredited registrants and the number who actually voted in Emohua and Ogu/Bolo LGAs, and a 98% turnout in Emohua LGA. Such questionable data warrants further investigation, however following INEC’s dispatch of three National Commissioners to Rivers for some hours, the results were accepted by INEC and announced.” This is suggestive of an INEC rushing to decision without carrying out a thorough investigation. If the EU EOM report appears restrained, even if still statistically damning, the IEMG interim report gave vent to the sheer horror that the elections were. Said a part of the report: “The mini-war situation in Rivers State, in the name of electoral process, is most troubling and must not be allowed to continue. This denied voters the expression of their will. What was observed in the state cannot be said in any reasonable manner to be a near-triumph to democracy, or an improvement on what this INEC has set out to do with the electoral process in Nigeria. It is rather a coup d’etat against the will of the voting public in the state.”

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh

•Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile

•Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye

•Associate Editor Sam Egburonu

•General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

The IEMG report also proceeded to name individuals who allegedly had subverted the electoral process. “Contrary to the guideline by the Inspector-General of Police that police officials should stay away from their political masters during the election, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, Minister of Sports, was seen in his Abonnema, Akuku Toru LGA, in company with security agents, as he moved around the town.” And specific infractions and where: “INEC electoral materials in Akuku Toru Wards 15, 16 and 17 were hijacked at gun point. The attackers were led by two notorious cultists who were identified as Hope Dan Opusungi and kenneth Dan Opusungi. Having seized the materials, the armed men barred polling agents of other political parties from escorting the materials to the distribution centre.” Another report, by SDN, crawled with instances demonstrating the Rivers election as the “most extensively disrupted”, and showcasing the illicit and overbearing control of polling units, with electoral officials and even security agents in dread of alleged PDP armed thugs, ballot boxes and election materials snatched at gun point, the relative lack of confidence in the electoral system by the hard pressed All Progressives Congress (APC), manufactured votes for parties not on the ballot paper after reckless thumb-printing, the wilful shunning of card readers to aid election rigging, and a specific case in Obio Akpor LGA in Port Harcourt, “which did not see materials released from the ward centre till close to 2 pm yet still reported a 96% voter turnout”! The caveat here though is that the delay was caused by protesting APC partisans over the non-availability of result sheets, who insisted no election would hold without that document. These then are damning allegations. Should a mere REC report blot out all these alleged crimes? That is the ludicrousness of the present INEC stand. Though it is constrained by law not to interfere, the law should adopt a more prevention-is-better-than-cure principle if only to prevent the needless waste of lives, by the perverse collusion of RECs and rogue security agencies, as it was the case with Rivers. It is unfair to push to the judiciary electoral cases that should have been averted, by everyone sticking to the law. The election institutions at every level must be immune to human manipulation, so that resort to judiciary is almost unnecessary. That is the direction the Electoral Law should go. For now however, the judiciary must rise to the challenge; and ensure every proven case of electoral criminality earns a harsh sanction. It is absolutely unacceptable that crass legalism should aid electoral travesty.

LETTER

Morning in a new Nigeria from. But, unfortunately and tragically, the military powers-that-be annulled the poll and rubbished the tremendous march towards building a nation-state Nigerians had freely and collectively undertaken Almost 18 years later, a political Cinderella, who had wowed his audiences with touching tales of his shoe-less beginnings, was handed another pan-Nigeria mandate. Great things were expected of him because he was the first graduate (and a PhD holder at that) to become president. But the hopes and expectations of Nigerians were dashed yet again and he was made to pay a hefty price for his acts of commission and omission when he sought a second term in office. The crushing electoral

defeat recently inflicted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) marks the third time Nigerians are breaching tribal and religious defensive fortifications. Rather paradoxically and ironically, considering his contentious anti-democratic image back then, when he was an autocratic military head of state, expectations are already running high that Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral victory will permanently change the nation’s democratic ethos for the better. With a combination of uncommon charisma, courage, self-discipline, integrity, doggedness and incorrigibility rolled into one, Buhari is indeed very suitably qualified to lead this nation at its most critical time in

history. What, with deepening and widespread poverty in the midst of plenty, general insecurity, burgeoning youth and graduate unemployment, corrosive corruption and a comatose domestic currency. Buhari isn’t an ‘accidental’ president. His rugged determination to contest again after three unsuccessful attempts must have been driven by a deep-seated passion for the positive contributions he wants to make. The sweet smell of a fresh start is already in the air. Quite surprisingly, many people have failed to notice that new political alignments were forged in the same crucible that old animosities and mutual suspicions were crushed. The 2015 elections witnessed two erstwhile sworn political

enemies, the core North and the South-West, successfully aligning forces for the very first time in the nation’s history to synthesise a winning presidential candidate on a progressives platform. The late Ikenne sage, Obafemi Awolowo, must be beaming a smile of satisfaction in his resting place because what played out was exactly ‘prophesied’ by him at the last congress of the now-rested Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in Abeokuta, where he said: “...we shall meet...at a time the best of the opposition will meet to form a government.” There’s also the not-tooobvious but still very significant alignment of forces by two old political enemies, the South-East and the South-South. Forgotten and forgiven (?) were the vexa-

tious issue of “abandoned property” that has been sticking out like a sore thumb and cries of “Igbo irredentism and hegemony.” There is indeed no reason why an Igbo man shouldn’t win a local government council or state or national election outside his South-East enclave and why the Hausa or Yoruba or Urhobo, among others, cannot do the same. It happened in the once-upon-a-time good old Nigeria and certainly seems set to happen again in the happening new Nigeria. In a way, June 12 marked the 40 days it would have taken the Israelites to travel from Egypt to the Promised Land as the crow flies, but Buhari’s March 28 is symptomatic of the tortuous 40 years it ultimately took them after maturation through diverse experiences in the wilderness. It is indeed morning in a new Nigeria. By Ichie Tiko Okoye Lagos

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

COMMENT

PDP: Big money, propaganda and utter debauchery Since Dr Reuben Abati disputes the N2 trillion allegedly spent, he should help convert all the money spent by TAN on its pro-Jonathan propaganda which began a full year ahead of the elections focused on labelling self-evident lies as evidences of transformation

DP is dead, okay almost. No thanks to PVCs and the Smart Card Readers and, of course, an INEC Chairman whose integrity you can take to the bank. Prior to the elections, various organs of the party had coyly obtained about 20 million voters’ card numbers from their unsuspecting owners. Claiming to be looking for endorsers, TAN, by its own admission, grossed 17.8 million signatories with their voters’ card numbers. Omo-Ilu Foundation must have distributed, and received back, close to 2 million application forms, also with voters’ card numbers in the Southwest, making close to 20 million voters numbers available to be cloned but for the Smart Card Reader. Nigerians should, therefore, congratulate themselves for their historic escape from a 16-year virtual enslavement. Even President Jonathan, by his own confession, has been entrapped for his own six of those years. Nigerians also know that in the last four, although we voted for one, we got two. While one sat placidly, watching our problems multiply, with hundreds of children stolen under his nose, the other ran roughshod over the entire country, especially in her south south zone, causing problems everywhere she went. Again, because he that is down needs fear no fall, let us spare the PDP but take a cursory look at some of its most outlandish legacies. First, the humongous, absolutely unimaginable amount of money they spent on the presidential election. Since Dr Reuben Abati disputes the N2 trillion allegedly spent, he should help convert all the money spent by TAN on its proJonathan propaganda which began a

full year ahead of the elections focused on labelling self-evident lies as evidences of transformation. Or how can any serious organisation claim that President Jonathan fought corruption to a standstill, even as corruption related cases were being serially withdrawn from the courts? And why do they think a wily Femi Fani-Kayode moved over to the PDP? Dr Abati should also convert to naira and kobo, all the amount spent on those dizzying television adverts which were, allegedly, funded by federal government agencies. Then to the campaign proper, he should tell Nigerians how much was spent on logistics, adverts –radio, television and outdoors, as well as the staggering ‘mobilisation’ fees paid, mostly in hard currency, to all Lagos based tribal associations then being assiduously recruited to work against the Yoruba; to Obas, Obis and Emirs; to the ever available CAN and other faith-based organisations, not leaving out hotel expenses at the most expensive hotels in the country. Others are fuelling the thousands of vehicles deployed, rendering operable the entire presidential fleet of 10 air craft and others that were chartered, all put in the service of that most expensive campaign ever in the history of Nigeria. I have deliberately left off security and INEC officials, many of who must have been handsomely ‘settled’ to turn the other eye as we saw copiously in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. Before he can successfully dispute the allegation that PDP spent N2 trillion of public money on the election, Reuben must tell Nigerians how much the PDP spent. Apart from literally emptying the national treasury and instituting cor-

ruption and crass debauchery in the country these past 16 years, the Peoples Democratic Party has completely disembowelled Nigeria; it has turned it to a mere shadow and we are only fortunate that a man like General Muhammadu Buhari will be taking over in days. While President Barrack Obama took over an America that was economically humbled as a result of a general economic downturn, General Buhari will be taking over a country economically, as well as morally, in ruins. Nobody has captured our current circumstances better than Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú, a Premium Times Editorial Board member, who we shall be quoting here at some length. Her article: ‘Thieving Nigerian Elite and Their Brats’, apart from very accurately capturing the Nigerian condition at the tail-end of the Jonathan era, situating as it does, some of the reasons our politicians, public servants, oil subsidy and pension scammers –all friends of the government - steal much more than they would ever need in nine lives, it also points us in the way of the much desired relaunch of the War Against Indiscipline. Wrote Ademola-Olateju: “The rich Nigerian makes a compelling case that unearned money is unfulfilling. That explains their enslavement to primitive acquisition, ostentatious consumption and transparent displays. The Nigerian wants to be rich just to show and to oppress those around him. They steal more and covet more, long after the money has become a burden rather than a comfort. They are raising brats and self-absorbed children who are accustomed to living large from infancy. They have no idea they are ruining this country much more than what they

stole but by contaminating the environment with children who have no respect for hard work and know nothing about integrity. They see expensive vacations and high brow shopping as commonplace. What the truly wealthy in other nations consider as luxury is commonplace in Nigeria. Luxury loses meaning when it is a constant. Constant luxury is no luxury at all; luxury is not commonplace! There is no need for sweeping generalisations as some people earned their wealth in this country but how many are they? How many are genuinely rich and not fronting for people in government or enabled by insiders? Richard Branson who owns Virgin Atlantic has children and they fly economy. How many Nigerians are as rich as Richard Branson? Unfortunately for these thieving parents, their children know them as thieves and they themselves are trying to be bigger thieves when they grow up. They are all over the Lekki-Ikoyi corridor and the streets of Maitama and Asokoro, displaying the stereotypical arrogance of privilege. They are everywhere, driving fast cars and lacking the motivation to accomplish anything in life. Our rulers who stole us blind send their children abroad to study with the aim of coming back to take over the reins of power; have they? No! It doesn’t work that way. Privileged children have no motivation to take better control of their education. They have the money to stay in posh apartments, ride expensive cars and party away because the money is there for the taking. There is no need to learn for a future career. While their children struggle through school, partying and doing drugs, the parents are still delusional, hoping it is just a phase. It is not a phase! Life with-

The great unread I think the world is trying to tell us to open the blessed books and find all the secrets of the world tucked between the pages

IKE the great unwashed, unbrushed and unshoed, there is just so much you can do with the great unread. They not only do not believe that you mean well by telling them to take a bath, brush their teeth, lace up their shoes or read a book, they actually believe they have a right to be left alone to enjoy their states of nature. Take the great unwashed as an example. They hate getting into water whereas the rest of the world enjoys the various temperatures of water cascading over them to wash the filth and grime of yesteryears off. Oh yes, dear reader; some grime can stick to that lovely skin of yours for years. If you don’t believe me, take a real good bath and scrub yourself real hard. Then towel yourself down. After that, just rub up and down any square area of your leg or part of your choice, and what comes off on your finger? That’s right; last year’s grime; and if you look closely, you’ll probably be able to tell where you collected the idiot dust responsible. The great unread are quite another kettle of fish. A mixed crowd you have there to be sure. There are first those who are unread because they cannot read. They are unable, unschooled and untutored. These are the ones the mass literacy programmes should be intensified for. Then there are those who can read,

but who for their lives or money, would not deign to pick up any intellectual material to read and educate their minds. These are the ones who deserve our sympathy, exasperation and a shake of their shoulder: WHY ARE YOU NOT USING YOUR GODGIVEN BRAINS? Then, there is a third group. You know, just as you can have Limited Liability Companies (Ltd.), so also you can have those with Limited Reading Deeds (Lrd.). These ones read all right, but usually when they have no choice in the matter. They are the ones who only read the blurbs of literary texts to pass examinations. Then there is yet a tiny set of people who are hardly talked about. They read voraciously and, wonder of wonders, they even write. But then, who gives this group the time of day? Not you! So, these are your groups of readers and non-readers. Is it any wonder then that Nigeria is said to constitute one giant mass of the great unread?! And you know what they say about the unread, don’t you? They neither know nor seek to know. Yes, indeed, there is a stereotypic joke flying around about you: they say that if you want to hide any secret from a Nigerian, write it and put it between the pages of a book. How did we get to this point?

I don’t know but I think the world had Nigerians in mind when they set a day aside in the year to pay attention to books, copyrights and intellectual properties. Dear reader, please don’t mind me for yoking together these fine birds of the same feather because they have come on each other’s heels. I think the world is trying to tell us to open the blessed books and find all the secrets of the world tucked between the pages. One of the reasons the reading culture went down in this country might be the fact that books went out of the reach of the ordinary man and woman. In other words, books were priced out of the hands of those who needed them most. And I believe, as I have said before, that it started in the seventies, when the cheap paper industry was deliberately killed by you know who: your friends the government, in order to hurt the newspaper industry so that news would not be easily accessible to you and me so that we will be in the dark about things so that the government could continue to do what they liked without you and I being the wiser so that….. Now you know why I hate talking about the government: it makes me too emotional (sniff, sniff). The ultimate effect has been that the book industry is now suffering because books that should cost nothing more than a fraction of a child’s daily allowance are now costing a good deal more than a half of a father’s monthly emolument. In foreign

countries, children have been known to use their allowances to purchase comics and light reading materials in order to improve their cognitive reasoning, reading, and ethical abstractive abilities, not to talk of their written and yes, spoken English. Here, children are preoccupied with worrying about where their daddies will get food to put on the table. I ask you, where, among the family’s catalogue of needs, should ‘reading for leisure’ books be fixed without having to break the bank, steal or borrow? This year, I understand the theme for the Books and Copyrights day is ‘Read the World’. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I would have said that the composers of that theme were trying to taunt us to do something about the great unread in our midst, like (whisper) RID THE WORLD OF THEM OR SOMETHING. But, I will be more charitable and pretend I speak English sometimes, like a Nigerian professor of English who was asked in a foreign hospital if she spoke English, and she said ‘sometimes’. In my little English, I will therefore hazard that they are asking the government to do something about the cheap paper (pulp) industry; or read (the lips of) the world and hear what it is saying such as, ‘You pirates, respect our intellectual properties!’ I cannot seem to understand the philosophy of intellectual piracy. When Shakespeare’s Hamlet said ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in

out work, however financially secure, is an aimless life. A life without purpose. That is why monied children are swinging in oceans of anxiety, indecision and despair. In essence, money robs children of their ambition. When children are in full knowledge of their parents vast fortunes, they are more likely to develop a twisted view of the world. Money prevents them from developing a strong sense of empathy and compassion. The result? The aim of sending them abroad eventually falls flat. The best among them come back as DJ’s and the children of their drivers and nannies become doctors!” Continuing, she writes: “we owe it a duty to tell it loud and clear that stealing billions of Naira will not bring them all they had hoped for nor will it guarantee happiness. We must educate people on the concept of service and aspiring to something greater than the self. Parents, teachers and the clergy must go back to preaching our lost values as people are truly happy when they concentrate on things that make the world a better place. How many Nigerians alive today can have the cult following Buhari has? Money did not fetch him that, something far greater did. “If nothing is learned from the profligate times of Goodluck Jonathan, we, at least, know that stealing is far more complicated than it seems. Money is never enough! The rich worry more about money than the poor. They worry about losing it, so they steal more and more. As the zeroes increase, the dilemmas get bigger. If anything, the rich faces more melancholy than the rest of us. We generally believe a little more money would make our lives happier and in many instances it is true. But the hard truth is; human appetites for material indulgence are rarely satisfied. Money is overrated!” As we march into the new Buhari era, therefore, we all must learn to abandon those negative actions and traits that combine to put us smugly amongst the wretched of the earth. We must graduate out of PDP-ism, forever.

your philosophy’ (1, 5, 166-7), I thought he was talking about how his friend needed to add more value to his books by learning more of life’s lessons. Here are your intellectual pirates deciding to reduce the value of books by making the author’s efforts worthless in his hands. Is that wickedness or what? Sometime ago, when I visited a shop, I found copies of my favourite classical pieces at prices that shot through the roof. I bought them anyway and I felt happy that I had appreciated the efforts of some musician somewhere. Those around me thought otherwise. To start with, they looked at me as if I could not possibly be serious about having bought them at those prices. Then they informed me with a turn of their lips that I could more easily have bought these things at only a fraction of those prices from those chaps that ferry them around in wheel-barrows who bring them in from China or Onitsha. Then they forbore to touch them. Seriously, cheap versions of anything are good, but they must come with the consent, and to the gain, of the artist. Presently, I understand that the Nigerian copyrights commission is at war with intellectual pirates, burning their hauls and all that. I think it is time to go after those who import the pirated copies of other people’s works. There is an urgent need to make books and other works of art accessible to the public at legally reasonable prices. This not only discourages piracy, but educates the public, reforms characters in many ways, ennobles people’s minds and makes cultured individuals of people. Ultimately, it encourages more creativity, which in turn contributes to societal development; and in this cyclical movement, everyone gains.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

COMMENT

(113) Uche Chukwumerije and Atahiru Jega: honouring the departed and the living of the Nigerian left - complexly I

SOLEMNLY swear to it: just a few days before the news of his death came to me, I was thinking a lot about the late Senator Uche Chukwumerije. The reasons for this were both very specific and general. With regard to the specific reason, I was thinking of the late Senator in connection with the known and unknown ramifications of the defeat of the PDP as our country’s ruling party. Of the admittedly few intellectuals and progressives in the PDP, Chukwumerije was the only one who, to the very end, I resolutely refused to see as being “naturally PDP”. Indeed, since 1999 when the PDP came to power, anytime that I thought of Chukwumerije my mind went to something Lenin famously said about the British playwright, George Bernard Shaw: “a good man fallen among the Fabians!” Lenin considered Fabians and their form of socialism fake and delusionary while for Shaw he had a deep respect for the dramatist’s intellect and politics. On account of this analogy between Shaw among Fabians and Chukwumerije in the PDP, as I reflected on what more or less seems to me to be the historic end of the road for the defeated ruling party, I felt quite keenly that this was something that I would like to discuss with Chukwumerije - though I had not seen him or spoken with him in about forty years and without knowing in fact that at that precise moment he was either dying or had died. In this context, the news of his death startled and saddened me immensely. This sadness was made even sharper by the controversy that almost immediately erupted with the announcement of Chukwumerije’s passing. Very few of those writing about him cared for his decades as one of our country’s most prominent, brilliant and dedicated socialists and Pan Africanists. More importantly, almost no commentator tried to wrestle with the ambiguities, contradictions and imponderables of the connection between his decades as a passionate and influential voice of the Nigerian and African Left and his deep embroilment in the last stage of his life in the often rank and decadent bourgeois politics of the PDP. For me of course there is no question that this delicate or perhaps even explosive issue has to be engaged as we mourn his passing and honour his memory. It was my acceptance of this difficult task that led me to the recognition that we face the same kind of challenge as we honour Atahiru Jega for the heroic role that he played in the recent 2015 election cycle. This is because, as far as I am aware, as with the life circumstances of Chukwumerije, no one has raised the possibility of there being any connection between Jega’s years as a radical, leftist academic and both the missteps that nearly ruined the performance of his duties and obligations as INEC Chairman and the courageous steps that he took to peacefully resolve a near calamitous crisis for the nation’s political survival. It is this analogy, this comparison that explains the title of this piece: we must honour these two men, one living

•From left: Chukwumerije and Jega, laying to rest the myth of the isolated socialist warrior in Nigerian ruling class politics

and one freshly departed, at a moment when a landmark election once again raises for us the specter of the bad faith and self-negation that attend all who move from radical and progressive politics to the extremely divisive, corrupt and unregenerate politics of the ruling political elites of our country. For tactical reasons, I shall deliberately approach this topic from very personal encounters with the living and the departed, Jega and Chukwumerije. First then, I turn to the late Senator. In all, Chukwumerije and I personally met only about three or four times. Moreover, these meetings all took place in the mid-1970s. Of course our relationship continued beyond the period of these personal meetings through the short pieces I wrote for his famous newsmagazine Afriscope. Of the encounters themselves, these took place through the agency of Kole Omotoso. Before my arrival at the University of Ibadan as a young lecturer in 1975, Kole had regularly paid visits to Chukwumerije and his family at Anthony Village on the Lagos Mainland. Kole had been a junior and slightly younger contemporary of Chukwumerije as an undergraduate of the University of Ibadan. Of course, the late Senator had graduated long before I arrived for my studies in 1968. But this did not prevent me from hearing inspiring stories of his radicalism and being greatly affected by the stories. And there was Afriscope, unquestionably the most influential and professionally best produced newsmagazine of the Left in Africa in the period. For these reasons, when Kole asked me one weekend to come along with him to meet Comrade Uche, I jumped at the opportunity. And that was how the encounters started. These occasional weekend visits that Kole and I made to what were the combined offices of Afriscope and the home of the Chukwumerijes were, in total, only about three or four times in number. Moreover, they took place almost forty years ago and eventually marked a hiatus in which between then and now when the

Senator-Comrade is gone, we never personally met again. But our conversations, our interactions left a deep and lasting impact on me. The hospitableness of Chukwumerije himself, his wife and children was of the very essence of care and solicitude in the extremely cramped space of a home that was also the offices of an important newsmagazine. Kole and I would talk with Chukwumerije late into the night, only to resume our discussions the next morning after breakfast. This round of early morning discussions would typically last until we then had lunch in the early afternoon after which Kole and I would set out on our journey to back to Ibadan. I remember Chukwumerije very vividly from those conversations as a brilliant man, an extremely well read and knowledgeable intellectual and a passionately committed socialist and Pan Africanist. As a matter of fact, in matters of intellect and passion for the radical and progressive traditions of the Left in Africa and around the world, when I think of Chukwumerije, almost simultaneously I think of the late Omafume Onoge. This is because in their presence, in the keen perception of their deeply ingrained and extensively researched knowledge concerning revolutionary movements of the past and the present, of Africa and around the world, you could not but be infected with their resolve and their optimism. Intellectualism of a very high order, unpretentious but deep and wide in its commitment to liberation from all the forces of reaction, injustice and darkness in our country and Africa, this was what drew me so powerfully to the late Senator in those visits to his home and editorial offices in Lagos in the mid-1970s. Did Chukwumerije take his radical and dedicated leftist socialism into his passionate embrace of the Biafran cause during the civil war? I frankly don’t know. My guess is that he probably did, though in the end like all others on the Biafran side who were leftists, he was for the most part quite

ineffective strictly speaking as a leftist because collective struggles around trauma and survival trumped ideology in the secessionist republic. This negative dialectic became worse for Chukwumerije and other Leftists in post civil-war Nigeria. This was because in almost every instance, comrades found out that the socialism of one man or of one woman could not but be hopelessly isolated and compromised within ruling class parties that were crassly based on the lowest common denominators of excessive self-enrichment, ethnic divisiveness and opportunistic capitulation to foreign domination of the country’s economy. Famously, Chukwumerije was militantly and even derisively against the June 12 mandate of M.K.O. Abiola; and he served in both the Shonekan interregnum and the Abacha administration though for very brief periods in both cases. To the end, he did deny that his opposition to Abiola was based on ethnic animosity. The reason that he gave happened to coincide with the reason that Fela Kuti, to the very end of his life, gave as his opposition to Abiola, this being that his ITT connections made him an agent of the imperialist domination of our continent. As for Chukwumerije’s support of the Shonekan and Abacha administrations, we might do well to remember that other prominent Leftists also lent their support and services to those regimes. The case of the late Sam Aluko comes to mind here with his imponderable claim that Abacha was the greatest Head of State that Nigeria ever had. A lone socialist or leftist surviving with his or her convictions uncompromised in the moral wilderness, the ideological wasteland of Nigeria’s ruling class parties? Not a single exemplar of this “survival” has been thrown up by our political history and Chukwumerije was no exception to this norm. We must mourn him and honor his memory with the burden of this bitter truism. Atahiru Jega was, symbolically and psychically almost consumed by this negative dialectic. I had met him

and worked closely with him within the collective leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the early to mid-1980s. Like all other members of that collective, I had been greatly impressed by his brilliance, seriousness and dedication as a radical intellectual of the Left. Which is why after my initial surprise that Jonathan replaced Maurice Iwu with Jega, I came to the conclusion that Jonathan and the collective mind of the ruling party had probably chosen Jega based on their wily recognition that once leftist academics joined ruling class parties or took up positions of great authority and influence under the state, they consistently or perhaps even inevitably became tamed, domesticated. For by the time Jega was appointed INEC Chairman, he had moved from the ranks of the foot soldiers of ASUU to being one of the most highly respected Vice Chancellors in the Nigerian university system. Many of Jega’s missteps as INEC Chairman arose from this contradiction. I will identify only two in this discussion. One was his willingness to conduct elections with at least onethird of the electorate disenfranchised on the basis of deprivation of permanent voters’ cards. Jega’s rationalization of this decision is not unreasonable, but it is profoundly non-democratic and perhaps even counter-revolutionary. This was his explanation that in many of the gubernatorial elections before the presidential elections, only around 30% of the electorates had voted. The second great misstep pertains to Jega’s capitulation to the manipulation of the Service Chiefs, especially as this almost came to being repeated on March 28. In fact, it was precisely at that moment that Jega’s heroism emerged. For once he saw that Nigerians in their millions and the international community through very powerful spokespersons were against repetition of the postponement of the elections, Jega saw that his isolation was more apparent than real. In a literal sense he was still a lone voice in the gaggle of forces closing in on him and working for his downfall or failure. But in a symbolic sense, he recognized that the weight of the survival of the country rested on his composure under fire, his courage under the extreme provocation of desperate and ruthless nationwreckers. I admit it. I have barely touched the full scope of this negative dialectic in which Chukwumerije and Jega, each standing for a departed and living comrade, conducted their affairs and engaged the challenges they confronted in the broken and destructive wilderness of Nigerian ruling class politics. But if I have achieved anything in this piece, I hope that this will be seen as having laid to rest the myth of the isolated leftist or socialist who believes that he or she remains consistent or even credible in his or her embodiment of the dreams and aspirations of a just and egalitarian social order in our country while cavorting with the looters, the wastrels, the nation-wreckers. Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

COMMENT

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Suleiman Abba: Anatomy of a sacking Y

OU won’t find too many people shedding tears for the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba. The All Progressives Congress (APC) says under him the police became little more than the enforcement arm of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) used to thwart the people’s will and act in ways that negated its constitutional mandate. Other reports spoke of jubilation by the rank and file in some areas when news of his removal filtered through. For as long as I can remember, ordinary policemen have celebrated the fall of their bosses for reasons revolving largely round their welfare. I’m unsure in what ways he had offended them. If Abba was unpopular with the lower rungs of the force, he certainly was no longer flavour of the month in Aso Rock. The tweet announcing his firing was as terse as it was cryptic. It was devoid of even the lamest of courtesies: it was downright disrespectful. But it was not always this way. The colourless former IG leapt into public consciousness with his high profile role in the storming of the National Assembly when the House of Representatives tried to sit for the first time following the defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal to the APC. The Speaker had riled President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP high command by breaking with the party’s agreed zoning structure to run to lead the House. What made the episode even more galling for the powers-that-be was that the rebel achieved his victory through an unlikely alliance with elements of the APC. Although Tambuwal and his deputy, Emeka Ihedioha would go to Aso Villa and the party hierarchy to beg for forgiveness, he would never be trusted again. Indeed, if Jonathan had been able to muster the numbers the speaker would have been out on his ear long ago. Over the months as it became obvious that his break with PDP had become permanent the party waited patiently for their quarry to make his move. Even when he formally announced his change of affiliation

OING by the depth of bitterness, anger and frustration emanating from the ranks of the PDP and its supporters, it is obvious many of them never anticipated defeat in the presidential contest. I find that amazing. How is it possible that they didn’t consider all possible scenarios? If they did, the bile that is still gushing would have become a weak dribble. Their anger is not only directed at the Buhari and APC who pinched their precious presidency, it is also leveled at Jonathan who some blame for not doing “what is necessary” to win. I have had a couple say to me that were they to be in the man’s shoes they would have rigged their way to a second term. Online I get great entertainment reading the posts of ruling party supporters straining to find cracks in APC as members wrangle over spoil. When they identify what they

•Abba

they still couldn’t oust him. By now the APC through defections had temporarily snatched the majority. That left Jonathan will only one hand left to play. He got Abba to strip the speaker of his security details. The then IG even took matters a step further. When the media asked for the rationale behind his action he crossed the line between law enforcement and adjudication. Tambuwal, he said, had violated the constitution by crossing party lines – therefore he was no longer Speaker. Aghast, people asked the police chief when he assumed the role of the courts to interpret the constitution. Whatever the removal of security cover was intended to achieve for the Presidency and ruling party, the effect was the opposite. It exposed the hypocrisy of the force and administration as many other legislators and governors had defected to the PDP without receiving the same treatment. Tambuwal continued as speaker making his own private security arrangements and using the courts to sustain his position. Abba and his police force, on the other hand, found themselves getting sucked deeper and deeper into the mire of partisan politics. They clearly loved the mud bath as they threw themselves into further controversy with their open embrace of one side during the Osun

State governorship election last year. In the end Abba who had devoted himself and the Nigerian police structure to the advancement of the partisan interests of those who made him was humiliated out of his cherished office by the same hands. No official reasons have been given for his sacking but I am inclined to believe much of the speculations that have been published. The truth is the Jonathan presidency leaks more than a sieve. Three days before the dismissal was announced The Nation had published an exclusive report on Saturday, April 18 to the effect that Abba was on his way out. Against such a backdrop it would be unreasonable to dismiss what has been reported in the media as untrue. So what do we know? The former IG was accused of disloyalty because in his final few weeks in office he made postings that positioned the police to do their work more evenly in some critical states. Significantly, he posted Assistant Inspector-General of Police Tunde Ogunsakin to Rivers State only to have his order countermanded by Aso Rock. That dodgy move by a desperate presidency soon found its way into the press. Abba’s other sin reportedly was his attending the ceremony where President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari

was presented with his certificate of return. He was also said to have been at the airport to receive the general. I am convinced that in doing these things Abba didn’t have a sudden conversion to professionalism. Rather, it was the instinct for self-preservation that kicked in. Had Jonathan prevailed on March 28 would he have moved the officers around in the manner he did? I doubt it. This was a man who was willing to do what was necessary to please whoever would further his career ends. He gambled – thinking that the moves he made would stand him in good stead with the incoming administration. He lost because he presumed the dying horse was finished – not knowing it had one last devastating kick before expiring. The result was his vengeful sacking by an embittered president. For all his scheming to right wrongs that the police under him had perpetrated, the former IG would be remembered not for his actions in the last three weeks, but for the infamous police invasion of the National Assembly. Who can forget those graphic images of teargas filling the House chamber or of portly legislators clambering over gates that had been shut by the police? Mr. Abba has clearly secured his accommodation in the halls of infamy. As for President Jonathan his coldblooded humiliation of his erstwhile police chief reinforces what many have said about him in the past. While he makes every effort to project a humble and amiable mien he’s also capable of the most impetuous acts of vindictiveness. His Public Affairs Adviser, Doyin Okupe once famously compared him to Jesus Christ. But episodes like the Abba sacking expose the president as just another flawed, unforgiving human being. Those in the know claim that whilst he was late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s deputy he suffered a series of slights at the hands of former Delta State Governor James Ibori and ex-Bayelsa Governor Timipre Sylva. When he providentially became president these two fellows quickly discovered there was a new sheriff in town. Sylva, especially, was subjected

2015: ‘Bad belle’ as ideology presume to be evidence of trouble they celebrate such gleefully with such unoriginal exclamations as ‘We told you so’, ‘It has already started’ (the in-fighting they mean), and ‘We don enter One Chance’ – just to mention a few. Of course, I have also heard intemperate remarks coming from the APC end suggesting that some supporters are still giddy with adrenaline they’ve forgotten that Buhari has been given his certificate of return. You guys won remember? I would suggest to all sides of this bruising battle to calm down. To APC supporters: you won so be humble and compassionate. To the PDP supporters: I feel your pain. But you lost so get used to it. Buhari is going to be your president for the

next four years at the very least. Live with it! The new government has not even been formed; it is indecent and undignified to be plotting how to savage it when it hasn’t even taken one step. Fairness demands that they be allowed a honeymoon period to bed down. That may not be in the interest of politicians who are desperate to see APC falter as quickly as possible, but it is in the national interest. Just as the new government needs time, the outgoing ruling party requires time for proper soul-searching. Many PDP’s leaders don’t grasp the gravity of the shift that has happened in the polity. That is why they make rash claims about reclaiming power in 2019.

While that is not impossible, it excludes the possibility that the APC could do so well that 2019 would be the final burial of the last vestiges of PDP. The only way they are going to make headway in opposition is through creativity, rebranding and offering fresh ideas. Take their slogan – ‘PDP! Power! Can this organism survive now that it has been separated from power? Not much thinking is happening right now. Instead we continue to be treated to regurgitations of the same vile utterances that caused Nigerians to turn against Jonathan and his party. If they don’t take time to purge themselves of the poisonous tendencies in their midst they would soon be known as the party with bad belle as its ideology.

to treatment that confirms the old saying that revenge is a dish best eaten cold. It is said that conscious of the less-than-chummy relationship between him and the new president, some colleague governors took Sylva to beg forgiveness of the president on bended knees. He got the real answer when he was muscled out the state’s PDP gubernatorial primaries with a script that had Abuja’s fingerprints all over it. There’s no question that Jonathan is still traumatized by the outcome of the elections. Reports say he feels betrayed by a wide array of party men and appointees who either didn’t do enough for the cause or just converted campaign cash to personal use. But we are yet to hear any admission by the candidate of his own mistakes that imperiled his candidacy long before these last few weeks. Some people always have to blame others for their woes. Amusingly, Jonathan’s supporters who are yet to reconcile themselves to the fact that their man has lost power have been clutching at anything in sight that looks like a win to award their hero. So they have latched onto his concession call to Buhari as the tool for reinventing the man some global statesman. But one phone call does not a Jimmy Carter make. The PDP crisis was exacerbated by the decision of the “global statesman” to break the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) by backing the minority against the majority. What was statesmanly about the president overseeing the abuse of the military in last year’s Ekiti gubernatorial election leading to what is now known as the Ekitigate scandal? The Abba sacking shows once again that at the core of Nigeria’s leadership challenge is slotting small men in big offices. Even if the ex-IG had actually been so ‘disloyal’ couldn’t the president have restrained himself knowing he was a lame-duck who would be out of the place in four weeks? What altruism is there in a man in his position making such a high profile appointment knowing that Buhari is likely to name his own security team once he takes over? Jonathan could have moved on basking in the approbation that followed his concession call to Buhari, but a man would sooner or later be undone by his weaknesses. By succumbing to one last vengeful lunge at his enemies the president now heads into retirement under a stream of negative headlines. The more I turn over Abba’s list of sins, the more I am left underwhelmed. Jonathan could have let it go and taken his revenge in his memoirs. Nelson Mandela was unjustly jailed for 27 years. He emerged to forgive his erstwhile tormenters, save his nation from racial conflagration and became a global symbol of the power of forgiveness. And he was not even a religious leader! He was a giant. Our leaders are slow to forgive and proudly celebrate their capacity to hold long grudges over small matters. They are quick to exact revenge at the first opportunity. Little wonder they are pygmies!

LIFE

SUNDAY

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

•Iyabo John, (top left) Maryam Muili, (top right) Bunmi Akinde •Continued on page 19

20 SUNDAY LIFE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

•Continued from 19

•Abiodun Quadri

•Continued on page 21

SUNDAY LIFE 21

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

• Quadri

“ I have money to buy what I like and I eat what I want at the appropriate time. I pay my rent and others bills at my pleasure, and I am happy.”

22 SUNDAY LIFE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

The world last week celebrated the World Book Day with fanfare, lectures and exhibitions, but most Nigerians do not know that right here in Nigeria and somewhere in a village near Ibadan, Oyo State, is located the world's largest African Heritage Library. Taiwo Abiodun who was there recently, reports. â&#x20AC;˘Adewale

â&#x20AC;˘Continued on page 23

SUNDAY LIFE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

As this year's Worker's Day draws nearer, Yetunde Oladeinde takes a look at the numerous challenges facing the Nigerian labour force, even as it eagerly awaits the newly elected government at the centre.

•Continued from page 22

‘With 500,000 books and volumes, not even University of London comes close’

24 SUNDAY LIFE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

•Awobusuyi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

APRIL 26, 2015

Gen. Diya's son hooked

enultimate weekend, Nigeria's former number two citizen's son, Oyefolarin Diya, solemnised his union with Aggyska at the United African Methodist Evangelical Catheral, Abula Oja, Yaba while guests were entertained at 10 Degrees Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos.

Couple, Oyefolarin Diya and Aggyska

L-R: Archbishop Magnus Atilade and Venerable Fola

L-R: Lt. Gen Oladipo Diya (Retd), Mrs. Josephine Diya and Mrs. Folasade Diya

Groom's mother, Chief (Mrs.) Josephine Diya, flanked by her in-laws

Akinwunmi weds Olubunmi

Groom's parent: Mr. Femi Akintobi and wife, Folasade

Bride's parent: Pastor Debo Falade and wife Adenike

L-R: Mr. George Banjo and Mr. Sola Ogunsakin

Couple: Akinwunmi Akintobi and Olubunmi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi

POLITICKLE

deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

A modern dictionary •General edition In the wake of needlessly charged national elections, the writer serves the usual fare to discharge heat in the polity.

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

A. ACCOUNTANT n.: Someone you hire to explain that you didn’t make the money you did. Acquit n.: A statement by the frustrated employee. Adventure n.: A strange mixture of pleasure and apprehension. Argument n.: A discussion that occurs when one is right and continues until the other realises it. B. Beach n.: A sandy place near water where the girls look great and the men look funny. Beauty n.: Quality, mostly external, given early by Mother Nature and taken soon by Father Time. Bravery n.: Someone with diarrhoea risking a fart. C. Car n.: Fuelled, four-wheeled contraption that runs up hills and runs down pay and pedestrians. Coma n.: A punctuation mark on life. Compromise n.: Conclusion reached by politicians without the people’s contribution. D. Democracy n.: The process by which society chooses who to blame for its ills. Diplomacy n.: The art of putting distance between yourself and a regrettable action and getting praise for it. Examples: Former president Olusegun Obasanjo distancing himself from the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, before the presidential election and Jonathan from former Niger Delta minister Godsday Orubebe immediately after. E. Eating v.: The next line of action following boredom. F. Father’s Day n.: Nine months before Mother’s Day. Feet n.: Body part that most attracts broken toys and prickly objects on the floor. Financial crisis n.: What threatens food, school fees and Christmas/New Year shopping. Fingers n.: A child’s first fork. G. Ghost worker n.: Imaginary worker drawing dream pay for a real job. H. Happy n.: Patronising view of the Nigerian from abroad. Hope n.: What springs national after the 2015 presidential elections. I. Internet n.: The invention that prevents working or studying. J. Jugular n.: The body part (neck) that most invites assault. Joke n.: The idea of Nigeria as confirmed African giant. K. Kindred n.: Relatives whose visit you fear. Kobo n.: Nigerian currency mentioned in the same breath as the dodo. L. Love n.: The best medicine and the toughest lesson. Love letter-writing v.: Something the lover does and is one day done by. M. Microwave n.: A tiny greeting such as a baby’s. Minimum wage n.: What the rich humour the poor with. N. New adj.: The condition of a possession that changes immediately after leaving the seller’s. Network v.: What users do when fishing for the usable. O. Obsolete adj.: Constant description of your personal computer or gadgets. Old age n.: The period in time when actions creak louder than words. P. Practice n.: What professionals like doctors do. Paralysis n.: Numbing feeling induced by a statement as ‘They’ve brought the bill’. Politician n.: The master who poses as the servant. Q. Quarrel n.: Clash of two caused by one. Quote v.: Something a child does without prompting. R. Rash adj.: A rush of blood to the head, in other words. Repercussion n.: The consequence of playing drums loudly in a quiet neighbourhood. S. School n.: Today’s building with tomorrow inside. Sort colloq.: Slang word for the underhand approach to school and early life problems by the young and wayward. T. Tomorrow n.: The day when today’s tasks are eventually performed. Tact n.: The art of describing others as they see themselves. Thief n.: The finder who keeps before the loser loses it. U. Undertakers n.: The last people to let you down. V. Vamoose v.: Quick movement of thugs with ballot boxes during elections and cross-carpeting politicians before and after. W. Wife n.: The one person with whom winning an argument means losing. Woman n.: A wonder of the ancient and modern worlds. X. Xenophobia n.: Wild demonstration of emotion by South Africans towards their country’s past benefactors. Y. Young n.: What the aged still consider the parents of their grand and great grandchildren to be. Z. Zombie n.: Bizzare Election Day comportment of voters and security forces arising mostly from financial inducement.

QUOTE

When a man is in love or in debt, someone else has the advantage. —Bill Balance

Jokes Humour The Old Explorer A YOUNG reporter went to a retirement home to interview an aged but legendary explorer. The reporter asked the old man to tell him the most frightening experience he ever had. The old explorer said, “Once I was hunting Bengal tigers in the jungles of India. I was on a narrow path and my faithful native gun bearer was behind me. Suddenly the largest tiger I have ever seen leaped onto the path in front of us. I turned to get my weapon only to find the native had fled. The tiger leapt toward me with a mighty ROARRRR! … I soiled myself.” The reporter said, “Under those circumstances anyone would have done the same.” The old explorer said, “No, not then – just now when I went “ROARRRR!” The Prognosis MARK told his doctor that he wasn’t able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was complete, he said, “Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in

plain English what is wrong with me.” “Well, in plain English,” the doctor replied, “you’re just lazy.” “Okay,” said Mark. “Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife.” ABC BOBBY had just learned his ABCs and was very scared of reciting them in front of his class. He trembled as he stood before the class to recite. “ABCDEFGHIJLKMNOQRSTUVWXYZ.” His teacher said, “Very good, Bobby. But you forgot the P. Where’s the P? Booby said, “It’s running down my leg.” Wrong Sentence THE CLASS loved laughing at the new boy’s expense. Little Joe had just arrived from a village and struggled to fit in not least because of his grammatical limitations. The pupils primed themselves for the usual bout of hysterics when one morning the teacher asked Little Joe to make a sentence using the following words: ‘defeat’, ‘deduct’, ‘defense’ and ‘detail’. Little Joe said, “De feet of de duck went over de fence before de tail.” •Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain IPS for the beginner: Read. One of the most important things you Type or copy a good book —When you are stumped and can’t seem to produce anything, can do to improve your own writing is read the try typing out one of your favorite stories. This work of other writers, especially those that have allows you to get a feel for the flow and rhythm a writing style you want to emulate. Write what you don’t know. Most people of a well-written story and helps you create one are told to write only about things they know of your own. Don’t procrastinate. Many people allow very well, but really good writing comes from themselves to be overwhelmed by how much pushing your comfort zone and writing about there is to do and often don’t know where to things that you don’t know or understand. It begin. The most important thing a writer can do forces you to reach out and immerse yourself in is to begin. You can always go back and edit or a different point of view. Be original. Don’t use a word, phrase, or change things around but you can’t do anything simile that you are used to seeing in print. If you if you don’t first get started. are already used to it, it means that your readers are also likely used to it. You don’t want to bore Crazy animal facts: •About 20% of bird species have become your readers with the same things they have extinct in the past 200 years, almost all of them been reading until it is familiar. You want to excite them and introduce them to something because of human activity. •A jellyfish is 95% water. And a type of jellyfish new Try short exercises to overcome writer’s found off the coast of England is the longest block. Try doing exercises such as listing ten animal in the world. •Adult fleas live for up to two years during nouns in one column and ten abstract words in another column in order to come up with new which the female can lay up to 1, 200 eggs. •Albatrosses can fly more then 100, 000km metaphors. If nothing else, just keep writing. In order to without landing. •A woodpecker can peck 20 times per second. write something good, you have to write a lot of bad in between.

PAGE 31

APRIL 26, 2015

• El-Rufai

• Emmamuel

• Ugwuanyi

• Ambode

• Jibrilla

GOVERNORS-ELECT:

Facts behind the faces • Masari

• Ortom

• Ganduje

• Okowa

• Umahi

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

GOVERNORS-ELECT:

Facts behind the faces

Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, takes a look at the new men on the states' seat of power

N April 11, 2015, Nigerians across the country trooped out to elect governors for the states in the federation. At the end of electoral proceedings, nineteen All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates were declared as governors-elect while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) won in seven states. The governorship elections were declared inconclusive in three states namely Abia, Imo and Taraba states just as gubernatorial elections were not held in seven states namely Kogi, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Anambra, Ondo, Bayelsa for the simple reason that the tenure of the current occupiers of the Government Houses in the seven states have not yet expired. While only eight of the current governors who sought re-election were successful, 18 among the successful 26 governors-elect are fresh hands coming to the Government Houses for the first time. While Governor Muktar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State lost his re-election bid, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State is currently facing a run-off election after a close race with the PDP candidate in the state. Of the eight governors who got fresh mandate from their people at the April 11, 2015 governorship election, the APC boasts of seven, while only one PDP governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, got re-elected. Governors AbdulFatah Ahmed of Kwara State, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Isiaka Ajimobi of Oyo State, Kashim Shettima of Bornu State, Umaru Al-Makura of Nassarawa State, Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State and Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe state, all APC candidates, got fresh terms from their electorates. Currently, PDP has six governors-elect who are coming to the job for the first time. The APC boasts of twelve fresh hands amongst its governors-elect. PDP governors in Akwa-Ibom, Cross Rivers, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu and Rivers States are all new kids on the bloc. The APC on its part got its governorship candidates, who are coming to the Government Houses as freshmen, elected in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Kebbi and Sokoto states during the April 11, 2015 elections. Umar Ganduje Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the next governor of Kano State has been a governorin-waiting for nearly two decades following his emergence as the deputy governor of the state in 1999. Ganduje, a Fulani, was born in Ganduje village of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State in 1949. Ganduje, famed for his loyalty and commitment to his principal, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, was Deputy Governor of Kano State from 1999 to 2003. He was re-elected for a second term as Deputy Governor alongside Kwankwaso on 26 April 2011, after the duo have been out of power for eight years. Ganduje, who is one of the two deputy governors to emerge as successors to their bosses, joined defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during Nigeria's Second Republic and served as Kano State Assistant Secretary of the party from 1979 to 1980. In 1999, Ganduje joined People Democratic Party (PDP) and aspired to be

the party's gubernatorial candidate but later became the deputy to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso between 1999 and 2003. In addition to the deputy governorship, he was also appointed as the Hon. Commissioner for Local Government. Following their ouster from office in 2003, he served as the Special Adviser (Political) to Kwakwanso, who was then the Minister of Defence. He was appointed Chairman, Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti in 2008 and was later appointed as the Executive Secretary Lake Chad Basin Commission at Ndjamena, Chad Republic. Ganduje participated in the 2006 Nigerian Political Reforms Conference as a delegate. With the support of his age-long boss and ally, Ganduje emerged as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC and went ahead to win the governorship election in April with an overwhelming majority of the votes cast. Udom Emmanuel Udom Gabriel Emmanuel, the governorelect of Akwa-Ibom State, who emerged on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the preferred choice of outgoing Governor Godswill Akpabio. The incoming governor, though with little or no political pedigree attached to his name, is coming aboard with a bag-load of professional private sector experiences. He was born on July 11, 1966 in Awa Iman, a City in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He worked in the banking industry and rose to become a bank director. With over 23 years cognate experience in financial services garnered from PricewaterHouseCoopers, Diamond Bank and Zenith Bank, he is authorized by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to carry-out financial services in the United Kingdom. Before his emergence as governor-elect, he was the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). He attended University of Lagos, Nigeria (Bachelor's degree in Accounting); School of Arts and Science, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State (Advanced Certificate of Basic Studies (CBS) and Higher School Certificate (HSC); Secondary Commercial School, Ikot Akpan Ishiet, Onna LGA of Akwa Ibom State (SSCE) His vast working experiences saw him hold the following professional positions at various times; Audit Manager of Price Waterhouse Coopers, Pioneer Manager (Lagos and Central Branch) at Diamond Bank Plc, General Manager of Zenith Bank Plc, Chief Financial Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, NonExecutive Director, Zenith Bank, United Kingdom; Zenith Bank- Gambia; Zenith BankSierra Leone; Zenith Insurance; Zenith Pensions and Custodian; Zenith Securities; Zenith Trustees and Zenith Registrars. Bindo Umaru Jibrilla Before his foray into politics a couple of years ago, Bindo Umaru Jibrilla, the governor-elect of Adamawa State, was just another northern businessman with flair for philanthropy. An industrialist, he established three companies in Mubi, Adamawa State, employing about four hundred people. He is a vibrant speaker. Bindo is a silver spoon kid who inherited business skill and enterprises from his billionaire father. A hardworking young man, he grew his modest enterprise which he started immediately after his secondary education, into a big business chain with investments within and outside the state.

• El-Rufai

• Ambode

The APC on its part got its governorship candidates, who are coming to the Government Houses as freshmen, elected in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina, Kano, Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Kebbi and Sokoto states during the April 11, 2015 elections • Emmamuel

• Ugwuanyi

• Masari

In 2011, he sought and got the senatorial ticket of the PDP to contest the Senatorial election for the Adamawa North Senatorial District. He went on to be elected to the senate by defeating the incumbent Senator Mohammed Mana at the party primary and former Governor, Boni Haruna of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), at the general election. At the National Assembly where he has been making his mark since 2011, the Adamawa Governor-elect currently serves as the Vice Chairman of Senate Committee on Defence. Samuel Ioraer Ortom Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom, Governor-elect in Benue State, until his emergence as the APC governorship candidate, was the Minister of State Trade and Investments in Nigeria in the Goodluck Jonathan administration. He was born 23 April 1961 in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Ortom, a former political ally of Senate President David Mark, is a Doctor of

Philosophy, Ph.D, holder from the Commonwealth University, Belize, through distant learning. He worked as a Sales Executive and later Sales Manager at Gyado Foods Coy. Ltd. He ventured into partisan politics in 1990 and was elected as Executive Chairman of his native Guma Local Government Area of the state in 1991 on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He served as the boss of the council area till 1993 when the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election truncated that republic. He was to hold various party positions in different political parties from then till now. Notably, he was PDP's National Auditor before his appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in July 2011. Arthur Okowa Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa Ifeanyi, the incoming Governor of Delta State is not new to the politics or governance of the oil-rich state having been elected Senator for Delta North in the April 2011

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

• Jibrilla

• Ganduje

• Ortom

• Okowa

Currently, PDP has six governors-elect who are coming to the job for the first time. The APC boasts of twelve fresh hands amongst its governors-elect. PDP governors in AkwaIbom, Cross Rivers, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu and Rivers States are all new kids on the bloc • Umahi

national elections. He ran on the People's Democratic Party (PDP) platform. He is of Ika origin of Anioma zone of the state. He is the first governor to be produced by the zone. The Governor-elect has had a steady rise in politics on his way to his current position. Okowa was Secretary to the Ika Local Government and later Chairman of the Ika North-East Local Government Council between 1991 and 1993. He was also the Delta North Coordinator of the Grassroots Democratic Movement (GDM). At various times, he served as a Commissioner in the ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Water Resources Development and Health between May 1999 and 2007. He resigned to contest for the PDP governorship ticket in 2007 but did not succeed. He was later appointed Secretary to the Delta State Government. In the April 2011 election for the Delta North Senatorial seat, Okowa won 98,140 votes, ahead of runner up Prince Ned Munir Nwoko of the Democratic People's Party, who won 67,985 votes. He finally clinched the ticket for the gubernatorial

election in 2015 under the PDP with 406 votes on December 8th 2014. Dave Umahi A certified engineer, the Governor-elect of Ebonyi State is currently the Deputy Governor of the state. He is one of the only two deputy governors to succeed their bosses in the current dispensation. Umahi made his foray into politics when he was first appointed as the Acting Chairman of Ebonyi State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party from 2007 to 2009. Following his performance as Acting Chairman, he was elected the substantive State Chairman of PDP during the 2009 State Congress of the People's Democratic Party, a position he held till 2011. In 2011, he emerged as the running mate to Governor Martin Elechi in the gubernatorial election of Ebonyi State. Subsequently, he was elected the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State on 26 April 2011 and was sworn in on 29 May 2011.

Between October 2014 and April 2015, he was involved in a long running fight with his boss, Chief Martin Elechi, over the control of the PDP in the state. Subsequently, with the support of the presidency, Umahi took over the party structures of the PDP in the state and emerged as the gubernatorial candidate. On April 12, 2015, after the conclusion of voting in Ebonyi State, Umahi was declared winner and returned as the Governor-elect of Ebonyi State after months of fighting his boss over his aspiration. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi Popularly known as "Gburugburu", Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the incoming helmsman in Enugu State is a long standing chieftain of the PDP in the state and a renowned business mogul turned politician. He is currently the member representing Igboeze North/Udenu Federal Constituency of the state in the Federal House of Representatives. He has been a member of the House of Representatives of Nigeria since 2003 and he is the Chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport. Before joining politics, Ugwuanyi was the General Manager of Premier Insurance Brokers Limited Enugu and has also been the President of the Rotary Club of Emene in Enugu State. He has also chaired a number of companies in the private sector. He declared his aspiration to govern the state and at his party's primary election of 8 December 2014 in Enugu, Ugwuanyi successfully won PDP's gubernatorial ticket, and was duly declared the State's PDP governorship candidate for the 2015 general election. However, another PDP gubernatorial aspirant, Senator Ayogu Eze, went to court to challenge the legitimacy of Ugwuanyi's emergence as the PDP's flag-bearer for Enugu State governorship. Eze's petition was finally dismissed by Justice Evoh Stephen Chukwu, an Abuja Federal High Court Judge, who ruled that Ugwuanyi's election in the gubernatorial primary was legitimate and legally binding. Nasir El-Rufai Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, Governorelect of Kaduna State rose to national limelight as the Director General of The Bureau of Public Enterprises, during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. He was also in charge of privatisation efforts of that administration. He served as Minister of Abuja Federal Capital Territory from 16 July 2003 to 29 May 2007. El-Rufai is a known crusader against corruption, having previously successfully exposed two senators that demanded bribes from him to ease his ministerial confirmation. At various times during his tenure as minister, he also oversaw the Federal Ministries of Commerce and Interior and chaired several high-profile cabinet committees, including the special committees on National ID Card system, Electric Power Supply Improvement and the sale of Federal Government real estate in Abuja. El-Rufai announced his intentions to run for governor of Kaduna State in September 2014. He went on to win the All Progressive Congress primaries in December 2014. In April 2015, he defeated the incumbent Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero with a landslide victory. Aminu Masari Aminu Bello Masari, the Governor-elect of Katsina State, was the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria between 2003 and 2007. He earlier ran unsuccessfully for the governorship in the 2011 election on the platform of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). In December 2014, he emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress for the March 2015 elections. He was declared winner of Katsina State gubernatorial election in the April 11, 2015 general election after defeating the candidate of the ruling PDP in the state. A former commissioner in the state, Masari, who represented the Malumfashi/ Kafur Federal Constituency of the state at the National Assembly for eight years, is respected for his progressive brand of politics. Akin Ambode Akinwunmi Ambode, the man who is to succeed Babatunde Raji Fashola in Lagos is an accountant, an administrator and a public finance management expert. He was formerly the Accountant-General of Lagos State, Nigeria, and held many sensitive financial positions in the Lagos State Government in a 27-year career in the Lagos State Civil Service.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management, the Governor-elect is the founder of La Roche Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on developing the next generation of leaders. In 1988, Ambode was appointed the Assistant Treasurer, Badagry Local Government. In 1991, he was posted to Shomolu Local Government as Auditor. He was later deployed to Alimosho Local Government as Council Treasurer. Ambode was posted back to Shomolu as Council Treasurer and later on to Mushin Local Government as Council Treasurer. Ambode later became Acting AuditorGeneral for Local Government. This position was confirmed by the State House of Assembly in 2001. In January 2005, Ambode was redeployed to mainstream public service as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. By February 2006, Ambode was given the added responsibility of Accountant General for Lagos State. Under his watch, the State Treasury Office (STO) revolutionised the way Lagos State finances were raised, budgeted, managed and planned. In his six years as the Lagos State Accountant-General, the state's financial performance improved visibly with the budget performing at a remarkable average of 85 percent annually. After 27 years in the civil service, Ambode voluntarily retired in August 2012. He founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited to provide Public Finance and Management Consulting Services to government at all levels, its parastatals and agencies. He emerged as the APC gubernatorial candidate in the state and won the governorship election. Ben Ayade The governor-elect in Cross River State, Professor Bennedict Ayade, was born on March 2, 1969. Growing up, he struggled to see himself through three universities; University of Ibadan, Ambrose Alli University and Delta State University. He was a frontline students' unionist in his school days. The 46-year old Governor-Elect later worked as lecturer and rose to become head of department. He ventured into politics and was elected into the National Assembly as the Senator representing Cross Rivers North District. Ayade, long before his entrance into politics, has been investing his enormous resources in education via scholarships for over a decade. At aged 27, Ayade had begun his charity to the very poor. His investment currently hovers around a staggering N22 million each year on scholarships, with the facilitation for overseas training of over 30 young men and women. Cross River State is in for a good deal of his philanthropy as he is poised to replicate this through good governance. Other social safety net of Prof. Ayade also include 10 percent of his earnings as senator, and equivalent percentages from his Oil and Gas Consultancy outfits and income from Ayade Subsidized Transport Scheme which go into sundry welfare schemes for the deprived in his constituency. Also launched early this year, is the distribution of food items to the poorest of the poor and the vulnerable in his constituency tagged: the 'Senator Ayade Free Mobile Food Bank'. Under the scheme, the governor-elect acquired/constructed the food bank storage warehouses in all the five council areas of his constituency, with several distribution trucks and mini-vans to periodically distribute food items directly to the doorsteps of beneficiaries in all the rural areas in his constituency. The food items distributed must, as a matter of necessity, be sourced from local markets within the constituency, shortage of which other markets within the state are the next option. As a deliberate policy to connect his people to the rest of the state and country, Senator Ayade ensures the supply of recharge cards to the very poor in his village, a gesture that has remained entrenched to date.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

Chief Inibehe Okori is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Etim Ekpo born politician was the senatorial candidate of the party for the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District. In this exclusive interview with Sunday Nation, he explains why the Akwa Ibom elections will be annulled by the tribunal and spoke on his expectations from the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency. Excerpts: HAT is your take on the controversy trailing the 2015 general elections in Akwa Ibom State? I got to my polling unit on time and I was accredited. Findings from all the agents across the senatorial district showed that the Card reader worked till about 1:30pm when by INEC regulations, they were to stop accreditation. However, immediately after the accreditation ended, all my agents reported that there was a PDP used thugs throughout the ten local government areas to pack the result sheets. So, result sheets were not available. The rigging was initiated by INEC on behalf of the PDP. If you recall, INEC before now had advertised for positions that are open to ad-hoc staff of INEC and people were supposed to have applied online, shortlisted, screened and trained for the purpose of conducting the Presidential and National Assembly elections on March 28th and the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections on April 11th. A day to that election, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Akwa Ibom State, changed the list and posted a list of people that were not trained, mainly members of the PDP, as INEC Ad-hoc staff. As a result, the sensitive and non-sensitive materials were to be given to these PDP members. They took all the result sheets from every polling units to PDP members’ houses where the coalition was done. There was rigging of monumental proportion. Were you hopeful of winning the election? Gentle men of the press, you will recall that we campaigned in 108 wards of Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. We had an overwhelming support of the masses and at every ward we went to, the people said they will vote for us. With the assurance we got from INEC that with the Card reader, rigging, hijacking of ballot boxes, ballot stuffing was a thing of the past, we were optimistic of victory. But unfortunately, the reverse was the case and today; you have election results that were declared where there was no collation or where no election took place at all. As law abiding citizens, we have gone to the tribunal to seek redress. We have filed our matter at the tribunal. We have a very strong case and we believe that the tribunal and the judiciary being the last hope of the common man, will dispense justice and we are very sure that with the strong case we have, we will redeem the stolen mandate. Are you not scared that the tribunal can be influenced to deny you justice? I am not scared. I don’t have such fears at all. Rather, I have absolute confidence in the tribunal to deliver justice. The tribunal works according to the case you lay before them. The foundation of your case is what the tribunal will look at. The tribunal will not go and invent what you did not bring before it. I have absolute

Akwa Ibom: Akpabio, others won’t go unpunished -Ikori

• Okori

confidence in the tribunal that justice will be done. The issue of the incumbent government influencing the tribunal does not come in. You would have noticed that the Constitutional Amendments made it possible for the judiciary to have direct funding through First Line Charge. And from May 29th, we are going to have an APC government under the leadership of Gen. Buhari and for those of you who knows what he represents, even from the day he was declared President elect, you have started seeing changes in the country automatically. But there has been instances in the past when Tribunals have been compromised. The judiciary is made up of men of integrity. You could recall that a lot of judiciary officers have lost their job in the last one year and I want to believe that everybody and every judiciary officer will be very careful. But the bulk still stops at the table of the press because this democracy we are enjoying today would not have been there without the press that fought for it to come to pass in 1999. If the media do the same work that I know the media to be excellent at, we should be able to police what the tribunal members are doing. But let us not cast aspersion on their persons before they even arrive to start their work. The press should do their work and allow the tribunal do theirs accordingly. But I don’t see why a tribunal member will want to come and live in a hotel of a Governor’s wife or that of a witness because there are rules and the President of the Court

of Appeal has read out stern warning to the Justices and mind you the government that is coming from May 29 is a very serious and strict government. Nigeria will not be the same from May 29th. No tribunal member will be willing to take bribe because they know the world is watching. What exactly are your prayers before the Election Petition Tribunal? Basically, I am not asking for much. I am asking for what are my rights which principally border on the fraudulent elections that were conducted. There was no election as you are all aware. If there were no elections, what is expected is that you should prove that there were no elections. We have put before the tribunal sufficient evidence to show that there were no elections in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District from the result sheets which we have gotten all the Certified True Copies, to electronic videos and footages of what transpired in homes of PDP members across the ten local government areas in the senatorial district and to pictorials of events that took place on election day. The agents’ testimonies are also included. So basically, we are asking that the election be nullified. I am calling for fresh election. I am going to be the next Senator for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District because I know the tribunal will dispense justice based on what I have laid before them. We have presented before them the Certified True Copies of all the results; we have followed the Electoral Act with regards to filing of petition and the constitution. It is our hope

that the justices of the tribunal will see reasons with us and grant our prayers. The stolen mandate will be retrieved. How true is the allegation that the REC in Akwa Ibom State was partisan during the election? The laws governing the conduct of REC’s are very clear. INEC Chairman has said that if anybody is found guilty of abusing INEC laws and guidelines, the person will be punished for it. Prof. Attahiru Jega even announced that somebody is already being tried for electoral fraud. So where facts are available to the media, it is your job to bring it to limelight to help correct the system. Prof. Jega has also said no matter how highly placed a person is, if he/she commits an electoral offence, the person would face the full wrath of the law. The REC in Akwa Ibom is not above the law and at the right time issues will come up. For instance, from the Card Reading Analysis, about 600, 000 were accredited and you went and declared a result of more than a million. This is enough for you to prosecute the man who conducted the election. Any evil done to man by man will be addressed in this world. No evil will go unpunished. I don’t see anybody who participated in the fraud of March 28th and April 11th in Akwa Ibom State going unpunished, including Governor Godswill Akpabio. What are your expectations from the next federal government? Recall that when Gen. Buhari (rtd) was doing his campaign across the country, he talked about corruption, insecurity and building of institutions. Since he is coming to build institutions, all other things will fall into place. Like I have always said, a leader provides the leadership that the country needs. Once you have a forthright leader as we are going to have from May 29th in Gen. Buhari, every other thing will fall in place. Buhari is not an accidental president that was created by Obasanjo or created by anybody. Buhari has consistently asked Nigerians to support him, coming out with his manifesto and his agenda for the country. He is the only leader that has sat down, plan on how he wants to govern this country and you will see that happen from the 30th of May if not from the night of May 29th. We will now know that there is a leader in this country because Buhari is coming to provide the leadership the country needs. That is why he has said he is not coming to rule but to lead. What Buhari said are very clear. Mainly the issue of corruption, insecurity and strengthening the institutions. Even if he achieves that in four years, that is enough to move the country forward because that is what you need to change the country and APC as a party has a manifesto. APC is the only party that has a clear manifesto for this country and if you look at the APC states, you will see that their development agenda are almost the same. Sometimes, when I hear people say Buhari has no programme for the country, I laugh. Buhari is not an accidental leader. He has always asked Nigerians to vote for him and he has reasons for wanting to be president and I am very convinced knowing who Gen. Buhari is that he is going to implement all the lofty programmes for Nigerians to benefit. Unfortunately, I don’t know why some people are saying Nigeria is going towards a one party state. Have you looked at the analysis of the election? You don’t need to have half of the Governors or National Assembly to have a good opposition. How many were we in the APC? Lai Mohammed, is just an individual and you have seen what he has done. The PDP is just crying foul over nothing. They were the ones who wanted to make this country a one party state until alignment of progressives brought about APC. Their arrogance has caused them their loss of power so they should quickly agree that

•Contd. on page 35

•Contd. on page 41

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

'Why Dankwambo was re-elected governor in Gombe' Dahiru Hassan Kera, the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee for Governor Dankwambo's 2015 Re-election Campaign Organisation in Gombe State, in this interview with Austin Asadu explains why the Gombe State governor got re-elected. Excerpts ITH the victory of Governor Dankwambo in the just concluded governorship election, some people were surprised because the trend has been in favour of the APC in the entire North. What is your view? First of all, we cannot deny the fact that the country's political landscape has of recent experienced an unprecedented twist and turns that brought a change of government in favour of the opposition party, All Progressive Congress (APC), at the presidential contest with the tsunami translated to the governorship and state assembly elections conducted on Saturday 11.The APC overwhelmingly swept 90 percent of the positions contested, leaving virtually only two governors to survive the political catastrophe which luckily enough our amiable governor was one of the two governors that emerged victorious against all odds. Obviously, the Dankwambo's victory has been attributed to his crystal performance cum credibility. Therefore, Dankwambo's resounding victory should not come as a surprise at all to anybody who has been following the trend of events in Gombe State ever since he assumed the mantle of leadership in 2011. The esteemed Talban Gombe has succeeded in touching the lives of the average adult, youth, women and children in a way that no other administration, military or civilian, has ever done since the creation of the state. In all sectors of the state's economy, be it health, education, education, power, potable water

delivery, rural development, security, agriculture, manpower development, women and youth empowerment, Governor Dankwambo has performed superlatively and spectacularly by bringing democracy dividends to the footsteps of the people of Gombe State. A record number of hospitals, maternity and health centres, and classroom blocks have either been constructed or renovated with the supply of medical equipment and drugs for the hospitals and advanced laboratory equipment for the schools respectively. Thousands of water boreholes have been sunk all over the state while kilometers of roads have been constructed with many waiting. Fertilizer distribution to farmers is ongoing at a frenetic pace while over 150,000 women and youths have been trained in various skills acquisition programmes with takeoff grants to enable them stand on their feet. In the area of security, the incidence of inherited political thuggery, arson and organised violence have been sharply curtailed as most of the youths have gained worthwhile employment while the hardened ones were handed over to law enforcement agents for appropriate disciplinary action. In fact, to catalogue the stupendous achievements of Dankwambo, which is beyond the space and time of this interview, I will only conclude by stating that he performed creditably even beyond expectation; that is why the people of Gombe massively elected him for a second term despite all odds. Do you mean other PDP governors that lost did not perform well and that their poor performance contributed to their failure?

Don't misquote me; the fact is that Dankwambo was the only PDP governor that was seeking re-election within the entire north and if you can observe the voting trend, people consider previous performance and credibility as the yardstick for giving out their mandate and that could be the reason Gen. Buhari was voted; in the case of Gombe, I am sure Dankwambo equally secured the votes of some principled and credibility adherent APC supporters. I could remember in Gombe State when Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, a serving member representing Gombe, Kwami and Funakaye Federal Constituency of the National Assembly was relating to Dankwambo as the 'Buhari of Gombe' and if a serving and a card carrying member of the opposition party could go to that length to see the credibility in Dankwambo, it should not surprise us to see Gombites voting for Talba against party boundaries. What message do you have for the opposition and other people in the state? I would like to call on the opposition to join hands with our dynamic governor, the Talban Gombe, in order to move our beloved Gombe State to the next level as we all do not have another state we can call our own except the Jewel of the Savannah. All along, Dankwambo has been extending his hand of fellowship and co-operation to the apposition but because of the antics of some of their leaders in the state, it has been difficult and I think if there's any moment Gen. Buhari enjoyed hospitality in Gombe, it is during the Dankwambo's tenure. Now that the elections are over and Dankwambo has emerged victorious, the time has come for the opposition to shun all acts of harassment, intimidation, incitement and violence against law abiding citizens and join hands for the continued and rapid development of the state. W h a t message do you have for the people of Gombe State after the Talban's overwhelming victory? First of all, we thank God for the victory and I wish to thank

them and express my sincere and unqualified gratitude for their goodwill, trust, solidarity and massive support before, during and after these elections. The people of Gombe State have shown that they have come of age and have politically matured to the extent that they cannot be harassed, intimidated or cowered by any person, institution, organization or political party whatsoever. Indeed they have sent a clear message to Goje and his cronies and acolytes that the era of political godfatherism, impunity, imposition, oppression and leadership by proxy or domination is over, once and for all in our dear state. The people of Gombe State have taken their destiny in their own hands and there is no going back again. Forward ever, backward never. I thank them once again. Finally, what can we expect from Dankwambo's second term? With the kind of person we voted for and his disposition, his second term will witness a redoubling of his achievements. He will do more than he did in the first term and mark my words; no project will be left uncompleted by the Dankwambo administration before the end of its tenure. Gombe people have spoken loudly and clearly and they should expect three things from us in return: Action, action and action!

number of voters without considering that I know the number of people with PVC. Even me that have a PVC I did not vote. All we should be talking about is good governance and the choice of the candidate. It is not about building bridges, flyovers, e-library that is not functioning, staff salary have not been paid in primary schools in the State. Do we need a flyover where it has been built? The money deployed building flyover can do a lot in the communities. The world is thriving now on small and medium enterprise. In the 31 LGA’s we can have SME’s spread all over that will engage the people and empowers the common man. Akpabio is busy talking about building a stadium of N135 billion. How much was used to build Maracana which sits over 25,000? The press is not talking about that, you are talking of uncommon transformation. You have not gone to Oruk Anam, you have not gone to Ini to see how bad the road is between Nkwok and the Local Government Headquarters. You have not gone to Ikono to notice that the short distance to the paramount rulers palace is not tarred. If it rains today, will you be able to pass at the state secretariat? In a place they said they

have an underground pipe jacking system which is the best in Africa? Everything here is best, best, best, yet none of you have countered it. I wonder if some of you have been to small stadium in some local governments in Europe or some universities in South Africa. The Stadiums some schools have in their universities in South Africa can compete with this stadium we have here but some people say it is the best in Africa. We should not be talking about flyover. We must not celebrate corruption. Let us pray that history should put us on the right side because very soon, in the next five months, all these nonsense will end. Udom won’t be Governor in this state because we must bring about a Governor of the people which the people have elected. Our votes must count. Thank God for Buhari who will preside over the rerun election because the vote of the people must count, the card reader will work and that is what it takes to be an upright leader to change Nigeria. I assure you, this state will be redeemed. All the stolen mandates will be redeemed. We will do a proper election in this state and elect the people we want.

• Kera

‘We’ll reclaim Akwa Ibom’

•Contd. from page 34

• Akpabio

APC is very well organized. APC have no intention to run a one party state and check out the people in APC, you will see they are democrats and very consistent. Will you force someone to come over to your party? How do you feel knowing Akwa Ibom is now in the hands of an opposition party? The PDP were boasting they were going to rule for 60 years but you can see in less than 16 years they have been booted out of office because they did not have a programme for the people. I hear some people say Akwa Ibom is a PDP state, therefore PDP should win everything, I look at them and laugh. Was APC not in control of Ekiti State when Fayose came and PDP won? Nigerians have a right to choose and the only thing permanent in life is change. The electorate in Akwa Ibom who are about 1.6million voters have not been allowed to vote. All over the country, the index has shown that only about 45% of the total voting population voted. In Akwa Ibom, you are telling me 99.9% came out to vote. How is that possible? In some places you have declared results exceeding

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

Will Abuja power lor ds

In this report, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, identifies some of the top PDP men and women of power in Abuja, who may return to their home states to contest with the local lords for power control, influence and political patronage

DURING President Goodluck Jonathan’s six years in office, some men and women, who either reigned with him or enjoyed unrivalled patronage from his Peoples Democratic Party- led government became rich and powerful thin gods both in the seat of power in Abuja and in other parts of the country . They not only accumulated stupendous wealth for themselves and generations of their successors but also determined who got what at the federal level and in their PDP-controlled states. But as Jonathan hands over power to All Progressives Congress' General Muhammadu Buhari, come May 29, 2015, members of this privileged class in PDP, whose states are now under APC will either retire or defect to the new ruling party in order to remain relevant while their colleagues, whose states are still under PDP control are likely to return to their home states to contest with the local lords for power, influence and patronage. This is most likely in states like Cross River, AkwaIbom, Rivers, Ebonyi, Gombe, Ekiti, Ondo, Taraba, Enugu and Delta, that are still under control of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the super PDP power brokers whose states are now under control of APC or other opposition political parties like All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) may not be given due recognition in their states. Amongst the PDP power brokers likely to seek relevance in their states are: Patience Jonathan Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of the outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, is more than just another First Lady. She was not only very influential but is widely believed to be the real power behind her husband. Her critics say her hand is behind every power intrigue that involved Aso Rock in the last six years or so. When Timipre Sylva, the former state governor of her husband's state, Bayelsa, had issues with the powers that be and had to be made to lose his plum seat, Mrs Jonathan was fingered as the prime force behind Sylva's ordeal. Sylva's replacement, Governor Seriake Dickson, has not fared much better. At first, he tried hard to please the President’s wife. The political romance was so deep that Dame Patience Jonathan was named a Permanent Secretary in the state by Dickson. That was as far as it went for reports confirmed that the warm relationship as since frozen, as the First Lady has since resigned her once cherished position as Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State. The First Lady, who loves to be called 'Mama Peace,' is also acknowledged to be the political force behind the stiff opposition that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of her home state, Rivers, had with PDP, which led to Amaechi's defection to All Progressives Congress (APC). It is still believed in many quarters that Amaechi's problems with PDP, which culminated in his exit, started with the disagreement he had with Mrs. Jonathan over the demolition of some houses in Okrika, Mama Peace' ancestral home. Beyond her home state, Rivers, and her husband's state, Bayelsa, her close associates and PDP insiders said her words were laws that must be obeyed in all the states of the federation as states where some political forces tried to ignore her wishes and directives suffered strong political crisis. A grassroots political mobiliser, who passionately mobilised women for her husband's political advancement, some reports allege that she orders or tried to order some state First Ladies around and will not stop

• Jonathan

• Anenih

until she gets what she wants. In the precess, she emerged a strong political godfather in the country, haven planted powerful and very influential loyalists across the country. One of the structures she used for her political mobilisation is a non-governmental organisation, Women for Change, which she founded and gave the mandate of empowering women nationwide. Besides attracting more power to the office of the First Lady in Abuja all through her husband's tenure, Mrs Jonathan, who loves to be called Mama Peace, expanded her influence beyond the country with her election as the President of the African First Ladies Mission, a body of wives of Presidents across the African continent. Commentators agree that she runs the office of the First Lady in Nigeria with so much glamour and visible affluence, a fact that not only confirmed the power she wields but is also responsible for the loud opposition and criticism she suffered from observers who insist she should have remained more at her husband's background. Now that her husband and the PDP had lost federal power, there are indications that Mama Peace will be returning home to Bayelsa and Rivers, not as a political retiree but perfect her 'godfather' role. Having ensured the controversial victory of her party in Rivers, and with Amaechi's APC victory at the centre ensuring his likely services in Abuja, insiders said Mrs Jonathan will try to call the shots in the affairs of PDP and in the governance of the two states. With her massive investment in Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the influence her family still wields in Bayelsa, it seems no local lord will be able to challenge her authority. Anyim Pius Anyim Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has been at the very centre of power throughout Jonathan's tenure. Coordinating the activities of ministers and other government's activities made him the engine room of Jonathan's government. Insiders said the former Senate President wields enormous influence in the government because of his closeness to the President. A concrete indication that Anyim is not prepared to return to his home state of Ebonyi as a political retiree is his overt involvement in the politics of the state even as the SGF in Abuja. Alleged to be governor-elect, Dave Umahi's grand patron, some accuse him of being behind the crisis that rocked the Ebonyi State chapter of the PDP before the election. It would

• Tompolo

be recalled that at the height of the crisis, the state governor, Martin Elechi, reportedly claimed that Anyim was the brain behind the impeachment process initiated against him by some members of the state House of Assembly. With PDP's victory in the state, his candidate, Umahi, as the governor and with the former Senate President allegedly equipped with a godfather's wallet, it seems certain that Anyim will return home as a political grand patron. Diezani Alison-Madueke Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, is evidently one of the most powerful and influential ministers in Jonathan’s cabinet. Sources in Aso Rock confirmed report that "she is one of the few ministers who are driven

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

r ds come back home?

was considered by most of her colleagues as the first among equals. Godswill Akpabio Godswill Akpabio, the Akwa Ibom State Governor, is said to be the closest governor to Jonathan. As the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, he became one of the most influential personalities during the Jonathan tenure. But with PDP's defeat, Akpabio will have to concentrate in his state. Already, he is in control of the state's political structure. Added to this is his deep pocket, which will help to sustain his status as the political godfather for a long time. This is however for as long as the new governor- elect remains loyal to him.

• Okonjo-Iweala

• Anyim

Chief Edwin Clark Chief Edwin Clark, a First Republic Minister of Information, is another influential PDP power broker whose political influence will now shrink to his home state. Considered Jonathan's grand patron, though Clark was not a government official under Jonathan, he wielded more influence than most top government officials of the era. He was more or less like the President’s father. A visit to his residence, which some described as the Mecca for power seekers, confirms his influence. For Nigerians in search of government jobs or contracts, the baba was the man to visit. With Jonathan's defeat, Clark, who while defending Jonathan passionately, garnered so many political enemies, has no choice but to retire in his Delta home state. Though the state is a PDP state, it still needs to be seen, if Clark, whose words used to be law, would be respected enough to remain the ultimate political godfather. Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, a former governor of Bauchi State, is another power broker that must retreat home if he wishes to remain relevant. As the National Chairman of the PDP, it s doubtful if the many disappointed members would forgive him for allowing PDP to loose federal power under his leadership. Already, many are demanding for his resignation as National Chairman of the party. His return home is further threatened by the fact that PDP has been weakened in his home state Bauchi. How he will cope with the realities remains an important issue. Tompolo Government Ekpemupolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, is neither a government official under Jonathan nor a top PDP member. He is only a former Niger Delta militant, who struck gold under the Jonathan administration. With the lucrative pipeline security contracts he secured from Jonathan, Tompolo, who was in 2009, declared the most wanted man in Nigeria by the Joint Task Force for allegedly killing 11 soldiers became one of the most influential and powerful men under Jonathan's government. It is obvious that for him, power will not remain the same after May 29 when General Muhammadu Buhari takes over the federal government. To be relevant, Tompolo, who reportedly influenced his brothers election at the grassroots may have to deploy his huge resources to build a political structure in the home state.

• Alison-Madueke

• Clark

straight into the forecourt of the President’s office through the Service Chiefs’ Gate." As a matter of official protocol, other ministers left their vehicles some 300 metres away from Mr President's office. They always walk the distance. "Alison-Madueke don't, said a source, "she is driven straight to Oga's office through SC's gate." This preferential treatment, added to the importance of her ministry as the major source of income for Nigeria are pointers to the power and influence she commands. She recently expanded the sphere of her influence when she was elected the first female President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Shortly after, she was also appointed the first female President of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

With these and her wide international exposure, many contend that though her patron, Jonathan, and his party, the PDP, lost federal power to APC, she may not return home to play local politics. Insiders however said her huge investment in both her Rivers State ancestral home and her husband's home demand that she remain a very powerful power broker in the states. She has the war chest to be a successful 'godfather.' Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance, is considered the most influential minister in Jonathan's cabinet. As the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, she

Tony Anenih Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, is another of Jonathan's patrons that benefitted so much from his government. He took over as BOT chairman from former President Olusegun Obasanjo who resigned from office in a rather curious circumstances. It is important to recall that it was the former Minister of Works who first said it publicly that Jonathan should be given allowed to re-contest as president. His support for Jonathan was passionate and no one was surprised at the kind of influence and power he wielded during Jonathan's tenure. Now that federal power has slipped out of the hands of PDP, it remains a puzzle how the famous Mr. Fix it will cope if and when the area of his influence shrinks to state.

•Contd. on page 39

HAT IS your assessment of the 2015 general elections in Edo state? During the National Assembly elections, there were a lot of intimidations. The military was used by the opposition to scare voters in areas they believe their party was not strong enough to win. For instance, in my area where the APC was sure of victory, I was arrested and detained. But today, we thank God for what happened. We saw soldiers walking into the polling station when I was about voting. They took me away. Many people who saw what happened were scared and they retraced their steps back home because the soldiers cocked their guns and were ready to shoot. So, the result announced in my place was not the reflection of the wishes of the electorate and that was what they did in the whole of Edo State. But we did what we needed to do and still got the numbers of vote we got. Afterwards, I promised everybody that during the State Assembly election, they will see a different pattern of voting. As I predicted, the April 11 election was more peaceful, free and fair because people voted with out harassment. Though there were little problems here and there, which is normal, but generally, the election was better than what happened on March 28. Will you say in clear terms that the military was compromised in the first election? Yes, it was very clear that the military was compromised. I can say they were acting according to instructions. At least, with the way a Private in the Army whisked me away from the point of casting my vote in the full glare of my people, I can say they were

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

AST week's visit of the former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, to the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was expectedly well reported by the media. Not less by its symbolism, the visit of the Prince who is also a 'Prophet', came to many as a surprise just few days after his party was soundly beaten by the APC in an historic presidential election. More than casual observers of the Nigerian political space would easily recollect that it was this same Ogbulafor, apparently savouring the spirit of the moment, who told a bemused nation that his party would rule the country for 60 years before it can be upstaged from power. It was a Sunday evening at the Lagoon Restaurant, Victoria Island, during the government of the late Umaru Yar'Adua, when Ogbulafor led his party members to a dinner with media. This reporter wrote the story for Daily Independent. Ogbulafor never minced words when he said the PDP is the biggest party in Africa and would rule Nigeria for 60 years. Even though the audience was not elated with what he said, members of the party gave the remarks a standing ovation. Most of us saw it as not only uncharitable, but that the ruling party was hell-bent in making sure that the country remained a one-party state. We were indeed, further disturbed that there was nothing on ground to show that Ogbulafor 'prophesy' would not come to pass.

"PDP is finished in Nigeria" Comrade John Akhigbe is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and aide to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State. The politician spoke with The Nation on the just concluded general elections and other related issues . Excerpts : compromised. Even when my people wanted to know where they were taking me, they threatened to shoot. They went to another voting center and picked up the local government Chairman, Emmanuel Momoh. They took him away and he was never available until after the election at about 10 pm. During the next election, the power was no longer in the hands of Jonathan; it was no longer in the hand of Dopkesi, so the military obeyed and acted according to the constitution. That was why you saw a more peaceful atmosphere in Edo State on that day. What do you think of the PDP in Edo state in future? A member of PDP told me that the only thing that can save PDP is for them to change the name of the party. That name is tainted and nobody will accept PDP again anywhere in Nigeria. That is the truth. PDP is empty now, don't listen to those saying otherwise. Dan Orbih is my brother. He is from my place. Dan Orbih only live on the name his father had when he was alive as a politician. Dan Orbih has no political base. A state Chairman of a political party who struggles to win his unit. He fights and share money to be able to win his unit. He fight to see how he can win his ward, we are not talking of his local government. We are from the same local government. We have ten wards. A state Chairman is fighting to win his unit and his ward and he will open his mouth and be talking and people will

â&#x20AC;˘ Jonathan

listen to him? They have nothing to say. PDP is finished. We are done with PDP. Yes they have highest number of senators here in Edo. They have two and they have highest number of House of Representatives members, but the people came out to say no to them during the House of Assembly election because they were unable to intimidate us the way they did on March 28. Some people were even bought over. They gave a young man a car. He

came here and dropped the key on my table and said that the car was bought for him by the opposition. They added N2million for him to work at ward 7 in Oredo. Soon, we are going to trace Orbih's wealth. We are going to look at his account before and after he joined NNPC board. We decided to keep quite because he is fooling himself. So you don't think that your people in Edo south voted against APC in the presidential and national assembly elections?

PDP must not be allowed to die!

â&#x20AC;˘ Muazu By Habib Aruna So, rather than being annoyed with what the chairman said, we were afraid that the nation's democratic space would be dominated by one party, PDP, for a very long time. That was why the visit of Ogbulafor to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun received much space in the media. It was implicit that Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief that thank God his 'prophesy' did not come to pass. The Prince even gave an indication of not fore-closing the possibility of joining the APC in the near future. That is the reality of Nigerian politics. In what would be a case study to political scientists for a long

time, the opposition party for the first time in our not too enviable political history defeated the ruling party, in an election that attracted a global audience. Working under the mantra of change, the APC picked former head of state, General Mohammadu Buhari, a man who is known for his strong stance against corruption, to enter the ring with incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan. It was clear that most Nigerians were tired of the ruling party and its president who, to many of them, has failed in the past four years; it was evident that voters wanted a change from the status quo to a new beginning; it was clear that they were fed up with Jonathan, who they massively voted for in 2011. Of course, the ruling party was over confident of its victory that defeat was never envisaged. The treasury was emptied and the instrumentalities of state were effectively used to curtail the opposition. It was also very evident that the ruling party underrated the capacity of Nigerians to consummate the necessary change. The outcome was indeed in consonance with the immortal words of Victor Hugo that, "not even all the armies in the world can stop an idea whose time has come". Predictably too, since President Jonathan conceded defeat, PDP members have been defecting to the APC in droves, forcing observers to question their commitment to the democratic project. What was

expected at this time was that since losing the election the PDP leadership should brace up to the reality of providing an effective opposition. The party should redefine its focus from being a ruling party to that of providing alternatives to the government in power. What I was expecting to hear from the party National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, after the loss was for him to announce his resignation and put in place machineries to pave way for new leadership that would chart the way forward. It cannot be done by the Muazu-led executive. No way! The PDP would have to come to the realisation that it's no longer a dominant body in the political space; it would have to re-organise itself and be more pragmatic to be able to win future elections. It is in the best interest of the country and democracy for PDP to come out stronger after this process of electioneering. And thank goodness that some of its leaders like the Senate President, David Mark, Governor Babangida Aliyu, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, amongst others have vowed to remain in the party and salvage it from going under. More importantly, the arrow head of this rejuvenation may as well be President Jonathan, who got his grooves back with the way he conceded defeat. The party can come together, put its house in order and act as checks on the likely excesses of the government in power.

I have told you there was a lot of intimidation in Edo South during the election. The young man who brought car key to my house told me if the Governor can give him appointment, he will return the car. I told him nobody will just give him appointment. I said to him, "if they can buy you aero-plane go and take it. You have taken it already. Why did you not come to me before you took it? These are the things they did to woo our people. I can show you a picture on whatsapp of a man sharing money and never knew his picture was taken. We have to do things and do it properly. Edo people are very intelligent and they are very wise. Nobody can induce them. If you look at Ishan where Anenih comes from,where you also have Tom Ikimi, Ugbesia, and Onolomemen, PDP has nothing to show over there. That is why Anenih's couldn't win all the seats there. We shared the seats with them. Is the party ready to challenge the National Assembly elections at the Tribunal? Yes we will challenge it. We have evidences that will be produced in the court. I participated in the prosecution of Oshiomohle's petition from the very beginning for the eighteen months. I participated in sorting out the whole thing. I was there when we were checking form EC8 A, EC8 B, down to EC8 D. We know what the law says in every unit. We are already seeing their flaws. We are already seeing a lot of manipulations . You know this impunity, they cant get away with it. How can you declare a result in a ward where somebody was killed and burnt? We will see how they can hold on to the seats they stole. We will see how PDP got the number of votes they announced for them. For a country that is increasingly becoming a two-party state, an effective opposition party is what would guarantee that the citizens are not shortchanged; an effective opposition is what would put the government in power on its toes; an effective opposition would serve as a reminder that the people's wishes and aspirations cannot be taken for granted; yet an effective opposition would always come up with alternatives to government policies and programmes. Even so, history has shown that it's not always easy for a ruling party, in this case, one that has been in power for 16 years, to transform to a virile opposition party. It's much difficult for a party without ideology, what brought them together was the spoils of office and perquisites of power. They however have to find solace in the new discovery among Nigerians that power resides in the ballot box. The PDP has to cash in on the insatiable appetite of voters, because soonest the honeymoon would be over, to be relevant and get back to power. It is in the national interest and the future of the country for the PDP to be reanimated to perform the constitutional role of a virile and vibrant opposition party. Hence, rather than being despondent and recriminating, the party leadership should wake up and get back to the drawing board. -Aruna, a journalist, wrote from Ikorodu, Lagos.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

The advisers Buhari should watch

HEY are many. Their motives differ. Their strategies are varied and at times, conflicting. But what they have in common is that their only interest lies in what translates to their personal benefits. Call it ‘stomach infrastructure’ if you like, with due apologies to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. What is not debatable is the shameless selfishness that is thrown to the forefront by politicians as they jostle for position, power and influence. For these opportunists and mischief-makers, anybody, interest or virtue can be denigrated or sacrificed. What is important is the materialization of their personal ambitions. In most cases, these personal ambitions have no social value worthy of their name. In the wake of General Muhammadu Buhari’s election, these habitual opportunists have activated their heinous machinery of mischief. Their stock in trade is to stalk the president elect, deploying every social capital at their disposal. To the president-elect, their advice is ‘probe this’, ‘probe that’, dislodge all! Their goal: secure an appointment; corner juicy contracts; milk the economy dry. These are professional opportunists, for whom personal interest determines their professed love for any leader or country. Could that explain the spate of decampments from the PDP to the APC? We may never be able to say so with any amount of certainty. Yet, the behavior of these characters has a striking resemblance to what Mahatma Ghandi had described as ‘politics without principles’. Their fundamental philosophy, if it can be so described, remains the same: the average Nigerian politician is driven more by pecuniary considerations than any deep-seated principle of a social value. I think the point about politics without principles needs to be clarified. As we are all aware, not every move was predicated on the ‘stomach infrastructure’ principle. On the contrary, there were genuine cases where the absence of internal democracy and brazen executive corruption and favoritism had prompted decampment to other parties. In spite of that, Buhari should avoid professional blackmailers and malcontents who would run with the hare and hunt with the hound. Their stock-in-trade is to rubbish every political office holder as either as corrupt on incompetent. Good a thing, the report that Buhari has exhumed the Steve Oronsanye Committee Report on the civil service is a reassuring signal that the president elect does not intend to throw the baby away with the bath water. If he searches deeper, he will discover that among those being positioned for crucifixion, even within the Jonathan Administration, there are competent, hardworking and patriotic Nigerians-men and women-whose only crime is that they have been privileged to serve in the Jonathan Administration. At his age and with his experience, Buhari needs no

The return of Oloye

• Buhari Emma Agu

reminding that he is no longer the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but the president-elect of Nigeria. By May 29, 2015, he will become President of all members of all the political parties, including people who have no political affiliation. Even at that, nothing stops him from running an inclusive government that attracts the best hands in the country, without prejudice to their affiliations. And there are examples to tap from. Take the case of President Barak Obama of the United States who, at his election, retained some known republicans in his cabinet. Both Collin Powell and Robert Gates who he retained as defense secretary were republicans of high standing. Yet, in his calculation, America counted first hence his high-minded decision to run with them. If Obama’s posture could be justified in the United States that did not have the level of divisiveness that hangs over Nigeria at the moment, it goes without saying that Buhari may learn a lesson or two from that. From all indications, the grand old man of Nigerian politics is well on track towards disappointing mischief makers who intend to take advantage of him. The president-elect’s endorsement of Minister of Agriculture Akinwunmi Adesina for the post of president of the African Development Bank is a high-minded demonstration of statesmanship and patriotism. He ignored party and loyalists and placed Nigeria first. Of course, this is not to discourage the president-elect from pursuing his anticorruption program. To abandon that will tantamount to betraying the Nigerians who enthusiastically voted for change. Yet, it is important to caution against pursuing a policy that is driven by vendetta as the body language of some

politicians suggest. Already, some aggrieved individuals are calling for the probe of specific individuals in a manner that hints of some personal or ethnic undertones. That is unfortunate. Rather than preoccupy ourselves with vendetta-inspired anticorruption drive, the appropriate starting point should be understand the root cause of the endemic corruption that has plagued the broad gamut of the Nigerian social system to the extent that the notion of shame has disappeared from public lexicon. Thereafter, we can institutionalize the due process that will minimize the proclivity towards corruption. Among the steps to be taken to stamp out corruption, Buhari can start by improving on the step taken by his kinsman, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Ardua who became the first President to publicly declare his assets. Buhari can waive the immunity clause, insist that all contracts be publicly advertised and the bill of quantities made public for professional and opposition groups to make their inputs and enact appropriate legislation against poorly or abandoned projects. Furthermore, nothing suggests that public office holders cannot be compelled to use less expensive official vehicles purchased from local manufacturers under terms and agreements that do not imperil our present and mortgage the future of our children. That way, the automotive policy of President Jonathan which, actually is a revival of the policy of the Obasanjo Aministration between 1976 and 1979, will receive a boost, to the benefit of all. In all, I wish President-Elect, Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari every success, guided always by the conviction that his success can only advance the course Nigeria and the welfare of its citizens. Of course, that includes me and you, the reader!

In spite of that, Buhari should avoid professional blackmailers and malcontents who would run with the hare and hunt with the hound

OAST of the moment, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki has secured his place in the history of Nigeria with the comprehensive victory of the All Progressives Party(APC), in the justconcluded elections. Not only has ABS kept the Saraki Dynasty alive, he has achieved what even his legendary late father, Sen. Abubakar Olusola Saraki could not achieve in his life time - a100 percent electoral success in Kwara State. And even more fascinating beyond the frontiers of Kwara State is the younger Saraki's star power at the national level. Kwara, and indeed the nation, was thrown into deep mourning when Oloye passed on in his sleep in 2012, aged 79. In generosity and philanthropy, Oloye was matchless; in politics, he was The Master; in relationship with the ordinary people, he was uncommon. Oloye was also a Nationalist par excellence. Kwara sorely misses its indefatigable political Godfather. The nation has fond memory of a politician whose influence transverse the ?entire country. In the wake of his death, some pundits and implacable Saraki critics said it was the end of the Saraki Dynasty in Kwara. Yes, it was the end of an era, the Oloye era, but the dynasty was not buried with him. The Saraki phenomenon is still alive and kicking. Two reasons account for this. First, the dynasty was built around the people, not the individuals in the Saraki biological family. The philosophy and practice of Oloye's egalitarianism was so well-imbibed by many who had benefited from his leadership. Second, Oloye was blessed with a son who cultivated the great man's political structure, broadened it while the sage was still alive and nurtured it after the political titan's exit. ABS shares so many attributes of his late namesake (Abubakar) father. Both were born as silver spoons, both trained as medical doctors, both were elected as Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the younger succeeded the older as Turaki of Ilorin. And of course, both cultivated the common people even if the elder Saraki was miles away in this arena. Oloye created a world record in Africa for getting his son (ABS) elected as governor and his daughter, Rukayat Gbemisola elected as Senator simultaneously in 2003 and both observed two terms in their respective elected positions. But despite their shared interests, the ABS path to political greatness is different from his father's. He is unarguably the architect of modern Kwara. He assembled a first-class team (Cabinet) in his very first term to support his quest for excellence in governance. One of the stars of that cabinet, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed succeeded him as governor. ABS was methodical in his approach to political leadership and influence. His chairmanship of the Nigerian Governors' Forum gave that body a great turn around, making NGF a formidable platform for qualitative governance (through its peer review mechanism) and turning it to a formidable political machine that even a no-nonsense President Olusegun Obasanjo would not confront. He leveraged on that leadership to attain national prominence. His level of influence increased when he successfully got Kwara (for

By Raheem Adedoyin the first time in history) a slot in the powerful National working committee of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). He fought hard to get Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje elected as PDP's National Secretary. He indeed, had a brush with OBJ who had already anointed Senator Tunde Ogbeha for the top job. ABS is not abrasive, but he is a fighter. He is a veteran of many political battles. Until he waded in, ministerial positions for Kwara were always minister of state (19992008). Memorably, ABS fought for and won the battle for power shift to Kwara South (after Kwara Central's unbroken 12 years reign). He is a great hero in this regard as he sacrificed his biological family's interest for this historical political shift to happen. He still carries the scar of that epic power shift battle but it is comforting that the reconciliation within the family has now been substantially achieved with the deft defection of Senator Gbemi (GRS) to APC and the end of animosity between brother and sister. It is not accidental that the hyped "freedom fighters" in Kwara met their political waterloo in the just-concluded elections. Saraki prepared well for them. An unusual mix of traditional Saraki critics and recent high-profile Saraki beneficiaries, had massed in PDP and their war-cry was "Freedom for Kwara". They vowed to end Saraki dynasty and of course, terminate ABS political career. They made the 2015 election a referendum on Bukola Saraki's political leadership. They were humiliated. Indeed, the political mastery of ABS came to the fore in the 2015 elections. He solidified the political structure through an innovative polling unit approach. Don't be a big man for nothing just hold your polling unit. It worked magic as it was easy to forecast the APC electoral strength even before the first election was held. So, despite PDP's huge war chest which was recklessly displayed on election days, and the frightening federal threats and intimidations, Saraki and his structure prevailed in the presidential election, posting over 70 percent success rate . The National and state Assembly results were even more humiliating for the PDP giants with clay feet: 9-0 (3 senators, 6 House of Representatives in the National Assembly), 24-0 in the State Assembly. A 100 percent score in the four 2015 successive elections was a feat that even Oloye would be proud of in his grave. ABS had significant leverage in the Yar Adua government such that after the latter's sudden death while in office, his influence in national politics, especially with the ruling party dipped. But he was only down, not out. He was soon back in the limelight, earning national applause as the arrow head of the merger of the PDP elements with the legacy parties in APC. It was a grave risk leaving the PDP comfort zone for the then struggling opposition APC but he pulled it through. As he turned around the fortunes of Kwara in his time as governor, he has also displayed a similar shrewdness in the national assembly. He transformed a colourless committee on environment and ecology to a first class oversight platform in the senate. His contributions on the floor of the senate are welldocumented and applauded. Indeed, Oloye is alive. •Adedoyin, a journalist, wrote this piece from New York.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

Lagos House Speaker: Will zoning count?

S the race for who will emerge the Speaker of the eighth Lagos Assembly gradually hot up one question that keeps popping up again and again is, 'will zoning be a major factor in the emergence of the next Speaker?' The question becomes relevant because of series of developments that had occurred in the state since the inception of the Fourth Republic. Until the seventh Assembly, the position of the Speaker has always been through zoning. There are three senatorial districts in the stateLagos East, West and Central. So which ever zone produces the governor and the deputy governor, the third zone automatically produces the speaker of the state Assembly for the sake of balancing. If this trend had continued the question above would have been irrelevant. But that principle was jettisoned in the current Assembly. Under the current dispensation, the incumbent governor, Babatunde Fashola is from Lagos Central while his Deputy Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire is from Lagos West, but the Speaker, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, though in his first two terms came from Lagos East, but in 2011 he came from Lagos West having contested and won the Ikeja 1 Constituency seat, the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Kolawole Taiwo is also from Lagos West. This development may have put paid to zoning of the position of the speaker. This development, coupled with the emerging configuration of the eighth Assembly, which many watchers say is peculiar, has necessitated the question whether zoning would be adopted by the party leadership in picking the speaker of the next Assembly. If zoning is to apply then it follows that Lagos Central would produce the speaker since the governor-elect, Akinwumi Ambode is from Lagos East while the Deputy governorelect Idiat Adebule is from Lagos West. What makes the eighth Assembly peculiar is that the configuration is very different from other dispensations since 1999 that the Fourth Republic commenced. For the first time in the current democratic dispensation, Lagos Assembly will be having eight opposition lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House. In the sixth Assembly, PDP was only able to secure three seats which later reduced to two when the then Minority Leader, Hodewu Suru Avoseh from Badagry 2 defected to the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). There was only one PDP member in the fifth Assembly. The current Assembly is not an all APC affair. The opposition has never had as much as eight members in the Lagos Assembly.

Oziegbe Okeoki looks at the chances of those vying to become Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly

• Oshun Another issue to consider is that for a House of 40 members, 20 are returnees while 20 are new, the Assembly would therefore need a speaker who has the ability, patience, tact, innovation and initiative as well as plenty of wisdom and understanding to be able to blend the new comers with the old hands to ensure harmony. Rethinking zoning Some are of the opinion that since zoning did not apply in the emergence of the speaker of the current Assembly, the same should apply when the House is inaugurated in June. According to a ranking lawmaker who craved anonymity, "This is because for the first in the current democratic dispensation, the Assembly is having the highest number of opposition lawmakers and it needs a matured, experienced, intelligent and cool headed person to handle that position. Eight might be a small number compared to 32 APC members" he said, "but you never can know the stuff the eight opposition members are made of and that is why we need a speaker who knows his onion to be able to handle any unforeseen situation and navigate every booby trap. Somebody who will maintain the current harmony and stability of the House", he said. As at the last count not less than nine of the returning/ranking members have either showed

• Tejuoso interest openly for the coveted seat or are working underground to push their candidature. There are only three returning lawmakers from Lagos Central that would be favoured with the zoning principle; others from the zone are new members and so are not qualified to vie for the seat. The three ranking members are Moshood Oshun (Mainland 2), Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti Osa 2) and Wasiu Sanni Eshilokun (Lagos Island 1). They have all indicated interest in the seat. Other ranking members who though not from Lagos Central who have their eyes on speaker's seat are: from Lagos West: Adefunmilayo Tejuoso (Mushin 1); Mudashiru Obasa, (Agege 1) and Lanre Ogunyemi (Ojo 2). From Lagos East are: Sanai Agunbiade (Ikorodu 1) and Rotimi Abiru (Somolu 2). The contenders Eshilokun He was a member of the House between 1999 and 2003, if he scales through the legal suit hanging on his head concerning his candidature for the House seat for Lagos Island 1 Constituency, instituted by the current occupier of the seat, Hakeem Masha, it will be his second time in the House and that makes him a ranking member. Since he left the Assembly in 2003, he

has been elected twice as chairman of Lagos Island Local Government Area and also served as the Secretary of the Lagos chapter of APC. Even before the elections, there was speculation that he was coming with the intent of heading the legislature as the speaker. Oshun The representative of Lagos Mainland 2 Constituency will be coming for a third term in the eighth Assembly. In his first term he was chairman, committee on transportation and currently he is the chairman, committee on local government administration and chieftaincy affairs. Of the three returnees from Lagos Central, he is the most experienced and a third timer. If the party leadership decides to follow the zoning principle being the highest ranking officer from that zone, he might clinch the seat. Tejuoso She will be one of the longest serving lawmakers in the House in the eighth Assembly. Tejuoso is in her fourth term. A lawyer by profession, she is one of the lawmakers who knows her onions and is always very active in debate on the floor of the House. She served briefly as a Deputy Speaker in the sixth Assembly. Obasa The Agege 1 representative is also a lawyer and will be coming back for the fourth time. He is currently the chairman, committee on economic planning and budget and has also served as councillor in Agege Local Government before coming to the House. He is an experienced lawmaker and also very active on the floor of the house during debates. Agunbiade If you want to talk of the brightest and the most articulate, intelligent, versatile and dynamic lawmaker in the Lagos Assembly, definitely it is the Ikorodu 1 Constituency representative, Sanai Agunbiade, a lawyer by profession. He is somebody who has displayed so much passion for the job of lawmaking and is recorded as the lawmaker who has moved the highest number of motions in his eight years in the Assembly. If he picks the slot, judging by his antecedents, and his reputation with his colleagues he certainly will make a difference. Abiru Abiru represents Somolu 2 constituency and he is currently the Deputy Chief Whip. He is the only returning principal officer and has thus been exposed to the workings as well as the demands of the leadership.

the current executive of the state. So, at the end of the day, the people of Lagos State can say ‘thank God, we are getting better than we were in 2015,” he said. The respected lawmaker aid all the 20 current lawmakers who will not be returning to the House will be sorely missed buy their returning colleagues when the next Assembly opens. According to him, "these are great people who over the years have contributed immensely to the making of the new Lagos we have today. They are patriots in every way. They are great Lagosians. We will miss them greatly." There is no doubt that some legislators who make the plenary what it is are not returning right from the primaries and the elections and the effect of that is that we would be having 20 new persons coming to replace 20 lawmakers that are not coming back whether at the shortfalls of the primaries or at the real elections. We would miss the fact that we have worked and lived with some people for four years or eight years, and this presupposes some intimacy and affections, all of these would tell on us. You are fond of some people, you would remember the good times you have spent with some people, but the consolation is that God has reasons for everything, and there is no way a large number of people can always be together forever,” he added Agunbiade also praised the National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, for his role in ensuring that Akinwunmi Ambode emerged winner of the last governorship election. He also congratulated residents of the state for voting Ambode as the governor. He urged Lagosians to support the newly elected governor right from May 29 when he would be sworn-in so that his

administration can succeed like the administrations of Tinubu and Fashola. He also showered encomiums on other APC leaders for ensuring victory for the party all through the electioneering period. “Ambode’s victory is an evidence that the people of the state truly appreciates the efforts of the APC to make Lagos an envy of Africa. With the victory recorded by the APC in this election, it means the people of Lagos are not unmindful of the successes recorded by our party in the governance of the state. Whether we like it or not, Asiwaju Tinubu has taken up the responsibility of leading the Yoruba race and we must all come to terms with this fact. He started what has now metamorphosed into a national party and party at the centre of the Nigerian government. Today, we can see the spread of the APC,” he stated. Speaking further, Agunbiade said the APC-led Federal Government under Buhari will strive to meet the expectations and yearnings of Nigerians, irrespective of religious, ethnic or cultural differences,” he said. “ Nigerians should be optimistic. We have made the right choice and we will not regret it. Buhari will ensure social justice, adherence to the rule of law, youths and women empowerment, improvement of security and the power sector. All Nigerians will be treated equally and fairly under Buhari,” he said. The lawmaker commended journalists for their objective coverage of the general polls which had ensured peace in the state and the country. "But for the courage and commitment displayed by journalists across the country, we may not have had such a commendable and credible electoral exercise," he said.

8th session: Member canvasses strong leadership for Lagos Assembly •Lauds Tinubu, Fashola, says Buhari'll deliver A

S 8th session of the Lagos State House of Assembly prepares to resume next June, a member, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade representing Ikorodu 1, has called on his colleagues to save the next legislature a lot of troubles by ensuring that they elect reliable and capable hands into the leadership of the assembly. Agunbiade, a third term lawmaker, explained that while it is very important for the House to put a tested and confirmed crisis manager in charge of the House as Speaker, every other leadership position in the assembly must also be manned by people who can compliment the efforts of the helmsman at all times. Speaking when he received members of the League of Journalists, Ikorodu, who paid him a courtesy visit in his constituency office, Agunbiade said, “Well, I pray that God would guide us right. I would expect that the leadership of the new dispensation should be crisis managers and they should be able to anticipate crisis of opinions, ideas, and perceptions.” The lawmaker, who is also a lawyer by profession, maintained that the next Speaker that will direct the affairs of the House must be able to unite both the new members from the PDP and the old and new members from the ruling party in the state, APC. According to him, with the unprecedented increase in the number of opposition lawmakers in the next assembly, the leadership will have to skillfully manage the membership of the next legislature in a way that both the PDP minority and the APC majority will work together in harmony. "Our thoughts now should be about where we want the Assembly to be at the end of the 8th

• Agunbiade

By Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor Assembly; it should be higher than where we are now . We should uphold the principle of the Lagos State House of Assembly being above the common standard of excellence. “I look forward to a leadership that would bring about the enabling environment for the Governor that would be taking over in the state; they should be able to organise the institution of the legislature such that it would help the new executive to surpass the achievements of

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015 HE elections have come and gone and we now have a president-elect in the person of Gen Muhamadu Buhari. What are your expectations? People may have many expectations. But let me say that Nigeria is a difficult country to govern. It only seems easy to govern Nigeria because we tolerate a lot of things. Where many countries would have risen and marched on the streets, I don't mean violence, Nigerians hardly ever do so. So, whatever comes we swallow. As a result, the people in power just say "don't worry, whatever problem we have would pass away and they just keep going." Because of this, we have had so many problems. Our period in history under British rule, our ethnic and tribal differences, then corruption and bribery and so on and so forth. How do we expect that the cancer that has eaten into us all these years would suddenly just have one shot of injection by Buhari and it is gone? It is not possible and realistic. Moreover, it is not a military rule, where he would have the opportunity to gather the people he wants to appoint to execute what he wants. I am not suggesting we should go for military rule. Once he is sworn-in, he is a democratically sworn-in president; what about all those who are around who he has to work with that were elected? So, it is not going to be an easy process like it was when he was a military ruler of Nigeria. When we put all these together, we pray that he should deal with so many subjects and bring Nigeria one step forward and at the end there would be someone who is of the same mind that can move us another step forward. So that bit by bit, the wrong things we have acquired over the years, we can begin to undo them gradually but steadily, so that after many more years, we can come out clean. But the thinking that a miracle would happen under this administration, I don't belong to that school. What do I expect him to do? He should do his very best in fighting especially corruption and fight it beginning with his own party. Let them work for the wellbeing of the people and never steal the mandate of the people. Do your best and leave the rest for the next generation. In the build up to the elections, a Catholic priest in Enugu, Fr. Mbaka,

ORNO state, carved out of the North Eastern state in 1976, is one place that means different things to different people. For some, it is one of the farthest points in the north east, famous for its harsh weather. To others, it is that state that produces the delicious fish from the shores of lake Chad which many Nigerians love. For those who do not share any of these connections, their only connection to Borno may be through history books, where the famous El-Kanemi dynasty held sway in the old Kanem Borno empire after the fall of Seyfawa and Mai dynasty. And of recent, the Boko Haram story that has placed the state on world map for the wrong reasons. A popular African proverb says that once a finger is soiled in oil, it stains the others. It is sad that many have missed the opportunity of knowing about the rich history and culture of Borno people. As a result, many people around the world who may not have bothered to know where Borno is on the Nigerian map now know. No thanks to the mental and psychological anguish the sect has unleashed on the people of the North east and Nigerians in general in the last four years. However, this is not the focus of this piece. Rather, it is an attempt to make a contribution on how we can kill the Boko Haram ideology, to complement the military approach. Reason, the founder of what is today known as Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Liddawati wal Jihad

'Pulpit shouldn't be used to proclaim politics'

job, not because you are given some money or rice. What are your thoughts on Jonathan's defeat and acceptance of defeat? I differ from many of us in the use of the word defeat. I do not see election process and final result as defeat. One person was bound to lose. It was not a

started killing the rich and famous in 2012, forcing many to flee the state and are yet to return. In addition, the Northern part of Borno with ten local governments namely Kaga, Marte, Mobbar, Abadam, Gubio, Guzamala, Kukawa, Naganzai, Monguno and Magumeri were left behind in terms of the development. This accounts for why that senatorial district is today cut away from civilization and Boko haram made more inroads there than the central and Southern part of the state. This is in spite of the fact that the zone has produced three governors Mohammed Goni, Asheik Jarma and Maina Maaji Lawan. It is totally out of place to blame these governors for the plight of Northern Borno. The three governors did not have enough time and resources like Mala Kachallah and Ali Modu Sheriff. Rather, all the local government chairmen that served in Northern Borno from 1999 to date are guilty of wasting the resources of the areas on ‘’stomach infrastructure’’. This inequality became the genesis of the ‘’bad blood’’ that has been brewing for three decades and finally exploded in 2009 with Boko Haram confronting the state. It would be recalled that the Yobe Taliban (2004)which later metamorphosed into ‘’Yusuffiyya’’ and now Boko Haram got their first set of recruits from disgruntled

elements in well to do families in Borno and Yobe states, before moving to the families of the masses. The group found an easy ally in some of these disgruntled elements from well to do families because many could not reconcile their parent’s ostentatious life style with the crass poverty around them. It is also interesting to note that those arrested for being part of the Yobe Taliban from both states were neither prosecuted nor their names made public till this moment. This is because the names of the families needed to be protected from shame and disgrace. Establishment conspiracy if there is no better way to say it. For the majority of these youths from poor families, the Boko Haram is their answer to what the few families have been enjoying for three decades. This is because the rich cannot sleep when the poor are hungry and angry. After all, Karl Max says religion is the opium of the masses. Over the years, the ideological state apparatuses (Louis Althusser) in the form of schools,church and mosque did not see anything wrong with this time bomb waiting to explode until now.The mosque and church are the two most influential institutions in Borno due to cult following the clerics have among their followers. Unfortunately, they turned a bind to the injustice in the society which formed the central theme of Mohammed Yusuf’s preaching in 2002 and won him followers.

• Ekuwem at all and so many others. The pulpit is a place to proclaim the goodness of God and God's love and not a place to proclaim politics. So why should I start talking in favour of one party against the other? I can only educate the people to know those who want to lead and govern them, then vote the one that in conscience they trust would do a good

Bornu: In search of a paradigm shift

By Abdulrafiu Lawal Mohammed Yusuf and thousands of his followers were killed in July 2009, but instead the sect grew in strength and savagery under Abubakar Shekau. The group not only surpassed the vision of its founder, but also dazzled the world beyond the imagination of counter terrorism experts. Many have advanced reasons for the emergence and growth of Boko Haram like failure of leadership and poverty, while these factors are on point, we seem to have missed a salient causative factor in the rise of the sect. This is no other than lack of equal opportunities for youths in Borno. A critical look at the list of those who have held key and juicy political and civil service jobs in at the state and federal level from Borno from 1979 to date shows they are from twenty five different families. Till date, the families are now recycling it among their children. These families cut across the three senatorial districts in the state. From Borno North, four families have dominated the landscape, Borno south ten families and central eleven families. I would not mention the names of these families as this may defeat the aim of this piece. It may also undermine those concerned and their individual achievements. I also expect some people to attack the views expressed here, but am prepared because the web is a market

place of ideas. Some may argue that this trend is a mere coincidence or deliberate. Reason, some families in Borno had early contact with western education when others were taking a nap under the neem tree. Unconsciously, over the last thirty five years it became an unwritten law in Borno that you have to be from one of these families to get anything in business,politics or civil service. This is partly why Senator Ali Modu Sheriff became governor in 2003 without a first degree, in a state where you have many with two or more masters degree especially from the central and southern part of the state. His father, Modu Sheriff is part of the Borno establishment. Owing to barrage of insult from political opponents from Borno, Sheriff was forced to get his first degree from the University of Maiduguri in his second term under circumstances that may be a subject of investigation by Borno people in the near future. Governor Kashim Shettima is the first person to break the jinx in 2011 by attaining the number one position in the state coming from a humble background with no ties to the establishment. This story will be revisited later. As a result, wealth of Borno is concentrated in the hands of these families who are less than one percent of the entire population. This inequality was responsible for some masses jubilating when Boko haram

fight. Defeat creates a nuance of a fight and when it is trumpeted, it can make one ready to fight. There was no fight between Jonathan and Buhari. There was a political run and both of them went in and one won and the other did not. After all, we believe that game was that one won because of the votes the Nigerian people gave him. And here comes a gentleman to say, okay we have seen the votes and my people say he should be the one. The end result is that if we look at it as a defeat, it can create negative nuances. But if it is in as a win depending on the voters and not on the two candidates, then there is a ground for peace and tranquility. There is something going on about celebration of golden jubilees in the Archdiocese. Can you tell us more about what is going on? We are celebrating jubilees. My predecessor is Archbishop Emeritus, Joseph Edra Ukpo; he is 50 years as a priest; our Chancellor, Very Rev Father Charles Etim is 50 years of age and the Holy Father in Rome just inaugurated the opening of the door of the jubilee in preparation of the celebrations this year till November next year - the Year of Divine Mercy. So, all these jubilees are very important celebrations. Archbishop Joseph Ukpo has served in the Lord's vineyard 50 good years as a priest. We all thank God for him. He is a grandfather in the church. Both state and church should thank God for him. There is also our Chancellor, Very Rev Father Charles Etim, who is 50 years of age. The Year of Divine Mercy is when the Holy Father in Rome will open the Jubilee Gates in St Peters Basilica, which is always locked and open only when there is this jubilee. The Jubilee will kick off December 8 to span for one year. These three jubilees afford us what we should thank God for. Before the elections, at least more than 80 per cent of Nigerians were afraid. We hear that some people from the south who had businesses in the north not only closed but sold their houses and businesses for chicken feed and left because they were so convinced that there would be war. But here we are. The presidential election came and went far beyond our expectations. Who is behind it? God.

His Grace, Most Rev Joseph Effiong Ekuwem is the Archbishop of the Calabar Archdiocese of the Catholic Church. In this interview with Nicholas Kalu in Calabar he speaks on the recently concluded elections, expectations from president-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, among other issues. Excerpts: called on President Jonathan not to contest. It raised some controversy at the time. What do you think of that now? He did not speak on behalf of the Catholic Church. He spoke as an individual. As an individual, he has freedom of expression and speech in connection with whatever is his belief. What he said is a different matter in judgment before God whether he received any particular message from God or was merely just saying his mind. But if he had said he spoke on behalf of the Catholic Church, it would have been a different matter. If he received any utterance from God and did not say it, he would have been guilty. And if he was not given and he said it on his own, he would have still been guilty. But he is not guilty in expressing himself in democratic view where individuals are free to air their views. That is left for God who knows all. Should the church not come in to the political sphere to lend its voice when things are not going right in the polity? On that, the Catholic Church scores high. I don't think there is any church that has spoken out from time long before against wrongs in the society. The classical case was during the time of Abacha. If there was any single voice as a group that spoke out, it was the Catholic Church. But the Church is never partisan. I don't belong to any party. But I have to educate the flock to vote according to their consciences. That is why I am not free to use the pulpit to talk about politics or even to allow politicians to use the pulpit. I cannot do that because in that congregation you have PDP, APC, LP; you have those who are not interested

POLITICS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

POLITICS

PDP senatorial candidate, Adewale, in fresh controversy

HE senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos West Senatorial District, Segun Adewale, popularly known as Aeroland, is not new to controversy. Recall that few weeks before the election, he was alleged to have stormed the Ikeja campaign office of his major opponent, Solomon Adeola Olamilekan, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) fondly called Yayi by supporters, with some thugs during which some properties were destroyed. This time, the youthful politician, still seething over his defeat at the polls, has allegedly told some of his campaign coordinators to refund funds collected to mobilise for the election, which they failed to deliver or face serious repercussions. One of such coordinators, sources say, has already refunded about N.7million of the N1.5 million he allegedly got, while others are said to be running from pillar to post to refund money put in their care in order not to incur Adewale's wrath.

•Gbemi

Gbemi Saraki eyes ambassadorial position •Adewale

Opposition to Audu's governorship ambition mounts

HAT former Senator, Gbemi Saraki, has left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) is no longer news. Not a few are also wondering in what capacity the smooth talking female politician would function in her new party. Unconfirmed reports say she may be nominated for a Grade A ambassadorial posting once the incoming APC government settles down.

•Jibrin

T is no longer a secret that Alhaji Abubakar Audu, a former governor of Kogi State, is plotting a comeback to the plum seat he vacated in 2003. In the Kogi State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Audu has positioned himself as the leader of the party and practically dictates what happens in the party. But not everyone in the party are rooting for the former governor in his alleged quest to lead the state come 2016 after the expiration of the first term of incumbent governor, Idris Wada. Audu's opponents, it was learnt, are calling on him to give way for a younger element, whose candidacy would not generate any controversy. But for Audu and his supporters, this view is nothing but balderdash.

Is Ahmad Kwara's next Speaker?

Hon. Ali Ahmad, a member of the House of Representatives is likely to succeed Hon. Razak Atunwa as the next Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly. And this is authoritative. Ahmad, a doctorate degree holder in Law, currently chairs the House Committee on Judiciary. The brilliant politician, who hails from Ilorin, contested and won a House of Assembly seat from Ilorin Constituency, in what was seen as a peculiar political arrangement agreed upon by the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus in the state led by Senator Bukola Saraki. With the governorship and deputy governorship slots remaining in Kwara South and North respectively, the speakership too was retained in Kwara Central, where both the outgoing speaker and Ahmad hail from. For those familiar with Kwara politics, this is not the first time a candidate would be brought from the House of Representatives to become the Speaker of the State Assembly. The first was Alhaji Ibrahim Bio, who left his House of Representatives seat in 2003 to •Atunwa become the Speaker in the state.

•Sani

Sani poised to stir hornet nest

K •Ahmed

ADUNA Central senator-elect, Shehu Sani, is one man who speaks his mind without caring whose ox is gored. The former President of the Civil Rights Congress (CRC), who defeated a former governor, Ahmed Makarfi, in the 2015 election, recently stirred the hornet nest when he vowed to reveal details of his salaries as a senator. His comment, sources allege, has not gone down well with some returning senators, who are reportedly planning to subtly prevail on the firebrand activist to shelve his 'threat' to make public what lawmakers earn.

IN VOGUE Tel: 08023689894 (sms) E-mail: kehinde.oluleye@thenationonlineng.net

By Kehinde Oluleye

APRIL 26,2015

Raising a voice for the Nigerian girl With Temilolu Okeowo temilolu@girlsclub.org.ng 07086620576 (sms only) Please visit my blog www.temiloluokeowo.wordpress.com for more inspiring articles. Twitter@temiloluokeowo

THEATRE

BIGSCREEN

Edited by Victor Akande

SOUND TRACK

Tel: 08051101822

By Joe Agbro Jr.

OPULAR Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, is again in the news. But this time, it is not for any of her exploits in the entertainment industry. Rather, she is embroiled in allegations of not settling her debts. According to gist circulating on social media, a lady had claimed that Tonto bought things from her and it turned out that the actress paid with a dud cheque. Reacting to the allegation, Tonto denied she ever wrote a cheque. The actress though acknowledged that the person in question actually sold some items to her after 'stalking' her to buy, citing that she also sold to Omotola JaladeEkeinde and other actresses. “I succumbed to ordering some items from this young lady in a way to support her business,” the actress said. However, she said that upon seeing the items the lady supplied, she discovered they were not of good quality. “When I saw these things they were so fake,” she said. “I asked her to come back and take the items severally as it has been with my house manager. We have never tried to pay her and we never gave her no cheque.' Promising not to buy anything and

TONTO DIKEH

reacts to allegation of debts F

•Vector

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com

FOR

video s hoot AST-RISING hip hop singer, Akintoroye Tunde, otherwise known as Tundey Fa Tundey, is yet to make a statement on what he intends to do about Vector da Viper, who was absent at the video shoot of Igboro. Tundey had featured Viper in the track, but the latter did not show up when it was time to shoot the video. There are indications the video shoot might be done all over again, as Tundey says he is not losing sleep over the success he recorded with the track and his plans to stay relevant in the entertainment scene.

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By Joe Agbro Jr. ensuring no celebrity buys anything from her, the actress also dropped a muched conversation between her and the seller on Instagram. An online platform, www.trendyrammy.com, reported that the lady accusing Tonto of defaulting payments claimed the actress was aware that the bags were fake and still requested for them. The site put the sum involved at N192, 000. The seller, identified as Pearl Chucks, had written to the actress, saying, “Dear @tontolet, thank you for pushing me beyond my comfort zone. I trusted you as a celebrity and gave you a Givenchy luggage bag and handbag with you promising you will pay. You couldn't afford the original so you asked for the th replica, you orderedth March 8 , it was delivered March 20 , and you had to pay that day. It's been over one month and it's been story after story, you ignore my messages and calls, you claim your assistant was going to pay me, I called Peter and he said the cheque you gave him on the 8th bounced on the 10th.” She also accused the actress of blocking her on Instagram and blasted the actress. “I have lost respect for you as a woman and as a human. I will make sure everyone knows who you really are so you don't go dupe another young girl, thank God I didn't give you the authentic bags, if not where will I be? God sees all the devil we do and it will come back to you x10000. Repay my money. Let's not forget the Moschino dress shirt and you just called to threaten me? That weed you are smoking is really making you delusional. You are a sorry excuse of a celebrity, when real celebrities and actresses call themselves, please remove you name from the list.' However, despite the heat she is under, the sultry actress on Thursday, shared a picture of herself in the bath-tub.

R O T C E Vshuns

•Waje

GISTS

o d i v a D relives journey to graduation

By Ovwe Medeme

OP singer, David Adeleke, aka Davido, is excited about the successful completion of his studies at Babcock University and for good reason too. The entertainer, on Wednesday, took to his Instagram page to recount the journey to his academic success which he said was almost marred by his decision not to push further. “Last paper done! Finally about to be a graduate! Been a long and hard journey, I won't lie! I remember dropping out of school in America in 2011 for music. After a year, my dad demanded that I finish my education even though success had come my way! It didn't make sense going back to me. I had it all in my eyes, homes, cars, money name it!! But after encouragement from my peers and family members, I'm finally done and I'm happy to say this degree is my most cherished asset! We did it! Eagle graduating class Babcock University! Graduation day, 7th of June,” the artiste wrote.

Waje’s

success N

•Davido

By Ovwe Medeme

IGERIAN singing sensation, Aituaje Iruobe, aka Waje, may have had her own share of ups and downs, but has remained steadfast in her pursuit for greatness. Apparently, she doesn't buy into the mantra touted by present day artistes in their lyrics which includes 'Hustle. Struggle. Busy. Running around. I Wan Blo.' To experience the Abundant Life in the promise of Flourish, she says, it's a different strategy. “It's a strategy of position because when you are positioned where God wants you to be, God does the hustle and bustle for you. And boy, He is good at it,” Waje exhorts. She anchor's her thoughts on the scriptural passage, Psalm 92:12, which she says paints the vivid picture of lush Palms and Cedar Oaks. “You don't see these trees striving and bustling and networking to flourish. No. Rather, they are where they should be; by the rivers of flowing water. And that's all that matters! 'It's not by power or by might but by my Spirit' says the Lord. If you are plagued today by busy-ness, slow down! Breath deeper, speak slower, be kinder, gentler, less anxious, more forgiving. Occupy your mind with position questions. It's time to realign your position and standing with God,” the songstress adds.

ENTERTAINMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

escribe your journey into the movie industry.

Nollywood Actress, Susan Maxwell, made her foray into acting with Isawuru. Since then, she has acted and produced several other movies. Although acting is her first love, the cankerworm of piracy which has burned many actors forced her to face her other passion, skin care. In this chat with ADETORERA IDOWU, Maxwell tells all about piracy, why Nigerian men prefer light-skinned women and why acting is her passion, but skin care is her life.

Movie making has been a part of me since childhood. I started from my church drama group. When I felt it was time to bring out what I had to people who know more than I do in the field, I joined a group in my area at Ipaja. A year later, I shot my first movie, Isawuru, in 2007, directed by Murphy Afolabi, and that was the movie that brought me to the limelight. The marketer approached me to do another movie and the same year we shot another movie called Nkan to ba gba, directed by Odunlabi Adekola. Later on, I got another vision for my skin care business which I started officially in 2010, but started in my house in 2009, and that pulled me out of the industry. Now this business pays me more than acting. How has piracy affected your career? Piracy is not encouraging talents. I did a movie recently and after pumping in a lot of money I did not get returns on my investment. Outside money, acting is something I truly enjoy, but piracy is not letting me practice what I enjoy. I shot Faramade with one million, one hundred and fifty thousand naira (N1,150,000) and made only seven hundred thousand naira (N700,000). Most people ask us if we are crazy. Why do we pump money into something that doesn't yield returns? Even if it's not giving you any profit, it should give you the capital back, but when you're doing something you have passion for, it looks crazy to people, and yes I'm crazy about what I do. What solution would you proffer to this problem? I don't have much of a choice; as they say, 'If you can't beat them, join them'. There is nothing one can do about Alaba pirates for now. The solution is to produce what the marketers can sell at a reasonable price before the pirates produce theirs. I will still press further and hope that the new government will intervene. I also hope God helps us all. Many in the industry have tried their best to beat piracy to no avail. They have tried everything, from rallies, to visiting Alaba market etc, all to no avail. No one knows who the pirates are. My conclusion is that when something is beyond human power, we have no choice but to call on God. How did you start your skin care business? When I started my skin care business, I thought it was for people who needed to brighten their skin. With time, I got clients with serious medical problems. In some cases, I've had to protect myself because of the severity. Some clients came to me after visiting several hospitals. I was their last resort and by God's grace they used my products and the story changed for better. This has spurred me on. I started with a short formal training, and with personal research and talent; I have only had

80%

of Nigerian men n e m o w d e n n i k s want fairN MAXWELL

positive results. Many people are of the opinion that light-skinned ladies are more attractive, and everything they wear shows off better and that is why I am here to help people enhance their complexion. I used to be very dark; I never thought I could become as fair as I am. I did it because I want to practice what I preach. I want them to see me and be blown away, especially those who knew me when I was dark. Because what I'm giving people isn't something that would damage their skin but repair their skin, I use it on myself as well. If I wasn't in this line of business, I probably wouldn't have toned my skin at all. I don't call it bleaching. I call it skin restoration. They say â&#x20AC;&#x153;Black is beautifulâ&#x20AC;? is that statement overrated?

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; SUSA

In Nigeria, people believe our weather doesn't encourage them to maintain their dark complexions, often getting uneven skin tones because of the harsh rays of the sun. Most people believe when they are fair, rain or shine, they have something constant to maintain. Most of my clients are above 18, and if they want to be white, I give them what they want. Black is beautiful, but I have no qualms with enhancing your complexion. 80% of Nigerian men want their women to be fair. They want a lady that draws attention to them. I've worked with many married women who complain of their men staring at fair women and they Continued on Page 53

ENTERTAINMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

Five years on, artistes remember late Dagrin F

‘How movie piracy pushed me to skin care’ Continued from Page 52 say to me, “Susan, make me fair, I want to be attractive to my man!” Some women have said their sons want them to visit their schools because they want to show off their fair mother. Clients all over the world have asked for my products. Black is beautiful but there is nothing wrong with enhancing your complexion. Acting is my passion, skin care is my life. Acting has helped my business because people recognise me and are relaxed around me because they know I wouldn't want to tarnish my image. What are the challenges you face? So far, I haven't had many. I just have those I call stubborn clients who expect my products to act like magic. I tell them, anything that turns you white overnight can damage your skin overnight but many of them are impatient. Does this line of business bring you fulfilment? I have tried many businesses. Clothing, hair, makeup etc but skin treatment has brought me a lot of respect. Are you married? I am not married. I have a wonderful daughter who is my life and my world, and I would like to have more kids. I am currently engaged to my baby's father, Tokunbo Awoga, a producer/director, although we do not live together. He directed Faramade and we will be working on another movie soon. I named my movie Faramade after my daughter. Where do you see yourself in five years? I would like to see my products retailed in different stores.

Piracy is not encouraging talents. I did a movie recently and after pumping in a lot of money I did not get returns on my investment. Outside money, acting is something I truly enjoy, but piracy is not letting me practice what I enjoy

IVE years after the demise of Oladapo Olaitan Olaonipekun, aka Dagrin, his imprint is still being e. felt in the Nigerian entertainment scen So, on Wednesday, the anniversary of his death, a couple of his colleagues remembered his life and times. One of those who remembered the artiste was Folarin Falana, scion of highly respected lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana. The artiste who is better known as Falz wrote; “five years since we lost a hero! Changed the face of Nigerian hip-hop. Rest in peace G. #BarrackOGrin #LyricalWere.” Also remembering Dagrin, Terry G, in , “I a rather esoteric Instagram note, said in ks wee two last e spok remember we ma dream... You sent me a message to

By Ovwe Medem

e deliver to them wh ich I will officially release the song on th April...LIVE ON HO e 30th of MM Another artiste, Om IE @dagrin9ja.” posted a picture ca awumi Megbele, ptioned, “five years....not forgotte n.” out with a long narra And fleshing it tive. She said: “From tod miss my friend, fin ay, I'm going to e boy, young blood and every day that I make, I think abou t the legacy you left. I thank God your music go continue to dey reign o. I miss you my brother, lyr ical we`re`. Nuff said rest in peace. My na , me is Omawumi. I'll miss you Dagrin.” Dagrin died in a gh accident, and to ma astly motor rk anniversary, Industr its fifth y Records are celebra Nite and Eldar ting his legacy.

Kudos for Iyanya’s new single, Yudala

INCE its release late last week, Iyanya's latest single, Yudala, has enjoyed rave reviews from music lovers. •Iyanya Interestingly, the song has also received the thumbs up from renowned music connoisseur and former university don, Professor Edwin Mark. According to him, the song Yudala stands out for its clear message and discernible lyrics which every Nigerian can relate to. In the view of the music enthusiast, Yudala appeals to the consciousness of every Nigerian who listens to it as it projects the renewed optimism in the new socio-economic and political dispensation. While lauding the use of several local languages in the track, Mark also hailed the message in the music which, according to him, radically differentiates the song from its contemporaries. “Although our entertainment industry is booming, I must confess that I have hardly been impressed by the output of most of our young artistes. What I see is basically content poverty in most releases. That is why this song, Yudala, immediately caught my attention

By Ovwe Medeme

when I first listened to it. Led by Made Men Music Group (MMMG) honcho, Iyanya and featuring a quartet of lyrically compatible artistes, including Selebobo, Tekno, Baci and Mystro, Yudala is the Cross River-born artiste's latest effort and represents a multiplicity of universally accepted values such as respect, peace of mind, best wishes and prosperity. Real name Iyanya Mbuk, the soft-spoken artiste is the co-owner of Made Men Music Group, a record label which is home to artistes such as Tekno, Emma Nyra, Selebobo and Baci. He released his debut studio album My Story in 2011 which was supported by the singles No Time and Love Truly. Desire, his second studio album, contained the singles Kukere, Your Waist, Flavour, Sexy Mama and Jombolo. He also won the Artiste of The Year award at the 2013 edition of the Headies.

•Dagrin

TIMI DAKOLO RELEASES By Joe Agbro Jr &B singer, Timi Dakolo, is out with a new song, Wish Me Well. The nearly five-minute track, released on Monday, was produced by Cobhams Asuquo and shows Dakolo at his best, belting out soulfully. The song tells the story of a broke young man with just hopes and dreams, leaving where he grew up for the city to pursue his destiny. 'I heard about life in the city,' he croons about a familiar situation faced by many young men seeking the greener pasture. 'That's where all dreams come true, I'm gonna work hard in the city, so, wish me well, wish me well.' Dakolo, 34, won the first season of Idols West st Africa in 2007, beating the 1 runner-up, Omawumi Megbele with 63% of the votes. With his victory, he took home many prizes, including a recording contract with Sony BMG. He released his first single, comprising three songs in October 2009. In 2011, he released the song There's a Cry and followed it with songs like Great Nation, Love Song and Iyawo Mi.

NEW SINGLE

ENTERTAINMENT

e sd

Day I kis five times on set â&#x20AC;&#x201C;NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS

OLAPEJU AJIBOYE

turning back. How did you feel, the first time you faced the camera? I was shy because I was only used to stage performances. But today, it is now part of me. Could you recall some of the challenges you faced when you joined the industry? When I joined in 2010, I was almost frustrated. I remember vividly that I went for a job for one week, but I was not given anything to do. I also spent my money on accommodation without getting paid. But it is all history now. So, I am grateful. Have you ever really suffered sexual harassment in the industry? Yes! And I think it happens everywhere. I once went for a job interview, but I couldn't get it due to harassment. How many movies have you featured in? I have featured in ten movies and my favourite one is Ohun Aya So Mida, produced by Folly Films, which has just been released. I play the lead role with Odunlade Adekola. I am his wife in that movie. The story line is almost perfect. What has been your most embarrassing experience since you came into the industry? None. From experience, do you think you can live solely on acting? Hmm! I don't do anything asides acting for now. However, the money hasn't been forthcoming. Who do you consider as your role model in the industry? I love Bukky Wright so much. I have always been her fan and have been looking forward to meeting her. To what extent can you go in playing a romantic role? Laughs! For now, the only thing I can do is hug and peck. Why?

I was shy. The director on the set kept asking if I really wanted to be an actress. I kissed the actor five times before they were satisfied. Immediately I got home, I told my husband what happened before he saw it on screen brassiere and panties. Any other outfit, I am cool with it. Do you share the views that if you have it, you should flaunt it; in terms of physical

Since beautiful Olapeju Ajiboye started acting professionally over five years ago, she has featured in a number of critically acclaimed movies, including Wakati Esan. In this interview with BASIRAT BRAIMAH, the mother of two, who is also a movie producer, talks about her bitter-sweet experiences in the industry, challenges and idiosyncrasies, among other interesting issues. OULD you recall some of the things that caught your fancy while you were growing up? My growing up was good. I grew up in a family where truth and love were the yardsticks in everything we did. At what point did you come to the realisation that you could act or that you wanted to be an actress? It has been right from when I was a kid. I have always loved acting. In those days, I would bring my friends together, just to act different roles. I was also in the drama group in my church then. I remember I was a member of a theatre group when I was pursuing my National Diploma. We specialised in stage performances and dance. So, acting has always been in me. Are you based in Ibadan? No! I have been in Lagos for five years and I have had the opportunity to act with a lot of actors like Jaiye Kuti, Jide Kosoko and Odunlade Adekola, among others. What was the attraction in acting then? As I said earlier, acting has always been in me; so, I won't say there was any particular attraction. In fact, Bukky Wright is my inspiration; I have always looked up to her. So, acting has always been my passion. How did your parents react when you wanted to go into acting? Ah! Initially, it wasn't easy because my mother was strict on us. She declined my request, saying she was not ready to see her daughter expose her body on screen. I told her I wasn't going to do such. It was after several pleas that she granted my request. The rest of my siblings are really happy about what I do. When and how did you eventually become a professional actress? I started fully in 2010. Do you belong to any caucus? I don't belong to any caucus, but my boss is Kamorudeen Saba, popularly called Radical. How did you clinch your first role? Hmm! My first role was in Wakati Esan and I acted with Fathia Balogun in it. It wasn't easy because that was also my first movie. Truly, she made it easy for me; and from there, I decided there was no

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

Hmm! Nothing... but I can kiss as well. Have you had to kiss in a movie? Yes, I have. Who did you kiss in the movie? I can't remember his name now. How did you pull it through? (Laughs) I was shy. The director on the set kept asking if I really wanted to be an actress. I kissed the actor five times before they were satisfied. Immediately I got home, I told my husband what happened before he saw it on screen. Really, there was no feeling; it was just acting. So, you are married? Yes, I am and I have two lovely daughters. Has your career affected your marriage in anyway? It hasn't. My husband keeps me going. Some say actresses nowadays sleep their way to fame. How will you react to this? To an extent, you are right. But when you are focused, no matter the harassment, you will say No, so that you achieve your aim. What has been your most challenging role? It was when I produced my second movie, Eje Omidan, a traditional movie. We travelled to Kajola Village. I wasn't used to acting in the bush. I sustained some injuries. But I thank God the movie eventually turned out fine. How will you define your style? I am a very simple person, so I am fine with whatever looks good on me. What will you not be caught wearing? On set, I shouldn't be caught wearing a

endowment? I can never flaunt it. Do you sometimes wear tops that expose your cleavage? Yes, especially in movies. Many ladies are crazy about tattoos now. Are you thinking of having any soon? Never! Is your husband against it? I just don't like it as a person and I encourage my friends not to. But it is in vogue; so, why not? I just don't like it as a person. What is the greatest romantic thing you love to do? Asides cooking for my family and going to the movies with my husband, acting is something I love. Do you go with the things in vogue? Not really. I go for things I love. I get what I want, not because it looks good on others. Have you ever regretted being an actress? No. Could you tell me more about your productions? I have produced three movies. I had the opportunity of shooting part of my forthcoming movie in Dubai. Though the turnovers from the first and second movies were low, many people appreciated what I did; so, this made me feel I could do more. Can you cut your hair for a particular role? Yes, if the pay is really good. Where will you like to be in the next five years? I imagine myself featuring in Hollywood movies. What do you think about piracy? Ahh! It is killing our industry. The government should look into it with utmost urgency. Could you briefly tell me about yourself? I hail from Kwara State and I am the last child in a family of five. I attended Command Children School, Ibadan, Oyo State and Capitol High School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Thereafter, I attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where I obtained my National Diploma (ND) in Mass communication and then the Osun State Polytechnic for my Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

HAT sort of books do you like most? Yes, I have been writing for quite sometime now. And the sort of books I read are those that can inspire. Books that inspire me a lot; indeed books that have to do with life. Books that have to do with challenges in life. Books that will help me to overcome many problems of life. Then I also like books that talk about the life of individuals and what they have encountered to stem the tide of life. That is autobiographies. Then I love to read novels generally; by this I mean thrillers. I love to read them to get my inspiration as a writer. When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for? The basic things I look out for are: what are the interesting things the author is telling me. What can I really learn from that book? What is the primary message the author is trying to convey to me, to his readers. Then after that, I look at the language. As a writer myself, I try to look at the way the author makes use of his language skills, in order to deliver his message. Then the style. I like to look at the style of the author and how he manipulates words. Another thing is the vocabulary. I’d like to be conversant with his vocabulary and anytime I come across a new word I jot it down and then look it up in the dictionary. Who are your favourite authors? Ah! My favourite authors? Oh, I would say in Nigeria, I love Chinua Achebe a lot. Anybody can almost read him and understand him. He writes with elegant simplicity. Wole Soyinka too. But it takes a lot of hectic time to read and comprehend him. Although it can be very tasking reading him, I love to read him all the same. Then I love John Grisham a lot. I have read most of his books and I learnt a lot from him and the way he presents his ideas. Also Sydney Sheldom, I love his works, just the way I also love to read Harold Robins, Jeffery Archer, and many of these popular and bestseller authors. They handle issues of life with special attention that you’d also love to be like them when you write. When and where do you like to read? I like to read in any environment where there is silence. It can be in my house; in my room. It can even be in my office. I read almost anywhere so long as there is no noise to distract me or distort my flow. Where-ever there is absolute silence so that there will be no distraction. What is your preferred genre of literature? Oh, yes, my preferred genre of literature is prose. Of course I do read poetry, but not as often as I read prose. I even write prose because that is where my whole interest lies. Then as for plays, I prefer watching plays on stage to see how they interpret life and handle the issues of the society. It is usually better to watch plays on stage because it will afford you time to enjoy it better than when you’ve read the book. What inspires me most to write prose is that prose can be enjoyed by virtually everybody who can read. But if you are not conversant with poetry you may not enjoy poetry. It is likely to even put you off. After reading two or three lines, you may get discouraged. What book has had the greatest impact on you and why? The book that has had the greatest impact on me? Oh, the Bible, the Holy Book, I must confess. Lots of stories, lots of life experiences are contained in the Holy Bible. After reading it, if you are the type that thinks or reflects you begin to be inspired by it. Oh, it is a great book indeed. You gain a lot from the Bible and that is why I read it often and often. I also love inspirational books that teach how to handle and deal with life challenges. I have read as The Man Thinketh and so many of them I cannot readily recollect.

awareness when I travelled to Ghana in 2009. I was even going through the internet when I saw plenty of things Ghanaians were saying about my novels. Some of my books are in the Library of Congress in the USA. I was surprised to discover that too. Some are also being used in most universities across Europe and America. If you’re to meet your favourite author, what will be your first question to him/her? I’ll ask him, how do you write or how do you come about writing? Most of these foreign writers are full time authors. But I’ll ask, how do you manage to be a full time writer? This is so because in Nigeria hardly do you find someone claiming to live fully on writing. No, it does not happen. It is almost impossible finding people living completely on writing. What time of the day do you prefer to write? Oh, I prefer to write early in the morning when I wake up. However most of the time I have to go to work and may not have enough time to devote to my writing. At times I write on weekends when I have enough time to do so. But it has to be when there is silence and quiet all around me. At the staff quarters here, we have serene environment all around us. And this is quite conducive for me to write. I also try to write during the week when I am not so tired. How do you gather the materials for your work? I don’t talk much. Those who know me know that I don’t talk much. I think more, and I listen more. When people PHOTO: EDOZIE UDEZE are discussing or joking, I listen more to them. At times I pick my That commendation was all I needed to story ideas from what they are talking push me on as a writer. It was more than about. At times too, when I read a book I ordinary essay for what I wrote there was try to refocus attention in an area where a story to illustrate the fact that illiteracy the author did not touch. You can easily was not good in any way. From then on- look at it from that different area. On few wards, I became interested in writing. My occasions, I’ll just be in the bathroom when teachers encouraged me and from time to an idea strikes my mind and when it haptime they would give me essay to write so pens I’d quickly jot down the idea so that that they’d mark for me. Gradually, this it’ll not escape me. Thereafter I can destarted to ginger me on and then when I velop it into a prose. started reading some books in the African Jotting ideas down, help to keep them Writers’ Series, my mind began to dwell fresh in my memory. If I do not do that, I on how they were able to get these stories. may forget. Some of the stories were not even far from What book do you plan to read next? me. To me, I imagined how I could also Ah, I have so many books by Jeffery use the things around me to tell my story. Archer now in my collection. One of them Now, how has writing reshaped or re- is Time Will Tell. It is one title I want to ordered your life? start reading any moment from now. Oh, yes, it has reordered my life in one How do you arrange your library at way. I have been trying to watch my ac- home? tion and conducts in public. But at times Ah, do I have a library? All I have are people I don’t even know would meet me two bookshelves at home. Then on my and say, oh, you are Soji Obebe? I would reading table there are many books there. be surprised and say, oh, how do you even I have no standard library so to say, but I recognize or identify me? Then the per- have many books scattered here and there. son would say, sir, I have read your books. Are you a re-reader? Then I’d be conscious of what I say or do. Yes, I am a re-reader o! Reason being Even on the net, whenever I open it and that you can’t remember in details what see the sort of comments people make you read the first time. Then you can go about my works, I marvel. In fact I got this back much later to see it clearer.

ME AND MY BOOKS ‘The Bible is my model’ A prolific writer, Soji Obebe, a director with the Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority, Abeokuta, Ogun State, is author of many novels. His works include A Pot of Rot, A Mind to Atone, A Ticket for Regrets, Where Lies the Honour and many more. He writes basically to correct many ills of the society and point a way forward for the younger generation. In this interview held in Abeokuta, he shares his high and low moments as a writer with Edozie Udeze

•Obebe. While growing up what books tripped you most? Oh, okay, I read Oliver Twist a lot, several times over. I read it when I was growing up. The book taught me a lot and I began to imagine how the character was created. You see, the person of Oliver Twist interested me a lot that I also began to create another character in my imagination. I also read David Copperfield, another character that impressed me to no end. These were some of the books I read in forms one and two. They really became sort of eye-opener to me then. Even though some of them were prescribed books, I derived pleasure in reading others that were not prescribed. I saw the world through them and thereafter I began to develop interest in African Writers’ Series. At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of becoming a writer? Oh, right from secondary school. When I wrote my essays in secondary school, my English teachers commended me. Then there was a time I wrote an essay on the disadvantages of illiteracy and I was citing examples with people who were not properly educated. I was in form 3 and my teacher started commending me.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

ARTS

APRIL 26, 2015

Gbekude: Between life and death

•From right: Jimi Solanke, Olu Jacobs and another guest watching the play. PHOTOS: EDOZIE UDEZE

•A scene in Gbekude

T wasn’t just for the excitement alone. There was so much to learn from the drama. It is not just the type of stage show that runs everyday or comes on on a regular basis. Gbekude is not only for the fun it generated and the comic appeal it gave to the audience. It was purposely shown to direct people’s attention to some of the issues that hold and bind the society together. Gbekude is a Yoruba comedy which was first adapted for the stage and directed in 1971 by Late Professor Ola Rotimi. However,

By Edozie Udeze

it was made one of the main stage plays for this year’s edition of the Lagos Black Heritage Festival essentially to pinpoint the level of poverty in the land. The poverty level especially among the youths is now very alarming. Unemployment is rife. Discontentment in the polity is at a feverish stage. Families daily face the headache of how and where to get the money for their meals. Most homes do not have the resources to send their children to school. Those who have graduated do not have

work or even have the hope of securing one in the nearest future. As the play went on stage at the Freedom Park, Lagos, last week, what was uppermost in the minds of thespians was the continued relevance of the play meant to mock poverty in such a way as to ridicule the way people live without trying to wriggle free from their situation. In itself, Gbekude means Tying up Death. How does Gbekude tie death? What is even the fate of a pauper who, in his prime entered into marriage with a horrible and nagging woman? How does

he enjoy this matrimony or settle down to begin to think for a way to alleviate his condition? As peace continually eluded him, so was the intensity of the heat from his woman. And because he could not have the desired peace to move on in life, Ise, the husband devised his own means to survive. In the process of inventing ways to circumvent his situation, Ise planted an orange tree on a patch of land within his premises. This did not quite go down well with his wife Aro. This further worsened the acrimony in the home

which Aro exploited to the fullest. However, the orange tree somewhat became useful in the way it dealt with their adversaries. As the couple was visited by a servant of Eledumare who offered them a single wish to enable them overcome penury, their different choices did not help matters. Finally death itself appeared. This was when Ise used his own portion of the bargain to hoodwink and chain death. From this moment, Ise decided to extract from death a strong and committed pledge that defeated his own innocuous mission.

The play was so hilarious on stage, that most people saw in it the kind of sense poverty gives people. The stage was properly set to elucidate sympathy, to drive the idea into the people. The costumes were basically local, depicting the overall scenes and what the situation portended for the society. The costumes demonstrated the state of poverty and nagging in a typical Nigerian setting. In the end neither the man nor woman enjoyed the matrimony. So why not settle down and marry for the purpose of peace?

Ajai-Lycett, Joke Jacobs, others advocate for women

ENDER inequality has been one of the most difficult challenges women have been battling with for a long time. Not just in Nigeria alone but across the globe. And women who have been able to find their feet in the society and have been able to succeed in male dominated fields are tagged with all sorts of names. This was one of the topics of discussion among prominent female actors during a press session recently held at Goethe Institute in Lagos. It is against this backdrop that these women chosen to participate in a play titled ‘Hear Word! – Naija Woman Talk True,” a play based on a collection of true life stories which aims at dressing and highlighting the challenges of Nigerian women through theatrical performance. The play directed by Ifeoma Fafunwa premiers on Saturday, May 2, at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, by 2: pm. It is produced by iOpenEye productions. This theatre production kicks off with a special performance at the University of Lagos on April 29. The production will subsequently run at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, every Friday and Saturday in May, alongside satellite performances in public spaces around Lagos. Jacobs said she will play the role of a mother who pressurised her daughter to marry because her mates

•From left: Modupe Thani, Etisalat Head Events and Sponsorship, Henshaw , Omonor, Fafunwa, Silva, Akintola and Lolo Eremie, Head of Events, Cool FM By Udemma Chukwuma

were all getting married. She said: “One of my pieces in the play is about the pressure parents, especially mothers put on their children. We think it is our tradition as mothers and we are pressurising our children into this mindset of incompleteness unless we (women) are married and have children. “This is not right because we don’t do the same to a man. The pressure we put on the man is slightly different. We put the wrong kind of pressure on our men. We allow our men to get

“Things I hate about our people is that they sweep some issues under the carpet, we don’t want o talk about it and if you are that person that wants to talk about it, they tag you with names. And if you are not married they call you a prostitute” away with things they shouldn’t get away with it. We allow them as the British will call it ‘sole their wild oath’ and bring their wild oath into what union they are in and we also pressurise the men in a wrong way.

These are some of the things we examine in Hear Word!’ she said. According to Ifeoma Fafunwa, the woman behind the production and directing of the play, “the play is build after taking monolog

and voices of women from different social economic. What is it that will make a woman say I am nobody unless I’m married; I am not a person because I have no child? A woman should leave her God given potential and talent and send the next fifteen years of her life searching how to get pregnant or how to get someone from the village to help her give birth to children for her husband. The idea of this play; we are asking women to leave the baggage behind to bring what is it they were brought on this earth to do. “The stories featured in Hear Word are based on the

everyday realities in Nigerian women. It is our hope that by lending our voice to theirs, that we can amplify their reach and begin to transform realities. I am truly grateful to be part of this process,” she said. Also speaking at the briefing was Kate Henshaw who did say about the role she will but spoke violence against women and children.”Women are not seen as human being but thing that can be done away with it.” She urged women to fight for their rights. She also commended the Lagos State Government for passing the bill on act of violence against women. Bimbo Akintola described Hear Word as the best platform to address the issues of violence against women such as rape and murder “Things I hate about our people is that they sweep some issues under the carpet, we don’t want o talk about it and if you are that person that wants to talk about it, they tag you with names. And if you are not married they call you a prostitute,” she stressed angrily. Omonor, Deborah Ohiri, Lala Akindoju, Zara Udofia, Rita Edward, Ufuoma McDermott, Joke Jacobs, Taiwo Ajai--Lycett , Kate Henshaw , Bimbo Akintola and Elvina Ibru and Odenike are some of the cast in this play. Hear Word is supported by Etisalat, Vlisco, African Magic, Fayrouz, Cool FM and MUSON.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

'Nigeria's economy will rise again'

Page 58, 59

Agricultural Research Institutes: the good, the bad and the ugly •Palm tree

•Ohuabunwa

Page 60

•Ikwuagwu

-- Page 53 ‘All an entrepreneur needs to succeed is stay focused’ Page 62

How incoming government can fix aviation sector, by Air Peace boss

• From left: James McNab, Managing Director, Africa and Chief Communications Officer, Basebone, Tayo Egunjobi, Senior Enterprise Marketing Manager, MTN, Toyosi Akerele, CEO, Rise Network, Valentine Obi, Managing Director/ CEO eTranzact International PLC, Emmanouil Revmatas, Director of Information Technology and Mobile, Samsung Electronics, West Africa, Okechukwu Igwegbe Head, New Products Development, Airtel Nigeria and Uzodinma Iweala, CEO/Editor-In-Chief, Ventures Africa during the Mobile Web West Africa 2015/CEO Awards in Lagos at the weekend

HAIRMAN of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema has called on the president -elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps aimed at improving the operating environment for domestic carriers in the country. Specifically, Onyema said the best policy the incoming government can put in place is to influence a single digit interest rate in loans to be accessed by domestic airlines from Nigerian commercial banks. Such low interest credit window, he maintained, is better than mere intervention packages to domestic carriers that may not entirely address the legion of challenges besetting the sector.

God Owned Business Forum inaugurated

Over 103 Nigerian-made products unfit for G global market-Aganga T

HE Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga disclosed at the weekend that for the past five years over 103 Nigeria export products have been rejected at the global market for not meeting acceptable international quality standards. Aganga disclosed this during the unveiling of the new office complex of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Abuja, stating that this is due to lack of accredited laboratories in the country where the products could be tested before being shipped abroad. He, however, said Nigeria

From Franca Ochigbo, Abuja now has an internationallyaccredited laboratory in Lagos which would help to check the drift. He said, "In the last five years Nigeria has more than 103 rejects. If you compare that to other African countries like South African and Ghana, who only have between 6 to 7 rejects, our is unacceptable. We are having this rejects because we did not have accredited laboratory in the country." "We all say we want to diversify the economy with a

view to increasing our income from non-oil products. But there is no way we can achieve this without having quality infrastructure such as the laboratory." Aganga who recalled that Nigerians hitherto had to take farm produce like yam to Ghana for laboratory testing before exporting them to the UK, however, express confidence that things would change now with the new testing laboratory. "However, we can confidently say we have addressed that challenge now. About two days ago, I

commissioned a new internationally accredited laboratory in Lagos. It is first time ever that we will be having such an accredited laboratory with such scope, twelve scopes." Speaking, SON Director General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, stated that he had repositioned the organisation both in terms of personnel, physical infrastructure and legislation to enable it discharge on its mandate which, according to him, is pivotal to the economic diversification of Nigeria. Apart from various policy initiatives, Odumodu stated that in the last four years, the organisation had been able to engage on some infrastructure development.

eTranzact posts N168.1m profits as CEO, others seek improved N156,000 and, rather than T R A N Z A C T a device for security for mobile payments being International PLC, communication, it was a device

Africa's leading provider of mobile banking and payments services has recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of N168.1 million at the end of the first quarter. The results which have been officially received by the Nigerian Stock Exchange represent a 91per cent increase from results posted in the same quarter last year. Following a very successful 2014, the company has announced significant partnerships with MasterCard, World Remit and other key global players in the payments space, and also gone on to strengthen its mobile banking, mobile money, remittance, and corporate pay businesses, making significant investment in technology and product development which

have positioned it for further growth in 2015. "Our company has experienced consistent growth in revenue and profitability over the past 10 years with transaction activity value, volumes and partnerships also experiencing significant growth in the last three years,”said Mr. Valentine Obi, CEO of eTranzact International PLC. In a related development, eTranzact boss was part of the interface and discussion session at the Mobile Web West Africa 2015 in Lagos at the weekend. Obi who spoke on a presentation tagged: 'What needs to happen to accelerate evolution in mobile?' appraised the strides recorded in the payment systems in Nigeria, noting that: "One big

prerequisite for financial inclusion and in fraud control for financial institutions is a check called 'Know your Customer (KYC).' It is one of the biggest challenges we face in the payments industry, and all players can come together to help solve this issue." Speaking specifically to MTN and Airtel who were represented at the event, he said "The telcos own a lot of user data and can help the payments platforms by sharing this data. There is a big need for the telcos to share data in order to safeguard and protect customers from fraud just like banks share data with the switching platforms." Sharing his personal experience on the evolution of mobile in West Africa, he recalled that, "In year 2000, I bought a cell phone for

to show status symbol. From 2001, we began to see the revolution that has led to the development of cheaper smartphones and content for users, and this is just the beginning.” Other speakers included James Mcnab, Managing Director Africa and Chief Communications Officer, Basebone, Emmanouil Revmatas, Director of Information Technology and Mobile, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Tayo Egunjobi, Senior Enteprise Marketing Manager, MTN, Toyosi Akerele, Founder and CEO, Rise Network and Mr Okechukwu Igwegbe, Head, New Products Development, Airtel Nigeria. The session was moderated by Uzodinma Iweala, CEO/Editor-In-Chief, Ventures Africa.

While congratulating General Buhari on his welldeserved victory, which he described as a study in perseverance, Onyema said there an urgent to tackle to the hiccups in the sector in order to move the industry forward. Onyema also canvassed the harmonisation of charges by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency. He said most aviation agencies are frustrating efforts by domestic carriers to access land through lease option at airports nationwide , saying that the agencies not only delay in considering approval they also charge arbitrary fees .

OD Owned Business Forum (GBF), a n o n p r o f i t , nongovernment organisation as well as an association of companies and businesses managed by God's people was formally inaugurated in Lagos at the week end. Justifying the establishment of GBF, which is the brainchild of Professor Chris Onalo, he said, it is becomes necessary to build a crop of businessmen and businesswomen, who set stores for the ideals and ideas of integrity, transparency, honesty. Citing Isaiah 48: 17, Onalo, who is the founding Registrar/ Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Credit Administration (ICA), said the essence of the GBF is for businessmen and women to allow God to rule their lives. While reeling out the cardinal objectives of the Forum, Onalo said: "The Forum hopes to serve as official business networking association for all companies owned and managed by bible practicing Christians whose life styles truly reflect the word and way of God, whose business success and strength is derived from the practice of faith in the word of God." "We're a faith-based, biblebelieving organisation whose mission is to grow the business of its members as its business and to have them comply with God's laws for the attainment of good business success, as well as full observance of the laws of man. We seek to inspire our members to conduct their businesses and their business lives in the context of God's glory and purpose." Besides, he said, the Forum would: "Serve as nationally recognised, prestigious Christian business networking association who solely depends

on God's words for business growth combined with fervent prayers that moves God's hand in favour of good business practices in Nigeria and the world. "We seek to play advocacy role of opposing or supporting economic, business, social and political matters, policies or legislations that affect business and the interest of our members and their businesses. "We seek to inform and educate our members with hat which concerns them legally, economically and spiritually within the spheres of business and eternal life. "We seek to promote, motivate and grow our member's businesses and foster business relationships through constant networking events, programmes and multimedia communications via the institution of relevant programmes capable of growing our members' business as regularly as annually, monthly or weekly." GBF, Onalo stressed, would serve as Nigeria's most reputable trade promotion forum for members, committed to organising business management seminars and discussions during business networking and matchmakings, all of which make the forum a comprehensive energy source of business growth." Onalo while assuring that the membership of the Forum is open to Christians and nonChristians who are men and women of faith, hinted of plans to rollout a calendar of events lined up for the Forum in the coming weeks.

BUSINESS

HE dream was clear, the vision untainted and the mission remained sacrosanct. Agricultural research institutes, majority of which were established before independence to be the bedrock of agricultural revolution in an emerging country called Nigeria was well conceived. The idea was to make the institutes a hub of research field for all available agricultural produce (both food and cash crops) in the country and make it available to farmers and investors who will turn it into gold mine which will eventually translate to food surpluses in the country. Today, the dream has become dead, the vision blurred and the mission a mere statement of expression as majority of the institutes are mere shadow of themselves due to poor funding, corruption, poor government policy, late budget, bureaucracy and total neglect. Obviously the effect is well pronounced: the most apparent being the unbridled importation of virtually all notable food crops including tooth pick into the country has become inevitable! Besides, lack of technological framework to maintain research programmes, deficiencies in facilities and equipment and low agricultural research investment, among other factors, make nonsense of the notable structure on ground in most of the agricultural research institutes visited by The Nation. In the beginning To every nation, the role of agriculture is not only significant but most importantly a key to food sufficiency. Therefore it was not out of place that before independence, Nigeria placed agriculture as its utmost priority and all attention was given to it. But shortly after the discovery of oil, agriculture was relegated and today the music has changed likewise the dancing step. Interestingly, the need to tackle food insecurity and the attendant menace of poverty in the midst of plenty, probably informed why the federal government set up a whooping N6 billion grant in 2009 through the Competitive Agricultural Research Grant Scheme to be operated by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria to bail out agricultural research institutes from going under. Specifically, the fund was targeted towards boosting and developing research in the agricultural sector, thereby repositioning the research institutes in order to tackle food crisis and take the country to the next level in terms of food sufficiency However, six years after the purported fund was released, it has been a case of wailing, lamentation and gnashing of teeth by managers of agricultural research institutes in the country due to neglect and paucity of funds for their operational needs. This has made mess of the earlier expectation that the National Agricultural Research System is expected to contribute to agricultural development in Nigeria through the generation and dissemination of new technology, with particular emphasis on the development of improved yield and diseaseresistant varieties of staple crops in the

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

O what extent is the Institute able to achieve its mission and goals? Our primary mission and vision is to accelerate agricultural mechanisation in the country through development and application of homegrown simple mehanisation technology. When I refer to homegrown is the fact that a technology may be simple but not applicable to home use. The technology we develop here are applicable to homegrown technology that will suit our soil and climatic condition. Our vision is to be the centre of excellence for agricultural mechanisation in Nigeria. From what you have seen on the ground, you will attest to the fact that we have been able to fulfill our mission and vision. We have gone a long way with the little we were able to get from the federal government.

Agricultural Research Institutes: th In 2009, the federal government claimed to have released N6 billion to Agricultural Research Institutes in the country, through Research Council of Nigeria. Asst Editor Sina Fadare who went to some of these institutes, reports that there is nothing on ground to justify such huge spending as empty laboratories, collapsed infrastructure, abandoned projects is the order of the day in virtually all the institutes

•Rubber plantation at RRIN

•Palm oil plantation at NIFOR, Benin country. More embarrassing is the hype going on in the political space that agriculture has been given topmost priority in the federal government agenda; whereas all the laboratories in all the institutes visited are empty and the few equipments therein are obsolete, thus making the much touted research funding a mere rhetoric. Speaking to The Nation on the importance of research to agricultural institute, a researcher and plant breeder at the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike in Abia State, Mr. Solomon Afuape said the country has to be realistic in terms of holistic development of agricultural sector which solely rest on research institutes. Solomon, who disclosed this while taking this reporter round the institute's research field at Umudike noted that "if we do not develop the research base to solve problem, we are doomed. One of the problems we need to solve is the development of a new variety of crops, developing processing and techniques, storage facility and new food form that appeal to the emerging need of the society. All of these are to be done by the researchers, research institute and the

universities. Without that we are not going anywhere." Speaking in the same vein, the Executive Director of Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN Prof. Malachy Akoroda said that the importance of research cannot be underestimated if the country will go places in agricultural breakthrough. Akoroda pointed out that "research is the key to return cocoa to its lost glory in the country. All over the world data is a global phenomenon on which new techniques and innovations are based. The sad story is that nobody knows the production statistic of cocoa and until we do that, we won't know where we are going." To Dr Isona Gold of the Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research, NIFOR, Benin, Edo State, the success of the country in the area of agriculture rest solely on the level of research funding in the country, adding that without adequate funding of research, which is the bed rock of agricultural development, the country has a long way to go. Gold, who is the head of Technology & Product Development Department, NIFOR, while speaking to The

Nation in his office noted that agriculture, is the foundation of social stability in the country, therefore if the country wants to have peace, agriculture should be promoted holistically. Poor funding The Nation was shocked to find out that all the research institutes visited were shortchanged by the parent ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture, yet all the chief executives spoken to on the issue, kept sealed lips on the pretext of obeying the civil service rule which disallows them to talk to the press. However, investigation by The Nation revealed that year-in-year-out, some of the money budgeted for the institutes did not get to them; it was just a mere figure on paper. A top civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture who spoke to The nation on condition of anonymity, said it was an unfortunate situation as most of the managers of these institutes were subjected to a lot of unnecessary agonising trauma before the stipend approved could be given to them. "More worrisome is the fact that the money which was usually divided

into three quarters, do not get to majority of the institutes and at the end of the day the money developed wings into the coffers of a cabal that cut across the Ministry of Finance, Agric and the Office of the Account General of the Federation." Reacting to the issue of financing the research institutes, the Acting Executive Director of Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute, ARMTI, Dr. Comfort Jolayemi noted that the place of adequate financing cannot be underestimated in any agric research outfit Speaking with The Nation in her office in Ilorin, she said: "Funding is a key to research especially in the area of agriculture. Without adequate research and training, a country can hardly move technologically. That is why the developed countries rely heavily on their research work in order to progress. They keep improving in all what they are doing. The more funding we have for research, the better it is for the nation." Expatiating, she said: "The major impediment to research is funding. If you have money you can easily go

‘Nigerians pay lip-service to agricu ltu Dr. Isaac Ozumba a researcher is Deputy Director, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, NCAM, Ilorin. In this interview with Asst. Editor Sina Fadare, he speaks on challenges besetting the agricultural institutes. Let me be specific. For example, on cassava, we have been able to develop all the technology that is required for production and process of cassava into various products. We have cassava planter, harvester, peeler, grater, the press and the mechanical garri fryer. We also have milling machine that can turn cassava to flour, likewise cabinet dryer that can be used for cassava chips. As regards rice, we have been able to develop rice milling machine, per boiler and distoner. Because of

the handling process of rice, stone find its way inside it therefore it has to be removed. We also have various version of maize sheller likewise for other grains. Research in agricultural institutes in the country attracts poor funding, what account for this? Nigerians pay lip-service to research development, whereas research is the pillar to agricultural revolution in any county. Take Nigeria for example, we have agricultural research institutes and good

human capital therein. Take for instance, in the area of agricultural mechanisation, we have developed some notable researches within the limit of fund available. Most of these technologies end up on the shelves. I showed you some of our technology waiting to be commercialised. The federal government empowered us to produce some of these machines by paying 60 per cent and the state to pay 40 percent. It is expected that the state will pick them up and give to their

•Ozumba

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

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es: the good, the bad and the ugly

•ARMTI, Ilorin

•Dr Omorefe Asemota, NIFOR, Benin down to the grassroots to address the problem of the farmers directly. The current Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Adewumi Adesina has made a great difference in that direction." Prof. Bamidele Taiwo of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IART), Ibadan, noted that adequate research funding is the key to agricultural breakthrough. Taiwo, who is a professor of soil science argued that even if the budget is approved without any reduction, it is not enough to do meaningful researches because it is capital intensive, adding that when the expected fund refused to come, it compound the problem of research. To Dr Paul Oghenakhoghie Anegbeh of the Rubber Research Institute, Benin, finance has crippled a lot of good initiative in terms of research. According to him, "we lack the necessary funds to carry out the research we are supposed to do. Now in the laboratories, we need funds to upgrade the equipment. We need funds to continue to deliver our messages to the farmers through extension. We need funds to also study the programmes of the farm-

•Dr Comfort Jolayemi, Executive Director, ARMTI ers by way of understanding the socioeconomic aspect of the farmers, we need money for the breeding work, to raise the seedlings for the farmers, we need irrigation facilities, we need generating sets so that the system would work and water would flow to the seeds. All these are challenges for us as we have not got the necessary funds to take care of these priority areas." Anegbeh further argued that "In developed countries like Germany, Japan, Canada, etc, they put more emphasis on research for development because they know what it is. So I would advice my country Nigeria to do the same by putting more emphasis on agricultural research instead of depending on just oil for the economy." He emphasised that if countries like Malaysia, Israel, Indonesia and a host of others can depend on agriculture as the driver of their economy, Nigeria can also do same. "If China and Thailand depend on rubber for their economy and we also have rubber at the rubber research institute here, the government can put sufficient funds and more emphasis on rubber research institute of Nigeria, so as to enable the

cu ltural research’ farmers in their respective states to use. As I'm talking to you today, only six states have collected theirs. This is not an encouragement. There is no linkage between the farmers and agricultural researchers. In advance countries like Israel, Japan and China, all their researches are need-based. You will see a research institute developing a technology based on the need of a farmer. We need to get to that level where our research is need-based before we can have a breakthrough, not abstract research. Let me give you an example, we had a collaborative research with Cocoa Research Institute, CRIN, Ibadan, they have a problem with polishing and de hauling of coffee, that is the problem the farmers are encountering. As a mechanised cen-

tre, they came to us and explained that this is the particular problem they have on the field. We jumped at it immediately, swung into action, today we are able to produce a functional coffee polisher and de hauler which the coffee farmers are using and that problem had been solved. It is time we look into agricultural research that will solve the farmer's problem, by so doing we would go places and a lot of problem would be solved on our farms. I was in Israel, they discovered that they have problem of washing their fruits, they realised that the washing machines that are imported are doing damage to the fruits, they challenged their researchers and the researchers went to the drawing board to produce a washing machine they are using now all over Israel.

left the Institutes and more will still xxxx leave," he noted.

•Dr Paul Anegbeh, RRIN, Benin institute to develop its technologies, the innovations and be able to provide the planting materials for the farmers." Echoing similar views, one of the chief executives while speaking on the condition of anonymity, expressed his frustration at the tardiness of the lawmakers when he went to Abuja to defend his budget at the National Assembly recently. "When I entered the room which the committee were sitting and they asked me what I brought, ignorantly I put the huge file on their table, one of them told me in a plain language that did I think they are there to swallow the heaps of file we brought? "I was later directed to another room where I was told that if I did not bring a specific amount I should go back and come another day. We have to gather all the resources available in our disposal before we were cleared for that year budget," he lamented. Corruption Since all the facets of the country are tainted with corruption, therefore research institutes are not insulated. Findings revealed that despite the little resources at its disposals, some managers of the institute used various means to siphon the available resources under their care with various over bloated contracts, white elephant projects among other inconceivable schemes. For instance, the former Executive Director of the Lake Chad Research Institute, Professor Bukar Bababe, early this year was sentenced to a five-year jail term without an option of fine by a Maiduguri High Court for dipping his hands into the Institute's till. In a related development, on April 14, 2011, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related offences Commission (ICPC) had arraigned the former executive director and the Institute's acting head of accounts, Janada Mshelia, on an eight-count charge before Justice Charity Mamza of the High Court in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. The two were accused of conspiring to make false statement to the Central Bank of Nigeria, Maiduguri branch,

between December 2008 and January 2009 to the effect that Hammadeen Nigeria Limited was entitled to the sum of N25 million as payment for a capital project. The prosecutors said the beneficiary company had not executed the project for which it was paid. The prosecution also stated that the accused, between December 2008 and January 2009, conspired to make a false statement to CBN to the effect that another company, Rofako International Limited, was entitled to the payment of N22.5 million for an unknown capital project. The chief executive as chairman of a procurement planning committee was also accused of approving the award of a contract to his son for the upgrading of computers and printers in August 2010. In addition, he paid himself five hundred and twenty-five thousand naira as first twenty-eight days allowance in lieu of accommodation while residing at an official residence at the University of Maiduguri. All the charges were punishable under sections 26 sub-section (1), C and 25 sub-section (1) b as well as section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000. Similarly, early January 2013, workers of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, IART, Ibadan, squared up with the former Executive Director of the institute, Mr. Benjamin Ogunmodede over allegations of financial impropriety amounting to N192.5million. The crisis that rocked the Institute led to a 10 month strike action by the workers who insisted that the fund allocated to the Institute for their welfare, research and developmental projects was allegedly misappropriated by Ogunmodede. Against this backdrop, the official of EFCC swooped on the top executive's management of the Institute and arrested them. This include Ogunmodede, the Chief Accountant, Z. K.Tejumola and Cashier, Kunle Ojo; another accountant, C. A. Adenose. As of the time of going to the press, the case was still pending in an Ibadan Magistrate Court. Brain drain The Nation found out that the overall consequences of the poor funding of all the agricultural institutes in the country, has led to brain drain in most of the vital discipline in agriculture. Buttressing this assertion, Afuape of the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, said that the Institute has lost some of the best hands in the recent past due to poor remunerations and the inability to assess research funds. "We have a peculiar situation. We used to have two allowances which the Institute was paying to all her researchers, this put our salary at par with those in the university. But in the last one year that those allowances were removed, about five PhD holders have

The researcher pointed out that "The director in the Institute is not the same director you have in the ministry. Directors in the ministry serve a maximum of eight years and get retired, we heard that this principle will be implemented in the research Institute and this will certainly lead to brain drain. Ironically, those who are specially trained and seems to be stagnant on a level would begin to leave and agric institutes will suffer." Corroborating Afuape's view, Anegbeh of the Rubber Research Institute, Benin, said the situation is not only critical but unfortunate. "That is the same situation here. Some of our staff members left for other jobs. Some for the universities, some for oil companies, etc. If you ask me, why should the staff of oil companies earn better than those of us in the agricultural sector? We are producing the food that we eat. Without food, you do not have energy to do anything. You cannot do any engineering work without food. We are the people producing the food but nobody is looking at our work or what we are doing," he lamented. The frustration The Nation found out that the major frustrations confronting agricultural research institutes in the country is the issue of poor remunerations, discrepancies in salary when compared with their contemporaries in the academics, just as policy summersault, bureaucratic bottle necks from the parent ministry and failure to utilise the available researches done over the years, remain a sore point. Lamenting the parlous state of the research institutes, Prof Taiwo, said until the government goes back to the drawing board, things may get even worst. Way out Speaking with a cross-section of analysts, they held the view and very strongly too that for agricultural institutes to play its role, all hands must be on deck to turn the situation around. Lending his voice, the Executive Director of Nigeria Institute for Oil Palm Research, NIFOR, Dr Omorefe Asemota said all hope is not lost if the government can retrace its step back. "It is important that the institutes and this is nationwide, should be able to attract some of the best brains and retain them." Asemota pointed out that "The truth of the matter is research demands financial support and that is worldwide. If the support in the financial base shrinks below critical threshold, it can be damaging. All the institutes that are generating revenue should be given the leverage to use part of the funds for the survival of the institute." He argued that research institutes should look for alternative funding outside government and such institutes should be given a degree of freedom to utilise such fund for the running of the institute so that they can discharge their statutory functions.

Today we have machines for cassava peepers, harvesters yet we are importing these machines, how are we encouraging our researchers? A researcher is fulfilled when seeing his product being used on the field. Agricultural researchers need a lot of encouragement if we are going to make a mark in agricultural revolution. I stand to be corrected Nigeria did not have a policy on agricultural mechanisation. Nigeria has a policy on agriculture and under it there is a sub head with agricultural mechanisation. If we really want to transform agriculture, we need to have a policy on agricultural mechanisation. Although there is a National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, NCAM, whose primary mandate is to test and sanctify tractor as a policy statement, but there is no enabling law that is backing it up. Therefore you cannot enforce if there is any junk machines imported into the country. This is a

serious problem, there should be policy backed up by law before offenders could be sanctioned. Let me give you a practical example, the present minister for agriculture and rural development, Dr Adewumi Adesina has done so much in the utilisation of cassava. As I am talking to you today, there is a policy that you should include 10 per cent of cassava flour on every wheat you use in the production of bread. The minister said they can even go to 20 per cent. But there is no enabling law that is backing it up, therefore you cannot enforce it. It can only be enforced when the National Assembly passed a law concerning it like saying all confectionaries that are made in the country should include 10 per cent of cassava flour, by so doing you can now enforce the law by compelling all the stakeholders to comply. It cannot be forced to be use because there is no law backing it up.

Therefore for agriculture and cassava to be fully transformed it has to be backed up by law if all these are not backed by law we are going backward. What is your take on budgeting to research Institute? The issue of budgeting to research institute is a pity. I can tell you that in the last four years the institute has enjoined a bit of favour. There was a year they approved N1.3 billion, but about 670milion was finally released. As I am talking to you the fund given to us for capital project was N45 million. My question is will N45 million be enough to carry our research? We have five technical departments that are purely engineering. Can N45 million be enough to complete some of the project that we have started since last year? This is a real problem. Research is very expensive all over the world.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

BUSINESS

IGERIA'S economy has been badly affected by the plummeting oil prices and the fall in the value of the naira. Do you see any hope for the country? There is hope. This is not the first time oil prices have fallen, it's cyclical. Every once in 10 years prices fall and we go through the same procedure. We will overcome it. It is so because we are dealing with a commodity, oil is a commodity so it is responsive to global supply and demand, when supply is high prices will fall and when supply is low prices will go high. We shall go back to where the price will be high, it may not get to $140 but it will probably get to $100. The problem is that when those prices come let us not go to sleep. We should be much more active and determined to diversify the economy and that's the way so that we reduce our reliance because another cycle will come. We should not relax the efforts to diversify the economy, we should sustain development and this is where the efforts to have our excess crude account must because it is from that excess account money was takenand there could be other things that could be used to invest so that we diversify the economy for the excess crude account and that will help the country ultimately. We should put more efforts on power, especially more investments because that would create a lot of industrial development, create enabling environment, issues that will speed up manufacturing generally. We can do a lot more in agriculture. Let us focus on SMEs. If you see somebody building a kiosk by the road side, encourage him because that kiosk he is building will create job for himself, the carpenter, the brick layer and the electrician who will wire it and may be one or two people who will stay in the kiosk. Let us have an enterprise culture whereby we should be thinking of production, what are you doing to create one, is anybody going to add value, that enterprise mentality and focus I believe is what we need. Let people be encouraged to get their own business. Here you find out that there is anti-enterprise development, you see one company developing, the local government will come, and area boys will come everybody will come to molest the company as if it is a crime to set up a business. That mentality has to stop. As one of the think tank behind Vision 20:2020, do you think it is realistic? I think it is very realistic because our vision is simply to be among the top 20 largest economy by the year 2020. After the rebasing of the economy last year, we came to number 26 and we have five years to 2020. I believe it is achievable irrespective of the fall in oil prices which I believe would not remain this low for too long. By 2016, we expect that there would be a rebound. As I said, it may not go back to high level but expect a rebound in a manner that would cause

'Nigeria's economy will rise again' Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, a seasoned technocrat, has made his mark in the manufacturing sub-sector of the economy including serving in different capacities as founding President/Chief Executive, Niemeth International Pharmaceutical Plc, founding Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, among others. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf and Ambrose Nnaji, he attempts a prognosis of the challenges besetting the economy as well as sets agenda for the incoming government. Excerpts: higher growth. We recorded growth between 6-7per cent for many years. The World Bank projected it is going to fall below 5per cent this year which is understandable. I think that there is going to be a rebound and Vision 20:2020 would be achievable. Debt recovery remains a bane of the economy as many businesses renege on their commitments to financial institutions. What best practices would you suggest in tackling this? I believe that it a problem of a political risk economy. People were not sure what would happen so they would prefer to owe than to be owed. But with the political and the uncertainty fairly moved, the normal course of activity will surely resume and people would require replenishment of the productive sector. So if you are owing your supplier, you would begin to pay them so that you can get fresh supplies unless you want a complete break in your supply. I think there is reduction in debt profile. Two, I think that we should begin to ensure that agreement and contracts are being respected because most of these things happen because we are not respecting agreement and thirdly, the issue of enforcing these contracts. Many issues arise from the ability to enforce a contract and if a contract is not working and you want to get a relief from court or from the judicial system, it would take much longer than you would find out. We need to improve our judicial system that people can enforce their rights including ability to recover. I think, essentially it's a contractual thing. If people breach contract, you should be able to enforce your own right. There's no other way. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group is supposed to serve as a think tank but their impact hasn't been felt thus far. As a pioneer member of the group why do you think that NESG has been a lame duck of some sort? It is not true. The NESG has been a partner in supporting the reformation of our economic policies. When we started we were running an economy that was a closed shop. While we were trying to drive on the left, others were trying to drive to the right. But

â&#x20AC;˘Ohuabunwa

through the economic advocacy of the NESG, the country has opened up. We have joined the global best practices in the economic management. Economy has opened up from the regimented system where foreign exchange rate was fixed; trade was fixed to where we are now market determined to government controls all the levers of the economy to where we have a high private sector in economic management of the nation-through privatisation and deregulation. These came from the economic group of NESG, which focused on anti-corruption, education, wellbeing and healthcare. So, it's never a lame duck. The only thing you can say because changes have become institutionalised, nothing dramatic is happening. We have been preaching deregulation of the downstream sector we have gotten to a point where we were almost done. Until deregulation is completed, it

would look as if nothing is happening. We have dwelt on education and that had a lot of impact on education policies and we have taken issues one after the other in areas where we think that additional efforts should be provided. We are continuing our dialogue of advocacy. Unlike other advanced economies, Nigeria doesn't have a fair share of what you can call legacy companies i.e. those who outlive their owners. Why is this so? First is that we also have a young history of enterprise development because most of the enterprises were owned by foreigners. But starting from 1978 when indigenisation policy came, we find major enterprises that are locally owned by Nigerians. That's one major reason overall. The other is the fact that many of the enterprises that were started much earlier didn't adopt best business practices. A couple of them operated in informal sector, they didn't adopt proper business perpetration

principle. Some of them were run like family businesses and therefore best corporate governing principle were not applied. Things were done from one pocket to another. Structured planning was never made so that when the people die, struggle begins because no proper succession planning was made. Sometimes will were not properly written, we don't have the best managers. As such, lack of managerial expertise, corporate governance principle and no structure planning have been responsible for the quick demise of these businesses. But I think that has been corrected now because more indigenous companies like Dangote are been run like global businesses so they will succeed their founders. What are the quick wins you would suggest for the incoming government to drive the economy? First is that they should maintain the momentum in deregulation, they should complete the outstanding deregulation that would save money. Secondly, continue the privatisation efforts in the entire economy, especially in the power sector, complete the privatisation and take it to the downstream in the total value chain to the power sector. The other is to maintain focus on the policies and programmes that are already increasing locally produced food such as rice, cotton, variety of our products are on the offspring. The other is to sustain some of the policy initiatives in the productive sector, especially manufacturing. The focus on sustenance on SME, a lot of products at agricultural level which are in the market should be sustained to give credit to small and medium scale enterprises. I think that our major focus should be on job creation. Every policy that would promote job creation should be -and in everything we do -we should ask this question, how many jobs can this initiative bring? If that remains, we cannot fall below where we are now. The private sector was doing its business, there was loss of focus but the economy was not stagnant. Secondly, we may have lost in some areas. However, in the other areas where there was loss of focus, we also gained in other

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We should be much more active and determined to diversify the economy and that's the way so that we reduce our reliance because another cycle will come. We should not relax the efforts to diversify the economy, we should sustain development and this is where the efforts to have our excess crude account must -because it is from that excess account money was taken-and there could be other things that could be used to invest so that we diversify the economy for the excess crude account and that will help the country ultimatelyâ&#x20AC;?

areas because the totality of the economy is to make sure that economic activities are going on. So, if printers were printing more posters and were doing more -they are boosting the economy moreorless. If Nigerians who were unemployed had temporary employment as party agents, wealth is being redistributed in all areas, as such, there is no major loss in the economy. It is a rearrangement of activities. A few areas may have faced some reduction but I don't think the economy was stagnant and so we didn't lose anything significantly. If you had the opportunity of setting agenda for the incoming government what would be your focal point? First is to heal the nation because it seems like the country is divided into two from the way the elections went. The country is politically-divided. So, the first is to unite the country under one banner. We should deemphasise political affiliation. Of course, all of us are one country, we must demonstrate, break the barrier right now and bring everybody under one umbrella not just by mouth but by action because you would be creating camps and wherever you have camps, unity is on the run. We should find a way to unite Nigerians under one umbrella. Secondly, not to waste too much time looking back, there's so much work to be done. This is not the time to start saying what this person did and what the other person did not do, we should move forward because when you finish somebody will continue. Let us not waste time looking back, let's look forward and let's maintain momentum because lack of momentum kills momentum. I suggest that the incoming government should actively handle the economic issues and ensure that we don't lose momentum, avoid policy reversal because that's what is found to be wrong with Africans. You see a situation when one government comes, he says what the other government did is bad and wants to start afresh, that takes a lot of time. The good things the outgoing government has done, just build on that. Let us not waste time on unproductive inquest, let's move forward while we are checking to make sure that things were done right and correct. But let it not be a policy reversal that would not be in the interest of the nation. After all the dribbling and rigmarole nothing will happen, it's not good for the country at this time.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

S a topic that has been on my mind for months now, considering the over 20 brands of alcoholic herbal drinks in the market, one thing or the other has always held me back until recently when I got a press release from one of the giant competitors, Nigerian Breweries [NB], titled 'Why consumers prefer Ace Roots'. Should I just slam the story on Consumer Watch page? I pondered. Do consumers actually prefer Ace Roots and, if they do, why? Some reporters and myself decided to hit entertainment spots, drink bars, talk to distributors, retailers and generally consumers. Meanwhile, prior to the time Guinness Nigeria Plc stormed the market in 2013 with its premium Orijin spirit bitters and Orijin lager, we had over twenty brands of different alcoholic herbal mixtures in the market. Starting from the low class ones: Kparaga, Monkey shoulder, Kerewa, Kogbela, Ibile, Durosoke, Dadubule, Action Bitters, Koboko, Ogidigba, Baby Oku, Pasa Bitters, Osomo, to Alomo of higher class, among others. With the advent of Orijin lager from Guinness, everyone expected naturally that Nigerian Breweries will follow suit and industry watchers were not surprised when NB unveiled Ace Roots at a trade launch early last year. Guinness Nigeria Plc describes Orijin as a unique alcoholic blend with the flavours of African herbs, spices and fruits combined to give a refreshing bitter sweet taste. According to the makers, Orijin is made with neutral spirits, sugar, citric acids, trisodium citrate, caramel extracts, [naartire, chamomile, thyme, cinnamon and orange]. The Orijin beer also comes in similar composition with the addition of carbonated water, sodium benzoate, herbal and fruits. According to the Nigerian Breweries Sales Director, Hubert Eze, a bottle of Ace Roots contains only one cube of sugar, 6% alcohol and the mixture is not only flavoured but contains African herbs. "Ace Roots is of 14 natural fruits, herbs and spices. These are actual herbal extracts and not flavourings all mixed in a unique 60cl and sleek can with metalized labels," said Eze. Unfortunately, the major ingredients in most of the very low class ones are ethanol, caffeine and hemp in different proportions. Also, common in some of them is a dark substance called 'Muru' from the northern part of the country. 'Muru' is mainly used in the treatment of pile in that part of the country and is the main reason for the bitter taste of some of those products. The combination of ethanol and hemp in most of them is why they are highly intoxicating. From the survey carried out this reporter, there is a clear distinction between those who sell and patronise the other alcoholic herbal drinks from those who market and buy the ones from the stables of NB and Guinness. A majority of the highbrow shops, entertainment spots, and bars market mainly Ace Roots, Orijin products, and in some cases Alomo alcoholic bitters which is of Ghana origin. But the other alcoholic herbal drinks, though not found in fancy places, are everywhere, from the streets, parks, small shops, dingy bars, open markets etcetera and enjoy heavy patronage [especially Baby Oku] from those who consume them. One of the things Orijin has going for it is that it has been in the market long before Ace Roots. At one of the biggest bars in Enugu, 'Bush Bar' on Nza Street in the high brow Independence Layout, posters of Ace Roots and Orijin were conspicuously displayed. Sitting in an obscure corner with one of my friends, I observed that

Which alcoholic herbal drinks do consumers prefer?

the bar had more chairs, tables, mats etc from NB than any other brewery. This, the bar manager explained, was "one of the incentives of retailing NB products unlike Guinness sales marketers who are stingy with promotional items." Sighting a guy with a bottle of Ace Roots and drinking glass, I quickly moved to his table introducing myself. Explaining my mission, he relaxed and explained that he preferred Ace Roots because of its low sugar. "I have taken Orijin lager and enjoyed it but because I am diabetic; I opted for Ace Roots because of its purported low sugar content though I prefer the herbal taste of Orijin but hate the sugar content." Commenting on the disparity in price, a man who later introduced himself as Barrister Emeka Egbogu said that price does not really hinder a man from drinking what he wants. Interviewing the bar owner who only agreed to talk on the condition of anonymity, he advised the makers of Orijin to do a downward review of the price. While 60cl of Orijin lager sells for between N350-N400, the 30cl sells for N200 and NB's Ace Roots 60cl goes for N200. Moving to another highbrow entertainment spot in Enugu, 'E Bar' located at Upper Chime Avenue, New Haven, it was obvious again that NB marketers were doing a good job of furnishing the bars, though chillers from both Guinness and NB breweries were stocked full with all kinds of drinks. Again, some of the people interviewed complained about the price of Orijin lager and said though they like the taste, they opted for Ace Roots especially when they come to bars in the company of friends, meaning they have to spend more for the drinks to go round. "When I go to bars alone," explained

Engineer Eze of Enugu State University of Technology, "I relax with Orijin lager, but how can I afford it when I take people out? At such times, I buy either Harp or Ace Roots." In Lagos, however, people were more open and vocal. At 'Harrys Bar' at No, 20, Akintoye Street, Ikeja, posters of Ace Roots and Orijin adorned the bar, though there was Orijin lager, there was no Ace Roots in their chiller despite the fact that the bar owner is also a distributor for NB and Guinness. Surprised he had no Ace Roots in stock, he said that most people were not demanding for it because it is not good. "People do not like taste." "Though Orijin is more expensive, customers still prefer it because it has a better taste. When a product is good, even if you add more money to the price, customers will still go for it," intoned the bar manager. Explaining, he said that when Orijin lager first came into the market, it was selling for less than N200 but as the demand increased, the price also went up and people still buy it "despite the fact that we sell it at N350. "When you drink it, you taste the unique herbal taste, but Ace Roots has a harsh taste of Aspartame; it is like a food that is over salted and people have complained of diarrhoea after taking it." One of the managers of the bar, Blessing, added that some customers even claim that Ace Roots has more sugar than Orijin. Moving down to number 16 of the same street, occupied by one of the distributors of both NB and Guinness products, a male sales person, who introduced himself as Jide, said they stock more of Orijin lager than Ace Roots as people demanded Orijin drinks more than Ace, though he attributed this to low awareness. At Adekumbi Street, off Toyin Street, Ikeja, it was like a majority of them do not know about Ace Roots. At

a sales outlet "Enora Nig. Ltd", the owner of the place, Enora, said she has not heard of it and as such does not sell it. However, the two gentlemen drinking and sitting with her, Engineer Kosoko and Mr. Emma Okoye, confirmed they were aware of the drink. While Engineer Kosoko complained about the prices of both Orijin bitters and Orijin lager, Mr. Okoye disagreed with him, saying that the price of Orijin product was good value for the money. Sipping from a glass of Remmy Martins, he said, "I can even pay N1,000 for Orijin because I believe it is worth it." Directing me down the road to another bar, I was surprised not to find Ace Roots in stock. The proprietress said she has none in stock. Over seven middle aged men relaxing in the bar with different bottles of beer agreed to be aware of the existence of Ace Roots as a distributor of the drink on a nearby street, No 16, Akintoye Street, recently gave out Ace promotional gifts. Mr. Olufisoye Ogundairo said he prefers Orijin bitters whenever he wants to relax with his wife, but appealed to Guinness to come out with smaller ones as even the 20cl origin spirit drink sells for between N400 - N500 within that area. At Madate Spot, formerly called Virgin CafĂŠ, on 33, Oluwaleyim Street, Ikeja, though Orijin lager was stocked in the chiller, there was no sight of Ace Roots but the posters of both drinks and others decorated the bar. Why is it so? I queried Samuel Ntsi, the bar manager. "Ace Roots is not yet widespread unlike Orijin that has been in the market." How come you have the poster in your bar? "The sales marketers brought just the poster," he lamented. Sitting with a plastic bottle of Orijin Bitters and drinking glass beside him was a man who later introduced himself as Mr. F. A Bello, a retired journalist. "The one I drink is Orijin spirit bitters. It is better than Orijin lager or Ace

Roots. I drink it to control my pile, though it has not effectively done that. It is only suppressing it." About the price, he said it was quite okay. At one of the biggest bars in Lagos, 'Capitol Bar' at 41, Adebisi Awoshogba, Dopemu, spread on two plots of land, a customer with a bottle of Orijin lager on his table had this to say: "I like everything about Orijin. It is the best drink, good market sells itself." Speaking with the manager Ifeanyi Eze, he said he had loads of Ace Roots and Orijin as customers demanded for them but he confirmed that Orijin was in higher demand "maybe because Ace Roots is still new in the market." Debunking claims of Orijin causing headache or Ace causing diarrhoea, he said they were not common occurrences. Commending NB on how they manage entertainment outlets, he said it was something Guinness was still struggling to learn. On the price of Orijin, he said that people like it so much that they do not complain about the price. However, the many drinkers at 'IK Destiny Bar' at No 8, Adesina Street, Akowonjo, vehemently spoke against both the price of Orijin and the taste. "I prefer everything about Ace roots to Orijin Lager," said the bar owner, Mr. Ikechukwu. "When you open a bottle of Ace Roots, you get sparks unlike Orijin lager that will not react. When you taste Ace Roots, it gingers in your mouth and the price is very reasonable." Pointing to an NB van across the road in front of the bar, he explained that the sales man will hang out and monitor events in the bars around, unlike the staff of other breweries. "Guinness staff do not monitor bars, they do not give out promotional gifts. They only paste posters and when you request for the drink in the posters they will tell you, they do not have it." One of the customers in his bar simply called Tim said he prefers Ace Roots because of the taste. "If you are taking it, it sparks in the mouth and it makes the mouth ginger." (I guess ginger is the new slang attributed to Ace Roots). Another customer in the same bar, Mr. Kokomiloko David, said that Orijin drink is too sugary and does not vibrate in the mouth and gives him heart burn. "It is not strong enough and I will advise them to bring the price down." However, Olarenwaju Olawunmi said if given all these drinks, he will choose Baby Oku. "I have never heard of Ace roots but my first choice will be Baby Oku then Orijin bitters and Alomo because they are good for "Jedijedi" (pile). At FAAB Investments Ltd, 128, Akowonjo Rd, a big distributor of alcoholic drinks and beverages from both NB and Guinness Nig, Plc, the manager said that people prefer Orijin to Ace Roots not just because Orijin has been in the market for a longer time but because of the taste and bottle design. "If we bring four trucks of Orijin drink which translates to 700 crates, we will finish selling them in less than one week but we struggle to sell just one truck of Ace Roots in one week," said the manager. Samuel Ogundele. "When Orijin drink first came out, we could not meet the high demand for both the lager and the spirit drink. Orijin lager tastes better than Ace Roots which has a fancy after-taste. Orijin has a natural herbal taste and contains natural sugar while Ace Roots has artificial aspartame taste. It is Orijin all the way!" The fact on ground is that Orijin drinks are still quite popular and distributors and retailers are smiling to their banks. However, what Ace Roots has going for it is the price of N200, but a majority of consumers still prefer Orijin lager even with the price. The herbal taste is what they like.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

OW did you start the business? The business started from my living room. Then, I did not have the resources to rent an office. The business is a service oriented business and the experience and connections that I had built was very crucial. Also it was at the point when mobile telephone came on board and it made things easy for me. I started small, made some profits and gradually the business began to grow. I was the only the only staff and I did virtually everything on my own. Today, I have about 40 people employed in the organization and I have not reached the limit, we are expanding all the time. It was also easy because I wasn't married at that point and there was little or no pressure on my time and the little resources at my disposal. My house didn't have much traffic and I had a lot of energy to pursue my clients, did the adverts and pushed the business from zero to something big and better. When we were getting bigger, we had to move out to get a better space. What motivated you to go into this line of business? I studied Estate Management and did my Youth service at the Ministry of Lands and Survey in Taraba state and from there, I got a contract job with Shell in Warri. I was there and learnt some things that I later found to be useful on the job. Interestingly, it had nothing to do with real estate. Like every young man when you get out of school you just want a job with good money. When I worked there, I saw the money but I was not inspired. Then I moved to Wokom Estates in Owerri, where I was able to put the things I learnt into Action. I also worked with Diya Fatimilehin and another company before setting up my own company. Like every other business, it has it challenges but you must be dedicated and have a focus. Property business is an entirely different ballgame and it is different from other types of business. The most important thing is the person behind the property business. I would say that the inspiration came when I was doing my Youth service in Taraba State, where we did some community service and we were involved in small competitions in school but on a very small scale. There are a lot of non professionals in this sector, how do you cope with them? When we started in this area, we had an association called (ERCAN) Estate Rents Agents Commission Association of Nigeria. The touts were on ground in other local government areas but in Ago Okota area, it was a dead zone for them. Then the founding fathers came together and made it more formal and I became the president of the organisation. That was about five years ago. We worked with the national body of the association and we got support from the police and other stake-

'All an entrepreneur needs to succeed is stay focused' Emeka Ikwuagwu is the Chief Executive Officer, Holmes Viu Properties Limited, with interest in property development, mortgage and brokers. Interestingly, he started the business about fifteen years ago from his living room with little resources. The road to success was very rough but with determination and perseverance he conquered poverty. Now, the most important thing on his mind is how to give back to the society and he wants to catch them young. He shared his vision and mission with Yetunde Oladeinde

â&#x20AC;˘Ikwuagwu holders in the area. Those who were not registered came on board and my regime brought a lot of changes and a lot of transformation was achieved. What advice would you give young people who want to start a business of their own? The advice I would give young people is that you must understand the nature of the course that you have chosen or studied. Then the next thing would be to know what is required to set up a business in that line. Of course, there are some businesses that you just cannot practice on your own after school without capital. Then there are others that like estate management which is service-oriented and would not require too much capital at the beginning. So it is important to know and understand the nature of the business that you are going into as well as how to make the best use of the resources available to excel. We all know that employment is difficult and so if you can have a focus, get serious and start planning early instead of using all the time writing applications here and there. If you have the opportunity to become an em-

ployer of labour, you must also be hardworking and consistent. It is the consistency that you show that would take you to the next level and make others to have confidence in what you can do or offer. The trying period at the beginning is just a temporary phase, never give up but always be determined. If you do this the sky would not even be you limit as you go on with your dream and passion. So how do you intend to give back to the community? Now, we have grown to become men and God helping us to assist the environment where we have grown in the past 15 years. So we are going to give back to the society as our social corporate responsibility. And of course, this is another way to help the government because the government cannot do it alone. The company has done a number of things for the community. But there is a project we are working on and it is powered by Holmes Viu Properties Limited. It is tagged: 'Interschool competition' and it has three categories which included educational, sports and

culture. Under education, we have debates and essays. Under sports, we have football, high jump and table tennis, hundred meters dash and four by four hundred meters. Then we also further categorise it into male and female. It involves both the public and private schools, all within Isolo and Oshodi local government areas. The educational sector would also improve the reading culture which a lot of people have been talking about and trying to improve. When we have interschool and intra school competitions, a lot of talents would be discovered. If you are a champion in your school, you get more skills, improve your level and get prepared for more competition. While the students are improving, the teachers' skills are also enhanced because learning is a continuous process. Once you have been selected, you would also go through some training that would help to take them to the next level. We have cups, medals, plaques, certificates, financial rewards and it is going to be an annual event. When we do this successfully then we can replicate it in other local government areas as well as take it to other states like Abia where I come from. Who would you consider as your mentor or role model? My mentor would be very surprised. He is the CEO of Wokoma Associate. He has his head office in Port Harcourt and he gave my first job as a residence manager. I had no experience but he told me that he had known my record from school and he wanted me to manage his Owerri branch which had a contract with Shell. I was an inexperienced young man who was given a big portfolio and that opened my eyes to a lot of things. That was when computerization started and Shell was converting their manual library to electronic library. I worked with the company that got the contract and it opened my eyes to the opportunities available via internet. Apart from him, another great influence in my life is my wife. She always gives me the push when things look dull and discouraging. God is the father of all and He works through somebody, I am sure God is the one using her for me.

Institute to Buhari: ensure growth of SMEs

HE Institute of Credit Administration (ICA) has challenged the president-elect to boost the growth and development of the small and medium scale enterprises in the country. In a statement issued by the Registrar/ Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, Professor Chris Onalo, he said, the only way for the operators in the sector can contribute their quota to the accelerated growth of the economy is if they are given the necessary incentives. In the statement, which reads in part, Onalo said: "Every day across Nigeria, dozens of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) go bankrupt as their invoices are not paid. As a result jobs are lost and business opportunities remain unexploited, stalling the country's return to economic growth." To stem this tide, there is need for the presidentelect, to set agenda for combating late payment in commercial transactions throughout the country, he said. "The government on her own part must compel her ministries, departments and agencies and other authorities to pay for goods and services supplied by SMEs within three weeks or, in very exceptional circumstances, within 30 days. "Definitely, part of the problems that undermine the growth of SMEs is that they find it particularly difficult to stand up for their right to prompt payment; late payments mean SMEs lose time and money. This damaging late payment culture has to end so as to give SMEs the vital support they need in these difficult times and helping them fulfill their key role in job and wealth creation." Timely access to cash is critical for SME business success and therefore there must be a condition for every government contract that SME contractors must be paid within 30 days and this should be passed down the supply chain, he maintained. "Today, the council of the Institute of Credit Administration (ICA), the body charged with the responsibility for setting standards and monitoring the activities of those who give, take, manage and facilitate credits, call on the incom-

â&#x20AC;˘Prof. Onalo

ing administration of General Muhammadu Buhari to pledge and establish policy commitment to increase support for Nigeria's small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) by equally calling on big businesses in the country to adopt similar prompt payment policy (PPP) in favour of SMEs. As it is known all over the world, prompt payment is crucial to smaller companies survival." Besides, he said: "There must be a policy of paying bills involving supplies and other business transactions that has been carried out by SMEs for big companies, starting with the government within one to two weeks from the date that they submit their invoice. When work has been done, especially by an SME, it is just inexcusable not to pay up quickly for that service or supply. On our own part as Nigeria's national body for credit management, we will be keeping a close eye on how government and the big companies pay their SME contractors. "SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy, their innovation, speed and flexibility is vital for sustainability. Government economic policy must be designed to accommodate how important cash flow is for the SMEs. Your government should take significant steps to ensure that SMEs continue to deliver the innovation and flexibility in our match toward Nigeria's economic independence and prosperity."

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

INTERVIEW

‘Yes, some miracles are stage-managed’ M

OST prophecies given before the presidential election turned to be untrue. Do you think people will want to believe prophecies again? You cannot explain some certain scriptural matters. I read it online that I said President Goodluck Jonathan will win the election. That was a lie from the pit of hell. I never said that. Even the Sunday after the elections, I still repeated it in church that he will not win we should pray that General Muhammadu Buhari will rule. Having said that, I don’t expect people to judge those who prophesied since they had given those that came to before. Do you see Nigerians getting the change they clamour for? In the next six months, General Buhari may have problems because the expectations are too high. All they want is Buhari to put gold on their table. Most of the people who voted for him are youths and youths are impatient; they want result. They don’t believe in progressive change; they want change. Buhari foot soldiers are former PDP members and people are still defecting. He has not seen the reality of how big the situation. I don’t see any change in Nigeria; what I see is a breath of fresh air. The APC is going to have problem with the footmen of President Jonathan who feel they must cling to power and remain relevance.

The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry Auchi, Edo State, Apostle Johnson Suleman, spoke to Adetutu Audu on the last elections and sundry issues. Excerpts: Have you had to face challenges for giving prophecies in the past? People have this impression that I’m a fighter but I’m not. But I hate people who are double-faced. I don’t like people who are arrogant and I hate lies. Maybe because I’m outspoken, people misread me. I think the only challenge I have really faced is when people you trusted backstab you. Every other thing, I feel normally comes with running a ministry. And they don’t hit me below the belt because I know people have been through them. But the only thing that has shocked me is about certain trusted friends who turn their backs to backstab you. These are certain friends in the ministry who know you very well to be a man of God and know you to be of God; but because they are jealous, they go to the press and sponsor stories against you and present you as a mischievous person. One of the things generating controversy is the issue of tithes and donations. Should churches rely on tithe and donations? Nobody put a gun on your neck that you should pay tithe; it is voluntary. What the Bible said is that you should give one tenth of your incomes to God. And that is why I said pastors

Udom attributes victory to God

T was all singing, dancing and jubilation at Qua Iboe Church, Ikot Ekpene road, Uyo last Sunday when Akwa Ibom governor-elect, Udom Emmanuel, led his campaign team to give thanks to God. Emmanuel said he was in the church to fulfill a vow he made to God during the electioneering season to see him through. The governor-elect, who is a Deacon of the church, said: “I came here today to sing, dance and worship my God who sent his son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and saw us through a tedious campaign with resounding victory.” He attributed his victory to God’s handiwork, saying it would ensure continuity and consolidation as well as industrialisation and job creation in the state. The governor-elect thanked voters for their sup-

From Uyoatta Eshiet, Uyo

port and reiterated the desire to fulfill his electioneering promises. Governor Godswill Akpabio, who was represented by his deputy, Lady Valerie Ebe, commended the people for electing a Godfearing and well experienced leader with the capacity to surpass the uncommon achievements of his administration. He assured that Udom will not disappoint on his campaign promises and urged all to continue pray for the government at all levels in the country. In his exhortation, Rev. Ibup Emah, charged Christians to live above board and always rely on God for all their aspirations in life. He maintained that authorities belong to God and He gives power to whoever He pleases.

• Suleman

don’t need a private jet. The last time I said it, I got a sledge hammer on my head. Most ministerial operations have been abused. There are widows and orphans in that church and you know how much a pilot earns as well as the landing fee to park an

aircraft. It will look as milking the society as it were, if you are talking about donations, such donations still go back to the church. For instance, we have auditors who audit us from time to time. Most times they dis-

covered that the expenditures are more that the incomes and they ask questions. I tell them some friends who are not members of the church and want to do something for the church; I call my PA and get the list of things to be done. And I said you can handle this scholarship or that school fees. And some of the tellers of these school fees are brought back to the church. When auditors see them, they get confused but we are so organised that they can be traced that it was not from the church treasury. So, those giving are not under pressure at all. When you are in a church where everybody is wealthy, I don’t have a problem. But when there are widows, orphans and those in need in the church I do have a problem with getting jets. Nobody can claim to be wealthy when you see people in need. Most of these aircrafts are not even brand new, they are dead traps. Another area of controversy is the exorbitant fees charged by schools run by churches. What is your view? Setting up institution is a social service. There are certain people you cannot reach until you go into social service. I am not against setting up of schools; there are some people who will not come to church but they can send

their children to the school. Through that they get character reformation and come in contact with the word. Where I have a problem is in outrageous fees. But most churches operate on standard. And they know why those fees are charged. Some say miracles are stage-managed. Any reaction to this? Some people’s motive is fame. Look at Pastor Adeboye he was a university lecturer before he was called. I have problem with people who don’t have a background before they come into ministry. They don’t understand process; they just want to fly. People who just picked their bible and said they are trained by the Holy Spirit. So, yes some miracles are stage managed because the testimonies of the people don’t correlate. But there cannot be stage- managed miracles if there are no real miracles. There is no fake N2000 because there is no original. Most people who fake miracles don’t have the fear of God and they are not even close to being a Christian. But I have seen raw miracles in my life. When my wife gave birth to our last child, she died. I mean certified dead. I prayed and she came back to life. Miracles happen every day.

NEWS

Atilade tasks president-elect on social welfare

HE Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), South West region, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, has charged presidentelect, General Muhammadu Buhari, to focus more on expanding health care facilities, improving the standard of education and the general

By Adeola Ogunlade

welfare of Nigerians. Atilade, in a chat with our correspondent, said healthcare, education and the general welfare are three major projects that could touch average citizens. He urged Buhari to focus his attention on them to uplift Nigerians.

Atilade, who is also the President of Christian Welfare Initiative (CWI), stated that the welfare programmes of the incoming administration must be pursed no matter the odds. He stressed that the general conditions of many Nigerians are lamentable and condemnable simply because few people in gov-

ernment circles are feeding fat on the commonwealth. According to him: “The incoming administration must work assiduously to ameliorate the suffering of the common man by tackling corruption and celebrating hard work, ingenuity, adventure, character and skills at all level of governance.”

Repent or face destruction, cleric warns politicians, church leaders A CLERIC and founder of Glorious Fountain of Rest Ministries, Prophet Kingsley Durojaiye, has warned corrupt politicians and church leaders to repent or be prepared for divine destruction. Durojaiye stated that a feast of death awaits recalcitrant political and religious leaders within the space of nine months from now. Speaking with journalists in Lagos, Durojaiye, who is based in United

By Kunle Akinrinade

States of America, USA, said: “God has told me that Nigeria is not in a good condition. However, it is time our leaders desist from misleading and punishing the innocent souls or otherwise, be ready to encounter the wrath of God in no time.” “He (God) said I should inform every corrupt leader, both present and past, to have a change of heart or be

ready to face God’s wrath because they are making Him unhappy. “He has made plans to end the lives of any corrupt political or church leader with mysterious death. He said they would smell and decay till death.’’ Durojaiye was also angry that some church leaders using their congregants for personal aggrandizement. He said: “They are not

teaching their members about the kingdom of God but posterity. They would build universities that their congregants cannot afford to send their children to because of the exorbitant fees. “Many of them boast that they have never been broke in their life while their congregants languish in abject poverty to the displeasure of God. “It is high time church leaders changed their misguided conduct or face the wrath of God.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

WORSHIP

Baptists set Owerri N ‘ablaze’

O fewer than 15,000 delegates drawn from across the nation gathered at Obinze in Owerri, capital of Imo State, last week for the 102 annual convention of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC). The theme of the convention was moving forward: Working and praying for peace. The event featured bible studies, song ministration, business sessions as well as specialised workshops. NBC’s President, Dr Supo Ayokunle, harped on the imperatives of peace, stating that no appreciable progress can be recorded in an atmosphere of chaos. He applauded Nigerians for keeping the peace before, during and after the general

By Sunday Oguntola

elections, saying such peaceful attitudes would move the nation forward. In his speech to the delegates, he said the church has been making appreciable impact across the nation, especially in the north through provision of aids and supports to Boko Haram victims. Ayokunle also said hospitals and schools owned by the church have continued to receive support for delivery of social services to the poor masses almost at no cost. He debunked insinuations in certain quarters that the

church is mainly for Yorubas, stating that there are local assemblies of Baptist Church across the nooks and crannies of the nation. While applauding members for sustained evangelical efforts, Ayokunle said there were still many grounds to cover, calling on them to redouble their efforts to win the nation for Christ. Governor Rochas Okorocha, who attended the session as a special guest, praised the church for choosing to meet in Imo State. He appreciated Baptists’ dedication to peace, stating that their prayers have helped to steer the ship of the nation.

•Some devotees of Olumbu Olumbu at the convention in Calabar... recently

The change Nigerians voted, by cleric

HE President of Joyful Smiles Foundation, a f a i t h - b a s e d nongovernmental organisation, Pastor Tayo Kayode, has appealed to the incoming administration to deliver on its change mantra. He said Nigerians expect nothing short of changes at personal and national levels in the next four years. Kayode, in a letter to the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, said Nigerians are tired of decaying infrastructure, failed promises and poor standards of living. This, he said, was why they massively voted for the Buhari/Osinbanjo’s ticket in March 28. According to him: “Indeed, this is a victory for the common man on the streets, victory for every Nigerian,

By Sunday Oguntola

victory for democracy and victory for change. “This victory has shown that there is hope for our great country Nigeria and that the vote of the voters now counts. We have now entered into that new era.” Listing areas that Buhari should concentrate on, the cleric said: “Nigerians need transparency and revival in the oil sector.” He urged the president-elect to shun political interests and appoint only credible and competent men into his cabinet as ministers. Kayode also urged the incoming administration to fight corruption and fix the power sector, saying the epileptic supply in the nation was embarrassing. Nigerians, he said, want Buhari to “reduce the nation’s dependency on crude oil for rev-

enue. Block and eliminate wastages, reduce numbers of federal Ministries where possible, develop other sectors to account for about 50% of our total revenue yield. Nigerians want to see you diversifying the economy.” On telecommunication, he called for stoppage of exploitation by operators, saying the consumers must be protected to get value for money. To achieve all of these, he urged Buhari to lead by surrounding himself with “tacticians, strategic planners made up of intellectuals, economists, security experts, agriculture gurus, sport giants, radical politicians, technocrats, educationists, medical and health administrations, engineers and administrators that share the same change vision to start the preliminary plans for your administration now.”

Obu preaches peace, tolerance at convention

VER 200,000 members of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS), popularly known as Olumba, recently converged in Cross Rivers state for a weeklong convention with the theme The powerful remnants. Clad in all-white, the devotees came from North America, Europe and all parts of Africa to receive blessings from the leader of the Sect, Father Olumba Olumba Obu. All the adjoining roads to Ambo Street were blocked and vehicular activities re-

By Medinat Kanabe

stricted. Security was tight at the venue with policemen assisted by the security team of the sect parading the premises. . The convention started every day after the morning devotion followed by activities of the Universal women and men’s fellowship. There was also a public lecture and exhibition at the BCS Museum followed by a visit to the Redeemed home of the Orphans. The explosive praise session on Friday was followed by a feast

of Passover conducted by Father Olumba Obu. Obu, in his sermon, urged the gathering to emulate Christ by showing love and tolerance to everyone around them. He called for peace through forgiveness. According to him: “You are the powerful remnants in the world and you have to show true love to all creatures. Never judge or condemn anybody.” The convention ended with a procession across the streets of Calabar.

COLUMN

Living Faith By Dr. David Oyedepo

Invoking the miracle power of praise!

IFE is a battlefield and not a playground; it is a warfare not a funfair. Essentially, the battles of life are spiritual and they operate in form of spells, enchantments, generational curses and satanic manipulations. It is written: Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw…four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What [be] these? And he answered me, These [are] the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And the LORD shewed me four carpenters. Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles…(Zechariah 1:18-21. See also Ephesians 6:12; 2Corinthians 10:3-5). The horns of the Gentiles are the wicked forces manipulating the destinies of men. However, we must understand that God’s presence is the master key to a world of breakthroughs and praise is the medium through which we invoke His presence. All barriers on the path to our Promised Land are cleared off at the instance of His presence through our praises, because God inhabits the praises of His people and if He is with us, no one can be against us (Rom. 8:31; Psalm 22:3). Also, we must understand that praise is what to do in any situation or circumstance, when we don’t know what else to do. This is because it is only what can resist God that can resist the power of praise. For instance, we learn from scriptures that when Judah was confronted by three nations and they engaged the weapon of praise, God set

ambushments against those nations who helped to destroy one another and Judah prevailed. This means that praise is our strongest weapon for victory against the toughest battles of life (2 Chronicles 20:1-25). When we praise God in any situation or circumstance, He steps into our affairs and opens new chapters to our destinies (Habakkuk 3:17-19; See also Deut. 28:1). Why do we engage in Praise? Praise is one of the principal commands for supernatural breakthroughs: We must understand that while natural breakthroughs are limited to the human realm, supernatural breakthroughs have no human limitations. As it written: Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him (Psalm 67:5-7). ‘Fearful blessings connote supernatural breakthroughs. It is the platform for the rise of giants and nobles in the Kingdom: From Jeremiah 30:19-21, we understand that engaging our hearts in celebrating God makes celebrities out of nonentities. For instance, David praised God on the field to the point that when the king needed someone to play the harp in the palace, he was recommended. In addition, when the Israelites needed a king, David was not considered by men, but he was God’s candidate. That means in the midst of praise, God turns His celebrators into celebrities, nonentities into nobles and makes those without identity, governors (1 Samuel 16:1-23). It is the covenant platform for the rise of new generation Abraham: Abraham is a symbol of supernatural break-

through in scriptures. We understand from scriptures that at the age of 75, God launched him into his journey of greatness. It is also worthy of note that “worship” was the mystery behind the rise of Abraham into a world of unlimited breakthroughs. For instance, when he went to the mountain to sacrifice his son, he told his servants that he and the lad were going to worship God. That means worship was Abraham’s lifestyle. The Bible also says that Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; because he was fully persuaded that God would perform what He had promised (Genesis 22:5-18; Romans 4:1921). We must understand that the battles of life are real, but our God is more real. When we invoke His presence through praise, He intervenes in our favour and our breakthroughs are guaranteed. Thus, it is only what God cannot do that can withstand the power of praise in any battle. That is what makes praise the ultimate spiritual weapon available to the redeemed in any battle of life. Friend, the power to access the above qualities, is for those saved. You get saved by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. If you are not saved, you can do so right now, as you pray this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books— Wonders Of Praise and Understanding The Power Of Praise. I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. respectively. I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

NEWS

Paths to supernatural harvest, by Idahosa, Okonkwo, others

so.

T was tagged a word explosion and it turned out to be rightly

Speakers after speakers delivered the undiluted word of God for three days recently during the Word explosion conference of The Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju Lagos. They stressed that only strict reliance on the infallible word of God will usher in supernatural harvest, which was the theme of the annual conference. The presiding Bishop of the Church of God Mission, Benin City, Edo State, Archbishop Margaret Idahosa, kicked off the conference with secrets of walking in

By Sunday Oguntola

supernatural harvest. Mama Idahosa, as she is fondly called, punctuated her message with anecdotes from her personal experience as a young widow and how she forged ahead after her husband, the enigmatic Bishop Benson Idahosa, passed on. She said the word has the capacity to offer direction and offer soothing relief as well as comfort during the times of grief. President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Rev. Felix Omobude, spoke on the importance of persevering on the word of God. Those who dare to wait on the word to deliver its boun-

ties, he said, never retrogress but flourish. He said with patience, the word of God will come true for as many that brave the odds to wait. The presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Dr Mike Okonkwo, delicately balanced the brazen style of his message with softness. He taught on grace, restoration and God’s unfailing love. The Senior Pastor of the church, Taiwo Odukoya, rounded off the conference with a timely message on God’s infinite ability and the Christian’s prerogative to live in a world of God- given possibilities.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26 , 2015 CHANGE OF NAME DURU

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME AGBAGWU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Duru, Chioma Josephine, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Njoku, Chioma Josephine. All former documents remain valid. ESUT, NYSC and general public take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Agbagwu, Augustina Ogonne, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Maduka Augustina Ogonne. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

BANJO

CHUKWU

EGWUEKWE

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TABEMONSO

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I formerly known and addressed as Banjo Enitan Aina, now wish to be known and addressed as Jaji Enitan Aina. All former documents remain valid. General public take note. I formerly known and addressed as MISS IFEOMA MARYANN EGWUEKWE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. IFEOMA MARYANN UDEZEH. All former documents remain valid general public take note. I formerly known and addressed as Miss Tabemonso, Bertille, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bertille Bernard Ntui. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

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ANACHUNA

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GRILLO

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LAWAL

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AKINDUTIRE

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RAJI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Fasilat Adejumoke Raji, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fasilat Adejumoke Babalola Salau. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

ONUORAH

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ADEWUNMI

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SULAIMON

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ABEL

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OSOMA

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OZOMADU

OSIBOKO

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ABIONA

CHANGE OF NAME FOLORUNSO

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OPASINA

UKOT

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ADETUNJI

GOGO

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ONWUCHEKWA

KALU

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ELEWA

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OGUNGBEMI

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NNAJI

CHANGE OF NAME

SULE

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Moruff Kazeem Tunde is the same person as Moruff Kazeem now wish to be known and addressed as Moruff Kazeem Tunde all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

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CORRECTION OF NAME I AKINOLA OLATUNBOSUN AREMU that I was offer admission to Osun State Polytechnic Iree, my name was registered as AKINOLA OLATUNBOSUN TITUS, AKINOLA OLATUNBOSUN TITUS is the same person as AKINOLA OLATUNBOSUN AREMU, Osun State Polytechnic Iree and General public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME I YUSUF SAHEED ADEBAYO that in my Primary School Certificate issued to me and my name was registered as ADEBAYO SAHEED, that my name NECO 2007 with Examination No. 70756813JD my name was registered as YUSUF SAHEED O. In my National Diploma (ND) result, my name was registered as ADEBAYO YUSUF S. that I am the one bearing above named mentioned and am the rightful owner of all the Document mentioned above, Osun State Polytechnic Iree, NYSC and General public should please take note.

ARUKWE

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ONUOHA

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SHITTU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Shittu Taiwo Sherifat now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Ademuyiwa Taiwo Sherifat. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note. TIJANI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Tijani Safiat Kofoworola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Ademoye Safiat Kofoworola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

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NWANKWO: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss NWANKWO FLORENCE OGE now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. IFEDIGBO FLORENCE OGE . Former documents remain valid. Nigeria Immigration Service and general public please take note.

PHILLIPS: I formerly Known and addressed as Miss Ibironke Phillips , now wish to be Known and addressed as Ibironke Bankole-Phillips. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note.

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NDUAGUBA: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss NDUAGUBA DORATHY NWANNEKA now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. ANWASIA DORATHY NWANNEKA. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Folorunsho Muyiwa Emmanuel is the same person as Folorunsho Muyiwa now wish to be known and addressed as Folorunsho Muyiwa Emmanuel all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

EZEONU: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss EZEONU CHIOMA ROSEMARY now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. NDULUE CHIOMA ROSEMARY. All former documents remain valid. U.N.N Nsugbe Campus; N.Y.S.C and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Shittu Afeez Olawale is the same as Shittu Afees Babatunde and Shittu Afeez Wale now wish to be known and addressed as Shittu Afeez Olawale all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME

OLUKOGBON I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olukogbon Roselina Olubukola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Adeosun Roselina Olubukola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

EMEKA I, formerly known and addressed as Adika Martins Emeka now wish to be known and addressed as Adika Martins Tochukwu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

BELLO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Bello Agbon Eunice now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Jimmy Agbon Eunice. All former documents remain valid. Eat N' Go Ltd. and general public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Adegboyega Deborah Oluwafumilayo is the same person as Adegboyega Deborah O. Now wish to be known and addressed as Adegboyega Deborah Oluwafumilayo all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to notify that my name OKOLO CHINYERE HOPE, was wrongly written as OKORO CHINYERE, I therefore wish to maintain my name as OKOLO CHINYERE HOPE. All former documents remain valid. MS Transworld Investment Securities Ltd and the general public take note.

I ADEYEMO ADEWALE ADESOLA that I sat for WAEC 2014 my name was registered as ADEYEMO ADEWALE SUCCESS on my WAEC result my rightful name is ADEYEMO ADEWALE ADESOLA is the same person as ADEYEMO ADEWALE SUCCESS, Osun State Polytechnic Iree and General public should please take note.

AJAYI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olufunmilayo Omolara Ajayi now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs.Olufunmilayo Omolara Jegede. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

DARANIWON I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Daraniwon Nurat Alaba now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ligali Nurat Alaba. All former documents remain valid. Ikosi-Ejirin LCDA, Lagos State Local Government Service Commission, Lagos State Government and general public please take note.

AKANDE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akande Toyin Janet now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Imokhe-Akande Toyin Janet. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Isijola Omolade Ayo is the same as Isijola Ayo Omolade now wish to be known and addressed as Isijola Omolade Ayo all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olufunmilayo Omolara Ajayi, now wish to be known as Mrs. Olufunmilayo Omolara Jegede. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

YAKUBU

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Yakubu Hafsat O. Now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amzat Hafsat Yakubu, all former documents remain valid general public take note.

ADEFILA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adefila Idayat Adebukolanow wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adefila-Sanni Idayat Adebukola. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

NNADOZIE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nnadozie Agatha Amaka now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chukwudoziri Agatha Chukwuamaka. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss NNAJI , JOY NKEMAKOLAM, now wish to be known as Mrs. NNADOZIE JOY NKEMAKOLAM all former documents remain valid general public please take note.

AJAYI

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Omololu Azeezat Omobolanle is the same person as Omololu Asisat Alesinladu now wish to be known and addressed as Omololu Azeezat Omobolanle all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Ajayi Oluwadunsin Emmanuel is the same person as Ajayi Oluwadunsin Ade now wish to be known and addressed as Ajayi Oluwadunsin Emmanuel all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I Olagbenjo Oluwatosin Elizabeth is the same person as Olagbenjo Elizabeth Tosin now wish to be known and addressed as Olagbenjo Oluwatosin Elizabeth all former documents remain valid Osun State Polytechnic Iree and general public take note.

MBACHU: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss MBACHU CHIEMEKA now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. EZEOKOLI CHIEMEKA. All former documents remain valid. N.Y.S.C and general public please take note. UDEH: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss UDEH ESTHER UZOMA now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. NSIANYA ESTHER UZOMA. All former documents remain valid. ESUT, Enugu; N.Y.S.C and general public take note. ABIDOYE I, formerly known and addressed as Dr. Abidoye Sunday Omoniyi now wish to be known and addressed as Dr. Dele David Sunday Omoniyi. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Immigration Service and general public please take note. OBADINA I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adesola Modupe Obadina now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adesola Modupe Erinfolami. All former documents remain valid. IBTC Pension Board, Lagos State government and general public please take note.

SANNI: I formerly known and addressed as Miss Sanni Fatima Yetunde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Liasu Fatima Yetunde All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note. OTOKI: I formerly known and addressed as, Miss Yetunde Evelyn Otoki, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Yeyunde Evelyn Arabi. All former documents remain valid. The general public please take note. OLOWOKERE: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olowokere Olubisi Deborah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Oke Olubisi Deborah. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. EDOZIE: I, formerly known and addressed as Miss chianu Ezinwa Edozie, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Chianu Ezinwa Akukwe . All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. ADETOMIWA: I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adetomiwa Aderoju Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Akande Aderoju Ajoke. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and the general public should please take note. CONFIRMATION OF NAME I known and addressed as, Dr Ude Ugwu is the same person as Dr Dave Ude Ugwu. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note. AMINAT I formerly known and addressed as Olajumoke Adeleke Aminat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olajumoke Oluwatoyin Adeleke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH

Ekweremadu: Beauty, brains and character

ewabara@yahoo.com

08055001948

Common mistakes

LL The common mistakes below and much more are contained in this section, with detailed explanations where necessary. This conspectus is just to whet your appetite ahead of syntactic surgeries (a la Prof. Adidi Uyo of Unilag)! Most of the mistakes in the print and electronic media are the manifestations of carelessness, loose thinking and ignorance. We must be consistent in the use of either British or American English—mixing up both variants in any lexical environment shows slipshoddiness. Also note that most media audiences are sticklers for purism. For those in this finicky and fastidious class, any egregrious slip counts. Unfortunately, most people who commit these facile and fallacious blunders are persons who should know but because incorrigibility has affected them they have become ignoramuses! Why, for instance, should some journalists describe themselves as ‘media practitioners’ instead of ‘media professionals’ or ‘mass communication practitioners’? Doctors and lawyers practise medicine and law, respectively, clearly unlike the fourth estate. I am not a linguistic diagnostician, but I can perform lexical and structural surgeries and make efficacious pharmacological/therapeutic recommendations based on knowledgeable familiarity with errors (and some of their typologies) that border on grammar, logic and rhetoric, which I had referred to elsewhere in this column as the pillars of the English language—get them right and you are on course. Finally, I am more concerned here with the practical aspect of the English language than its critical theoretical underpinnings which are available in all standard textbooks and easily accessible. This work is a stop-gap exercise for quick resolutions of daily grammatical challenges. From my own personal experiences and encounters with people, most exonormative language users prefer easy-to-read-andfollow summaries to usually massive, boring and complex theoretical methodicalness! This is hoping that I am not inadvertently encouraging intellectual slothfulness by this remedial quick-fix intervention! For starters, let’s proceed with the following tips of the iceberg in this age of modern English:

Pool resources together

Pool resources

Majority of us

A/the majority of us

Media practitioner

Media professional

Counsels

Counsel

Opportuned

Opportune/ Opportunity

Offsprings

Offspring

Invest on something

Invest in something

At a/the crossroad

At a/the crossroads

In the continent

On the continent

Junks

Junk

Conspicuously absent

Absent

Secret ballot

Ballot

Test run (noun) (as verb)

Test

Don’t pull my legs

Don’t pull my leg

The faithfuls

The faithful

Strike action

Strike

Congratulations Congratulations for on/upon Potentials

Potential/ Potentialities

Log of wood

Log

Cutleries

Cutlery

Stationeries

Stationery

Beddings

Bedding

Loots

Loot

Luxurious bus

Luxury bus

Repeat again

Repeat

Vigilante group Vigilance group Creditably well

Creditably

Overaged player Overage player An hotel

A hotel

Point accusing finger

Point the finger

Under the platform

On the platform

Marching order Marching orders Obituary Obituary announcement

Compiling this conspectus of media gaffes over the years has evoked salient questions in me: why are these errors egregriously or routinely committed? Is it a function of ignorance, carelessness or sheer blatant mistake? Could it be tactlessness arising from slothfulness? Should it all be attributed to the evolution of what has come to be known as Nigerian English? Staggered answers to these questions are contained in this book. I have the conviction that the following pages will enrich and edify you! If it does, my day would have been made. FEEDBACK If, as they say, “health

is wealth” (health is better than wealth), it follows that any serious government must be concerned about what its country’s citizens consume, THE NATION ON SUNDAY EDITORIAL, April 5, 2015. Special note on usage: In Nigeria, they say, “health is wealth” while elsewhere in the world they say, health is better than wealth”, meaning ‘It is better to be healthy than rich, since ill – health makes a person unhappy, even though he is rich”, It is an English proverb. This is a consolation to the poor, who can very likely achieve good health as easily as the rich can, Another special Note: A famous German maxim says it all, “health is not everything, but without health, everything is nothing”, health, good health for that matter, is king. It is the real thing! For 31 years now, I’ve been sermonizing, preaching and saying it that proverbs, like idioms, that are formal (fixed by usage) cannot be change, restructed, altered or rearranged. It is a basic rule, a prescriptive rule, decreed by priest of usage (from the priesthood), nobody has the right or the licence to do or act otherwise. No way! Ebere, the day is still young, don’t be discovered. We are all solidly behind you in this struggle. Bayo Oguntunase (Soloade12@yahoo.com 0 8 0 5 6 1 8 0 0 4 6 , 08029442508) We have the Balogun Market and the “Iya Olojas” on the Lagos Island and other markets elsewhere across the country. Men and women who sell their wares there are called “marketers” or traders. However, those who sell items, including petrol in this embarrassing period of fuel scarcity, on the black market are called “black marketeers” (double ‘e’ after ‘t’) and not “marketers” as in the case of “racketeers” and not “racketers”. I am a “pensioner”, savouring my retirement, and not a “pensioneer”. My old school mate on the Lagos Island is an “auctioneer”, not “auctioner”. Most Nigerians write the way they pronounce words. Wordsworth, please, come to our rescue as we look eagerly poised for the launch of your book, MEDIA GAFFES & ESSAYS, on May 12. I cannot wait to have (or “grab”) a copy, my dear brother and “Great Akokite”. KOLA DANISA 07068074257

•Dep. Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu,(middle) his wife Nwanneka (2nd left) and other graduating students at the 4th-6th graduation ceremony of Ebonyi State University(EBSU) yesterday. Mrs Ekweremadu bagged a Ph. D degree from the institution.

ISTORY and the holy books alike are replete with examples of what ignoble or positive difference women around power can make. Jezebel rendered Ahab’s regime irredeemably bloody. Potiphar’s lecherous wife had God-fearing Joseph thrown into jail. Bloodthirsty Herodias clamped John into prison and subsequently set up Herod Antipas to offer John’s head to her daughter on a platter. Queen Mother Athalia almost wiped out all heirs to the throne. In the literatures too, Lady Macbeth’s inordinate ambition in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is the architect of Macbeth’s tragic fall. Conversely, there were also the virtuous women whose mouths drooped with wisdom and their hearts filled with kindness. Abigail, wife of Nabal, not only saved her wealthy, but foolish husband from destruction in the hands of David, but also turned David away from bloodguilt. Pilate’s wife tried to dissuade Pontius Pilate from sentencing an innocent Jesus to death. Although she did not succeed, at least she told him the truth. At the risk of her own life, Queen Esther brushed aside her opulence, comfort, and beauty to fast and put her marriage to King Ahazarus to positive use by saving the Jews from imminent genocide in Persia. Dr. (Lady) Nwanneka Ekweremadu, wife of the Deputy President of the Senate and Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament, Ike Ekweremadu indeed belong to the clan of women who use and influence power positively. Without prejudice to his personal pedigrees, even the Senator himself publicly admits that Lady Nwanneka Ekweremadu is God’s uncommon jewel and the virtuous woman behind the Ikeoha phenomenon. Born on September 10, 1966, the pretty and graceful woman holds Bachelor of Education (Accountancy/Economics), MBA in Accountancy, plus another MSc. can best be described as the Senator Ekweremadu’s version of Ulysses’ Telemachus in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “Ulysses”. About Telemachus, Ulysses says: “This is my son Telemachus/ To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle… /Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere/ Of common duties, decent not to fail/ In offices of tenderness….” Thus, while the Deputy President of the Senate is busy with the affairs of state, Lady Ekweremadu ensures that she keeps the home front running well. I recall her meeting with the Wives of African Ambassadors in Japan on the sideline of our official visit. The wife of the Nigerian Ambassador, Lady Georgina Agbo, wanted her to share her experience on how to

By Uche Anichukwu

manage the life of a political office holder as a wife. Mrs. Ekwermadu does not believe that abandoning the kitchen to the cooks is how to announce that you have arrived. She not only cooks, but also directs the kitchen affairs, cooks pots of soup by phone even when she is away. She has also distinguished herself in ensuring that their constituency outreach arm, the Ikeoha Foundation where she is a Trustee, delivers on their vision of unusual transformation. Under her close watch, therefore, the Foundation has literally given a new lease of life to countless women, widows and youths through scholarships, vocational training, ICT trainings, Adult Literacy programmes, etc. However, this piece was prompted by academic accomplishment at the Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki where she bagged a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Accountancy. As though in a healthy academic competition, Ikeoha himself has also bagged a PhD in Law at the University of Abuja. I cannot claim to have known her for ages, but the much I have seen and the testimonies of those who knew her way back in her early life bear witness to the fact that she is an epitome of brain, beauty, and character. Definitely not the type that throws her weight about, her words are healing. She, like her husband, believes that every human being is entitled to some respect inherent in his/her humanity. One, she taught my bosom friend’s wife at the Federal Government College, Enugu many years ago. Mrs. Onyinye Obeagu (Nee Ogbu) speaks so passionately about her kindness, intellect, and neatness. I mentioned her convocation to an elderly friend. It happened that she was actually Lady Ekweremadu’s principal during her secondary school days. She described her as an intelligent, hardworking, humble, and meticulous woman who was oblivious of her beauty in her school days. She said what baffles her is her ability to still remain the same woman of virtue. She mentioned how at an event a few years back Lady Ekweremadu sighted her and ran to receive her with a warm embrace. Lady Ekweremadu even offered the woman her sit, but the former principal insisted that she should maintain her place at the high table. For me, I can’t possibly recount all her acts of kindness and humility. She is a boss’ wife who would often call you aside to appreciate your little efforts and to encourage you. She cares down to you family. “Uche, has madam put bed? Don’t worry she would soon ‘climb down’”, she inquired and encouraged countless times

when my wife was pregnant with our last baby. She was away when baby Osinachiadimma was baptised/decicated with Senator Ekweremadu as the godfather, but she kept in touch on phone throughout. This is a woman that throws her inner dinning table open to her husband’s members of staff and ensures everyone is well taken care of. I recall one morning at Enugu when I and two other staff had gone to eat only to discover that nothing had been touched- obviously the husband had not eaten. We made to turn back (you don’t take people for granted), but she said no. The husband later joined us with the usual lighter mood stories. I also recall the small inhouse get together in their Abuja residence on her husband’s 50th birthday. It nevertheless turned out to be a gathering of the high and mighty. I was busy, but she took my wife by the hand and led her into the inner recesses where the “ogas and madams at the top of the society” were. You would never know the essence of all these until you work in a hostile environment where your sacrificial efforts only earn you abuses and the mere sighting of your relation around is enough to earn you a sack. Your pregnant wife is a distraction to the slavish service you ought to render and your dead relative is worth less than a mere log of wood. It is not about the food. No one starves in his/her house. It is about humility and the extra mile the duo of Dr. and Dr. (Mrs.) Ekweremadu go to care. It is about a couple that see their staff and their families as equally a member of their family. They are definitely generous. But life is not about Naira and Kobo. After all, as the Igbos would say, you ‘eat’ someone’s face before you eat what he/she offers. Above money, people really want to be valued, cared for, and respected. Sounds simple, but it is indeed a tall order for so many. The other essence of some of these details is that beyond and above her intellectual prowess, which has been capped up with the successful completion of her doctoral studies, she holds a greater PhD in the hearts of people as one of the kindest products of Creation. She had a humble beginning, no doubt. But, how many people remember humility, service, and sacrifice when they ‘arrive’?. Congratulations on your academic millage, Your Excellency. Keep being you. Power is transient, but the many positive marks you have made with power will last beyond your lifetime. •Anichukwu is Special Adviser (Media) to Deputy President of the Senate

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26, 2015

Gaps remain in probe of Baltimore man's death in police custody

Tensions as Burundi president launches contested reelection bid

URUNDI'S president was yesterday declared as candidate for a controversial third term in office, his ruling party announced, despite mounting protests over a move that the opposition says is unconstitutional. There were fears the political crisis, during which President Pierre Nkurunziza's ruling CNDD-FDD party has also been accused of intimidating opponents, could push Burundi back into violence. The country, situated in Africa's troubled Great Lakes region, only emerged from civil war in 2006. The opposition has vowed to take to the streets to challenge Nkurunziza's candidacy for the June 26 presidential elections. They argue his refusal to step aside violates the constitution as well as the peace deal that ended the civil war. There was tight security as the CNDD-FDD opened a special party congress yesterday morning, during which Nkurunziza was officially designated as the party's candidate. "We wish to announce to the national and international community that the member who has been selected to represent us in the elections is Pierre Nkurunziza," the head of the ruling CNDD-FDD party, Pascal Nyabenda, announced after a party meeting.

West Africa battles mystery of 'post-Ebola syndrome'

S the Ebola epidemic retreats across west Af-

rica, international health authorities are turning their attention to the little understood long-term effects of the oftendeadly virus on the survivors. There is little research on patients cured of the tropical fever, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that many are experiencing crippling complications long after walking out of treatment units. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's new head in Africa, told AFP that Liberian survivors had been reporting a range of problems, including sight and hearing impairment. "We need to be aware that (complications) may be occurring and pay attention when people are being treated in case there is something that can be done to help them," she told AFP in the Liberian capital Monrovia. Moeti said the UN agency had initially focused on keeping people alive in its battle against the worst ever outbreak of the virus, which it says has left almost 11,000 people dead in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

â&#x20AC;˘ A Nepalese man and woman hold each other in Kathmandu's Durbar square, severely damaged by the earthquake

1,457 killed in Nepal earthquake

POWERFUL earthquake which struck Nepal yesterday has claimed as many over a thousand lives, with more people feared dead. Most of the deaths were reported to be from the Kathmandu Valley, according to a Nepal Home Ministry official, speaking on Nepal TV. Initial reports from Nepal this morning placed the death toll at nearly 500. The earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, and hit the area between Kathmandu and Pokhara, which is about 50 miles (80.5km) from the capital. Tremors were felt as far afield as Bangladesh, Pakistan and neighbouring India.

"We need support from the various international agencies which are more knowledgeable and equipped to handle the kind of emergency we face now," said Information Minister Minendra Rijal. The earthquake destroyed buildings, including to the iconic nine-storey Dharahara, a watch tower built in 1832. Reports say 50 to 400 people are trapped under the tower. "Hundreds of people are feared dead and there are reports of widespread damage to property. The devastation is not confined to some areas of Nepal. Almost the entire country has been hit," said Krishna Prasad Dhakal, deputy chief of mission at Nepal's

Embassy in New Delhi. The earthquake happened at 11.55am local time (06.11am GMT) and USGS estimated its depth at 9.3 miles (15km). Kathmandu Valley sits on a major fault line. Many of the buildings in Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu, are in poor condition in the densely populated city of about 2.5 million. "It was a pretty massive earthquake here, the strongest I've ever felt in my life," one photojournalist in Pokhara informed. "We've all gathered on a tennis court which is the only open space available to us close by. There is quite a lot of damage. The building I was in has quite a lot of cracks in it. There was a

Rebels seize Northwest Syrian town as government retaliates

ARD-LINE Syrian rebel groups seized a strategic town yesterday in northwestern Syria, sending government troops fleeing after intense clashes that have seen the opposition take nearly all of a crucial province. The takeover prompted retaliatory government air raids in the town center - as many as 30 airstrikes according to one activist group - that left an unknown number of people killed and wounded. Among those wounded was a TV reporter for an opposition station who entered the town with the rebels. If they can hold the town of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province, rebel fighters from Islamic factions - including the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front - will have gained in only a few days a gateway to the Mediterranean coast, a refuge of embattled President Bashar Assad, and cut government supply lines from the

coast to northern and central Syria. The town is one of the last bastions of Assad's government in the area and fighting around it continued yesterday. The offensive, which rebels have called the "Battle of Victory," comes less than a month after the provincial capital, also called Idlib, fell to the opposition. Opposition television station Orient News aired images inside the town showing rebel fighters milling in the town's central square, raising their black flag. Meanwhile, fighting continued yesterday in a sprawling agricultural plain south of the town, and activists said rebel fighters were gaining new ground. A Twitter account affiliated with the Nusra Front posted pictures apparently from inside Jisr al-Shoughour yesterday, calling it "liberated." Other pictures posted on social media showed bodies of government troops piled in

the street as rebels sat atop tanks in the town's center. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said the rebels completely controlled Jisr alShughour after government troops and allied forces fled south. The group said there were clashes on the outskirts of the town. A video the group posted showed civilians leaving the town accompanied by a number of government troops. The government conceded its forces had left the town. A military official, quoted by Syrian state media, said government forces redeployed to surrounding villages to avoid civilian casualties after fierce battles with "armed terrorist groups" in Jisr al-Shughour. Later, state TV said government aircraft targeted a convoy of fighters east of the town. But the Observatory and the Local Coordination Com-

construction site right next to us and several of the new ways have fallen and there was an injury," she said. Government officials in India have said that the tremor has claimed 12 lives as six people died in house collapses in the state of Uttar Pradesh while six more died further east in Bihar. Indian broadcasting network, NDTV has reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has phoned his Nepalese counterpart, Sushil Koirala to pledge India's immediate assistance to the country.Nepal was struck with its worst recorded earthquake, measuring 8.3 in 1934 which killed 8,500 people. mittees, another activist group that tracks the conflict, said the air raids were in the town center. The Observatory counted at least 30 raids in the town and its environs. The LCC said at least six raids were in a square in the town's center. There were no immediate casualty figures. The Orient News television network, which was airing live coverage of the rebels' takeover, said one of its reporters was injured and its broadcast vehicle destroyed in one of the raids. The reporter, Ammar Dandash, emotionally told the broadcaster that he was returning to Jisr al-Shughour, his hometown, for the first time in years with the rebels. "Today I return to my home after four years of being deprived of it," he said, before he was injured. Asaad Kanjo, an activist in touch with residents of the town, said most civilians had stayed indoors, fearing government retaliation. The Observatory said members of a government security agency also killed 23 detainees before they withdrew.

N investigation into the death of a black man in Baltimore police custody is still trying to figure out what happened, the police commissioner said as the city braced for a major protest over the incident. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said police would release surveillance camera photos involving the death of Freddie Gray, 25, who died on Sunday a week after being arrested. A preliminary autopsy report said he had suffered a spinal injury. Gray's death has sparked days of protests in the largely black city of about 620,000 people. More than 1,000 protesters marched yesterday in Baltimore from the site of his arrest to City Hall. "We're getting closer and the picture is getting sharper and sharper as we move forward," Batts told a news conference, adding that "multiple gaps" still remained. The incident was the latest in a string of deaths of black men at the hands of police, including in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, which have prompted waves of protest across the United States. Gray and a second man fled when officers approached them in a high-crime area on April 12, police said. Gray was nabbed and arrested for carrying a switchblade knife.

Chile volcano ash cloud reaches Brazil, flights cancelled SH from the Chilean volcano Calbuco, which erupted without warning this week, reached as far as southern Brazil on yesterday and prompted some airlines to cancel flights to the capitals of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Calbuco, considered one of the most dangerous along Chile's chain of around 2,000 volcanoes, erupted twice in 24 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, sending up a spectacular 17-km-high (11 miles) cloud and coating nearby towns in a thick layer of gray ash. Authorities have set up a 20-km (12 mile) cordon around Calbuco, in the scenic Los Lagos region, around 1,000 km (620 miles) south of the capital Santiago, evacuating more than 6,500 locals. "The dangerous nature of volcanic activity like this plus the volcano's current instability that could lead to more intense activity in the short term indicates we should maintain the perimeter," Chile's national office of emergency said in its latest report. Authorities allowed people who had been evacuated to briefly enter the perimeter on Saturday to check their houses, animals and medication.

COMMENT

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015

Economicdiversificationandnon-oil exportgrowthbackonthefrontburner A

PEACEFUL outcome of the 2015 presidential election was the desire of the generality of Nigerians and the international community. Thankfully, we got it; and more.President Goodluck Jonathan converted his loss of the election to something remarkably positive for the country and for his legacy. His concession of defeat and early call to congratulate General MuhammaduBuhari, who emerged as President-elect, is surely an indelible mark in our strides to entrenching a democratic culture in Nigeria. It also serves as a needed point of reference for Africa, where a number of elections are lined up for this year. Structural Transformation The latest general election cycle coincided with a period of serious slump in the price of crude oil at the international market. From trading at well over $100 per barrel a year ago, the Nigerian grade Brent Crude now trades below $60 a barrel. This has translated to revenue shock for the government. The slump in the price of oil has also repressed foreign reserves. In line with its responsibility for financial stability, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has had to regularly draw down on the reserves to defend the local currency. It is therefore evident that, while we deservedly celebrate the peaceful outcome of the election, we are confronted with the harsh economic realities imposed by lower oil prices.However, this immediate challengeadvises on the path for longterm economic management. One area of policy consensus in the management of the Nigerian economy is the need to deepeneconomic diversification and accelerate on non-oil export growth. While we can no longer correctly describe the Nigerian economy as “monolithic” because the data from the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year shows it is not, further gains in diversifying the economy is required; and widening the Nigerian export market beyond oil is crucial. Since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999, this prognosis has informed the thrust of economic policy. Areas where the government had previously invested exclusively, like telecommunication, was opened up for private investment in 2001. President Jonathan has now removed the policy bottlenecks to private investment in the power and agriculture sectors. With the policy path already charted, what is now needed is more depth and width in sectoral impacts. The Nigerian Export – Import Bank (NEXIM Bank), in playing its role as the official Trade Policy Bank of the Federal Government, holds out the Manufacturing, Agroprocessing, Solid Minerals and Services (which we encapsulate by our MASS Agenda) as the sectors that will help the country make a lot of progress on the twin-objectives of economic diversification and non-oil export growth. With the imminent government transition, it is fitting to discuss how these sectors can help the agendafor structural transformation of the economy and widening the base of external trade. This I start in earnest with the manufacturing sector. Africa Exemplification According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the contribution of Africa’s manufacturing to GDP grew from 6.3 percent in 1970 to peak at 15.3 percent in 1990. Since then Africa’s manufacturing-to-GDP ratio has been on a decline; it fell to 10.5 percent in 2008. Africa’s premier manufacturing economy, South Africa, saw its industrial sector decline from 20.9 percent of GDP in 1994 to 12 percent in 2013. Even with recent advances in manufacturing in a few African countries including Nigeria, the

•Jonathan By Roberts Orya

contribution of manufacturing to total domestic production on the average has yet to match the pre-1990 peak.Nigeria’s manufacturing sector expanded to 6.8 percent of GDP in 2013, according to the revised data which Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released following the latest rebasing of the GDP. As Africa’s manufacturing sector was declining, industrial production in China and other emerging Asian economies was accelerating. Asia’s export-led industrialisation model basically stifled Africa’s domestic manufacturing ascheaper imports from China flooded the local markets and replaced locally manufactured products in Africa. The Nigerian textile industry virtually disappeared for this reason. As the substitution and replacement of Africa’s manufactured products with Chinese imports was intensifying, Africa’s commodity trade was expanding. This combination foisted the structural rigidity that has become the key feature of African economies. In effect, a pattern of trade emerged in which Africa began to trade its primary goods mainly outside the continent while also sourcing its consumer goods from outside. This is in contradistinction to the scenario in the 1970s when Nigeriaproduced a number of items including pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetic products, building materials, textiles, home tools and plastics for domestic consumption. A lot of the products were also exported to other West African countries. The anticipation of progression into processing ofseveral agricultural produce including groundnut, cocoa and cotton became the basis for brighter prospects of the Nigerian manufacturing sector. Unfortunately, this was not realised. Domestic Policy Support As inward trade affected the performance of Africa’s manufacturing sector after 1990, so will the return of manufacturingreshape how Africancountries will trade, going forward. The essential feature of that change would be increased intra-Africa trade. But the outset of this would be domestic import substitution. In Nigeria, manufacturers would have to be supported by the government more deliberately to serve the domestic market and also export. According to UNCTAD, the Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) model that grew the share of manufacturing to African GDP in the 1970s could not be sustained because most of the domestic firms failed to be globally competitive even as they also required high foreign exchange to import intermediate inputs and capital goods. These pitfalls can be avoided by increasing productivity of domestic

firms and opening up of trade channels among African countries. But it is my view that government cannot provide too much of the support for increasing the productivity and hence competitiveness of the Nigerian manufacturing sector. In the period of our manufacturing hiatus, a lot of advancement has occurred in industrial production in the international environment. This poses uphill tasks for a beginner in the local environment today. Few of these challenges, among others are one, lowquality manufactures are giving way to high quality products in line with unification of consumer tastes. Two, global manufacturers have amassed a lot of capital which continues to provide them the advantages of scale and price. And, three, capital and innovation have become sesame twins; the combination is a challenge to nascent manufacturers. One can exemplify the likelihood of convergence of these risks in a single manufacturing operation. A few years ago, we celebrated the birth of a locally manufactured computer brand by one of Nigeria’s most dynamic entrepreneurs. But today, rapid changes in the global ICT industry and a fast rate of adoption of new innovative variants of computer devices, may have seen to the quick decline of the Nigerian brand.In this scenario, the option we have is for government to invest more in science and technologyeducation and also provide support for the private sector in investing in R&D.Going by the market experience of the little-elaborated case study,it becomes quite clear that government patronage of indigenous manufactured brands, important as it is, is not going to be enough to support locally manufactured products. Except the process of innovation is supported, all the other measures will prove inadequate. In terms of financing commercial operations, Nigerian manufacturers have often complained about their inability to access funding for their businesses. Very often, this is expressed with regard to financing restriction posed by high costs of credit offered by commercial banks. Implicit in this, however, is the absence of some varieties in available funding sources, and the lack of scale in theexisting ones. While a number of the options like private equity, venture capital and equity and debt capital are in the sphere of the private sector (local or international), the government can provide additional options through state-promoted development finance institutions. With specific regard to manufacturingfor export, NEXIM Bank functions by statute as one of the globally recognised Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) like US Exim. The difference would be scale of interventions. It is in this regard that current efforts to

supply scale to the local development finance space is in the right direction and should be sustained. ECAs are important because, when they help local manufacturers to identify and/ or access markets abroad, they strengthen domestic production;thereby preserving and growing local jobs. Export market exposure to local manufacturers can accelerate adoption of quality improvement and best practices that are critical to business success and continuity. It is facing reality to assert that government cannot single-handedly plug the financing gap and provide all the other forms of assistance that are needed to expand the manufacturing base. However, to attract commercial and development assistance from other quarters, government has an important role in providing a stable macroeconomic environment. The good news is that, again, this has been one other important target of government economic policies in Nigeria well over the last decade. In the most, Nigeria has provided the needed macroeconomic stability; and inflation has been in single digit. Except on two major occasions that external volatility in the price of oil had inducedthreats of financial instability(during the 2008 – 2009 global financial crisis and the current episode in which oversupply and slow demand growth has crashed the price of oil), the country has been a stable financial market.The basis of future macroeconomic stability of Nigeria is well-founded in the progress we have made overtime and the positive market performances it has engendered. NEXIM Bank AndTrade Infrastructure Since NEXIM Bank holds out the manufacturing sector as the key lever of improved Nigerian trade in non-oil merchandise, we have looked at how to help address non-tariff bottlenecks in West and Central African sub-regions. NEXIM Bank is currently facilitating the settingup of a shipping line that will provide direct maritime links with countries of the two sub-regions that have been Nigeria’s traditional trading partners. Our innovative intervention in this area entails helping to organise private sector investors and operators in West and Central Africa, in collaboration with Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI), Transimex S.A. of Cameroun and other institutional stakeholdersto pool resources to solve a common challenge in expanding intra/ inter-regional trade. The soon-to-belaunched shipping company will provide direct maritime links to countries in the sub-regions which will drastically reduce freight and other logistical costs to shipping within the sub regions. Aside from this, there is a wider need for infrastructural development to support production and market access across NEXIM’s identified “MASS” sectors. From physical infrastructure and energy to soft infrastructure including R&D and policy innovations, there is a wide scope for support of government efforts by entities in the private and social spaces, and those outside of government’s core bureaucracy. Conclusion The benefit of sustainable job creation through investment in and support of the Nigerian manufacturing sector is immense. What might pose the biggest challenge is market access. But Nigeria has the numbers. With an estimated population of more than 170 million largely youthful population, there is a good basis for investment in manufacturing in Nigeria. It is not coincidental that Africa’s richest man, Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote, operates a manufacturing group. His phenomenal success serves as a validation of how the domestic consumer market can serve as the springboard for access to the wider African and global markets. Roberts Orya is Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export – Import Bank

THE NATION ON SUNDAY APRIL 26 , 2015

QUOTABLE

“I have visited six countries since the election, they are as happy about the results. It is good not only for Nigeria, it is good for Africa and I believe it is good for the world.”

SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 3197

—Former President Olusegun Obasanjo commenting on the outcome of the 2015 general elections.

ONSIDERING how difficult it has been for them to come up with a zoning formula to share the spoils of war, the still exulting All Progressives Congress (APC) is beginning to discover that the easiest part of what they achieved a few weeks ago is fighting the electoral war that castrated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Their nightmare may have just begun, however. Even after surmounting the difficult task of sharing the legislative and top cabinet and presidency posts available, APC leaders, many of them set in their ways and defined by their rigid and unsparing outlook, will find themselves engaging in fresh supremacy battles. By Thursday, the party’s leaders were yet to agree on who gets what, particularly in the legislative branch. After failing to agree, they excused their tardiness on the fact that neither their National Executive Committee (NEC) nor their National Working Committee (NWC) had met over the sharing formula. The eminent gentlemen who met on Thursday in Abuja, however, constitute the real movers and shakers of the party, personalities behind whom no great decisions could be taken nor binding agreements reached. Yet they floundered in their very first post-war task. They probably see their failure to agree on the spoils as one of those political things; for after all, everyone predicted apocalypse in 2012 when the party was formed and teething, and more virulently again last year when the party’s juggernauts arrayed themselves in battle to elect party candidates. But they are still standing, not keeling, and are even winning battles and wars, and garnering trophies. Perhaps after testing themselves sorely to their elastic limits, they will surprise us with a stupefyingly easy agreement. If they do, their long-suffering supporters must hope that the injuries from the internecine battles will not aggravate the lacerations from past intraparty squabbles. There is a chance the party will get so complacent and feel so invincible that its leaders will stoically see every internal battle as indispensable for sharpening party philosophy and strengthening party cords. There is also a chance that they may even become so battle-hardened that they will intentionally furnish themselves wars in order to sustain excitement and purpose. However, it is also possible that the party’s elders are conscious of the fact that these struggles are necessary in the party’s early years to enable it define itself, its worldview, and its philosophy. But it is no use second-guessing them. What is important is that they must not overrate their strength or internal cohesion, nor pretend they do not know a bitter and defeated opposition waits threateningly and even treacherously on the sidelines to pounce on them. From experience, the victorious party must have understood during the poll war that other than two or three print media establishments, and one or two electronic media houses, the party is encompassed by very hostile media sworn to undermining and crippling it using the artifices of misinformation and disinformation. The party has few media friends. Their media enemies will seize upon every mistake by the party to emphasise and prolong its discomfort. President Goodluck Jonathan put that hostile media to good use in the Southwest to reduce the APC’s advantage and very nearly created an upset in Lagos. That same hostile media are still deeply upset by the Buhari victory and are willing to be deployed in battle against a party they deem sanctimonious, unbearable and meddlesome. The PDP fractured badly in the last months of the campaigns, so badly and unexpectedly that it never recovered. The APC must know that whatever unity it lays claim to now is tenuous and skin deep. If the PDP did not survive its divisions, despite having the resources and time to construct a party to its own taste, it would be presumptuous of the APC to imagine it

After the war, APC struggles to manage the peace can withstand a major early test when it has not demonstrated the kind of cohesiveness and ideological clarity capable of sustaining the new party through thick and thin. There are indeed already visible factional lines within the victorious party —factional lines engendered by powerful and sometimes resentful blocs — and a few other tendencies showing their disturbing and dangerous silhouettes. APC leaders must start to ask themselves whether their talents transcend, as they hope, fighting electoral wars, and whether truly they even understand themselves and the various tendencies and interest groups within the country it is now their privilege to govern. Surely they must appreciate that if five zones came together to deliver the presidency and a majority of state governorships to the APC, a few factors must have been responsible for that unity of purpose. The agreement is not eternal; it is tentative. Subtract, for instance, the North-Central or the Northeast from the victory equation, and the APC could not achieve the success it recorded in the last polls. Similarly, take either the Northwest or the Southwest from the equation, and the victory could have gone to the PDP. In the end, the APC will agree to a zoning arrangement. Whether that arrangement will satisfy every tendency within the party is a different thing. Whether that arrangement will not also create more troubles for the party than it can manage is another thing. So far, however, the ongoing disagreements show that the party is still evolving, perhaps just as the

country itself is evolving. It is evident that the party, like the PDP it defeated, still does not have a centralising idea, something much bigger and ennobling than the mere acts of merging parties, winning electoral battles, and sharing war booty. Even if they manage to overcome the present squabbles, the APC must still develop an idea of itself and its mission, as well as an idea of the country. Then they will have to market these ideas to the rest of the country, and hope that the ideas would be bought and embraced. If the PDP, with all the resources it could muster to placate aggrieved party members and leaders, still unravelled months before the polls, the APC must not feel so sanguine. If the zoning arrangement is not properly managed, the victorious party could lose its leadership of either or both chambers of the National Assembly. The party’s enemies would help exacerbate the divisions, even as aggrieved zones dictate what directions their national lawmakers would go. The Northeast, for instance, is campaigning for either the Senate presidency or Speaker of the lower house. And it argues that the Southwest, which is also reportedly angling for the Speaker’s post, should be contented with the vice presidential position and Deputy Speaker. It is not impossible the Southwest probably reasons that it needs greater influence in the legislature to advance great constitutional changes and other ideas, but after championing the huge change the country is about to enjoy, the Southwest needs to calculate the cost of party disunity which regional disaffections are bound to make prohibitive. Rather than expend energy squabbling over positions, the APC should more appropriately prepare for the daunting task of rul-

ing the country and extricating it from the tragic decay the outgoing government had consigned it. The outgoing government has laced the country with booby traps and other potentially destructive and divisive policies, cultures and practices. Countering these problems and dissipating them will not be easy for the APC, especially if the countermeasures are complicated by aggrieved zones mischievously seeking their pound of flesh. It is, therefore, important that the zoning arrangement must be fair and inclusive, not presumptuous, not insensitive. The party will not be helped by the incoming opposition, nor by a hostile media, nor yet by an impatient, oppressed and angry electorate. The APC will in fact again need the talisman that gave it great primaries, credible convention and a great and stupendous victory in the polls. Neither the electorate nor this column has great confidence in the party’s elders to manage the internal crisis unfolding in the party and on the nation. There is a certain rapacity for posts and influence going on in the party, and there are too many young hot heads who have overstated and overrated their contributions to the party, some of them governors accustomed to unquestioning loyalty and obedience in their states. Thrown into this mix is a potpourri of fanatical jobholders, ethnic champions, and ambitious persons with an eye on the future. It took extraordinary efforts to rein them in before and during the primaries and convention, and especially when the Buhari Campaign Organisation was being constituted. With the presidency safe in their pockets, and fearing that whatever happens early in the life of the new government would likely be sustained hereafter, the jostling for positions and influence may take a more deathly tenor. If squabbling APC leaders manage to overcome their divisions and take effective hold of the Senate and Reps leadership without serious consequences for party unity, then perhaps they have more mettle and wisdom than Nigerians are prepared to acknowledge. From experience elsewhere, conservatives do much better at sustaining party unity than progressives. But if gold rust, as the PDP showed in its fractiousness and loss of the presidency, what then will iron do in the case of squabbling APC? APC leaders must be told indeed that their supporters and Nigerians who have a favourable opinion of their party are embarrassed by their squabbles and manoeuvres. They must summon the maturity and wisdom required to rule, far in excess of the brawn and reckless daring with which they applied themselves to warring for the coveted presidency.

Last weeks of the Jonathan presidency

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan may have easily conceded defeat to APC’s Muhammadu Buhari, but he is definitely still hurting from the ignominious loss he suffered in the last polls, particularly how almost irretrievably he led his party to a humiliating defenestration. Even before he cast his own ballot, he wore a cadaverous look on his face, as if he felt and exuded defeat. He had been interviewed in Otuoke where he was to vote eventually, and while responding to a question on live television, he was absentmindedly chewing on something. He was unpresidential on that occasion; but it was more a reflection of how bad he felt and how sunken he was in spirit before the ballots were cast. Had former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, been a perceptive law enforcement officer, he would have known that for the next few weeks before handover, Dr Jonathan would act desperately like a scorched snake, eager to strike at anyone he thought contributed to his defeat, or anyone he thought ridiculed him. Mr Abba is a luckless police officer, the first victim of Dr Jonathan’s last malignant attacks. Since his appointment some nine months ago, he had not shown either guile or perceptiveness in carry-

•Jonathan •Buhari ing out his responsibilities as the nation’s top police officer. Because he lacked character, and knowing he still had a few years to go before retirement, he began to run with the hare and hunt with the hound. He was consequently spewed out of the president’s mouth. Dr Jonathan will do more spewing should anyone bait his anger. That he conceded defeat to Gen Buhari and acted, in the exaggerated estimation of many of his countrymen, as a statesman does not mean he had suddenly acquired the intellectual and philosophical depth required to place his loss in the right perspective, nor to look to the future with the calm maturity necessary to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the world. More and more, the presi-

dency will look deserted in the weeks ahead, and the president himself will flash wan smiles at anyone, human or animal, who saunters into the presidential precincts. His hair will grey faster of course, and when he is alone he will fall into such abject lugubriousness commonly associated with men on death row that few would bear to look in his face. In retrospect, Dr Jonathan was right to suggest single term of seven years for the president. That way the president will have his cake and eat it; and when he is done gorging on the cake and wine after seven perhaps notorious and uneventful years, he will still leave with his head held high and his dignity unaffected by the scandals he had fomented. But Nigerians can’t say because the effect of his defeat is apocalyptic, the country must adopt that unwholesome and unsanitary one-term scheme. Dr Jonathan failed the country, and is leaving it humiliated and more divided than it had ever been. Let him in the next few weeks before the change of baton also partake of the pain and agony of the psychological defeat he has brought upon the country.

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