THEWILL JUNE 27 - 3 JULY EDITION

VOL 1 NO.20 •

JUNE 27 – JULY

3, 2021

Celebrating World SME Day

Investors’ N11.87bn Under Threat As NGX Delists 5 Firms

Constitution Amendment: National Assembly Meant Well For Nigerians – Oker-Jev

Omoyeni Anikulapo -Kuti Authentic African

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SPECIAL REPORT

Locally-Assembled Vehicles

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

GRAZING ROUTES CONTROVERSY

Big Battle Underway Farmers Call for Win-Win Solution Southern, Middle Belt Governors Draw Line in The Sand No Going Back on Decision –FG

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COVER

BY THEWILL CORRESPONDENTS

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resh indications of an imminent battle have emerged over the apparent determination of President Muhammadu Buhari to go ahead with the Grazing Routes policy despite the unpopularity of the plan and the open resentment to it by some sections of the country.

Seventeen Southern Governors had declared their opposition to open grazing in whatever form at their meeting, last month, in Asaba Delta State. Some had even gone ahead to ban the practice in their states vowing to deal with herdsmen who contravene their anti-grazing law.

Big Battle Underway

But PMB was to later condemn the position of the Southern Governors as he expressed determination to push through the Grazing Routes plan. And in the cacophony of voices that have greeted the President’s disclosure that he had directed the Attorney–General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to excavate the gazette on open grazing along designated routes to move cattle to several parts of the country, the voices of farmers and herders are just coming up above the din.

UNFOLDING THE PLAN THEWILL recalled the President had disclosed he had instructed Malami to begin the process of recovering land from persons who have converted cattle grazing routes for their personal use.

“What I did was ask him to go and dig the gazette of the First Republic when people were obeying laws. There were cattle routes and grazing areas. Cattle routes were for when they (herdsmen) are moving up country, north to south or east to west, they had to go through there,” Buhari had stated during his controversial interview with Arise Television a fortnight ago.

“If you allow your cattle to stray into any farm, you are arrested. The farmer is invited to submit his claims. The Khadi or the judge will say pay this amount and if you can’t, the cattle is sold. And if there is any benefit, you are given and people were behaving themselves and in the grazing areas, they built dams, put windmills in some places, there were even veterinary departments so that the herders are limited. Their route is known, their grazing area is known. So, I asked for the gazette to make sure that those who encroached on these cattle routes and grazing areas will be dispossessed in law and try to bring some order back into the cattle grazing.”

Continuing, the President said: “So, from other areas, people rush to Nigeria. You know Fulani from Mauritania and Central Africa look the same, so they feel they are the Nigerian ones and I assure you that we are trying to resuscitate these cattle routes, grazing areas and make them accountable.”

While the president’s disclosure may have revealed his determination to push through a policy considered unpopular, especially in the southern part of the country, many Nigerians insist it is capable of fuelling the lingering ethnic mistrust and ongoing sectarian conflict and violence in the country.

This, according to the antagonists of the plan, is particularly so, when contextualised within the decision of the 17 southern governors to ban open grazing in their respective states and halt movement of cattle across the south. Their decision, which formed part of their resolutions at the meeting in Asaba, followed worsening herder/ farmers conflicts that have led to the killings, maiming, raping and destruction of farms and livestocks across the country.

DRAWING THE BATTLE LINE The opposition to the president’s disclosure was however prompt as prominent lawyers, some of them SAN, reacted immediately. They are Mr. Femi Falana, Chief Afe Babalola and Chief Mike Ozekhome. Dr. Ikpemosa Uhumaibi also objected to the plan, as well as Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State who doubles as the official spokesperson for the 17 Southern Governors. Governor Nyesom Wike and his counterpart in Bayelsa, Duoye Diri, also lent their dissenting voices, claiming that the gazette under reference is a dead law.

For the Senior Advocates of Nigeria, they have independently stated that the Land Use Act of 1978 empowers every state governor the right to control the land in his state.

The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Ohaneaze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum and PANDEF also faulted the President as they called on the Federal Government to jettison the idea of reopening grazing routes in Nigeria.

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THE LEGAL FIREWORKS THEWILL gathered authoritatively at the weekend that the Southern Governors and their Middle Belt counterparts have resolved to drag the Federal Government to court over President Buhari’s resolve to push the policy through. A source close to the Southern Governors Forum, craving anonymity, confided in THEWILL that a decision had already been taken by the governors to jointly and separately drag the Federal Government to court over the matter.

The governors were said to have been enboldened by the ruling of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, which, on Thursday, May 23, 2021, affirmed the right of Nigerian states to implement anti-grazing laws in their domains as the court dismissed a suit seeking to compel President Buhari to direct security agencies to stop enforcement of the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranching Law of 2017.

In a judgment delivered during virtual proceedings, the judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, had held that the enforcement of the antigrazing law having been validly passed by the Benue House of Assembly, for instance, “lies with the state government.”

In dismissing the suit, the judge said the matter is not justiciable, implying that it is not a matter that a court of law can adjudicate on. ‘‘It’s matter of misconduct not triable by court,’’ Justice Ojukwu had ruled.

Also given the Southern governors full boldness to seek legal redress to force President Buhari to jettison his plan, a legal practitioner, Uhumaibi, in an interview, also said: “The fact that laws, decrees, regulation, notices and court decisions are published in an official gazette does not confer unintended extra-ordinary powers on their provisions.’

According to Uhumaibi,”It merely indicates official recognition, recording and publication for public knowledge and access. Therefore, if the gazette instrument was an Act of the National Assembly designating certain land in the country as grazing routes, then such an Act would be inconsistent with the Constitutional provisions that guarantee right to property and more specifically the Land Use Act, which confers land on governors in trust for the people.”

Even at that, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, had insisted that there was no such law.

Ondo State governor, Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, insists that cattle grazing routes do not reflect the demands of a 21st-century development in cities and states.

“Ethiopia has about 200 million cattle and you won’t see them on the streets. They are located in the hinterlands designated for grazing. Things are changing and there has to be a paradigm shift,” he maintained.

His stance came as Governor Diri also said that there were no

cattle grazing routes in Bayelsa, explaining that his people are predominantly farmers.

“For us, there are no cattle grazing routes in Bayelsa State.

Our people are traditionally and occupationally fishermen.

The idea of cattle grazing routes in Bayelsa is very strange to us in this part of the country,” Diri affirmed as he maintained that in a federal system of government, states have the right to enact laws to regulate the activities of their people, stressing that the prohibition on open grazing of cattle would be fully implemented in the state.

“There may be cattle grazing routes in the North but what is applicable in the North may not be applicable to us in the South. I don’t want to believe we are running a unitary system of government,” the Bayelsa governor added.

Nonetheless, the AGF, Malami, is still said to be adamant, flexing muscles with the Southern Governors over their decision to ban open grazing and physical movement of cattle across the region, insisting that such a ban is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of movement enshrined in the nation’s laws.

NO GOING BACK - FG As the heated debate continues, THEWILL gathered that the Federal Government may have started implementing the presidential directive, though with extreme caution, as officials of the Ministry of Agriculture are said to have since gone ahead to start the implementation of the presidential directive.

Lending credence to the claim last week, Acting Director, Animal Husbandry Development of the Ministry, Winnie Lai-Solarin, stated that the recovery of the routes had to be done to assist the pastoralists who cannot afford ranching at the moment, adding that conflict zones and routes that have been encroached upon as a “result of the development of infrastructure would be left out.”

According to Lai-Solarin, “In the course of farming or other human activities along the stock routes, the monuments were altered, but we know where they are. So, we want to say that some of them can be retraced. And this is particularly for the areas that are not encroached upon as of now. The pastoralists know the routes, you will see the pieces of monuments along them.

“Those routes that have not been encroached upon and not in conflict zones we will go ahead and retrieve them and guide the pastoralists along them. We did not get to where we are today in one day, so we cannot expect every pastoralist to suddenly start ranching now.”

Now that the government appears to be cautiously implementing the presidential directive, as the NLSTP programme continues with 20 states already buying into it, alongside the grazing project for which N1.31 billion was set aside in the 2021 budget, it is not sure how frayed nerves would be calmed in the ensuing weeks so that Nigerians THEWILLNIGERIA

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COVER domains should strongly warn subjects to stop encroaching into grazing reserves or blocking cattle routes,” he advised.

CRUX OF THE MATTER President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Arc. Kabir Ibrahim and his Tomatoes and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria (TOPAN) counterpart, Bola Oyeleke, to an extent, agree with Bello of KACRAN. While Ibrahim thinks that the whole issue has been politicised yet redeemable, Oyeleke calls for a win-win plan that benefits herders and farmers alike.

Okowa

Akeredolu

Speaking to THEWILL in an interview, Ibrahim said though the problem with grazing routes and reserves became noticeable in 1999, it was not as bad as it is today.

“Shortly before Mr Audu Ogbeh was sworn in as Minister of Agriculture in 2015, I was a member of a committee led

by Professor B Y Abubakar, Secretary of the Agriculture Research Council of Nigeria, which also included officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Presidency. We submitted a report that recommended that grazing routes and reserves should be established. We also noted in the report that the routes did not start and end in Nigeria. Some of them go as far as the Sahel in North Africa through Nigeria to East Africa.

I know, for instance, the route from Dachia in Kaduna State to Osogbo in Osun State and through there to Lome,” he said.

“The report was not implemented. Mind you, I am also aware that President Buhari did a study on grazing when he was Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) chairman. When the report was not implemented people started farming and building on the reserves and the herdsmen were denied opportunities.”

TOWARDS A WIN-WIN SOLUTION When asked what is to be done, he said as a farmer and owner of cattle too, he would support the National Livestock Programme, NLTP, that the Federal Government has designed to run from 2019 to 2028 as a collaborative programme among the FG, state governments, pastoralists, farmers and private investors.

The programme was launched by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in 2018 in Gongoshi Grazing Reserve in MayoBelwa Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

“That is similar to what happens in the Netherlands and in England. The cattle need to stay in ranches because moving long distances makes them lose weight and meat,” he said.

Wike

Ortom

But he was quick to add that it should be organised in such a way that pastoralists can still move with their herds of cattle but from ranch to ranch in search of pastures.

can refocus on other burning issues on national importance deserving of attention.

herders are ready, sincere and totally committed towards the programme’s success.”

CACOPHONY OF VOICES In a statement obtained by THEWILL on Thursday, the Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria (KACRAN) said while it was in support of the presidential directive on grazing route and reserves recovery, it strongly thinks, from experience, that pastoralists (cattle herders) be made to permanently stay in the northern part of the country where there is the availability of land instead of moving to the southern part of the country to avoid further occurrence of conflicts between northern herders and farmers and residents of the southern part of the country.

Harping on the importance of committed and swift release of budgetary allocation and all the funds meant for the programme, he warned that there is a serious need for supervision by the government to make sure that the money allocated for the programme is expended judiciously.

The association maintained that for the directive to work successfully, the planned reclaiming of grazing routes should be restricted to the North with active participation of stakeholders including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, FMARD, traditional rulers, pastoralists and their various associations and state governments of the north.

While advising governments to be ready to invoke the law against anybody found wanting and sabotaging the plan to reclaim the cattle routes and encroached grazing reserves, he stressed the need to recognise that there are custodians of the land whose involvement was crucial to the success of the plan and project.

National President, KACRAN, Khalil Bello, said: “Pastoralists are advised to permanently stay in the northern part of this country where there is the availability of land instead of moving to the Southern/ Western part of this country. This is to avoid further occurrence of conflict(s) between our herders and our southern brothers.”

He said after a thorough study of the concept, it has come to the conclusion that “the success of the programme holistically depends on how government, traditional rulers, farmers and THEWILLNIGERIA

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“We say so for the fact that only God knows how many government programmes were made of which billions of Naira were released and spent for their executions but the money ended in the bank accounts or houses of very few unpatriotic individuals,” he added.

“We advise the Federal Government to work hand to hand and relate closely with Northern governments, traditional rulers/ chiefs who are the custodians of most of the northern states free land, “ Bello said .

He asked that state governments of Northern states who are constitutionally said to be owners of all uncultivated lands be requested to give the programme maximum support and fullest co-operation for its success.

“Traditional rulers who are the custodian of all free land in their

“You can’t keep 24 million animals in one place, they should be allowed to move around in such a way they would be able to get pastures without getting into farms,” he added.

He said his association often meets with leaders of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and such other associations to resolve conflict between farmers and herders, adding with regret that “herders identified with “AK-47 guns are not Nigerians even as I can tell you there are criminals on both sides of the divide.”

Resolving issues with herders’ association has been undertaken regularly by the TOPAN, any time members complain of attack on their farms, the association’s president, Bola, told THEWILL. “We honestly think the government should solve this problem because we, farmers and herders need each other. Cattle produce milk, meat and fertilizers and farmers produce food,” he maintained.

Taking a realistic look at the problem, he said: “ I have engaged with some cattle rearers and come to realise that there were grazing routes and reserves but during the government emphasis on developing agriculture, things took a different turn. That was the time the government should have also developed a policy on livestock. I think we should not shy away from the issue. But the way it is now, I think ranching is better and the government should bring out a clear-cut policy on it.”

CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND KACRAN’s Khalil Bello refers to traditional rulers as custodians of land and state governments as constitutionally empowered to own all uncultivated land. He called on the Federal Government to cooperate with them to realise the aims of its livestock programme.

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JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

NEWS Reactions Trail Buhari’s Cancellation of British Medical Trip

BY JOY ONUORAH

R

eactions have continued to trail the cancellation by President Muhammadu Buhari of his medical trip to London. He was scheduled to leave for the United Kingdom for a medical appointment on Friday and return in the second week of July A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said a new date for the trip will be announced in due course. Meanwhile, the reason for the postponement by the President was not communicated to the public. President Buhari had his last medical trip on May 28 .

24-Year-Old Man Arrested For Allegedly Beheading Aunt

FROM BASSEY ANIEKAN, CALABAR

Cameroonian President, Paul Biya (right), congratulating President/CEO, Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, after conferring on the latter the Commander of the National Order of Valour Award at The Unity Palace, Yaoundé, Cameroon... recently.

Bayelsa Faults N11.67bn FAAC Deductions

FROM DAVID AMOUS-OWEI

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ayelsa State Government has said deductions amounting to N11.678 billion by the Federal Government from its monthly revenue allocation over disputed oil wells with sister states were illegal.

The Technical Adviser to the Governor on Finance, Revenue and Accounts, Mr Timipre Seipulou, stated this on Thursday while responding to questions from journalists after the state’s transparency briefing for the months of March and April 2021 in Yenagoa.

He said although a lower court had ruled over the matter, the Federal Government should have allowed all the legal processes to be exhausted before making such deductions.

Seipulou, who noted that the state government had protested over the issue to no avail, said N939.865 million was being deducted monthly from the Bayelsa government’s allocation, which payment is spread over a period of one year.

His words: “The N11 billion deducted is the fund we were earning from statutory and derivation allocations. But now we have legal issues with our sister states where some oil wells are being contested.

“While the issue is still in court, the Federal Government said that the Bayelsa State government needed to pay the money back to the federation account. The Federal Government should not have deducted such funds until the legal processes were exhausted.

APC Government in Plateau is Interim – Ogbeha

FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS

T

he Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Caretaker Committee in Plateau State, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, has described the All Progressives Congress government in Plateau State as “interim.”

Ogbeha, who is also a former military administrator of Akwa Ibom State, dismissed the APC as a pretender to political power in Plateau and declared his readiness to reposition the PDP in the state.

Speaking in Jos, capital of the state, Ogbeha described his

new assignment in Plateau as crucial and reconciliatory.

He promised to bring all contending interests together and provide a fair playing ground for a free, fair and transparent congress that would produce a leadership acceptable to all.

He explained that the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party had to set up a caretaker committee to take charge of the party’s affairs in Plateau, following a court order that set aside the state executive of the party.

He said, “We are here to put in place, at all levels, the organs of the party”.

Commissioner Wants Obnoxious Widowhood Practices Eliminated

FROM UDEME UTIP, UYO

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kwa Ibom State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr. Ini Adiakpan, has called on policy makers and other relevant agencies in Nigeria to make deliberate efforts at eliminating barbaric widowhood rites to give widows in the society a sense of belonging. The commissioner gave the urge in her address to mark this year’s International Widows’ Day in Uyo, the State Capital.

Adiakpan expressed regret at the various inhuman treatments and deprivations most widows are forced to go through by

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family members as the laws and cultural practices, stressing the urgent need for a redress of these anomalies to guarantee positive lives for the widows and their children.

The Commissioner, who reflected on the theme of this year’s celebration “Invisible Women... Invisible Problems..” described the theme as apt to invoke love and attract conscious efforts to solve the problems of widowhood in the Country.

According to her, the theme pointed to the effect that the death of a spouse brought loneliness to the widow and her problems became invisible to the whole society.

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he Cross River State Police Command has arrested a 24-year-old man who allegedly beheaded his 65-year-old aunt. The suspect, Christian Edem Eyo, alias Etebong, of No 7 Inyang Street, allegedly buried his aunt in a shallow grave in his compound after the gruesome act.

According to other neighbours, the incident happened early Wednesday morning at about 5 am when the deceased left her apartment to go and ease herself and bathe outside.

A neighbour, Grace Edem, said it was a worshipper in the adjoining church which was having an all night prayer session that noticed how Christian was burying a headless body.

She said Christian took the head of the deceased into his two-room apartment.

The scene was besieged by thousands of neighbours and thousands of passersby before the Mbukpa Division of the Police arrested the suspect.

The fresh head of the woman could be seen inside the dark room close to many mystical items such as candles, flowers, oil and designs.

Also, the command paraded 25 suspected criminals, including a police sergeant who is involved in gun running.

Speaking while parading the suspects at the state police headquarters Diamond Hill, Calabar, the Cross River State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Sikiru Akande, urged the residents of the state to assist the police with useful information that could aid in the arrest of criminals.

Senator Gyang Makes Case for IDPs

FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS

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member of the National Assembly representing Plateau North Senatorial District in Plateau State, Senator Istifanus Gyang, has made a case for the welfare of internally displaced persons living in the constituency.

Senator Gyang said he appealed for the resettlement of the IDPs through the 500 Housing Unit programme of the Federal Government but had not received the desired response from the authorities.

The lawmaker also claimed that he took the initiative to facilitate and undertake the reconstruction of destroyed communities so as to resettle the IDPs, in conjunction with the communities and community-based organisations, as well as mini-housing projects in the Miangoin Bassa, Riyom and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas of the state.

Lamenting the gravity of the hardship facing internally displaced persons in different parts of the country, Gyang vowed to continue to call the attention of the entire National Assembly and indeed, the whole world to their plight.

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SPECIAL REPORT

LOCALLY-ASSEMBLED VEHICLES

Charity Begins At Home • FG Endorsement for Innoson, Stallion, Mikano, NTM, Proforce

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR igerians are beginning to appreciate and embrace locally-assembled vehicle brands as against the agelong preference for fairly-used vehicles popularly called Tokunbos. The choice for most Nigerians came out of the realisation that it is far more cheaper and convenient to maintain a brand new locally-produced vehicles than the Tokunbos, no matter the make. Moreover, with the current depreciation of the Naira, it makes more sense to buy madein-Nigeria vehicles.

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The free service and the ease of maintenance which form part of the initial warranty and incentives for new vehicle owners are also part of the attractions driving patronage for the locally-assembled vehicles. The various financing schemes being put in place for prospective buyers of locallyassembled vehicles are also attracting a lot of Nigerians, especially those in paid employment.

THEWILL recall that in a bid to address the deficit in the economy, the Federal Government had initiated the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) with the aim of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), curtailing the dependence on importation of vehicles and promoting local production of automobile. Unfortunately, many years after this laudable policy was initiated, Nigerians are yet to fully embrace their locally made products, especially vehicles.

However, the trend is gradually changing for most Nigerians even as the government is now pushing vigorously the THEWILLNIGERIA

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patronage of locally-manufactured vehicles.

Nigeria has about 14 functional automotive plants with their combined production put at under 50,000, despite the fact that the actual needs in Nigeria is about 750,000 vehicles per annum. The Federal Government has also resolved to take all the vehicles produced by the local assembly plants as part of its relief package to the automotive sector. The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed , confirmed this while responding to the allegations that the Federal Government was deliberately stifling local auto makers with the slash in tariff for fully-built vehicles which forms part of the controversial Finance Act 2021 as it puts local manufacturers at a great disadvantage.

The Minister confirmed that the government has started discussing with local automakers with a view to patronising them in line with the Executive Order 003 which makes it mandatory for Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to buy made in Nigeria products, including automobile products.

“The Federal Government had a commitment to buy made in Nigeria, so the Federal government this year must stand with that commitment and buy all the vehicles that these assembly plants in Nigeria produce and we will engage the state and encourage them and the local government and encourage them to do the same. This is a time-bound relief,” the Minister said in an interview with Channels Television, adding “it is not a perpetual provision that has been made.”

Nonetheless, THEWILL investigations reveal that in May, 2021, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment sent a letter to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), at the Presidency to appeal to the organisation to ensure that the Nigerian Police Trust Fund (NPTF) patronised Nigerian made vehicles.

Part of the letter, dated 6th May, 2021 with reference number HMITI/GEN. CORR/008/Vol1, copy of which was sighted

by THEWILL, read: “I write to solicit your support in ensuring the patronage of locally assembled vehicles by the Nigerian Police Trust Fund. This will promote the growth of Nigeria’s automotive industry .

“As you are aware, Executive Order 003 was signed by His Excellency, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, the then Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 18th, 2017. The key thrust of the Executive Order is that made-in-Nigeria products should be given preference in the procurement process of certain items such as motor vehicles, information and communication equipment and uniforms.”

The letter which was signed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, specifically listed five automobile companies that deserve such indigenous patronage.

The auto companies include: Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Company Limited which assembles IVM brand; Stallion Motors Limited which assembles Nissan, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Changan, Skoda, Ashok Leyland and Honda brand; Mikano Motors Services which assembles *Continues on Page 8

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SPECIAL REPORT *Continued from Page 7

ZNA, Rich 6 and Geely brand.

Charity Begins At Home

Others are: National Truck Manufacturing Limited which assembles T-King, Qingqi, Forton, Great Wall, King Long and Rexton brand and Proforce Nigeria Limited, a company that specialises in the assembly of armoured vehicles such as Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), armoured tanks, armoured Cash-In-Transit (CITs) vehicles, armoured SUVs. Proforce Nigeria Limited equally specialises in Tactical Armoured Vehicles (TAV), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV-drones), armoured saloon and sedan cars, bulletproof helmets, and vests, military trucks, Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICV), armoured boats and marine vessels.

According to the letter, the patronage of locally assembled vehicles will positively impact the manufacturing sector and bring significant gains to the Nigerian economy by creating jobs locally and empowering our local entrepreneurs.

It further stated that such patronage will equally stimulate investors confidence in the automotive sector and mitigating capital flights to other countries.

Other gains, according to the Ministry, include: providing opportunities for capacity building, technology development and transfer of knowledge as a result of the degree of assemblage that will be done locally and improving productivity of the automotive sector which will positively impact Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As part of the efforts geared towards improving local manufacturing of vehicles, Mikano recently opened a multiproduct assembly plant for Geely passenger cars, Dongfeng pick-ups, Kama and CAMC commercial vehicles.

THEWILL recalled that Mikano officially signed the partnership with Geely in 2019. Geely is one of the world’s top automakers as they are the owner of Volvo Car Group and the biggest shareholder of Daimler AG (group to which Mercedes Benz belongs), its sales exceeded 2.1 million cars, placing it among the world’s top car manufacturers.

Commenting on the recently-launched Geely Coolray, Marketing Manager, Geely Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Karima Okunola, told THEWILL: “You already know Mikano as a trusted, proudly Nigerian name, renowned for being the leading solutions provider in Nigeria for almost three decades. The same level of quality products and services that has made Mikano stand out head and shoulders above others, is what is attached to being a part of the Geely Nigeria family.”

According to Okunola, “The Coolray isn’t just exceptionally appealing to the eye, given its striking aesthetic, people love that the car is the most hi-tech compact SUV in Nigeria, easily challenging even the mid-size SUVs in the legacy/luxury segment,” adding, “So, for lower price point, you get a total package. Not to mention the superior advantage of having a worry-free Mikano International protection warranty.”

While the National Truck Manufacturing Limited is doing very well in terms of local vehicles assembly, Proforce Nigeria Limited has equally made inroads in the areas of armoured vehicles production and other security related automobiles.

Stallion Motors Limited, on its own part has contributed, in no little measure to the development of local car manufacturing in the country. The company had late last year launched the locally assembled Hyundai Kona Electric (EV) in Lagos and Abuja respectively.

Stallion Group, the multi-dealership company representing Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, Skoda, Changan, Ashok Leyland through independent management did the elaborate Lagos version of the unveiling at VON, Automobiles Nigeria in Ojo area of Lagos, where the car was manufactured. The unveiling was done at a high-profile event attended by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Speaking at the event, Managing Director, VON Automobiles, Mr Rohtagi Manish, had explained the essence of the launch, pointing that Kona will change things positively in the

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Chairman, Mikano International Limited, Mr. Mofid Karameh(left), with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment , Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, during the launch of Geely X7 Sport and Emgrand 7 in Lagos, recently.

Nigerian auto market.

Only recently, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also drove the Kona electric assembled in Nigeria by Hyundai to the admiration of many Nigerians at an exhibition in Abuja.

Earlier last year, the ruggedness and suitability of locallyassembled vehicles were put to test as the made-in-Nigeria vehicles headlined the 2020 edition of the annual Argungu Fishing Festival in Yauri, Kebbi State with the vehicles driven in a long convoy from Abuja to Kebbi.

As a way of providing options to Hyundai Kona Electric Vehicle (EV) customers, Stallion Hyundai Motors Nigeria, recently launched both locally assembled petrol-powered Hyundai Kona and all new 2021 Hyundai Grand i10 Sedan into the Nigerian market.

In terms of patronage for these locally assembled vehicles, Innoson Vehicles have also been getting a fair share of the market.

The auto company has recently added Imo State Government in the list of its numerous customers. Mr Oguwike Nwachukwu, the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma stated that the need to get durable, purpose-built vehicles at comparatively affordable prices and the desire to promote the local auto industry and boost the economy, informs the sustained preference of Innoson vehicles to foreign brands by the Imo State Government.

Nwachukwu explained that the repeat patronage of the brand is an indication that the vehicles usually serve the purposes for which they are procured, and do so satisfactorily.

Gov. Hope Uzodinma had on May 5, 2021 at a ceremony in Owerri presented a fleet of 100 patrol vehicles produced by the Nnewi plant to the state’s anti-crime/banditry outfit, Operation Search and Flush.

The vehicles included some units of the well equipped, and highly acclaimed IVM G12 special purpose vehicle already popular with the military; as well as the IVM (troops) Carrier usually at its best during off-road duties, used by many security outfits and can be spotted in the convoys of some government officials at various levels.

The new batch of automobiles came about one year after the state government procured 100 similar sufficiently

equipped Innoson-badged operational vehicles for the inauguration of the security outfit in March, 2020.

Meanwhile, an affirmation statement from Innoson on the IVM Carrier pick-up supplied to the Imo State Government stated: “We designed the vehicle specifically for the African road. It comes with an innovative chassis, front double cross beam independent suspension and rear leaf spring dependent suspension, and socket shock absorber, which reduces bumping on the road effectively and enhances smoothness of vehicle.”

According to stakeholders in the nation’s automotive industry, such gesture is in line with the goals of the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) or Auto Policy.

First to react was the National Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Abuja, Jelani Aliyu, who said he is very proud of Innoson, and is not surprised that the Imo State Government has found the company’s vehicles very reliable and worthy of consistent patronage.

He said the NADDC would continue to support Innoson and other local assembly plants towards producing vehicles that satisfy the needs of the Nigerian market as well as other markets on the continent of Africa.

In his reaction, an auto industry stakeholder and Managing Director of Lafbart Innovations and Consulting Ltd, Akure, Femi Olafunmloye, lauded the governor’s love for the domestic auto industry, imploring other buyers to emulate the patriotic gesture.

Olafunmloye, whose company produces tricycle and fabricates agricultural support equipment and parts for light trucks, said: “Gov. Uzodinma has done what others find difficult to do, and that is: Patronise and encourage local players in the auto industry, like Innososn. That is how it is done in every serious country. State agents have to be using locally made vehicles. That his is how to create jobs.”

Also commending patronage of locally assembled vehicles, Dr. D.V.C. Obi, a strong advocate for a viable automotive, who until recently headed the Auto Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) , argued that if channeled inward, government purchases could lift the industry from its present bad situation.

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Oyetola

Adeleke

POLITICS

Osun Governorship 2022: APC, PDP in Early Preparation

BY AYO ESAN

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he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Saturday, July 16, 2022 as the date for the forthcoming governorship election in Osun State. The tenure of the current Governor of the State, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, will end on November 26, 2022.

According to the election time-table, which is available on INEC’s website, the conduct of party primaries, including the resolution of disputes arising from the primaries, is scheduled to take place between February 16 and March 12, 2022, while the last day for withdrawal by candidates and replacement of withdrawn candidates by political parties will end by April 8, 2022.

Election campaigns by political parties and their candidates will begin on April 17, 2022 and end on July 14, 2022.

The announcement of the date of the governorship poll has spurred the hitherto sleeping state into action. Politicians across the nooks and crannies of the state appear to have been awakened from slumber by the worsening insecurity across the country.

Caucus meetings across party divides are already taking place and governorship aspirants, most of who have not made their intentions known to the public, are already set for a race that will determine who THEWILLNIGERIA

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succeeds the incumbent governor.

There is no denying the fact that Governor Oyetola is constitutionally entitled to a second term of four years after his first tenure. Political analysts and watchers of political developments in the State of Living Springs, as Osun is called, believe the election will be a two-horse race between the candidates of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“

Political analysts and watchers of political developments in the State of Living Springs, as Osun is called, believe the election will be a twohorse race between the candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

The question then is what is the state of the APC and that of the PDP in Osun? Considering that the election is still a full year away, what obtains now may still look like an early preparation, which may be upturned by events, intricacies and the manoeuvring which will take place between now and the election date.

ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS Governor Oyetola is from the APC. He defeated the PDP candidate in the last election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, by a narrow margin. Ordinarily, with the benefit of incumbency, the governor should emerge as the APC candidate and possibly win the election, but the APC in Osun is currently polarised due to an internal crisis. If not quickly resolved, the crisis may make the road to victory very rough for Oyetola and the party.

The division within the APC in the state is the fallout of a cold war between a former governor of the state and Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola and Oyetola .

This came into the open recently as the loyalists of Aregbesola formed a new group within the party.

Tagged The Osun Progressives (TOP), the group *Continues on Page 11

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

Constitution Amendment: National Assembly Meant Well For Nigerians – Oker-Jev In this interview with AUSTINE JOR, Senator Emmanuel -Oker-Jev, representing Benue North-West Senatorial District, speaks on the ongoing constitution amendment exercise. Excerpts:

Some senior lawyers have faulted the ongoing constitution review process. What is your take on the matter?

With all due respect to the senior advocates, it was not the National Assembly that gave rise to the 1999 constitution. The National Assembly itself is a product of the same constitution. The elections that gave rise to the National Assembly derived legitimacy from the 1999 constitution. So it is not right to say that the National Assembly is creating a constitution for Nigerians. As representatives of the people, members of the assembly are also part of the process. Whatever we do, we must go back to the people and ask them what they want so that we can insert it in the amendment exercise. This is exactly what Nigerians have seen the Senate do. So it is not right to say that the National Assembly is creating the constitution. The constitution is less than ideal.

Even Americans have tinkered with their country’s constitution at different times in the past. In Nigeria’s case where the constitution was hurriedly put in place, it means that many areas need to be amended.

Isn’t it better for the National Assembly to embark on the process of writing a new constitution as some Nigerians are saying?

I don’t know how this can be done without altering the fundamental laws of the land. Only Section nine can do that. So I wonder how it can be achieved. You can’t just come and say this constitution is wrong and it should be thrown away and another one written. It has to go through a process because once you don’t do that people will go to court, based on the provisions of the same constitution. You can’t come when we are making efforts to get a better constitution and say that the whole thing is void. I don’t think those senior lawyers will have their way if the matter gets to the court. To me, it amounts to double speak.

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Oker-Jev

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he National Assembly recently held public sittings nationwide as part of its effort towards amending the constitution. How was the exercise and what responses were you able to get from the public?

In Jos where I went and from what I read in the newspapers I can tell you that the situation was the same. The fact that Nigerians are agitating means the present constitution is less than ideal. Nobody will in any good conscience say that we have a perfect constitution. The hurried manner in which the military gave us the constitution when they were leaving never ensured it was a true product of the people and so, it has failed to address the concerns of most Nigerians.

Section nine of the same constitution describes how it can be amended. The term, which the 1999 constitution uses, is alteration and it says the National Assembly can kick-start the process of altering any section of the constitution. Any other thing outside this will be a coup d’etat because it has to be done in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

They are quoting the constitution of 1966 With due respect, I want to argue that the circumstances back in 1966 and what we have today are not the same. The constitution we have today was meant to be a federal document. There is a lot of errors in it and that is why we are trying to make it a better document .

You cannot compare what the then Head of State, Gen Aguiyi Ironsi, did by fiat with what the military gave us in 1999, which was less than ideal. It is based on this constitution that we have celebrated over 20 years of democratic rule. For me, you cannot derive democratic rule from that constitution and turn around to say we don’t have a constitution or that we want to run a unitary system. I agree that the constitution is less than ideal, but to say it is not a constitution or it is a unitary constitution is what I strongly beg to disagree with.

The senior lawyers argued that most of the sections being amended do not reflect the yearnings and aspirations of ordinary Nigerians. What is your reaction to this?

You see, what used to happen in previous attempts to amend the constitution was that all the issues were lumped together and taken to the President for assent.

When he had issues with certain sections of the amendment, he just dumped the whole thing. We learnt our lessons and decided that any amendment that comes should be treated as a single bill so that when it is taken to the Executive, you cannot blame us.

All issues canvassed by our people have been captured and will be sent to the President eventually. At that level, the onus will lie on the executive which has the duty of giving assent to the amendments . So at the end of the day our people should not blame us if some of the issues they canvassed and we actually worked on as their representatives are not seen to be given assent to by the executive.

Was that what happened during the tenure of the

Seventh National Assembly?

That is why I said we have learnt our lessons. Every agitation was thrown out as one single bill. That was what happened. Even when you have different items in one bill, each of them will be voted differently. We tried to avoid the mistake of the Eighth Assembly by treating each item separately so that if, at the end of the day, the President is not comfortable with some, others can still survive and be given assent.

Will this not slow down the process, given the high level of agitations by Nigerians at the moment?

Not at all. Although they are treated as different bills, the whole thing is done at the same time. It is just for the sake of convenience and the experience that we had in the Seventh Assembly when the whole thing was thrown out. The bills were brought by both chambers of the National Assembly, but when they went to the Constitution Amendment Committee they were treated at the same time. If you ask me, it is a better approach.

Now that you have heard from the people, what will be the next step?

The next step is that when the Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment concludes its report and brings it to the National Assembly it will be voted upon.

The House of Representatives will also do the same and when that is concluded the report will be sent to the states to get their input because the constitution says the states are also involved in the voting.

What efforts is the National Assembly making towards ensuring cohesion with the State Houses of Assembly in terms of endorsing some of the vital things contained in the amendment act?

Unfortunately, that is the nature of the society that we have. We have a very large country that is made up of people of different backgrounds. There are different persuasions. The National Assembly itself is comprises THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS

APC, PDP in Early Preparation

*Continued from Page 9

is trying to position the Aregbesola camp for the forthcoming state congress of the party and the party’s primaries for the governorship election.

THEWILL gathered that mobilisation for the TOP across the state has been tremendous. Members of the group were seen in all the 30 local government areas of the state as it embarked on a mission to sensitise the people to its goals and agenda for Osun.

The leaders of the group have already accused the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Prince Gboyega Famodun, an ally of Governor Oyetola, of running the party unilaterally.

The group also expressed the opinion that Famodun’s tenure at the helm of the committee had seriously affected the unity of the party, noting that he displayed a similar attitude in 2018, which almost cost the party victory in the last governorship election.

The Chairman of TOP, Adelowo Adebiyi, said the group was formed to ensure that the APC does not suffer electoral loss in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

It was gathered that notable politicians who formed TOP include the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf; a former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam and Comrade Gbenga Awosode. people of different backgrounds. So when the bill gets to the state houses of assembly, you cannot say because the National Assembly voted this way and so they too must vote in the same direction. They have the latitude to vote according to their persuasions.

What about lobbying and enlightenment towards those things Nigerians are yearning for?

That has always been the practice. Normally when this report is sent to the state houses of assembly, in most cases, the leadership of the National Assembly would engage their leaders. Ultimately, each state will have its own position, like what we saw during the last public hearing. If such a position contradicts that of the National Assembly, it means that such state house of assembly will vote against the position of the National Assembly. Remember the other time we gave state legislators their autonomy and they rejected it. So these are some of the intricacies that are involved when it comes to this process.

In the course of holding public sittings on constitution review, did anything change?

Yes a lot has changed. Personally I voted against state police twice in the past, but I will vote for it now because of the situation I the country. My reasoning then was that we didn’t want state governors to take control of the state police and begin to use them to settle personal scores. That was my fear, given what the state governors were using the state electoral commissions to do during the conduct of local government elections. I felt the state police would be used in the same manner.

But, considering what is happening across the country, I think it has become necessary to create state police.

Most Nigerians are yearning for this at the moment.

That was the same feeling in almost all the places that we went to. Nigerians are also yearning for issues such as devolution of power. I believe that when it comes to voting, most Nigerians will vote in that direction.

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Speaking with THEWILL, Adebiyi also said TOP was formed to ensure that nobody would be imposed on the party both in the forthcoming congress of the party and the governorship primaries.

“What we stand for is that whoever will emerge as the leader of the party in the state and governorship candidate must be elected by members of the party, not imposed on us.

“We are not saying that Famodun should not contest for the Chairmanship of our party, we are saying that he must not be imposed.

“As we speak, Famodun is at war with his two predecessors, the current deputy and secretary, the minister and other notables in the party. He cannot tell the difference between monarchical inheritance and a democratic organisation, where multiple interests are aggregated to ensure the good of all, which is the essence of a political party”, Adebiyi further said.

A political commentator, Samuel Odewoye, told THEWILL that the crack within the APC might manifest and show the way the party would go after its congress.

He said, “The earlier the party closes rank, the best for it. Most of the people in TOP are grassroots politicians in the state and they were Aregbesola’s foot soldiers when he was governor.

“Sidelining such a group of individuals may cost the incumbent a second term in office. Oyetola needs to close ranks with Aregbesola and give political appointments to his group for him to have an easy

ride to a second term”.

But speaking with THEWILL, the Director of Publicity in Osun APC, Kunle Oyatomi, said, “APC is one of the political parties that will participate in the governorship election next year. We are overwhelmed by the support we are getting from all the corners of this state. This shows that the APC is cruising to victory, even before the election.

“What can the PDP in particular campaign for or say against our able Governor Oyetola. The governor is not in Bola Ige’s House for nothing. He has touched the lives of many people. And it can be corroborated.

It is evident that he is prepared to work. We thank God that we have him and we know we will win”.

PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY The situation in the Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party is not better than what obtains in the APC. In Osun State, two men are laying claim to the chairmanship of the party. The chairman of the party, Soji Adagunodo, was removed, following a vote of no confidence passed on him by the other executive members and their decision was ratified by the National Working Committee, (NWC) which suspended Adagunodo.

The new chairman, Sunday Bisi, is backed by the NWC. Adagunodo went to challenge Bisi’s appointment in court and he got a judgment from the Osun State High Court in Ikirun reinstating him.

It was further gathered that another court in the state affirmed Bisi as the Chairman.

So, in Osun, Adagunodo and Bisi are both laying claim to the chairmanship of the PDP. It was, however, gathered that the newly elected SouthWest Executive of the party is already making moves to unite its members in the state and resolve the leadership tussle.

When THEWILL contacted the South-West Zonal Secretary of the party, Rahman Owokoniran, he said that reconciliation efforts were ongoing and successful. “We don’t have any problem, reconciliation is ongoing and we don’t have any fear concerning the election”, he said.

In his reaction, a chieftain of the party, who craved anonymity, said, “Osun State is a PDP State. You know what happened in 2018. PDP won the election, but the APC manoeuvred the results through what it called supplementary elections. The PDP is going to win the forthcoming governorship election. The APC is like a leprous hand now. You can see the situation they have put us. Nobody will vote for such a party again.”

It is rumoured that the defeated candidate of the party in the 2018 governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is still nursing the ambition of ruling the state and may seek the party’s ticket in the 2022 election. Adeleke, a younger brother of billionaire Deji Adeleke, is believed to have the financial muscle to ‘fight’ whoever emerges from the APC. PAGE 11

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POLITICS lawyers engaged in a hot exchange of missive recently. While she urged the government to approve a new board, stating that the one cleared by the state before the government convened the forensic audit was dropped for non-compliance with the NDDC Act, she said through her spokesman, B.J Akomolafe, the board cleared by the Senate in 2091 was dissolved upon constitution of the IMC. But Apkoebide Akotiene, President and Edet Ekpenyong, Secretary of the Niger Delta Integrity Group, disagreed sharply with Ogbebor. They said she was misrepresenting facts “that are intended to fraudulently interfere with the legitimately process of governance.”

Clark

Akpabio

They said, “What happened in the case of the board is that after the nominees were screened and confirmed by the Senate on November 5, 2019, the President asked that the inauguration of the board be put on hold, pending the completion of the forensic audit. The Federal Government announced during the inauguration of the IMC that the Senate-confirmed NDDC board will be inaugurated after the forensic audit.

Lingering Crisis Over NDDC Board

BY AMOS ESELE ltimatum appears to be the code in the language of conversation between the Federal Government and stakeholders in the Niger Delta over the future fate of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

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A few days after the government yielded to the 30-day ultimatum given by youths in the region and promised to form the Governing Board of the commission, the elders have taken their turn to issue a seven-day ultimatum on the government.

This time, their grouse is about who should be appointed into the board.

Although it received another threat and a request from militant Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to get the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, to agree to a new board for the NDDC, after the earlier threat by the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) expired last month, the determination of the elders to join the fray has made matters worse, pending Akpabio’s promise to deliver in July.

On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, Akpabio disclosed how his July promise will come to pass. Towing the same line of thinking with the region’s elders, who had earlier indicted the NDDC for promoting the interests of its staff rather than that of the communities in the region, the minister promised to expedite action on the government- directed forensic audit of the commission before the constitution of the governing board in July.

“I think they were pursuing projects that were probably beneficial to either the staff or the management and not necessarily things that benefited the region, “Akpabio said while fielding questions from State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.

anounced soon.

He said, “We have fast-tracked the process of constituting the board, but we insist that the most important thing is not just the development of the Niger Delta region but how to reposition NDDC to ensure optimal performance as against the practice in the past.

“In terms of the composition of the board of the NDDC, we have fast-tracked the process and the National Assembly will soon get the list. But that is not as important as the forensic audit, which we have finally given a deadline, which is July, that it will end.”

In a letter addressed to President Buhari, chiefs from the Niger Delta think there is already a list that had been cleared by the National Assembly and urged him to abide by the Act of the NDDC and the new clauses in the amended Act, which, “gives the President the right to nominate and approve appointments into the board of the Commission.”

According to Chief Nengi Eroworo, one of the signatories to the mentioned letter, “If the law was set aside in doing the right thing, we are afraid the minister is playing politics with the issue.”

Speaking further, Eroworo said,” I am saying the NDDC is for development, not politicking. Akpabio promised that after the forensic audit is completed, the nominees for the governing board, who had been screened by the Senate in 2019 will be sworn in. That is not what is going on at present. The current Interim Management Council are his stooges. That is why he has been going about appeasing some stakeholders.”

According to the minister, President Muhammadu Buhari will receive the final report of a forensic audit of NDDC by the end of July this year.

With the forensic audit almost getting out of the way after two postponements following the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the appointment of a lead consultant for it in February, 2020, the issue surrounding the membership of the board has taken centre stage and threatening to scuttle efforts to get the Commission of a sure footing.

Akpabio, however, dodged the vexing issue dealing with the names of nominees for the board, which he said would be

On this, even the stakeholders are disunited. A prominent businesswoman from the region, Rita Lori Ogbebor, and some

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It would be recalled that President Buhari on October 28, 2019 sent the NDDC’s board nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation. According to President of the Senate, who read the letter during plenary the NDDC’s Board nominees included the Chairman, Dr. Pius Odubu (Edo); Managing Director, Bernard O. Okumagba (Delta); Executive Director Projects, Engr. Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom); Executive Director Finance and Admin, Maxwell Okoh (Bayelsa); Delta State representative, Prophet Jones Erue; Chief Victor Ekhatar (Edo); Dr. Joy Yimebe Nunieh (Rivers); and Nwogu Nwogu (Abia).

Others were Theodore A. Allison (Bayelsa); Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom); Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River); Olugbenga Elema (Ondo); Hon. Uchegbu Chidiebere Kyrian (Imo); Northwest Rep, Aisha Murtala Muhammed (Kano); Northeast Rep, Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa) and Southwest Rep, Engr.

Badmus Mutalib (Lagos).

Investigation by THEWILL shows that the current crisis involves a conflict of interest as many interested parties are positioning themselves to get a slice of the cake by getting appointees into the board. And many of those who are interested, ranging from senior lawmakers to ministers and traditional rulers, are ready to subvert the objectives of the Commission.

In 2019, during the clearance of the board, Akpabio, Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipreye Silva and former National Chairman of the governing All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, were embroiled in a three-pronged war to get the President’s ears for their nominees into the NDDC board.

When it appeared the duo of Silva and Oshiomole were getting the upper hand, the idea of forensic audit and IMC were quickly conjured up by Akpabio to maintain control and buy time. With Oshiomhole long out of the way and Silva sidelined by work and time lag, which had made him to feather his nest elsewhere, Akpabio has everything under control. After the sacking of the Prof Kemebradikumo Pondeiled IMC, indicted for misappropriating over N8 billion by the NASS joint committee, Akpabio got his protégé appointed as Sole Administrator of the IMC, Eng. Effiong Okon Akwa.

“Effiong is Akpabio’s stooge and the minister wants to control nomination into the board. That is why he is saying he wants to present another list to the Senate.” Chief Eroworo alleged, vowing, “We will not allow it”.

Already President Buhari has heeded the decision of the South south governors mostly affected by the commission’s operations to withhold further subvention until a proper board is constituted.

What will happen after the expiration of the elder’s ultimatum?

Eroworo answers, “You will hear what will happen. You do not expect me or our leader, Chief E. K Clark to make that announcement public. What I can say for now is that the relative peace being enjoyed in the Niger Delta over this issue is possible because of the cooperation of Governor Diri of Bayelsa State, Ateke Tom, Chief E.K Clark and Tompolo, all key players in the Niger Delta, which involve shadow leaders and stakeholders.”

There is a lingering crisis in the Niger Delta, no doubt, over many issues dealing with the effectiveness of the NDCC and the way forward, but the hopeful thing is that the aggrieved parties have a deal in July when all pending issues will be resolved. Hopefully.

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POLITICS

Politicians & Spirit of Larceny:

Farouk Lawan Goes to Jail

BY MICHAEL JIMOH “ ’ve got larceny in my blood. I’d take it in a goddamn minute.” So did onetime U.S. Congressman, John Jenrette, declare enthusiastically when asked if he would, by any means, use his office as a member of the House of Representatives to receive bribe. Mr. Jenrette was thereafter offered and received $50, 000 for his assistance in setting up a business venture proposed by a supposedly wealthy Arab Sheik named Abdul.

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Spare like an ascetic mullah with a disciplined physique to match, Lawan was seen as a cut above the rest of corruptible politicians in the House. It was not for nothing he was called Mr. Integrity, and he looked it.

Where some of his colleagues had disappearing necklines with barely swinging arms far from their midriffs, the petite pol maintained a disciplined physique common with those in the military. Besides, his relation with the press was going swimmingly. He was everyone’s darling, often outspoken and articulate thus making him look like a prototype of a new breed of public servants Nigerians were looking forward to seeing occupy public office.

The business proposal turned out to be a scam for, in reality, it was a sting operation carefully planned and masterfully executed by the FBI to nail bent politicians in Congress.

The Arab businessman was neither Arab nor Abdul. He was an American, an FBI agent. Along with several others, Jenrette was audio- and video-recorded receiving money from the law enforcement agents at different times and venues.

So, when Otedola told his incredible story to the DSS, they must have been shocked to no end. Who is fibbing and who is telling the truth? Is it the businessman or the lawmaker?

From what has been said and reported, the DSS concocted a plan and asked the businessman to play along. It worked so splendidly Nigerians were simply stunned when it emerged that Mr. Lawan had, indeed, demanded and received a bribe from the oil magnate. It was even so ludicrous that the lawmaker was alleged to have stuffed bricks of dollars in his cap after lining his pocket.

No fewer than half a dozen pols were thus entrapped, including a senator and mayor. Known thereafter as Abscam, it remains one of the most infamous incidents of corruption among politicians in American history.

If you polled most Nigerians on how they rate politicians in their own country, they will readily agree that Mr. Jenrette is in good company: there is larceny in the blood of most politicians around here from as long as anyone can remember up until this very moment. Like Mr. Jenrette, Nigerian politicians also do not hesitate to purloin public funds when the opportunity presents itself. It is a game that has been on for years and will continue for some time to come.

Unlike Jenrette’s however who was seduced into accepting a bribe, Nigerian politicians sometimes make propositions to those they hope to receive from. Among top civil servants and even politicians themselves, it has a name: “Business as usual.”

The recent trial and conviction of former House of Representatives member, Mr. Farouk Lawan, is a classic case. Rather than be induced into taking bribe, Mr. Lawan demanded for one and, in the process, presented himself as a sacrificial lamb.

The story is much known everywhere, from when the subsidy scandal blew in the lawmaker’s face in June 2012 through the trial to conviction and sentencing only last week.

Sometime in June of 2012, according to reports, the petite pol who was chairman of the House Committee on Oil Subsidy met and demanded $3m from chairman of Zenon Oil, Femi Otedola, claiming that the latter’s company is one of many scamming the Federal Government in that sector.

While the committee was conducting a sitting on companies that defrauded the FG through oil subsidies, and as the almighty chairman of the committee, with forefinger on his cheek and thumb on his chin, Lawan probably felt there was a pile to be made from some of the companies.

He set his eyes on Otedola. Off he went and then laid his cards on the table before the businessman.

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where they have defaulted. Otedola was up to speed in all that. He also knew the allegation the lawmaker made against his company was false. What to do?

Consult a few friends and the security agents, this time the DSS. Stunned beyond words, the DSS may have wondered if it was ever true.

Like the FBI sting in 1978, Lawan was recorded – audio and video. By the time it first came out that Mr. Integrity had demanded for and received money from the oil man, Nigerians were split along two divides: those who rooted for Otedola’s story and those who felt the incorruptible lawmaker’s image was unfairly tarnished. But with substantial evidence by the DSS, it was a watertight case against the lawmaker though he tried all he could to deny, or put away, the charge as politically motivated.

Nigerians and the rest of the world now know better. It isn’t that Nigerians trusted pols one jot. Never! Still, exceptions have been made in the past for some of them.

Farouk Lawan once belonged there. Not anymore, as he began his seven-year trip to the slammer early last week.

My Governorship Aspiration Still Intact – Ortom’s CoS FROM AUSTINE JOR, MAKURDI

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he Chief of Staff to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Terwase Orbunde, has said he is still in the race for the governorship position in the state.

Orbunde spoke against the backdrop of an event held in Gboko in which Governor Ortom presented flags to some governorship aspirants in the state.

In a statement made available to THEWILL in Makurdi, the Chief of Staff, whose name was clearly omitted from the list of governorship aspirants, said it became necessary to clarify his position on the forthcoming governorship election in Benue, given recent developments in the state.

He said the omission of his name had given his political associates and supporters within and outside the state great cause for concern.

“They have sought clarification on why my name was not among those listed by Governor Ortom when he unveiled

the 2023 governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in Gboko recently.

“Those present at the occasion can recall that the governor explained that some aspirants were unavoidably absent.

On that day, my Principal assigned me to represent him at the grand finale of the 2021 Bible Week Celebration of the Bible Society of Nigeria at the Methodist Church of Nigeria, South Bank Cathedral, in Makurdi.

“Subsequent news reports from the event which stated that I indeed represented him at the celebration, from the beginning to the very end, confirm this,” he said in the statement.

Orbunde also explained that the important nature of the assignment required that he be excused from attending the Gboko event.

“I wish to assure those concerned that my 2023 governorship aspiration remains very much alive and it will be fully unfolded at the appropriate time, in accordance with the directives of my principal.”

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EDITORIAL

Twitter Ban: Weighing The Options T

he Federal Government, last week, indicated its intention to open discussions with Twitter on the controversial ban following the social media giant’s decision to resolve amicably the lingering face-off with the Nigerian Government .

On the Presidential Committee’s team led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ali Pantami; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyeama; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, among others.

President Muhammadu Buhari had announced the constitution of the Committee on a day the National Assembly took the Minister of Information, Mohammed, on for explanations on what actually led to the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria. The Minister had insisted that the Federal Government was right in banning the activities of the micro-blogging giant, alleging that the activities of Twitter were threats to Nigeria’s security.

There had been widespread condemnations of the Federal Government’s clampdown on Twitter operations in the country as many believe that the decision was an outright violation of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians. to association.

An ECOWAS court has also condemned the action of the Federal Government even as the international community refused to accept the reasons given by the Federal Government. The fear is that the country’s democracy is taking a dangerous dimension with the freedom of association, speech and expression as well as the principles guaranteed and enshrined under Articles 9 and 10 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights being infringed upon.

However, the Minister of Information has insisted that the ban would not be lifted until Twitter is formally registered in Nigeria as a corporate entity with a promise to fulfil all accompanying financial obligations and operate in line with the laws of Nigeria.

He also maintained that the Federal Government was rather protecting the corporate interest of the country as he threatened to ban other social media platforms if they fail to register their operations as businesses with the authorities in Nigeria.

While THEWILL is not out to apportion blame in the controversial ban, which, undoubtedly, has affected a lot of Nigerians, especially those who use Twitter for their businesses, we are glad that an olive branch has been extended by the micro-blogging giant with Nigeria also agreeing to dialogue towards ensuring the resolution of the matter.

We are also happy that the Federal Government

has listened to the voice of reason to dialogue with Twitter to resolve the issue at hand rather than being adamant by insisting on the indefinite ban.

We also want to commend Twitter for the maturity it has exhibited so far as confrontation would lead to no where. It is necessary to note that Nigeria and Nigerians need Twitter just as Twitter also needs Nigerians. The losses that have been incurred on both sides since the faceoff started cannot be over-emphasised, especially in this age of digital economy. While we prefer control to prevent abuse of the social media of which Twitter is a part, we emphatically say NO to any attempt to stifle it.

Nigerians, we believe, should strive to use the social media positively instead of the abuse to which it is being subjected to in the country.

The Federal Government should also weigh the options available to it first before jumping into conclusion or embarking on actions that would trigger unnecessary backlash. We believe that the Federal Government cannot afford to shut Nigerians out of the global space in this digital age.

As we look forward to the eventual resolution of the crisis, we want to believe that one or two lessons must have been learnt on both sides .

Nigerians should strive to use the social media for national development instead of the destructive tendencies that are being exhibited through the various platforms by some mischievous Nigerians.

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AUSTYN OGANNAH

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Editor – Olaolu Olusina Deputy Editor – Amos Esele Politics Editor – Ayo Esan Business Editor – Sam Diala News Editor (Online) – Felix Oboagwina Copy Editor – Chux Ohai Cartoon Editor – Victor Asowata Entertainment/Society Editor – Ivory Ukonu Photo Editor – Peace Udugba Head, Graphics – Tosin Yusuph Circulation Manager – Victor Nwokoh Nigeria Bureau: 36AA Remi Fani-Kayode Street, GRA, Ikeja. Lagos, Nigeria. info@thewillnigeria.com / @THEWILLNG +234 810 345 2286, +234 913 333 3888. EDITOR: Olaolu Olusina @OLUSINA [Letters/Opinions: opinion.letters@thewillnigeria.com] PAGE 14

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OPINION IGP Alkali: Nigeria Police And The Challenge of Professionalism

BY MOHAMED BILAL

S

ecurity agencies in the country are the creation of the Nigerian Constitution, which specifies the roles or duties they are expected to perform. For instance, the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force (NP), the Department of Security Service (DSS) the Federal Investigation and Intelligent Bureau (FIIB) and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) are established to perform distinct functions.

While the military (Armed Forces) is charged with the responsibility to defend the territorial integrity of the nation against foreign aggression, the DSS, FIIB and the NIA are charged with the responsibility of gathering and collating intelligent information about potential criminality and internal or external threat against the nation’s interest.

On the other hand, the Nigeria Police is saddled with enormous responsibilities, which include the protection of lives and properties; the maintenance of peace, law and order; the detection and prevention of civil disorder and crime. It is also the duty of the police to check internal aggression in the forms of violent protests, inter-communal conflicts, kingship conflicts, religious conflicts, conflict over land and social vices, such as cultism and religious riot, as well as trafficking and proliferation of fire arms.

From the foregoing, it is evident that the Nigeria Police is the most challenged security organisation and it has a vital role to play in the face of the prevailing insecurity across the country. For this reason, only a competent, patriotic and experienced senior officer that is capable of restoring and maintaining law and order, especially in a worsening security situation such as we have, should be at the helm.

On April 6, 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Usman Baba Alkali as the acting inspector General of Police (IGP). Two months later, on June 4, 2021, the Police Council under the chairmanship of the President confirmed him as the substantive IGP. From all indications, Alkali appears determined to make a difference. This can be seen in his earliest strategic policy direction and his vivid understanding of the complex nature of the security situation in the country.

According to the IGP, there are peculiarities, with regard to the worsening security. In the North-East and North-Central, he notes, kidnapping for ransom and banditry are the dominant activities of criminal elements.

In the North-East, insurgents and terrorists are the obvious perpetrators of violent crimes. In the South-East, aggression is triggered by secessionist elements and in the South-West, there appears to be a ferocious agitation for restructuring. Also, there are calls for true federalism and an end to the killer herdsmen menace, which, of course, is not restricted to the region. In the South-South, we have the intermittent agitation for resource control.

By this, the IGP’s clear understanding of the complex nature of the insecurity ravaging the country has given hope to Nigerians.

We can hope that he will deploy his wealth of experience towards mitigating the challenge at hand.

However, he has said that to effectively tackle the challenge posed by insecurity, there is an urgent need to check the trafficking in and proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the country. It is believed that most of these weapons are in the possession of non-state actors and they are being used as active tools of conflict obtained illegally.

To corroborate the views of the IGP, former Head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) recently alleged that more than 3 million illegal firearms are in the hands of non-state actors (civilians) in the country.

Apparentlly conscious of this fact, the present IGP has since assumption ensured the reinvigoration of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS) through the deployment of trained experts and specialists to specifically spy and crack down on gun traffickers and local fabricators of firearms. Remarkably, within a month of extensive surveillance across the country, the hideout of a local gun fabricating syndicate was uncovered in the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The IRT and STS squads of the Nigeria Police are sensitised to identify the enclosed Marking and Tracing Instrument, (MITI) of all apprehended firearms, that is the country of manufacture, trade mark, date of import or otherwise and type of weapon.

This will certainly go a long way towards verifying the source of seized firearms, whether locally fabricated or imported, as well as to assist in the search for local fabricators of arms. However, the foregoing is just an abridged version of the strategic policy direction the new IGP. On the other hand, Alkali has demonstrated his determination to restore the battered image and reputation of the average officers and men of the Nigeria Police. On many occasions, at different public or official gatherings, he expressed concern for the general perception of the police. To him, the average Nigerian views the police as synonymous with extortion, especially of motorists ; bribery and reluctance to tackle crime head-long. The police are sometimes accused of collaborating with criminals.

The new IGP is determined to change this negative perception of the police for good and to restore the lost dignity of the average policeman on the street.

However, if these must be achieved, he needs the urgent support of President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Assembly, the Ministry of Police Affairs and the Police Service Commission (PSC). The Federal Government will have to increase funding for the police, which is quite inadequate at present and improve the welfare of the rank and file, who are poorly trained, poorly remunerated and sheltered in dilapidated barracks across the country.

To embark on the planned police reform, as promised by President Buhari, the government will need to change the operational circumstances of the Nigerian Police for the better.

More disturbing is the fact that the syndicate was actually fabricating AK 47 rifles. The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, confirmed that even experts could hardly tell the difference between the AK47 rifles fabricated by the gang and the original ones.

The Nigeria Police is an important segment of government. It will be too costly to neglect its needs, especially at this period in the history of Nigeria. By virtue of its crucial role in the society, no amount of funding will be too much to get the best out of this institution.

It is also noteworthy to mention that IGP Alkali has put in place an effective mechanism with which security personnel can identify locally manufactured firearms. This has become pertinent in the current effort to curb local production of firearms and the illicit activities of cross-border firearms traffickers.

If the police as an institution are adequately funded, there would be no reason for the conspicuous presence of the military on our highways and streets. Surely, IGP Usman Baba Alkali can only succeed if he has the support of the political establishment.

•Bilal wrote in from Jos, Plateau State.

Can Social Investment Programmes Reverse Nigeria’s Poverty?

BY UCHE IGWE, PHD

T

hat there are many poor Nigerians is a fact known to many.

Sadly, Africa’s biggest economy has been struggling to put her acts together despite being one of the largest producers of crude oil in the continent. It has become a metaphor of the paradox of plenty that many attribute to the curse of the endowment of natural resources. When former Venezuelan oil minister, Juan Pablo Perez Alfonso, exclaimed that oil is the devil’s excrement, back in the days, it appears he had countries like Nigeria in mind. Unsurprisingly, the country has become a host to the largest number of poor people in the world. According to the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) about 40 percent of the population or almost 83 million people live below the country’s poverty line of 137,430 naira ($381.75) per year.

Unemployment rate increased to 33% percent in the last quarter of 2020. With a Gini-coefficient of 35.1. Nigeria is one of the eight countries with the highest inequality in income distribution in the world. Simply put few people have so much and majority of others have too little. The country also has a scary public debt profile of 32.915 trillion naira and the second highest burden of stunted children in the world. With 42.5 percent youth population, the unemployment rate is now around 27 percent as at 2020 and the number of out of school children hovers around 6.95 million according to official sources.

The mounting urgency to protect the poor and the vulnerable.

Expectedly, incidents of violent conflict, kidnapping for ransom, student abduction, armed robbery and terrorism are increasing across the country. The security agencies appear overwhelmed.

Cries of marginalisation and demands of secession rent within the country from citizens and groups who feel a deep sense of exclusion. There is growing interethnic intolerance, mutual suspicion and tension within groups who hitherto co-existed in harmony. Street gangs and cult groups continue to brazenly kill, THEWILLNIGERIA

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rob and rape innocent citizens in urban slums especially in but not exclusively in Lagos and Port Harcourt. Criminal herdsmen, unknown gun men and bandits appear to be on a national rampage. Proliferation and stockpiles of small arms and light weapons continue in many communities. ‘Ungoverned’ spaces thrive where informal forms of authority supposedly provide conducive breeding ground for these illicit activities. During the recent #ENDSARS protests, young people across the country expressed anger against police brutality which was hijacked by criminals and miscreants who converted it into opportunities for massive looting and arson. As a result, many lives were lost and properties worth billions of naira were destroyed. Observers insist that these disturbing incidents may be unrelated to the rising population and growing poverty. The picture appears to be that of a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and submerge the West African sub-region.

A glimpse into the social protection arena in Nigeria Social protection has been widely acknowledged as a multisectoral and multi-disciplinary approach to poverty reduction through articulating priorities of government towards sustainable development. It appears to be one of the paths through which President Buhari’s administration wants to follow to fulfil its promise to lift a 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. Interestingly during his 2021 Democracy Day speech the President affirmed that 32.6 million poor persons identified through the Nigerian social register across 708 local governments are already benefiting from the National Social Investment Program (NSIP) while 10.5 million individuals have already been lifted out of poverty in the last two years. Many Nigerians insist that there is little evidence to justify the President’s claims. Findings from International Centre for Investigative Reporting suggest that about 105 million Nigerians lived in poverty from the third quarter of 2019 and according to World Poverty Clock these numbers have been far

exceeded due to the pandemic. Rising poverty level in Nigeria has been attributed to what many describe as President Buhari’s largely inconsistent and unimpressive economic policies.

Will a New Social Protection Policy deliver hope?

Although social protection has been discussed in government circles in Nigeria since 2004, with a chapter dedicated to it in the Vision 2020 document, little has happened. Apart from sporadic program interventions that were implemented, there was no serious policy commitment about it until 2016. According to the policy created that year, social protection is a mix of policies and programs designed for individuals and households in order to reduce poverty and socio-economic shocks by promoting and enhancing livelihoods, life and dignity. That policy has since expired and a new one is said to be in the making.

Reportedly, the recently introduced National Social Investment Programme focused on a more equitable distribution of resources to vulnerable population including women, youth and children.

So far, government claims to have implemented the skill acquisition scheme for unemployed graduates (N-Power), micro lending program otherwise known as Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), Conditional Cash Transfer Program and the National School Feeding Program. Official government sources insist that 12 million households have so far benefitted from the program in the last five years. However many critical voices including the wife of President Buhari herself contend that although the program is lofty in design, it was poorly executed in many states. Independent monitors including select civil society groups like the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) based in Benin went around the country to track some of the funds to ensure that those who claim to have benefitted from the program are real and verifiable.

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

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‘Fair Treatment of Seafarers Must Remain a Priority’

Building Regulatory Framework for Drone Technology PAGE 33

Dangote Receives Highest Civilian Honour in Cameroon PAGE 35

PAGE 35

Investors’ N11.87bn Under Threat As NGX Delists 5 Firms authorities and the government for what they called “avoidable” damage to the market. The likelihood of investors losing their assets in the companies and the negative impact on The Exchange, which only last December emerged the best performing Stock Exchange in the world, was a source of concern.

BY SAM DIALA

T

he fate of over N11 billion investors’ assets ‘trapped’ in five quoted companies is laced with uncertainty.

This followed the decision of the relevant arms of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group to delist the shares of the affected companies from the stock exchange for listing compliance deficiencies. The NGX Regulation Limited, the regulating arm of the NGX Exchange Group, in a recent announcement notified the public about the development.

Prof. of Capital Market, Uche Uwaleke and President, Capital Market Academics, observed that the NGX Regulation company has taken the right step by invoking the relevant clause in the Exchange rule book. He predicts more delisting to strengthen the capital market.

Investigation by THEWILL revealed that the five companies belong to the league of dormant equities earlier reported by this newspaper in February.

The dormant equities, numbering 53 (companies), cut across 8 sectors of between 2 and 15 companies each, with market capitalization ranging from N5 billion to N114 billion per sector among the 144 companies listed on the Equity Main Board. The stocks of the affected companies recorded no price movement (either buying or selling) in 2020 – thus reflecting a state of dormancy during the review period.

At the then exchange rate of N379/USD at the Investors’ & Exporters’ Foreign Exchange (I&EFX) Window, this was the equivalent of about $1.05 billion.

Practically, the values of the dormant equities were static in the ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ share prices as well as market capitalization in their Year-to-Date (YTD) figures as at December 31, 2020 – recording no capital gain or dividend during the period. The implication is that the equities created no material gains for their investors, added no value to the companies, no fee income for the Stock Exchange and no impact on the economy generally during the period.

The NGX Regulation explained that the sanction against the affected companies was as a result of their failure to comply with the extant regulatory rules concerning statutory filing of reports. It further stated that adequate notification was given to the companies during the period for them to regularize their accounts but they failed to comply.

It said The Exchange had engaged the Issuers “with a view to returning them to full with its post-listing obligations.

However, these efforts were unproductive and caused The Exchange to issue delisting notices to Evans Medical Plc (Under Receivership) dated 18 January 2016; NigerianGerman Chemicals Plc, and Roads Nigeria Plc dated 16 July 2018, and Unic Diversified Holdings Plc dated 13 June 2019.

These Issuers still did not take appropriate steps to cure the identified deficiencies.”

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Onyema

In a statement signed by the NGX Regulation Company Secretary, Eseose Okiwelu, the regulatory body disclosed that four of the affected companies, referred to as issuers, have been approved for delisting, effective June 14, 2021. These are Evans Medical Plc, Nigerian-German Chemicals Plc, Roads Nigeria Plc and Unic Diversified Holdings Plc. The process of delisting another issuer, Aso Savings & Loans Plc, is ongoing baring intervention of the unseen hands of Providence.

The Exchange further explained that similar action was taken in the case of Aso Savings & Loans Plc but that it has been given some time to amend the compliance deficiencies.

“The Exchange stayed action on the delisting process in view of Aso Savings’ restructuring programme and gave certain conditions to Aso Savings to return its listing on The Exchange, including filing of its outstanding financial statements”, the public notice stated.

According to an investigation by THEWILL, some of the companies were affected by the downturn in the economy, while others were plagued by mismanagement. One suffered dehydration of prolonged huge debt owed by the government.

However, all the companies, like their counterparts on the healthy side of the market, suffered the stings of inflation, devaluation of the local currency and high operating cost. Some of them have not held their Annual General Meetings nor filed returns with The Exchange for up to 12 years, a development industry experts described as abnormal.

The central effect of the development is the possible loss of investors’ assets in the companies. While the funds cannot be deemed to have been lost as the companies are still going concerns and not liquidated, having such assets ‘trapped’ in dormant equities which do not yield value, is as good as lost.

The Exchange said that the affected Issuers have been duly notified of these enforcement actions and that the publication of the development served as notification to the general public.

It drew the attention of shareholders and investors in the Nigerian Capital Market to take particular note of the affected companies.

Some shareholders and Capital Market experts who spoke to THEWILL commended The Exchange for taking the steps to sanitize the system, while others blamed the regulatory

“The delisting of the companies by the Nigerian Exchange is in the overall interest of the capital market. It sends the right signals to local and international investors including issuers that market regulation will not deteriorate following the Demutualization of the Stock Exchange. By delisting companies notorious for flouting post listing requirements, the clear message is that the Exchange will not sacrifice regulation on the altar of revenue earned from listed companies.

“Much as The Exchange desires more listings, it is vital to emphasize the importance of complying with post-listing requirements which require companies to submit timely financial reports. Given that stock prices ought to reflect available information concerning a company, not making their financial reports available to the public through the Exchange despite repeated warnings distorts share valuations and negatively affects the efficiency of the capital market.

“For their shareholders, delisting would mean the loss of liquidity with respect to the affected companies’ shares as they can no longer be traded in the secondary market. This is one of the risks associated with investing in equities,” Uwaleke said in a note to THEWILL. On his part, National Chairman, Trusted Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria (TSAN), Alhaji Mukhtar Mukhtar, noted that delisting of the companies for compliance deficiency is legal and backed by law. He however blamed the regulators and the government for not playing their expected role: “The regulators are always getting it wrong. How can they just delist companies without making necessary moves to recover investors funds? How can the regulators not initiate criminal proceedings against the directors, management and officials of those failing entities? Why should they always go scot-free?”

The penalty for default in timely disclosure of financial performance is punitive. The rules state that: “Any late submission of accounts shall attract a fine of One hundred thousand Naira (N100,000) per week from the due date until the date of submission. A listed company which contravenes any of the provisions of the Listing Rules and General Understanding and fails to pay the penalty imposed on it for such contravention on or before the due date shall be liable to a further fine of three hundred thousand Naira (N300,000) in addition to twenty-five thousand Naira (N25,000) per day for the period the violation continues.”

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AVIATION

Building Regulatory Framework for Drone Technology

Also in his presentation, the Commissioner and CEO of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr Akin Olateru revealed that the agency is currently undergoing certification by the NCAA to authorise it to operate drones. The agency is therefore conducting tabletop exercises using the drones preparatory to actual deployment to site when the call comes.

Looking at the topic: ‘Drone Essence In Accident Investigations’ as the Special Guest Speaker at the Drone Technology Conference Exhibition; DRONETECX 2021 held recently, Olateru said the AIB would pioneer the use of drones for accident investigation in the West African sub-region.

He disclosed that agency had already acquired 4Nos. MAVIC-2 Pro and 1No. Matrice 300 RTK DJI drones for this purpose, adding that the Bureau had also trained quite a number of their accident investigators as pilots to operate the drones.

Highlighting the benefits of drones, he described the use of drones in accident investigation as limitless, adding, “It does not only offer a cheaper and faster deployment on arrival at accident sites than helicopters, but also offers less interference on the site due to absence of significant downwash as compared with helicopters” .

Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika making a speech at the Drone Technology Conference Exhibition (Droneteck 2021) held recently at the NIGAV Centre, Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Ikeja, Lagos.

In this piece, ANTHONY AWUNOR examines drone regulation, focusing mainly on the challenges and opportunities that the technology brings to the air transport business

I

n 2005, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and United States Department of Defence adopted the term Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in their 2005-2030 UAS Roadmap. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Union used the terms UAS and RPAS to emphasise the importance of elements other than the aircraft, such as ground control stations, data links and other support equipment. The Canadian Government adopted the term RPAS under its new Regulations which came into effect on 1st June 2019.

Before now, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been relatively silent, with regard to the issue of UAVs and the inevitable integration of manned and unmanned aircraft in controlled airspace. Nonetheless, experts are of the opinion that if regulated and operated correctly and safely, unmanned vehicle technologies can revolutionise future air transport, airport operations, cargo operations and ground handling, beside others.

Back home in Nigeria, the trend is fast changing. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is becoming aware that the integration of manned and unmanned aircraft in controlled airspace is inevitable and that stakeholders may as well start working together and fast to ensure safety in the skies for everyone.

Making a presentation on the topic, ‘Drone Essence, Growth and Regulations in Nigeria’ at the recent Airport Business Summit on Cargo Aero Logistics and Drone Technology Expo, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Musa Nuhu, said the huge demand for drones and the pace of development of the drone market, for both recreational and commercial purposes, is incredibly fast.

Giving the assurance that the NCAA will create a strong regulatory framework to ensure safety and security, Nuhu stated that already the NCAA and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), are on the same page in trying to synergise with government and stakeholders to getting key security issues resolved and mitigate risks posed to national security and public safety by people who are not playing by the rules.

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Explaining that the use of drones was originally developed for the military and aerospace industries, Nuhu said that drones are now used for monitoring climate change, goods delivery, search and rescue operations, filming agricultural surveillance and so on Capt Nuhu said, “Drones can be referred to as the following; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs). Before now…Though, originally developed for the military and aerospace industries, they have however found their way into the mainstream because of the enhanced level of safety and efficiency they bring ‘’.

“Drones have a long and established history that dates back to centuries, but presently there is a paradigm shift. Their original use was as a weapon in the form of remotely-guided aerial missile deployers. Today, drones have found a wide range of applications for civilian use. Its essence can be described with one word ‘Versatility’.

“Currently, there is a huge demand for drones. The pace of development of the drone market, both recreational and commercial, is incredibly fast, with its vast use for monitoring climate change, goods delivery, search and rescue operations, filming, project inspection, photography and agricultural surveillance”.

According to the NCAA DG, there is need for regulation of this vastly versatile technology and regulation will create a level playing field for RPAS/UAV operators, as well as address the following and other issues – registration of drones, owners and operators security approvals “The NCAA and the ONSA are on the same page on the aspect of security, while synergising with government and stakeholders to get key security issues resolved. Safety is key to the Nigerian Airspace System. Our goal for unmanned aircraft remains complete and total integration safety and security is a shared responsibility for stakeholders and UAV operators.

“There is a need to mitigate risks to national security and public safety, posed by people who are not playing by the rules. We must ensure that the Nigerian Airspace remains safe and that the benefits of UAV operations are well understood and well implemented.

“I have no doubt that the current legal framework and collaboration with operators, stakeholders and ONSA will provide a robust structure and system for the regulation of drone operation and its structured growth in Nigeria,” Nuhu said.

“In addition, in-flight separation or breakup and mid-air collisions of aircraft are known to leave a huge trail of wreckage spread in wide geographical areas that may require thousands of man hours to process. However, a drone could do the same accurately under a relatively shorter period of time with less human resource”.

The areas in which drones can be useful to the agency, according to Olateru, are wreckage and site surveys; wreckage searches in difficult to access terrains; tree/object heights and distances estimations, using photogrammetry 3D images; site safety assessment limiting exposure of human to unknown risks; wreckage mapping and flight path reconstruction/visualisation.

On the advantages of using drones for accident investigation, he added that with drones, the cost of acquisition, as well as operational and maintenance costs can be significantly reduced.

Other advantages include immediate deployment on arrival at accident sites; live streaming of the images and video; enabling investigators to have full control over the images and videos that are taken at the sites and can also be flown close to trees and wreckage to obtain close-up images without disturbing them with rotor downwash, etc.

On challenges of using drones in Nigeria, Olateru said that drone regulations by NCAA is at work-in progress level, which rarely separates commercial drone operators and non-commercial/ recreational operators.

The implication, he observed, is that a government agency like the AIB cannot operate its drones at accident sites in close proximity (5 miles) to the airport areas, which are tagged as NOFLY-ZONE unless cleared on case-by-case basis by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the NCAA. “Obtaining the needed clearances upon occurrence of an accident would take longer than the desired time and keeping in mind that most aviation accidents occur around the airport area, this limitation will hamper our ability to deploy the drones as soon as we arrive at the accident sites in the restricted zones, since the drones are programmed not to operate within the zone unless unlock codes are obtained”, he said.

According to him, requests to ONSA for permanent unlock authorisation did not receive a favourable response.

Other challenges that Olateru identified include the need to maintain currency requirements by providing the necessary training to the pilots.

He also pointed out that as drone and camera technologies develop rapidly, the need for constant upgrading of the drones and the software components cannot be over-emphasised.

He, therefore, reasoned that, with commercially available off-the-shelve drones becoming more affordable and more advanced, the world would definitely witness an upsurge in their usage during accident investigations, even in less developed countries.

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BUSINESS FEATURES

Curbing Nigeria High Inflation Rate

BY BONIFACE CHIZEA

T

here is no doubt that the inflation rate in the country has been ravaging, to the chagrin and discomfiture of all.

The inflation rate of approximately 18 per cent, which kept rising for over one year, is unfamiliar and alarming, to say the least.

Until the last two months (April and May) when a modest reversal was witnessed and the rate of increase was for the first time in a long while below 18 per cent, as it settled at 17.93 per cent, the situation gave much cause for concern. This situation is most certainly not supportive and it is totally injurious to the well-being of a generality of our population.

What makes inflation unacceptable is the fact that it affects more of the marginalised poor amongst the population who are not in a position to pass its effect on, but bear the full impact as it undermines their purchasing power, increases the misery index in the land, undermines capacity utilisation and therefore, erodes Gross Domestic Product growth rates. But the recent reversal, which we hope could signify a turning point, is most certainly not Uhuru yet as some critical sectors, such as food inflation, has not witnessed any reversal but maintained a rising trend. Therefore the respite, which a generality of the population are seeking, is a dream yet deferred.

So what are the causes of inflation? There are two main sources: One is when you have excessive demand in the economy due to the injection of massive liquidity, which we have witnessed lately through the extension of palliative funding to combat the impact of COVID-19 in the economy. This type of inflation is referred to as demand pull inflation. This reminds us of the argument by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State that the Federal Government was printing more currency notes, which he cautioned could be damaging to the future prospects of the economy.

Although his caution was timely, the fact remained that at the material point in time, there were hardly any alternatives, if we must maintain a semblance of peace in the polity. Demand pull reminds one of the classic definitions of inflation, which describes inflation as a situation in which too much money is chasing available quantities of goods and services.

The other component, with regard to the cause of inflation, is cost push. This explains a situation whereby there are increases in the costs of factors of production, which are, in turn, passed on to the consumer through general increases in prices. The

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reality of the situation in Nigeria today is that there is no product or service that has not recently witnessed an increase in price and it is tough for a generality of the population. One of the major causative factors in this respect is the falling value of the exchange rate of the naira.

Despite the best efforts of the Central Bank in supporting the rate of exchange, it has been so difficult because of lack of productivity in the country, which got worse in the pandemic environment as the Central Bank of Nigeria remained the only supplier of foreign exchange in the economy.

Nigerians also have formed the habit of consuming what the country does not have the capacity to produce, which piles up demand pressure on foreign exchange. The fact that the country at this point in time has to import refined petroleum products, which makes a priority claim on available foreign exchange, imposed considerable demand pressure on the available supply of foreign exchange.

There is also food inflation, which is worsened by insurrection in parts of the country, particularly the food basket regions of the Middle Belt as farmers are not able to go to their farms. What are the solutions? There are no quick fixes in this connection except we can find the political courage to end subsidy on

“

What makes inflation unacceptable is that it affects more of the marginalised poor amongst the population who are not in a position to pass its effect on, but bear the full impact as it undermines their purchasing power, increases the misery index in the land, undermines capacity utilisation and therefore erodes Gross Domestic Product growth rates

the petroleum products, which is very difficult as it remains a veritable hot potato to grapple with. The one saving grace is that Dangote Refinery is projected to commence operations in the first quarter of next year 2022. Such a development, no doubt, will ameliorate the nightmare in this regard.

The new kid on the block at the Economic and Financial Services Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, seems to have got off to a roaring start. Indications are that he hit the ground running, going by the humongous sums of money, which he recently reported that the agency has recovered in his short time at the helm. But he must guard against the syndrome of early and premature celebration of success, which tends to divert needed and focused attention if positive results are to be achieved in a sustainable manner.

Corruption in any economy distorts the incentive system as it encourages a get- rich-quick mentality. It also subverts the value system in the economy as it undermines the values of hard work and fosters a mindset of instant gratification. In the Nigerian situation, corruption piles up demand pressure on the exchange rate as most ill-gotten monies seek refuge in the US dollar.

Also, while we are at it, we are reminded that the 2023 general elections are around the corner and very soon large sums of money will start making the rounds. It is common knowledge that dollars are the preferred means of exchange in this regard.

The reduction on the scale of insurrection in the country will help in this respect. The victory recorded by our military against killer bandits who abducted pupils of a government owned secondary school I Kebbi State and the reversal of the abduction albeit at considerable loss of lives also comes quite handy. If we can make more progress of this nature that could impact positively as farmers return to their farms, thereby giving some respite to rising food prices as supplies improve, there is no doubt that the rate of inflation will be positively impacted in an overall improved corporate governance environment with improved infrastructure availability to enhance productivity.

For a long time, the monetary authorities maintained a target of inflation rate, which is a single digit in the range of six to nine percent. We must work hard to achieve this target. It will give delayed respite to our impoverished population. But achieving this target will most certainly not be a walk in the park; it will demand sustained and focused efforts on the part of all stakeholders.

•Dr Chizea is an Economist and Chief Executive Officer, BIC Consultancy Services.

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BUSINESS NEWS Dangote Receives Highest Civilian Honour in Cameroon ...Pledges Expansion in Investment

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resident/Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote has received the highest civilian honour in Cameroon - the Commander of the National Order of Valour - from the President of the Republic, Paul Biya.

L-R: Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Rt. Hon. Engr. Victor Ochei; representative of Director, Maritime Safety and Security, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Imam Aminu; Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh; representative of the Minister of Transportation, Augustine Makama; Executive Director, Finance and Administration, NIMASA, Chudi Offodile; and Executive Director, Operations, NIMASA, Malam Shehu Ahmed, during the 2021 Day of the Seafarer, on 25/6/2021 in Lagos.

Fair Treatment of Seafarers Must Remain a Priority – Transport Minister

•As Jamoh Insists on Rethink of War Risk Insurance

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inister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, has challenged ship-owners and other stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry to device creative means of ensuring improved welfare for seafarers, while proffering permanent solutions to issues that affect their work. Amaechi stated this on Friday in Lagos in his address at the 2021 Day of the Seafarer, with the theme, “Fair Future for Seafarers.”

The Minister extolled seafarers in Nigeria and the world over for their enormous contributions to global commerce and economy, generally, saying seafarers “contend with perils of the seas and sometimes put their lives on the line just to ensure that goods are safely delivered at designated ports. This is one of the reasons we celebrate the seafarers every year.”

Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, spoke in a similar vein in his welcome address. But Jamoh also insisted on a reconsideration of the war risk insurance premium charged on cargo headed for the Gulf of Guinea. He was reacting to the response of the Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a specialist business information service dedicated to the global maritime community, to his earlier call for review of the high insurance based on improved security conditions in

the region.

“As we celebrate the seafarers’ day, let us further identify and proffer workable solutions to the issues that will still be relevant to the seafarers after the pandemic, such as fair treatment, living and working conditions of the seafarers, etc.,” Amaechi told maritime stakeholders.

He highlighted the harrowing experiences seafarers endured in the course of their job, especially at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. “| am, however, glad to inform you that Nigeria, as a member state of the IMO, was one of the first countries to declare seafarers essential workers in order to ease their sufferings,” the Minister stated. He added, “The nation through the Federal Ministry of Transportation and its Agencies will continue to ensure that government policies are tailored towards improving the welfare and working conditions of the seafarers in line with international standard and statutory conventions.”

Amaechi reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian government to ensuring that the country’s maritime domain remained safe and secure for seafarers working on ships transiting through the waterways. He identified the Deep Blue Project launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 10 as a major effort by the government to curb the hazards of seafaring.

NDIC Moves Against Rising Fintech-Induced Risks in Financial Sector

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igeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has stated that, it is effectively collaborating with relevant stakeholders to manage risks arising from the growing adoption of financial technology (fintech) in the financial sector.

At the 2021 retreat organised by the NDIC in Lagos, recently, Chairman of the board, Ronke Sokefun, said while banks are rapidly employing fintech to innovatively deliver financial products and services, the nature and scope of banking risks are significantly increasing with the adoption of fintech.

Sokefun said “We recognise and appreciate the fact that the National Assembly is a critical stakeholder in achieving our goals and objectives, and this is why this retreat is a vital step towards moving the Corporation forward to effectively carry out its operations and ensure the safety and stability of the financial system”.

Managing Director/CEO, NDIC, Bello Hassan, said the corporation was committed to strengthening the deposit insurance framework, providing timely support to insured institutions as and when required, implementing faster THEWILLNIGERIA

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resolutions of problem-insured institutions and assisting the monetary authority in its efforts at promoting stability in the nation’s banking system.

He assured that NDIC would continue to engage and cooperate with the National Assembly through the House Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters to address issues that are germane to the efficient operation of the deposit insurance system in Nigeria and by extension the sustenance of the safety and stability of the nation’s banking industry.

Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters, Darlington Nwokocha, said the National Assembly had commenced the review of the NDIC enabling act for possible amendment

“We want to go through the entire NDIC Act to see the ones that are suitable and will suit our immediate environment and at the same time that will meet international best practice and insurance dictates. Anyone we find not suitable, we are going to do the needful by amending it accordingly,” Nwokocha said

According to President Paul Biya, the landmark honour was conferred on Dangote in recognition of his efforts in infrastructural development of Cameroon and Africa through his cement plants. The President, at a conferment ceremony held at the Unity Palace, Yaoundé expressed pride at Dangote’s various efforts to promote industrialisation across Africa through the building of cement plants in several African countries. He noted that these plants have provided thousands of direct and indirect employment at their various locations, to boost the economies of their host countries, just like in Cameroon.

He urged the leading African investor to consider more investments in the manufacturing sector in Cameroon, explaining that there are numerous business opportunities in the country. He maintained that his government is focused on promoting a business-friendly environment to make the country more attractive and an investors’ destination.

In his response, Dangote thanked President Biya and the people of Cameroon for the great honour done to him in the award of the nation’s highest civilian honour.

He disclosed that there are plans to diversify the group’s investments in Cameroon, starting with energy. He said, “We have plans to expand our investment to other sectors beginning with oil and gas while our capacity in cement will be expanded”.

He commended the Cameroonian government for providing an enabling environment, which aided the successful completion of the Dangote Cement plant.

He also expressed appreciation for the support provided by the President and cabinet in solving the challenges encountered in the construction of the plant.

He said, “At the inception of our construction activities at the plant, we encountered several challenges, but the government stepped in and ensured that we overcame these initial problems. Also, the incentives by the Government to investors are encouraging. We feel very much at home here in Cameroon because of the business-friendly environment. If demand for cement increases, we will increase the capacity of the plant and make the country self-sufficient in cement production.”

Dangote Cement Cameroon SA, part of Dangote Cement Group was commissioned six years ago, and has boosted domestic cement production, reduced partly the domestic deficit, and helped in holding down the price of a bag of cement in the country.

Dangote Cement is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer with an installed capacity of 48.6Mta across 10 African countries and operates a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities covering manufacturing, sales, and distribution of cement. It has a long-term credit rating of AAA+ by GCR and Aa2. ng by Moody’s due to its market leading position, significant operational scale and strong financial profile evidenced by the company’s robust operating and net profit margins relative to regional and global peers, adequate working capital, satisfactory cash flow and low leverage.

Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, a diversified and fully integrated conglomerate as well as a leading brand across Africa in businesses such as cement, sugar, salt, beverages, and real estate, with new multi-billion-dollar projects underway in the oil and gas, petrochemical and agricultural sectors. It recently rolled out its fertiliser products into the local market, with plans for export while meeting local demand to boost agriculture.

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SHOTS OF THE WEEK PHOTO EDITOR: PEACE UDUGBA [08033050729]

L-R: Barr. Chike Ogeah, Vice Chairman, Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc; Basil Agboarumi, MD/CEO, SAHCO Plc; Dr (Barr.) Taiwo Afolabi, Chairman, SAHCO PLC, and Omolara Bello, Assistant General Manager, Legal Services and Company Secretary, SAHCO Plc during SAHCO’s 11th Annual General Meeting held at Marriott Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos on 22/6/2021.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari and Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, Gov Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti during the inauguration of National Steering Committee (NSC) for the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on 22/6/2021.

From left: Secretary, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mr Shedrak Haruna; NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa and United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, Mr Oliver Stolpe, during the news conference commencing the activities marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Abuja on Monday (21/6/21).

L-R: Former governor of Rivers, Celestine Omehia; former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara and governor of River State, Nyesom Wike, during the inauguration of Abonema/Obonoma Sand filling/ Land Reclamation at Akuku-Toru Local Government Area on 23/6/2021.

L–R : Aliyu Ahmed, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and Mr. Temi Popoola, CFA, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, during a courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, FCT, Abuja on 24/6/2021.

L-R: Former Pro-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi; Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; his wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi; Catholic Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Rev Felix Ajakaye; Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof Eyitayo Ogunbodede and his wife, Mrs Ogunmodede at the funeral mass for the late Prof Francisca Aladejana at the St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Ado-Ekiti on 24/6/2021.

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OMOYENI ANIKULAPO-KUTI

AUTHENTIC AFRICAN THEWILLNIGERIA

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I Was Once Arrested For Being Fela’s Daughter – Yeni Kuti

Omoyeni is the sassy, classy and down-to-earth first daughter of legendary Afro-beat musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. In this no holds barred interview with IVORY UKONU, she speaks on love, activism, perseverance and what it means to be a Kuti. Excerpts.

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our 60th birthday party, which was the talk of the town, has come and gone. Did it meet your expectations?

We tried to limit the attendance to just a few people because of COVID-19. But somehow, people found their way into the party.

I saw some people that we didn’t invite to the party. I offended a lot of people and I have had to beg them since. Did it meet my expectations? I wanted to have a nice party and I hope it turned out to be just that. I personally didn’t really enjoy myself because I was stressed out. I hope the people who attended enjoyed themselves. I just wanted to entertain people.

At the party, there was an altercation that involved your brother, Seun, which got people talking on social media.

Some insinuated it was a faceoff between him and the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Would you care to clear the air on that?

It wasn’t about Seun and the governor, although that was the impression given by some people who wanted to sell fake news.

Seun’s wife was passing by and a security officer attached to the governor stopped her. Seun said his wife was pushed. He later explained to the governor and even apologised to him.

A few Nigerians felt that the presence of the governor at your party was a slight on what your late father stood for.

They wondered why you would be rubbing shoulders with politicians whom your father bashed constantly through his music I can rub shoulders with whosoever I want. I don’t read social media comments. If you are going to say anything negative about me, then you are just doing so in your own capacity as a human being who should have an opinion anyway. And if such comments happen to come to my phone, I block it. I don’t let social comments affect me. Besides, the governor and my partner, Theo Lawson, are in-laws. I knew him before he became governor. I am not a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress nor am I in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

So if they want to make comments and it makes them feel good, all is well and good. It is not going to affect me in anyway. A lot of people were actually happy that the governor graced my party.

I don’t live for other people, I live for myself.

On the morning of your birthday, you were presented a brand-new Sports Utility Vehicle…

Oh! I was shocked, happy, overwhelmed and flabbergasted. In fact, my party should have ended there because I jubilated so much that when it was time for the party, I was already exhausted and just wanted to sleep. My co-hosts reached out to people who could afford to pool money together to get the SUV. I have been given a list of these names and I have reached out to them to thank them for their kind gesture.

Also, a few days to your birthday, a parcel of land was given to you as a birthday gift In fact, I had even forgotten I was given a parcel of land until the deed was brought for me to sign so it can be handed over to me.

I was over the moon about it.

What do you plan to do with the parcel of land?

I am still confused. I spent all my money to throw a party. But first I need to secure the land. My partner and I will decide what to do with it; either to put up a place for rent or turn it into another country home making it our third home. We already have two homes: my own house and his own house. I would most likely put it in the name of my grandchildren eventually when I get round to tidying everything. That way, my grandchildren will always have a reason to come home.

Speaking of your partner, what has kept both of you going strong for 15 years?

I think it is because we give each other space. I live in my house and I also live in his house. He lives in his house and he

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sometimes comes to my house. In my opinion, what destroys a lot of marriages is not giving each other space. Human beings need their own space, their own ‘me time’. In marriages, there are no ‘me times’. In this part of the world, you get married today and in nine months, you already have a child. Most times, women go from their parents’ houses to their husbands’ houses and then the children begin to come almost immediately. The women never get to have their own ‘me time’ and they start feeling stifled. The same thing applies to a lot of men who marry young, say between 23 and 25 years. Even 30 years, to me, is young. Women are marrying at 21. What do they know at that age to want to get married? They haven’t had time to be independent and then end up being dependent on their husbands and vice versa. Maybe if Theo and I were married, we would have broken up.

So you don’t plan to formalise your relationship?

Maybe when I am 75 and he is 77.

Why would you want to get married at that age?

By then, we won’t be able to give each other space as we would both be retired and living together. But seriously, what we have works for us. So why spoil a good thing? If we marry now and break up a year later, does it make sense? I know of some couples that got married and broke up a year later.

How did you guys meet?

He was the consulting architect of my father’s monument. We had known each other before then. I was in a relationship and he was married, but I thought he was a cute guy and I fancied him from afar.

Besides being Fela Kuti’s daughter and being a television host, what other things do you do?

I run the shrine, I manage the family’s estate and I am the brain behind the annual Felabration.

What is the idea behind Felabration?

Fela died a few months shy of his 59th birthday. He looked forward to celebrating his 60th birthday and then he died. The reaction to his death across the world was overwhelming and so I thought of keeping his memory alive. I didn’t want to do that by celebrating the day he died, but the day he was born. So we had the first Felabration in October 1998. It was not called Felabration at the time. We couldn’t do it the following year because we were on a playing tour. But in October, 2000, we dedicated The Shrine and used the opportunity to host a concert in his honour and it has continued in that tradition. Basically, Felabration is about keeping Fela’s legacy alive and also a time to give back. And there is one woman who made a strong impression on me with her work with children living with cerebral palsy. Her name is Nonye Nweke. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Cerebral Palsy Centre. I think what she is doing is laudable and I want to continue to help her. I mean I obviously can’t do it myself, but I think that if we can help people like that, who most times find it difficult to get money, the world will be a better place.

The next Felabration is almost around the corner. With life returning to normal once again after the initial scare ignited by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, how do you plan to celebrate it?

This year’s theme will be called, Viva Nigeria, Viva Africa (Long live Nigeria, long live Africa). Fela believed in African unity and so do we. Also, we are still under a curfew and still not allowed to host a gathering of more than 500 people. We will see how we can work around that. We don’t get much sponsorship, but what I try to do is to save money from every edition of Felabration so when the next one happens, instead of waiting for sponsors, we already have money to spend on the concert and for giving back. I am of the firm belief that those who have should give back because Africans need help. The hunger and poverty in the North is palpable. In 1981 when Shehu Shagari was the president

and the northerners were everywhere, controlling things, I remember assuming that the North will be well developed with a lot of wealthy people. But when I got there, I was shocked by the level of poverty. I don’t know what the government is doing about the situation. That is one situation I would love to change in my lifetime if I have the means. I am not a tribalist in any way. I think we are all the same. I think we are all one Africa not even one Nigeria. African unity is what my father preached and that is what I believe in.

So would you say you went all out to celebrate your 60th birthday because your dad didn’t live long enough to clock 60 years?

Yes, it is one of the reasons. My mum did not see her 51st birthday. We were on a playing tour abroad (my brother and I) when she clocked 50 and we didn’t get to celebrate with her or for her. My parents died relatively young.

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put it up on social media. But I don’t even have the time to be on social media.

But the TV station that hosts your show is owned by an APC stalwart. Didn’t you think being a co-host would be a conflict of interest?

I didn’t think about it. Besides, I joined the show about nine years ago, when Babatunde Fashola was governor of Lagos State. At that time, there was no APC. Besides, we weren’t really stifled on the show except a few weeks before the general elections.

Why were you asked to join the show in the first place?

I don’t know. I got a phone call inviting me to be on the show and it was something I really wanted to do. I had been talking with some TV stations because my friend, Carol King and I wanted to do a talk show. But then I got the call from Television Continental and that was it.

When you mentioned earlier that you were under employment, does that mean you actually get paid for your time on the show?

Just a stipend. But it isn’t about the money. Like I said, it was something I had always wanted to do. There are some things you can’t equate with money. People know me now, not as Fela’s daughter, but as Yeni Kuti based on what I can say or do. I can’t run away from being Fela’s daughter. That is part of who I am, but now I have an identity independent of being Fela’s daughter.

I can’t deny the value that the show has brought into my life. I also like the way we touch lives on the show.

What else do you enjoy doing?

I love to entertain. I love to host parties. I normally never enjoy myself when I host parties, but if the guests are enjoying themselves, that is fine by me, it gives me a sort of satisfaction when I succeed in making people happy. I took that from my dad. Another thing I inherited from him is dressing up. It is a passion for me. It is a way of life for me. I enjoy it. I don’t think I have as much clothes as Fela did when he was alive. Before the government burnt his house, he had a room full of clothes. The clothes that we put on display in the museum are so many. There are so many boxes of clothes that we plan to auction.

What do you think about the current situation in Nigeria?

First, I don’t believe in war. What with all the agitations happening. But I am a strong advocate of restructuring. I think states should be allowed to manage their resources. Again, I think we have too many states. What we should have is regions.

I think Nigeria is rich in terms of natural resources. That is why the Chinese and the Indians always want to come here. They see what we have, which we do not see and do not utilize, and they want that. We have become so dependent on oil that we have neglected all the other resources we can exploit. We are only interested in oil that many countries are already making plans to jettison. Electric cars are being manufactured in other parts of the world. But we can’t use that here because we lack constant supply of electricity. It’s just a sorry situation. Take for instance Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State who sees the huge amount of money that can be made just from exporting marijuana. But because we have a myopic way of thinking as Nigerians, people now assume that we will all turn to junkies THEWILLNIGERIA

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if that happens. The man is forward thinking. The whole world has left Nigeria behind. Marijuana is used for a legion of things ranging from beauty and skincare products to resolving health issues.

Unlike your brother Seun, you aren’t much of an activist It depends. But I don’t shy away from voicing my opinion if I disagree with what the government is doing. I don’t mince words. I may not be able to mention names because I am under employment somewhere, but everyone knows that I am not going to support any rubbish. In fact, three to four weeks before the election in 2015, I stopped appearing on the show because I wasn’t in support of the All Progressive Congress or this government. I had things to say and we were not allowed to criticise on the show. So I felt it was better I sat down in my house. Then after the election, we were allowed to talk. But having said that, the older you are, the more circumspect you become. If I have a comment or an opinion about anything, I will

What fond memories can you recall growing up as Fela’s child?

It was the only life I knew. At one point, my parents lived apart because my mum had to move out. She was always getting sick. Because my father had too many women in his life, that emotional trauma affected her and she had ulcer. Her doctor advised her to move out. Our house was always one big party so to speak. The house was never quiet at any point in time. Now as an adult, being referred to as Fela’s child is a good thing, a thing of pride now. Today his name can open doors for me. In those days, it wasn’t so because he was unpopular then. People didn’t want their children to be friendly with us. I remember being introduced to one girl as Fela’s child and the girl warned the person who made the introduction never to introduce her to people like me. She said it to my hearing. I felt so bad and ashamed and didn’t say anything because I was very quiet and shy. But it’s not so today. She wouldn’t have dared it. At another time, when Fela was in America, Nigerians began to spread this bad rumour that Fela was in jail in America for rape. The pain that we endured in school was second to none. We were taunted and insulted by fellow pupils in school. I was only eight yearsold at that time. Of course, we knew it wasn’t true and we had major fist fights with people. At another time, I went on a date from work with a guy to a Chinese restaurant. After the dinner, we both went to his house and after about an hour, he put in me in a taxi to take me home. That night, armed robbers went to the guy’s house and when the police questioned him on who he had been within the last 24 hours, he mentioned my name as one of the people. I was in my office the next morning when he walked in with two other guys to arrest me for armed robbery. It was like a dream. Luckily, I was allowed to call my mum. I was taken to Panti Police Station for something I knew nothing about. I was pressured to write a statement about the robbery. I didn’t even know armed robbers visited him. So how could I have written what I knew nothing about? I was there from 9am to 5pm. I lost weight within those hours. My mum came, but there was nothing she could do. My boss at work came, but he couldn’t get me out of jail. One of my uncles came, he couldn’t get me out of jail.

My father’s name couldn’t get me out of jail. My father didn’t come because he was unpopular with the authorities. Instead, he sent my brother and then held a press conference detailing how his daughter was arrested to victimise him. Luckily, I had an Hausa boyfriend I was seeing at that time, even though I went on a date. My mum called him and that was how I got out of jail that day. The DPO who was also Hausa, said he didn’t know I had a responsible boyfriend like Nasiru, that I should have voiced it out and I wouldn’t have been detained. The point I am trying to make is that I was arrested because I was Fela’s daughter, not because I was an armed robber or had ties to an armed robbery gang.

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STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

Birth Certificate

Otedola

Young Otedola & Odukoya

emi Otedola is a very doting father to his four children. He isn’t like the average Nigerian father who spends most of his time providing only for his family without making out time to bond with them. Not so with Femi who makes sure to spend as much time with his children as possible. He often showers them with expensive gifts and even partakes in their playful pranks.

But there is one aspect of his life that the billionaire prefers to keep under wraps.

Unknown to many, Femi’s famous wife, Nana, isn’t his first wife nor the mother of his first child. Long before he married Nana and became wealthy, he was involved in a whirlwind romance with a lady known as Olayinka Odukoya. At the time, his late father and former Governor of Lagos State, Sir Michael Otedola, was still operating a printing press and far from becoming governor.

Olayinka, who had just got admitted to the School of Nursing, Ikoyi, jettisoned her ambition to become a nurse when she became pregnant and was delivered of Femi’s first daughter, Olawunmi Christie Tolani, who is today a singer and the most quiet of the Otedola girls.

Olayinka was only 21 years old at the time, but she was helplessly in love with Femi and both allegedly swore an oath never to leave each other. However, Femi’s mother, Lady Doja, would have none of this. She kicked against the relationship, took Tolani away from her mother when she was a little over a year old and denied Olayinka access to father and daughter.

All efforts by Olayinka to make contact with Femi and her daughter over the past years have so far proved abortive.

And if there is one wish she prays would come true, it is to be reconciled with her daughter. Unfortunately she never got married because of her experience with Femi Otedola, but she has another daughter for another man whom she dated for a while.

Odukoya

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Meet Femi Otedola’s Baby Mama and Mother of His First Child

Ini Edo’s Ex-Husband Marries For The Third Time

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hile music entrepreneur and politician, Ubi Franklin, is yet to find the right woman to settle down with, two of his baby mamas have reportedly found love again, with one getting set to tie the knot in August. Nollywood actress and beauty entrepreneur, Lilian Esoro, who is his ex-wife and mother of one of his sons, Jayden, has since found love in the arms of star footballer, Jude Ighalo. Lilian who was married to Ubi for barely a year before the marriage broke up, obviously has a thing for footballers. She was also in a relationship with Super Eagles striker, Kenneth Omeruo before Ubi swept her off her feet.

However, close sources say, although the spark in their relationship fizzled out early enough, they went ahead and got married. Long after they went their separate ways, an Abuja High Court finally granted their wishes for a divorce early this year. With Ubi done and dusted, Lilian returned to her kind of men, footballers, and won the heart of Ighalo, who is also divorced.

Ighalo is reportedly funding Lilian’s lavish lifestyle and her beauty empire, Lioca. Hopefully, the wedding bells will toll for them any time from now.

Similarly, Ubi’s third baby mama, Sandra Iheuwa, has since moved on and found love in the arms of popular businessman and founder of Royal Hairs enterprises, Steven Maduka. The duo are set to hold their traditional marriage on August 7, 2021 in FESTAC Town.

Besides sharing a son with Lilian and a daughter with Sandra, Ubi has a son, Shiloh with a South African lady, Nicole Siyo, and a daughter with another lady he simply refers to as Mama Zaneta.

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Adedoyin

Ubi Franklin’s Baby Mamas, Lilian and Sandra, Find Love Again

Ehigwina & wife

Esoro

Iheuwa

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ollywood actress Ini Edo’s former husband, Philip Ehiagwina, is obviously a firm believer in the marriage institution. Despite his two failed marriages, he got married last weekend for the third time in Irrua, Edo State.

Phillip’s first marriage in 2002 was to a lady named Ruth Okoro.

Several years later, the marriage hit the rocks. He had accused her of infidelity. According to him, before he joined her in the United States of America where she lived, she had informed him of her plan to bring in a Ghanaian boyfriend of hers to live with her. In spite of his warning not to do that, she went ahead and brought the man. When the Ghanaian moved in, Ruth’s friend, who shared the apartment with her, had to move into the living room. Philip accused her of sharing the same bed with the man, taking showers with him, etc. Eventually, Phillip found out that Ruth was pregnant, but he claimed he wasn’t responsible for it as they barely acted as man and wife. He left her and their divorce was finalised 2007. In 2008, he met and married Ini Edo. Six years later, the marriage broke up. While Ini claimed the breakup was due to domestic violence, Philip blamed it on infidelity and he had evidence to prove it. He allegedly demanded a refund of the bride price he paid to marry Ini and his wishes were granted.

Now eight years after his second marriage ended, Philip, a diehard lover, has tied the knots with another woman. However, those who know him very well insinuate that his third marriage may likely go the way of the previous ones, as he was the real problem, not the women. Time will tell.

Samuel Adedoyin’s Grandson Commits Suicide

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few weeks after Olori Sola Alao, daughter of billionaire industrialist Prince Samuel Adedoyin, gave birth to a set of twins in the United States, the octogenarian has been thrown into mourning with the death of his grandson, Subomi Olabayo, who allegedly committed suicide.

Subomi was the son of Prince Adedoyin’s daughter, Lola, who is married to the Managing Director of Ilorin-based Royals Fast Foods, Prince John Olabayo. The body of the 28-year-old youth was reportedly discovered in the backyard of his parents’ home in Ilorin, Kwara State.

Sources close to the family reveal that Subomi had been battling with depression and was allegedly having running battles with his father who didn’t approve of his way of life.

The Olabayos are known to be very successful in their various business endeavours. Friends and associates of the Olabayos have since been trooping into their home to sympathise with the bereaved family.

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JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

STORIES BY SHADE METIBOGUN

AGN Partners Ohaneze Ndigbo

How Controversial Song, Oniduro mi, Catapulted Yinka Alaseyori to Fame

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meka Rollas, the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, is excited to partner with Ohaneze Ndigbo in moving the movie industry to the next level. The ace filmmaker paid a courtesy visit to the President-General of the organisation, Prof George Obiozor, in his Enugu home a few days ago where the duo signed a deal to work together. We gathered that Ohaneze Ndigbo will be donating the sum of N1 billion towards the Nollywood film fund project.

According to Emeka Rollas, the AGN President, the fund would be judiciously utilised for the advancement of the movie industry. The elated Nollywood practitioner expressed his gratitude to Ohaneze Ndigbo for its benevolence. Since he assumed office as the president of the guild, Rollas has achieved a laudable feat which has greatly influenced the lives of members of the guild. He raised a trust fund to cater to ailing members of the guild and he has also introduced several training workshops for his members to enable them to hone their skills as movie makers.

Alabi & Alaseyori

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few weeks ago, the social media was agog after popular gospel singer, Tope Alabi criticized a younger colleague, Yinka Alaseyori, over her hit song, Oniduro mi e seun for wrongly referring to God as her pillar in the song. According to Tope, if Yinka had been led by the Holy Spirit, she would understand that God is more than a pillar.

Tope’s reaction didn’t go down well with many music fans who rose in Yinka’s defence. According to them, she equally used certain phrases to describe God in the past, but wasn’t criticised for it. Many cited one of her songs, Oti Jesu n’pami which means “I am intoxicated with Jesus’ wine”. Her fans also condemn her for her fault-finding attitude towards up-and-coming gospel acts.

Yinka took the criticism in good faith, while Tope eventually apologised for making such a careless utterance. When the ugly incident occurred, many were afraid that Tope’s remark would end the career that Yinka was struggling to build. However, the reverse has been the case. Her fan base has increased and her fame has continued to spread abroad.

Within a space of one week, Yinka’s name went viral and many began to search for her music. The controversial song also got more streams and downloads from major platforms

and she became the toast of events and church functions.

She was recently the guest artist that performed at Super Eagle star, Jude Ighalo’s 32nd birthday on June 16.

Alakija

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Nigeria Idol Heats up With Outstanding Performances

Nigeria Idol contestants

hings are beginning to heat up on the Rites Foodssponsored reality music show, Nigerian Idol. The remaining four contestants have so far demonstrated that the display of exceptional talent is the only way to the next show and ultimately, the prize. This past week’s episode started with a group performance of the song One Love by Bob Marley, a delightful session that attracted praises from the judges.

As usual, Kingdom Kroseide wowed the judges with his stunning performance as he did Holy Spirit by Majek Fashek and James Brown’s It’s a man’s world.

Also on the show was Francis Atela who put up a captivating stage performance, with No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing.

Viewers had a moment of excitement, ignited by the display of incredible talent as Akunna set the stage on fire with It wasn’t me

by Shaggy and Adele’s Fire to the rain, while Comfort Alalade did THEWILLNIGERIA

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Natural woman by Aretha Franklin and Could you be loved

by Bob Marley. With all the intrigues for the next episode on June 27, Faith Onyeje could not perform because of his eviction from the show as a result of gathering the least number of votes from viewers.

Willams

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illionaire business woman and philanthropist, Folorunsho Alakija, is planning big for her 70th birthday celebration, which is coming up in July. She plans to unveil a documentary tagged ‘The whole story’, chronicling her life as a philanthropist, wealthy business woman as well as her family life, her faith and her lifestyle. The celebration will begin on July 12, two days to her birthday with a book presentation that will be held virtually. Also, a seven-hour praise and worship session will be held to appreciate God for His faithfulness in her life. The gospel artists that will perform at the praise and worship session are, Bukola Bekes, Efe Nathan, Beejay Sax, Dare Justified, Bunmi Owolabi and Chigozie Wisdom. The mother of four was born to an upper middle-class family, but she worked her way to the top through diligence and hard work.

The business mogul who now prefers to be known as Apostle Alakija, has her hands in real estate, oil and gas and the printing industry. In 2020 she was ranked

by Forbes Magazine as the richest woman in Nigeria and the second most powerful woman in Africa after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in 2015.

Rollas & Obiozor

Folorunsho Alakija Plans Big for 70th Birthday

Faithia Williams Narrowly Escapes Death

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ollywood actress, Faithia Williams, has every reason to be thankful to God for sparing her life.

The beautiful actress, it was gathered, narrowly escaped possible death via a road accident a few days ago.

The mother of three was driving to a movie location in the company of her personal assistant when the accident happened. They were at OPIC Roundabout in Ibara, Abeokuta, Ogun State, when she signaled to an oncoming commercial motorcyclist to slow down because she was heading towards Iwe Irohin Press Centre. But the cyclist was distracted and did not notice the signal. In an attempt to avoid running into him and to also avoid somersaulting into a ditch, the actress instinctively pressed on her brakes. That led to interminable screeching which attracted the attention of some people living around the area. They were thankful that Faithia’s SUV didn’t somersault because of the force applied on her brakes while speeding. The movie maker, who recently opened a store stocking hair extensions and wigs in the Agege Pen Cinema area of Lagos State, was in shock for a while after the incident. She has shunned social media and other social gatherings while thanking her maker for preserving her life and that of the careless cyclist. She has also been telling those who care about her welfare that God saved her from running over a motorcyclist.

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ENCOUNTER

Nigeria’s Health Sector Needs Better Regulation, Policies – Menakaya needs better regulations. We need policies that make health workers and facilities accountable to citizens.

We need a transparent attitude whereas doctors must include our patients in decision making. I find it strange when older relatives tell me they are on medications they do not know the names of. How do they get help if they suddenly develop allergies? The Nigerian health sector needs to come together under one umbrella and address these challenges.

The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Annomo Health, Dr Chichi Menakaya, talks about how she has redefined the future of medicine in this interview with ANTHONY AWUNOR. Excerpts:

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What is your advice on how to improve healthcare in a country like Nigeria?

I strongly believe that the only persons that can save Nigeria’s health situation are Nigerians themselves.

Our focus should be affordable healthcare to all citizens alongside health prevention measures. Health is a basic human right. We need to reorient our citizens to understand the science of disease. Once we get people’s understanding that cancer is a health issue and not caused by their next-door neighbor, we will begin to win and rebuild. There is no harm in asking for help from the Diasporan and international medical communities. If we aim to rebuild our systems we need to look at existing better healthcare and use that as a template to rebuild our services, taking into consideration our culture and religious beliefs.

More important, we need to promote the need for annual wellness checks and make Nigerians understand that you do not need to be sick before you seek health.

As they say, prevention is better than cure. That should be our mantra. Annomo Health has an extensive health screening programme that is comprehensive and empowering at the same time. Let us build a healthier nation by prevention.

What inspired you to start Annomo Healthcare Concierge Service?

Having been confronted many times by the daunting concerns of my friends and relatives with medical needs and the uncertainty of where to get the best help, I realised that it wasn’t only about coming abroad for healthcare, but also about having the best doctor that cares. It is easy to search on Google for the best surgeons in the United Kingdom or across the world, but it is hard to tell who might be the best doctor for you as an individual. Annomo Health was launched to address these concerns in 2013. We started just connecting international private patients to top clinicians in the United Kingdom and today we have grown into a fullfledged health and lifestyle concierge.

Is it true that Annomo caters for the elite exclusively?

The first time someone hears about a medical concierge, they feel that it is only for the rich and famous. Others wonder why it is different from an insurance company. This is a big misconception because when a member of your family or close friend becomes suddenly unwell, you know that you want them to be treated by the best doctor that is available, not just by any available doctor and with the latest technology and treatment protocols. A health concierge ensures that you achieve this and it takes away the uncertainties that come with choosing the best health care. It saves you money and time, while allowing you to have the best care tailored to your needs.

Have you recorded any success story in the eight years that you have operated this health service?

We have recorded many success stories as a business enterprise, especially for our clients. I have seen Annomo Health grow from just a clinician-finding service to a complete health care concierge that is geared towards ensuring a seamless medical journey over the past eight years.

It is amazing the things we offer our clients. We don’t just offer optimum health, but also have a fully serviced lifestyle concierge which can attend to all our clients’ needs from travel arrangements to as little as picking up laundry and even packing your suitcase. Our job is to look after what matters to you so that you can concentrate on living your life to the fullest.

For our clients, we have been able to give hope when everyone has given up. For example, six years ago we got a phone call informing us that a prominent medical doctor in Lagos had just had a brain bleed. We were able to get him on an air ambulance to London and straight to Harley Street for surgery by one of the UK’s top brain surgeons on the same day. Today this man is back to normal with no signs of a stroke. We were able to achieve this because he saw the best man for the job and with no delay.

As an organisation that connects people to world-class doctors, how do you go about sourcing these doctors all

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Menakaya

ow did you come about the name Annomo?

‘Annomo’ is an abbreviation of my mother’s name.

The full name is Ann Okwuchukwu Menakaya Orakwue. My mother was the epitome of good health. She walked, spoke, ate, and practiced healthy living. I admired her a lot. So when we launched in 2013, I knew that since we aimed to deliver premium care, my mum was the best ambassador for that. So I stole the name from her and it was coined by my brother Dr Chinedu Menakaya. I wanted others to enjoy the benefits of graceful aging as she had.

over the world?

We have a very meticulous process before a clinician or a hospital or group is included in our services. Annomo Health is run by doctors who are leaders in their respective fields with a huge network of world-renowned centres of excellence. We have banked on our years of experience and interaction with other doctors to select our specialists. We go for doctors that are known for making a global impact or bringing in a change that ensures optimum care. These are the doctor’s doctors, the kind of colleagues that we would be happy to treat us if we were their clients.

The next thing we do is review their clinical outcomes and we set a standard that has to be met. We also review the patient’s experiences with the chosen clinician. If you are the best doctor, but you are unable to listen to your patient, that patient’s experience will be horrible. So we narrow our list by choosing only top clinicians with excellent patient experiences. For the hospitals we work with, we choose them, based on whether they have a track record of excellence or not and also their access to the latest technology and treatment protocols.

Having practised medicine in the United Kingdom and other advanced countries, what is your take on the health sector in Nigeria?

I have been lucky. Although I have practiced in some of the advanced countries, I was trained in Nigeria. I have, therefore, experienced both worlds and as they say, experience is the best teacher. Nigeria is a country full of great talents and skilled medical professionals with the majority offering their best, despite the constraints.

Our health system needs a lot of help and it’s not just in the area of infrastructural development. We have a huge problem: We need to address the attitude of the people concerning their health. I can never forget my fourth year in medical school when the wife of a top surgeon presented with breast cancer. With her level of knowledge, she kept the lump hidden and prayed that it would go away till it was too late. So if a woman that educated and married to medicine does not seek help, what happens to an uneducated woman who has never heard of the word lump?

Then there is the issue of health policies. Our health system

Has any of your clients ever expressed dissatisfaction with your services, perhaps due to loss of life?

Health is an extremely complex matter. Sometimes by the time patients come to us, it may be too late for medicine to make a difference. We have also seen inoperable situations where we cannot help. It’s all about managing client expectations.

We have one general rule: If, as clinicians, we believe that the patient has passed the stage where we can make a difference, we tend to advise the family to avoid travelling and just put things in place.

Although this is a business, we are doctors first. Therefore, we ensure that our service is patient-driven, not profit-driven. This is horrible news to break and it can cause a lot of conflicts. It is extremely hard to tell someone that, in our medical opinion, their loved ones won’t get better, no matter where they go. We have clients shouting down the phone after these conversations.

So we listen and lend a helping hand at times like this. I find these situations very difficult for the client.

Your father, Dr Tim Menakaya, once served as a Minister of Health under President Olusegun Obasanjo. Did this background prepare you for what you are doing?

My background has influenced me a lot. I always joke that I was born to be a doctor. For as long as I can remember, I lived in a world surrounded by great doctors, including my father, and they all had one goal: Their patients’ needs always came first.

This is why ‘patient first’ is the phrase that I resonate with till date. It’s hard not to allow this influence you every day.

I admire my father a lot. Not only was he the No1 man in health, but also a renowned doctor who pioneered private medical practice in Nigeria. Today, I still look to him for guidance and words of wisdom. My Mum, Chief Magistrate Ann Menakaya (late) on the other hand, challenged me constantly to be the best in everything I do. She set the stage for everything I have become today. Believe me, if you are born into this home, you only aspire to deliver the best always. That is the core value of Annomo Health. *Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

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JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

Peerless Legend of All Time By Peju Akande and Toni Kan, Shonny Books, Lagos, 210pp

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It took the authors six years to write Legend, from when the idea was bruited to when it was published. They conducted several interviews with people who knew SOS, from those who worked with him like Bajomo, his personal assistant, to those who lived with him like Dewole Olukoya, his wife’s younger brother.

Samuel Olatunbosun Shonibare survived it all. But he did not survive a recurring high blood pressure, which led to renal failure that eventually killed him. By the time he died in 1964, at 44, he was one of the wealthiest Nigerians of his time, wooed and courted by politicians and businessmen, hated and despised by other politicians and party members.

Apart from the main man himself, other people come alive in Legend. First among them is Alice who refused to remarry after her husband died. She it was who inherited whatever was left of the Shonibare estates, properties and companies.

There were also debts, which she paid and then began the tasking process of rebuilding the dying companies and raising the fatherless children all by herself.

Otunba Subonmi Balogun, founder of First City Monument Bank and fellow Ijebu, regard him as a mentor and a man whose business template guided his own entrepreneurial spirit and disposition. Oba Sikiru Adetona, Awujale of Ijebu, insists he wouldn’t have been king without Shonibare’s effort. From bringing news of his selection by the Afobajes (king makers) to him in London, his arrival in Nigeria and eventual coronation, Shonibare played a prominent role.

Awujale promptly rewarded him by making him the first Asiwaju of Ijebu land. as a workaholic by those who knew him intimately.

Indeed, the opening chapter of the book finds him at work, at UAC, where he was senior clerk. So diligent was he that he was promoted manager shortly, not yet 30, the first at that time and ever since.

Shonibare also had foresight, presciently planning and redrawing Lagos metropolis of the late fifties, thus giving the city its first modern look. Helming a team of National Investment Properties Company, Shonibare helped build Western House, LAPAL House and Investment House. This was in the sixties when Lagos was the seat of government of Nigeria with Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime minister. The tallest building then was only six stories.

Government structures around were shorter. And then, these edifices sprung from nowhere reaching out to the sky. It was Shonibare’s brain child.

Devoted as he was to work, Shonibare was also the ultimate family man, marrying Alice Olaperi Olukoya, daughter of his boss, Chief Olukoya, the first Nigerian manager at UAC. Shonibare and Alice had eight children between them, with four born outside wedlock. Relations and friends were well taken care of, including those who worked for him. Indigent students he met outside the country benefited from him as well, sometimes paying their school fees upfront, aiding those who showed promise or were ambitious. Shonibare’s generosity and magnanimity are the qualities corroborated by those interviewed by the authors. Deprived himself in youth, he was intolerant of suffering in others after he became rich.

Action Group which Shonibare was a founding member was in opposition to the Northern Peoples’ Congress led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto. The new buildings owned by NIPC, a company owned by AG, were subtle hints of superiority on the ground and from the sky as well.

The first ever biography of such an influential figure should be more than the 210 pages allotted to him. But the retelling of his brief existence by the pair of Peju Akande and Toni Kan is as racy and enthralling as the short but excoiting life of the subject.

“NIPC had in effect insinuated itself into the seat of power by not just taking over space on the ground, it had also set itself as a towering and hulking presence that kept an eye over all it surveyed.” Not only that, the authors contend, the buildings “signaled the dawn of a modern central business district and they had done it without a template to follow. It was novel.

They had become the builders of modern Nigeria.”

Toni and Peju are graduates of English and Literature from the University of Jos. Both have worked in the same media establishment in Lagos. They now manage their public relations company, Radi8, in Anthony Village. They also co-authored a bio, Avant-Garde: The Cool Jimmy Jatt Story, about the life of Oluwaforijimi Amu aka Jimmy Jatt and his influence on disc jockeying in Nigeria.

Shonibare Estate on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way was also the first of its kind in the country. Bought for 5, 000 pounds from the Onigbongbo family in the fifties, Shonibare turned an otherwise wasteland into the most modern estate in Lagos, fitted with household gadgets and appliances far advanced for its time and age. With his uncanny managerial gift, Shonibare also built the Action Group into one of the best organized political parties in Africa.

There have been others as well, namely Austin Avuru: A Safe Pair of Hands, on desert explorer Newton Jibunoh, on comedians Ali Baba and Julius Agwu, Legend of All Time is their most ambitious collabo. Part of the reason is the subject himself, a man who, in every respect, was truly larger than life. The photographs in the book testify to his ample physique, his velvety skin, and confident aura. Half a century after his demise, Otunba Subonmi Balogun remembers the day Shonibare’s body was laid-in-state at his estate in Maryland, Ikeja: “There he was in his usual woolen apparel, oozing opulence, gentle bearing and mien so much so that one could almost say to his body “excuse sir, please rise and talk to us.”

His love and generosity for people was not modest by any means. There are a dozen accounts by those he helped in this book. There are so many of them you wonder if all he lived for was doling out. He did. He also lived for work, described THEWILLNIGERIA

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Death shut him up for good, unmentioned for 50 years after. Some of his contemporaries have had a dozen or more books written about them by a corresponding number of scholars, biographers and historians, keeping them fresh in the memories of their countrymen and women. SOS has not been so lucky. History had passed him by, until now. So, Legend aims to unravel to readers the mystery behind the man Shonibare.

The authors declare their mission from the start: “This is a book that set to right a wrong, to ask and answer the question: why is Shonibare so poorly served by political historians?”

It is a successful attempt. He was two when his father died, was primus inter pares in almost every aspect of his short but eventful existence. Sired by a Muslim father, Sanusi, and a Muslim mother, Adikatu, Shonibare was named Suleiman.

He only became a Christian when he was about to marry Alice, wherein he changed his name to Samuel.

BY MICHAEL JIMOH e built the first modern estate in Nigeria. He was a millionaire in his thirties. He held managerial and executive positions in opulent companies such as UAC and Amalgamated Press, publishers of top of the range newspapers of the day. Banks in England readily extended loan facilities to him when it was unfashionable to do so for businesses in British colonies. A savvy technocrat, he was a founding member of a political party, was tried and jailed, and almost lost his estate.

Though Shonibare didn’t go as far as university as was common with some of his compatriots at the time, he had an uncommon business sense, sniffing out profitable ventures others ignored or didn’t think of. He excelled in almost everything he touched, changed the lives of those he met, transformed cities and formed successful alliances in business and politics.

ARTS

To say that Alice transformed what Shonny Investment Properties Company is today is an understatement. Credit is duly given to her for her fortitude in bringing up her children and her business acumen in stabilizing the companies and even adding more to the already existing ones.

Legend is broken into sizable chapters capturing different moments of the subject’s life, thus there is a chapter on his days at UAC and his humble provenance in an Ijebu village.

Another chapter is devoted to his kindness and generosity while his venture into business and politics, his marriage to Alice and his relationship with his mentor, Roy Thompson, are likewise categorized down to the last one of his death and burial.

Shonibare’s death was particularly painful to Awolowo, founder of AG and his close associate. Such was Awo’s grief, so it was said but not in this book, it was the only time he ever cried, a politician whose public display of emotion is as rare as his inscrutable visage is legendary. There was a long convoy of cars from Lagos to Ijebu and over 100, 000 mourners during his burial. The whole of Ijebu land mourned when news of Shonibare’s demise came, throwing the entire town into weeks of despair as if a messiah had vanished just like that.

Beyond Shonibare’s immense wealth, his intimidating aura, his generosity, vision and business acumen, what else is revealed of the composite picture drawn by Peju and Toni?

Alas, there is none. They relied mostly on accounts of people who knew him, forgetting the famous advice to biographers by the prince of ancient biographers himself, Plutarch.

“In the most illustrious deeds there is not always a manifestation of virtue or vice,” Plutarch (pronounced Plutack) cautioned. “A slight thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of character than battles when thousands fall, or the greatest armaments, or sieges of cities.”

This is the major shortcoming of this otherwise admirable bio, thus giving the reader an incomplete portrait of a truly great man. Also, a biography like this deserves to be indexed making it easier for readers to go straight to any page for any information, especially names mentioned in it.

Even so, this first publication is a great start. Others may follow in due course. On the strength of Legend, a bio on another Shonibare is possible. Whose? Alice Olaperi Shonibare. That way, both books can share shelf spaces in homes just as the marble busts of the partners for life now share a burial place in their tomb in Ijebu Ode.

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TOURISM STORIES BY JANEFRANCES CHIBUZOR

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igerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), is partnering public and private sector to create programmes and projects capable of driving eco-tourism in the country, Janefrances Chibuzor reports…

Eco-Tourism should be given topmost attention despite a range of challenges affecting its growth, Director General, NCF, Dr. Muhtari Aminu-Kano has advised. That will provide favourable time for inbound and outbound tourists to explore the mega fauna and flora of the country.

The advice was made at the 2021 World Environment Day (WED) with the theme “Ecosystem Restoration.” WED is celebrated annually on June 5 and is a United Nation’s initiative for encouraging worldwide protection of our environment.

To achieve this, NCF is adopting the platforms of National Parks Service (NPS), Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, among other notable tourism agencies to attract ecotourists.

However, Aminu-Kano described good and healthy environment as a necessity for tourists’ attraction, insisting that human beings respond in an inner spiritual way to that kind of tourism. He stressed the need for close partnership between people in the environmental and tourism community, saying Eco-tourism is really a major player in both sectors.

Nigeria’s tourism practitioners focused mostly on culture and other forms of tourism to the detriment of promoting eco-tourism, Aminu-Kano noted. “So most of our tourism infrastructure and agencies attended more on other parts of tourism facilities.”

He said: “We are making a lot of efforts and things are happening gradually. I think at NTDC level we have partnership with them both at their national level and also at their zonal level in Lagos and together with them we are on the Board of NPS and we are trying to see how that can be stimulated and need to do something about enabling policies and frameworks in that regard because most national parks in terms of legislature they are gunmen, they do not allow private sector participation within them but I know the law is changing and the Bureau of Public Enterprises have something in progress to bring third party and other players to work with NPS in a sort of commercialisation system.”

Continuing, he said: “And what the tourism people keep telling us when we approach them is that the basic infrastructure for nature base tourism is almost non-existence because most of our National Parks are in remote, inaccessible places and so access is a major issue and our forests now are dens to insurgencies, bandits and whatever. That could be a major constraint to the immediate realisation of that but I think, anyway, that could be a genuine issue but there are other parks and areas which are not remote which are easily accessible and which are not vulnerable to those security challenges. That’s why the Lekki Conservation Centre is really demonstrating how you can marry tourism and environment and we get an average about a 100, 000 visitors normally and of course because of COVID-19, numbers have completely reduced and stopped but this is a sign that Nigerians really want to go out naturally and so it is not because of our DNA and culture that we are not going out for nature base tourism. About 20 schools every single day of school run come to visit us here and it is because we are accessible, it is because there is infrastructure for people to come, it is because there is no security issue and because we have

Omowunmi Kalejaiye, Zonal Head, Victoria Island Zone, FCMB,w planting a fruit tree at Plumbreed Schools, Sangotedo, during NCF’s tree planting exercise in schools in commemoration of 2021 World Environment Day.

Robust Environment Good For Tourist Attraction

professional staff who are able to guide people and the people enjoy their visiting experienced when they come here.”

According to him, government is not taking the issue of environment with priority and the focus it deserves. “The Ministry of Environment at state and federal levels,” he said, “get the least resources and they are not at the table where major decisions are taken, so we need to address that. How can you reinforce when you do not have the capacity and the money.”

“And we have a consultant who is a tourism expert that is developing component and we have biodiversity experts that are working together to propel the proposal for this program jointly are NTDC and other organisation from World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). It is a very big step and I think we can

pilot the Shaka and Yankari.”

It was a great day, indeed, as the event brought together huge numbers of leading environmental thinkers to commemorate the day with their international counterparts.

The 2021 WED experienced lined-up activities across the nation include tree planting in 20 schools, planting of 400 coconut seedlings, nature walk and clean up.

Sequentially, the event climaxes when NCF with the support of Dangote Group kicked its tree planting exercise at a school in Badore, Aja Lagos. While Omowunmi Kalejaiye, Zonal Head, Victoria Island Zone, FCMB was involved in planting fruit tree at Plumbreed Schools, Sangotedo.

NTDC Capacity Building Programme Will Empower 50 Ekiti Youths N

igerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, has expressed readiness to empower 50 vibrant Ekiti youths in tourism while the Director General, NTDC, Mr Folorunso Folarin Coker applauded governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, for efforts he made to ensure tourism thrives across the state.

the tourism sector in the state, right from the recreation of the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism, the establishment of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism Development and the setting up of Tourism Strategic Committee, insisting that these are brainwork of a tourism conscious individual.

According to Mr. Coker, Dr. Fayemi is one of the very few state governors who comprehend the import of tourism and who has been so strategic at establishing a sustainable platform for tourism to blossom in Ekiti.

Mr Coker disclosed that he had also read various reports on the pristine and spectacular tourism potentialities in the state which include the newly discovered Abanijorin Rock in Iyin, the Potsherd Pavement in Imesi Ekiti, Mountain of Clouds in Efon Alaye, the Source of Osun River in Igede, the Palm Tree with 42 heads in Ilogbo Ekiti and many others which need to be packaged globally for visibility.

Mr Coker who made this revelation in his office in Abuja while receiving in audience the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Ekiti State on Tourism Development, Ambassador Wale OjoLanre who paid him a courtesy call said that Governor Fayemi has not allowed the pressure demands from other sectors from paying attention to the tourism sector.

He said that he had keenly monitored the development in

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The DG pointed out that Hike Ekiti Mountain Safari is a valueadded tourism event capable of drawing thousands of visitors to the state through-hikers interstate and continental engagement.

He applauded Governor Fayemi for embracing Private - Public

Partnership in the management of Ikogosi Warm Spring, Fajuyi Park and Arinta Waterfall, Ipole Iloro which have been concessioned to private companies.

Coker promised to reinforce Governor Fayemi’s tourism stride in Ekiti that 50 Ekiti youths would benefit from NTDC capacity building for youths in the tourism sector He disclosed that the youths would acquire skills in branding, marketing, packaging and digital media exposure of Ekiti tourism assets.

Coker who promised to pay an official visit to Ekiti State to eat original pounded yam said that pounded yam is Ekiti’s niche of the Nigerian staples.

He affirmed that NTDC would collaborate, assist, promote and market Ekiti tourism potential because the governor is strategically positioning the tourism sector in the global market for consumption.

THEWILLNIGERIA

THEWILLNG

JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

GLOBAL NEWS

Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 22.5 Years for George Floyd’s Murder

D

erek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd, a Black man, was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison Friday.

Following emotional testimony from Floyd’s family and Chauvin’s mother, along with brief condolences from Chauvin himself, Judge Peter Cahill said the sentence was not based on emotion, sympathy or public opinion.

lives “an honourable life”, Nelson argued to no avail.

“For a police officer, going 10 years beyond the guidelines for this crime due to those aggravating circumstances is a pretty stiff and an extraordinarily unusual sentence,” Al Jazeera correspondent John Hendren reported from Minneapolis.’

“It’s very rare that a police officer is charged with murder. It’s even rarer that one is convicted,” Hendren added.

Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year sentence for Chauvin, who was convicted of second-degree murder. Minnesota sentencing guidelines recommended Chauvin be sentenced to 12 1/2 years, given he has no criminal record.

The judge agreed that Chauvin abused his position of trust and authority; that he treated Floyd with particular cruelty by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes, even as Floyd declared “I can’t breathe”; that he committed the crime as part of a group with three other officers; and that he committed the murder in front of children.

Chauvin

Exactly why I feel so strongly about the value of a Second Passport, and not only for Global Citizens, but also as an insurance policy that allows visa free travel to numerous countries that your country of origin may not provide; might be a quick escape, if you find that the country of origin falls into turmoil, and places your family in danger.

Biden to Reassure Afghanistan Leaders of U.S. Support

U

President Biden holds a “fundamental belief” that “after 20 years, it’s time to bring our troops home”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday in advance of the meeting.

“We are doing that in an orderly and timely fashion,” Psaki told reporters at the White House.

The bulk of about 4,000 US soldiers now in Afghanistan will be moved out in the next two weeks, and the US expects to remove American and coalition commanders by July 4, meeting an internal deadline the Pentagon developed months ago, according to The Associated Press news service.

“We are committed to supporting the Afghan people and the Afghan national defence and security forces, even as we continue to undertake a security transition,” Psaki said.

“The president is also going to emphasize during this meeting the need for unity cohesion and for the Afghan government to focus on the key challenges of Afghanistan faces,” she said.

Amid heightened security, President Ghani is scheduled to give remarks at a media conference in Washington, DC after the White House meeting with Biden.

Biden had set a formal deadline for the withdrawal of US and foreign forces from Afghanistan by September 11, the 20th anniversary of the US invasion following the al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington, DC. About 650 US soldiers will remain in Afghanistan to provide security for the US and international diplomats in Kabul after the main American military contingent completes its withdrawal, US officials told the AP. THEWILLNIGERIA

THEWILLNG

My presence gives credence to the role that Canada must play in restarting the global economy, and the role that our Startup Visa Program can play in global economic acceleration.

Canada, a G-7 nation, North American Free Trade, member of the Commonwealth,Francophone , EU, and Pacific countries as well, can and must play an important role in this post Covid-19 world.

CANADA’S ROLE I am lucky to be a member of this very exclusive club - The Canada Club. Somehow, my branch of the family landed in what I call the best Country in the world - Canada. Others were not, and are not, so fortunate, and still live in very volatile and unstable situations.

In his ruling last month, Cahill found that prosecutors had shown there were four aggravating factors that would allow him to hand down a longer prison term than sentencing guidelines would dictate.

nited States President Joe Biden is set to host Afghan leaders Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah for a meeting at the White House designed to demonstrate a continuing US commitment to Afghanistan as US troops withdraw.

I

am honoured and delighted to have been invited back to meet the members of your International Association of Journalists on matters of critical importance - Migration and Diaspora activity - especially with the purpose of helping restart the world economy that is presently in complete collapse.

Canada has been built by successive generations of refugees and immigrants, into one of the most successful economies of the world. We have a large diaspora of hundreds of cultural communities; all of whom must be challenged to do more for their countries of origin.

The 22 1/2-year sentence is 10 years more than the state’s guidelines and Cahill justified the longer sentence citing “aggravating factors”.

Defence attorney Eric Nelson asked the judge to consider not only the aggravating factors, but also the mitigating factors.

Chauvin did not come into this trial as a “career criminal” but

BY HON. GERRY WEINER

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview that the armed group has the “right to react” if the US keeps troops in Afghanistan after September 11, when the withdrawal is due to complete.

“If they stay here, then I think it is a kind of continuation of the occupation. They have violated and we fully have the right to react,” Shaheen said.

Several hundred additional US troops will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, to assist Turkish troops providing security there in what the US officials described as a temporary move until a more formal Turkey-led security operation is in place.

Nineteen Civilians Killed in Western Niger, Mayor Says

A

rmed assailants killed 19 villagers in western Niger near the border with Mali, where Islamist militants have increasingly targeted civilians this year, the mayor of a nearby town said on Friday.

The attack occurred on Thursday in and around the village of Danga Zawne in western Niger’s Tillabery region, Karidjo Hamadou, the mayor of the town of Tonkiwindi, told Reuters.

He did not say who was responsible. “Three people were killed in the village and the others were killed in the fields,” he said.

Like its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger is a regular target for militant groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have grown stronger despite the deployment of thousands of regional, Western and U.N. troops across West Africa’s Sahel region.

This may provide better education, and better opportunities for your children, and future generations. It may also lead to business opportunities from which to do business and may provide better job opportunities..

I call this a Plan B - an insurance policy, in case, even if never required. A place to go to; giving broader ability to travel visafree; and provide new business and investment opportunities.

At the same time offering an excellent quality of life, in the most secured environment.

A Few years ago, Canada had the foresight to bring forward the Start-Up Visa program - a program that can help shape our country, and our world, in the years to come; a program that demonstrates Canada is open for business.

THE APS GROUP I am delighted to have the honour of working with the APS group of companies,in continuing to bring forward one of the best business programs that Canada has ever offered: our Startup Visa program.

Michael Shribman, our president, has built this company one person at a time; providing experience, reliability, and an unparalleled record of achievement, with both Canadian Government, and private sector experience.

Once upon a time, I was very young, growing up in the inner city of Montreal, Jobs were scare, never mind decent jobs.

Perhaps in this post COVID year, young people would be facing the same dilemma. What can they do? I know what I did: I started my own business.

What can a country do to alleviate the pain and suffering of this era? May I begin by telling you about a country that, 72 years ago, was only 650,000 strong and in a matter of a few generations, has become the StartupNation of the world.

Weiner

STORIES FROM ZACHEAUS SOMORIN IN TORONTO

Canada, Post COVID-19 Global Economic Recovery and Migration

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JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

SportsLive

Efe Ajagba: Returning Nigeria to Pinnacle of Boxing Excellence

BY JUDE OBAFEMI n the continuous process of making Nigeria one of the countries to reckon with in the sporting category of unarmed combat, one name to watch out for is Ughelliborn, heavyweight boxer, Efe Ajagba. The professional boxer, who currently holds the record of the fastest victory in boxing history after his opponent was disqualified for leaving the ring one second after the opening bell, has set the dethronement of British boxer Anthony Joshua as his life’s goal.

debut. A boxing promotional company, Top Rank was founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum the company, which was incorporated in 1973 and promoted such superfights as Hagler vs Leonard, Chavez vs De La Hoya, Holyfield vs Foreman, Foreman vs Moorer, Leonard vs Hearns, Hagler vs Hearns, Ali vs Frazier II and both Ali vs Spinks fights offered Ajagba the opportunity to take on Jonathan Rice on 19 September 2020.

I

Of all his previous fights, his Top Rank debut was the least entertaining. There was not that determined hunger for the jugular that had made him the firebrand fearsome pugilist that had become his reputation in the heavyweight division.

Yet, he fought Rice with the performance the hurt the American enough to claim another scalp and earn victory by unanimous decision. But, critics began to raise doubts about his ability to keep up his form.

In his determination to become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, the man, who scrapped through an earlier period of his life as a baker trying to keep body and soul together and who may have become a footballer if he stuck to that pursuit when he turned his attention to a career in sports, has proven that he is not just about talk only.

Then, in his most recent fight, the second time since signing with Top Rank, Ajagba put all doubters to rest, when he grabbed the headlines of the heavyweight division again with one of the most brutal, one-punch knockouts boxing had seen recently. As reported by THEWILL, it happen in his April 10 heavyweight fight against American boxer Brian Howard, a boxer with 15 wins, 11 of which were through technical knockouts (TKOs), and 5 losses.

The 27-year-old has come a long way, from an amateur boxer who won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and improved upon that record with a gold medal at the African Games the following year. Yet, nothing has changed in his strong desire to continue improving as a boxerad to reach his ultimate goal: the heavyweight title.

Before turning professional, Ajagba represented Nigeria at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 as the only boxer to qualify from the country and was peerless in the early stages. He outpunched Nigel Paul, his Trinidad and Tobago opponent in the run-up to his quarterfinals fight and was believed to be on his way to clinch another medal but was knocked down at the quarter-finals.

It was a learning process for Ajagba, although he lost all three rounds to Ivan Fyodorovich Dychko, a Kazakhstani boxer of Russian descent, by the slimmest of margins. In the quarter-final rounds he scored 28-29, 28-29, 28-29 and lost to Dychko. The match spelt an end to Ajagba’s and Nigeria’s medal hopes at the boxing ring of the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio. He took those lessons forward. He was already five successful bouts into his professional wrestling career when on Friday, August 24, 2018, he entered the ring for a sixrounder contest against American boxer Curtis Harper, when the events that followers of boxing will always remember, and which had been rechristened affectionately as the “Curtis Harper Day” took place.

Harper was a heavyweight boxer with a record of 13-5 wins at the time and was scheduled to take on heavyweight prospect, Ajagba, who in 2018 was still seen as the up and coming Olympian from Nigeria and the bout was meant to showcase Ajagba’s potential for the big shot in the heavyweight category.

But, in a viral video that has been viewed by more than 760,000 people online and to the shock of all those who witnessed it happen in real time, after touching gloves to start the bout, Harper exited the ring and returned to the dressing room without either boxer throwing a single punch.

Harper was summarily disqualified and the win chalked up in Ajagba’s name as his victory.

Ajagba

Ajagba’s current 15 victories from his first 15 fights in the heavyweight division with 12 of those victories coming via knockouts have confirmed him as a challenger. The nature of these victories has succeeded in making the name “Efe Ajagba” resonate with excellence in the boxing circuit.

known it was going to be a televised bout, which ought to have fetched him a lot more. Although his claims and reasons were patchy as they kept changing each time he was asked, history recorded the results in Ajagba’s favour and it earned the Nigerian the enviable distinction of having the fastest victory on record.

Harper would later try to overturn the disqualification loss against him for walking away based on his reasons without success. The victory for Ajagba stood and Harper’s excuses were thrown off. That was Harper’s last boxing match as he has not been in action so far since the walkout.

That has not been the case for the Nigerian who also goes by the alias “The One and Only”. He knocked out Nick Jones in September of that year and defeated Santino Turnbow by technical knockout before Christmas. His insatiable appetite for the objective he set out for himself in boxing only propelled him on and he was taking challengers to the cleaners as they came.

The American Amid Mansour retired in their March 2019 bout and Ajagba did not waste time delivering a TKO to German boxer, Michael Wallisch in their boxing clash the following month. After successfully dispatching Turkish boxer Ali Eren Demirezen by unanimous decision in July 2019, Ajagba did not get into the ring again until December when he knocked out Iago Kiladze of Ukraine in the fifth round.

It took his victorious run to 12 out of 12 bouts, making him into a worthy challenger for all comers. Next in line was a boxer with a similar path to professional boxing as Ajagba’s, the Romanian Razvan Cojanu, who began with amateur representation of Romania and gold medal victories before turning pro. Cojanu was also the first Romanian to win a world heavyweight title and was going to be a strong opponent for the still undefeated Nigerian.

The reason for his quick departure has been attributed to his fear of the undefeated Nigerian’s reach and stamina which he experienced first hand in the ring and which must have come to play in the boxer’s perfect fighting record of five out of five knockouts and wanted no part of that. However, the boxer later cleared the air that he quit because he considered the fight money insufficient for the six rounds.

However, in their March 2020 bout, Ajagba, was so dominant that it turned out to be a heavily one-sided fight.

“The One and Only” Ajagba thoroughly thrashed Cojanu in round after round that he scored knockdowns in the eighth and ninth rounds. Having endured too much of a pummelling, Cojanu took a knee with 2:25 left in the ninth round and the referee intervened to stop the contest for another Ajagba win.

Harper was set to make $6,000 but claimed not to have

The Nigerian prodigy had come of age to get his Top Rank

PAGE 46

In a fight that had gone back and fourth in the opening rounds with Ajagba earning his fair share of shots despite marching Howard down, Howard was not doing too badly either as the first and second rounds went by. Then, Ajagba folded Howard in half with a third round knockout that left the boxing shocked. He appeared to fake going left and then came back with an overhead right to knock Howard straight to the canvas.

No one saw the end of the third round coming and it was all over in an instant, such that if one blinked at the exact moment Ajagba’s right hook fell, the swing will be completely missed. It happened when Howard committed the cardinal sin of failing to keep his guard up, looking for a quick counter. Ajagba was unforgiving because Howard never got the chance to respond.

Of the 15 victories the Nigerian professional boxer has notched, one truth has become an established fact: Ajagba’s right hand is simply scary. The power it packs is better appreciated from a distance. When the punch that flattened Howard was viewed in slow motion from the reverse angle of the main camera, the devastation was clear. Upon contact with Howard’s jaw, the force of the blow produced the effect of spinning Howard’s head back 180 degrees before he collapsed, unmoving on the canvas.

The third round TKO secured Ajagba’s 15th victory of his 15th fight and maintained his steady and definitive progress to his avowed goal of a heavyweight title. On the card of the highly-anticipated trilogy of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder, scheduled for July 24, Ajagba is slated to face another undefeated boxer, Frank Sanchez of Cuba, who boasts of a perfect boxing record of 19 victories in all 19 fights with 13 knockout wins.

As per Ajagba’s goal of a heavyweight title, victory for him against Sanchez could pave the way further for him to challenge for a heavyweight title from Joshua, if he still holds the titles after fighting Oleksandr Usyk or whoever claims the title after the third Fury versus Wilder bout. He is setting Nigeria again on the global map of boxing greatness as his compatriot, Kamaru Usman, has done in the mixed martial arts of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight category.

There will be no wisdom betting against a Nigerian who has demonstrated the will, discipline, talent, wherewithal and zeal to set his targets and do everything humanly possible to attain them in an unambiguous example of the Nigerian spirit. Ajagba’s heavyweight title is coming soon as he continues to promote Nigeria’s boxing pedigree.

THEWILLNIGERIA

THEWILLNG

JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

THEWILLNIGERIA

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JUNE 27 - JULY 3, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

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