THEWILL APR. 25 - 01 MAY EDITION

VOL 1 NO.11 • APRIL 25– MAY 01, 2021

NDDC UNDER BUHARI HAS BECOME INSTITUTION OF FRAUD, SCANDAL - ORBIH

AMAJU PINNICK Warri to The World!

ZENITH BANK PUMPS N11.3TRN LOANS INTO ECONOMY IN 5YRS

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 VOL . 1 NO. 11

IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

 More Shocking Revelations Put Nigerians On Edge  International Community Suspects He’s A Terrorists’ Sympathiser – Akinterinwa  Criticisms Trail Presidential Backing TR I BUTE

YINKA ODUMAKIN [1966- 2021]

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Price: N250

Isa Pantami: Saint, Sinner Or Mole?

ITUAH IGHODALO: MAN ON A MISSION

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COVER Isa Pantami: Saint, Sinner Or Mole? false witness, slander. These are what defile or defines a person.”

Sometime in early December 2004, at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, an Islamic cleric who was also a student, Sheikh Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, preached to hundreds of Muslim worshippers in the institution’s main mosque. He was the Chief Imam of the mosque in question.

Notorious for his fiery sermons, the student/ Chief Imam lived up to his reputation as a no-nonsense preacher, a man who gives no quarter to those he sees as infidels. By the time the Chief Imam was done, and just about the same time between December 8 and 9, a student of the university was dead, strangled to death right inside the mosque and then his corpse cast away in front of the place of worship.

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM? Before he was killed, 24-year-old Sunday Achi, a 400-level student of Architecture, was said to have dispensed Christian tracts in the school. (Information is scarce on whether or not the deceased actually went to the mosque to share his religious handbills.) To the Muslim community in the institution, it was nothing short of blasphemy and a Fatwa was promptly placed on the unfortunate student.

The tragic story of the late student has only recently resurfaced in the wake of revelations that, possibly, just possibly, the Muslim students’ reaction to Pantami’s preaching led, inevitably, to Achi’s early demise. Achi is the son of a former university don, Samuel Achi of the Kaduna State University, Kaduna.

In a heart-wrenching interview with Kayode Oyero of The Punch newspaper recently, Achi recounted how his son was murdered over spurious allegations of blasphemy by the Pantami-led Muslim community in ATBU.

Pantami

“The incident happened in the early hours of December 9 (2004),” the former lecturer said. “It was from the night of December 8 to the early hours of December 9 that it happened. From the fact that I had, from clear indications, from the confirmed information that I had, he was not stoned. He was actually strangled inside the mosque. His body was discovered outside the university mosque.”

I

s the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, a saint or a sinner? Or even a mole for radical Islamic fundamentalists?

It is a question best left for readers to answer following recent revelations of the minister’s past incendiary and inciting Islamic rhetoric against those he sees as infidels. Now trending nationwide and even outside Nigeria, the man himself, who is currently in the eye of a gathering storm, initially denied ever making such speeches and then apologized, insisting he was immature at the time but now a new man sans extremism. Can a fiery religious extremist become born again overnight?

Ever expanding the national conversation, THEWILL explains how culpable or not President Muhammadu Buhari’s dependable ally has become.

“There is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face,” the incomparable English playwright, William Shakespeare, wrote in one of his great tragedies, Macbeth. The bard of Stratford was only reinforcing the view that you cannot tell the innermost thoughts of individuals by merely looking at their faces. Even so, people reveal – intentionally or not – what exactly is in their minds however much they try to conceal it or maintain an inscrutable exterior.

HOW IS THIS DONE? By word of mouth! What people say sometimes reveal who they are, what they are capable of doing and their general attitude to others. For as Christ once cautioned his disciples and, by extension, the rest of humanity, “what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the mouth come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft,

Continuing, Achi said his deceased son led the students’ fellowship of the Evangelical Church Winning All Ministry, adding that the tracts Sunday shared “did not contain any blasphemous content, but the Pantami-led Muslim community at the university pronounced a fatwa on him.”

Soon after the publication of The Satanic Verses by Indian-British writer, Salman Rushdie, in February of 1988, Muslim faithful around the world, particularly in Iran, looked up to their great Imam, Ayatollah Ruhuollah Khomeini, for a fatwa to be placed on Rushdie. He obliged them.

As anyone would imagine, the Muslim students of ATBU may have done the same thing, that is, go on their knees to the Chief Imam of their institution. Did Pantami oblige them?

Sunday’s father provided a fairly plausible answer in the said report thusly: “If Pantami, who was the then chief imam of the mosque a man of peace, the killing *Continues on Page 4

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of my son would not have occurred.”

Two years later, in 2006 precisely, Isa Pantami was again his voluble self, this time casting his fiery glances on a wider stage and settling on the heroic exploits of the Taliban in faraway Afghanistan.

For a better understanding of Pantami’s religious fervor, it might help to go to his natal village in Gombe. (One of the earliest religious riots, Maitatsine, in Nigeria in 1980 had its roots in Kano but spread to Gombe two years later.) Thus weaned on extremism, Pantami could not but carry on what he learnt from his formative years.

ISLAMIC SCHOLAR MAKING THE LECTURE CIRCUIT It was inevitable that someone of Pantami’s obvious calibre as an Islamic scholar would make the lecture circuit. He has been invited to many in parts of the north, one of which was the Bauchi lecture on the Taliban he delivered in Hausa.

Perhaps it would have lived only in the imagination of those who attended. But then, as most of the rest of the world now know, Pantami’s lecture was posted online, wherein an Italian academic, Dr. Andrea Brigaglia of the University of Cape Town Centre for Contemporary Islam accessed them and tried out a translation.

Brigaglia’s translation of Pantami’s lecture of a decade and half ago is what has caused the minister sleepless nights ever since it made it to the public domain. One analyst who has followed Pantami-gate and let his mind be known in a recent article published online is David Hundeyin.

Of the lecture itself, Hundeyin wrote that “by luck or by design, ‘Suwaye Yan Taliban’ has now become the proverbial bone stuck in Isa Pantami’s throat. At first, the letter denied making such pronouncements outright. Then when the audio recording with his unmistakable voice showed up, he claimed that Dr. Brigaglia’s translation was inaccurate, suggesting that whoever translated it either did not understand Hausa properly or simply did not like him.”

WHAT WAS PANTAMI’S TALIBAN LECTURE? From the Italian scholar’s translation, Pantami said inter alia: “With respect to enquiries/clarification on this topic, I decided to respond timely so as to underscore the importance of the topic to the people.

A very important thought that came into my mind is that what our brethren-Al Sunnah (Salafists) want to know is how the Talibans who lived in Afghanistan were subjected to trials from Allah on this earth. They were subjected to tests of faith and love.

“Furthermore, there were a group of people, infidels, from the Western World, who don’t have any other target in this life except to destroy the good image of the Talibans in the eyes of their Muslim brethren, to destroy the Taliban image even in the eyes of the infidels themselves, by means of accusing the Taliban of deeds which were not committed by them.”

It also transpired that Pantami was alleged to have covertly or overtly supported the Taliban and AlQaeda, spoken sympathetically about organisations associated with terrorism and even praised them at the expense of the Western world, particularly the USA. The inference is that someone who supports terror PAGE 4

Buhari & Pantami

WHAT WAS IT THIS TIME? Exactly on September 12, 2006, five years and a day after Al-Qaeda’s orchestrated infamous attack on the United State of America, and one month short of Pantami’s 34th birthday, he delivered a lecture in Bauchi, capital of Bauchi state, entitled, “Who are the Taliban?” By then, Pantami had earned his stripes as a rising Islamic mullah, with thousands of Muslim followers across northern Nigeria.

groups might himself be a terrorist.

But recently, in the wake of the revelation of his radical teachings, Pantami at Annor Mosque in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, had cause to recant his words.

He began by telling listeners at a daily lecture in the mosque that “some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity.

“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made NOT YET UHURU FOR PANTAMI Although the House of Representatives had earlier stepped down a motion by the House Majority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, calling for the sack or resignation of Pantami, the lower chamber of parliament, Thursday, maintained that it was by no means shutting the motion down, saying the matter would be debated when properly presented.

Hon Elumelu also confirmed this to THEWILL in a chat, Thursday evening, saying he would re-present the motion.

“It (the motion) will be re-presented,” he said, in a reply to a message sent to him via his telephone.

Earlier in the day, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu, had said in a statement: “The House will hear Rep Elumelu’s call for Pantami’s resignation when it is properly presented before it.

“The House is aware of several publications on online and traditional media claiming that the Speaker of the House, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, blocked a motion by the Minority Leader of the House, Ndudi Elumelu, purportedly demanding the resignation of the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami.”

Kalu added, “For the avoidance of doubt, the House is guided by the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives (House Rules) in its operations and administration. In this case, the Minority Leader should have known better than to present such an

when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.”

Despite that, many Nigerians have since been calling for the minister’s resignation or for PMB himself to give him the boot. None of that is likely to happen.

For one, Pantami, a Fulani, born on October 20, 1972 in Pantami Gombe State, is a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari who has canvassed for his presidency before the 2007 presidential election. And issue for debate via Order 6 of the House Rules which only applies to Legislative Privileges.

“He ought to have come under Order 8 Rule 4, as a matter of urgent national importance, or via a motion on notice to enable other members second the motion and make their contributions through debate in true democratic fashion, after which the House would be able to take a position on the issue.

“It is, therefore, pertinent to inform Nigerians that the House has not acted in error, but in line with the provisions of its rules. All insinuations that the House did not allow democratic debate to take place on the important issue of Pantami’s resignation are simply untrue.

“As always, the House stands ready to give audience to Rep. Elumelu or any other member of the House on this issue, provided that such audience is sought through the proper channels and brought under the relevant rules of the House.”

PRESIDENTIAL SOFT LANDING A new twist was however added to the controversy on Thursday evening, as The Presidency finally came out in defence of the Minister in the statement by Mallam Shehu Garba, a move that left many supporters of the president in shock and disappointment.

THEWILL had earlier contacted the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, for his reaction to the issues being raised in the Pantami saga, but he neither picked the call made to his phone line nor replied the text message sent to him.

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COVER solely concern his actions in the present.”

Of course, PMB’s spokesman also went to tell Nigerians how the beleaguered minister has been beavering away, “leading the charge against illegal data deductions and pricing; he has revolutionised the government’s virtual public engagement to respond to COVID-19 and save taxpayers’ money...In two short years, Minister Pantami has driven the contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP to more than 18 percent, making it one of the top two playing a critical role in the emergence of the economy from the COVID 19-induced recession.”

Concluding, Shehu stated emphatically that the “Administration stands behind Minister Pantami and all Nigerian citizens to ensure they receive fair treatment, fair prices, and fair protection in ICT services.”

Shekau

What about other allegations that are also trending, of Pantami’s possible involvement in the Helicopter crash in Yenagoa where retired General Owoye Andrew Aziza, a former National Security Adviser and Patrick Yakowa, former governor of Kaduna state, died?

The presidency kept mum on that. Still, news made the rounds late last week that because people like Pantami couldn’t stand a Christian governor of a predominantly Muslim State, Yakowa had to be dispensed with.

just last Thursday, the minister got a presidential seal of approval when Garba Shehu, PMB’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, told the world the president’s take on the matter.

“The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, is, currently, subject to a ‘cancel campaign’ instigated by those who seek his removal,” Mr. Shehu told State House correspondents. “They do not really care what he may or may not have said some 20 years ago. That is merely the instrument they are using to attempt to ‘cancel’ him. But they will profit should he be stopped from making decisions that improve the lives of everyday Nigerians.

The statement however provides the embattled Minister the much-needed soft-landing to at least hang on to his job, even as pressure mounts on the West to investigate the cleric.

DSS KEEPS MUM The Department of State Security spokesman, Peter Afunnnaya, refused to comment on the enquiry sent to him by THEWILL on the claim by a former Director of the Agency, Dennis Amachree, that DSS actually informed the Federal Government of Pantami’s sympathy for Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda when he was appointed minister. A text message sent to him on Friday morning was not replied and when our reporter called him later in the afternoon, he replied via a text message that he was in a meeting.

PRESIDENCY HAS SAID IT ALL - MINISTER’S AIDE Uwa Suleman, spokesperson for the Communication Minister, said she was driving when THEWILL called her to react to the controversy surrounding her boss’s past leanings with Boko Haram and the presidential support to him through Garba Shehu’s statement on Thursday.

“The Presidency, the highest office in the land, has spoken... what do you expect me to say again?” was her reply as she pleaded to be allowed to concentrate on her driving, adding, “Maybe we can talk later.”

SACK AND INVESTIGATE HIM AKINTERINWA Professor Bola Akinterinwa, former Director General

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“The Minister has, rightly, apologised for what he said in the early 2000s. The views were absolutely unacceptable then and they would be equally unacceptable today, were he to repeat them. But he will not repeat them – for he has publicly and permanently condemned his earlier utterances as wrong.

However, the Christian Association of Nigeria Kaduna Chapter and the Jama’atu Nasril Islam denied Pantami’s possible collaboration in the death of Yakowa. How true all that is, time will tell. But what is blindingly obvious for now is the influence of religion on those who practice it – whether Christians, Muslims or any such faith known to mankind.

“In the 2000s, the minister was a man in his twenties; next year he will be 50. Time has passed, and people and their opinions – often rightly – change. But all discerning Nigerians know this manufactured dispute has nothing to do with the minister’s prior words, but

Religion has also made saints or demons of individuals.

Right now, there is a phalanx of loyalists massing behind Pantami – witness the statement from the Presidency – and those who will have his balls if they could – Hundeyin et al. There is no doubt, however, that in all of the minister’s predicament, religion has played a huge part.

of the Nigeria Institute for International Affairs, however, added a new dimension to the issues raised, saying the allegation against Pantami “is multidimensional,” even as he stressed that in the eyes of the international community,”he is a terrorist sympathiser.”

From way back, philosophers, writers and thinkers have put forward different views and opinions on and about religion. One of them, by Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, strikes a chord. “The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it,” Nehru wrote in his autobiography titled True Freedom. “Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and preservation of vested interest.”

Akinterinwa, in a chat with THEWILL, said: “The first issue is that Pantami said he made the statements when he was young. And people are asking what is his current age and when did he actually make the statements. When, for instance, he was quoted as saying Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, was a hero, the question one is led to ask is: what does hero mean? Is that because he is /was a major proponent of terrorism.?

“The international dimension to it is that Nigerians have petitioned officials of the United States Governments, the Americans who reportedly told the Nigerian Government to be more watchful. That is how it all began as an international question.

“The issue of NIN. He has been accused of trying to replace BVN with NIN. In the thinking of many observers, this is seen as an instrument to flood Nigeria with Fulani from outside the country.

“He should be removed from government. What is happening today is simply a justification for Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s fears when he told us that his government then had Boko Haram sympathisers. I think he should be removed and investigated to find out the extent he had been aiding and abetting Boko Haram.”

A MOLE IN THE FEDERAL CABINET? Many were shocked when former President Goodluck Jonathan openly declared that Boko Haram had infiltrated the Federal Government, planting members inside government departments and the nation’s security agencies. Jonathan, who governed Nigeria for six years, made the declaration in January 2012 as his administration waged a costly war against radical extremists seeking to create a caliphate in northern Nigeria. The war against insurgency has raged for years without any end in sight.

Pantami, who occupies a very strategic office, attends federal cabinet meetings and superintends over the country’s entire communications and technology infrastructure, including National Identity Management Commission the agency issuing national identification numbers to people who are in the country. What is giving many Nigerians nightmares is that someone who has openly identified with radical terrorism and religious fanaticism occupies a top position in government, talk more of being in charge of such a sensitive portfolio.

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NEWS Attack on Soludo: Trial of Suspects Will Follow Due Process, Says Obiano FROM CHARLES OKEKE, AWKA

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overnor Willie Obiano, of Anambra State has said the due process of law would be applied in the trial of the nine suspects arrested for allegedly attacking Prof . Charles Soludo recently.

The attack which took place in Isuofia in the Aguata Local Government Area of the state led to the death of three security operatives attached to Soludo.

Obiano, who said his administration followed the due process as an article of faith in the last seven years in Anambra State in accordance with the democratic tradition, added that only the courts of the land can legitimately pronounce a person guilty of any crime.

The governor said news reports that gave the impression that he was eager to punish the arrested persons without recourse to legal processes were not accurate.

Obiano who spoke through the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, stated that he would this time not mind signing the death warrant of each person found guilty of participating in the attack on Soludo.

L-r: Speaker, House of Representative, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State; wife of the late Afenifere Spokesman, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin and General Overseer, Trinity House, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, during the lying-in-state of late Yinka Odumakin at Ikeja Police College in Lagos on 22/4/21.

Yoruba Youth, Women Charge Buhari On Restructuring honorary titles to be conferred at the festival.

BY AYO ESAN

T

he Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide and its women wing have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently heed the call for restructuring in order to resolve the problems currently facing the nation.

He said, “ We hereby tender an open apology to His Imperial Majesty, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja 11, the Ooni of Ife over the wrong media report and misconceptions on the 3rd World Omoluabi Day Festivals and Awards 2021.”

Addressing a press conference in Lagos, President of the youth council, Barrister Dotun Hassan said President Buhari must address the nation on the current insecurity.

“We the leadership of the apex Yoruba umbrella groups: the Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide and Yoruba Council of Women Worldwide sincerely expressed our deepest apology to the royal stool, the ancient authority of The Arole Oodua and personally to His Imperial Majesty, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, of Ife for the image tarnishing, misrepresentations, aspersions and misconceptions going on in the social media over a proposed conferment of Award of Aare Atunluse(Nation Builder) Oodua to Alh. Adamu Garba 11.”

Hassan said the 1999 constitution gives too much power to the centre, stressing that power must devolve to the states and local governments.

“The President needs to address the nation because a lot is happening.

We should revert back to regionalism, true federalism like we had during the First Republic. I think the President needs to look at the report of the 2014 National Conference. The solution to all the challenges facing the nation are there. In the First Republic, the concept of regionalism led to healthy competition and great development among the regions in the field of agriculture. We should return to that era”, he said.

On the forthcoming 3rd World Omoluabi Day Festival and Awards ceremony being organised by the two bodies for May, 2021, Hassan apologised to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi , Ojaja 11 over some controversies trailing the proposed honorary title for Adamu Garba, saying the Ooni is not involved in the proposed

He further said that the Ooni is not connected in any way with the awarding of titles by the councils.

Also speaking at the conference, the Global Publicity Secretary for Yoruba Women Worldwide, Hilda Oduwole Busari, called on Nigerians to be their brother’s keepers and pray for peace always.

She said women and children suffered most during war and therefore, cautioned against inflammatory statements from any sections of the country that may push the country into war.

Governor Ortom Marks 60th Birthday

FROM AUSTINE JOR, MAKURDI

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ith a reception for widows who came in large numbers to visit him at the Government House on Friday, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State kicked-off his 60th birthday, meant to last three days.

THEWILL also gathered that the governor had earlier in the day visited some IDP camps where he identified with them as part of activities to mark his diamond anniversary.

The governor, it was further gathered, was also at the Redeemed Christian Church of God alongside his aides to thank God over his mercies upon him .

Governor Ortom in a chat with journalists said he was grateful to God for having seen him through life , achieving much amidst daunting challenges.

He pledged to continue to do that which he felt was right in the sight of God and for the good of humanity even in the face of open intimidation.

He said he would continue to be a voice for the voiceless and the less privileged, adding that he was never going to be intimidated by the

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forces of darkness out to overrun Benue state with the aim of taking over her treasure.

Ortom thanked the people of the state for always standing by him and emphasised that though his administration was going through challenges, he was optimistic that it was surely going to be better saying; “ better is always the end of a thing than the beginning”.

Meanwhile, the governor has continued to receive messages of felicitations from individuals, groups and organizations on his birthday.

Adinuba had in a statement issued on behalf Obiano, said, in part; ’’Governor Obiano spoke about his readiness to make those involved in the heartless attack feel the full weight of the law against the background of the fact that since his assumption of office in March, 2014, he has not signed the death warrant of any convicted person, regardless of the offence committed by the villain. The governor said that he would this time not mind signing the death warrant of each person found guilty of participating in any way in the gratuitous attack on Soludo.

“The decision to make Soludo attackers feel the full weight of the law is in line with the state administration’s policy that any person who sheds the blood of any Anambra person will be fished out, tried in the appropriate Court of Law and punished accordingly if found guilty.

Life is sacred, and anyone who violates this age-old principle of the Igbo people will have himself or herself to blame. Due process has always been followed as an article of faith in the last seven years in Anambra State in accordance with the democratic tradition. Only the courts of the land can legitimately pronounce a person guilty of a crime. Such a person can be punished after the verdict’’.

He maintained that Anambra State had remained exemplary throughout the country in not just the practice of democracy, but also upholding the dignity of the human person and due process, adding that it will continue to uphold this excellent record in all circumstances, including in the determination to make it remain the safest and most peaceful state in Nigeria.

A/Ibom To Pay Gratuities to Retired Teachers Monday

FROM UDEME UTIP, UYO

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lans have been concluded by the Akwa Ibom State Government to commence payment of gratuities to retired primary school teachers or their next of kin.

THEWILL gathered from a reliable source that the hasty plan by the state government to begin the payment is to forestall the planned protest by beneficiaries of such funds on Monday, April 26.

The source who pleaded anonymity disclosed that funds have been released to pay gratuities to retired primary school teachers or their next of kin from year 2000 to 2014.

The state government hinted at this development during the official presentation and distribution of Quality Assurance equipment to Quality Assurance Officers in the 31 Local Government Education Authorities in the state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) ground at the weekend.

Others, it was learnt, are the state Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, the SSG Professor Anthony Ijoho, as well as senators Gabriel Suswam, Orker Jev and Abba Morro.

The Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet, who described Governor Emmanuel as an education loving governor, outlined the achievements of the governor in the education sector to include prompt payment of salaries to teachers, payment of examination fees for children in exit classes, internal examination fees, ongoing construction of perimeter fencing of government schools in the state, the commencement of verification exercises for the payment of gratuities to retired primary school teachers, prompt payment of counterpart funds, among others.

This medium equally gathered that the 60th anniversary of the governor is expected to be rounded up on Sunday with a Thanksgiving service where the governor will be expected to speak on certain issues affecting the state.

Permanent Secretary of SUBEB, Elder Ezekiel Umoh while commending the teachers for producing intelligent pupils, announced the commencement of payment of gratuities to retired primary school teachers or their next of kin on Monday 26th April, 2021.

THEWILL gathered that prominent Nigerian who have sent in goodwill messages to the governor include President Muhammadu Buhari, former Senate President’s, David Mark and Iyorchia Ayu.

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FEATURES

Ortom: Anguish of a Persecuted Visioner with the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Terver Akase.

BY SAM DIALA

“

F

rom (motor park) tout to bus conductor to taxi driver to salesman and from there, I rose, God took me and propelled me to where I am (today, a state Governor)”

My sympathy for Ortom developed in the first half of 2018: The agony of overseeing the mass burial of over seventy corpses of his people was one I am not sure many leaders have the nerves to bear. In peace time for that matter. When the bodies began to arrive in open the articulated trucks, I perceived a man whose blood had suddenly congealed in his veins.

It was a scene that shocked the world -- watching the anguish of bereaved families and a bewildered governor.

I pitied Ortom. I watched as he stepped down from the podium in a mourning attire – terrified, exhausted and tormented in the spirit.

One wonders what went on in his mind as the same governor who had articulated his vision for the State from the outset.

Ortom had revealed that he came in with a clear vision to industrialise the state. He lamented that the herdsmen crisis had taken an enormous toll on his administration with 18 of the 23 local government areas in the state then under siege.

Ortom and Benue was abandoned

Chief Dr. Samuel Ioraer Ortom, governor of Benue state, North-Central Nigeria is a Visioner. I knew this when I began this piece that I had initially entitled, “Ortom: Persecuted, Distracted yet Committed”. But the title change did not alter the cause for the piece: Sympathy.

Yes, this piece was prompted by sympathy – my attitude towards a man I initially did not have much regard for.

I used to see Ortom as a typical Nigerian politician, a tough-minded opportunist whose unstable character bears no ambiguity.

He had occupied strategic positions at state and federal levels on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): Ortom was once the PDP state Deputy Chairman, he was the Director of Operations of the PDP gubernatorial campaign in Benue State in 2007. He was also Director of Administration and Logistics of the Goodluck/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation in 2011. All these preceded his appointment as Minister of State for Trade Industry and Investment in 2011 under a PDP-controlled government.

LAMENTATION, PERSECUTION Part of his over 1,420-word funeral speech in May 2018, read: “I am here today with members of my Government to say to all of you that the State deeply shares in your sorrow. We remember not only one moment of tragedy but 19 lives of great purpose and promise.

OUT AND IN He dumped the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contested for Governorship of Benue State in 2015 which he won. He later announced his departure from APC to decamp to PDP in July 2018. But that was not the issue I had against him then. I disliked him when he joined the likes of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Raji Fashola to pour vituperations and invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP as if that’s all they were paid to do. The party that made him, equipped him and projected him.

Ortom dished out his own portion of public demonization of PDP and its leadership – his former political camp. Of course, in that mentally turbulent state, he would not be bold to protest the killings of his people by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders. This did not go down well with some of his colleagues, especially Gov. Nyesome Wike of Rivers State.

Ortom and Wike engaged in a war of words when Wike called for the declaration of a state of emergency in Benue. Wike declared that Ortom had lost control and lacked the capacity to stand up for his people. He added that Ortom was among those who politicized insecurity in the country which had degenerated to consume Benue State. According to Wike, Ortom was in the league of APC governors, who plotted a state of emergency against Rivers State when it had security challenges.

Reacting to Wike’s call for the declaration of a state of emergency in Benue, Ortom described the call as reckless and jaundiced, adding that his counterpart in Rivers needed medical attention. Ortom incurred the wrath of many Nigerians when he argued that more killings had happened in Rivers than in Benue. But his determination to bear the killings to protect his office was short-lived.

When he perceived that Nigeria had begun to descend into a shabby political arena overfilled with the particles of tyranny and brutality, Ortom beat a retreat. He was to join the league of those fatigued at offering dictatorship the ingredients it craves for. This emboldened him to speak truth to power. Unlike his ambivalent counterpart in Plateau, Simon Lalong (whose priority appears to be a pleasant boy to President Muhammadu Buhari) Ortom would no longer bear the wanton killings of his people by the herdsmen. His state enacted the anti-open grazing law. And that was his ordeal.

THE PERSECUTION Consequently, Ortom fell under the unbearable weight of persecution by the APC-led federal government, by his own kinsmen and, worst, by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders

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“This is the second mass burial we have the misfortune to organize in the last 5 months. On January 11, 2018, we had the mass funeral and burial of 73 of our patriots who were slaughtered in the 2018 New Year attacks by armed herdsmen in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue State.

“

I am here today with members of my Government to say to all of you that the State deeply shares in your sorrow.

We remember not only one moment of tragedy but 19 lives of great purpose and promise

Association – as he disclosed to the world. Benue had become a killing field for the herdsmen. The state, known for its outstanding place as the nation’s food basket, was literally submerged with blood.

Without a voice from the Presidency, the killings intensified.

And when the national security authorities looked the other way, the killers multiplied. With ulterior silence of the Nigerian Governors Forum, the killers became more daring. Benue caught the genuine attention of the world. In the midst of the altercation between Makurdi and Abuja, the then Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Jimoh Moshood called Governor Ortom a “drowning man” during a heated argument

“We never expected another such day. But we were wrong.

On 15th March, 2018, we held another mass funeral for 26 victims of herdsmen attack in Omusu, Okpokwu local government area of the state. From January1 to date, Benue is being attacked by herdsmen nearly every day not only in Guma and Logo but also in Ukum, Agatu, Okpokwu, Kwande, Gwer west, Gwer East and even Makurdi LGAs. At least 18 of our 23 LGAs have been attacked.

“In the early hours of April 25, Rev. Father Joseph Gor, Rev. Father Felix Tyolaha and 17 other worshipers were again brutally killed by armed herdsmen at Quasi Parish Ukpor, Mbalom in Gwer East Local Government Area. They were in early morning prayers in the Church when they were gunned down.”

When President Buhari eventually decided to visit the embattled Benue, he stunned the world with his disclosure that he was not current with the terrible happenings in Benue. Buhari told the gathering of Benue people and top government functionaries that he was surprised that the then Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, flouted his order to jet down to Benue and take necessary measures to arrest the killings in Benue.

“I’m not aware that the I-G did not spend 24 hours in the state as directed by me, I am getting to know in this meeting”, Buhari told the shocked audience. It was a disclosure that history would capture in a way yet unknown. Buhari also said the meeting was not the best place to expose the inefficiency of his appointees and appealed to the Benue people to exercise restraint and live in peace with their neighbours.

Of course, the President’s visit did not result in a restraint to Benue killings, and Ortom decided to be bold, courageous and red-eyed. He organized press a conference to openly declare that the Miyetti Allah group was behind the killings in Benue. This change of gear may not have gone well with his adversaries. There were open threats to Ortom’s life and, recently, an assassination attempt on him. This drew the ire of the House of Representatives which adopted a motion calling for an investigation into the dastardly act. Part of the resolution read: *Continue on Page 8

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FEATURES

A’Ibom Communities Lament Lack of Access Roads, Power Supply FROM UDEME UTIP, UYO ome communities in Itu local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State are gradually becoming physically separated from their neighbours in other parts of the state due to the total collapse of access roads to the Calabar/Itu Expressway.

Lamenting that a lot of people, especially the youth, had already left the community in search of better prospects elsewhere, he warned that unless something is done to encourage them to stay Adang might become deserted.

S

“My subjects are migrating and the village is becoming empty. We are cut off from the headquarters of our local government area and only old people are left in the village.

No vehicle, not even a bicycle, can enter Adang from the Calabar/Itu Expressway,” Udosen said.

The absence of access roads has forced motorists to park their vehicles at some distance from the affected communities and trek to their destinations through footpaths created to link the Calabar/Itu Expressway, which is also in dire need of rehabilitation.

On his part, the Chairman of Adang Itam village council, Mr Ubon Okon Akpan, said the absence of access roads had taken a heavy toll on the health of the people as they were not able to access the nearest health facilities at Nkim and Mbak Atai.

As if to compound the situation, a large failed portion at the Enen Atai end of the expressway has on impact opened up a deep gully at the main entrances to Ikot Akpan and Adang communities,

“Many people have died as a result of this. The situation has also rendered many youths jobless and our children are forced to go to school through other villages,” he said, appealing to the Federal Government and the Akwa Ibom State Government to come to the community’s aid.

Investigation by our reporter shows that residents of the affected communities expressed the fear that if nothing is urgently done to restore the collapsed access roads, they might be totally cut off from neighbouring communities.

Akpan also disclosed that the state government donated a transformer to the community since 2014, but the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company had yet to install it, thereby keeping the residents in “perpetual” darkness.

The village head of Adang, Chief Akpan Akpa Udosen, who gave our reporter a tour of the community, said that for four years not one member of the community had been able to travel to the headquarters of the LGA at Mbak Atai for want of a link road.

Udosen blamed this on erosion, which had cut the link road into two, thus isolating the people and preventing them from interacting with the residents of neighbouring communities.

He said the damage caused by erosion had left the people without a major source of livelihood in the area, which was exploiting of laterite for building purposes.

The situation, Usen added, had seriously affected power supply to consumers in Adang as electric poles from the city centre were pulled down.

He said, “The situation is sad. We have not had power supply for a long time now. For the past two years, my

*Continued from Page 7

“A journey of five minutes now lasts an hour. We have to go cross a stream and access the main road through Enen Atai or climb a hill to Ikot Akpan, depending on the direction we are heading to.”

The village head said the condition of living of the people had become too poor and harsh, thereby making migration inevitable.

Etuk said, “I wonder why the people of Ikot Akpan should be so neglected, in spite of our support for the current government in the state.

“We were so optimistic when the Executive Chairman of Itu Local Government Area, Hon. Etetim Onuk, paid us a visit. We thought a new access road would be built for us. We are still begging him to expedite action in that direction.”

...Anguish of a Persecuted Visioner

“On Saturday, 20th March 2021, some gunmen suspected to be killer herders, ambushed and opened gunfire on the convoy of the Governor of Benue State, His Excellency, Gov. Samuel Ortom at Tyo-Mu Community, a distance of fewer than 20 kilometres from Makurdi, the state capital; “Gov. Ortom narrowly escaped death as armed herders rain bullets on him in his farm. Further worried that the armed attackers, numbering over 15 wielded sophisticated weapons and dressed in black, had trailed the Governor from the farm but were repelled by the security detail attached to the Governor, who had to run for over 1 kilometre to safety.”

VISION AT BAY In the midst of this persecution, Ortom finds himself at a crossroads. His vision for the state is kept in abeyance for now to secure the life and properties of his people. He can only revise the Vision document with the mind of “I wish ….”

Of course, given his background as an industrialist, farmer, businessman, politician, philanthropist, administrator and employer, Ortom was on the fast lane to industrialise Benue, a state with huge potential for agriculture and agro-allied businesses. With the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Benue would excel in agric value chain, particularly in food processing.

In the blueprint for the development of the State entitled, “Our Collective Vision For a New Benue State” Ortom articulated the vision and mission statement of his administration with specifics in a method that showed objectives, goals and action steps with measurable standards. He argued that past development initiatives have recorded little success in harnessing the resources of the State into a vibrant economy for the common good of the people.

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subjects and I have been going out of the village on foot through bush paths.

Similar complaints re-echoed in Ikot Akpan Itam. A spokesman of the community, Mr Ibanga Etuk, told our reporter that despite visits by Federal and State officials to the erosion site, nothing had changed and the residents were still suffering untold hardship due to lack of access to neighbouring communities for trade, even farming.

“ ‘Our Collective Vision for a New Benue State’ seeks to break that jinx with a paradigm shift in our development initiatives.

The driving big-picture of the paradigm shift is encapsulated in the Vision Statement, which inspires our people: ‘to build a Model New State, anchored on the fear of God, that is economically and socially viable for the common good of all’,” Ortom explained in the blue print of his development agenda.

The main building block of the driving big-picture is the Mission Statement, which exhorts all Benue people “to collectively mould a thriving State by providing critical infrastructure, promoting agro-allied industrialization, priming public-public-partnership, empowering the people, creating jobs and wealth, changing the way of conducting government business, fostering good governance and establishing an investment hub in a peaceful and democratic context”, remains work-in-progress.

Ortom disclosed in June 2018 that the state had lost over N400 billion worth of property to renewed militant herdsmen attacks on communities in the state since 2015. With barely two years to serve as governor, he has a huge challenge in his hands.

The vision is there, the persecution is intensifying and time is running out. But he is a man of mountain-size faith. Ortom’s belief in the power of God as the prime mover of man’s destiny is one that he finds peace in.

GOD’S SPECIAL SPECIE When he appeared before the Senate ministerial screening committee in July 2011, his life story which he shared with the lawmakers was so touching that he was asked to take a bow and go. Senators were stirred by an account of Ortom’s background as a school dropout, a motor park tout and one who

struggled to attain education through very difficult means. He appears like one built for a turbulent time like this in the history of his people.

His particular “sin” was the enactment of the anti-open grazing law as a measure to secure the lives and properties of his people. He appears unperturbed.

“Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law 2017 was the people’s legislation and no amount of intimidation and blackmail would make them repeal it.

“For me, I have no regret whatsoever concerning the enactment and implementation of the law. Why should I have any regret doing the will of my people? They trusted me and gave me their votes and I will not betray what they want. I’m doing what they want and I’ve no regrets”, Ortom once told some state governors during a sympathy visit to the state.

The persecuted Governor turns 60 this day, April 25. He deserves all the good wishes we can give to him. He deserves our prayers the more. For a leader with a vision to be so persecuted all round, yet focused and undaunted, there is something to learn from him – his strong faith in God. Ortom is a Born-Again Christian, Believer, Redeemed, Justified and Regenerated. We join him, his family, friends, associates and the good people of Benue in celebrating this special day of his.

“We are hard pressed (persecuted) on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Cor. 4:8-10).

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

POLITICS

S’West PDP Exco and Task of Reconciliation state chapters are having hiccups. In Ogun State, there are two camps, late Buruji Kashamu group and Hon. Ladi Adebutu camp.

However at the weekend, the two factions met during a reunion meeting held at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, the state capital. The leaders of the two factions resolved to work together towards strengthening the party ahead of the 2023 elections. Leading the Kashamu faction, Segun Seriki declared that the party will henceforth operate under the Sikirullahi Ogundele-led executive, thereby collapsing the other faction which has Samson Bamgbose as the chairman.

Seriki expressed regret that the crisis robbed the PDP the chances of returning to power since 2011 when the party was defeated at the expiration of Gbenga Daniel’s tenure.

He called on party members to be committed to the reunion and work towards rebuilding the party for victory in the 2023 election. Bamgbose applauded the party’s leaders for reconciling the warring factions.

Arapaja

Fayose Secondus

How long the peace brokered at the reunion meeting would last only God knows.

BY AYO ESAN

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he South West Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Congress held in Osogbo penultimate Monday has produced a new executive led by the former Deputy Governor of Oyo State and former Nigeria Ambassador to Jordan, Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja as the National Vice Chairman of the party. Other members of the executive elected at the Congress include, Mr. Rahman Owokoniran as Secretary and wife of the late Ibadan grassroot politician, Chief Lamidi Adedibu, Mrs. Bosede Adedibu as the South PDP Women Leader.

The party went to the congress, a divided house. One faction was led by the Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde who is the only governor produced by the party in the South West and another was led by the former Governor of Ekiti States, Mr Ayodele Fayose. There has been bitter rivalry between Fayose and Makinde as to who is the leader of the party in the region.Ordinarily, there should have been no controversy over who is the leader as the convention of the party gives leadership to the most senior elected person who incidentally is Makinde being the only governor from the party in the zone. But Fayose who had benefitted from the same convention when he was the only governor in the region said Makinde can only be leader in Oyo State and cannot spread his leadership to Ekiti. He further claimed that he was governor before Makinde and so he cannot accept Makinde as his leader.

Thus the atmosphere at the Congress in Osogbo was like a war zone as political thugs stormed the venue in hundreds.

Though at the Congress even before the election, Fayose accepted Makinde as the leader in the zone and announced this openly before the election at the Congress, political observers believe the struggle for leadership between Makinde and Fayose is not yet over.

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laid more dangers to the unity within the party. Though the results of the congress election was very close between the two factions, all the executive members were produced by the Makinde’s faction. The contest between Arapaja and Eddy Olafeso from Fayose’s group for the position of National Vice Chairman, was so close with Arapaja beaten his arch rival with only 10 votes. Explaining the reason for the very close result of the congress, a delegate to the congress who doesn’t want his name mentioned told THEWILL that while Makinde group are in clear majority, two personalities in the Fayose camp, Senator Ademola Adeleke and Hon. Ladi Adebutu put a lot of resources to the congress’ election resorting in many delegates getting huge financial benefit for supporting the group’s Candidates.”My brother, the Fayose Camp just threw Fayose to the front, Adebutu and Adeleke played major role in the group. They threw lots of money into the contest resulting in narrow victory for the Makinde group”, he informed THEWILL. It was gathered that Adeleke who was the party’s governorship candidate in the 2018 governorship election in Osun State is also eyeing the same position in the state governorship election next year, while Adebutu is also interested in being the party’s governorship candidate in 2023 in Ogun State. Now that the new executive has been produced and it has been openly accepted by Fayose and his group, what next for the party in the region. Will there be peace, will the party be able to forge the desired unity to win the two governorship elections coming up in the region in Ekiti and Osun next year? These are the questions agitating the minds of political watchers and political analysts in the South West region.

As of today, almost all the state chapters of the party is in one crisis or the other. Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun

In Lagos, the executive members and the Party’s state chairman, Engr.Deji Doherty are at loggerhead. At the height of the crisis in the state, the other executive members ganged up against Doherty and suspended him not only from his position as chairman but from the main opposition party, the PDP. His suspension was announced last year by the State Secretary, Mr. Muiz Dosunmu after an executive meeting.

In Ondo, some members who recently showed loyalty to former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose before the congress were suspended by the state executive.

Those suspended for an ‘unholy visit’ to Fayose are former PDP chairman in Ondo, Chief Ebenezer Alabi, Lad Lajomo, Oyedele Ibini,former Lawmaker, Rasheed Elegbeleye and former State Publicity Secretary, Ayo Fadaka. Fadaka later contested for the region Publicity Secretary but lost in the last congress. Thus as of today, there is no 100 per cent peace in Ondo PDP. 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 NWC but Adagunodo is in court and he got a judgement from the State High Court in Ikirun which reinstated him back to his position as chairman. The latest in the case is that another court has returned Bisi back to the chairmanship position. So in Osun, Adagunodo and Bisi are laying claim to Chairmanship of the PDP. In Ekiti State, there are also two factional chairmen for the party. While Ayodele Fayose’s faction has Bisi Kolawole as Chairman, Senator Biodun Olujinmi’s faction produced Kehinde Odebunmi as the State Chairman.

So the situation on ground is that there is a huge task of reconciling different factions and groups in almost all the state chapters.

Speaking with THEWILL, former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George said the peaceful conduct of election and the general acceptance of the results at the regional congress of the party has shown a new beginning. *Continue on Page 10

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POLITICS *Continued from Page 9

...Task of Reconciliation opinions in politics.”

He added that, “a new hope has arisen and the horizon is bright and appealing. He said the congress was a family affair and that there was no Winner, no Vanquished.

Adewopo who was a national delegate at the congress said it would help the people meant to be served if politicians unite to deliver and give proper account of themselves to guarantee and deliver genuine dividends of democracy to the people.

“The Southwest Congress held in Osogbo has injected and infused a new mandate of hope and renewal not only in the Peoples Democratic Party but also across Yorubaland.

He said that as far as he was concerned, he would never at any point in time allow his personal interests to override the interest of the people and urge the new executive to also do that and ensure proper reconciliation in the party ahead of coming elections next year in Osun and Ekiti State

“It has affirmed our commitment to peaceful engagement even when we disagree among ourselves. It has showed that disputes and differences need not fester into violence and communal disruptions.

“Yes, democracy is about the pitting of ideas, the grappling with conflicting views and interests. But in the end, there is always an arrival at a consensus building, the initiation of compromise, the settlement of rifts through the pacific largeness of the ballot box.

On the task before the newly elected executive, George said” This is now the moment to mend the broken places, to reconcile and rebuild without any recourse to personal triumphalism”.

He said a new journey has started for the PDP in the South West and advised all the leaders of the party in the region to join “in steering the ship of state to a safe and strong harbour; steadfast and sure, protected from the tumult of the rough waters”.

Also speaking with THEWILL, a governorship aspirant in the last governorship election in Osun State, Prince

Makinde

“Well the battle has been won and lost. But there is no vanquished and there is no restrictive winner. The victory belongs to all of us”, he said.

He said he is hopeful that everything would be sorted out at the end of the day because according to him, anywhere there is an election people would contest for it and the contestants can’t be in the same camp.

Ayoade Adewopo said that it was good that Fayose displayed the spirit of sportsmanship at the congress by finally accepting Governor Makinde as the leader of the party in the Southwest.

He said right from the success of the congress, the best thing is for the party to come together as a family, but expressed reservations about the perceived unity in the party saying in politics it has never been easy like that because of political ambitions and interests, adding , “that is why there would always be different camps and

Speaking with THEWILL also , former Minister of Transport and member Board of Trustee of the party, Chief Ebenezer Babatope said the task before the new executive is huge but expressed the hope that they will achieve success.

“Now after the congress, the party will forge the unity.

The leaders of the party in the region should realize that the people are placing their hope on the PDP. APC has failed the people and the people are placing their hope in PDP. From the two elections next year in South West PDP should show determination to win and I am sure we are going to win. “ So to the new regional executive of our great party , they should forge unity, shun personal interest and we will come out more united that before in a short time.

Ezenwankwo: A Trader’s Noble Ambition to Govern Anambra State

BY CHIDI YADIBA,ONITSHA he world is just a funny sojourn with intrigues and its expectant results.lt appears funnier and even more interesting when players are exposed to equal opportunities to attain their potentials in life.

Hon.Ezenwankwo who was the brain behind the democratisation of all major markets in Anambra State during former Gov.Peter Obi’s administration consistently and personally supervised elections in the markets during his time.

It is even at a great risk to underrate the capabilities of individuals who have distinguished themselves with previous responsibilities to govern institutions and men.

“Ewepudike” as he is fondly called by friends and admirers also restored peace to markets that were threatened by divisive tendencies occasioned by leadership tussle and other pecuniary interests.

T

When the former first Black American President, Barrack Obama indicated hiinterest in that country’s Presidential Race ,people waved it aside as the dream of an African Boy whose father merely migrated to the blessed country to seek a better opportunity and survival for his household and not to occupy the most enviable political seat in the land.

As November 6th Anambra State Governorship Election draws closer all eyes should be on the party primaries of the contesting political parties.The outcome of such primaries arguably may decide the eventual winner of the election in Anambra State.

However, one contestant to watch at the Party primary in Anambra State is Hon.Okwudili Ezenwankwo, popularly known as (Ewepudike) from Nanka Community,Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Hon.Ezenwankwo, the current legislator representing

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Ezenwankwo

History was later made.Not only that the relatively unknown African Boy, Obama clinched the American Presidency,he went ahead to win the race for a second term of office, beating bigger and popular names in the history of that country.

Market stakeholders whose ambition threatened the peace of such markets were encouraged to go into open ciontest to test their popularity through option A4 which was popular when he held a sway as the PresidentGeneral of AMATAS.

Orumba North and South in the House of Representatives is a seasoned trader and manager of resources.

A man who rose from a humble beginning of a mere Onitsha market trader brandishing his qualities as a firm manager of humans, creating business and leadership opportunities for people when he led South East and Anambra State traders under the defunct “Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association”(AMATAS).

Such a man who had deposited the talent given to him

by God to manage human affairs with inept competence which also led to the success of former Governor Peter Obi’s administration and a better part of Gov.. Willie Obiano’s Government can not transform to a misfortune if accorded a level playing ground alongside other contestants who have so far indicated interest to seek nomination for Anambra State Governorship Seat under APGA platform.

Big names do not win elections,big achievements do.As the countdown for party primaries for this year’s Governorship Election in Anambra approaches,a wakeup call to all political party leaders and other major party stakeholders to approach the exercise with decorum . With utmost regard for democracy which the present democratic dispensation in the country has flagrantly misrepresented, we say let there be fair play in the conduct of Anambra State Gubernatorial Primaries.

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POLITICS go ahead. When the earnings do not come, you can print. But you have to be careful. Just as it happened in Zimbabwe, there has to be a given parity on the exchange rate and purchasing power or else nobody will open letters of credit for you because you have no credit to pay.

Utomi

What is your take on the threat by the CBN to recall loans that it extended to state governments following Obaseki’s claim?

Maybe they are frustrated and they do not know how to say it.

We Must Restructure Before 2023 Poll - Utomi In this interview with AMOS ESELE, Professor of political economy,founder of the Centre for Value in Leadership andone of the founding fathers of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Pat Utomi, explains the background to the N60 billion printed money controversy generated by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state, its implication for the larger economy, the rudderless leadership of the APC amid the worsening insecurity in the country and the need to restructure the country before the general elections in 2023. Excerpts:

Y

ou must have followed the controversy ignited by Governor Godwin Obaseki’s claim that the Federal Government printed money for the states to share in March. What is your reaction?

Let me begin with a caveat. This is not the best time for experts, politicians, people whose views are respected to be talking without caution about the state of the Nigerian economy. The economy is fragile.

That does not mean it is bad, but there is a way one can talk about it and accentuate perception and cause a run on the currency of the country.

How? The first thing is that our economy is challenged, but it is not so bad that it cannot recover gradually. But there must be management. Both Godwins are correct (Governor Godwin Obaseki and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele). Obaseki recognises that the reserve is diminishing and we cannot control spending significantly to meet these economic challenges. It means the ways and means have to be adopted by the government. That is what the other Godwin explained. When government needs money, the CBN prints money, but it is in relation to THEWILLNIGERIA

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value being created.

What will be the effect on the economy?

It will disorient and generate inflationary pressures if not controlled and you will get to the fear which the other Godwin (Obaseki) is expressing. What has happened is that Nigeria has depended far too long on oil resources. It recently increased from where it dropped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. That means revenues that the CBN exchanged value for and gave to government, those values had dropped. But oil revenues started going up again. There is a lag between when oil is sold and the money enters the treasury. If, for example, May 20 is a date given for receipt on sale of 200 barrel of oil at a certain price; until it becomes cash there is a lag. CBN could then decide to print money because it sees this money coming in a few months. So, it can print money to finance expenditure. This, however, is not acceptable practice. If you go on like this, you can get into trouble. That is what the other Godwin (Obaseki) is saying.

Is there a hidden danger in this approach?

We do not want to get to a situation in which, like it happened in Argentina, there will be hyperinflation and exchange rate divergence. I used to go to Brazil in the 1990s when they did it and got to a point where, if you got into shops, you would find that prices changed three times in a day. In Uruguay, there is a famous story told of a man who sold his house and had a accident on his way home and had to be hospitalised for three months. By the time he recovered, he could hardly afford lunch. All of us have to be very careful now, that includes the Minister of Finance and National Planning and the two Godwins, not to give the rest of the world the impression that our economy is in a free fall because our economy can grow to where Brazil has grown up to now.

I will not say to you that it is so easy a decision to take. The Federal Government is under pressure and says we need N60 billion for FAAC. You say yes sir and, calibrated on future oil earnings, you

You talked about fundamental challenges facing the economy, earlier on. What are they?

The problem we have right now is how we are going to pay for these budgets we drafted because oil is in decline. Total, one of the biggest oil producers in the world, issued a statement indicating that it would cut down all its revenue in Canada to zero. 18 years from now, cars would not be running on petrol in the world. 12 years from now cars in Nigeria may not run on petrol. How are we generating financing on the short term? If you get out there, there has been capital in the range of $17.1 trillion earning 200 per cent interest in California, Japan and Singapore.

How do we get these people who have this enormous money to bring it into our economy and use it to improve our competitiveness? One way it was done in Brazil and India was the financialisation of their economy. Used assets are all over our country and wasting away.

Can you mention some examples?

Look at the Federal Secretariat in Ikoyi, Lagos, for example. It is sitting there with no value since the Federal Government moved to Abuja. Let us assume we want to sell the property at $200 million and people want to invest from anywhere in the world, we would use the money to finance our budget. I am almost running out of my mind on how to run Nigeria. Look at another example. Instead of going to bring $1.81 billion for the purpose of carrying out repairs on a refinery and then in three years it breaks down again, why not sell it on the condition that the buyer will bring in the billions to finance it.

Corruption has ruined this country and prevented our leaders from doing the right thing.

As an APC Chieftain, are you satisfied with the way the country is being run?

Look, what I think is that this is presumably the reason I have been complaining after the party won the last general elections. There is a way you can govern and put things in place. I am a member of the party, yet I have not been invited to a single meeting.

That is why we need to fight and take the party away from those who are running the party. What we need is a robust decision-making process in the party.

When former National Chairman, John Oyegun was in office, I went to see him. I told him that the party had no structured way of doing things and all the characters appointed or elected to govern had no brains. He said he had no money to organise a retreat.

And I volunteered to get my friends to teach them free of charge. I had friends like Ayo Salami, Ayo Teriba and Bismarck Rewane. Yet nothing happened. They have no interest beyond politics. No government in Nigeria has tried harder to shut me out than the party I laboured to bring into power. Not even former President Jonathan’s government.

Considering the worsening insecurity, poverty and high unemployment rate in the country, what do you think should be the way forward? Do you support the overwhelming call for restructuring?

Yes, we must restructure. I do not think and expect any election in 2023 unless we restructure this country.

Restructuring will not take up to three months to carry out and on the basis of that, we can then go ahead to elect a new set of persons into positions of authority.

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

POLITICS/INTERVIEW

NDDC Under Buhari Has Become Institution of Fraud, Scandal - Orbih Chief Dan Orbih is the National Vice Chairman, South–South, of the Peoples Democratic Party. In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on issues relating to the party, the South-South region and the nation at large. Excerpts:

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You were formerly the State Chairman of the PDP in Edo State. How does it feel like to be the leader of the party in the South –South?

It is one that the party leaders entrusted to me and I believe that I will live to justify that trust which they have bestowed on me by ensuring that we return the maximum votes in support of our party in the next general elections.

Recently, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and other All Progressive Congress leaders in the South- South region boasted that they would ensure the APC defeats the PDP in the six South - South states, come 2023. How do you see their threat?

It is an empty threat. The people of the South - South are aware that since independence no government has ever shown this level of neglect to the people of the region like the Muhammadu Buhari government.

You can hardly travel on the roads in the region from one state to another. I give you an example; it is a nightmare to travel from here in Edo State to Delta State. At a stage, the governor of Delta State had to carry out emergence repairs on some failed portions of the road . The roads are totally neglected.

Talk of Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and other states in the region. The level of neglect is not only in PAGE 12

Orbih

ongratulations on your recent election as the National Vice Chairman, South - South of the Peoples Democratic Party. How was the contest?

Well first of all, I want to thank Almighty God and the leaders of the party in the South – South for considering me worthy of the position and for believing and having confidence in me to represent the interest of the South-South in the party.

appointments at federal level, but also in terms of infrastructure, which gives cause for concern.

One institution that was set up by the Federal Government to develop the South –South, in terms of infrastructural development, is the Niger Delta Development Commission. Are you not embarrassed by the level of corruption in the Commission as was exposed at the National Assembly last year during its probe?

The corruption in the NDDC like you have rightly highlighted is alarming. The NDDC under this administration has become an institution of fraud and scandals. The Government itself has not helped the situation by its refusal to set up a functional board as it is in the Act that established the NDDC. Instead, they have been appointing different management committees, caretaker committee, and forensic audit committee and so on. In fact, you cannot run that body with handpicked party members and in clear

negation of the provisions of the Act setting up the body . In actual facts, the states are to send their nominees to the Federal Government who will now appoint others and constitute the board. But as it is today, for reasons best known to this government, it has refused to put in place a board. We are either having a committee probing the activities of the former caretaker committee or one thing or the other.

That is also contributing to the fraud in that body.

And like I suggested in my earlier interviews, the Federal Government should stop making available all allocations to the NDDC until we have a board in place. Whatever is due to them now should be paid into an escrow account until a proper board is constituted. The new board will be in a better place to use the money to see to the development of the region. What we have now is totally unacceptable.

The security situation across the country is generally bad, but how do you see the insecurity in THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

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PDP is ready to take over government, come 2023, through the ballot box and the good thing is that Nigerians have experienced a PDP government in the past. They have also experienced an APC government

idea of having its own regional outfit?

When government fails in its duty to protect the people, what you have is that people will resort to self-help to protect themselves. But you know ideally that is not what it should be. We have a constitution and the roles of the various tiers of government are well defined. But arising from the failure of this government, you can see that there is serious agitation from certain sections of the country calling for secession. But I think I will lend my voice to those who are calling for restructuring. Let’s go back to the drawing board and look at some of these things.

Restructuring can go by way of some fundamental constitutional amendments, especially as regards the issue of security. You need to actually give some foundation to whatever you are trying to do by way of security . One, you will be able to empower the states by amending the present constitution, so that we can have state police. We can have a bit of community policing. But as it is now, we have a situation under the constitution where you say the state governors are the chief security officers of their states, but the security agencies don’t take orders from them.

They take their orders from superior officers outside the states. So the state governors are chief security officers of their states in theory, not in practice. They are at the mercy of those they should control to ensure they provide security for their citizens.

the South - South region as a major stakeholder?

Insecurity is not something that is limited to the South - South . There is insecurity all over the country at the moment and you will agree with me that the primary duty of any government is to protect lives and property of the populace. But in this instance, the Federal Government has failed woefully. Every day you read in the newspapers about people being kidnapped, attacked and killed. So it is obvious that the way we are going, we have actually reached a situation where you can now describe the country as one in which there is total breakdown of law and order. It is no longer something that happens once in a while. Like I said earlier, it seems the government has totally run out of ideas on how to combat the security challenges the country is facing.

The South-West and South-East have individually established regional security outfits. Don’t you think the South - South should also consider such THEWILLNIGERIA

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So it is not just enough to say that people are now setting up regional security outfits, some of these outfits may not be in a position to legally carry arms, which they will definitely need in the course of providing security for their people. So, we need to go back and let us give constitutional backing to whatever we are putting in place.

Like I said earlier, since the Federal Government has failed to instill confidence in the people that they can protect them from these incessant attacks, a lot of people have resorted to self help. And I have made the point that the right in setting up regional security outfits is as a result of the people’s feelings that the government cannot give them protection. But self help, I mean has its own limitation. These bodies, can they go about carrying arms? May be no because they are not covered by our laws.

These are areas that we need to look at if eventually we decide to sit down again to look at this issue of restructuring. We know the problems facing us as a people and in the past, attempts were made at looking at these problems and providing solutions to them. I

feel strongly that the present government should take a second look at the report of the conference that was put together by the Gooluck Jonathan administration in 2014. We can start from there and start addressing these problems from there. These were decisions reached by people from different parts of the country under a peaceful atmosphere. People peacefully came together, looked at these issues and proffered solutions. I think that document, should not be jettisoned.

Some Nigerians are now hoping that your party, the PDP, could correct the mistakes made by the present government How prepared is PDP for 2023?

PDP is ready to take over government, come 2023, through the ballot box and the good thing is that Nigerians have experienced a PDP government in the past; they have also experienced APC government.

By 2023, they would have experienced an APC for eight years and they are in a better position to judge for themselves whether they are better off now than they were when PDP was in government.

It is obvious to every right thinking Nigerian that the APC has no solution to the problems bedeviling us today.

Look at the economy for example; the naira is on a free fall. Just recently Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State raised alarm, saying that the Federal Government last month had to print N60bn extra in order to meet up with the allocation to the various tiers of government. That is frightening and I must say that I commend the courage of the governor for alerting public to the impending economic doom that this nation is about to witness. Rather than applaud him and bringing together experts to help put together a policy that can avert this looming danger, the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, came out and was making statements like a politician. I want to use this opportunity to call on the Governor of the Central Bank to leave politics for politicians and save his energy for the enormous task of regulating our economy in such a manner that can avert the looming economic disaster that is about to happen.

In fact, the revelation by Governor Obaseki brings to mind the sad past of Uganda under Idi Amin . And I don’t think Nigeria at this stage should slide towards the direction of uncontrolled economic policies as witnessed under Idi Amin in Uganda. Of course, we all know what happened to the Uganda economy as a result of Amin’s faulty policies.

So I hope this APC government will not copy the Idi Amin model in the management of Nigeria’s economy.

Now that you mentioned Governor Obaseki, we heard that some PDP leaders in the state who worked for Obaseki’s victory as governor last year are not happy because the governor has not constituted his cabinet and so they don’t have nominees as commissioners five months after he was sworn in for a second term. How would you react to this?

You need to go back and find out who those PDP leaders are. You can then ask them this question. I am totally not aware of what you have just said. You better identify those PDP leaders who contributed to the governor’s emergence and are not happy. Me, Dan Orbih, I am not one of those leaders you are talking about. They are in a better position to answer you.

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

EDITORIAL Time to Halt Licensing of More Universities T he Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, penultimate week, announced the approval of 20 licences granted by the Federal Executive Council to new operators of private universities in the country.

With this development, Nigeria now has 43 federal universities, 52 state universities, and 99 private universities, making it a total of 197 universities in the country.

According to the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, who represented Adamu at the presentation of the licences to their new owners, the approval was important because Nigeria needs more universities, considering her population, manpower needs and the rising number of applicants seeking admission into tertiary institutions yearly.

Nwajiuba stated that the number of universities in Nigeria was low when compared to what obtains in countries like Russia, Brazil and Mexico. These considerations would have been enough and acceptable, except that the occasion left a yawning breach.

In his remarks at the occasion, the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Universities Commission, Prof Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, who threatened to introduce sanctions for “any unwholesome practice or operations outside the provisions of the NUC guidelines”, said the commission would embark on a resource verification exercise to certify that the minimum human and material required for the commencement of academic activities in the take-off programmes had been provided.

We think it should have been the other way. If the state of the minimum human and material requirements is

yet to be known before academic activities at the new universities take off, why grant approval for their commencement in the first place?

institutions for our growing mass of education-hungry youths, we wish to caution that more care and focus should be followed in the process to fulfill that goal.

We are aware that Prof Rasheed knows from experience that many private universities, not to talk of some state- owned ones, are still being plagued by issues of accreditation of courses, lack of facilities and trained manpower, even as they charge exorbitant fees.

Central to the provision of a good education is the sharpening of the human mind and broadening of the individual horizon. Once this noble aim is allowed to be commercialised, the effect can be grave both for the student and the country. An indoctrinated and manipulated person in the name of education is worse than an ignorant rustic. Creative entrepreneurs, employable graduates and problem solving intellectuals are urgently needed to remake Nigeria.

Also, every year after the conduct of university examinations by the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board, many parents have complained about how some of these universities they never heard of or chose constantly pester them through their consultants to bring their children for admission. Besides, many licenses are yet to become operational several years after they were approved and granted. So, is it just for quantity rather than quality and the desire to please cronies that these licenses are being granted?

Many of these licensed institutions are still at the stage of turning the sod at their chosen locations. There is no indication that many families, who can afford and should be in a position to pay the high fees charged by these universities, have stopped patronising foreign universities for their children.

Indeed, one of the recurring, but cogent, issues broached by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, each time its members embarked on a strike, was that of infrastructure, poor learning environment, inadequate financing and over-stretched staff.

Except for a few well-equipped and financed private universities in the country, many are ill-equipped, poorly funded and staffed.

Much as we welcome the intention of the Federal Government to create more openings in higher

It is on this note that we call on the supervising body, the NUC, to be up and doing. In an age that is increasingly being ruled by the Internet, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, emphasis should be on quality and not quantity, with strict adherence to laid down guidelines for, and not after, setting up a university.

Only recently, the Federal Government displayed a commendable posture on the future of tertiary institutions in the country when it inaugurated visitation panels to federal tertiary institutions and charged them to produce excellent reports to reposition the country’s tertiary institutions in the areas of the leadership quality, financial management and the application of funds by each university.

The panel’s work is expected to cover a period of 10 years, between 2010 and 2020. It is also required to present two reports covering the period between 2011 and 2015, as well as between 2016 and 2020.

We commend this effort and hope the outcome will be implemented to reposition the nation’s increasing number of universities for productive and creative enterprises.

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Publisher/Editor-in-Chief - Austyn Ogannah Editor - Olaolu Olusina Deputy Editor - Amos Esele Politics Editor - Ayo Esan Business Editor - Sam Diala News Editor (Online) - Felix Oboagwina 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 Osinbajo, Ogun And Digital Economy Infrastructure

BY KUNLE SOMORIN

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espite emerging the Best State in ICT Penetration and Adoption by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy at the the E-NIGERIA Awards in his first year and expanding the Internet band government width up from 85Mbps to 300Mbps with Internet expansion to ministries, departments and agencies, the launch of Ogun Digital Economy Infrastructure Project on Thursday was mind-blowing event, as it shows a forward-looking administration at work.

Already, Abeokuta, the state capital, is being designed as a smart city with fibre optic cables traversing the data headquarters at the Tech Hub on Kabape Road through the Lagos – Ibadan express road to the Abeokuta city centre. With a week the first kilometer had been done.

Seeing this ambitious project, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, noted with pride that Ogun State was leading the charge in digital technology. During the flag-off ceremony of the Ogun State Digital Economy Infrastructure Project, the VP “Today is one of my proudest days as a citizen of Ogun State. Today, Ogun State has taken the leader in digital technology in Nigeria with this firstof-its-kind massive investment in the digital infrastructure. We are not just talking about the future, its challenges and opportunities, we are, by the launching of the Ogun State Digital Economy Empowerment Project, taking hold of the future and we are set to define it in our own terms.”

As Prof Osinbajo rightly pointed out, digital technology has become the present and future of all aspects of human interaction.

Be it in business, healthcare, education, security and governance, human existence is increasingly dependent on digital technology.

Cars are going driverless, technology is being used to deliver better healthcare, learning is moving from the physical classroom to virtual settings, natural disasters are anticipated using technology, thereby keeping their impacts minimal and drones are used to gather intelligence and fish out security threats. Indeed, all aspects of development are now tied to digital technology. The challenge, therefore, is how to make digital technology available to every citizen, business and demographic group.

Making digital technology available to all citizens and businesses is the most farsighted action any government can take today. Access to digital technology has never been more essential to individuals, communities and societies whose government is serious about wealth creation, security, development and innovation. It is for this

reason that Prof Osinbajo commended the “futuristic, dynamic, innovative and digitally compliant” Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, for digitally opening up the state’s residents and businesses.

While it is heartwarming to receive high commendation from the Vice President for a job well done, those who have been following events in Ogun will testify to the fact that Prince Abiodun’s determination to make the state a leading digital economy has been ingrained in the core objectives of his administration since inception in 2019.

The truth is that from the outset, Ogun, under Prince Abiodun, has been using technology to drive solutions to the state’s challenges.

To raise global citizens capable of competing in the job market and in start-ups, the governor constructed and equipped the largest information and communication centre in any Nigerian university at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye. The 3,000-seater multi-purpose complex is complete with state-of-the-art facilities capable of giving students of the institution a learning edge over their counterparts in other universities. The centre also serves as a research facility.

Governor Abiodun has also deployed technology to tackle unemployment in the state. Through the creation of the Ogun Job Portal, the state is linking fresh graduates and unemployed youths with corresponding job opportunities across the country. The job portal has been severally described as a worthy initiative that is gradually addressing unemployment and underemployment in the state.

Apart from paid employment, Abiodun is also using technology to incubate tech start-ups for creative, tech-minded Ogun youths.

The completion of the Ogun Tech Hub and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Centre is an initiative which serves as a knowledge platform where citizens connect, share, build new skills and competencies to solve local challenges that improve the quality of life of Nigerians. It is an imposing shared space for tech experts and those who aspire to go into information and communication technology. Abiodun said during its commissioning that the Tech Hub was created to place Ogun State on the map as “the one-stop-shop for technological innovations across Africa where start-up companies will conveniently be set up. This step is, firstly, a result of the collaboration of tech enthusiasts and private sector players largely independent of our government”.

The governor has already announced plans that moribund model

colleges would be converted into information and communication technology centres to actualise the digital transformation process of the state. In addition, he has commissioned the 2,000-capacity twin lecture theatre at the Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa and remodeled its 1,500-capacity multi-purpose hall and refurbished and equipped the institution’s ICT centre.

He seems to constantly have the advancement of digital technology in mind with every policy, programme and initiative he embarks on, no wonder information and communication technology is one of the “enablers” set early in his administration. Others are: good governance, security, infrastructure and welfare.

With the flag-off of the Ogun State Digital Economy Empowerment Project, it is safe to say that the governor’s heavy investment in digital technology is beginning to yield positive results. The state is set to benefit from N36.15 billion ICT project, which is expected to fast-track its digital economy plan. In a public private partnership with 21st century technologies, the fund is expected to help the state government execute the OGDEP. 21st Century is said to inject around $75 million into the project with the expectation that the initiative would see the economy of Ogun State grow by an additional $100 billion.

This kind of investment attraction is unprecedented in the history of the state, especially in a sector mindful of what is invested where. Without a doubt, it is an acknowledgement that the Dapo Abiodun administration has been right all the way by displaying foresight in prioritising digital technology. And it has set Ogun State on the path of digital prosperity and all-round development.

At the public launch of OGDEP, Abiodun said that developing and leveraging digital resources would provide his administration with an opportunity to harness a globally competitive citizenry and economy. He also said he decided to invest in digital technology because digital economy infrastructure was the backbone for ICT revolution in Ogun. The Governor wants to enhance the ease of doing business in the state and actualise the plans of his administration to integrate technology into its practices and businesses.

Truly, Ogun has become the champion of digital economy in the country and it is understandable why Prof Osinbajo, the Number Two Citizen of the country, was so proud of his state.

• Somorin is Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun

Ganduje: Creating an Environment For Local Government Fiscal and Political Independence

BY MOHAMMED ISA BILAL

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he 1976 local government reforms was undertaken basically to reorganises, strengthen and restructure to meet up with the challenges of emerging global realities of local government administration.

The reforms deprived the traditional chiefs and emirs of their control of all instrument of authority, which was then transferred to the local government authorities and therefore, leaving the traditional heads without any constitutional roles.

The reforms also officially made the local government councils the third tier of government to be administered by a chairman in all the local government areas in the country.

The reforms had also, granted substantial level of financial, political and administrative autonomy to the local authorities. However, with the advent of democracy in 1999, the supposed local government autonomy fizzled out due to the contradiction as contained in the constitution, which arm-twisted the autonomy granted to the local governments councils.

For instance: Section 162 subsection (6) states that “each state shall maintain a specialist account to be called “state joint local government account” into which all allocation belonging to the local government councils shall be paid into the states account from federation account and from the states to the local governments.

Also, section 7 of the constitution empowers the state Houses of Assembly to make laws for the administrative functions of local government councils. These contradictions had provided the leeway for state governors to manipulate the financial autonomy of local government councils in the country, contrary to section 14(4) 13, (1)1) which allowed local authorities to control their finances allocated from the federation account.

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Through the instrumentality of the provision of section 162 in the 1999 constitution, most state executives capitalised on it to make all sort of deductions from the local governments account in the name of funding one project or the other.

In some cases, in the name of joint-projects initiated by the state governors without the consent or inputs of the local government chairmen. In the prevailing circumstances therefore, the local government chairmen can’t reject the will of the state governors by virtue of the loop-hole created in the constitution, which gives the states the powers to control the finances and administrative prowess of the local government council.

Apparently, this has eroded the capacity of the local government councils to deliver meaningful projects that have direct bearing on the people at the grassroot level, due to the interference of the states in the activities of local government councils. In essence, the local government councils lack the power to control their finances due to the joint account policy which only the state has absolute control.

However, Kano State, under the supervision of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has taken exception from such negative acts, this was because he has allowed the autonomy granted to the local government councils by the constitution to prevail.

In Kano State today, all the 44 local governments councils are enjoying both political and financial independence without unnecessary interference by the state executive, the governor had ensured that the local government committee of the state House of Assembly and the activities of the ministry of local government and chieftaincy affairs existed mainly for coordination, ensuring compliance, synergy and transparency/accountability for the good of the citizens.

Joint projects are initiated where necessary between the state and the

local authorities at the request of the local authorities for the state to assist in co-funding critical projects which can’t be shouldered solely by the local authorities in the interest of the people.

In the circumstance, the non interference of the governor with the activities of local governments in the state has clearly empowered the local government chairmen to embark on meaningful projects and porogrammes, separate from the state government which have greatly improved the lives of the people at the grass root.

It has also created an environment for enhanced political participation across the state. Indeed, Ganduje has demonstrated that he appreciated the purpose of local government councils towards ensuring rapid national development across the country, which only vibrant and autonomous local governments can guarantee.

It is interesting to note that, in Kano state today, the salaries of workers in LGAs are often paid even before the state civil servants get their alerts.

“When we create an environment for local government political and financial independence, the burden of the state would be less, because the great majorities are in the local level, there is no justification for states to alter the flow of resources to the local governments councils,” Ganduje once said. As at this moment, the government of Kano state does not owe its local government councils a dime.

As at March 2021, when the state received 12.4 billion naira from the federation account, it promptly remitted the sum of 6.3 billion naira to the 44 local governments in the state being the statutory allocation earmarked to the 44 local councils in the state from the federation account.

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

More Airlines Embrace IATA Digital Health

Unending Fuel Subsidy Debate: What Hope For Consumers,

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NCAA Seeks Unbundling of Regulatory Framework PAGE 35

ZenithBankPumpsN11.3trnLoans Into Economy In 5yrs •As Facilities Climb 20.56% In COVID-19

BY SAM DIALA

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figure dropped to N267.03 billion in 2019 to hit N299.68 billion in 2020, the highest during the fiveyear period.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues to compel banks to boost their credit to the real sector of the economy. It has maintained a strong policy stance of 65 percent loan deposit ratio (LDR) to ensure compliance by DMBs. Focus is more on the real sector – to create jobs, boost productivity and support Nigerian government efforts to diversify the economy. Many DMBs have come under the CBN’s hammer for defaulting in the stipulated loan deposit ratio, as the apex bank debits their CRR account hugely at a time.

Analysis of the Zenith Bank’s financial statements during the review period showed that the bank’s loans and advances dropped from N2.28 trillion in 2016 to N2.10 trillion in 2017, a dip of 8.2 percent.

The figure further declined by 58.1 percent to N1.82 trillion in response to the ripple effects of the 2016/2017 recession. The bank embarked on an accelerated move that led to recording N2.3 trillion loans and advances in 2019, a rise of 26.4 percent, before hitting N2.77 trillion in 2020, a 20.5 percent jump, at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis.

Disaggregation of the 2020 performance shows accelerated trend in loans and advances during the COVID-19 crisis, apparently to support businesses and mitigate the pangs of the recession. The loans and advances rose from N2.62 trillion in H1 ’20 to N2.71 trillion in Q3 ’20. These also compared favourably with corresponding periods of 2019 which recorded N2.30 trillion and N2.04 trillion respectively.

Net Interest Income jumped from N157.40 billion at H1 ’20 to N255.17 billion in Q3 ’20. Preceding year’s figures were N214.62 billion and N142.51 billion respectively.

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eading Tier-1 deposit money bank (DMB), Zenith Bank Plc granted expansive facilities in loans and advances totaling N11.3 trillion in the past five years: 2016-2020, data from its annual reports has revealed. The DMB which belongs to the prestigious Premium Board league of the NGX Exchange (formerly Nigerian Stock Exchange) also accelerated the facilities to support businesses and boost the economy at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis.

As evidence of prudent management of the facilities, the bank’s Profit After Tax (PAT) grew exponentially during the 5-year period. The N124.25 billion achieved in 2016 rose to N173.79 billion in 2017, before hitting N193.42 billion in 2018. The PAT rose to N208.84 billion in 2019 to peak at N230.56 billion in 2020 – the highest during the review period.

The performance of the bank in 2020, a year of devastating COVID-19 pandemic was equally impressive. PAT at H1 ’20 was N103.82 billion compared to N88.88 billion in the corresponding period of 2019; then jumped to N159.31 billion in Q3 ’20 as against N150.72 billion in the corresponding year.

The increase in loans and advances recorded corresponding trends in Net Interest Income which rose from 240.17 billion in 2016 to N243.66 billion in 2017, to climb to N295.59 billion in 2018. The

The total asset growth during the period was a boost to the bank’s leadership position in the industry. From total assets of N4.73 trillion in 2016, the bank recorded N5.59 trillion and N5.95 trillion total assets in 2017 and 2018 respectively. In 2019 and 2020, total assets of the bank rose to N6.34 trillion and N8.48 trillion respectively. Disaggregated figures for 2020 showed that the total assets rose from N7.58 trillion in H1 ’20 to N7.79 trillion in Q3 ’20.

Figures for 2019 corresponding period were N6.34 trillion and N5.97 trillion respectively.

Zenith Bank also has subsidiaries in: Ghana, Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited; Sierra Leone, Zenith Bank (Sierra Leone) Limited; Gambia, Zenith Bank (Gambia) Limited. The bank also has a representative office in The People’s Republic of China. The Bank plans to take the Zenith to other African countries as well as the European and Asian markets.

Zenith Bank Plc emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2021. For the fourth consecutive year, Zenith Bank has been ranked as the number one banking brand in Nigeria with a brand value of $275 million, moving up two places from 392 in 2020 to 390 in the 2021 global ranking of banks. Notably, Zenith Bank is the only Nigerian bank among the first 400 banks in the global ranking.

The ranking was published in the February 2021 edition of The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group in conjunction with London-based Brand Finance. According to the publication, brand value is the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use the bank’s brand THEWILLNIGERIA

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

AVIATION

More Airlines Embrace IATA Digital Health Passport As COVID-19 vaccinations become widely available and travel demand rises, ANTHONY OKECHUKWU, in this piece, looks at the level of airlines’ compliance with the newly introduced International Air Transport Association Travel Pass.

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s a way to restart the aviation industry, after several months of covid-19 pandemic, the International Air Transport Association recently developed a Travel Pass which is an app-based digital health passport.

This mobile app is designed to give travellers the information they need before flying to any destination while securely verifying that passengers meet COVID-19 health requirements for any journey.

The app, which is currently in trial phases, has attracted more than 25 airlines for partnership with IATA so that, they can begin to test the mobile app with travellers on select flights.

The list of airlines that have embraced the initiative include the Lufthansa Group and Star Alliance member, Swiss International Airlines which will be testing the IATA Travel Pass very soon.

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Korean Air will continue its efforts to provide a safe and seamless travel experience through initiatives such as the travel pass

the latest coronavirus-related entry provisions for their country of destination”.

“The app will also allow passengers to have their Covid-19 test results sent directly to the app, thus making it easier for them to show these results to airlines and authorities”.

“The new app should also bring greater speed and efficiency to the corresponding airport procedures. Privacy and data management have been increasing concerns at a time when airlines and other companies are experiencing data breaches and cyberattacks, the airline stated.

Already, the Emirates Airlines has commenced trials of the IATA Travel Pass, with the first passengers travelling from Dubai to Barcelona on EK 185 recently.

This undertaking will make it the first airline in the Lufthansa Group to do so and will be tested with the carrier’s Zurich-London Heathrow service at the end of April, 2021.

Emirates stated that, the trials are a step towards making travel more convenient, enabling travellers to manage COVID-19 related documentation digitally, safely and seamlessly throughout the travel experience.

According to a statement from the airline, “Digital health documents like the IATA Travel Pass are making an invaluable contribution to reconciling the demand for mobility with the need for health protection, to make it easier for our customers to plan their journeys with confidence and to restore the trust in travel as a whole.”

The airline added that in the future, travellers will also be able to share vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel.

“The airline hopes that travel during this global health crisis will be made easier with tools like the IATA Travel Pass app, which will enable travelers to check up on THEWILLNIGERIA

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Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said: “The ability to process passengers’ Covid-19 relevant data for travel digitally will be the way forward. We are pleased to have been pioneers and partners with IATA in trialing this initiative in real time and soon will be launching other initiatives to further enhance our customer experience.”

The COO added that the trial is being done on selected Emirates flights from Dubai to Barcelona and London Heathrow to Dubai and will soon be expanded to include other routes.

Similarly, Singaporean Aviation Regulatory Agency has announced that Singapore will, from May 2021 accept visitors who use a mobile travel pass containing digital certificates for Covid-19 tests and vaccines.

With the new development, Singapore will accept the IATA mobile travel pass for pre-departure checks, where travelers can get clearance to fly to and enter Singapore by showing a smartphone application containing their data from accredited laboratories.

On its own part, Korean Air will also test the digital IATA Travel Pass to prepare the world for safe and convenient air travel in the post-COVID-19 era.

The trial is planned for the airline’s Incheon to Los Angeles flight in May 2021 after an internal test in April 2021.

Commenting, Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President of Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security said “Partnering with Korean Air to trial the IATA Travel Pass is an important milestone towards giving governments the confidence to restart the industry. Jointly, we will help to demonstrate that aviation has developed a solution to ensure that passengers are meeting travel requirements,” said In his remark, Korean Air’s Chief Customer Service Officer, Seungbum Lee noted “We believe that the digital travel pass will improve customer experience for passengers, as they can share health information in a convenient and secure manner and save processing time at the airports,” said “Korean Air will continue its efforts to provide a safe and seamless travel experience through initiatives such as the travel pass”, Lee added.

As part of the goal to ‘Test & Fly’, the airline informed, that passengers can take a Covid-19 antigen test at Incheon International Airport’s testing centre and receive their results within an hour on the IATA Travel Pass mobile app, which passengers will need to install in advance.

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

ENERGY

Long queue in Abuja

Unending Fuel Subsidy Debate: What Hope For Consumers, Economy?

The Federal Government in a report admitted recently that fuel subsidy has gone up to N500 billion and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said this would not translate into a hike in the price of Petroleum products in May. CANICE OPARA writes about the implication of this development for the economy.

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he word ‘Fuel subsidy removal; no doubt, is not a new lexicon to Nigerians, who see it as a conduit pipe by players in the petroleum industry to fleece the nation. Past administrations in the country found this issue a daunting task, which has remained a mirage despite the efforts of the present government since it was first inaugurated in 2015.

Recently, it was reported that the subsidy price of petrol or Premium Motor Spirit is expected to gulp an estimate of N500bn.

With this, there is the fear by consumers that this might translate into a hike in the pump price of petrol. But the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, after a closed-door meeting with stakeholders in Abuja recently, doused this tension while assuring that there would be no such increase in the ex-depot price of PMS in May. “We want to inform oil marketing companies that NNPC will not increase the pump price of PMS in May. I ask Nigerians to go about their normal business nobody should panic in buying the product.”

Kyari, had last month, revealed that the current market price of PMS had risen to N234 per litre, far above the average pump price of N163 per litre across petrol stations in the country, and that NNPC had maintained an ex-depot price of N148/litre since February.

The N148/litre stands, despite the hike in the actual cost of the commodity, hence incurring the subsidy of over

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N120bn monthly. The question on the lips of many is when will fuel subsidy be over, in view of the fact that the government is not doing enough to fix the four refineries that are down?

It is on record that past governments had at different times decided to stop subsidising fuel. unfortunately, it is disheartening that this hasn’t happened. In January 2012 when the Goodluck Jonathan, attempted to effect that, the move was met with widespread protest by Nigerians.

This move by Nigerians was not unconnected with the fact that the government had not done the needful before embarking on that venture in 2012, such as fixing the refineries, addressing infrastructure decay etc.

For this huge sum of N500 billion to be gulped by fuel subsidy is an indication that the need exists to scrap it and save the money for other projects. Government’s lack of political will to end the subsidy is worrisome. But there is another side to it.

Millions of poor Nigerian artisans use petrol to power their generators, tricycles, and motorcycles as a result of epileptic electricity supply.

Again in March, the government and the International Monetary Fund agreed to implement deregulation of the oil industry downstream sector, which would see it terminate fuel subsidy.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, in September 2020, during an interaction with journalists in Abuja, acknowledged that removing the fuel subsidy would save the government billions of naira and create jobs.

“It is time for Nigerians to face reality and do the right thing. What is deregulation going to do? It is going to free up a lot more money. It will save us up to a trillion (Naira) and more every year”, Sylva said.

If that is the case, what stops the government from

removing the subsidy, if not the political will to do so? Or Bit scared of civil unrest in the country? Nigeria subsidises imported fuel due to non-functioning of her four refineries.

Should subsidy be removed, the money freed up could be channeled into other areas that need attention, such as to develop critical infrastructure in education, health, transport and other sectors for the benefit of the ordinary Nigerian.

But if that is not done, the ripple effects would pose great challenges for Nigerians, hardship and other unbearable conditions will be the order of the day, resulting in a high cost of living. Nigeria is already passing through severe challenges, as recently pointed out by the Hon. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

“These are very difficult and challenging times, because revenue is low and the demand for expenditures are very high understandably because we have to keep intervening to make sure the COVID-19 pandemic is contained as well as the economic impact it has caused”, Ahmed said.

The hardship, for the poor, has actually started with this revelation. This is a typical example of where the average Nigerian’s problems would stem from: the transferring of it to the poor through the various levels of government.

However, with COVID-19 exposing the economy, it is imperative that the country stops fuel subsidy, put structures on ground and also diversify the economy.

We need to embrace mechanised agriculture, where farmers would be fully engaged to produce needed raw materials for local companies to boost production chain for the manufacturing thereby promoting backward integration.

That way, goods produced in the country can be exported to other African countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, by embracing the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement to build up her national export trade, thereby creating job opportunities.

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BUSINESS NEWS UNWTO, IATA Collaborate On Destination Tracker To Restore Confidence

BY ANTHONY OKECHUKWU

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he World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have announced a Destination Tracker in preparation for the restart of international travel.

The partnership is the result of both organisations joining efforts to boost confidence and accelerate recovery of the tourism sector when borders reopen.

Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari (R), and Chairman of Energy and Exploration Production Limited (SEEPCO), Mr Tony Chukwueke, display a signed Gas Development Agreement (GDA), as partners in the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 143, at the NNPC office in Abuja on 22/4/21.

Equity Market Gains N237.49bn in One Week

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igeria’s equity market ended on a positive note at the end of the week with investors booking N237.49 gain after trading on Friday, April 23, 2021. Market capitalization closed N20.57 trillion compared with N20.33 trillion recorded on the first trading day of the week on Monday, April 18, 2021.

The benchmark NSE All-Share Index (NSE-ASI) climbed 170.02 (0.43 percent) points to close at 39,301.82. This represents a 1-week gain of 1.27 percent, a 4-week gain of

0.55 percent, but an overall year-to-date loss of 2.41 percent.

A total of 287,038,718 shares were traded in 3,578 deals on Friday amounting to N3.03 trillion. This was a positive change compared with the previous day’s trading – 26 percent improvement in volume, 15 percent rise in turnover but 2 per cent decline in deals.

Trading ended with 31 gainers led by Tripple Gee, and 11 losers with Union Dicon Salt at the bottom of the table.

Civil Aviation Act: NCAA Seeks Unbundling of Regulatory Framework

BY ANTHONY OKECHUKWU

direct from flying school”.

he government has been advised to unbundle Nigeria Aviation regulations in such a way that General Aviation (GA) requirements should be completely separated from the requirements of airlines.

Nuhu also informed that Nigerian airlines are not really benefiting from the Cape Town Convention because of cases whereby people go and lease aircraft, and come to Nigeria, without the intention of paying or releasing the aircraft.

Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Musa Nuhu who gave the advice recently, pointed out that those regulations should be unbundled since they are not the same risk.

“So, it creates a bad reputation for the Nigerian market. That is why I tell you, when you do things. It is not one person.

You are damaging the reputation of the country. So, when you go now and you want to lease aircraft, they will say that when the aircraft is due to return, you will go and bring one court injunction and you damage the whole country. It is damaging”, he stated.

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Capt Nuhu assured that the Civil Aviation Act before the National Assembly will be treated very soon and passed into Law, adding “Once that is done, and we know what the new NCAA mandate is, we will do stakeholders meeting for review of our regulations. I think we need to de-clutter and unbundle our regulations so that the requirements from general aviation are different from the requirements of the airlines”.

Nuhu described a situation whereby somebody flying a corporate and small plane carrying 10 people is tasked equally with a Boeing 777 going to Dubai.

According to the DG, it doesn’t make sense, advising that unbundling of those regulations is going to stimulate the General Aviation part of the industry.

He stated that “when that is done, all these excess pilots and the people that don’t have jobs will be absorbed. They will get experienced and move on to the bigger airline industry.

General Aviation is very critical” ..

Emphasising on the importance of General Aviation, Capt Nuhu said “General Aviation is the basis of any successful aviation industry. Successful aviation industry in any country has a good General Aviation. It provides the people the basis such as experienced pilots, airlines provide experienced management staff and engineers. So, when the airlines employ them, it costs them less to train them because they already have some level of experience not THEWILLNIGERIA

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Since he came onboard, Nuhu said he had successfully dealt with three cases with Cape Town Conviction,including: an airline that took some engines and they don’t want to return them; a helicopter that was seized and an aircraft that NCAA let go.

According to Nuhu “If we don’t do that people will not feel safe allowing their equipment into your country; even if you are doing, you pay excess and you pay a premium on the ongoing market rate and whatever profit you think you are going to make is wiped off.”

On the issue of Azman Air, Capt Nuhu noted that the issue of Azman Air is going on well.

According to him, the agency is working towards resolving it and hopefully soon.

He added that the NCAA will not release anybody until they are satisfied.

Nuhu also added that recent responses from Azman have been very encouraging and very positive.

“They are taking all what we have explained to them. Now they understand it is even better for them to improve their business model” Nuhu stated.

The UNWTO-IATA Destination Tracker is a new free online tool for governments to provide information on Covid-19 requirements for travel and the measures in place at the destination.

The tool is available through the websites of both organisations and will provide information on: Covid-19 Indicators including infection rates, positivity rates, and vaccination roll out by destination/country.

The Destination Tracker will fulfil a key need by providing clarity on COVID-19 measures affecting tourism. The situation for travelers is complex with UNWTO data showing that one in three destinations remains closed to tourists. Moreover, restrictions and in-country measures are continuously being revised.

BY

Governments can use the Destination Tracker to post COVID-19 travel information so that potential travelers will know what to expect at their destination. When fully populated with updated destination information, travel stakeholders including Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and travel agencies, will be able to obtain the latest destination information, enabling travelers to make informed decisions when borders reopen and travel resumes.

The development of the Tracker framework is completed.

Up-to-date information on COVID-19 indicators and air travel regulations is available and systematically updated. Destination information is being progressively uploaded, expanded and updated with official sources as the COVID-19 situation evolves.

Commenting, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said “UNWTO is pleased to reinforce its partnership with IATA, a UNWTO Affiliate Member, to provide this important tool. Travelers and companies will be able to check requirements in place for air travel, as well as what measures will be in place at the visited destination. We trust this tool is also critical for governments to track existing travel restrictions and support the safe restart of our sector.”

“It has been more than a year since the freedom to travel was lost as COVID-19 measures saw borders close. When governments have the confidence to re-open borders people will be eager to travel. And they will need accurate information to guide them. With the support of national tourism organisations, the UNWTO-IATA Destination Tracker will help travelers and travel companies obtain the latest information for travel planning,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director-General.

The UNWTO-IATA Destination Tracker builds on the existing partnership between the two parties. In October 2020, UNWTO and IATA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to restore confidence in international air travel.

The agreement will also see the two agencies partner to foster innovation to drive the restart of tourism, promote greater public-private collaboration in the field of aviation and the tourism sector in general, and advance progress already made towards achieving greater sustainability and resilience

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L-R: Dep Inst lGen Adm Ilom Ign on Con

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POLITICS XTRA a rebellion from his ranks and rungs if he attempts to impose Hirse against popular will and clamour.

Revered outside party circles and described quite often as “one of the illustrious sons of Plateau,” given his prolific public service accomplishments for the state, Hirse is no doubt eminently qualified for the office and job. But his troubles are many and arguably surmountable.

At more than 70 years old, age is ostensibly not in his favour.

Those who stand against him in the party are drumming this truth at the slightest opportunity, noting that it counted against the party’s chances in 2019 when it fielded Jeremiah Useni whom the electorates shunned as too old, weak, and oldfashioned to run the state as governor. To this however, Hirse and his governorship salesmen have offered a whopping discount, promising that he will serve only one term of four years and yield the stage for another member of the party from the zone. Not even this offer has appeared carrot enough for his adversaries who are insisting that the average age of the contenders in the rival APC is far less.

Again, the zoning arrangement has not conferred absolute advantage on Hirse. There are other contenders from his Mwaghavul tribe in Mangu local government area, far younger, for which reason some of his tribesmen dismiss Hirse as a risk and miscalculation, as they cannot afford a single term and throw away incumbency advantage in 2027.

Jang

The Mwaghavul votes are a huge decider of governorship election in Plateau Central, and the people are wont to make a huge political capital and bargaining chip, knowing that the current deputy governor is their own, and other contending tribes as the Mupun in Pankshin and the Ngas in Pankshin and Kanke LGAs will factor this in as they negotiate for the same party ticket with other stakeholders.

Plateau PDP: Intrigues as 2023 Governorship Race Begins With the Plateau PDP house still in disarray, no thanks to the disputed state congress already set aside by the courts, the contest for the 2023 governorship ticket is rife and raging in closets and cleavages, with some of the party wigs insisting that relatively young aspirants be favoured to emerge to avoid the ‘mistake’ of 2019 which grated on the Party’s electoral appeal and fortunes leading to its shock loss of chance to recapture power.

UKANDI ODEY reports on a political duel that has already produced splinter groups, divided ethnic frontiersmen, pitched allies against alliances, and set political camps and tents against one another.

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t the recent zonal congress of the Peoples Democratic Party in Makurdi, Benue State, a scenario played out which had prefactory lash on the governorship intrigues percolating in the PDP in Plateau ahead of 2023.

Former Niger State governor, Ibrahim Babangida Aliyu introduced and presented Professor Jerry Gana as PDP’s big catch in his state as part of ‘robust’ build up to the next general elections, Jonah David Jang, former governor of Plateau State, quickly asserted his state mileage and pedigree by introducing Bagudu Hirse, former Minister of state, Foreign Affairs, as their own big catch in Plateau. A lighter mood ensued momentarily, occasioned by banters that did not neutralise seething sentiments and the troubles stoking back home in Plateau.

Like the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, zoning arrangements in the Plateau PDP has put the 2023 governorship slot in the Central Senatorial District where Hirse, of Mwaghavul stock in Mangu Local Government Area, belongs. Other contending local government areas in

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the district include Pankshin, Kanke, Kanam, and Bokkos already ruled out because of former governor, Joshua Dariye, 1999-2007.

Bagudu Hirse, now an experienced and practiced governorship bidder, was defeated for the first time as the defunct National Republican Convention, NRC, candidate in 1991 by the equally erstwhile Social Democratic Party, SDP, candidate, Fidelis Tapgun. Until recently, he was a PDP renegade and political apostate. He abandoned the party ahead of 2015 election, was denied last minute attempt to squeeze into the sprouting APC, and later skirted with the austere Labour Party in 2019 where he was diminished and discountenanced in the polls proper, and abandoned to lick the wounds of his partisan nomadism.

Other majority tribes in the zone, that is Mupun and Ngas in Pankshin and Kanke are rigorously articulating their interest and approach to the game. They want to beat Mangu and its Mwaghavul people to it for several reasons including their cultural affinity with Bokkos that produced Joshua Dariye in 1999. It is also feared that the duo of Mupun and Ngas may decide to pull their resources together during primary, mobilize Kanam their geographically contiguous neighbour in the zone, and neutralise the Mwaghavul delegates and defeat Mangu and clinch the ticket.

Yet, there is a macro problem which Hirse shares with other aspirants on the PDP platform. There is a lingering crisis of leadership on the party which got worse with the manner and outcome of the last congress in which members of the State Working Committee were to be elected. A bitter rivalry between two retired Generals, Jeremiah Useni and Jonah David Jang, has balkanized the party into two rival factions, with each claiming right to the leadership in the state. The congress held last around November was controverted and boycotted, and eventually set aside as sham and unacceptable by a High Court.

At the zonal congress in Makurdi a fortnight ago, delegates from Plateau State purportedly elected as members of the State Working Committee during the controversial congress were barred from voting in order not to pollute the legality of the exercise.

Having reapplied and got accepted into the party, it is obvious for now that it may be an acceptance without assimilation and integration - a reality that Hirse is yet to reconcile with - as reactionary cliques and power blocs in the party view him scorrningly as a gold digger or fortune seeker. But Hirse is apparently desperate as he enters with a bang like an energyfull football game substitution, and is calling for the party’s number one ticket for 2023. He has been consulting and meandering through power and powerful blockades in the party like an old war horse, though without Trojan agility and fitness and finesse.

Not much has been said of what the National Secretariat of the party is doing to restore normalcy and decorum and get the desired cohesion to work in unison towards 2023, in spite of the popular impression and gossip around the state that the ruling APC, through its actions and inactions, has conceded the state to the opposition in the next elections. In recent times, not much activities have been holding in the state secretariat of the party as it most often looks deserted and desolate.

However, members of either divide have expressed hope that things will be sorted out soon for the party to reassert itself and wax stronger .

As it was the case for him to be appointed Minister of the federal republic in 2007, Hirse is again romancing and hobnobbing former governor Jonah Jang who no doubt is still in control of good measure of the party structures in the state. Although he is in the same age bracket with Jang, it is arguable that the former governor will trust him enough to work for him and deploy his structures to service his ambition. After he was nominated by the Jang administration and was eventually appointed Minister in the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua federal cabinet, he was quick to abandon Jang in very treacherous circumstances, and pitched tent with an incendiary group that crystalized a bitter opposition that haunted the Jang administration and gave birth to what came to be known in the state then as PDP Two. Jang could suffer

Two things are certain, though: if the PDP continues in crisis to the extent of affecting its preparedness and mobilisation for the elections,the way for the people may be the way back to Egypt. A rag-tag ruling APC may again appropriate undeserved victory to itself. In that case, it would be no victor, all vanquished for Hirse and challengers, leaving the party as its own albatross, and the dinosaur may sink thereafter.

On the other hand, if the PDP can tidy up and get its acts together, then an intriguing and interesting ticket seeking process is underway; suggesting that for Hirse and other aspirants, time and hours, will indeed go through a campaign in which age and other sentiments will separate eaglets and dinosaurs on the night before the morning.

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INSIDE:

•Prominent Eligible Bachelors Still Searching For Love 41 •Toke Makinwa Nabs a Spot on New York Finance List of Entrepreneurs to Follow in 2021 42

ITUAH IGHODALO Man On a Mission

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I Want to See Nigeria Fulfill Purpose As Great Nation – Ituah Ighodalo

The saying that as one grows older, one’s perspective about life begins to change, rings true in the life of Pastor Ituah Ighodalo. At 60, he may have just rediscovered his purpose, which is to see Nigeria regain its lost glory as a great nation. The suave clergyman who sits on the board of several blue-chip companies as either chairman or director, runs his own accounting practice and several other businesses alongside pastoring Trinity House Church. A fellow and member of several professional bodies, Ighodalo speaks to THEWILL’s IVORY UKONU on some of the things he is most passionate about and what it feels like clocking 60.

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o you feel any difference between when you were 59 and 60?

Physically, mentally, no difference. But then clocking 60 gives you a huge sense of responsibility such that you can no longer say that you are a child.

At 60, what would you say life has taught you?

Many lessons. I say to people that I have gotten almost the plethora of life’s lessons. I have died and risen again, figuratively speaking.

Which of these lessons stands out for you?

The lessons on the capacity to have enduring patience and capacity for others. When you go through life’s lessons or imagine what others are going through, it should build in you a lot of compassion. So I have a lot of compassion for others, I don’t condemn anyone, I don’t pull them down. I know life can be overwhelming and sometimes you are not quite in control and you are being pulled from all angles for help. So I have committed my life to help as many people as I can to succeed, especially if they are serious. Of course, you will come across one or two people who are not very serious, But you will still try and help them. That is what my commitment is for the rest of my life.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently.

Yes, quite a few. but in all, the scriptures say all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. There are some things, some mistakes, I would have avoided, but I would also not have gotten the benefits of those experiences and the spirit of compassion and understanding of life that it has given me. Also, without those experiences, I would have made those mistakes more grievously in the future. Financially, I would have gone far ahead of some of my contemporaries, but when I look at the sum total of my experiences and the mistakes that I made, I would say no regret. So all in all, I am grateful to God. What would you say must have significantly shaped you to be who you are today?

My parental background. I come from a very strong ethical, moral and Christian family. I was brought up with the strong principle of hard work, honesty and determination to succeed and belief in oneself. And then I was privileged to attend very good schools (Kings College; University of Hull, England; Harvard Business

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School) that built up strong confidence in me, self-reliability, the ability to think outside the box, etc. And of course, the character that God imbued in me - all of these have helped to shape me into who I am today.

Would you say the good schools you were privileged to attend were to a large extent responsible for the network of friends you have today, especially among the upper echelon of the society?

Well, I am a friendly person, I make friends easily, not just with the upper echelon of the society. I make contacts because you don’t know the people you will need and who will need you.

Again, you must understand that the people in the upper echelon were not where they are today when we became friends. Most of them I met as simple ordinary people who were just starting in life. Along the line, I have met people at the lower strata also, in the ghetto and they ended up becoming my friends. Very good friends as a matter of fact.

At what point did you discover Christ, enough to want to go the whole hog with him?

In my early 30s. In those days, the Christianity that our parents brought us up in was value-based Christianity that didn’t impose much responsibility on one. It was a very tolerant and permissive kind of Christianity which didn’t actually drive one to seek a personal relationship with Christ and understand the full meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One just went to Church, read the scriptures and called oneself a Christian without fully grasping the full meaning. While in Kings college, I joined Scripture Union

which focused more on behavior, righteous living and restricting yourself without explaining to us, the reasons for behaving that way. It was a work-based thing. So, I didn’t quite get the full grasp of it and when I got tired of restricting my behavior, I left the SU and started expressing myself the way society then allowed or permitted, which means doing all the things that a young man would do. But after exhausting myself with that kind of attitude and finding no real joy or satisfaction, I began to think to myself that there must be a better way to live life. And the quest to discover a relationship with Jesus Christ started in my heart, even though I did not understand that that is what it meant then. All I knew was that life was a bit empty for me in spite of what many may attribute to being a successful physical life.

When exactly did you get the calling?

I don’t know what you mean by calling To go into full time ministry Even now I still don’t work full time in the Lord’s vineyard, I still have my businesses that I run, an accounting practice and so on.

When did God speak to you and you decided to become a clergyman?

After giving my life to Jesus Christ, I just wanted to serve God in whatever capacity I can and continue with my business life. I thought I was going to be what they call a market place Christian, that is a Christian in attitude, in belief, and making quite a lot of money to sponsor the gospel and evangelise. I did a bit of that and I still do a bit of that. But along the line, the offer came for THEWILLNIGERIA

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me to do pastoral work in one of the Parishes of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Initially I turned it down but after the Holy Ghost convicted me in sleepless nights, I decided to take up the offer and that was how my journey or the call into clergyship took root. Although I had pastored a few parishes temporarily and even started a parish in Denmark, and co-pastored another in Washington DC, I did not think I would settle down to pastoring a parish full time.

Coming from a family of professionals, was your decision to go into full time ministry opposed?

Not really. One of the things about my family is that everyone is independent. Once they ask one or two questions and you seem to know what you are doing, they leave you and give you all the support you need to achieve your goal. Also being born again, I was led by my mother, she was one of the biggest tools God used to lead me to Christ. She kept on praying for me. Although she had an Anglican background, she was also Pentecostal and attended both. She always had young Christian University groups around her in Ibadan, who were all forthright and used to consult her, ask for her support about different things and made her patron of different associations. However, she never thought that I would one day be a pastor. All she wanted me to do was to have a personal relationship with Christ and live an upright life. It was a bit of a surprise to her that I became a pastor, but she accepted it and felt, better this than the life I was living.

What about your dad, what role did he play in your life?

My dad was a gentle man, a quiet fellow. He did not interfere too much. He just wanted to know that you know what you are doing and gives you all the support you need. My dad and I were great friends.

Where did your middle name Olajide come from?

My mum is Yoruba. I grew up in Ibadan As a pastor who runs secular businesses and has been on the board of some government organisations, has there ever been a time your Christian values got tested?

It always presents itself in Nigeria where you will be asked to compromise yourself, but I have been very frontal and direct in the way I do business. Which is why I said initially, financially, I may not be quite where I ought to be because I have had to give up, ignore things that really would have meant the kind of compromise that I would not accept. I have had to walk away from them because of my inability to cope with the requirements thereof.

You recently spoke passionately on the state of the nation. Not many have heard you speak so passionately in that manner.

What prompted that outburst?

I have always been passionate about Nigeria. But I must add that I was equally surprised by the reaction that came with my speech. Most of what I said, I have said them before even as far back as 20 years ago. I have consistently said the same thing because we have consistently had the same problem. During the Babangida/Abacha era, the State Security Service, now known as Department of State Security, sent a friend to tell me that my articles in The Guardian, Vanguard newspapers were too precise. Since 1985, before I went into full time ministry, I have

published articles in these media on a weekly basis and at one time, I was going to collect these articles in a book. I tampered it when I faced pastoral work fully as I had to preach a sermon every Sunday and I no longer had the time and energy to write the articles and prepare a sermon. Even at that, there is no month or two I don’t say something in the papers. I just think it is the timing of this particular conversation and the passion with which I spoke on that day and that was ignited by the question I was asked. For the past one year, I have had something on the zoom platform titled The Nigerian Leadership Series every Thursday at 5pm. We engage someone from a section of Nigeria to talk about their thoughts on Nigeria and what they think we can do to fix Nigeria. I am passionate about good governance in Nigeria and Africa and I often wonder why a continent that is so blessed with a lot of resources is going through so much pain. My mission in life is to see how we can realign Africa, especially Nigeria, to fulfill her purpose and become a great nation.

You were advocating that Nigerians need to go to these socalled ‘gate keepers,’ as you referred to them and ask them why they are holding Nigeria to ransom. Are you willing to lead the mission?

I am willing to do that. I have started. If they allow me, I want to ask them one after the other what the problem is. I want to ask them if they are allergic to a better Nigeria and why they are taking the particular position they are taking. I would make them understand the effect of the position they have taken on Nigeria.

Maybe they are not aware of the damage their position is doing to Nigeria and so they must be made aware.

Of course, they are aware, they are just indifferent and do not care Ok then, I need to ask them why they do not care, what they have benefitted from taking the position they have taken. Is it power or wealth? How much wealth does a man really need? And at the end of the day, how much of these wealth are they really enjoying? Yes you can command resources and instruct people, but do you command respect and have you done the best thing for people? Sometimes the way to get is to give. So all that they are looking for, fighting to get and grabbing, they could have gotten them by just doing the right thing by people

“

One of the things about my family is that everyone is independent.

Once they ask one or two questions and you seem to know what you are doing, they leave you and give you all the support you need to achieve your goal

But don’t you think Nigerians themselves are the real problem?

The problem really is attitude. If you allow a certain attitude, it becomes a culture and when it becomes a culture, it becomes seemingly right. And that is what has happened in Nigeria. A few influential Nigerians who had a wrong attitude, imposed the attitude on us and it became a concern and it looks like the norm.

My parents imposed a certain attitude on me which has become a culture for me. You will not find me stealing, no matter how poor I am. You won’t find me telling a lie, no matter how provoked I am. Before, you could find me chasing girls, but now with my Christian values, I won’t do it. So I drew a lot of my behavioral traits from my parents and the schools I attended. What we have now is a lot of parents subjugating their irresponsibility because of the people they look up to. What we need is more of the rightthinking kind of people to be in the areas of influence.

Don’t you think that the right-thinking people have always been there and they change when they get into leadership positions?

They don’t change. They only pretended to be upright and right thinking. It is inherent. They didn’t reveal that part of themselves because they were not exposed to power. That is why they say you don’t really know a person until they have money and power.

Look at Joseph, he ran Potiphar’s household well at that level.

He did likewise in prison too, at his lowest ebb. And when He became prime minister, he did exactly as he did when he was at his lowest. So people operate the same at different levels.

With leadership in Nigeria, what happened was that there was a break in leadership in 1966. The system threw up the wrong kind of leaders deliberately, supported by the British. They did the same thing in Congo, Uganda and Ghana. So a lot of what we are experiencing in Nigeria is being instigated by the colonial masters.

Do you think Nigerians are ready for a revolution?

Nigerians are anxious for change, but whether we have it in our DNA and thinking that this will require a revolution, I don’t think we have gotten to that stage. But a lot of them do not understand what that change is all about. There are three categories of Nigerians: those who are angry because they are not benefitting from the system. Once they start to benefit from the system, the anger will dissipate. Then there are those who are angry, not satisfied and feel helpless about the situation. They would rather protect their own interest than expose themselves. Then they are those who want to join in the struggle for a better Nigeria, but they are being haunted by agents of the state.

You recently courted controversy with your comments COVID-19 pandemic when you said it is foolishness to have faith when God has provided vaccine I only expressed my opinion and I believe there is a difference between faith and foolishness. I have nothing against the vaccine.

I think it is a result of medical research that may give us an opportunity to overcome this issue of the pandemic. There are different theories surrounding the vaccine, but, for me, I have enough boldness to take the vaccine. I have no apologies for what I said. My job is not to satisfy people, but to tell the truth. Jesus Christ did not satisfy people and that is why they killed him. I can’t go around now at my age to find out who I offended or not, especially when I wasn’t talking to anyone directly. But I think there should be reliable information to inform people that the vaccine isn’t designed to kill people. If there is any iota of doubt about the vaccine, it should be analysed to clear any doubts.

I notice you still wear your wedding ring. Why? Because I am still married How have you been coping so far with Ibidunni’s absence?

By his grace. When you have been given a responsibility, you take it up and start to move. These are things you don’t think about, you just do what you have to do and God sends help even up to providing scholarship for the kids. But I focus on what I can do and play my fatherly role in their lives. I am not the first person to loose his wife with young children, but God gives you the grace to do the things you cannot do for yourself.

Besides the 40 at 40 philanthropic gesture initiated by her to assist 40 couples through In Vito Fertilization, in commemoration of her 40th birthday, which you continued after she passed on, are there plans to immortalise her in other ways?

As long as God gives me grace, we shall continue to do those things she did before her passing and for humanity. Her businesses, foundation and the rest have been running effortlessly and they will continue to do so. That is the best legacy we can give her, to ensure that her vision for them continues.

You obviously loved her to bits, but given the nature of your job, are you looking at giving marriage another shot?

No

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

BY IVORY UKONU

SUNNY AKU

SUNNY AKU: When wealthy businessman, Prince Sunny Aku got married to beauty entrepreneur, Dabota Lawson in 2014 at the Oriental Hotel, he must have thought he had reached his final bus stop. Dabota was his second attempt at marriage and notwithstanding the 35-year age difference between them, he wanted the union to work and he kept her happy by buying her some of the best things in life, flew her to some of the most exotic places for vacation. While in Nigeria, she had access to his private jet which she flew in unhindered. Unfortunately, Dabota had other plans. He alleged that she was unfaithful to him. In fact, during one of their getaway periods at the Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, he had her followed and caught her sneaking into another room in the hotel when she told him she was just stepping out of the hotel on an urgent errand. The marriage ended as quickly as it was contracted and the diminutive CEO of Novena Majesty Furniture Limited has chosen to remain single ever since.

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MUSA DANJUMA: Musa Danjuma is one rough neck when it comes to infidelity and this has cost him his five marriages. But he couldn’t care less. The last being with Nollywood actress, Caroline Ekanem Danjuma, who spent the better part of the marriage fighting off mistresses and concubines, some of who the wealthy younger brother of retired general, Theophilus Danjuma, had no qualms bringing into his matrimonial home. Unable to bear the humiliation any longer, Caroline was forced to leave the marriage with the three children she bore him. Thinking her leaving would make him sober, the reverse became the case. He upgraded one of his regulars who Caroline had a physical altercation with before ending her marriage. The Zimbabwean born

mixed race fashion designer began to accompany him to high profile events. At one point, she was the hostess in his home when he celebrated his birthday. There are, however, speculations that the fair skinned beauty may have been dumped with Musa moving on to the next available lady. It remains to be seen if the law trained 67-year-old will give marriage another trial for the sixth time.

LADI BALOGUN

ALIKO DANGOTE ALIKO DANGOTE: He may be Africa’s richest man, but despite his wealth, he is still very single. A father of three ladies and a grandfather of six, Dangote gave marriage two shots but ended them when he wasn’t getting the best out of them. His first marriage was contracted when he was an adolescent and later got hooked to Maria AD Muhammad Rufai. Some of his most prominent relationships have been with a former Nigerian beauty queen and at another time, with a serial entrepreneur. Not forgetting a handful of flings with some Lagos-based socialites. With none ending in marriage, Dangote felt the need to explore beyond the shores of Nigeria, with hopes of getting true love and maybe, possibly leave the single boy’s club. Unfortunately, that adventure ended up being a disaster. The 64-year-old has no doubt been unlucky with love.

MUSA DANJUMA

ADEDEJI ADELEKE

ADEDEJI ADELEKE: The very wealthy businessman and father to popular singer, Davido, is very much single. The founder and president of Adeleke University was married to Dr Veronica Imade Adeleke, a former lecturer at Babcock University, before she passed on in 2003 at only 39. Later, Adedeji attempted to give marriage another shot when he tied the knot with a middle-aged lady known as Tejumade in 2011, but the union lasted only four years before it was dissolved by an Osun State High court due to irreconcilable differences.

Prominent Eligible Bachelors

LADI BALOGUN: The CEO of FCMB Plc is the favourite son of the founder of the bank, Otunba Subomi Balogun.

But despite being given some of the best things that money can buy; ivy league schools, membership to top tier social clubs, etc, the 87-year-old Asiwaju of Onigbagbo in Ijebu land couldn’t help his favourite son keep his marriage to his wife, Banke, from falling apart. While some allege that Ladi’s philandering nature affected the marriage, others point accusing fingers at Banke who allegedly refused to play second fiddle to Ladi. Still others believe Ladi’s mum, Olori Abimbola’s overbearing influence over her first son’s life contributed to the demise of the marriage. Whatever the case, both Ladi and Banke are happy being single, at least for now.

STANLEY UGOCHUKWU: He is the youthful and wealthy boss of Stanel Group of Companies with a huge presence in Awka, Anambra State where he comes from.

Stanley who is in his 30s is not only hardworking, he has access to to-ranking government and the business world.

Stanley used to be married to Irene Tallen, one of the daughters of Pauline Tallen, a former Deputy governor of Plateau State and now Minister of Women Affairs. The union produced four children while it lasted. Stanley later began dating actress, Ini Edo shortly after his marriage ended. The relationship which many thought would lead to a happily ever after situation, ended for reasons best known to both of them.

Stanley has since remained single.

STANLEY UGOCHUKWU

They have it all; affluence, connections, social standing, etc, yet the urge to remain prominent members of the single boys’ club for various reasons, which mostly boils down to lack of luck in love, burns high. They no longer care what society thinks of their marital status and would prefer to live life on their own terms. It is our hope that interested members of the opposite sex reading this will find the boldness to shoot their shots at these eligible bachelors and make love happen for them.

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

HOSA WELLS OKUNBO: Unknown to many, the wealthy chairman of Ocean Marine Solution, an offshore asset protection company rendering services to major oil companies, is a patron of the single boys’ club. Okunbo, who has been in London for the past seven months battling a life-threatening ailment, is presently without a woman to call his wife. A trained commercial pilot, Okunbo started out life with Evelyn, his first wife and mother of his grown-up children. Unfortunately, the love they both shared waned. And while Evelyn moved on and relocated to America, Okunbo decided to formalise his relationship with his female friend, Nosa whom he spoilt silly with his wealth. So smitten was he with Nosa that they were seen as the quintessential couple with many wishing to emulate what they both shared. But all that was a façade. It turned out that his very beautiful wife, in whom he was well pleased allegedly began to step out on him. To say that he was shocked at the discovery would be putting it mildly. He reportedly cut off Nosa from his life but not before settling her. She now lives in Houston, Texas in the USA, in one of his homes which he gave her as a parting gift.

He has remained heartbroken since, nursing his ill health all by himself without the company of a loved one.

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FESTUS KEYAMO

HONA OKUNBO

FESTUS KEYAMO: The self-acclaimed human rights activist and current Minister of State for Labour and Productivity is very much single and has been for almost ten years. He was formerly married to the mother of two of his three children, Irene Isioma, whom he chased out of his home alongside the products of their union. Keyamo’s reasons were that they have lived apart for two years, that she is foul mouthed, not domesticated, ill-tempered and irresponsible.

However, Irene believes he is the one who is irresponsible, tight-fisted and with a philandering nature. Before settling down with Irene, Keyamo as a young lawyer in Lagos was involved romantically with a socialite and milliner, Lavonne Cele Tawo. The relationship produced a girl child.

OBA ABDULRASHEED AKANBI: He is perhaps the only monarch in Nigeria today who is without a queen. The flambouyant and controversial Oluwo of Iwo kingdom in Osun State, ended his marriage of over four years to his Jamaican/Canadian born queen, Chanel, on his Instagram page, while warning the public to disregard any business transaction with the 35-years old woman, using his office. While the king attributes the end of the union to personal and irreconcilable differences, his ex-queen blamed the monarch’s unending life of fun and endless controversies surrounding his reign, including his inability to properly take care of her and their son, as some of the reasons the marriage ended. It has been almost two years and the Oluwo is more interested in partying and hanging out with his fellow monarchs than to think about getting a replacement for his departed queen.

YOMI FOLAWIYO

JOHN OBAYUWANA: He is as old as the luxury and lifestyle business in Nigeria, plying his luxury trade via his Polo Company. John, popularly known as the King of Luxury has remained unmarried after more than 20 years since he divorced his wife, Comfort and mother to one of his two children, Jennifer, who is also an executive director at his company. Wedding bells almost rang for John when he dated former Miss Nigeria, Ene Maya. They were romantically involved for over 10 years but when John refused to play ball, Ene had no choice but to move on. When the very stylish John celebrated his 70th birthday two years ago, he did so with no woman to share the day with him.

JUWON OBASANJO

OBA AKANBI

JOHN OBAYUWANA

Still Searching For Love

JUWON OBASANJO: Juwon’s union with Tope Adebutu, daughter of wealthy businessman and lotto magnate, Kessington Adebutu, without mincing words, was already doomed even before it was solemnised in 2017. From his mother, Taiwo Obasanjo’s failed attempt to use the court to move his wedding to another date so as to avoid a spiritual repercussion, to allegations of infidelity and physical abuse by his own wife, to being accused of being a drug addict – the union was fraught with all manner of allegations. Well today, Juwon, one of the sons of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is single and may likely not give marriage another shot after the traumatic experience of his short-lived marriage.

YOMI FOLAWIYO: He is one of the sons of the late wealthy industrialist and the Baba Adinni of Nigeria, Wahab Atanda Folawiyo. Yomi, who has had two failed marriages, the second to prominent skin beautician, Bimbo Kashamu, niece to Senator Buruji Kashamu, has had to retreat from the social scene in order to reorganise his personal life. His marriage to Bimbo in 2011, which produced a daughter, ended on a sad note in 2016. Bimbo accused him of being a chronic debtor who lies at will.

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

BY SHADE METIBOGUN & IVORY UKONU

Sanwo-Olu Pulls Down Olu Okeowo’s House

Odumeje

Jesus

Edochie

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ne of the multi-billion properties owned by socialite and construction giant, Olu Okeowo was demolished by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency on Friday. The three-storey edifice had reached 90 percent completion at the time it was pulled down by bulldozers.

It is not known if this move is politically motivated or if it is just the Office of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development just doing their job. Worth an estimated $250 million dollar, Okeowo who is the chairman of Gibraltar Construction Nigeria Limited, is one of the richest men in Lagos and lives in the most expensive mansion in Parkview, Ikoyi, Lagos. Named Palacio de Okeowo, the 16-room mansion bears a striking resemblance to the Basille Palace in France. Sitting on about five acres of land, the mansion cost about N4 billion to build.

A lover of high end cars, Olu owns a fleet made up of five Rolls Royce, two Bentleys, Mercedes G-Wagon, Range Rover, Cadillac Escalade, to mention but a few, all of which are parked in a fully air conditioned garage.

Comedienne, Ada Jesus Dies After Social Media Clash with Prophet Odumeje and Actress, Rita Edochie

Okeowo

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Lady Sent Packing from Matrimonial Home For Tattooing Tinubu Now Wants to Tattoo Davido on Her Body

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Fans Worried About Nollywood Actress, Ronke Ojo’s Drastic Weight Loss

After

ans of busty Nollywood actress, Ronke Ojo-Anthony are worried sick about the drastic weight loss their favorite celebrity is undergoing with some insinuating that she must be suffering from an ailment. Her fans expressed concern after the actress posted pictures of her new looks on her social media space. While reacting to inquiries about her wellbeing, the beautiful actress assured them that she was fine and well and only on a weight loss journey. THEWILL reliably gathered that Ronke’s journey to losing weight started when she became an ambassador of Speedy weight loss, a foremost weight loss company in Lagos state. The actress who used to weigh 110 kilogram is almost getting to her goal of weighing 85 kilogram. More so, her drastic weight loss is one of her rebranding strategies and an attempt to stay in tune with fashion trends and the demands of her job as an actress and beauty entrepreneur. As a beauty therapist and an ambassador to a weight loss brand, the best way to advertise their product is by losing excess weight.

Having tried several weight loss pills and products without result, she luckily encountered the right product which has helped her achieve her goal. Ever since she embarked on the journey, the beautiful thespian has been looking trim. And she has been flaunting her new shape on her social media at every given opportunity.

Before

F

Babatope

eeks after Ayokunmi Babatope, a hair stylist was sent packing from her matrimonial home for tattooing APC chieftain, Bola Ahmed Tinubu on her body including his name, date of birth and his mother’s name, she now plans to switch allegiance to another celebrity. This is following her failed tactic to grab the attention of the former Lagos State governor, after inking her body with him in honor of his 69th birthday celebration which spanned one week. Ayokunmi had hoped that Tinubu would feel honored that she tattooed him on her body and would be compelled to give her a huge cash gift and possibly a piece of land.

Unfortunately, her projections didn’t come to pass as not only did the politician totally ignore her, she was disgraced out of her matrimonial home by her husband despite pleas from family and friends. One would have thought that she would learn a huge lesson from all that transpired but the reverse seems to be the case as she now plans to ink Davido in about 500 places on her body, in hopes that the ‘Omo Baba Olowo’ crooner generally regarded as the most generous entertainer in Nigeria would look in her direction and reward her for her effort.

Meanwhile, she revealed that the uproar generated from tattooing Bola Ahmed Tinubu on her body and the torrent of abuses she received after, left her depressed and made her turn to alcohol to drown her sorrows.

As expected, her new plan to ink Davido all over her body has also generated mixed reactions from people who labeled her an attention seeker.

Some even advised her to get busy with work and stop seeking unnecessary attention.

few months ago, comedienne, Mercy Ginikachukwu also known as Ada Jesus accused Nollywood actress, Rita Edochie and controversial clergyman, Chukwuemeka Ohanaeme, more popularly known as Prophet Odumeje of conniving to stage fake miracles in his church, Mountain of Holy ghost Intervention Deliverance Ministry, Onitsha, Anambra State. She accused Edochie of asking her to bring people whom Odumeje would use for his fake miracles. She also alleged that the controversial clergyman took it as a point of duty to supply Edochie with a retinue of men who sleep with her to satisfy her sexual urge. Not done, Ada Jesus alleged that Rita swings both ways. Edochie not only debunked the accusations, she cursed the comedienne who she said was trying to smear her image and that of her spiritual father, Odumeje and vowed never to forgive her. Not long after the accusation, Ada Jesus took ill and her friends took to social media to cry out for help having been diagnosed with a kidney problem. They begged her fans to pray for her recovery. But not a few of her fans felt that actress Rita Edochie was responsible for her illness after raining curses on her for attempting to tarnish her image and refusing to forgive her. When her health began to deteriorate at an alarming rate, her family decided to take her to Odumeje to ask for forgiveness for telling lies against him and also for deliverance. But Odumeje refused to forgive her. He recalled how she damaged his image with the video of her false accusation against him saying nobody speaks against him and goes scot free. He asked her to produce evidence of the fake miracles she claimed he performed otherwise he would go after her generation when he is done dealing with her.

Similarly, Edochie also swore never to get anything she wants in life if Ada Jesus’ accusations were true but if they were false, that the comedienne will never get well from the sickness. Rita Edochie eventually forgave the comedienne after her fans pleaded with her to let bygone be bygone. While stating that Ada Jesus’ sickness vindicates her, she urged the comedienne to beg God for forgiveness and healing too. Not long after, Odumeje also bowed to pressure. He forgave the comedienne and gave her a million naira to help with her treatment. While the father of Ada Jesus collected the money, the mother vehemently rejected it and asked the prophet to come collect his money.

Fortunately for the bedridden comedienne, human rights activist, Harrison Gwamnishu came to her rescue. He shouldered her bills and took her to an Abuja hospital for treatment. She was reportedly getting better judging by pictures of her which surfaced on social media. Two days before she passed on, Harrison staged a birthday bash for her on her sick bed. She looked happy surrounded by friends who came to felicitate with her. However, the 21-year lady passed away on Wednesday, April 21. She reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest on Tuesday night and was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital where doctors monitored her. Sadly, she lost the battle. As expected, her death has generated mixed reactions from people who have followed her story. According to them, Ada Jesus should have learnt to bridle her tongue and mind her business instead of abusing every one that stepped on her toes, imaginary or otherwise.

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APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

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

L-R: Executive Director, (Generation), Niger Delta Power Holding Company, [NDPHCJ14] Abdullahi Kassim; Executive Director, Legal Services, NDPHC, Mr. Mohammed Mahmud; Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer , NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo; Managing Director, Chief Executive Official, BEDC Minister of State for Mines and Steels Development, Uchechukwu Ogar (left), presenting a plaque to Eletricity Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu; Executive Director, BEDC, Mr. Abu Ejoor, and Chief State Head the Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, during the minister’s visit to the Governor in Port Harcourt Edo, BEDC, Mr. Abel Enechaziam, at a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two on 19/4/2021. companies BEDC and NDPHC in Lagos on 21/4/2021.

L-R: Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Tolulope Shadipe Akande; Chairman, House Committee On Foreign Affairs, Hon.Yusuf Yakub; Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Muhammed Bulkachuwa, during the opening of a 3-day Conference on the Review of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy at the NIA headquarters, Abuja on 19/4/2021.

L-R: Founder/Publisher of Nairametrics, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu; Head of Affluent Banking, Chima Patience Ebor, and Head of Wealth Management, Simpa Adaba, both from Standard Chartered Bank, during an investment seminar, sponsored by the bank in collaboration with Nairametrics in Lagos on 19/4/2021, Photo: PEACE UDUGBA .

R-L: Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State; his deputy, Mr. Benedict Alabi; Chairman, Iloko IjeshaTraditional Council, High Chief Ogunsanya Babarisa, and Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Prof Yinusa Adebisi, during a thank you visit to the governor on the approval of a new king for Iloko Ijesha town in the State, at the Government House Osogbo on 22/4/2021.

L-R: Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi; Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, during the service of songs for the late activist and National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, in Lagos on 22/4/2021.

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ARTS Consider this scenario, for instance. Hubby and wife attend a party together at the end of which the man vrooms off with the children leaving behind a harassed wife. To compound her woes, the rift between herself and her man is apparent to all.

Imagine this other situation: Wife arrives home and meets her mother in-law plum in her sitting room having the time of her life with some of her friends. Angry at the affront, she confronts hubby who, in turn, wonders why she is so upset. “She is my mother and my house is as much hers too,” hubby declares with the finality of a lord of the manor.

There are many more of such instances in this publication, situations that can put a cog in the wheel of marital progress, from meddlesome mother in-laws to philandering spouses and money worries or promises made and broken, especially on wedding anniversaries.

To Ngee and Richard however, there is no issue, no problem – financial, familial, sexual and otherwise – in a relationship that should separate any couple in love once they are married. Whatever it is, Ngee and Richard insist, spouses can always trash it out – talk about it in the most direct and frankest possible way.

Richard is a medical doctor from the University of Lagos while Ngozi is a Theatre Arts graduate from Imo State University, Owerri. But they function as a husband/ wife team in relationship/ marriage counselling. To help them in their roles as guides to spouses with more frowns than smiles in marriage, they set up a non-profit organization Keeping Marriage Alive Initiative to basically foster “oneness in marriage” because, in their view, it “brings out the beauty in marriage and reflects a healthier society.”

Making The Best of A Wobbly Marriage MUSTAFA JAMAL

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hen a new couple show all the emotional attachment of newly-weds, we know why. When the same couple display the same attachment 10 or 20 years after marriage, we wonder how.

suggests there would be an end to it anytime soon and so marital bliss will continue to be a mirage to some married folk.

The conventional wisdom is that there is a corresponding emotional detachment between couples as their marriage advance in years, with frequent complaints from both parties.

Readers familiar with the Metro section of Nigerian newspapers know the story only too well: a couple married for years seeking divorce for such mundane reasons as no chop money, an abusive or diabolical partner or one who pays more attention to a paramour or even children born out of wedlock. As risible as they seem, marriages have been rent asunder - from the flimsiest of reasons to the most shocking revelations.

He: More demanding than ever before and she is starting to get fat what with those repulsive love handles, flabby mammary plus she is becoming increasingly assertive typical of a harridan in a Shakespearean drama.

Even so, there is hope that some union on the verge of collapse can be salvaged. That is what the pair of Dr. Richard and Ngozi Okonkwo offer to readers in this slim publication 2 Sides of the Story.

She: He is parsimonious as a snuff seller in Amukoko, spends more time outdoors than he used to, not forgetting that his relatives invade our matrimonial home these days as if they were the ones that married him. Worse still, he shouts me down and roughs me up sometimes, making me feel as a kept woman in a household presided over by a husband in a theocratic Muslim country.

It takes two to tango, so it is said. Making their case from that premise, Ngozi and Richard insist that no one partner in marriage should be overbearing or try to dominate the other. Better still, sit down together and iron out whatever differences there may be with the tact, understanding and patience of diplomats at the negotiating table after a war.

Eruptions in marriages are sometimes worse than wars because most conflicts between countries are almost always over territory. But the battle between spouses could be egorelated issues or plain neglect.

Spousal squabbles are as old as the union of man and woman and it occurs in nearly every culture of the world. Nothing

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Spiced with verses from the Bible like you find in some other publications on and about marriage, the conversational style the authors employ stands it out from the rest. Thus, you find the spouses in their rueful moments after a spat, expressing their private fears and mutual suspicions about one another – with the appropriate illustrations bringing to mind the photo novels of yore.

2 Sides of the Story is the result of months of work distilled from years of personal experience on how to keep marriages alive and successful. It is a worthy effort in every respect, considering that in marriage, two entirely different people are brought together to live as one and should remain so until death do them part.

By their own admission, Ngee and Richard have had differences as husband and wife since they got married in 2004. But they always got over them, thus keeping their marriage alive and burning brighter. That is their wish for people in relationships faced with similar problems and issues, which is why they recommend it as “a workbook for married couples who believe that their marriage is an integral part of their success story, engaged couples who want to be better prepared for the institution of marriage and singles who need insight into what marriage is all about.”

Some readers may sniff at this assertion by the authors because not all spouses have relied on inspirational books or counselling to sustain their marriage. It is doubtful, for instance, if our grandfathers or those before them ever needed handy reminders like this to make their union with their spouse work. And their marriages did work! Some still work today without ever having to resort to literature or keep appointments with marriage counsellors.

To their credit, 2 Sides is error-free except substituting “thought” for “taught” on page 17. To their credit, also, the pamphlet – only 76 pages – covers most aspects of marriage that tomes on the same topic devotes pages and pages of drivel.

Handy and well-bound, readers curled in a couch at home or in a nerve-wracking Lagos traffic can run through it in an hour or so of unblinking concentration. But the lessons learnt thereof will last a lifetime – for those with unshakeable faith in inspirational/ motivational publications like this.

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TRIBUTE Nigeria that will be the land of justice, fairness and where equity would become the watchword and reflect true federalism.

He said: “Yinka was one-half of the most formidable couple that we have seen in our history and the other half is his beloved wife, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, who now sadly has to continue this struggle without her husband, fellow comrade and big friend that I know he is to her. My sister, you will continue to push on strongly in the trenches.

“We are passionate about what he believed in and what he stood for. He wanted the best for Nigeria. He wanted the best for his Yoruba nation but he was completely detribalised and he used his voice to advance the cause and the needs of the voiceless. Until the very end, he kept going.

“He kept speaking up and kept working hard for a Nigeria that we all can be truly proud of, a Nigeria that will be land of justice, a Nigeria that will be fair, a Nigeria where equity would become the watchword and a Nigeria that will truly reflect true modern federalism. But the Almighty God, who we cannot query, did not allow Yinka to finish. As some people have said, he was a fighter who fell in his prime.

“At a time like this, we are all short of words but we will continue to hold on to the legacy and what he believed and lived for. All comrades of like minds should ensure that they don’t abruptly end what Yinka Odumakin stood for, what he believed in and what he had worked for. That is a charge for each and every one of us.”

Also speaking at the event, Afenifere Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who shed tears uncontrollably while paying tributes to his organisation’s spokesman described Odumakin as an irreplaceable material.

Adebanjo, who broke the barrier of culture to attend the funeral rites, urged human rights activists to continue in the spirit Yinka Odumakin, by being courageous and fearless if they truly love the deceased.

“I am not God, I am a human being. There is nothing impossible for God to do, but as a human being, I will say it will be difficult to replace Yinka. Where can we find a young man of his age, not materialistic, pursuing a cause he believes in selflessly, courageously, relentlessly and consistently? Yinka, God knows you are a blessing to Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking in tears, Adebanjo said, “It is not easy to talk about Yinka. Yinka is an irreplaceable material. Why should I be here?

You can’t question him, leaving a man of 93 to take a man of 55-years. God, you are omnipotent, please replace him quickly for us.”

Yinka Odumakin [1966- 2021]

BY AYO ESAN

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he National Publicity Secretary of the Pan- Yoruba sociopolitical group known as Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, who died on April 3, 2021, was laid to rest last Saturday, (April 24, 2021) in his county home, Moro in Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State.

A renowned human rights activist and politician, Odumakin attended St. Augustine Primary School, Ondo State, before proceeding to CAC Grammar School, Edunabon, Osun State and Oduduwa College, Ile-Ife, Osun State. He graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Studies and also graduated from the University of Ghana.

He played a key role in the National Democratic Coalition that fought the Sani Abacha military junta, after the annulment of the 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late Business mogul, Chief Moshood Kasimawo Abiola by the then Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

He was among the spokespersons of the Southern and Middle Belt Leader’s Forum. He was the spokesman of Muhammadu Buhari when he contested the 2011 Nigerian presidential election under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change. In 2014, THEWILLNIGERIA

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Odumakin and his wife, Jeo, were the only married couple at the 492-member 2014 National Conference which was held in Abuja. He was also known as an unrepentant believer in the restructuring of the country.

Born in Moro, Ife North, Osun State, Odumakin met his wife at a detention facility in Alagbon- Lagos due to her involvement in pro-democracy campaigns. They married on November 4, 1997 Thursday, April 22, 2021 was a remarkable day of honour for Odumakin. That day, tagged ‘Lying in state / Day of Tribute and Service of Song’ which was held at the Police College IkejaLagos, witnessed the presence of eminent Nigerians who came from all walks of life to pay their last respect to the late activist.

Speaking at the occasion, Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State charged politicians and members of the civil society organisations to uphold the legacy and struggles of the deceased.

Sanwo-Olu urged ‘comrades of like minds’ not to abruptly end what Yinka Odumakin believed, stood and worked for during his life time.

The governor also charged them to keep working hard for a

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, while speaking at the occasion, said he left the Green Chamber where he was presiding to pay his last respect to the late Odumakin, who he described as “a man of courage, integrity, true democrat and a man who stood for truth and nothing else” The Speaker therefore charged Nigerians to make positive impact during their lifetime by rendering service to humanity so that they can be remembered after their demise.

Lagos Lawyer and Human Right activist, Mr Femi Falana, described Odumakin as a “very reliable comrade, a very very progressive individual who was committed to the path of building a nation, a nation anchored on social justice and fair play, a nation of prosperity, a nation that can do the continent proud . Unfortunately we lost Yinka in the peak of the struggle” The widow of the late Afenifere spokesman, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin, who described her husband as “encyclopedia of positive activism” said the tributes by Nigerians would continue to embolden her to do more by continuing what her husband fought and stood for.

“One thing that will never make me break down are that his ideals will live forever and his legacy will remain. All that he has lived for remain. Yinka, you are not dead; you are alive, you will continue to live in our unconsciousness. And to live in the unconsciousness of the people, is to live forever. Yinka Odumakin, my comrade lives on,” she said.

The lying-in-state, day of tributes and service of songs was attended by the immediate past President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nwodo; the Secretary General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ambassador Okey Emuche; Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams; PDP Chieftain and former governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Jimi Agbaje; Barrister Femi Falana; Mr. Tayo Ayinde, the Chief of Staff to Governor Sanwo-Olu; former governors –Mr. Peter Obi (Anambra), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) and Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), ex-Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Senator Kofoworola BucknorAkerele; Senator Ajibola Bashiru, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Pastor Ituah Ighadalo of Trinity House Church, Afenifere chieftains, politicians and human rights activists among others.

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SportsLive

Much Ado About European Super League

BY JUDE OBAFEMI ince the late hours of Sunday, April 18, the sporting media has been awash with news of the birth of the European Super League B. The emergence of the new football league immediately ignited reactions from football fans and administrators across the world. Angry fans, players and managers across Europe, whose clubs had initially signed on for the breakaway league and those who did not, started kicking against it by Monday.

Tuchel

Solskjaer

In the English Premier League, most of the Supporter Trusts and fan bases of the big six clubs, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who were founding members, criticised their involvement.

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Not a few commentators described the development as the “end of football”. They were not too far from the truth, as events would later reveal.

Club legend, Petr Cech’s appeal to the protesters to allow the team to enter the stadium fell on deaf ears. It was obvious that the fans were prepared to force the postponement of the fixture and disrupt the calendar in order to press home their disaffection with Chelsea’s membership of the ESL. At that point news filtered in that the unrelenting and overwhelming global pressure had found a weak spot in the chain: Chelsea had buckled under the pressure and had initiated the process of withdrawal from the nascent ESL. That revelation reached the protesting fans in front of the stadium, just as it broke online before they let the team bus proceed into the pitch for their delayed tie against Brighton. It was a momentous victory for a world united against the perceived selfish aspirations at the foundations of the ESL. The implications of Chelsea’s decision to back out went without saying. The other members, who were still weighing the most appropriate course of action to take, were watching for reactions. Chelsea’s exit was succeeded by a spate of withdrawals from the new league.

The first club to make its withdrawal public was EPL champions-in-waiting, Manchester City. Earlier, in a press conference, held ahead of their Round of 32 tie against Aston Villa at Villa Park, City’s manager, Pep Guardiola, criticised the unsportsmanlike structure of the format, but he was unable to answer more questions when the session ended abruptly.

What Chelsea ad Manchester City caused by publicly severing ties with the new Super League, which was only in its second day of existence, was to initiate a club-by-club level disintegration that gained in intensity with the withdrawal of the rest of the EPL’s big six clubs and the exit of La Liga’s Atletico Madrid and Serie A’s Inter Milan. This volte face had finally sounded the death knell for the ESL by Wednesday.

What gave the club owners of the 12 founding member-clubs the gumption to assume that they had the best ideas on how

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The owners persisted, believing in the authenticity of their objectives and the validity of their intentions to save football by making it more exclusive

to end what they believed to be the financially restrictive shackles of UEFA’s continental football competition in favour of a closed-system format with regular teams and no threats of relegation, which seems to them to be self-sustaining and self-selling? What made them to feel that they were not going to need approvals or inputs because all that was necessary was to get the clubs, who were going to be incentivised by the financial windfall the ESL promised, to line up behind them and that would be all?

This needs to be answered by a resort to historical precedence.

As an idea for competitive football, the ESL was not originally conceived by its 12 founding members or Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid. Since the 1990s, discussions revolving around a competition that can rightly be called a Super League of Europe’s best football clubs have made the press, but without the seriousness of a proposal-level interest.

As the 20th century neared its end in 1998, Media Partners, a company that has its headquarters in Italy, investigated the idea and delineated a plan to get dissatisfied clubs away from the UEFA tournaments and group then under a newer and more workable format that was satisfactory for the clubs. UEFA did not only recognise the threat, but also it acted swiftly to neutralise their plan with two key actions. It expanded its

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By Tuesday afternoon, as pressure kept coming from all corners, cracks began to appear in the hitherto united front of the constituting members of the new league. Yet, the owners persisted, believing in the authenticity of their objectives and the validity of their intentions to save football by making it more exclusive. For a while, the cord binding them together held and they looked capable of withstanding the barrage of criticism and negative reactions from other members of the European football community till strong-willed fans of the London-based EPL side, Chelsea, embarked on a demonstration to register their disapproval by blocking one of the club’s buses from gaining access to its stadium for last Tuesday’s EPL match against 16th-placed side Brighton Hove and Albion.

Arteta

World football governing body, FIFA, in collaboration with its six confederations of UEFA, AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and OFC also unambiguously opposed the unilateral display of influence, power, prestige and money behind the new League and warned of consequences for clubs, players and management involved at the club, local and international levels of football competitions. UEFA was most adamant in threatening repercussions for the 12 founding teams.

Champions League competition to accommodate clubs that were considering defection as an option in order to join the proposed Super League and abolished the Cup Winners’ Cup for the same purpose.

That masterstroke kept ESL talks to the margin and of no consequences for UEFA until July 2009. This time around, it wasn’t an Italian company proposing a change that UEFA could easily wave off; it was an individual wielding power and influence to carry a proposal forward with confidence.

Real Madrid’s Pérez championed the idea. The story goes that he was fed up with the abiding format of the Champions League and wanted a system that guaranteed Europe’s biggest teams returned to compete annually without bothering about performance declines, which could mean that another not-sobig side qualified ahead of one of the big ones instead.

Perez, as far back as in 2009, was quoted as saying: “We have to agree a new European Super League which guarantees that the best always play the best – something that does not happen in the Champions League.” He already had the intention to put his influence, reputation and worth to bear on this move for a breakaway competition featuring Europe’s traditional powerhouses if UEFA failed to act on his proposition.

Perez intended to have the best sides on the continent remain part of their respective national leagues, but granted the guarantee of an opportunity to play each other at the conclusion of their regular league season, irrespective of where they end up in their domestic competitions and regardless of the form of their best players. He wanted the guarantee of a closed-system that took no consideration of excluded clubs and cared little for fair distribution of financial windfalls from this exclusivity outside the best of the best.

Opposed at the time and scoffed at, the proposal failed to get the traction it needed to stand and ultimately fell to the wayside as football continued with the standing format of UEFA. However, the former Manager of Arsenal FC, Arsène Wenger, who witnessed how big money stifled competition in the game across Europe, had predicted in August 2009 that a super league would become reality within 10 years. He hinged this prediction on the premise that the revenue pressure consistently piled on the continent’s elite teams had gone unchecked for so long as to become part of the system. *Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

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