THEWILL AUG 1 - AUG. 7 EDITION

AUGUST 01 – AUGUST VOL 1 NO.25 •

07, 2021

INTRODUCING:

THE WILLIAMS

s Debola & Kenny’ry Love Sto

If We Don’t Restructure, Nigeria May Disintegrate – Ezeife – PAGE 11

DCP Abba Kyari: A Model Police Officer Turned Bad?

Owen Gee: Friendship Without Benefits

– PAGE 35

– PAGE 7

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AUGUST 1 - AUGUST 7, 2021 • VOL . 1 NO. 25

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Storm in APC: Chieftains Divided Over Buni’s Removal As Chairman

● Malami, Buni Overrule Osinbajo on Congresses ● Ruling Party Playing With Fire – Falana, Ajulo ● APC Now Invalid Due to Supreme Court Ruling – PDP

STATE OF THE STATES

This special publication of THEWILL x-rays the potentials of the 36 states and the FCT to achieve a quantum leap in development through investment and job creation. The prevailing cash crunch in the country makes the project more compelling for policy-makers, investors and other stakeholders.

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Secondus

Omo-Agege

Falana

COVER

...Chieftains Divided Over Buni’s RemovalAs Chairman

BY AMOS ESELE AND AYO ESAN

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or millions of members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),who joined the party during the prolonged membership registration and validation exercise under the leadership of the party’s Caretaker/ Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) headed by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State things may not appear as they seem.

The Supreme Court’s judgement of Wednesday, July, 28, 2021, which validated the election of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has brought a fresh challenge to the ruling party as to whether it should continue to put the running of its affairs in the hands of a caretaker committee led by Buni or not.

unquestioned hold over the party by virtue of his leadership of the interim committee and his closeness to leader off the party, President Muhammad Buhari.

THE PROBLEM The Supreme Court by a split decision of 4-3 saved Akeredolu’s job and this was sequel to the suit brought before it by Mr Eyitayo Jegede, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) candidate in last year’s Ondo State Governorship Election.

Jegede was challenging the eligibility of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN) on the grounds that his nomination letter was signed by Governor Buni at the helm of the CECPC.

In the judgement, the Supreme Court judges were said to have raised objection to a sitting governor presiding over a party affair.

The CECPC replaced the Adams Oshiomhole - led National Working Committee of the party after it was dissolved at an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee’ meeting of the party in May, 2020.

APC stakeholders are, however, divided as to whether the party under the caretaker committee led by Buni, is not stubbornly digging its own grave by its continued stay in office and running its affairs.

Jegede contended, “The governor shall not, during the period when he holds office, hold any other executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever.”

THEWILL investigation shows that the leadership of the APC had for the past four months suspected the looming problem as to the legality of Buni as a sitting governor to continue running the affairs of the party, but chose to ignore it until the apex court’s ruling which brought it down home.

Politics of 2023, according to findings has gained the upper hand and swept any legal or constitutional consideration out of reckoning. For one, many party chieftain are eyeing elective positions in in their states in 2023, while some others are battling godfathers that have been standing against their interest and ambitions.

The reactions within the party that have attended the apex court ruling, for example, is eye-opening. Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo Agege, who has vehemently supported the status quo in the party over the court ruling will not brook any force that challenges his perceived leadership of the party in the south-south, particularly in his Delta State. He would do everything to be in the good books of Governor Buni, a source said.

So too is General Secretary of the party, Senator John Akpnudodehe who is battling for control of the party in Akwa Ibom with Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio as well as Governor Buni, who enjoys an

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When THEWILL sought the legal and constitutional opinions of lawyers, the verdict was clear. They affirmed in unison that Constitutional provision is unambiguously definitive and contrary to the ruling party’s decision to appoint a serving governor as its caretaker committee’s chairman.

“This judgement is clear. The decision of the APC to go ahead with the congresses without the removal or stepping aside of Buni will be a clear violation of the Nigerian Constitution. It will also be a violation of their internal constitution, too.” seasoned lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, told THEWILL in an interview.

When reminded that the party had in a statement released last Thursday said it would go ahead with the scheduled ward congress, he replied with an adage: “Yoruba people say a dog that will get missing will not heed hunter’s warning.”

He added: “Festus Keyamo, who is their chief marketer during the 2019 election, has warned them. Equally, two special advisers to the President, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Ita Enang, have also warned them.

“What the Supreme Court did on Wednesday was not a hint, but a caution and the better for them if they heed the

caution.”

Also speaking with THEWILL, Femi Falana, SAN, cited other areas of the Constitution and the Electoral Act to make his case. According to him, both documents show that the constitution of APC Caretaker Committee under Governor Buni is unlawful.

He said: “Section 223 of the Constitution provides that every political party shall be headed by democratically elected members. They shall provide for periodic election on democratic basis for party excos. So it is clear that those that have not been democratically elected cannot run political parties. It is not for sole administrators or Ministers to run political parties.”

He argued that political parties cannot be run by undemocratically elected members and claims to be a political party.

“Even Section 85 of the Electoral Act,” Mr Falana continues, “is clear on the issue. It advised that the exco of the governing body of the party shall be held in a democratic manner which allows members to vote for the leadership of the party. So, to have an exco of a party, there must be an election.”

On the contentious Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution that PDP’s Jegede quoted in his case against Governor Akeredolu, Falana said.

“As an elected governor, your business is to govern the state for which you were elected. Governorship is a full-time job, you are in the business of running a state. You can’t take over a party, abandon state affairs and be going round the country conducting party affairs.”

REAL SOURCE OF FEAR These legal and constitutional implications are the sources of real fears that the naysayers think may come to haunt the party stemmed from the actions taken by the party exco under Buni which they consider legally binding and subject to litigation.

According to Keyamo, Babafemi, Enang and Ajulo, the minority judgment of the Supreme Court has cast a big question on the legality and competence of the CENCPC. According to Ojudu and Enang, “A cursory reading of the Minority judgment, we submit, appears to have swept the carpet of legality off the CECPC rendering it illegal, null, void and of no legal capacity to undertake any action on behalf and in the name of the party. It has also brought to THEWILLNIGERIA

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COVER question the legality of ALL the actions taken by her since inception.”

For Keyamo: “Any other person affected by the actions of the Buni-led committee will henceforth not fail to join him in any subsequent case in court. These include any subsequent election matter in any part of this country and all the APC congresses that are about to hold. The Supreme Court has just weaponised all those that would be aggrieved by the APC Congresses to proceed to court to Challenge the competence of the Buni-led CECPC to organise the Congresses and National Convention. The judiciary will subsequently destroy the entire structure of the Party from bottom to top.

The conduct and actions of the CECPC that would run foul of the law included the conduct of a new membership registration and validation exercise, which was vehemently opposed by former Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, who criticized the Committee for exceeding its mandate and embarking on “an exercise in futility” ; the signing of nomination papers for APC candidates in the by-elections in 2020 and 2021 and the admission and waiver granted three PDP governors that defected to the APC along with other chieftains, which included three House of Representatives members, two Senators among others.

Under the life of the Buni led CECPC, the party has supervised and won some by-elections in 2020 and 2021 in the following Federal and State Constituencies: Imo North Senatorial Constituency, Kafin Hausa State Constituency in Jigawa State, the Gwaram Federal Constituency in Jigawa State and Sabon-Gari State Constituency in Kaduna State.

While these electoral victories have exceeded their legal limits for litigation, other actions that Keyamo and Adult think could mar the party’s chances in next general elections i include Thursday, 29th July, inauguration of APC congress committees for the state chapters for the July 31 ward congresses, which in the words of the secretary, Akpanudoedehe, who inaugurated them on behalf of the chairman, “ is to rebuild and reposition process of our party, our ward congresses to produce the ward executive committees and the delegates at that level.”

Confirming the fears of the naysayers, Falana said with the clear positions of Section 223 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 85 of the Electoral Act, actions taken by the Governor Buni committee can be subject to litigation.

He said; “Every illegal action is subject to litigation from the point of the law. It is either we are prepared to run a democracy or not.”

FALLOUT OF STAKEHOLDERS MEETING TO SAVE PARTY Alarmed at the turn of events, stakeholders and ranking members of the party held different meetings in Abuja on Friday to wade into the controversy. One of the meetings involved more than six ranking Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, who are members of the party. A source disclosed to THEWILL that the meeting was summoned

by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo fellowing a phone call by President Muhammadu Buhari from London, with Attorney

General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Minister for Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Keyamo, Tahir and Governor Akeredolu in attendance. The other meetings involved governors elected on the platform of the APC. The meetings by the party SANs which was at the behest of President Muhammadu Buhari, ended rancorous.

While Osinbajo was said to have insisted that the Congresses be postponed based on Buhari’s instructions to make room for wider consultation, Malami overruled him, insisting that the Congresses must go on. According to the source, Malami disclosed that the Supreme Court ruling did not invalidate governor Buni’s’ position as party Chairman and so the decision of the party should not be guided fearfully by what the party may do tomorrow.

have been calling on the party to halt further activities and embark on soul searching, the list for an against has been growing by the day.

At a point during the discussions, Osinbajo was said to have stood up to say he was acting on behalf of President Buhari but Malami stock to his guns, insisting that he would only differ if Osinbajo gets a formal letter from the President addressed to him, Malami and Buni.

Those opposed to them, and who are urging the party to continue with the Congresses are Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo Agege and Senator Magnus Abe, who have jointly said the court ruling does not affect the party. As Omo-Agege puts it, “There is no law under our legal jurisprudence that bars or prohibits a Governor who is a member of a political party and won elections under the political party from carrying out specific assignments on-behalf of his party. How this will amount to holding an Executive office is beyond every stretch of human comprehension.

The governors meeting was even more divisive, THEWILL learnt. Some of them were said to have approached Buni and asked him to save the party by stepping down and nominate somebody for the Chairmanship position.

“Surprisingly, our Yobe counterpart, Governor Buni bluntly refused to heed our plea to step down,” said the confidential source, adding that they took to that position because some of the governors learnt that “the apex court justices took their split decision to nudge our party on a good course. This was a window we felt we could seize to put the party on proper footing. The way it is, we are opening our flanks to PDP and this is sad.”

The insistence of the party on it old course of action is already throwing up litigations, especially by those who feel short changed by the party over exclusion from the coming Congresses.

MORE ARGUMENTS Apart from Ajulo and other major stakeholders of the APC,

“

As an elected governor, your business is to govern the state for which you were elected.

Governorship is a full-time job, you are in the business of running a state. You can’t take over a party, abandon state affairs and be going round the country conducting party affairs

Apart from Keyamo, who was also the party’s spokesperson during the 2019 general elections, presidential aides and Mr Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser to the President On Political Matters and Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Muiz Banire, former Legal Adviser of the party, has added his voice to the naysayers. Collectively, they have called on the Buni-led leadership to step down and prevent the party from imploding through omission and commission, following the court ruling, ahead of the 2023 polls.

“In the light of the foregoing exposition, it is humbly and firmly stated that Section 183 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) only bars a Governor from holding Executive positions like being a Minister, or any other executive positions for which he shall be paid for. It does not by any scintilla of imagination, render the appointment of Governor Bumi as APC Caretaker Committee Chairman incompetent and will not in anyway, affect the legality or competence of the APC scheduled Congresses.”

Secretary of the party, Senator John Akpanudoedehe was dismissive of opposing views, interpreting the opposing views as politically motivated.

“If you are a politician, be a politician. In politics, you either win or lose. And you can always reactivate what will happen to you in the future. All that was said were personal opinions. We are going to conduct the congresses.

“A lot of people have seen that they are in a disadvantaged position in their communities, in their wards and they want to vent their anger by misinforming the public. All that you are hearing is because of the congresses, Akpanudoedehe said.

In the meantime, the rival PDP has taken to mocking the APC. On Friday, National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbodiyan, in a statement, titled the “Supreme Court Ruling: APC Now Invalid, Carries Burden of “Let Buyer Beware,” said that Nigerians and the international community should beware that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has become technically invalidated and now lacks the statutory structure to operate as a political party in our country. This is given the pronouncement of the Supreme Court which clearly pointed to the nullity of APC’s subsistence and activities as a political party for having a sitting governor as its chairman in total violation of section 183 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as well as the provisions of Article 17(4) of the APC constitution.

A further interpretation of the pronouncement of the Supreme Court showed that all activities of the APC under Mai Mala Buni, including nomination of candidates for elections, agreements, official decision reached, establishment of committees for statutory activities as well as its planned ward, local government and states congresses now hang loosely on the threat of invalidity.

According to the PDP, the fate of the APC as a defunct party is already sealed and the party cannot come out of this self-inflicted quagmire even if it engages in the drama of appointing a new National Chairman in place of Mai Mala Buni. This is because the APC has become statutorily vacuous, without a valid National Working Committee, without a valid National Executive Committee (NEC) and without a valid Board of Trustees (BoT) to legally initiate or carry out any official function including convoking any platform for the administration of the party. It is the end of the road for the APC.”

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NEWS

Anambra Guber: Obi Canvasses Support For Ozigbo

FROM CHARLES OKEKE, AWKA former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has called on members of the crisis-ridden Peoples Democratic Party in the state to support Valentine Ozigbo, who emerged victorious in a primary election held by one of the factions of the party in June.

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Ozigbo is one of the two contending candidates drawn from rival factions currently struggling for supremacy within the PDP. Chief Ugochukwu Uba is the candidate of the other faction. Both factionhave been engaged in a relentless legal battle that has given rise to contentious C=court judgments.

Speaking in Awka last Thursday, Obi appealed to all aggrieved persons at the June 26 governorship primary in Anambra to forgive and join in ongoing moves to market Ozigbo successfully on November 6.

L-R: Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Former Governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande; Afenifere Leaders, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, and Pa Reuben Fasoranti, at the first memorial service for the late Senator Ayo Fasanmi in Iye- Ekiti on 29/7/2921.

Angry Youths Vow to Continue Blockade of East-West Road FROM SAMPSON ITODE, PORT HARCOURT hree days after hundreds of angry youths in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State blocked the Akpajo and Refinery junction end of the East-West Road, also described as the Eleme section of the road leading to the Port Harcourt Refinery, the Indorama, the free trade zone and the Onne seaport, they have vowed to continue the blockade until the Federal Government fixes the failed portions of the road.

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The protesting youths, who carried placards to express their displeasure with the continued neglect of the East-West Road despite its economic importance to the country, said they were willing to continue to ground movement in the area until the government is ready to do the needful.

One of the protesters, who identified himself as Mene, said the aim of the protest was to appeal to the Federal Government to fix the road. He said, “We have been sleeping here since Monday and we will continue to sleep here and stay on the road until the Federal Government listens to us.

We have been begging the government to come and fix this

road, but it is playing politics with us. We have had enough.

“If they want to order the military to kill us, let them go ahead. e are waiting for them. It is painful that this road leads to the Port Harcourt Refinery, a fertiliser company and the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone, but nothing has been done about it. Our people are dying every day and trucks fall here almost daily. We cannot fold our arms anymore.”

Meanwhile, truck drivers stranded on the road have accused some of the protesters of extorting them. One of them, known as Peter, said, “Yesterday, about seven young men took away our mobile phones and cash. To be honest, I don’t like that.”

Reacting to the blockade, the Chairman of Eleme LGA, Obarilomate Ollor, said he would only ask they youths to vacate the road when the Federal Government had shown readiness to do the needful.

“Our people will continue their struggle for the good of the people until a commitment comes from the Federal Executive Council before we can ask our people to leave the road.”

C’River Communities Count Losses as Illegal Loggers Invade Forests FROM BASSEY ANIEKAN, CALABAR

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ome communities in Cross River State are currently counting their losses due to the activities of illegal loggers.

The affected communities have since cried out to the Cross River State Government to help chase out the loggers and save the forests from destruction.

Counting the costs of illegal logging activities in Ubiofor, an affected community in New Ekuri, Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state, the village head, Chief Edwin Ogar, said that over 10,000 hectares of the Ekuri forest were destroyed by unscrupulous loggers.

Noting that roads in the community were also affected by the activities of loggers, Ogar said the community had decided to stage a demonstration alongside other affected communities to draw the attention of the Federal and state governments to the destruction of the rain forests in the areas.

He said, “The best option for us is to hold a demonstration so that government will know that illegal logging is destroying our forests and worsening the deplorable condition of the road that leads to Ekuri.

“The size of the forest, particularly in Ekuri, as we have taken the ground survey is 33,600 hectare of forest land. We have discovered that 10,000 hectares of the forest has been destroyed by illegal loggers.

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“What is left now is about 23,000 hectares. The same group of loggers that has inflicted this loss on our community went on and brought in another company to operate in the other part of New Ekuri. New Ekuri is the last bus stop on this road.”

It would be recalled that before the onslaught from illegal loggers, Cross River was home to a large expanse of virgin rainforests that contained a wide variety of flora and fauna. This transformed the state to a tourist destination as tourists thronged the state to see its huge biodiversity. As a result, the Federal Government and some reputable organisations, like the World Wildlife Fund, made efforts to preserve the abundant bio diversity of the state for the sake of posterity.

While the Federal Government created the Cross River National Park, the state government under the administration of Donald Duke created a gorilla sanctuary as well as the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary in 2000.

Besides this, a moratorium was placed on logging in the state to forestall the depletion of the rainforest and its abundant biodiversity.

However, these efforts are being eroded as illegal loggers have been decimating the virgin rain forests in the state.

In their search for wood and the absence of an effective security arrangement to preserve the forests on the part of the government, the illegal loggers have done monumental damage to the rain forests of Cross River State.

Making the appeal during a reconciliation meeting organised

by Ozigbo, he said the primary election had come and gone, but what was before the party was how to face the main election as a team.

The former governor said he would be involved in the campaign in all the 326 electoral wards of the state, if required to ensure that the party emerges victorious at the governorship polls.

Obi alleged that some aspirants who failed at the primary election were accusing him of being responsible for their failure. He described the allegation as false.

In his address, Ozigbo said he would soon commence a campaign tour of the 21 local government areas of the state to seek support, adding that his target this time is to win in the 326 electoral wards in Anambra State.

He also appealed to aggrieved members of the party after the recent governorship primary not to leave the PDP, adding that the November 26 governorship election presents a big opportunity for the party to return to power in the state.

Multi-Dimensional Artist Aluu Prosper To Exhibit at National Museum

FROM UKANDI ODEY, JOS or nearly two weeks from August 21, the art crowd in Lagos will have a chance to view works by multidisciplinary visual artist, Aluu Prosper, at the National Museum, Onikan in Lagos.

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By the time te exhibits wraps up on September 3, Prosper will have demonstrated to all his distinct flair for “creating drawings and works that require the fusion of two and three dimensional art forms usually fusing fine oil paintings and sand in paintings that focus on Afrocentrism and Pan-Africanism.

Sculpture lovers will also have something to look at, as the artist insists there will be mounted works of “metal cuts on panel and photo realistic paintings on themthat portrays my life story as well as utilizing poetic descriptions for tthem.”

True, artists of any kind do have stories to tell the viewing public. What the y most is to show and not tell unlike writers. For the exhibition, the works to be shown are two different collections of the painter, sculptor’s arts.

One is titled Zodiac and another is called Composition.

Altogether, six works will be mounted for the expected viewers, four from the Zodiac collection and two from the Composition.

What are the viewers to expect? Prosper provides an answer: “The style of my art is a complete but abstract use of self portraits (paintings of myself) to describe and portray certain memorable qualities and aspects of my life.”

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PERSPECTIVE

DCP Abba Kyari: A Model Police Officer Turned Bad?

BY MICHAEL JIMOH

how they operate, their hideouts, their exact locations, where they can possibly ambush us when we eventually go for them and several other intelligence. We take note of all these threats before we go after them. We don’t just rush people, we must gather enough evidence before swooping on them.”

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here are good police officers and bad ones. If you polled 20 crime reporters in Nigeria, more than eighty percent of them will most certainly thumbs up for DCP Abba Kyari as one of the good police officers they have encountered in their city beats.

From his celebrated bagging of infamous kidnap kingpin, Chukwudi Onuamadike aka Evans to the arrest of killers of former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Bardeh, and several others, Kyari has proved to be one tough nut to crack by hard-eyed criminals.

No career police officer in the last couple years can claim to have made as many arrests as Kyari has done since he joined the Nigeria Police Force in 2000. Hardcore criminals dread him.

Intransigent kidnappers look down when confronted with his baleful glare. Steely internet scammers become lily-livered before the tall and beefy crime buster.

Crime reporters often tell stories of career criminals squealing in custody once they look into the penetrating gaze of the police officer, a penetrating gaze they liken to that of a Kanuri hunter.

It is reasonable to assume that some of the toughies would have made several attempts to take out their nemesis, kidnap his relative or some such stratagem to weaken his fighting spirit. As far as is known, no such thing has happened. Instead, Kyari has led posse after posse of daring police officers countless times to smoke out criminals from their den, track and kill some during operations and even prevent some from carrying out robberies and the like.

Abba Kyari is Kanuri by birth, born into a very large family in Yobe state with more than 30 siblings. It can’t be too rosy with that number of children under one roof.

By his own admission, it was not. To eke out a living, Kyari became a commercial motorcyclist while in secondary school and university before joining the Nigeria Police Force in 2000. He was just 25.

By his own admission, again, he wanted to be a pilot, sitting pretty in the cockpit and flying up in the air and not chasing rogues down here on earth. As it turned out, his métier found him. It seemed a perfect fit, like he was tailor-made for the police or the force tailor-made for him.

From the presidency through several Force Headquarters across the country down to community police posts, Abba Kyari is not only a household name but also a model police officer, a super cop. His subordinates look up to him. His superiors adore him.

Some of his colleagues are almost always eager to go on operations with him. For one, they are more than certain of success in nabbing the criminals, which means promotion and respect from their colleagues.

Until his redeployment to Force Headquarters in Abuja where he heads the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, Kyari was head of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Lagos state for many years. His tenure was a stunning success, unrivalled and unsurpassed by any past or present police officer.

No wonder erstwhile IGP, Mohammed Adamu, drafted him to the Federal Capital Territory where the brilliant and uncompromising cop continued his streak of success, bursting criminal gangs, sending their leaders to the slammer or dueling some during surprise police THEWILLNIGERIA

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From the presidency through several Force Headquarters across the country down to community police posts, Abba Kyari is not only a household name but also a model police officer, a super cop

raids.

So daring is Kyari that he once told an interviewer how much they prepare before storming criminal hideouts. “We prepare ourselves very well and gather our intelligence before we move for such deadly operations,” Kyari said in 2020. “We make sure we know their total number, the strength of their armoury,

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Like the street-savvy gumshoe he is, robbers, kidnappers and even internet fraudsters have learnt to quake before one of the most intrepid crime busters in the history of Nigeria Police.

At his peak when he was DCP in Lagos, criminal gangs, so it was said, wisely relocated from the coastal capital to neigbhouring states.

If you want to live and enjoy your loot, the criminals reasoned, and logically so, it is safer and better not to confront the tough police officer who will most certainly track you down during or after operations.

Recalling his formative years in his father’s house where he adjudicated on domestic squabbles, he let on that “some of the experiences I gathered while being a judge in my family were not to believe in everything people tell you because they will never tell you the truth. My reason was because people always try to defend themselves wherever there is a problem. People will try to lie, dodge and do all manner of things just to declare their innocence.”

Will the police officer subvert the mantra he has always lived by from his younger years to now as a crime buster? Will the beleaguered and much decorated police officer “lie, dodge and do all manner of things to declare” his innocence in the case he is currently saddled with?

Nigerians and the rest of the world are waiting with breathless anticipation as the case unravels bit by bit in a California court. The otherwise untarnished police chief has been accused by an international fraudster, *Continues on Page 8

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PERSPECTIVE

A Model Police Officer Turned Bad? was committed in 2014. At the time, Mojeed lost several personal belongings (cheque books, phones, bank cards and documents) during a surprise police raid. To compound his woes, Mojeed was detained for two weeks at Ikeja Police Command and later charged falsely for stealing N97m.

*Continued from Page 7

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas aka Hushpuppi of receiving bribe money from him. And not only that the super cop was on the take but he also put away his cofraudster, Vincent Kelly Chibuzor, for constituting an unnecessary obstacle to an ongoing business deal.

According to reports then, led by Kyari, his squad serially extorted Mojeed whom they forcefully collected N396, 000 for three days beginning from October 20 – 23. Prompted by Kyari, an Inspector, Fola, Corporals Bolu and Akeem force-marched Mojeed to a branch of Diamond Bank in Ajah where they transferred the sum of N41m from his corporate account to someone named Obinna Edward.

Arrested by United Arab Emirate law enforcement agents last June, Hushpuppi was flown to the U.S. to face trial for his numerous scams, one of which involved the revered DCP Kyari. In is telling, Hushpuppi and his co-fraudster, Vincent Chibuzor, had successfully swindled an Emirati businessman the sum of $1.1m. As it sometimes happens with thieves, Abbas and Chibuzor fell out over sharing the loot.

A first class crime fighter any day, Kyari has also been accused in the past of some extrajudicial killing of both innocent and hard-eyed criminals. The family of one Collins Ezenwa have not gotten the brutal murder of their son, a suspected criminal in 2018. Wife of the deceased told a hearing in Lagos that Kyari and some of his men withdrew money from his account and also kept millions to themselves from the proceeds of Ezenwa’s hotel business.

What transpired between Abbas, now on trial with possible sentencing anytime soon, is everywhere, in public discourse, trending online and in the social media. Abbas coopted the police chief to help put away Vincent in police custody for as long as a month. The model police officer duly obliged him and so arrested Chibuzor then locked him up without any charges filed against him all through his month-long incarceration.

To prove that he arrested the right person, DCP Kyari was said to have sent the detainee’s photograph to Abbas for confirmation. He duly confirmed that the man, indeed, was Chibuzor. For the good job done by his friend Kyari, Abbas promptly wired some money to him.

More damning and clearly something of a cross on his shoulders now is an affidavit sworn to by a Federal Bureau of Investigation officer assigned to the Los Angeles Field Office, Andrew John Innocenti.

Stating his case last February from United States District Court for Central District of California, Innocenti who is of the High-Tech Organized Crime Squad where he investigates cyber-enabled fraud and business emailed compromise (BEC) schemes, issued a complaint and arrest warrant for Hushpuppi and his accomplices in a $1.1m scam from the Emirati businessman.

The affidavit, Innocenti went on, is made “in support of a criminal complaint against, and arrest warrant for, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas also known as Ray Hushpuppi…and the following persons who conspired with ABBAS and each other to fraudulently obtain and launder at least $1.126, 426. 36 from a victim.”

The criminal complaint, the sleuth continued, “charges the defendants with violations of 18 U.S.C. & 1349 (Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud) and 18 U.S.C. & 1955(h) (Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering.)” Stating the matter as it is, Innocenti insisted that “the facts set forth in this affidavit are based on my personal involvement in this investigation, my review of reports and other documents related PAGE 8

Alkali

Aggrieved that he’d been schemed out by Abbas over the sudden windfall, Chibuzor threatened to rat on his partner. In the criminal underworld, there is an unwritten saying - not unlike the unwritten code of silence (Omerta) among the Mafia - that thou shall not grass. Chibuzor was determined to have his way.

Abbas was more than determined to stop him, shut him up until the deal sailed through. Enter DCP Abba Kyari!

“

The revelations by Hushpuppi, if there is any truth to them, will further diminish the rising stature of one of the best police officers Nigeria has ever produced

to this investigation, my training and experience and information from other agents, law enforcement officials and employees and witnesses.”

If Innocenti’s and Hushpuppi’s allegations turn out to be true, then our super cop, our model cop will have morphed into a bad one. The evidences – from call logs to money transfers and photographs sent – are damning. For now however, they are still allegations.

Even so, the DCP himself has denied taking any bribe from the Instagram celeb, insisting that he helped Hushpuppi purchase some fabric, native clothing.

Concerning his unlawful detention of Chibuzor, Kyari said he responded to a distress call put to him by Abbas after Chibuzor threatened the former’s family.

To be sure, Hushpuppi’s confessional isn’t the first time Kyari would be embroiled in such cases of bribery and extortion. Last October at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Police Brutality and Related Matters, disturbing news filtered through that Kyari and members of his squad extorted N41m from a Lagos-based businessman, Afeez Mojeed. The offence

Until their disclosure in the panel of inquiry into police brutality last year, Abba Kyari remained the number one cop, the one who can successfully smell out criminals wherever they may be. His street cred and professional rep were solid as ever. But just recently during the funeral ceremony of mother of socialite and club owner, Obi Iyiegbu, in an otherwise sleepy settlement in Anambra state, Nigerians were somewhat bumfuzzled when they saw the venerated police officer hobnobbing in the company of men with question marks over their names.

The revelations by Hushpuppi, if there is any truth to them, will further diminish the rising stature of one of the best police officers Nigeria has ever produced.

Of course, good cops sometimes become bad. One of the most infamous cases of a super cop turning bad happened 35 years ago in Benin City.

On Valentine Day in 1986, DSP George Iyamu, was trussed tightly to a stake and readied for firing squad. Though he denied conniving with Lawrence Nomayagbon Anini, there was mounting evidence that the police officer did, indeed, aid the criminal exploit of the notorious gang. He was shot.

What happens to DCP Kyari in the coming weeks, months is hard to say. Innocenti and his team have already issued an arrest warrant for Hushpuppi’s accomplices, including Nigeria’s adored police officer.

For that, extradition requests will have to be made to his country of origin. Will the Nigerian government allow its top cop face extradition to face trial in another country? Nobody knows yet. For now, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, has ordered an internal investigation into the case, based on the reciept of allegation and inditiment processes from the FBI. What we do know however is that if you polled the same crime reporters to rate police officers postHushpuppi’s revelations, not many of them will plump for DCP Kyari anymore.

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Buhari

POLITICS

Intrigue as APC Begins Journey to National Convention

BY AYO ESAN he events of the coming days will shape the future of the ruling All Progressive Congress and possibly the future of Nigeria, as the party has started the process of selecting its flag bearers at the ward, local government, state and national levels. This will in turn indicate where its presidential candidate for the next election in 2023 will come from.

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After a long wait, the Mai Mala Buni- led Caretaker/ Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, (CECPC) announced Saturday, July 31, 2021 as the date for the party’s congress at the ward level.

The exercise at the ward level will be followed by the local government and state congresses. It would be recalled that the party had earlier announced dates for the congresses, but they were later cancelled.

The earlier timetable by the party had fixed sale of the nomination form for ward congress for July 1 to 7; inauguration of ward/LGA Congress Screening/Screening Appeal Committees for July 10, 2021; ward congress for July 24, Local Government Congress for August 14, 2021 and the state congress for September 18, 2021.

The new date was contained in a letter with reference number APC/NHDQ/INEC/19/021/40 dated 11th July 2021 to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The letter, which was jointly signed by Chairman, Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) Gov. Mai Mala Buni and Secretary, Senator John James Akpanudoehede, notified the electoral body the party’s congresses will commence on July 31, 2021.

The letter reads: “Further to our letter referenced APC/ THEWILLNIGERIA

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NHDOINEC/19/021/39 dated 6th July 2021 on the above subject, we write to please inform you that the Congresses will now commence on 31st July 2021 starting with the Ward Congress, Local Government and State Congress will follow sequentially upon the completion of the Ward Congress.”

As expected, the kick-off of the congresses has uncovered intrigues, suspense and political horse-trading among the party leaders and their followers in various states of the federation. These features will becloud the much-awaited conduct of congresses as they move toward the ladder at the national convention.

“We are encouraging states to adopt the consensus arrangement because it saves costs and reduces acrimony.

“That is why when you look at Article 20 of the Constitution, which talks about elections, the first thing there is for members to try reaching a consensus.”

He further said that when the consensus option fails, party members can then cast ballots.

He said the party was making sure that it did not leave any room for the opposition to cause confusion within its fold.

The congresses, which is the first of such gathering of party faithful across the country since July 25, 2020 when the Adams Oshiomhole - led executive was sacked and replaced by a caretaker committee, may make or mar the party’s future.

Despite the fact that several APC state chapters have opted to adopt the consensus method of selecting their officials, controversy over the membership register in many of the state chapters may prove a stumbling block to the smooth conduct of the congress.

Political observers believe it may result in an implosion in the party, if not well handled. This view was also corroborated by many watchers of political developments in the country who spoke with THE WILL, their reasons being that the party has just welcomed into its fold, governors and chieftains of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party.

Aspiration for national positions and the 2023 presidency by several leaders of the party may make the congress a highly competitive one.

How will the old members jell with the existing members?

What role will the new bigwigs play in the election of party executives at the local and state levels? Will there be rancour? Even the party caretaker committee’s secretary, Senator John James Akpanudoehede, envisaged this and said the party was reaching out for consensus as a first option to forestall serious cracks within it.

Akpanudoedehe said, “For us, we have to take into consideration the need to accommodate everyone because APC is a party for all Nigerians.

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Among those that are known to be angling for the National Chairmanship of the party, though the party is yet to come out with a zoning formular, include Senators Tanko AlMakura, Sani Mohammed Musa, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and Mohammed Bima Enagi from the north central and former governors of Borno and Zamfara States, Ali Modu Sheriff and Alhaji Abdulazeez Yari, as well as Sunny Sylvester Moniedafe.

Another issue that has also polarised the party is the issue of registration and revalidation of party’s membership which was carried out by the CECPC. *Continues on Page 12

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

If We Don’t Restructure, Nigeria May Disintegrate – Ezeife A former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, speaks with AYO ESAN on the monetisation of Nigerian politics and the desire for restructuring of the country, among other issues of national importance. Excerpts:

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ecently, some governors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

How do you see such a development?

There is the fear of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is monitoring the people in power. Since conscience is dead in Nigeria, corruption has taken over. Every person in office appears to have something to hide. Many of them have soiled their hands with corruption.

If you would recall, there was this announcement by the ruling All Progressives Congress, which made it clear to everybody that if you crossed over to the party, your sins would be forgiven. So people are crossing over to the APC in order to avoid trial for the offences they committed. If they contest for an elective position, they can be helped through rigging.

That is what is going on.

In your time, elections were based mainly on parties and their manifestoes. How would you react to the current situation in which politics is monetised and elective positions are available only to the highest bidder?

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During our time, money was used to buy Fanta, Coke and some other soft drinks for those who came to the rallies. What is happening now is due to the death of the human conscience. Even political parties have no conscience left in them. How do you ask a person contesting in the governorship election to pay N22million or more to buy papers to fill for primary election? Because of that, if you go out people will ask you for more money. But there is a magic to it. If voters want to be led properly, they will look for the right person and vote for him. Let them take money from anybody. I mean, if those seeking elective positions bring money, voters should not reject it.

They should take it. In fact, If anybody says to you, ‘take this money and swear to an oath.’ Go on and swear to the oath. Oaths don’t kill. So take the money, but vote according to your conscience. What matter is that at the end of the day, you voted according to your conscience. If you do so, whatever oath you took would expire like drugs.

What is your advice to the electorate as we move towards 2023?

I take it that the vote on the issue of electronic transmission of results is not over. We the people are seeking a reversal of the vote because we don’t want the wrong people to take over the government anymore.

Nigeria is being ravaged by insecurity. As an elder statesman, what is your advice to the Federal Government?

Well, the only thing to tell the government is that they are dealing with human beings. Nigerians are human beings, not rats. A lot of things have gone wrong in this country. There is poverty everywhere and there is what I call maximum insecurity. A lot of people are dying every day. So, what I want to tell the Federal Government is to begin to think about Nigerians as human beings and not equate them with THEWILLNIGERIA

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POLITICS/INTERVIEW

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For a long time now, conscience has been dead in Nigeria and anybody who finds himself in an elective position thinks only of his personal interests, not the national interest

It depends on how their detention is handled. The Federal Government should make sure that they are well treated and allowed to say what is in their minds.

Those of us from the South-East are prepared to go and talk with President Muhammadu Buhari and the government. Let us know what the people are agitating for. Why I am saying this is because if we look at what happened in Cotonou, the Yoruba there are in sympathy with Igboho.

The National Assembly recently voted against electronic transmission of election results. What is your take on this?

For a long time now, conscience has been dead in Nigeria and anybody who finds himself in an elective position thinks only of his personal interests, not the national interest. No senator from Anambra State voted at all. Instead, they abstained from the meeting.

Some names were mentioned as voting against. So, it is obvious that some people are not interested in the welfare of Nigerians and in the progress of this country. To begin with, if you vote against electronic transmission of election results, you are voting for rigging. This may be because you think you know people in the North and you are voting along with them so that they can rig an election for you. But it shows that you don’t have the interest of the country at heart. animals.

What is your take on the agitations by Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho for Biafra and Oduduwa Republics, respectively?

I think the Federal Government should be careful in handling both men. I think it is better to begin to dialogue on the issue rather than to punishing people.

This is the time to engage in a dialogue with ethnic agitators. Nnamdi Kanu is no longer just Nnamdi Kanu. He is a leader of a very high percentage of south-eastern people. The same thing goes for Sunday Igboho. Let us convert these problems to a solution to our problems by having dialogue with those represented by Igboho and those represented

by Nnamdi Kanu. Let us see how we can solve the problem without resorting to violence.

Are you saying that both agitators should be released unconditionally?

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Many people believe that restructuring of the country may help in solving the problem of insecurity. Do you think they are right?

If we don’t restructure, Nigeria will disintegrate and there may not be a Nigeria any more. As I see it, 2023 may be really far away. There is really no problem with restructuring. The problem is that some people in the North are confusing restructuring with resource control. Yes, resource control is an aspect of restructuring, but nobody should think that if you restructure today, states and local government councils in the North will cease to receive oil revenue tomorrow. That cannot happen. We should plan in such a way as to make sure that every level of government is given support. Even with respect to oil revenue, we can decide that oil is nationalised. Oil exploration and gold mining could be nationalised.

We can also decide on other valuable things that we can call national. And then those states in whose lands we found the nationalised products will be given a

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percentage from their assets much higher than the rest of the states. But other states will gain from it. So there will be no issue of ceasing to give oil revenue to any group because of restructuring.

Some people are saying that we should go back to the 1963 Constitution, which gave birth to strong regions with relative autonomy. Do you agree with that?

That is what restructuring means most of the times.

Before the military coup of 1966, the World Bank made a statement. It said some parts of Nigeria were growing faster than the rest of the world. Now instead of that, Nigeria has become the poverty capital of the world. What is the difference between now that we are poverty capital of the world and the 1960s when we were growing faster than the rest of the world? The difference is the structure, the political arrangement of Nigeria. We had regions with a true federal structure. Today, we have 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory and the Federal Government is not federal. It is run like a unitary structure.

In those days when we had regions, no regional prime minister collected money for the development of his region and frittered it away on personal things. No, that couldn’t happen because every member of the region was interested in how money was spent. That was also due to the fact that the money was sourced from them. We also had close traditions in each region, mostly the same kind of religion, culture and social arrangement. Therefore, they understood themselves more as they compete with the other regions.

Unfortunately today anybody can go to the Federal Government to collect money and spend the money the way he deems fit and nobody will complain. The thing to look at is why Nigeria was growing faster than the rest of the world before the 1966 coup and why Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world today.

This is what we mean by restructuring and going back to the structure we had when things were working well. Indeed, those structures made things to work very well.

Do you believe in the zoning policy? What do you think of the recent demand by the governors of the 17 southern states for a southern president in 2023?

I don’t know whether there is any document on that.

Since 1966, the North had dominated the leadership of this country. Along the line, they allowed a few southerners to rule the country. I remembered that sometime in the past, the chairman of the power sharing committee of my party we discussed the issue of power rotation. We did it for the states, but we had some difficulty with some states where there was a dominant tribe.

As for a federal structure, if you want Nigeria as one country, you must allow the various geo-political zones to supply leaders for the country. If for example, 2023 comes and South-East do everything they have to do, including lobbying the South-West and the South-South, yet at the end you say because they are Igbo they will not get the presidency, obviously, any intelligent Igbo person will see that the rest of Nigeria have denied the Igbo the right to citizenship.

Do you think there should be an Igbo president by 2023?

It is obvious and if it doesn’t happen, it means you have rejected the people in that part of the country as citizens of Nigeria.

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POLITICS *Continued from Page 9

At the end of the exercise, the CECPC said that no fewer than 40 million Nigerians registered as members of the party but the CECPC had to accommodate extended registration in Ogun, Rivers, Kwara, Imo, Cross River and Adamawa States, after pronounced complaints of allegation of exclusion and segregation among party leaders in the aforementioned states.

HOT SPOTS States where congresses will be fiercely contested include Kwara, Osun, Ekiti, Imo and Kwara States. In Kwara State, supporters of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed are currently enmeshed in supremacy battles over the control of APC structure ahead of the 2023 poll.

As of today, many loyalists of the Information Minister, who operate from a parallel secretariat in Ilorin, had been suspended from the party at the instance of the state chairman, Mr Abdullahi Samari Abubakar who is on the side of the state governor.

Just last week, TOP had accused Oyetola’s faction of scheming to manipulate the party’s congresses.

TOP, in a statement signed by its chairman, ‘Lowo Adebiyi rejected what it described as a consensus arrangement being put in place, ahead of the congresses.

“As we speak, the state Chairman of the Caretaker committee, Prince Gboyega Famodun has refused to carry along the Secretary, Deputy Chairman, Auditor, Publicity secretary and some other members of the state executives who do not tag along with the evil idea of selling the party ideals to the governor’s group, the IleriOluwa,” the statement said.

The statement added that only a political novice will believe that the good intentions of the National Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee will be successful in Osun due to some developing issues that are at variance with the principles of consensus building in Osun APC. It added, “The aforementioned officers are not privy to anything in preparation for the coming Congress as Prince Famodun has refused to call any meeting for deliberation on Congress matters.”

Adebiyi said it is an established fact that the Ileri Oluwa is not ready to share an inch of the political space with any other interest group by virtue of their utterances, conducts and deeds.

“It will therefore be foolhardy and suicidal for other interest groups and stakeholders to talk of consensus building with the party and government-backed IleriOluwa group which has manipulated the membership register to maximum advantage.

“There is no doubt that the governor’s group will not give a position to other stakeholders in the party in pursuit of the beautiful and peaceful consensus building, but it is certain that this will have consequences if things are allowed to happen the selfish IleriOluwa way.

“The Osun Progressives (TOP) therefore, unequivocally states its lack of confidence in consensus arrangement that will be superintend over by APC leaders in the state who has sold it’s souls to IleriOluwa, today rulers without giving cognisance to feelings of other members.”

EKITI STATE This is another state where the consensus arrangement may not work out.

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Akpanudoedehe

OSUN STATE Osun is one of the states that the concept of consensus may not work out perfectly. The party in the state is already divided into two factions: Ileri - Oluwa Group led by Governor Gboyega Oyetola and The Osun Progressives (TOP) led by the Minister of Interior and former Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The two groups are seeking the control of the party in Osun State.

Buni

Those affected include Joseph Tsado, Bamidele Ogunbayo, Issa Fulani, Imam Abdulkadir, Morufu Olaniyi Yusuf, Saludeen Lukman, Kerebu Fatai, Bola Ajani, Nurudeen Fasasi, Salman Shehu Babatunde and Abdullateef Ahmed Kolawole.

Governor Kayode Fayemi’s group and the group loyal to the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, known as South West Agenda for Asiwaju, ( SWAGA) led

by Dayo Adeyeye, are also struggling for the control of the party in the state.

“We hereby state categorically that the APC in Ekiti State are fully prepared to go for Direct Congresses immediately after the registration/revalidation exercise. We are not and shall not be part of any unilateral ‘consensus’ arrangement whatsoever.

While Fayemi is said to be eyeing the presidency come 2023, his supporters have seen the SWAGA group that is supporting the aspiration of Tinubu to become president in 2023 as an enemy in whose hands the party structure in the state must not be placed.

“The beauty of democracy is in allowing everybody to have their say, even when the majority would have their way. The only civilised way to prove our numerical values is through congresses, not by any proxy,” he said.

...APC Begins Journey to National Convention

Also SWAGA in Ekiti State has said the consensus arrangement being proposed by the National Caretaker Committee of the party will not work in the state.

The group said consensus in Ekiti will not work as a result of some unilateral decisions already being taken by the state government and its caucus, with grave democratic consequences to an all embracing congress.

In a statement signed by the Ekiti State Chairman of SWAGA, Senator Tony Adeniyi, he said the governor and his caucus in the Ekiti APC, has solely imposed an electoral body, just as delegates have been handpicked for the congresses without the input of several party stakeholders.

He said that the names of the delegates were already compiled with promise by government to pay for their electoral dues.

He hinted that the APC in the state is divided and only a direct primary can bring the party back on its feet.

Adeniyi stressed that the APC in Ekiti became fractured after a group within the party, known as ‘Tokan-Tokan’, to which the governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi belongs, took control of its affairs.

He said the party hierarchy would need to be painstaking in the conduct of the coming congresses to forestall likely imposition of candidates and a plot to disenfranchise some members of the party so as to plunge the party into avoidable electoral turmoil.

Senator Adeniyi, who commended the determination of the national caretaker committee to ensure a swerve in the constituted State Congresses Electoral Committees, also advised that there should be a level playing ground for party members to carry out their aspirations without fair or favour.

The former lawmaker from the southern part of Ekiti State regretted the current state of disunity in the state chapter of the party, saying, “With regret, it has become an open secret that our governing party in this state is critically ill, lying in the operation theatre for surgery.

Regrettably, still, the Chief Medical Director is contemplating “Mercy Killing” by withholding extreme medical measures, rather than providing life support for the patient.”

He said SWAGA, which is now offering life support for the APC in Ekiti State, want the national leadership of the party to do its best to firm up the process to avert any lopsidedness that would lead to litigations that could cripple party development as witnessed in 2018.

IMO STATE In Imo State, there is a stiff power-play between Governor Hope Uzodinma and his predecessor in office, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

Okorocha who took his case to the CECPC had described the party membership revalidation and registration exercise in Imo State as a sham.

Both Okorocha and Uzodinma are seeking control of the party in Imo State.

Okorocha is complaining that things are not going right in the state as it affects the party.

“We are concerned about the upcoming congresses.

Certain things need to be put in place before congress, as it affects registration and others.

“There has been an issue about the elected exco of the party in the state. The elected exco have not been allowed to function,” he said.

So the coming months may be an interesting one in the ruling APC. THEWILLNIGERIA

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

L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Professor of haematology/former CMD, ABUAD Multi System Hospital, Ado Ekiti, Prof Fola Esan and former Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, during the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Ado-Ekiti on 29/7/2021.

Chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa (R): decorating Commander, Apapa Special Area Command, Lagos, Assistant Commander of Narcotics, Gadzama Bashir (M), with his new rank, assisted by the wife of the Assistant Commander, Ndapaya during the decoration of newly promoted Deputy Commanders and Assistant Commanders of NDLEA in Abuja on 29/7/21.

L-R: Group Corporate Affairs Manager, African Business Roundtable, Funmi Sanusi; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari; Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, (FUPRE) Delta State, Prof Akpofure Rim-Rukeh, during their meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on 29/7/2021.

The Chief of Army Staff (CAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya (m), preforming the foundation laying stone of a housing project for corporals and low officers, during his visit to the16 Brigade Camp Buratai, Elebele in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa on 28/7/21.

L-R: Technical Adviser on Gas Business & Policy to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Engr. Justice Derefaka; Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power, NNPC, Engr. Usman Yusuf; Former President, Nigeria Gas Association/Co-Founder & Deputy Managing Director, Falcon Corp, Mrs. Audrey Joe-Ezigbo; Managing Director, ANOH Gas Processing Company, Mr.Okechuku Mba, and Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Gas & President, Nigerian Gas Association, Mr. Ed Ubong, during the 20th Edition of the Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition in Abuja on 27/7/2021.

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L-R: Chief Operating Officer, TeamApt, Mr. Tobi Amira; Team Lead, Design and Innovation Lab, Africa Fintech Foundry, Ms. Omolola Tunde Alade; Senior Executive, Interswitch Group, Mr. Victor Sada; Front-runners, EazyChange, Mr. Chuddy Anene; Deji Opoola; MD, Links Microfinance Bank (Subsidiary of DLM Capital Group), Mr. Funsho Idowu, and CEO/Co-founder, Cowrywise, Mr. Razaq Ahmed, at the Pegasus Fintech Challenge held in Lagos on 28/7/2021.

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EDITORIAL Still on Electronic Transmission of Election Results T

he National Assembly has passed an amendment to the Electoral Act, particularly the section that deals with the electronic transmission of election results, limiting the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), which is constitutionally empowered to conduct elections in the country.

With the amendment, INEC’s intent to transmit election results electronically will now depend on the express permission of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly itself.

The controversial provision reads, “Voting at an election under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedures determined by the commission, which may include electronic voting, provided that the commission shall not transmit results of the election by electronic means.”

This development attracted severe criticism from many Nigerians who accused the National Assembly of subverting the proposed amendment and trying to perpetuate rigging in future elections.

It would be recalled that governors of the 17 southern states, acting under the aegis of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF), after a meeting held in Lagos recently expressed their dissatisfaction with the development in a communique.

The communiqué reads, “In order to consolidate our democracy and strengthen the electoral process, the Southern Governors Forum rejects the removal of the electronic transmission of election results from the Electoral Act and also rejects the confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court.”

The Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum insisted that the National Assembly must approve electronic transmission of election results. Rising from a six-hour meeting, which deliberated on the state of the nation in Bauchi State, the opposition governors not only threw their weight behind the electronic transmis-

sion of election results in the Electoral Amendment Act, but also urged the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to facilitate the process before the 2023 general elections.

The group further called on the NCC, especially the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), Telephone Companies (Telcos), and other stakeholders to ensure that access to ICT services is provided, especially in rural, un-served and under-served areas of the country before the 2023 general elections.

We find it very strange for the Senate to push the responsibility of electronic transmission of result to the NCC, in spite of what the Constitution says about the powers of the INEC to determine the electoral process, including the pattern of voting and mode of transmission of results.

fer of money and in admission of students to various higher institutions in the country.

Electronic transmission is as simple as sending a text message, WhatsApp message or using any other platform recommended by INEC and we feel the National Assembly should have a rethink on the matter before presenting the bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.

The Constitution provides that INEC operations shall not be subject to the direction of anybody or authority.

For the avoidance of doubt, Section 78 of the Constitution says, “The Registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

This, therefore, renders the action of the NASS nugatory. By inviting the NCC and shunning INEC, it appeared the House was acting out a devious and utterly treacherous script intended to do harm to the purity of the electoral process. It seems that it only conscripted NCC into the plot to draw legitimacy from the globally acknowledged good governance rectitude of the telecoms regulator. It was a wrong decision meant to hoodwink Nigerians and clearly intended to make the lawmakers smell like rose flower, while the NCC and INEC appear like villains in a political plot.

The Third Schedule, Part 1, F, Section 15 of the document further says, “INEC has power to organise, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor of a state, and to the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the Federation.”

Even if the telecommunications network is weak or nonexistent in a particular unit, moving further away from such unit until you access a place of better network will still not vitiate the authenticity of election results already tallied at the polling units. The electronic copy only complements the physical copy, which must have been signed by all agents relevant to an election.

We believe the electronic transmission of election results will help to check rigging at polling units and collation centres. Transferring election results electronically is also a universal norm in this century. We have seen smaller and poorer nations conduct the electronic transmission of results, even with their limited infrastructure Nigeria should not be an exception.

As a back-up copy, the electronic copy of an election result helps to strengthen the electoral process and reduce incidents of ballot-snatching and the primitive manipulation of the physical copy.

We find it very difficult to believe that our lawmakers would oppose the electronic transmission of results when on daily basis Nigerians are using electronic trans-

We believe that ordinarily, there should not to be any controversy on this subject as the INEC, which is the only body mandated by the Constitution to organise, undertake and supervise all elections, has categorically stated that it can achieve the electronic transmission of results. We cannot agree less.

AUSTYN OGANNAH

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

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OPINION Rising Cost of Food

BY DANIEL IGHAKPE

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visit to the market in recent times, and as a matter of fact, in the last one year, reveals that the cost of food items has increased drastically! Life has therefore become increasingly difficult for many Nigerians, especially the low-income earners, unemployed, and other vulnerable people.

For example, a market survey showed that a ‘Derica’ cup of beans, which previously sold for between N250 and N300, is now sold for between N500 and N600 or more. A ‘paint’ bucket of garri, which sold for around N350, is now sold at N1,500. A piece of yam tuber which initially sold for N500 or N600 is now sold for between N1,000 and N1,200. Even small sachets of milk, which were sold for N40 or N50, are now sold for N60 or N70. And the list goes on!

This relentless upward movement of prices is discouraging to many families with limited budgets. It also adds to the stresses and frustrations of many people, making life unbearable for them. It is distressing to see that foodstuffs, among other things, cost more, and that taxes and utility bills of all kinds keep increasing. Something drastic needs to be done as hunger is biting hard!

The word most commonly used to describe what has been happening is inflation. Inflation is a term used in the field of Economics to describe the general and progressive increase in prices, and a fall in the purchasing value of money.

According to recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 18.12% in April 2021, although it dropped a little to 17.93% in May 2021. The report also showed that the food inflation rate rose to 22.95 per cent in March 2021 compared to 21.79 per cent in February 2021. The composite food index also rose to 22.72 per cent in April 2021 from 15.03 per cent in April 2020.

The details may differ, but the story is much the same in many

other countries around the world. The cost of living is rising relentlessly. For many, bread and milk have become a luxury, and three meals a day a rarity. Rice is now usually eaten only on festive occasions because of its high cost.

Those who suffer most are the unskilled labourers and poorer people, who are in no position to demand the higher and higher incomes needed to keep up with rising prices. For these people especially, inflation is a thief, a thief that robs the most needy.

Some people try to alleviate the problem by working longer hours, but others find work difficult or even impossible to obtain because of the high rate of unemployment in the country. They are forced to devote each day to the unending and often fruitless task of searching for food. For them, it is not merely a question of coping with the cost of living, but, rather, a matter of struggling to meet the cost of survival. Particularly hard hit are those on fixed incomes such as the pensioners or the unemployed.

Who or what is to blame for this growing inflation? Many people blame the government. One basic cause of rising inflation is when the government has been spending more money than they have been making. The government for their part may blame the economic policies of other countries. The International Economic Order has also been strongly criticised.

Other possible contributory factors to the problem of inflation in Nigeria include: the devaluation of the Naira; worsening insecurity in farming communities; increase in cost of production; the government’s economic policies; the price of fuel; the national debt; reduction in productivity; high taxes; increase in public spending; illiquidity of the foreign exchange market; high/unfavourable exchange rate; rising unemployment, and so on.

In view of all these problems bedevilling our economy, the concerned authorities should endeavour to properly manage the situation before it spreads out of control. When the price of food items

and other goods and services increases over a period of time, it affects the entire economy. It impacts the cost of living, the cost of doing business, and every other facet of the economy. Inflation is like a balloon. A balloon can be filled with air up to a point, depending on its size and strength. But when too much air is pumped into it, the balloon will always ‘burst.’ That is also true of constant economic inflation; it eventually leads to an economic ‘bust.’

From the economic viewpoint alone, authorities agree that throughout history every case of rampant inflation has ended in the destruction of that nation’s money. Time and again this has happened, without exception.

Since it is apparent that the money systems of the world are built on very fragile foundations, would it not be good to have a system that could eliminate economic uncertainties? But is a stable economy and the ending of money problems just a dream? No, it is not. In fact, it is a certainty!

This is what we learn when we consult the inspired Word of God, the Holy Bible. Many of its prophecies have already been fulfilled with unerring accuracy. That gives us confidence that those prophecies dealing with our time will also come to pass without fail. As the Bible shows, God will eventually provide a system of government that will permanently solve all economic difficulties. That government is the one Jesus taught his followers to pray for, the heavenly Kingdom of God.—Matthew 6:10.

Because of what is certain to come in the near future, you do well not to place your trust and hope in money nor in other material things. It is, instead, to the new order of God’s making that one should look for the solution to all of man’s problems, including the economic ones.

•Daniel Ighakpe, a social commentator, sent in this piece from FESTAC Town, Lagos

Ganduje: Making Education Accessible to Children of The Poor

BY MOHAMMED ISA BILAL

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overnor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is determined more than anyone else in the history of Kano state to ensure that education is taken to the doorsteps of all bonafide children, especially that of the poor in the state. It is interesting to note that the sector has not been as busy in the past 45 years as it has been during the last six years.

Thanks and credit to the governor for his unflinching passion for education and his desire to redress the negative attitude and perception of an average Kano indigene towards western education. It has continued to be seen that the administration of Ganduje have been initiating programmes and policies designed to increase access to western education and improve the quality of education content which are being executed at all levels of education across the 44 LGAs of Kano State.

Ganduje had predicted that with the level of investment in the education sector, since the launch of free and compulsory basic and secondary education in Kano State, coupled with other complementary enticing intervention to make education look attractive to rural communities, there would be no Almajiri of Kano origin that can be found in any street of Nigeria.

To achieve this envisaged goal, the Ganduje administration has been approaching education from different dimensions. There was the need to create necessary consciousness that would spur astronomical increase of school enrolment at basic education level, especially due to obvious certain cultural and religious beliefs, which had for decades, mitigated and ensured a good number of children of school age are kept out of the school system.

It was in view of this, the Ganduje administration adopted a novel approach, although expensive but highly imperative and thus; the administration shouldered the responsibility of providing uniforms, exercise and text books as well as financially complimented the school feeding scheme of the Buhari administration. Gladly, this had paid off as school enrolment has risen from 750,000 in 2014 to 3.3 million as at January 2021.

Other intervention in this regard, was the monetary grant of N40,000 each to the parents of the girl-child as motivation towards preparing the girls to school. Also, the Ganduje’s administration has ensured the building of a total number of 5641 classroom THEWILLNIGERIA

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blocks; while some were rehabilitated, most of them are newly constructed to accommodate the carrying capacity of envisaged astronomical enrolment. These classrooms are targeted at the children of the rural folks and the less-privileged in the state. Also, the administration had ensured the establishing of 44 Almajiri integrated model schools across the 44 LGAs of the state, to accommodate the evacuated Almajiri that were hitherto roaming the streets of urban centres. These model schools seek to integrate western education into the traditional Islamic education.

Despite the recruitment of over 7,000 Islamic and conventional teachers in the state to fill in the gap and the manpower needs of existing schools, it is remarkable to note that very recently, the Ganduje administration announced its willingness to convert over 5,000 civil servants in the state to teachers, to be deployed to the various primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the state; this s how serious the Ganduje administration has taken education. Furthermore, to address the problem of falling standards and improve quality at the secondary and tertiary level, the administration has also embarked on massive infrastructure rehabilitation of existing secondary and tertiary institutions across the 44 LGAs of the state. New structures have been erected while others are ongoing to expand their carrying capacities and improve the learning environment.

Similarly, about 5,000 motorcycles were procured and distributed to education officers and supervisors to simplify and assist them in touring around all the primary schools in the state to assess and ensure compliance to stipulated teaching methods and regulations.

As a way of addressing youth unemployment in Kano state, the Ganduje administration also introduced entrepreneurship studies at the tertiary, secondary and basic education levels. This was designed in collaboration with the ultra modern billion naira state of the art skill acquisition centre to specifically encourage self- employment among graduates and those who might for unavoidable reasons decide not to continue with their education.

At the basic and secondary levels every child is expected to take a subject in one of the 25 different skills and trade within the general studies subject. It is also, gratifying to note that to support the aggressive drive and sustain the tempo in which the Ganduje administration is taking the education sector in the state, Governor Ganduje had ensured a progressive increase in the state education budget, which was evident as the sectors budget since 2015 to date has been 26 percent of the state annual budget. All these achievements would not have been possible if not for the commitment and determination of governor Ganduje to transform the educational sector in the state.

Going further, the Ganduje administration has emphasized teachers education and development being the key towards improving the quality of education to be impacted to pupils and students alike, in the state. Thus, through the accessed counterpart fund intervention of the universal Basic Education Fund, the administration has trained and retrained over 7,000 academic staff as well as sufficiently equipped the schools with modern teaching aids. The aim is to leverage on the training and exposure of teachers in transforming the state’s education sector. This was also replicated at the secondary and tertiary levels where the state government is partnering with France and other embassies to train the lectures abroad.

At the pace governor Ganduje is demonstrating concern in education he is perhaps, patriotically inclined to delist Kano state from being home to some of the 10.5 million children which UNICEF statistics revealed are out of school in Nigeria.

According to UNICEF, Nigeria accounts for one in every five out of school children in the world and represents 45 percent of out of school children (OOSC) in West Africa.

Also, the state government has initiated and signed an MoU with family homes LTD for construction of 5,000 houses for teachers in the state as well as extended the retiring age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, all in the bid to get the best out of the teachers acquired experience. The Ganduje’s administration had instituted a variety of soft loans for teachers in the state, which could avail them the opportunity to own personal houses and cars before their retirement dates.

Taking your child to private school in Kano today remains only a choice or a mere flamboyant display of status or class stratification.

This is because the public schools are presently far better in terms of quality of teaching staff, instructional and teaching aids as well as the conducive infrastructural environment.

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In Kano state today, Ganduje has demystified the monopoly created by private schools as a result of the falling standard of public schools in the recent past.

•Mohammed Isa Bilal is the M.D. Royal Publicity Publishing Company in Shendam in Jos

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Aviation: FG, Stakeholders Identify Survival Strategies PAGE 33

Rapid Industrialisation Ongoing in A/ Ibom – Okonin

Attitude Key to Growth of Hospitality Industry – Expert PAGE 41

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Turbulence in Forex Market

responsible for the historic nosedive in the flow of FDIs into the economy.

BY SAM DIALA

T

he turbulence in the Nigerian foreign exchange (forex) space on July 27, 2021, has created ripples. The effects would reverberate through the second half of the year. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wielded the big stick against the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators by severing them from its forex supply umbilical cord.

Concerned with these disturbing records of FDI flows, the former director-general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, pointed out that diverse institutional, regulatory and structural challenges had eroded investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in a post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting TV briefing, announced the immediate ban on forex supply to the BDCs. He said, “They have turned themselves away from their objectives. They are now agents that facilitate graft and corruption in the country. We cannot continue with the bad practices that are happening at the BDC market.”

Specifically, Yusuf said, “It is investors’ confidence that drives investment, whether domestic or foreign. Investors are generally very cautious and painstaking in taking decisions with respect to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).”

Emefiele explained that 5,500 licensed BDC operators across the country were benefitting from the $20,000 weekly forex allocation each. This amounts to $110 million per week or $5.7 billion (about N2.346 trillion) annually for this segment of the market. The apex bank chief said this has become unsustainable. Further licensing of BDC operators was also discontinued.

The CBN governor said that the CBN receives about 574 licence applications from BDCs every month. Those whose applications were undergoing processing would no longer be licensed. Their application fee is to be refunded. The apex bank will henceforth sell forex directly to the deposit money banks with specific directives.

As anticipated following the decision, the local currency slumped at the parallel market, hitting N502/$1 from N500 it had traded prior to the announcement that has received wide support across various sectors of the country including the critical political sector where powerful and influential figures own BDC licenses. The naira fell further to N525 - $1 in the open market but has now gained and exchanged for around N512 -$1 this weekend.

The development has, again, put Emefiele on a hot seat. Depending on who is concerned, he will be applauded and condemned for the turbulence in the forex market. The darts from the angry public keep dashing towards the direction of the apex bank’s chief. The BDCs, on another hand, are seen as the naughty players in a game that has stipulated rules. It is all about money and its value; the sweat of people and their store of value.

The BDCs have been greedy and have ashamedly aided the laundering of millions of dollars for corrupt state officials and nonstate actors while their irresponsible and unpatriotic acts have made it impossible to manage the naira’s fluid stability against the major foreign currencies. The fact remains that neither Emefiele nor the CBN are to blame for the current forex scarcity in the country. Unless we address what causes the turbulence in the forex market from time to time, it is mere presumptuous and an attempt to clap with one hand toeing this path.

HARBINGERS OF COINCIDENCE Two critical developments had occurred before the ‘Emefiele July 27 tsunami’, as a commentator described it. Although many did not give them the due attention, they play in the same league of the circumstances that created the ‘tsunami’. They are the World Bank Report on Nigeria’s worst state of unemployment; and the drastic drop in foreign direct investment into the country.

The World Bank report suggests that Nigeria’s unemployment crisis in recent times is the worst in the nation’s history. According to the research paper, the nation’s expanding working-age population

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combined with scarce domestic employment opportunities is creating high rates of unemployment, particularly for youth. This situation has also been worsened by the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Between 2010 and 2020, the unemployment rate rose five-fold, from 6.4 per cent in 2010 to 33.3 percent in 2020. The rise in unemployment rates has been particularly acute since the 2015-2016 economic recession and has further worsened as COVID-19 led to the worst recession in four decades in 2020.”

We are not creating wealth; Nigeria is not generating value to support the population and step up economic growth and development. A recent publication by Dr. Olu Fasan, a renowned political-economist and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics, elaborated on the sad fact that Nigeria has a large but predominantly unproductive population.

Fasan showed that a key problem in this aspect is Nigeria’s abysmally low human capital. The World Bank’s 2019 Nigeria Economic Update showed that the country has abysmally poor human capital which ranked Nigeria 161st out of 189 countries in this year’s Index.

“You can build as many passenger railways and roads as you like, if your labour force is low skilled and unproductive, your economy will not grow. That’s why serious governments build physical infrastructure largely with private investors while they build human capital with public funds. China has one of the most highly skilled and productive labour force in the world,” Secondly, foreign investment has dwindled. The Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) in a recent report revealed that investment announcements in Nigeria declined by 80 percent – fell to $1.69 billion in the second quarter from $8.41bn in the first quarter.

The report had also revealed that the total value of investment interests in the first half of this year fell by $1.57 billion to $10.11 billion, compared with the value recorded in the second half of the previous year.

The experts unanimously blamed unfriendly investment climate, intractable security challenges and acute infrastructure deficit, among other institutional and structural problems as the core factors

Universally, FDIs are often long term and invariably more risky, especially in volatile economic and business environments. Uncertainties aggravate investment risk. Investors in the real sector space are grappling with structural problems especially around infrastructure.

He noted that there “are grave concerns about liquidity in the forex market, There are concerns about the accelerated weakening of the currency. There are issues of heightened regulatory and policy risks in many sectors.

“Investors’ confidence has also been adversely affected by the worsening security situation in the country. Meanwhile, our domestic economy is still struggling to recover from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the likely factors affecting investment decisions,” he said.

Diaspora remittances into Nigeria has declined by 20 percent from its annual inflows of $25 billion, this is according to the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). However, World Bank’s projection of Nigeria’s remittance inflow put the decline at 27.7 percent in 2020. Read more: And because of the major role that diaspora remittances play in the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria has offered an incentive of N5 for every dollar remitted through official channels. But the differing exchange rates often push Nigerians in the diaspora to explore alternative ways of remitting money into the country so that they can enjoy higher value EXPORTERS’ LAMENTATIONS There is, evidently, a strong emphasis on boosting non-oil revenue through agricultural and manufactured goods. But players in this sector have nightmares to share regarding export. Many of them experience severe hardship to use the functional Lagos ports because of the alarming rate of congestion, extortion and poor infrastructure.

Recently, the authorities suspended export of non-oil cargoes to clear the terrible congestion in the wharf. This led to cancelled orders, loss of money borrowed from the banks and business closure. When they manage to export, asking them to repatriate their proceeds through the CBN, with about N80 per dollar parity becomes an impossible task. *Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com THEWILLNIGERIA

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AVIATION signing into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the DG, since the establishment of the NCAA over 20 years ago, there have been many significant milestones in the growth of the industry, these have not been without challenges, difficulties and unfortunate occurrences of air crashes within a short period.

“However, these bad days have been put behind us and I am glad to confirm that over the last 8 years there has been no commercial air transport category accident in Nigeria,” he added.

In his remark, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Smart Adeyemi, assured the players in the industry that the NCAR bill, which is presently before the assembly would be passed very soon.

He explained that the passage of the executive bill would further accelerate growth in the Nigerian aviation industry, maintaining that the National Assembly would do all within its capacity to move the sector forward.

L-R: Alhaji Muneer Bankole, MD/CEO, Med-View Airline; Captain Musa Nuhu, DG, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA; Mr Bernard Bankole, MD, Finchglow Travels; Engineer Akin Olateru, Commissioner/CEO, Accident Investigation Bureau representing Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation; Captain Alkali Modibbo, Rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology at the 25th LAAC Annual Conference and Awards with the theme ‘Nigeria’s Aviation Industry: Management, Policy & Regulation’ held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on 28/7/2021.

Aviation: FG, Stakeholders Identify Survival Strategies

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

F

or many years, Nigeria’s Aviation industry has witnessed a lot of changes, in terms of management, policy and regulation. The industry has also faced several challenges, just as experienced in other countries of the world, the sector being a global business.

The challenges, which have to do with funding, climate change, technological innovations, fueling, insecurity, taxation, etc, were further exacerbated in 2019 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The advent of COVID-19 has apparently put the global economy to the test, with air transport being undoubtedly the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Statistics released by the International Airline Transport Association (IATA) on COVID-19’s economic impact on Nigeria has revealed a revenue loss of $994 million in 2020. In terms of employment risk in Nigeria, it has been estimated to have cost 125,370 job cuts and loss of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product put at $885 million.

Fortunately the Federal Government was able to cushion the effect of the pandemic by providing intervention funds to the tune of N5 billion to domestic airlines in the country, although it was adjudged to be insufficient.

According to the Minister for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, the Federal Government could not have achieved this without the cooperation, constructive criticism and great understanding of everybody in the industry.

Speaking during a recent conference organised by the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos with the theme: ‘Nigeria’s Aviation Industry: Management, Policy and Regulation,’ as keynote speaker, Senator Sirika said his ministry is committed to completing outstanding projects they had set out for themselves before their term runs out, assuring that the ministry’s vision is that of a sector that will provide utmost comfort, safety and security for majority of passengers.

In terms of management of the sector, Sirika, who was represented by the Commissioner/CEO of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr Akin Olateru, re-echoed the fact that the ministry is being assisted by the six aviation agencies in the management of the aviation sector to ensure effective and efficient service delivery in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard.

The agencies include the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); THEWILLNIGERIA

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“

“The planes need to be in the sky all the time because the more you move, the more money you make so that you can pay your bills. We would want the Central Bank of Nigeria to create a window for Forex because it will help reduce the airfare”

Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA); Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB); Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

On policy and regulation, Sirika informed that the ministry, in conjunction with the aviation agencies, is working with the National Assembly to review/amend all the Aviation Agencies’ Acts in order to provide effective management of services and align with modern technological development in line with international best practices and development in international civil aviation.

According to him, the two legislative houses have held public hearings on the matter and at the final stage of their report.

In his keynote address, Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Musa Nuhu, stated that the 2006 Civil Aviation ACT is currently undergoing review at the National Assembly to reflect changes that have taken place, especially new ICAO SARPS in various areas, such as environment, RPAS, cyber security, etc.

Capt Nuhu pointed out that the operating environment has undergone significant changes such as advancement in technology and growth in new sectors of the industry, assuring that the ACT is expected to be ready in the new future for

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Similarly, the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, said that the aviation industry required good policy governance and the right framework to move it forward.

Nnaji said, “The success of any industry is management. If you have the right people in management, it is going to go a long way in achieving good results. Also, once you have committed people, especially like we who are in the legislative arm, we are committed to what is happening in the executive. It’s not that we are trying to police the executive; we are not the type that wants to toss the agencies around because we feel that we have the power to do so. It’s just that we are committed to the safety of the industry.”

Speaking on the COVID-19 bailout funds, Nnaji said,”The government didn’t do much in terms of bailout for the airlines.

The cost of the engine of a Boeing is close to $10 million and what the government provided for all the airlines is about N4 billion, so, when you compare what our airlines got to other countries, you will find out that they didn’t do much for the industry. The aviation industry is a very expensive business and most people do not break even. What they just succeed in doing is to just keep the business going because everything about the industry is offshore and that is a challenge.

“We have succeeded in getting zero duties for the airlines for the purchase of spare parts. Another issue that they are battling with is the issue of forex. Since they buy most of their stuff abroad, it is important that they have access to forex. The planes need to be in the sky all the time because the more you move, the more money you make so that you can pay your bills. We would want the Central Bank of Nigeria to create a window for Forex because it will help reduce the airfare.”

Also, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), declared that the industry was still experiencing financial distress, saying it would take the next two years for the industry to recover from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yadudu reiterated that without ample financial resources, it would be difficult for the industry to recover. He called for the aggressive implementation of policies, adding that while the industry was performing well, in terms of regulation, implementation remained a major challenge.

In his remark, Chairman, Mish Aviation Limited, Capt Ibrahim Mshelia, said Nigeria’s aviation industry is battling too many oppressive forces, which come in the form of manmade and natural factors.

Mshelia also noted that with the lopsidedness in the procurement procedures and the operational limits of Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) holders in Nigeria, there is an urgent need to amend acts and policies in this area to empower civil aviation and to break down the certification process of commercial operations.

“Today, we have an unhealthy situation where there is a blanket issuance procedure of AOC for big, small, or large operations.

Under this system, the roles of other segments of operators that are also entitled, by law, to operate commercial operations, unfettered as guaranteed by ICAO, are not spelt out. By ICAO standard, small, large and medium operations, including; Air Taxi, Air Charter, Cargo Only, nonscheduled and Scheduled operations etc, are recognised,” he said.

In his reaction, Adeyemi, lauded the Federal Government for putting in place policies that would create an enabling environment for airlines to survive.

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INTERVIEW

Rapid Industrialisation Ongoing inA/Ibom – Okonin

as well as logistics, in the state. That is what makes Lagos tick. So imagine if all that is replicated here in Akwa Ibom. The economy will grow and our people will benefit from it.

The Honourable Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State, Akan Okonin, gives an insight into the development strides of the Udom Emmanuel administration in this interview with UDEME UTIP. Excerpts:

Are we still expecting more industries within the life span of this administration?

Of course, there will be more industries in the state. Governor Emmanuel is Mr Industrialisation himself. He will keep on industrialising the state until the end of his tenure. That is the truth.

I

ndustrialisation appears to be the major goal of the Udom Emmanuel administration in Akwa Ibom State. How far has this been achieved, six years after?

Industrialisation is a process, not a destination. We need to cast our minds back to what the situation was before Governor Udom Emmanuel came into office.

You would agree with me that we did not have any functioning industry prior, except the Champion Breweries which was running at an epileptic capacity.

However, under the administration of Deacon Udom Emmanuel in the past few years, a lot of industries are now operating in the state.

How is the growth of the economy measured? It is measured by the volume of goods and services that is being produced within that economy. Today, we have a flour mill that is operational. We have the Meter Solution Factory, Syringe Factory, Plastic and Plywood Industries and the rest, which are all operational.

The present administration has done very well, in terms of industrialising the state. As I mentioned, industrialisation is a process, not a destination.

New industries are coming up every day. Today, you can count more than 18 of them. A man came in and saw nothing on ground, but he has been able to do this much within six years. This is a big deal when it comes to the industrialisation which is the hallmark of development.

What factors have contributed to this success story?

You know that most businessmen like to go to an environment that is conducive. Upon assumption of office, Governor Emmanuel set about creating a peaceful and enabling environment for commerce and industry. People prefer to set up business in places that favour the free flow of commerce. Our state is ranked very high in that aspect because the governor had looked at the various gateways and tackled them headon. He has ensured there is free movement of goods and services. The ease of transportation has really helped and Governor Emmanuel has shown leadership and capacity by ensuring that he attracts very good investments and industries to the state. His experience in the financial industry has been quite handy and we PAGE 34

Okonin

Employment opportunities provided by these industries have enabled many families to put food on their tables.

They have created wealth and continued to contribute to the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state, thereby adding value to development. We can therefore say that the economy of the state is growing.

Some industries are still at foundation level. The Car Assembly Plant in Itu is one of them. What is the fate of these projects?

You need to visit those places soon. Work has started there. The factory building of the Car Assembly Plant is almost completed.

They cannot be abandoned. Government is ensuring partnership with the private sector to make the project operational.

“

Today, we have a flour mill that is operational. We have the Meter Solution Factory, Syringe Factory, Plastic and Plywood Industries and the rest, which are all operational.

The present administration has done very well, in terms of industrialising the state

have witnessed the impact.

The Akwa Ibom State Government is partnering with the Federal Government in the construction of an oil and gas station at Ikot Abasi, the Ibom Deep Seaport, and the Ammonia/Fertilizer Plants.

Can you tell us more about these projects?

The partnership is intended to serve as a game changer for our economy. The major challenge facing us as a state borders on unemployment. Our gifted youths are not given the opportunity to excel. But I believe these industries will go a long way to provide jobs for unemployed in the state. When operational, the infrastructure will change the dynamics of the state’s economy. There will be an influx of skilled people, an increased IGR and a lot of commercial activities,

What is the status of the Ibom Deep Seaport?

We are making progress. You are aware that we have received approval from the Federal Government. Port construction is different from road construction. There are many technicalities to consider. We are currently on the geo-technical and geo-physical aspects, studying the biometrics to get accurate data that would be required in the process. It is ongoing.

Let’s talk about Rt. Hon. Aniekan Akpan’s recent election as chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom. Since there is a close relationship between politics and economic development, what should we expect under Akpan’s leadership of the party?

What the party needs most is our continued support to the party and its new Chairman. I am convinced that with his unquestionable pedigree and experience, Rt. Hon. Aniekan Akpan will, in no small measure, help to emancipate the PDP in Nigeria in 2023 and beyond.

I am sure he will deploy his wealth of experience in governance to ensure the PDP takes back power in 2023. I am also happy that he is coming at this time.

Politically, he’s deeply rooted and well versed. My advice is that he should adopt a workable strategy that will further strengthen the party and ensure that its members enjoy peace, justice and fairness.

I sincerely appreciate the leadership of the party in Akwa Ibom under Governor Udom Emmanuel. He has been quite supportive. I’m calling on Akwa Ibom people to remain loyal to the current administration in the state. This way, the wind of industrialisation will continue to blow across the state in the most favourable manner.

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OWEN GEE: FRIENDSHIP WITHOUT BENEFITS THEWILLNIGERIA

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In the spirit of the International Day of Friendship, entertainer Owen Gee speaks with IVORY UKONU on the secret of his long standing friendship with commedienne Bimbo Ogunboye, aka Lepacious Bose.

Bose. Excerpts:

Lepacious Bose & Owen Gee

My Wife Not Jealous of Lepacious Bose and I – Owen Gee

hat does a good friend mean to you?

A good friend is trustworthy. Trust is very important to me. A good friend is an understanding person. A good friend has to be intelligent and able to stand with you at every point in time. A good friend has to be able to tell you the truth as it is. A good friend should be able to stop you from derailing from your goals in life. A good friend should be able to see your dreams the same way you see them. A good friend has to know you and be able to tell who you truly are. A good friend shouldn’t judge you. A good friend must be as intelligent as you are.

These are the qualities that you should look out for when choosing your friends.

respond accordingly. That is the great thing about her.

Her level of intelligence and exposure is out of this world and so she isn’t the type that will cause friction between me and my male friends. My male friends who have met her ended up being close friends with her because they saw the qualities that I saw in her to make her my friend. And this plays out on both sides of the divide; both on my side with my male friends and on her side with her female friends.

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How come you are best of friends with Bimbo Ogunboye, otherwise known as Lepacious Bose, especially in an industry where men and women hardly bond with each other?

Our friendship started with having similar ideas, thoughts and open conversations. With Lepacious Bose, it is like you are talking with another pal of yours. I only see her as a woman when she wears a dress. She is an extremely strong woman who has the heart of a lion. She doesn’t think like a woman. She is a go-getter, a fighter, extremely bold and confident.

How long have you been friends with her?

We’ve been friends for 15 years.

Which of the qualities listed was most important to you? How did it become the turning point in your friendship with her?

Well, she was one of the few people who understood me and who know the kind of person I am. That basically made it easy for our relationship to blossom.

Before I say anything, she already knows and understands where I am heading to. I have friends who also understand me, but not as much as she does. She is also someone who can accurately tell what I can do, even if I am not there. She can stand and defend me with her head held high.

Did your male friends at any time feel neglected because of your closeness to Lepacious Bose?

It is funny because she has always been one of the ‘guys’. She has multiple personalities. When you want her to be a woman, she goes into that mode smoothly.

When you want her to be a man, she can equally PAGE 36

Why do you think most friendships don’t last?

Some friendships don’t last because of lack of sincerity.

Also the strength of a friendship is when you are able to vouch for your friend in his or her absence and when you take risks his or her sake. That is the true definition of friendship. A friend does not quantify what he or she does for the other person. One should be able to go above and beyond for one another.

Some people suspect your friendship with Lepacious Bose to be of a sexual nature. Do you sometimes get this notion?

I personally think it’s ridiculous to even suspect anything because friendship should never be genderbased, regardless of if it being between a man and another man or between a woman and another woman.

It should also not be defined by religion, tradition, financial and educational status, but by the pureness of purpose.

Most times, the people who suspect friendship between a man and a woman are very myopic. I think that any reason that makes one suspect such friendship means it wasn’t genuine in the first place. Friendship should be based purely on the particular reasons that made you guys become friends in the first place. Anything beyond that can only bring in evil, ulterior motives which Lepacious Bose and I do not stand for. My friendship with her is not defined by sexual preference.

Has your friendship with her ever been tested?

I think this is one of the advantages of a man being close friends with a woman. Despite being best friends there is still that part that makes us members of the opposite sex. And so the things that would normally aggravate a woman to woman friendship do not exist when it is a woman to man friendship. Because I am a married man, I actually understand what it means to be friends with a woman outside my home. I understand

women’s needs, pains, etc. And so most times, there is this sense of calmness and a total grasp of any situation.

To that extent, I can say that my friendship with her has never been tested as I know what is expected of me and how to navigate through the land mines (if any), as her friend and vice versa.

How is your wife able to live with your unusual friendship with Lepacious Bose without being jealous?

My wife is my wife. I started dating her as far back as 1996. That makes her my oldest friend. But because she is my soul mate, we have moved past that stage of friendship. I am my wife and my wife is me. Our ways of understanding each other and bonding is out of this world. My wife understands that my friendship with Lepacious Bose is simply what it is, friendship.

My wife has no ounce of jealousy in her. She is a free spirit. She trusts me fully and knows what I can and cannot do. And my wife also believes in freedom of expression and behaviour. Like I said earlier, friendship should not be defined by sex, gender or all of those parameters; it should be defined by intention or purpose.

As a comedian, how have you been able to reinvent yourself, especially in these days of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Like you said, it has changed the configuration of things, it has changed the narrative and the way the game is being played. There is a lot of dependence and concentration on online features. The mobile phone is the new TV. Everyone has gone digital. No one has time again to sit down and watch TV, except it is a smart TV that has an Internet connection. Things have really changed so much that the world had to make a switch during the COVID-19 lockdown.

For many of us who are still performing artistes, the pandemic really hit us bad. We had to start learning how to churn out social media content based entertainment rather than direct performances. We are still learning the narratives. It is a work in progress and we will keep improving every day.

It has been a trying time, but we are learning to cope as performing artistes and content generators. We are trying to balance things and make a living.

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Do you think there is room for improvement beyond gathering a few people to make jokes and sing a few songs like some of your colleagues do?

It has taken me a while to stage my own comedy show because everyone is basically doing the same thing and applauding themselves for staging a one-man comedy show. I think it is becoming monotonous and boring.

There should be a variety of things to do for a show to qualify as a proper comedy show.

This is the time now to do some research on how to sell to a new audience, how to do what has never been done before or beyond the ordinary. It’s time to search out new forms to use to project one’s craft while still using the mechanisms that defines what the industry is.

Some of us are still trying to see how to bridge that gap beyond gathering people to make jokes, sing for them and applaud ourselves for staging a show. It should be more than that. If you want to do things differently, then you have to create a new path for yourself. The narrative has to change. I personally have not figured out what this new change will be, I am still in the process of discovery, but I believe that at some point in time, we will get it right.

How would you rate the comedy industry between now and when you started?

I started out over two decades ago. There weren’t too many acts as there are now. When I started standup comedy, I couldn’t count up to 10 standup comedians in the entire country. Comedy wasn’t exactly a new thing then, but it didn’t have as many divisions as we have now. It was during my time that it dawned on us that we can actually do other things besides comedy, things like dancing, singing and presentation to make people laugh.

So we began to diversify. But there wasn’t much money to be made from comedy unlike now. This new generation of comedians have exploded the industry and transformed it into a money spinner. The medium to sell oneself then was not as open as it is right now where you can upload content on the Internet. It trends and about 10 million people see it in just a few minutes.

In those days, you had to go to a television station, book for a particular time slot for your content to be shown and when that opportunity is missed, that is the end.

Nowadays even if you miss the time to post it, your content can still be reposted and shared. It is bigger

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I am a skit maker, a comedian, I have different alter egos that appear in my skits. I have also been a record label executive at some point. I am also a speaker. I find a lot of happiness in being able to motivate, chart the course of a new Nigeria with young minds

now with more money to be made. Today, comedy has become personalised. Those days, you can make a joke without attaching any name and people will be able to understand it. But these days, you have to be able to build comedy content from trending issues and issues that are relatable. No one wants to rack their brains to make assumptions. People want to be able to catch the drift almost immediately. If you are not making sense in the first 10 seconds, you can be given an extra five seconds to create the light bulb effect. It is easier now to ‘blow,’ as they say, unlike when we started.

Does this mean that you believe the new generation Instagram skit makers have a place in your industry as some of them struggle to identify with the comedy industry?

Yes, they do. Some of them are extremely creative, but it is a 50-50 chance. Some have no business being there. They are what they are, skit makers. Like I said, comedy is changing. There is performance-based comedy and content-based comedy, which is what some of these Instagram skit makers are doing. They do not need to hold a microphone and stand in front of an audience. Even if they do, it will be as a form of acting like the type Brodda Shaggy, Woli Agba and his crew do. I like it. They are however not the first to do this type of comedy. Baba Sala, Papi Luwe, Zebrudaya

etc did that in the past. The only difference now is that there is social media. If there was social media then, no one would have been able to touch these veterans by a mile. Some of these new folks are good comedians who are also good at skit making.

What has been the most challenging thing about being a comedian?

Funds to enable me push out projects. I consider myself one of the most mentally creative standup comedians in Nigeria. I am talking in terms of content generation: from talk shows to movies to sitcoms and skits, etc. I have done it all. Funding (or sponsorship) has been my biggest challenge.

A new generation bank refused to grant me entertainment loan, although I am credit worthy. I was annoyed because the money I deposited with the bank was made from entertainment. Even corporate organisations find it hard to sponsor my projects. Nigerians have only just begun the concept of partnership and I am having talks with some organizations. I hope they will be transparent in their dealings. There is also the problem of the quickreturn-on-project mindset. Someone gives you N1m for a project today and expects you to bring N1.5m for him the next day.

What would you consider to be your greatest achievement as a comedian?

The ability to make people happy. I sell happiness. At every point and at every level, I like to sell happiness.

Whatever I need to do to create happiness while selling my craft, I do. I am also happy that I have succeeded in making people in different countries of the world where I have been privileged to perform and to diverse audiences, happy. I have performed everywhere imaginable: inside the bush for the military personnel, militants, pastors, in prisons, etc.

Why did you choose to be a comedian?

Comedy actually chose me, I didn’t choose it. It is a lifestyle for me. I started out in the entertainment industry at a young age, as early as two years old, I was that kid dancer who was used to win bets at parties and by the time I was eight years old, I was the biggest dancer in my local government. At 12, I was one of the top two dancers in Lagos State and even formed my first musical group then. It wasn’t until I got into the higher institution that I found myself in comedy.

So it has always been part of me to naturally entertain and not just in comedy alone. I am gifted in almost all aspects of entertainment, it is innate, I didn’t train to be an entertainer, it is me, it is my life, it is who I am. I am a total package; I shoot movies, I am a script writer, I am a talk show host and had one of the most successful talk shows in Nigeria, Buzzlive with Owen Gee. The show spanned over 50 episode. I am currently working on another talk show. I am a skit maker, a comedian, I have different alter egos that appear in my skits. I have also been a record label executive at some point. I am also a speaker. I find a lot of happiness in being able to motivate, chart the course of a new Nigeria with young minds. I am a concept developer too.

If you have to do something outside the entertainment industry what would that be?

To own a bakery What advise do you give to someone looking to find his footing in comedy?

First be sure you are naturally funny. Be extremely creative as this is the first yardstick that determines if you are cut out for the entertainment industry. You must be very intelligent as there is no room for dullards in the industry. Be able to relate social issues to comedy, be outstanding and think outside the box. Define your brand, embrace modern trends and seek a mentor and let that person teach you and show you the ropes. That is one thing I should have done when I started which I didn’t.

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STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

It’s Raining Range Rover SUVs in Nigeria’s Entertainment Industry

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Rev Funke Adejumo Floats Resort Centre

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lthough she is a fiery preacher whose forte is teaching Christian women how to be better wives and mothers, as well as organising several impactful programmes for women, Rev Funke Adejumo also has other interests. One of them is healthy living. In fact, she has been an advocate of healthy living for many years and this encouraged her to finally put her money where her mouth is by setting up a resort.

The FFA Resort Centre, which is an abbreviation of her name and her husband, Felix, Funke, Adejumo, is located in a government residential area in Akure, Ondo State. It boasts a spa, a restaurant, a hair and nail salon, a bar and lodging facilities with state of the art facilities.

A popular conference and seminar speaker, Rev Funke is widely regarded as one of the most controversial female preachers by critics who don’t agree with her style of preaching or some of her teachings via the Agape Christian Ministry which she runs alongside her husband. However, one cannot deny the huge impact that she has made on millions of people worldwide who have been blessed through her ministry.

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Fapson Bally

Aisen

Adejumo

Hampson

he entertainment industry is obviously experiencing an upward change in its fortunes or how else does one explain the sudden rise in the number of luxury Sport Utility Vehicles, the Range Rover series in particular, recently acquired by female players in the industry.

While some of these entertainers bought expensive wonders on wheels for themselves in the past, the manner with which they acquired state-of-the art Range Rover SUVs in recent time has prompted many to wonder if the floodgates of luxury SUVs have suddenly been opened to them.

The trio of Damilola Adegbite, Iyabo Ojo and Mercy Aigbe, began this new ‘craze’ late last year. While Adegbite bought one for herself, Ojo was given a Range Rover Evoque by her god daughter, a real estate investor and former actress, Ololade Abuta, and Aigbe got hers from a hair company which she represents as a brand ambassador.

About three weeks ago, actress Sonia Ogiri added a Range Rover to her collection of luxury cars, the third in a space of eight months. While many were still celebrating her acquisition, actress and DJ Dorcas Shola Fapson bought a Range Rover Sport, followed by reality television star, Nengi Hampson who got a white Range Rover Velar, her second one a few weeks after her fans gave her a black Range Rover on her birthday.

Then last week, actress Lilian Afegbai got herself a black 2020 Range Rover Sport, while Idia Aisen got a 2021 autobiography Range Rover from members of her family

as a birthday gift and fashion designer, Tolu Bally copped for herself a white 2020 model of the SUV. We do hope that this floodgate of Range Rovers will mercifully open up on other professionals who also deserve this luxurious shower.

Kika Osunde in The Eye of The Storm

hese are obviously not the best of times for businesswoman Kika Osunde, who runs popular hair brand, The Good Hair Limited, alongside her partner, Chioma Ikokwu, in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Kika, who shuttles between Ghana and the UK, spends more time in Ghana for fear of being arrested in Nigeria. She recently got involved in an altercation with some Ghanaians after she was defrauded by a fake estate agent. Trouble started after Kika purchased a penthouse, which set her back by tens of thousands of dollars, and gave some money in dollar equivalent to the said estate agent named, Eugene Ofori Atta, who she assumed worked with the estate agency that got her the penthouse, as agency fees.

Unfortunately, rather than remit the money, Atta pocketed it.

With no receipt to show that she gave him any money and with Atta denying being given any money, Kika had no choice but to call him out on social media after all efforts to retrieve her money proved abortive.

Atta and his family reportedly felt insulted, especially because they come from an influential family in Ghana. They resorted to assaulting Kika in public while she was enjoying a midday meal in a popular restaurant.

Unable to pay them back in their own coins, it is rumoured that Kika vowed to get her pound of flesh through legal means. But we are watching to see how this plays out. Kika no doubt must really feel exhausted having to fight two battles, both in Ghana and Nigeria, all in a bid to experience some peace of mind.

Early in 2020, she was declared wanted by the Nigerian Police for leaking the nude photos of a prominent fashion designer with malicious intent. The wealthy husband of the fashion designer used every means at his disposal to try to get her arrested for causing his wife emotional trauma, but Kika fled the country.

Now her attempt to seek refuge in Ghana while monitoring her business in Nigeria has turned sour.

CP Odumosu, Wife Bag Chieftaincy Titles in Ibadan

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Osunde

Odumosu & wife

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he Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Hakeem Olusegun Odumosu and his socialite wife, Princess Abiodun Folashade Odumosu, have both been honoured with chieftaincy titles by His Imperial Majesty, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, the Olubadan of Ibadanland.

The couple were installed as Jagun Fiwajoye and Yeye Jagun Fiwajoye of Ibadanland at a colourful ceremony held at the palace of the Olubadan and a lavish ceremony followed thereafter at the Jogor Centre, Ibadan. Odumosu and his wife were bestowed with the titles because of their humane and caring personalities through which they have impacted their communities and touched the lives of many people.

Before his current position as a commissioner, Odumosu served as the Commissioner of Police, Edo State and later Commissioner of Police, Finance and Administration, Department of Operations, Force Headquarters, Abuja. He also served as member and Head of Enforcement Unit of the Presidential Taskforce on the Restoration of Law and Order on Apapa gridlock, Lagos. His wife on the hand is the true definition of a Lagos socialite. The wealthy businesswoman who has interests in shipping, oil and gas, real estate, manufacturing and consultancy, had previously been married but lost her husband to the ill fated Bellview air crash of 2005. She decided to give marriage another shot with Odumosu and both of them tied the knots late last year.

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BY IVORY UKONU

Abimbola Okoya Emerges President of Nigeria-Britain Association

Ooni Replicates Inagbe Resort in Ile-Ife

*Continued from Page 43

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f there is one Okoya scion who has done quite well for herself without depending on her father’s wealth, that person is none other than Abimbola Okoya, a daughter of industrialist, Chief Razaq Akanni Okoya and one of his estranged wives, Ajoke.

Abimbola recently became the youngest and first female Nigerian president of the Nigeria-Britain Association in the 52 years of its existence. A non-profit organisation, the association is committed to fostering healthy and symbiotic relationships between individuals and organisations in both countries.

Having served in various capacities and proved her competence and capability, Abimbola is expected to lead the Niger-Britain Association to the next phase in its development. She is currently a top executive of the British-American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation. She was previously married to a successful Liberian businessman.

Unfortunately, the marriage was short lived.

Ooni

ot many know that long before he was crowned, His imperial majesty, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, (Ojaja II) was a big player in the real estate sector and owns the very popular Inagbe Resort and Leisure, a hidden paradise on Inagbe Island, which is situated directly opposite Snake Island, about 15 minutes from Victoria Island.

In a bid to give the people of Ile-Ife, the opportunity to experience a real resort, the monarch replicated the facility on Ile-Ife soil, but without a beach and a jetty. To make up for the absence of a beach, the Ile-Ife Grand Resort and Leisure, which is located beside the tollgate on the Ife-Ibadan expressway, boasts multiple industrial parks producing many industrial and agricultural products as well as rendering essential services to the resort, the Ife community and Nigeria at large.

This is aside the well furnished lodging facilities. The resort also has a 3,000- capacity Meeting Incentives Conference and Event Centre, branded ‘Ojaja Arena’, basically for the training and manpower development of Nigerian youths. This is in consideration of Ife having about 20 tertiary institutions: universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and nursing schools, as well as an 18-hole golf course and several other facilities on the grounds of the expansive resort.

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Nkumah & wife

opular businesswoman, Nwanneka Nkumah’s marriage has ended on a sad note and she is back in the singles club.

Nwanneka, who is one of the biggest hair vendors in Nigeria and Ghana, reportedly walked out on her husband in 2019, a year after she welcomed her last child with him, but she pretended that all was well.

Unknown to many, Nwanneka was a victim of domestic abuse and most of the gifts she flaunted on social media, supposedly from her husband, Williams, were actually purchased with her hardearned money. Sources allege that her husband couldn’t be bothered about her welfare and the progress of her business while the marriage lasted.

However, in what looks like a dramatic twist, the same sources claim that her husband has been begging to be reconciled with her, but his appeals on each occasion fell on deaf ears.

Okoya

Nwanneka Nkumah Back in Singles Club

Linda Osifo Marks 30th Birthday, Donates to Orphanage

Toyin Kolade, Abiola Dosunmu and RSVP Drama

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Osifo

few weeks before her installation as thefirst Iyalaje Oodua in Ile Ife, wealthy businesswoman, Toyin Kolade, had sent out carefully curated invitation cards packaged in beautifully designed boxes, to prominent individuals expected to grace the high profile event which took place at the Ooni’s palace.

However, one thing that caught the eyes of those who received their invitation was the names of society matriarchs, the Erelu Kuti of Lagos, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa as RSVPs. This was surprising to many considering that the two women are prominent members of the elders club, being in their 70s and much more older than the celebrant. Thus listing their names as RSVPs was considered to be an anomaly.

Besides, being elderly meant that they no longer have the energy of a younger woman say, in her 50s who would likely carry out such a task with vigour and fervor. But even more surprising is that fact that the two women are not friends or even closely acquainted in any way.

The bubble soon burst when Erelu Dosunmu in a strongly worded press release berated the celebrant for adding her name as one of the RSVPs without her consent and requested that it be removed. Surprisingly, the Erelu attended the chieftaincy installation much to the shock of many. But not Senator Ita-Giwa, who neither acknowledged being named as one of the RSVPs nor attended the installation ceremony.

Dosunmu & Kolade

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THEWILLNIGERIA

ollywood actress Linda Osifo recently clocked 30.

To mark her birthday, the Edo born thespian, who is known for her love for less privileged children and the support she provides to orphanages in Lagos, decided to make some donations to The Arrows of God Orphanage in the Ajah area of Lagos. This she did through her Love and Oneness Foundation, which has similar projects in the pipeline, such as ‘The Child to school Project’ and ‘The Clean water for all Project.’

Every year, the actress donates food items and laptop computers to orphanages. This year, it was the turn of The Arrows of God Orphanage and apart from the customary donation foodstuffs and brand new computers, she set up an e-learning centre for the children.

Expectedly, the founder of the orphanage, Rev. D.C Ogo, expressed his gratitude to Linda for her kind and thoughtful gesture, just as the children in the orphanage were beyond themselves with excitement on being taught how to navigate the laptop computers.

The actress attributed her reason for putting smiles on the faces of children in orphanages to the grief her father went through as an orphan at a very young age and the need to eradicate poverty and illiteracy among the less privileged.

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BY SHADE METIBOGUN

Regina Daniels Quits Acting, Debuts Clothing Line

Joseph Benjamin Finds Love at Last

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Benjamin & wife

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even years after divorcing his wife, Nollywood actor turned singer, Joseph Benjamin, has found love again. The handsome actor, who relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, in search of the proverbial green pastures, recently took to the social media to celebrate the beautiful woman that is now rocking his world.

According to the artiste, the new woman in his life gave a shoulder to lean on when he was trying hard to recover from the trauma of divorce. She has also been a source of strength and encouragement to him. The couple’s paths crossed a few years ago in the United States of America. She decided to say yes to him, in spite of objections from her disapproving friends who felt she was making a mistake dating a divorcee.

Fondly called the queen of the Benjamin clan by the voice over artiste, Odo is an epitome of beauty, tall, slim and light-skinned.

It was gathered that, if things go according to plan, the love birds would be walking down the aisle in no distant time.

Joseph Benjamin was once married to the mother of his two children in 2004 after it was discovered that the lady was pregnant.

The going was good for the two before things fell apart in 2012 and they both went their separate ways after which the actor relocated out of Nigeria to start all over again. The couple were said to have parted ways because of irreconciliable difference. The actor even denied the rumor that his marriage broke down because of infidelity and domestic violence.

Unending Battle Between Tyta And His Baby Mama

Sound Sultan

Comedienne Princess, Others Solicit Funds for Sound Sultan’s family

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olleagues and friends of late Nigeria singer, Olanrewaju Abdul-Ganiu Fasasi, otherwise known as Sound Sultan, have started a campaign to raise funds for the family of the deceased singer. Tagged “The Sound Sultan Fund”, the campaign started on the night of tribute held in his honour about a week ago.

The event which was tagged, ‘8th Wonda,’ had many seasoned artistes in attendance. One of those spearheading the campaign is comedienne Damilola Adekoya, aka Princess, who has not yet come to terms with the untimely departure of Lanre.

Despite the fact that Princess is currently battling a court case bothering on sexual harassment of a minor against Olanrewaju Omiyinka, popularly known as Baba Ijesha, she has thrown her weight behind the fundraising campaign.

She has been telling all her colleagues, fans and friends to donate to the noble cause.

Aside the fundraiser, some of the close friends of the deceased have also pledged to cater for his family in his absence. The likes of Innocent Idibia aka 2baba and his wife, Annie Idibia, have both promised not to leave the Fasasis alone in their struggle for survival.

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needed was an apology from the artiste for the things he did to her. She threatened to reveal all the secrets she is keeping about him on social media.

Lyta tried to make up with her for the sake of their chld. He reached out to ask for forgiveness after her first outburst and Kemi acknowledged in an interview that the singer has been calling her every day for reconciliation. However, she later made a u-turn and started accusing her baby daddy again.

She said Lyta asked her why she was still hurting instead of apologising to her. She even vowed to hold the grudge against him till the day she dies.

How Liz Anjorin’s Husband, Lateef Spoils Her Silly

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ollywood actress cum entrepreneur, Liz Anjorin, is sure enjoying the bliss of a happy marriage. It was gathered that her husband, Lateef Adegboyega Lawal, has been spoiling her silly with the good things of

Anjorin & husband

Daniels

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he social media drama between Kemi Ayorinde and her baby daddy, Opeyemi Babatunde Rahim, also known by his stage name, Lyta, has been lingering for a while now and it doesn’t look like there is any end in sight to the drama that has engulfed the two young adults, any time soon. It all started after the lady called out the singer for not performing his fatherly role to their son, Aari Lawal. According to her, Lyta had only spent N40, 000 on their child since she gave birth to him more than a year ago. She also stressed that the singer couldn’t afford N13, 000 to buy balloons, which she would used for decoration during her son’s first birthday, adding that, she has been the one sending money to the artiste since they started dating. She even provided evidence of monies sent to him after she was accused of clout chasing.

The mother of one also accused the former Yahoo Boy No Laptop Nation (YBNL) signee of not acknowledging his son after she was five months gone. She also said Tyta didn’t wish his son a happy Children’s Day as he hardly cared about him, but he was always the first person to wish other people’s kids well whenever they celebrated. She also added that the singer does not know his child’s date of birth not to talk of ever wishing him well.

Not done, the Bolton University graduate also vented her anger on her baby daddy by saying she contracted a sexually transmitted disease and other internal diseases from the singer in the course of their relationship.

Kemi also involved Lyta’s manager, Seyi Awonuga, in her social media war. According to her, Seyi wanted to take her child away despite the fact that she had gone to him to see how he could help settle things amicably between her and Lyta. But she was threatened with a court case. She later stated that all she

Lyta & Kemi

ollywood actress Regina Daniels has dumped the profession that brought her fame and has started a clothing line. The actress, who unveiled her multimillion naira boutique some months ago, added the clothing line to her self-named empire, ‘Regina Daniels Fashion’, which caters for men, women and children. Many have congratulated her for making a wise decision to venture into the fashion business.

The light-skinned mother of one quit her acting career to concentrate on her fashion business last year after her wealthy husband, Ned Nwoko, opened an ultra modern boutique for her. It was gathered that her love for fashion right from her childhood days made her pursue her passion in fashion after calling it quits with Nollywood. More so, expressing her stylishness and fashion sense has been one of her desires since she got married, hence the move to start a new business.

Some days after launching the fashion line, customised packages containing her fashion brand and other expensive gift items were sent to some of her older colleagues for awareness purposes. The likes of Uche Jombo, Omoni Oboli, Uche Elendu, Iyabo Ojo, Destiny Etiko, Tana Adelana, Nosa Rex and a host of others were presented with the customised items.

life since the two had their marriage in July 2020. Although the couple didn’t have a smooth sail at the beginning of their union as rumour mongers insisted that her husband was previously married to five women before he finally met and fell in love with the actress. The couple didn’t allow the rumour affect their union but instead, it has made the union stronger by the day and it has since become a thing of envy among her colleagues.

Shortly after settling down as husband and wife, Lateef whisked his new family away from the prying eyes of the public to far away Florida in the United States where they currently reside. It was gathered that Lateef lavished his hard earned money to ensure they relocated and settled in a choice area of the city.

Shortly after welcoming a baby girl in Florida, the handsome man had a baby dedication for his wife and child in 10 different cities across America within three months. From New York to Dallas, Atlanta, Indiana, Maryland, Houston Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, California and Chicago. Recently, the businessman bought a new car valued at several millions of naira for the beautiful actress. Sources also squealed that he made certain that her chains of business were in safe hands before they both jetted out of the country to their new location.

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AUGUST 1 - AUGUST 7, 2021 www.thewillnigeria.com

TOURISM

Attitude Key to Growth of Hospitality Industry – Expert products.

Speaking on measures put in place to ensure the safety of guests, he said, “We have exposed ourselves to modern trends in hospitality management. There is a new normal and we cannot try certain things that were obtainable in the past. We need to meet the demands of the industry, which boils down to hygiene and personal grooming, as well as to ensure that we do not transport the virus. They are not the vehicle in which the virus gets across to other people. As the days progress, new ideas come up and so do new ways of handling guests and their complaints. The industry goes through complaints and whenever you see the complaints you know something is very wrong.”

Prime Stone hotel

On customer relations, Ngoka added, “We will be able to build confidence into them, so that they will know they are dealing with normal people with genuine and honest complaints. Most of the complaints are not manufactured. they are all tailored to meet their needs. It is a complex thing.

We want to make you feel that anything you are spending is worth spending. More so, it is a service industry and we make sure whoever that enjoys our services will have something to show for it. We are trying to impact the larger society”.

STORIES BY JANEFRANCES CHIBUZOR ibson Ngoka is a Houdegbe North American University graduate living in Lagos, Nigeria. His journey into hospitality industry dates back to 1990 when he joined Ikoyi Club, worked there and rose to the position of management staff until he voluntarily left to found a hotel consulting firm known as Primestone Real Estate and Hospitality Limited.

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Walking on the serene and quiet streets of Ikoyi one day, Ngoka stumbled on like-minds in the hospitality industry and that led to birthing of the Pilgrims Brook Hotel and the Tranquil Apartments, both of which are situated in Ikoyi.

The Pilgrims Brook Hotel at a time exposed Ngoka and his partners, not only to the hospitality world, but also to major industry players.

Narrating his experience, Ngoka said, “Pilgrims Brook Hotel played a part in the foundation of my coming to Jaiye’s Place Luxury Hotels and Resorts. That is why when Pilgrims Brook Hotel was rested, many of our loyal customers were still looking for us. We are able to build the environment where our guests will always want to have relationships with us and made it very possible not to ignore us.”

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Ngoka had some challenges when the first wave of COVID-19 struck. However, he is now the Pioneer General Manager of a newly established outfit known as Jaiye’s Place Luxury Hotels and Resorts. The hotel was founded six months now, with its location at Thomas Estate, AjahLekki, Lagos.

The industry was hardest hit during the pandemic, which took its toll on the Pilgrims Brook Hotel and forced the owner to rest it. Recalling the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the hotel, Ngoka said, “The atmosphere was very harsh and we couldn’t cope and that was because we are in a rented apartment. We have to oblige with the set standard as from that time.”

On his new establishment, he added, “We want to use Jaiye’s Place to challenge the existing norm in this environment. We want to create something that is different. We want to create a culture that people will look up and say this is hospitality.

I am mailing the attack. It is a team work. As a pivotal man we want to make sure we conform to our promises.”

According to Ngoka, the unique thing about Jaiye’s Place Luxury Hotels and Resorts is the big location. It is designed in such a way that it will be very easy to access any of the

Explaining their policy when it comes to hiring, he said, “At Jaye’s Place, we employ attitude and we don’t employ competency. Everybody with a good attitude can learn very fast. We choose people that are teachable and trainable. So we look out for attitude no matter their discipline.”

EXPECTATIONS I am aiming to expanding the business. I want to take it to the height that people will appreciate. The prospects are very encouraging. If we maintained our standard and guard our mission statement jealously in the next five years we would have two or three hotels of this kind.

FACILITIES When approaching the property from the street on the right, the first thing that guests will see is the restaurant, which doubles as a multi-purpose conference hall. Considering the COVID-19 standard, it can comfortably accomodate more than 70 persons at a stretch. We also have the executive arms. The facility has 29 rooms and we want to increase it to 31. We want to make it more affordable and reachable for the demands we are getting from our patrons. We have a pool and beside the pool, we are trying to put sound in the gym center.

CHALLENGE Power issue is a very big problem to us and real travelers and hotel users are wary of the new wave of COVID-19 spread.

NCAC, FTAN Poised For Greater Collaboration

he newly elected Executive of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) has been assured of greater cooperation to move the association to a higher level.

The Director-General of National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, gave the assurance in Abuja when the newly elected executive of the Federation paid him a courtesy call in his office.

Describing the NCAC as a dependable ally in the movement to change the narratives in the arts and culture sector, Runsewe said the tourism and arts/culture sectors were like Siamese twins and many people had yet to understand the relationship between both of them, which he likened to production and marketing outfits where “arts/ culture produces the content, while tourism markets and sustains the system.” According to him, this explains why culture and tourism are inseparable.

He, however, decried the high level of insecurity in the country and advised the Federal Government to partner THEWILLNIGERIA

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with FTAN in the area of monitoring and screening of various hotels, which often serve as hiding places for criminals.

He reiterated the need for a higher level of participation by stakeholders and practitioners in the sector, which is the highest employer of labour in the country.

Runsewe assured the executives of FTAN that NCAC woukd allocate an office space for the federation when the NCAC Cultural village becomes fully operational.

Earlier in his address, the president of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, Nkerewem Onung, said the newly elected Executive had embarked on the courtesy visit to thank the DG for the fatherly and advisory role he played before and after the election that produced the newly elected officials.

Onung, who congratulated Runsewe on his reappointment

by President Muhammadu Buhari, described the DG as a statesman, patriotic Nigerian and an icon of the culture and

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tourism sectors whose role has changed the narrative in both sectors since he assumed office.

The FTAN president said the federation was established in 1997 as the umbrella body to represent all tourismrelated related groups in the country and to function as the mouthpiece of private investors in the tourism sector.

Onung stressed that the visit was also aimed at strengthening the already existing relationship between private investors in the culture and tourism sectors and the NCAC, as well as to seek NCAC’s support and assistance in the area of logistics to enable the federation carry out its responsibilities.

Also speaking, the first vice president of the FTAN, Badaki Aliu, thanked Runsewe for the high level of hospitality accorded them and expressed optimism that the newly elected executive would increase its level of partnership with the NCAC in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the federation.

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STATE OF THE STATES

BY SAM DIALA & OLAYEMI SHABA

Introduction:

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here are concerns that Nigeria’s deepening revenue challenge may escalate into a financial implosion, with the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (sub-nationals), being the worst hit. The situation is aggravated by the nation’s escalating public debt stock (standing at N33.107 trillion as of March 31, 2021), consuming a huge amount of money for debt servicing. The debt stock comprises domestic and external loan obligations of the Federal Government and the sub-nationals.

With over 70 percent of the nation’s revenue committed to debt servicing annually, governments at all levels are struggling to survive. There is little left for capital budget, pay salaries and undertake other priorities to grow the

economy. Moreover, there is a limit to which the people and corporates could be taxed. Yet, profligacy takes the centre of our governance space while frugality assumes the back seat.

As such, the sub-nationals are hemorrhaging huge resources in paying salaries and other emoluments of a bloated bureaucracy. To survive, they are urged to diversify their resource base, embark on aggressive internally generated revenue (IGR) and depend less on shrinking federal allocations.

The purpose of the State of the States project, is to present evidence-based alternatives. These include avenues for the sub-nationals to become more viable and less dependent on the proceeds of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) – referred to as Abuja handout, in unpopular parlance.

Kwara state was created on 27th of May 1967 as one of the 12 states created from the original four regions of the Nigerian Federation.

Located in North Central Nigeria, it has a land mass stretching across 36,823 km. Its population is estimated at 3,390,330 and is recorded as one of the least densely populated in the country.

KWARA

This week periscopes Kwara and Kogi.

FAAC allocation N42.1bn @2020 (68.23% of total revenue) Total IGR N19.60bn @ 2020 (31.77% of total revenue) Domestic Debt N62.89bn @ 2020

Total Tax N9.27bn Economic growth: GDP 6%, GDP $3,74bn Ranked 19 in Nigeria GDP in 2020.

Its major agricultural produce include yams, corn (maize), sorghum, millet, onions, and beans which also serve as the most important staple crops; rice and sugarcane are significant cash crops in the Niger floodplains of Kwara where cotton and tobacco are grown also grown.

Farming, fisheries and livestock are the people’s main occupation, while cotton weaving, pottery making, and the making of raffia mats are the traditional crafts.

The state capital, Ilorin, has food-processing and iron industries.

There are Six Universities, five polytechnics, 15 colleges of education and about 600 secondary schools. The state has an International Airport and an Aviation College close by it in Ilorin. The institution operates a system that includes Flight School, Maintenance School, Air Traffic Control School, Support Services School Laboratory and Air Hanger

Furthermore, State of the States will examine existing realities that hinge on sector-specific competitive advantage – Agriculture, Tourism, Transportation, Education & Skill Acquisition, Wellbeing and MSMEs. Ultimately, the project seeks to create the desired spotlight on the subnationals to motivate them into something different for better results. We have featured Lagos and Ogun states.

External Debt $47.1m @ 2020

Kwara has 16 local government areas. Ilorin, the state capital is also the largest town.

Jebba is popular for it hydroelectric power station shared between Kwara and Niger state. It is also a major industrial town, with a pulp and paper mill and sugar refinery.

State of the States, a bi-weekly publication, will periscope two states per edition. It endeavours to unearth hidden treasures in each state and ascertain, through consultations and evidence-based survey, areas of comparative advantages and economies of scale. The publication will show-case, in no exaggerated terms, the socio-economic status of each state and highlights the opportunities and threats.

Labour working age population: 81.3% ranked 12th in Nigeria No. of companies: 943 Secondary Schools: 600 (circa) Public secondary schools: 66,003 (@ 2009) Pupils in public primary schools: 201,476 (@ 2009) Teachers in primary and second schools: 20,522 (@ 2012) Nomadic primary school teachers: 294 (@2008)

Kwara hosts the first museum in Nigeria, The Esie Museum built in 1945.

One of the most historic monuments is the sight on the hill of an island of River Niger in honour of Mongo Park, a foreign explorer who traced River Niger to its source in 1796.

Other tourist attractions include the Owu waterfalls, Imoleboja Rock Shelter, Ogunjokoro, Kainji Lake National Parks and Agbonna Hill Awon Mass Wedding in Shao.

Asa dam the largest source of portable water was created to increase water supply by 50,000 cubic metres per day and also serves as source of water for irrigation, fisheries and livestock within the state.

Water and road transport are active occupations in the state.

FACTS-FILE OF KWARA Budget 2021 N137.6billion.

Total Revenue N61.7bn (@2020)

Factory

Source: NBS

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STATE OF THE STATES

ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES K wara is endowed with very large land mass that is suitable for the production of different kinds of exported Agricultural commodities. Agribusiness, particularly processing, transportation and storage will create huge employment and yield substantial returns for investors.

Cottage industries in the MSME sector will be lucrative.

The state government has embarked on massive mechanized

Tourism: Museum, relics, monuments of historic events with adequate infrastructure for holidays, events and excursions.

farming by procuring large quantity of tractors and other equipment. Gov. Abdul Razaq said mechanisation is key for the success of the crop production pillar of the state’s agric blueprint. He added that the administration had kick-started the implementation with the recent flag off of farm inputs subsidy scheme which gave at least 10,000 farmers access to improved seedlings, fertilisers and chemicals at half the market price.

According to the Collaborative Survey Conducted by National Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development and Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment, this state produced about 39,000MT of Raw Cashew Nut in 2012. Using the national average of about 38%, this state currently has arable land that is about 1,414,080.00 hectares of lands. Recent findings show that the state is using just 40% (565,632 hectare) of this land for Cashew nut plantation. The yield per hectare of Cashew nut is 1MT per hectare (even though, there are varieties that can yield more).

Agribusiness: Cash crops, processing, raw materials, export, co-operative societies

Crafts/Pottery: To boost tourism, export and skill acquisition.

Manufacturing: Light tools for equipment, transportation and industry

Catering & Restaurants: Railway stations, shopping malls, motor parks, universities and polytechnics.

Business Centre: Documentation, printing, educational materials, books

Fisheries & Livestock: For large-scale supplies, export and hotels

Financial Services: Mobile money, Agent banking, PoS

Cashew Nut: Plantation, processing, local consumption, export

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STATE OF THE STATES

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KOGI

ogi State is one of the 36 States of Nigeria, located in the Nigerian Middle Belt. Created in 1991 from parts of Kwara State and Benue State, Kogi State is noted as being the only state in Nigeria to border ten other states. Kogi State is nicknamed the “Confluence State” due the fact that the confluence of the River Niger and the River Benue occurs in its capital, Lokoja. Due to its strategic position in the middle of the country and its access to these major rivers, Kogi State is a key centre of commercial trade in Nigeria.

GDP $4.64bn (2010) No. of companies: 345 Total Revenue: N67.33bn (@2020) Total FAAC N49.98bn (@ 2020) - 74.22% total revenue Total IGR:N17.35bn (@2020) 25.78% total revenue

Tourist attractions in Kogi State include the colonial relics (such as Lord Lugard House), Mount Patti, World War Cenotaph, the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue, Ogidi (An African town with formations of Igneous Rock mountains and a traditional art & craft industry) and natural land features hills and terrains that serve as hiking trails. Being a 2-hour drive from Abuja some tourists come for day trips.

Domestic Debt: N68.092 bn (@2020) External Debt: $30.15m (@2020) Total Tax:

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. There are many farm produce from the state notably coffee, cocoa, palm oil, cashews, groundnuts, maize, cassava, yam, rice and melon.

N14.86bn (@2020)

Shares boundaries with 10 states & FCT Hosts the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue

Mineral resources include coal, limestone, iron, petroleum and tin. The state is home to the largest iron and steel industry in Nigeria known as Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and one of the largest cement factories in Africa, the Obajana Cement Factory.

GDP : $32,72bn (@2017)

FACT-FILE OF KOGI

Productive age group: 15-64 years

Area: 29,833 km² (11,519 sq mi) – 13th of 36 states

Kogi is fifth best state to do business in Nigeria: Starting a business takes 28 days in eight procedures; ranking second after Abuja F.C.T. Registering property takes nine procedures and lasts 33 days.

LGAs: 21

Population: 3.5m

Public primary schools 1818 (2017/18) Private Primary schools 1071 (2017/18) Public Juniour Sec. Schools: 629 (2017/18) Private Juniour Sec. schools: 223 (2017/18) Public Sen. Sec. Schools: 323 (2017/18) Private Sen. Sec. Schools: 236 (2017/18)

Industry

Nomadic Pry School Pupils: 2,758 (2008)

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Solid miniral

Agriculture

Source: NBS

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STATE OF THE STATES

Kogi is Full of Potentials – Bello

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ndaunted by a deluge of criticism and negative media reports, the Kogi State Government braved a two-day Economic and Investment Summit February 13-14, 2018; the first in the state’s 25 years of existence.

The event was to draw attention to the massive economic opportunities and potentials in the Confluence State that, when tapped, could launch it into the league of Nigeria’s

topmost economies, and end its appendage of a civil service state.

According to Gov. Bello, Kogi has worn the appalling appendage of ‘Civil Service State’ since inception and his administration was determined to change the narrative: “Twenty-five years ago, Kogi State was created and ever since then, it is often referred to as a civil service state.

Under this administration, we will no longer take that s

“Our geographical location, natural water bodies, variable vast and arable land, human capital and solid minerals are great potentials. I refer to Kogi State as the solid mineral capital of Africa. All these potentials will remain so long as we continue to see Kogi State as a civil service state and nothing is done,” Bello said at the opening ceremony in Lokoja.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo added, “A fertile arable land that makes Kogi the largest producer of cashew, potential major rice producer, a respected fishing community among others as well as a bed of some of the most prolific solid minerals including coal, limestone, iron ore and tin makes undoubtedly, the confluence state.”

ENDOWNMENT AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Solid Mineral: Vast deposits of solid minerals single Kogi out as uique investment destination.

Tourism: The centrality of Kogi and boundaries with 10 states opens it up for robust investments in tourism. An annual event with focus on the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue and special boat regalia will attract tourists from across the globe.

Rice Production: Rice farming, milling/processing will boost the economy of the state and cerate massive employment.

Mechanized Agriculture: Leveraging on the state government’s programme will facilitate development in agribusiness targeted at the government’s backward integration policy.

Restaurant & Catering Services: With travellers flooding in and out of Kogi to/from 10 states and the FCT, special eat-in and take-away services will earn robust patronage.

Financial Services: SMEs in mobile money and other alternative payment services will boost the economy – leveraging on the CBN’s financial inclusion programme.

Maritime: Investments in inland , fishing, trawling and similar activities will thrive in Kogi.

Quarrying: Partnership with external investors will boost activities in this sub-sector.

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Private Security Services: This is needed to complement the efforts of the state security in protecting lives and properties in the state because of its multi-boundary status.

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SportsLive

Ban on Nigerian Athletes: How Did We Get Here?

Belarus, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ukraine for 2020. It also added two African countries Morocco and Nigeria to this category under Rule 15 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules.

BY JUDE OBAFEMI

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n an editorial piece published on Sunday, July 11, THEWILL drew attention to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and the factional crises at the very top of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and noted that “a leadership crisis in the body responsible for preparing a country’s contingent for the biggest sports event in the calendar is the last thing athletes need, ahead of the Summer Games. How far these squabbles can go to scuttle the chances of some sportsmen and women at the event is not easy to compute” before pointing at the disqualified 4x400m relay team as an example of a case that the leadership crises could be said to have allowed to happen.

Introduced at the beginning of 2019, following a recommendation from the AIU Board to the World Athletics Council, Rule 15 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules sets out the National Federations’ anti- doping obligations.

As already pointed out above, it is one of the publications from the unit to ensure that Member Federations have clear anti-doping obligations, play a greater part in ensuring a level playing field and elevate the overall standard of integrity in athletics.

Under the AIU rules, National Federations are categorised annually by the AIU Board in three different categories: A, B and C. The categorisation is codified according to the level of doping risk to the sport. It is structured with Category A having the highest doping risk to the sport and Category C the lowest.

In concluding the editorial, THEWILL stressed the point that infighting, at so close a time to the commencement of the Games, was detrimental to athletics, in general, and the athletes, in particular. It urged that for the sake of progress, growth and a good outing again at the Games, it was time to “put aside all selfish pursuits and political power play for the sake of the country’s image and glory above all else and seek commonsense means of charting a way forward.”

As if aware of what was to come, the editorial noted, “The preparation for the Games in Tokyo have not been ideal and expecting the best of our athletes under these conditions is not facing reality”. This played out when the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of the athletics governing body, World Athletics, issued a report that rendered 10 out of Nigeria’s 23 athletes that qualified for the track and field events ineligible to participate at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games.

To comprehend the extent of the embarrassing concatenation of events that led to this ban, where Nigerian athletes were the worst hit among seven countries involved in the AIU report, an anatomy of the unit that issued the report is necessary.

To begin, one must first answer the question of who or what is the AIU? The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which describes itself as a fully independent unit of World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field athletics, race walking, cross country, mountain trail and ultra-running, is the arm of that athletics governing body given the authority to oversee the sport’s integrity issues. Most of this work relates to cleaning the sport of doping and non-doping issues.

As the final arbiter in cases pertaining to cleaning athletics of cheats and other integrity matters, the AIU works in pursuit of clean sport in four key areas of activity that include Intelligence and Investigation, Education and Communications, Testing and Compliance and Case Management of integrity-related queries.

Under its duties of intelligence, investigation, testing and compliance, the AIU not only compiles and analyses data and intelligence to conduct investigations into violations of the Integrity Code, in cooperation with partners and law enforcement agencies, but also implements a world class and worldwide intelligence-based testing programme, using state-of-the-art testing and analytical methods.

As an in-house, yet independent, unit of the sports body, the founding of the AIU in 2017 began a new era in the management of threats to the integrity of sports, thus making athletics the first sport internationally to delegate complete authority for the management of its integrity programmes to an independent body. The unit prides itself as separated from World Athletics. It reports through its own board and operates with the level of rigour and transparency expected by the world’s athletes and supporters.

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Dare

What happened on Wednesday, July 28, was proof that this counsel was largely ignored and a factual demonstration of the proverbial aphorism that one can only reap what one sows.

By AIU’s evaluation, although all five countries that were in Category A last year demonstrated a marked improvement over 2019 in several areas, they were required to maintain those improvements. It was also their responsibility to ensure close scrutiny of their athletes and enforce standards in testing procedures before any changes in the status of these federations can become reality.

“

Such antecedents have given the AIU the reputation of being a unit not to trifle with, in terms of abiding by their guidelines for athletes intending to feature in World Athletics-governed athletics meets that dot the sporting calendar from the Olympic Games to the Stockholm Championship

As a result, its decisions are held in the highest esteem and mostly unsullied by political interests, bias, favouritism, financial inducements, underarm sharp practices and any other corrupt acts that often colour the actions of many an international body, a global institution or a nongovernmental organisation as some historical examples bear witness.

Such antecedents have given the AIU the reputation of being a unit not to trifle with, in terms of abiding by their guidelines for athletes intending to feature in World Athletics-governed athletics meets that dot the sporting calendar from the Olympic Games to the Stockholm Championship.

To avoid excuses, AIU publishes its “Rules of Governance”, “Anti-Doping Rules” and “National Federation Anti-Doping Obligations” online. How then did Nigeria’s contingent fall short of deserving the slammer of the AIU? It can be traced to a decision from the integrity unit from last year. While the leadership tussle between warring factions at the summit of the AFN continued, the AIU wrapped up an evaluation of the 2019 integrity reports from World Athletics Member Federations and decided to maintain the Category A status of the following members: Bahrain,

What was the dismaying factor in the case of Nigeria and which resulted in the country’s demotion to a Category A status was that unfortunately internal bickerings and the internecine warfare that was raging in its sporting governance can be attributed to the fact that in 2019, the AFN failed to report on compliance with Rule 15’s obligations as mandated of a Category B country as under the AIU’s guidelines.

The consequence of such a serious oversight meant that there was enough motivation for the AIU Board to move Nigeria into Category A. The direct consequence of this is that doping threats in Nigeria became an acute issue to be concerned about. Was Nigeria still in Category B, the stringent testing demanded of her athletes could not have been a necessity and all 23 athletes who have toiled severely to reach Tokyo could have been eligible to represent the country.

However, because one of the major requirements of Rule 15 is that “an athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must undergo at least three no-notice Out-of-Competition tests (urine and blood) conducted not longer than three weeks interval apart in the 10 months before a major event”, Glory Patrick, Yinka Ajayi, Tima Godbless, Chidi Okezie, Knowledge Omovoh, Ruth Usoro, Favor Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma, Chioma Onyekwere and Annette Echikunwoke will regrettably not compete as they did not meet this Category A athlete requirement.

That is why it is understandable that track queen, Blessing Okagbare, expressed her deep emotions about such governmental mishap in her reaction to the AIU slam. The sprinter said: “The sport system in Nigeria is so flawed and we athletes, are always at the receiving end of the damages. They were busy fighting over power, exercising their pride over puma contract/ kits forgetting their major responsibility, ‘THE ATHLETES. It is sad that this cycle keeps repeating itself and some people will come out to say I am arrogant for speaking my truth. It is my career.”

She hit the nail on the head. This unfortunate and embarrassing situation, with the whole world watching, will continue in an inordinate vicious cycle if the divisions in the Federation are not promptly brought to an end and the business of reviving athletics in the country focused on squarely. How far the remaining eligible 12 athletes go will be nothing to celebrate if change for the better does not begin from the ashes of this mess in the AFN.

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BREAKING NEW GROUNDS

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