THEWILL NEWSPAPER January 29, 2023

It confirms what the bible says: A man’s gift makes room for him and places him before great men. And for our four cover personalities, all lawyers, it’s plain to see that their gifts have certainly made room for them.

What do men really want in the bedroom? This a question which some of you might already have the answer to but for those who don’t, we carried out a survey which you can read on our Downtown Confidential page, and one of the no-nos, which I also detest, is hair bonnets. I can’t count how many times people, especially at the salon, have said, “You have to wear a hair bonnet to bed; otherwise, your hair will be messy faster. My response is always, I’d rather be seen with messy hair than go to bed in a bonnet”. But that’s just one of the many things they listed. In the area of intimacy, it would surprise you to know that… I’ll let you find out on page 7.

When it comes to pets, there are different types ranging from the most popular, dogs, and then to cats, and even geckos and spiders. This list is endless, but how do you know what kind of pet person you are? We focus on the two most popular— dogs and cats- letting you know how to tell if you are a dog or cat person and what to expect from each.

Our fashion pages have a little something for the man who wants to create his signature style.

Downtown mini suggests bedroom décor ideas for your kids, and the movie review page weighs in on The Recruit and M3GAN

I do hope you have been scanning the QR codes on the movie review page; it’s always such a refreshing playlist.

Until next week, enjoy your read.

Onah Nwachukwu Editor, THEWILL DOWNTOWN @onahluciaa +2349088352246

Atiku, Obi, Tinubu: Why Allegations of Corruption, Narcotics Trafficking, Tax Evasion Linger

BY AINA OJONUGA

With just less than a month to the presidential election on February 25, 2023, the three leading presidential candidates have begun to unravel under the litmus test of due process, accountability and transparency.

Under the weight of expectations and political rivalry during campaigns, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi, the underdog and candidate of the Labour Party, LP, have been doing the electorate real good by throwing allegations of corruption and questionable leadership traits at themselves.

At the centre of the accusations are alleged narcotics trafficking, money laundering and tax evasion, all punishable under the Nigerian law once proven.

“These are serious allegations that impact negatively on national security, corruption and transborder criminal activities,” General Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu, told THEWILL.

“Men and women who constitute threats to national security must not be allowed to be nominated as candidates by political parties at any election.”

THE ALLEGATIONS

The allegations of corruption against Atiku, narcotics dealing and financial embezzlement against Tinubu and illegal off-shore investment and tax evasion against Obi had been swirling for some time until the parties, in the face of stiff rivalry, recently elevated them to taint the other and unfit for the office of president. The three top candidates however continue to deny any wrongdoings in their dealings and business affairs.

APC vs ATIKU

A fortnight ago, the Presidential Campaign Committee of APC gave 72 hours ultimatum to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to arrest, interrogate and prosecute Atiku for what the party referred to as offences against Code of Conduct for Public Officers, Offence of Money Laundering; Offence of Criminal Breach of Trust and Criminal Misappropriation; and Offence of Conspiracy.

Spokesperson for the governing party’s PCC and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, sued Atiku at the Federal High Court in Abuja on January 20, 2023. In the suit marked FHC.ABJ/ CS/84/2023, Keyamo joined Atiku along with the EFCC, ICPC and the CBC as defendants.

...Allegations of Corruption, Narcotics Trafficking, Tax Evasion Linger

He submitted that Atiku be compelled to make information available to the agencies, “in respect of a certain bank account belonging to a company named Marine Float and other accounts of two undisclosed companies, which information he disclosed to a certain close aide of his, called Michael Achimugu”, bank accounts that “were used as ‘Special Purpose Vehicles’ to secretly divert and misappropriate public funds between 1999 and 2007” when he served as Nigeria’s vice president.”

The background to Keyamo’s allegation is the testimony by Atiku’s one-time boss, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, who accused him of corruption in his book, My Watch. In chapter 36 of that book, which was devoted to discussing corruption and money laundering, Obasanjo linked the former Vice President with a company called iGATE and William Jefferson, a former US lawmaker, who was later jailed by American courts for 13 years over corruption.

Obasanjo linked Atiku to the alleged misappropriation of $20 million, which the administration was supposed to deploy for Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), and another $125 million to fund PTDF during the 2003 fiscal year.

In his reaction, Atiku repeatedly denied the allegations, which also cropped up during the 2019 polls when he was the presidential candidate of the PDP, running against incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari. In one of his engagements with journalists during the past polls, he quipped: “These allegations remain allegations and I have never been probed because I did not commit them.''

It is for this reason, too, he said, he had often travelled to the United States of America during elections when these accusations often come up, to prove his innocence. He said he made his money legitimately through investments such as in Nicotex, an oil servicing firm, farming, housing and other commercial endeavours.

He denied appropriating the $145m to himself, money he said, was kept in the bank and recycled into PTDF projects.

In his response to the fresh charges by the APC campaign council, a PDP campaign council spokesperson, Senator Dino Melaye, flayed the petition by Keyamo to the security agencies, saying "Tinubu is the one that has been indicted already in a certified court indictment," adding, "He is the man that has faced the Code of Conduct before.”

On the pending court case filed by Keyamo when the security agencies ignored his 72-hours ultimatum, an Atiku personal aide, Phrank Shuaibu, said on Friday that he would not comment as doing so would amount to subjudice.

PDP Vs TINUBU

In a swift response to the mudslinging APC threw at its candidate, the PDP, fought back. Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, stated that a recent revelation in the United States of America showed "Tinubu forfeited the sum of $460,000, which was confirmed and found to be proceeds of trafficking in narcotics; an international crime for which Nigeria, being a signatory to International Convention on Trafficking in Narcotic is obliged to enforce." He said the effect of the conviction and forfeiture of the sum shows that Tinubu is ineligible and not qualified to contest for the Office of the President of Nigeria as required by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

1999 (as amended).

Quoting from the Constitution, PDP said “Section 137 (1) (d) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) provides that: (1) “A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if… (d) He is under a sentence of death imposed by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of imprisonment or fine for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or for any other offence, imposed on him by ANY COURT or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal.”

Similarly, a national newspaper had last year ran a story of allegation of corruption against Tinubu deposed by one Oladapo Apara, an accountant who claimed he co-founded Alpha Beta with the APC presidential candidate.

Apara, who had petitioned the EFCC to probe Tinubu, claimed that a firm in which the aspirant had 70 per cent controlling shares through cronies was used to collect taxes on behalf of the Lagos State Government which pays 10 percent commission to Tinubu. He alleged that between 2002 when Tinubu was still governor and 2018 when he had emerged the godfather of Southwest politics, the 10 percent commission had grown to $3.48 bn.

Tinubu has reportedly denied receiving any form of kick-back from the Lagos State Government, while Alpha Beta said it has terminated the appointment of Apara. Both Tinubu and Apara have since settled their dispute out of court with the latter now endorsing his presidential bid.

The APC candidate said he made his wealth from legitimate means, foremost of which were during his employment as Treasurer of Mobil, a transnational oil company, and as an auditor at Deloitte during which, he said, he earned $1.8 million in wages and allowances.

On the drug allegations in the US, spokesman Keyamo said dismissively that the forfeited funds were part of a civil forfeiture and not a criminal one.

On Thursday, however, a Tinubu protégé and organising secretary of the APC in Lagos State, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, stirred another round of controversy and pubic searchlight on Tinubu’s transparency when he told a national television that the bullion vans stashed with cash allegedly used for vote-buying and spotted at Tinubu’s Bourdillon Road, Lagos home in 2019, "missed their way to have come there."

Adewale, who was a Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government in the state, said; “On the bullion van or no bullion van and all of that, I think that matter has been put to rest. There was no money in the bullion van. The bullion vans that even came missed their way to have come there. I was in that house on that very day and it was not on an election day. The bullion vans missed their way to get there.” His remarks has unsettled party leaders in the state considering that Tinubu had addressed the bullion van matter previously, saying the money was not for vote-buying but for his personal use. It has also ignited an earlier public scrutiny in the form of protesters in Abuja in July 2020, who called on the EFCC to detain him.

OBI's TAX EVASION PROBLEM

The former two-term Governor of Anambra State, trader and businessman catapulted his candidacy into the top three spots in the presidential race on the back of the populist pan-Nigeria ‘Obidient Movement.’ He got mud stained after it came to public knowledge that he was among a group of global fat cats involved in money laundering, tax evasion and off-shore investments. An investigation by an international consortium of investigative journalists exposed how the rich hide their wealth to evade taxes in what has come to be known as the Pandora Papers.

The leak, which was published on October 3, 2021, exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state as well as celebrities and the super rich, including Peter Obi. The exposè showed that in 2010 when Obi was still governor of Anambra state, he set up an off-shore company in the British Virgin Islands, managed by his daughter and ran a foreign bank account for the purpose of avoiding tax payments. Though not illegal, the sharp practice has come under intense scrutiny with some countries now seeking to criminalise it.

The investigation showed that while still governor, Obi was still holding a position as director at a UKregistered company, Next International, and did not declare his interest. He however, resigned his position as director 14 months later into his tenure as governor.

Also, accused of a conflict of interest after investing $20m of state funds in a brewery he had interest in while still serving as governor, Obi initially denied ties to the company until he was challenged by a prominent journalist Kadara Ahmed with evidence in an interview. He however still denies allegations that he derived any personal benefit from the investments, disclosing that the investments have benefited Anambra over the years.

With the three leading candidates heading into what appears to be the country's most unpredictable election in decades, the tempo of mudslinging is expected to increase as the candidates, their parties and their supporters intensify campaigns and advocacy.

The allegations of corruption against Atiku, narcotics dealing and financial embezzlement against Tinubu and illegal off-shore investment and tax evasion against Obi had been swirling for some time until the parties, in the face of stiff rivalry, recently elevated them to taint the other and unfit for the office of president. The three top candidates however continue to deny any wrongdoings in their dealings and business affairs

Sokoto 2023: APC Governorship Candidate Unfolds 8-Point Agenda

The All Progrossives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate in Sokoto State, Hon. Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, has unfolded his eight-point agenda for the electorate if elected into office.

Aliyu made this known while addressing an unprecedented crowd, who converged for the flag-off of the statewide campaign rally in the State.

The 8-point agenda, according to him include Security, Agriculture, Rural development, Water supply, Health care, education, infrastructural development, as well as Empowerment programme.

This, he added is addition to the earlier pledge of making the local Government councils autonomous.

Reject PDP For Fighting, Squandering $16 Billion at Wuse Market – Tinubu

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has advised Nigerians to reject the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the polls for allegedly fighting and squandering over N16 billion dollars at Wuse market when the party was in power for 16 years.

Tinubu, who made the allegations during the Presidential campaign rally at Aper Aku township stadium, Makurdi on Thursday, noted that the PDP regime also issued the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) licences to their supporters and started creating queues and blackmailing the government.

Addressing the APC mammoth crowd, Tinubu insisted that former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, was richer than what he could account for, assuring of establishing a student's loan facility if elected president this year; adding that his regime will reduce hardship and bring hope back to the internally displaced persons in Benue state.

The leader of APC in Benue state and Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, George Akume,

Reverse Negative Perception of Education, NAS Tells FG

described the Tinubu/Shettima team as a perfect combination that will bring Nigeria out of its current woes.

According to him, Tinubu, who is a Muslim supported Dr. Iyorchia Ayu to become president of the Senate while he (Akume) also benefited from his benevolence as Senate minority leader under APC. Advising Nigerians against voting on religious consideration, Senator Akume stated that Tinubu was not undergoing experiment as he was tested before, assuring that Benue people will vote for APC candidates.

Governorship candidate of APC in Benue state, Revd Fr. Hyacinth Alia, said Benue is, at the moment, in a deplorable condition and only the Tinubu presidency can salvage the situation.

In his remarks, the Director General of the Presidential Campaign Council, and governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, stated that Tinubu in 2015 influenced the voting of Governor Samuel Ortom under APC but he eloped with the mandate to the PDP.

Remain Neutral, C'River PDP Guber Candidate Urges Security Agencies

The Cross River State Peoples Democratic Party ,PDP, gubernatorial candidate, Professor Sandy Onor, has urged security agencies in the country to remain neutral ahead of the general elections.

Onor, who made the call in Calabar, said the security agencies must not allow themselves to be used to torment innocent citizens.

His call was in response to the recent arrest warrant issued against the PDP candidate for the Obudu/Bekwarra/Obanliku Federal constituency in the forthcoming election, Peter Akpanke, by the Cross River State Police Command.

"Let me use this opportunity to once again call on our security agencies to sit up and remain neutral as we get close to the

general elections. They must not allow themselves to be used to torment innocent citizens.

"One of us, Mr. Peter Akpanke, the PDP candidate for the Obudu/Bekwarra/ Obanliku Federal Constituency election, is already being hounded by Ayade, with the tacit support of the police and the judiciary with a mischievous bench warrant, over a murder charge that Akpanke knows nothing about.

"Infact, Akpanke had gone the extra mile to get the police to apprehend the suspect, who killed the policeman in question and the suspect has since willingly confessed to the crime.

"Yet, Ayade is still doing everything to force the police to harass our candidate because defeat now stares him in the face.

The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrate Confraternity), Frigate Deck, has called on the Federal Government to help reverse the negative perception of education in Nigeria.

The association made the call in Calabar in a message to mark this year's International Day Of Education which has as its theme: Invest in People, Prioritise Education.

The auditor of the NAS Frigate Deck, Bright Osas, said this is necessary because youths in the country are increasingly seeing education as a scam.

"There is a trend going on out there. People no longer seek education and think it's not all that relevant for survival.

"This is because of the recent happenings in the country where you see a lot of people having gone through the rigours of academics and then at the end of the day they are not able to find a place to be relevant.

"Education actually gives you that platform for you to mix up freely and find a place to survive but for now, having gone to school, many find themselves not having that capacity to earn a living.

"Then you see those who have not even seen the four walls of education, through one godfather or the other, they find themselves in juicy positions and the big and mighty offices. So with that, the slogan has been education is a scam.

"We may actually come to that point where people no longer feel motivated to go to school because having looked at their neighbour, or this guy has not been to school before but today he is driving a big Benz. People want to do those dirty things that others did to be where they are.

"Government should as a matter of fact and urgency come to the rescue because the philosophy that is flowing and parading itself now, if we do not nip it in the bud, it will become more or less theory.

"Now it's like an apotheosis but before you know it, it will become a way of life and people use it to survive.

"That's why we have things like Yahoo boys, ritual this and that; because everyone wants to make money and education is a scam.

Aliyu said the 8-point agenda is aimed at ensuring a new Sokoto State that can compete favourably with other states in all areas of development.

"The issue of insecurity bedevilling parts of our dear state is a thing of serious concern to us, be rest assured that if elected into office, we will use all our energy and available resources to end banditry.

"Our State is known as an agrarian community with a sizeable number of its population practicing one form of agriculture or the other as a means of livelihood, unfortunately many peasants now cannot go to farms for the fear of being abducted", Aliyu averred.

Alhaji Aliyu also pledged to renovate all the shops affected by an inferno that ravaged the Sokoto central market some years ago. He expressed dismay over the way the present administration in the state is showing no interest on issues that affect traders in the state.

"It's been years now since our market was gutted by fire with quite a number of shops razed down and yet government could not repair them as a result of which trades were forced to display their wares by the road side", he added.

He also assured traders of an enabling environment to do their business unhindered. In his address, the minister of police affairs who is also the Director General of the campaign council, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi said the party will give Sokoto the leadership it deserves and appealed to people to vote for the party's candidates at all levels. Dingyadi underscored the contributions of APC to the development of Nigeria and expressed optimism that the gesture would be sustained.

In his goodwill message, Abdulkadir Daniya, who represented Alhaji Umarun Kwabo, PDP chieftain, who decamped to APC charged people of the state to come out en masse to vote APC in the forthcoming election.

This, according to him, has become necessary in order to save the state from the shackles of poverty ravaging it in recent years.

"It's disheartening to see that our state has recently been topping the list of the poorest states in the federation"Daniya added This why we need to put head together to change the current system for lack of performance"he has said

Other speakers at the rally stressed the need for APC supporters to redouble efforts in sensitizing people on the need to vote for APC.

Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila (right) during a meeting with the European Union Election Observation Mission delegation led by Mr Barry Andrews (1st left) on a courtesy visit to the Speaker at the National Assembly in Abuja on January 27, 2023.

FROM TUNDE OMOLEHIN, SOKOTO

FROM GEORGE MARTINS, MAKURDI

FROM BASSEY ANIEKAN, CALABAR

POLITICS

PDP’s NWC, G5-Govs in Final Battle

BY AYO ESAN

Thelingering crisis between the top echelon of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and the party’s five governorsNyesom Wike of Rivers; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu; Seyi Makinde of Oyo State; Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia and Samuel Ortom of Benue State who alongside other aggrieved members of the party formed ‘the Integrity Group’, has become more deepened and the hope of reconciliation is flying away.

With less than 30 days to the presidential election, it is like the two belligerent groups are now ready for a showdown as there seems to be no meeting point again before the election.

The G5- Governors, who through their leader, Governor Wike had boasted that it will not support Atiku Abubakar in the presidential election and that it would announce the presidential candidate they will support in this year’s election, have not been able to do so.

It was gathered that the five governors have not reached a consensus on the choice of a presidential candidate. While Wike and Makinde prefer APC Candidate, Bola Tinubu; Ortom is rooting for Peter Obi of the Labour Party and both Ugwuanyi and Ikpeazu are being careful not to make their choice known because of the South East people’s support for Obi.

However, while the G5-Governors are still deliberating on their choice of a presidential candidate, the National Working Committee of their party, the PDP is also looking at a way to hammer them (G5- Governors) and other members of the Integrity Group.

One of their plans came into the open penultimate Friday, when it wielded the big stick as it suspended some chieftains of the party in Ekiti, Enugu and Imo states over allegations of anti-party activities.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba disclosed the suspension of the party chieftains from Ekiti comprising Emiola Jennifer, Ajayi Samuel, Olayinka Olalere, Akerele Oluyinka and Fayose Oluwajomiloju John. Others are Ayeni Funso and Ajijola Oladimeji.

Also suspended are the former Governor of Enugu State, Chimaroke Nnamani, and Chris Ogbu from Imo State.

Ologunagba stated that all the suspensions were without further delay, commencing, Friday, January 20, 2023.

In a related development, the PDP also dissolved the executive of its Ekiti State chapter.

The party’s spokesperson who confirmed this also in a statement said, “The NWC also approved the appointment of Sadiq Obanoyen as Chairman of the state party’s caretaker committee.

Competent sources at the PDP Headquarters revealed that the development was as a result of absence of the suspended members at the PDP Presidential Campaign rally in Ado Ekiti recently, while that of Nnamani has to do with his open support for Tinubu.

Those suspended in Ekiti are mainly the members of Dr Ayodele Fayose’s group in the Ekiti PDP. Fayose whose son, Jomiloju is contesting the House of

Representatives election on the platform of the PDP is a member of the Integrity Group. He has also been openly supporting the APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

It was further gathered from a very reliable source that the same treatment awaits the PDP State Executive in Rivers State as well as the national assembly candidates if they refuse to attend the presidential campaign rally already slated for February 11, 2023 at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.

It could be recalled that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has finally approved the use of Adokiye AmiesimakaStadium in Port Harcourt, for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to hold his campaign on February 11 this year, after his initial refusal.

He has however explained that the stadium approval granted at no cost to the Presidential Campaign Council, PCC of PDP in the state would be accessible to the council 48 hours to the February 11, 2023 presidential campaign.

The party, it was gathered is still watching whether Governor Ugwuanyi who is a senatorial candidate in Enugu State will attend the PDP Presidential Campaign in Enugu and whether Governor Ikpeazu who is also contesting the senatorial race in Abia will attend the PDP Presidential Campaign in the state before it will wield the big stick by suspend both of them and thereby truncate their senatorial ambition.

Another plan being orchestrated by the National Working Committee of the PDP to deal with the G5 Governors is on the approving list of the party’s agents at the polling stations during the forthcoming elections. It was gathered that the NWC has vowed that it will not approve the polling agents list submitted to it by the G5 Governors for the elections in their states, rather it will appoint people loyal to the party.

While the party is having its plan, the G5- Governors

Continues on Page 10

One of their plans came into the open penultimate Friday, when it wielded the big stick as it suspended some chieftains of the party in Ekiti, Enugu and Imo states over allegations of antiparty activities

Wike Ayu

POLITICS

...NWC, G5-Govs in Final Battle

too are bracing up for the battle ahead.

Wike, who is the leader of the G5- Governors and by extension, the leader of the Integrity Group has threatened a showdown with the PDP NWC over the suspension of some of his political allies in the PDP for alleged anti-party activities.

He vowed to challenge, in particular, the dissolution of the Ekiti State Executive Council of the party believed to be loyal to a former governor of the state, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. Fayose is an ally of the Rivers State governor.

Wike told the National Working Committee of the PDP that its decision to suspend his supporters was off course.

Former governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani who was similarly axed in the suspension gale, has also protested the action against him.

He said he was neither told his offence nor given an opportunity to defend himself before a disciplinary action was taken against him.

It could be recalled that Wike and his colleagues in the G-5 are opposed to PDP’s ceding of its presidential ticket and national chairmanship of the party to the North.

They consequently opted out of the campaign of the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and called for the resignation of the chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

Wike, speaking during the inauguration of the State PDP Campaign Council in Bori, Khana Local Government Area of the state, said the suspension of party members loyal to the G-5 governors would not help the PDP in the February/March elections.

He branded the dissolution of the Ekiti State executive committee of the PDP as an act of tyranny that would be challenged in court.

He dared Ayu to suspend him or any of his colleagues in the G-5.

He said: “Let me also use this opportunity to say to Iyorchia Ayu and his team, your dissolving Ekiti State Exco will not help you in any way. Your suspending people will not help you in any way.

“The battle line has been fully drawn. As I speak to you, we will do everything legally possible to challenge any decision we know is illegal.

“So, don’t think you can threaten people by saying so, so persons have been suspended. Rubbish! Complete rubbish! We are above that level that you think you can threaten anybody; intimidate anybody with whatever illegal decision you have taken.”

Continuing, Wike said: “We are waiting for you to announce my own and any other of my friends. Like I have said, when a man says you will not sleep, he too, will he sleep? Will Ayu sleep? Will those his cohorts sleep?

“So don’t worry, we have the capacity to pay back. We have the capacity to tell you that enough is enough.

“You are doing what will give you more headaches as far as this election is concerned. We are watching and we are waiting for you to announce suspension of more of my friends.

“When a man says you will not sleep, will he sleep too? Will Ayu sleep?”

The Seven National Assembly candidates of the PDP in Ekiti State have also rejected their suspension by the party’s NWC.

They all dismissed their purported suspension “as a joke, a grave misstep by the party leadership and a ploy to distract them from pursuing their aspirations”.

They said: “Section 57 (6) of the PDP constitution is

Like I have said, when a man says you will not sleep, he too, will he sleep? Will Ayu sleep? Will those his cohorts sleep?

clear and unambiguous. It states that ‘Any decision taken against a member who has not been informed of the charges against him or has not been given any opportunity of defending himself shall be null and void.’ Also, Section 33 of the Electoral Act is very clear on candidates for elections and as it is, we remain candidates in line with law and we shall remain focused. Our party is a constitutional institution and we will ensure it obeys its constitution.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 33 of the Electoral Act provides clearly that ‘A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted under Section 29 of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.’

“We are therefore unperturbed. Rather, we are being propelled to work harder to ensure victory in the elections while we explore appropriate means of handling the issues.

“Ultimately, it will be victory for us as candidates of the PDP”.

They appealed to members of the party and supporters across the 177 wards in the state to remain calm in the face of the alleged injustice.

Dr. Nnamani who has been expressing support for the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has also responded to his suspension.

In the response entitled ‘To All My Teeming Supporters’, he said: “Earlier tonight, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced the decision of the National working Committee (NWC) of PDP suspending me from the party.

“I have since been inundated with telephone calls and messages from various persons, seeking my clarification on the matter.

“Just like every other person, the decision and announcement of my purported suspension from the PDP came to me as a rude shock and huge surprise.

“I was never at any time notified of any petition or complaint against me or informed of the grounds that formed the decision of the NWC of the PDP to suspend me from the party.

“I was not also invited to any meeting, proceeding or hearing of the NWC of the party where my supposed offence (s) was/were discussed. I was, therefore, not afforded the opportunity to make representations on my behalf at any meeting where the proposal and decision to suspend me from the party was made.

“My right to fair hearing was consequently violated against the provisions of the Constitution of the party, especially in disciplinary proceedings. More importantly, the Superior Constitution of the FRN. “I therefore appeal to all of you to remain calm and law abiding while we continue our campaign to a hopefully victorious conclusion. To God be the glory.”

Speaking with THEWILL, a Public Affairs Commentator, Theophilus Ajiga said the next few days may be hectic for both the PDP and its aggrieved five governors.

“We are witnessing a climax in the crisis between the two camps. It is sad that the PDP has not been able to resolve the crisis since all these days. The way it is, there may be a lot of court cases from these aggrieved members.

“The way they are going about it, they may be given chances to other parties in the election. Normally by now all efforts should be directed at winning the election and not fighting each other within the party.

Fayose

Nnamani

Attack on INEC Facilities, Dangerous For Our Democracy – Williams

General Ishola Williams (Retd) is the former Chief of Training, Operations and Plans of the Nigerian Army. In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on the insecurity situation in the country; the coming general elections and the preparation by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) among other national issues.

Excerpts: Williams

Howwill you assess the present state of insecurity in the country?

The situation has not got to a point where we can say Nigerians should relax, contrary to the impression that the federal government wants to give us. Although the President is telling us that there is no local government or area that is occupied by terrorists, be it ISWAP or Boko Haram but then there are still some places in this country where terrorists are collecting taxes from citizens. Even the Governor of Kaduna state Nasir el-Rufai recently confirmed that there are some no-go areas in his state where terrorists are collecting taxes from the people. What then can one say except to say that we are still not there yet security-wise? There is still a lot of work to be done.

Are you satisfied with Government’s efforts at curbing the insecurity?

Sadly there is no new approach by the government to effectively tackle the insecurity challenge. It has all been talk, but no new innovation on the part of the government to tackle the problem, and I don’t see government from the present look of things doing anything to change the situation.

President Muhammadu Buhari has already declared that he is tired, and if he is tired, he should just handover to the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo to run the government for the few remaining months of the administration while Buhari will just be in a supervisory role. Osinbajo

I‘m sure is not tired to work.

Look at the recent attacks on INEC facilities across the country, especially in the South-east, it is very dangerous for the country’s democracy as election is fast approaching, What has been the government’s response to these attacks? It has not been too decisive considering the time the attacks are coming up.

This is one of the signs that Buhari is tired, and if he is indeed tired, he should hand it over to Osinbajo who still has the energy to work. I’m not saying that Buhari should resign but just that he should allow his deputy who still has the energy to run the show, to be in charge for the remaining part of the tenure of this government. Buhari should then give a free hand to Osinbajo to come up with new security architecture to tackle the security challenges.

Buhari’s government can still achieve tangible results

within the next remaining three to four months of his administration if he takes this advice.

Buhari can go and sit down in Daura while he supervises Osinbajo and other members of the team. Age is already catching up with him, and it appears he is not prepared for the challenges he has been facing because of this so many things are not working smoothly. For instance, the civil service is very corrupt. Civil service is one of the greatest problems we have in this country. If the civil service has been incorruptible, Nigeria would have been one of the greatest countries in the world. The whole place is rotten, and the expected actions to sanitize the place are not being taken, and this is one of the reasons to show that the president is tired. There have been other things that have happened and you wonder whether the President is aware of what is happening or aware of the actions being taken by some government officials.

Are you satisfied with the various political parties’ campaign across the nooks and crannies of the country?

As usual politicians have been going around making a plethora of promises which most of them will not even fulfill if they get elected. That’s the typical Nigerian politician's style. Nigerians should be wary of these politicians who will promise and will not deliver. I also expect these candidates to devise a blueprint for how to reform the civil service and tackle corruption. Imagine the level of corruption in the civil service; imagine a former Accountant-General of the federation being linked with billions of naira of public funds. This is why we need a civil service that is incorruptible.

The level of impunity in this country is terrible. The young man at the helm of affairs in the EFCC now is trying his best. And in fact, he has done better than all his predecessors but then the judicial system is not making things better because some of these looters when they charge them to court, they grant them bail, and then the case will suffer perpetual adjournments. And at the end of the day, these people may escape justice.

What is your assessment of INEC’s preparation for the February/March general elections? INEC has been doing very well under the leadership of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. I have no doubt that INEC will perform very well in the election, especially with the introduction of BVAS into the voting system.

Look at the recent attacks on INEC facilities across the country, especially in the South-east, it is very dangerous for the country’s democracy as election is fast approaching, What has been the government’s response to these attacks?

I’m sure with BVAS, what happened in 2019 will not repeat itself. I hope that one day, somebody will be able to tell the true story of what happened in 2019. How Atiku didn’t win or why Atiku didn’t win that election. Atiku won that election, and that’s why up till today, INEC has not released the electronic results of the 2019 presidential elections. Why is INEC hiding the electronic results of that election up till today? Why? I’m sure that Buhari himself knows that he didn’t win that election. Let INEC bring out the electronic result of that election if anybody is disputing what I’m saying. INEC has been hiding the electronic result of that election since 2019.

With BVAS, I believe that the elections will be free and fair. Those who are calling for the reversal of BVAS are those who are afraid of losing the elections. Buhari has also promised free and fair elections, and with BVAS, he has no alternative, and this is why the 2023 general elections are going to be historic.

Rigging is going to be nearly impossible. The 2022 Electoral Act has prescribed penalties for anybody or group that tries to cause problems during the election, and I believe that with all these, we should be able to have a free and fair poll. But the federal government should do something urgent to stop these attacks on INEC facilities across the country.

APC Benue Reaches Out to Aggrieved Members

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State has reached out to aggrieved members to resolve all contending issues before the forthcoming general elections.

The Benue APC Chairman, Comrade Austin Agada, said that the move was to ensure total victory of the party in the upcoming elections.

Agada said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja said that recent developments in the party were being addressed to make the APC more stronger and united.

According to him, the party leaders have been talking with all stakeholders to come up with a more united front to take over power in the state.

112,000 PVCs Remain Uncollected In Benue – REC

BY GEORGE MARTINS, MAKURDI

Over 112,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected by their owners in Benue State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Benue State, Professor Sam Egwu, disclosed this on Thursday in Makurdi while speaking at a town hall meeting organised by the State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in collaboration with Community Initiatives for Peace Programme anchored by Mercy Core.

According to Professor Egwu, a total of 250,000 voters have registered for the PVCs in Benue state while over 373 PVCs produced during the contentious voter registration between June 2021 and July 2022 have been received from INEC headquarters for distribution to owners in the state.

He explained that 67,000 PVCs were yet

to be printed while over 44,000 names have been removed from the register for multiple registration and advised Benue people to be peaceful in their conduct during the forthcoming general election.

Professor Egwu announced that the electoral body would be carrying out demonstration of the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) with selected wards, districts and local government to be used as demonstration centers to enlighten the electorates.

In his remarks, the Director of Youth Development in the State Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr. Michael Manga, expressed satisfaction with the contribution of participants and other organizations during the meeting. He said it was part of Governor Samuel Ortom's commitment through the ministry to ensure peaceful, free and credible conduct of election in the state.

2023: Youth Council Endorses APC Governorship Candidate in C/River

The Cross River Chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has endorsed the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the state, Sen. Bassey Otu, for the 2023 polls.

Mr. Daniel Obo, Chairman of NYCN in the state, said this in Calabar during a town hall engagement with youth leaders in Southern Senatorial District of the state. He said that the council endorsed the governorship candidate of the APC and adopted the party because of its youth friendly disposition.

“We are not going back in our support for the governorship candidate of Cross River and we will win because we have 70 per cent of the votes.

“We have come here to reaffirm our commitment as an institution. We will stand for the party that recognises young

Reps Urge Security Agencies to Arrest Oil Marketers Responsible For Fuel Scarcity

The House of Representatives has urged relevant security agencies to fish out oil marketers and other economic saboteurs who might be responsible for the fuel scarcity across the country.

This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance by Rep. Leke Abejide (ADC-Kogi) at the plenary in Abuja.

He said the National Assembly had approved money for subsidy on the petroleum products so as to mitigate unforeseen circumstances in the areas of shortages of the product.

He said it would be recalled that over three months, there had been persistent scarcity of PMS in many parts of the country and the situation appears to be getting worse.

He said there were uneven pump prices being dispensed by filling stations across the country which fueled speculations that government might have begun to remove subsidy on petrol.

He said there was the allegation of drop in petrol supply to marketers by private depots which according to him is creating a dangerous mindset in the country.

“The leaders of the party have been talking on the sideline, it is in process; we have called all the aspirants, sent people to talk to them and many have forged ahead working for the victory of the party.

“Yes, we have others who have remained adamant and have gone to court. We still have the wise ones who want to ensure APC wins and the state is better.

“There are some who are still bitter, but we are talking to them and we believe that at the end of the day, the party will have the understanding of all of them, we will have one house as we go into the general elections,

“We are also law abiding citizens, as party members, all court judgments will be adhered to,” the state APC chairman said.

According to him, the dismal performance of the present government in Benue has already given the APC 50 per cent advantage of winning the forthcoming elections in the state.

Agada said that the party has set clear priorities if elected, which will directly impact positively on citizens.

“Our priorities are agriculture, education, security, health, youth and women empowerment.

people.

“We, the youth council in Cross River will support the APC and will mobilise our youths to stand with the party, and God willing, we will win,” he said. Obo said that governorship position in the state rotates round the three senatorial zones of the state for equity, fairness and justice.

“The position of governor rotates around the three senatorial districts. It is the turn of Cross River South to produce the next governor.

“About 80 per cent of the youths are with us; and as you know, politics is a game of interest.

“We have one of us as a deputy governorship candidate in APC; we will try our best to see that his ambition sees the light of the day,” he said.

The lawmaker said the current fuel crisis across the country could worsen in the days ahead, suggesting that scarcity of the product might not be unconnected with the increased cost of hiring vessels.

He said hitherto “payment was in Naira but now it is being charged in US Dollars.

He alleged that the scarcity was associated with saboteurs among some of the key stakeholders who deliberately manipulated the system.

Abejide said due to the scarcity, Nigerians were exposed to hardships which had resulted in a hike in transportation fares and high cost of some major food items.

According to him, as a result of petrol scarcity, Nigerians are not finding it easy in their dayto-day livelihood activities.

The House of Reps therefore urged the NNPC Ltd., as a sole importer, to urgently ease off the queues in filling stations.

“There are no industries in the state for commerce and agriculture to thrive; we will revive all of them to move Benue forward.

“By God’s special grace, I believe that our candidate and the people of Benue are in one accord for the good of the state,” Agada added.

He expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the elections.

Agada said that the APC has been talking to people to collect their voter cards from INEC in order to participate in the elections.

“We have been talking to the youth about shunning electoral violence too, we have been engaging with the police to ensure free, fair, credible and violence-free elections in the state,” he added.

L-R: Minister of Transportation, Mu'Azu Jaji Sambo; President Muhammadu Buhari; Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Cui Jianchun; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun and others during the commissioning of Lekki Deep-sea Port in Lagos on January 23, 2023.

DEVELOPMENT

Inaugural Student Mental Health Week:

Akintewe to Address Growing Student Anxiety in Age of COVID And Beyond

Top 10 finalist for the 2021 Chegg.org Global Student Prize joins Chegg and five non-profits for global campaign to destigmatise students' mental health

AChegg.org Global Student Prize 2021 top 10 finalist from Nigeria, Oluwadamilola Akintewe, has been listed to play a key role in the inaugural Student Mental Health Week scheduled to run from February 6 -12, 2023.

Akintewe is a founder of Forbidden Topics, a Facebook platform aiming to break the silence on social injustices such as sexual assault and give women a voice in the community. She has also launched programmes in her home state, Ondo, such as LetGirlsLead, which provides mentorship and support for secondary school girls, and Project Rebirth, using entrepreneurial action to deliver financial equality and inclusion for low-income women in the state.

The inaugural global initiative is being organised by Chegg, the leading student-first online learning company, in collaboration with five esteemed non-profits: Born This Way Foundation, launched and led by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, which supports youth mental health; the Jed Foundation (JED), which protects emotional wellbeing and prevents suicide for teens and young adults. Others are the Inspiring Children Foundation, co-chaired by American singer-songwriter Jewel, which runs programmes to nurture young people's mental, emotional, and physical health; Young Invincibles, which leads advocacy efforts centered on improving the lives of young adults and increasing their access to mental health services; and the Varkey Foundation, which looks to improve the quality education for every child by building the status of teachers around the world.

During the week, Akintewe and her team at the Forbidden Topics initiative will launch a series of videos centered around student mental health, posted on Forbidden Topics' Instagram account. Through these videos, she will encourage Nigerian students to have open conversations about their mental health, and share their experiences and accessible resources.

Expressing appreciation to the plan to have her speak at the inaugural event, Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2021 top 10 finalist, Akintewe, said, "Thank you to Chegg and everyone involved in creating this campaign. Forbidden Topics has always been about giving young people a voice, and encouraging them to seek help when they need it. We are proud to be taking part in the inaugural Student Mental Health Week, and hope to help create a safe space for students to discuss their mental health.''

The CEO and President of Chegg, Dan Rosensweig, said: "We are proud to launch Student Mental Health Week, and hope to put this issue right at the top of the policy agenda. Students around the world face a perfect storm of different challenges – from learning in the aftermath of the pandemic, rising debt levels,1 and now global economic uncertainity.2 Through this campaign, we want to continue our commitment to holistically supporting students, so that they can make the most of their education, their relationships, and their ability to face the future with confidence."

The global campaign seeks to de-stigmatise mental health among students, encourage young people to be intentional about looking after themselves, and inspire conversations around what policymakers, education institutions, the wider community, parents, and learners themselves can do to support student mental wellness.

ACTIVITIES LINE UP FOR THE WEEK

• Chegg, for the very first time, will bring together the mental health resources of these five collaboration partners, including

“Thank you to Chegg and everyone involved in creating this campaign. Forbidden Topics has always been about giving young people a voice, and encouraging them to seek help when they need it. We are proud to be taking part in the inaugural Student Mental Health Week, and hope to help create a safe space for students to discuss their mental health

simple tips to improve mental wellness, under a centralised online resource, and signpost the support available to its millions of students worldwide, via a new Student Mental Health Week website.

• Student Mental Health Week will encompass a variety of events, including social media live events, to help educate policymakers, educational institutions, and communities on the mental health challenges students now face.

• The Jed foundation will co-host a 30-minute Q&A on Instagram Live to discuss current mental health challenges among students, how they can reach out for help, how they can give help to a friend, and where they can go to get more support.

• Finalists of the Chegg.org $100,000 Global Student Prize will be asked to share how they look after their mental wellness, which resources they turn to for support, facts about student mental health in their country, and projects they are involved with on the ground.

• Finalists of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize will highlight how they have seen mental health impact their students and offer advice to their fellow teachers on supporting young people's mental wellness.

• Chegg plans to also work with students around the world to develop Call To Action initiatives to their respective governments and policymakers calling for more robust mental health support.

Stanford University women's basketball star, Cameron Brink, who is Chegg's newest student athlete brand ambassador, has also stepped forward to join the campaign.

"Students today are under a lot of pressure, whether they are juggling their degree with work, family, or, like me, sports. That's why I am proud to be partnering with Chegg to highlight the importance of student mental wellness," she said.

In November 2022, Chegg partnered with Calm to give Chegg Study Pack subscribers around the world free access to Calm Premium's subscription service, which includes guided meditation for anxiety and stress, and music tracks to cultivate focus and relaxation.

Last year, the Chegg.org Global Student Survey, covering 21 countries, showed that nearly one-third of students worldwide (32%) felt that their mental health had worsened since returning to campus after lockdown restrictions. The same survey revealed that 39% of students around the world with study-related debt or loans lose sleep over it, and a quarter (25%) feel so anxious over their study loan that they have sought medical help.

A new 'Student Behavior Study', commissioned by Chegg's Center For Digital Learning in partnership with Hanover Research, which polled more than 2,000 higher education students in the US, UK, and Canada, found that nearly threequarters (74%) of students tend to feel anxious about their classes and schoolwork, and 68% do not get enough sleep. It also revealed that many students suffer from loneliness, with almost half (45%) struggling to meet new people or make friends.

"Born This Way Foundation is thrilled to partner with Chegg for their Student Mental Health Week initiative, which brings light to the need for mental health support among youth everywhere," said Maya Smith, Executive Director of Born This Way Foundation. "Through this initiative, we are proud to share and distribute the Be There Certificate across many platforms to provide young people with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to safely and kindly support their peers who may be struggling with their mental health."

"Now more than ever, it's critical that students have opportunities and resources to develop mental health and wellness skills," said Rebecca Benghiat, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Jed Foundation (JED). "We are proud to collaborate with Chegg to reach and support students with information and resources to manage their emotional health, support one another, and cope with challenges. By building and mobilising communities of care, we can spark real change."

Jewel, US singer-songwriter and co-Chair of the Inspiring Children Foundation, said, "Since the Covid pandemic, anxiety and depression have reached historical highs, with young people particularly affected. We are proud to join this important campaign, to encourage students to share the simple ways in which they nurture their mental health to become their best selves, and how their communities can help them get there."

*Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

Akintewe

The Lingering Fuel Crisis

It is something of an irony for an oil producing country such as Nigeria to always experience fuel shortages every end of the year. The trend has become an annual problem, especially around Christmas and New Year, when most Nigerians take to the road for the mandatory trips to their villages for reunion with their kith and kin. It is not the first time and, sadly, may not be the last time Nigerians will have to compulsorily queue up at filling stations, looking for what is under their feet in abundant supply.

Fuel shortages have become as perennial a problem as those in leadership positions have misruled the country for ages. Successive Nigerian governments have grappled with it for as long as anyone can remember. Yet, they have failed to address the issue adequately which is why the long-suffering citizens have been subjected to fuel shortages.

It is important to ask why there are fuel shortages in the first place. One of the reasons is that Nigerian refineries have stopped refining crude for local consumption. Nigeria sells its crude to foreign countries who refine it and then we buy the same refined product from them. It is disheartening and it has not always been so.

Another factor is the planned removal of fuel subsidies by the Federal Government. Indeed, the recent fuel crisis was engendered by President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s resolve to finally hands off subsidising the product. It raised hackles across a broad

spectrum of Nigerians, from politicians to labour unions, student associations and stakeholders in the oil sector who insist, collectively, that, with the current downturn in the economy, Nigerians will be the worse for it if the Federal Government goes ahead with plans of removal.

Evidently, what triggered the current crisis may not be unconnected with the PMB’s Administration in November 2021 that it may have to stop subsidising fuel in phases. The immediate consequence is the price of the product skyrocketing. That is exactly the situation on the ground at the moment.

Worse still, the Federal Government doesn’t seem to have any control over the prices at which PMS is sold in filling stations. A drive through the ever busy Lagos/ Abeokuta road, for instance, shows a difference in prices of PMS. Some filling stations sell at different prices and not the fixed price of N187 it was sometime back. Some government-owned filling stations like the NNPC sell at the government rate in the daytime when inspectors come to nose around to make sure that they don’t sell above the recommended price. But once they are gone in the evening, they jack up their prices.

Fearful that complete removal may result in public demonstration and public unrest in 2012 during the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, Buhari’s government is somewhat cautious, although some experts think the removal may have begun in installments. That, possibly, accounts for the recent increase in the pump price of PMS across the country.

For instance, the government pegged the pump price at N187 sometime ago. But there is nowhere in the country where PMS is selling now for less than N250 – N300. It even sells for more in some outlets.

Concerned over the recent shortages that began around last December, the Federal Government has set up a 14-member petroleum committee for petrol supply and distribution. The objective is to look into the lingering fuel crisis and find possible workable solutions. PMB himself is the head of the

committee. Thankfully, he is also the Minister of Petroleum. Will there be a solution to the lingering crisis?

It is hard to say. Even in the early days of the crisis, the Directorate of State Security weighed in giving petroleum marketers 48 hours to do the needful. Nothing came out of it.

Though lampooned by critics for the imminent removal of subsidy, the Federal Government has pleaded its own case, insisting that the removal is “due to the increasing cost of oil across the globe.”

Add the economic consequences of COVID-19 and you begin to understand the Federal Government’s position. Throw in the Russian/ Ukrainian crisis and you understand better why PMB’s Administration strongly favours removal.

Still, it hurts that the average Nigerian has to be subjected to serpentine queues every now and then even though Nigeria is the largest producer of crude oil in Africa.

So, what are possible workable solutions to the lingering fuel crisis Nigerians have to contend with? Revamping and making the existing refineries work at optimum capacity is one sure solution. Of course, there is much to be excited about with the Dangote Refinery already in the pipeline and ready to dispense the product anytime soon. Until Dangote's refineries begin to dispense PMS, the snake-like queues may not disappear from filling stations in Nigeria anytime soon.

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Austyn Ogannah

Editor – Olaolu Olusina

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Politics Editor – Ayo Esan

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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]

Concerned over the recent shortages that began around last December, the Federal Government has set up a 14-member petroleum committee for petrol supply and distribution. The objective is to look into the lingering fuel crisis and find possible workable solutions

When The People Shall Have Nothing More to Eat...

BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON

One who believes that the earth is chasing him, where did he put hisfeet while running?

The Driver

Many years ago, I was driving back from Gombe, and on the highway was this public/commercial Opel car carrying five Nigerians. It was at 'high' speed, I overtook the car, blocked them in commando style and came down. I asked the driver, "Do you want to kill these passengers, is your speed check working...", and I turned to the passengers to scold them for not warning the driver.

Before I could finish, they descended on me, "Oga how e concern you, (what's your business), get out of our way, bla bla and bla."

I left them, jumped into my car and drove off, thirty minutes later in front of me was a ghastly motor accident, two dead, others with various degrees of injuries.

The driver survived, but the car was totally damaged. Don't ask me how I felt, and what I told the survivors. If I waited to help and all that emotional homily.

However, I can tell you that, between that stretch of road, were a couple of police checks, and Federal Road Safety Marshals, so how they navigated all these with such speed to meet death remains the story of Nigeria, and before I forget to tell, there was no hospital of minimal standard, and the closest primary healthcare facility was not even good enough for description as a chemist.

The Gas Station

For a nation that was promising that the fuel crisis 'may be over next year' in 1977, it is 2023 and we still have a fuel crisis, and the unbelievable fact is that we have the same man, running the Petroleum Ministry in 1977 doing it in 2023, so with fuel scarcity for the hundredth time, this is the final corner in the long eight years that promised refineries, removal of subsidies, free market for energy products, and delivered none. And here I was at the gas station to buy PMS, and for the umpteenth time I noticed that only two of the machines were working, it was supposedly a "mega" station, and we know what mega means.

And that cost me an extra one hour on the 'short queue' (and yes I must say 'short') and Nigerians know what I mean. The two machines that were working had only two pumps with attendants, instead of four.

So, do the math if the four machines were working, that would be eight attendants, and yet we complain of lack of jobs. Do the math, and tell me how much I have lost in time and productivity, tell me the effect on my mental health.

The Bank

Similar to the gas station was the experience at the Bank, with plenty of customers, and few tellers. The teller space was seven and only three were functional with humans. I refused to use my 'bulletproof' influence, so I spent 40 minutes in the bank for a six minutes transaction. Add that to the whole drama of new notes, you drop the old notes at the bank and then use an ATM POINT and it dispenses the old notes again. We are the only country that gives deadlines on matters that are civil, the fallout of decades of military rule and civil dictatorship.

Add that to some saucy and ill-mannered tellers. The reason for their frustration as much as they vary is clear for all to see, some have been tellers for years, and are still on some very inhuman labour contracts that defy logic. They could serve us better, but how can they, when they work every day, 24 hours away from the sack from an industry that declares crazy profits every year and the economy remains bad?

We are in the digital age, but the kind of fraud and inefficiency that plagues our mobile banking is second to none. Yet our banking system seems to function better than our political and governance space because you could get a card that functions anywhere but cannot get a voters' card in the same manner!

My neighbourhood

If you have lived in the North, we call it 'angwa'. In my hood, my street, my angwa, there's no water, and yet my house overlooks the water management board saddled with the responsibility of providing potable water (sic), the roads are bad, and the security is best described as 'hmmmm'.

The two DISCO transformers are often vandalised, local crooks break into houses when you leave the house without a living being or at least a dog, they pick items and the trauma of coming home to a vandalised home is better imagined than experienced.

We blame the National Assembly, and at the local newspaper shop we argue about the merits of that presidential candidate and the other gubernatorial candidate, and demerits, and yet, we are saddled with all the problems of the angwa.

We are simply blind to the problems under our noses. Finally, Whose Business ?

In the case of the driver, the road was not exactly bad. But he just would not obey the speed limits, he lost control, two lives were lost, he was reckless, and it really was not the government. It was our business, not the government's. Not Nigeria, but us.

Maybe, the Road Safety presence on the highway could have helped, and maybe available/functional speed cameras would have saved those two lives and the carnage.

But the truth is, if the passengers valued their lives, and been responsible, a collective caution from the five passengers could have done it. Their lives as Nigerians were their business.

In the gas station and bank, the key issue was 'us'. From investigation, both were cutting costs, they refused to employ more hands. It was about profits at the customers' expense. It was about greed, not Nigeria. For all the blames we put on the government, we are the government. The enterprise called Nigeria is our business, not some folks in Abuja or state governors (both those that stay in their states, and those Abuja and foreign investor nation-based governors).

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

2023: Periscoping Imo West Senatorial Seat And Chances of Candidates

BY SAMPSON UHUEGBU

The abrupt disqualification of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial Candidate for Imo West, Jones Onyerieri, by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, has remained a shocking development to his supporters and other members of the party.

It was reported that ThankGod Ezeani, who also contested in the primary polls of the party, challenged the exercise that produced Jones as the rightful candidate, therefore, praying the Apex Court to declare him the winner.

However, many internal forces unleashed onslaughts against the disqualified flagbearer of the party in the primaries that were held at the Aladinma Shopping Mall on May 26, 2022.

As we all know, the 2023 presidential election and National Assembly shall simultaneously hold across the States in the country. Parties are now jostling, projecting their candidates for the seats.

The 12 Local Government Areas in the Imo West Senatorial district are Orlu, Orsu, Oru East, Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta, Oru West, Nkwerre, Isu, Nwangele, Njaba, Ideato South and Ideato North; with three (3) Federal constituencies therein.

As the die is cast, the political climate has begun to change gradually. The PDP, APC, LP, APGA and others are getting set for the race. Regrettably, Jones was sacked by the Apex Court. His unsuspected removal had been attributed to various internal issues. He should take it in good faith. All things being equal, it is still going to be an interesting game.

Senator Osita Izunaso is the APC candidate for the seat. He had been a member of the National Assembly for eight years in the recent past (House of Representatives 2003 – 2007) and Senate (2007 – 2011). He was also the National Organising Secretary of the APC. He is a strong politician and rooted in the system. He

has chances of emerging victorious, having known the terrain. Patrick Azumah is the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Senatorial candidate for Imo West district in the forthcoming election. He is a businessman and a new breed in politics. He is a first-timer in politics; while his platform, APGA, appears not to have strong supporters in the area. He is a greenhorn in the system.

Jones Onyerieri (now sacked), was the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He was a former House of Representatives member that represented the Nwangele/ Nkwere/Isu/Njaba Federal Constituency. He lost his first attempt to go to the Senate in 2019 to Rochas Okorocha.

The race among the contestants may not be easy as the people's votes would determine who wins at the end of the exercise. Although, the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, who hails from Oru East Local Government Area – the same Council Area and Senatorial district as the APC candidate; Sen. Osita Izunaso – would fight with his last blood to ensure he delivers the ruling party (APC), of which he is its leader in the Southeast.

Also, the likes of Ugonna Ozurigbo, a member representing Isu, Nwangele, Nkwerre and Njaba Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, who was a strong leader in the ruling APC but now with the PDP, is another force in Orlu zone. A loyalist to former Governor Rochas Okorocha can be said to have stolen the hearts of his people because of his qualitative representation that favours his constituents.

It is not likely to be easy in the Ohaji/Egbema, Oguta and Oru West LGs. Kingsley Uju, who is also currently representing the above-mentioned Federal Constituency in the Lower Chambers of the National Assembly, would like to use his men to fight in the race. He is contesting for the second term.

Let us not forget that there are APC heavyweights, the likes of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) Boss, Charles Orie; the Honourable Minister for Education (State), Rt. Hon. Goodluck Opiah; APC House of Reps Candidate, Eugene Dibiagwu; and other notable APC strongholds in the area would never want their party to fail in the oil-producing Areas.

On the other hand, the ruling APC would get sympathy votes, considering the landmark achievements of Governor Hope Uzodimma since his emergence at the helm of affairs as the number one citizen of the State.

Imo workers, commercial drivers, youths, market women, special citizens (disabled persons) and other groups have resolved to drum up their support for him, which is a plus to the ruling party, APC, in Imo and Southeast in general. In all, people of the State are expected to come out on election day to cast their votes for the Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates. It is now clear that the race would be between the ruling APC, APGA and Labour Party (LP) in the forthcoming election.

The Imo West Senatorial district is currently being represented by former Governor Rochas Okorocha in the National Assembly. Owelle, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Religion and Culture, had remained silent since his outing as a Federal lawmaker.

The Orlu zone, therefore, needs a refreshing representation in the upper legislative Chamber of the National Assembly (Senate). People of Imo West are hoping to get Sen Okorocha's successor that would make the voice of Orlu zone be heard again.

• Sampson Uhuegbu sent in this piece from Owerri

* Prince Charles Dickson (PhD) is the Team Lead at The Tattaaunawa Roundtable Initiative (TRICentre)

Global Recession: Telecom to Hedge Nigeria Against Shocks

BY SAM DIALA

There are indications that the telecommunications (telecom) sub-sector would shield Nigeria from the likely effects of impending global recession – a phenomenon the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predict would bash emerging and developing economies in 2023. The telecom sector has maintained a robust performance in recent years, surpassing oil and agriculture in growth and competing with them in contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The World Bank and the IMF have devoted substantial attention to the looming recession that awaits the global economy in 2023 owing to major developments in the European Union, the RussiaUkraine conflict and American labour crisis. The development will impact severely on emerging and developing economies already battling with multi-dimensional headwinds: weak structural scenarios, debt burden and internal conflicts, among others.

The deadly impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, majorly, compounded their bad situation as the world grapples with two global recessions within the same decade – the first time in more than 80 years.

The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, revealed in a media interview in January that one-third of the world’s economies will slip into recession in 2023, with the biggest impacts being felt in emerging and developing economies.

The World Bank in its latest Global Economic Prospects report published in January, states that global sharp, long-lasting global slowdown would hit developing countries hard. It notes that

Weather: Embrace Early Action, NiMet Warns Stakeholders

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

The 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) was unveiled in Abuja recently by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

During the event, Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, and the Director-General, Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Mansur Bako Matazu, called

on stakeholders and the general public to heed early warning by taking early action on weather related matters.

Speaking in a Keynote address, Sirika noted that one of the effective ways of mitigating climate-induced disasters is the

Continues on page 33

global growth is slowing sharply in the face of elevated inflation, higher interest rates, reduced investment, and disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Specifically, the report posits that in Sub-Saharan Africa—which accounts for about 60 percent of the world’s extreme poor— growth in per capita income over 2023-24 is expected to average just 1.2 percent, a rate that could cause poverty rates to rise, not fall.

“The crisis facing development is intensifying as the global growth outlook deteriorates,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

“Emerging and developing countries are facing a multi-year period of slow growth driven by heavy debt burdens and weak investment as global capital is absorbed by advanced economies faced with extremely high government debt levels and rising interest rates.

“Weakness in growth and business investment will compound the already-devastating reversals in education, health, poverty, and infrastructure and the increasing demands from climate change,” Malpass added.

According to the report, growth in Nigeria is projected to decelerate to 2.9 percent in 2023 and remain at that pace in 2024—barely above population growth. It stressed that growth momentum in the non-oil sector is likely to be restrained by continued weakness in the oil sector. It added that existing production and security

Continues on page 33

MORE INSIDE

South-East Region Pays

More For Kerosene in December 2022

PAGE 34

Equities Market Closes Positive

PAGE 34

CBN's National Domestic Card to Boost SMEs

The National Domestic Card Scheme launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week has been aplauded for its capacity to enhance small and medium enterprises (SME) activities.

An inter-state transport operator, Godwin Akhamikor, said the scheme would facilitate activities in various value chains by making payments seamless, efficient and reliable.

A Lagos-based food processing operator, Marbel Ekwugha, said the card initiative would get help

Continues on page 34

AVIATION/TELECOM

...Embrace Early Action, NiMet Warns Stakeholders

Continued from page 32

on their work, NiMet, once again is ready to continue in its drive for the provision of accurate, timely, reliable, and actionable weather and climate prediction in Nigeria.”

He disclosed that Seasonal Climate Prediction that will be unveiled today has been carefully prepared by team of experts and stakeholders.

“Relying on quality insitu weather data, adequate experience and reliable prediction tool, the Agency has put together the 2023 Seasonal Climate Prediction adopting the concept of coproduction especially for the socio-economic implications of the predictions. You will agree with me that a forecast value is not complete until it’s impact-based with adequate advisories.

“The Agency is blessed with capacity and skills to offer these Early Warning Services with confidence. For your information, the Agency not only offer services to Nigerians only but has been supporting Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, Malawi and Niger republic in Public Weather Services, Capacity building, Competency development, Quality Management Systems etc. In this hall today are delegations from the National Weather Service of Niger Republic on a study visit to NiMet.”

Sirika, who noted that aside the SCP, the Agency prepares a wide range publications and products, disclosed that in the 2023 SCP edition, day and night temperature forecast for May has been included to capture variability in recent climate and to cover the hot season in Nigeria which is usually observed between February and May.

... Telecom to Hedge Nigeria Against Shocks

Continued from page 32 challenges, and a moderation in oil prices are expected to hinder a recovery in oil output.

“Policy uncertainty, sustained high inflation, and rising incidence of violence are anticipated to temper growth. Growth in agriculture is expected to soften because of the damage from last year’s floods. The fiscal position is expected to remain weak because of high borrowing costs, lower energy prices, a sluggish growth of oil production, and a subdued activity in the non-oil sectors,” the report stated.

Many analysts believe that Nigeria would not slide into recession in 2023. They however warn that the ripple effects of recession in advanced economies will, unavoidably, impact Nigeria. Supply chain constraints, inflation, decline in investment inflows, receding confidence in the domestic economy and high rate of unemployment are some of the scenarios that would define the fate of developing economies during the year.

provision of Early Warning Services, adding that NiMet over the years has been the pacesetter in Early Warning Services for all weather and climate sensitive activities across the country.

He however, stressed that ‘the early Warnings must be matched by Early Action so that it can translate to disaster risk reduction in Nigeria.’

This, he said, has been amplified by the recent flood of 2022 across several states in Nigeria.

“As highlighted in the opening remarks, destruction of over 569,000 Hectares of farmland, deaths of over 600 people and displacement of over 1.3 million persons in 34 out of the 36 states of the Federation are huge losses that must be prevented from reoccurring.” he added.

Sirika recalled that consequent on the 2022 flood disaster, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the constitution of the Presidential Steering Committee and Technical Working Group on the Prevention of the Flood disaster in Nigeria, noting that this further affirms the administration’s commitment to the issues of climate and climate related issues.

“While this committee and working group finalise

He said the 2023 SCP document has also been translated into Nigeria's three major languages: Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, to provide increased access and encourage wider uptake in the country.

Part of the highlights is that the rainfall onset date is predicted to be earlier than the long-term average in most parts of the country. However, parts of Katsina, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, and Yobe in the north and Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo, and Rivers in the south are likely to experience a delayed onset.

The onset is expected to become established in early March from the coastal states of Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom; in April for the inland states of the south; in May around the central states and around July in the northern states. The onset dates will range from 2nd March to 7th July 2023.

An early End of Season (EoS) is predicted over parts of the South (especially in Osun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and eastern parts of Ogun and Lagos) and parts of Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi.

“Now that Early Warning has been provided, I encourage us all to embrace Early Action for maximum benefits and sustainable national socio-economic development. By so doing, collectively we would have stayed through to the theme of this event: “Strengthening Climate Risk Early Warning Services for Improved Food Security and Disaster Risk Reduction in Nigeria”, he said.

Speaking during his vote of thanks, NiMet DG, Prof. Mansur Matazu, called on all to embrace Early Action, noting that with the NiMet new Act of 2022, ‘we are optimistic of effective collaborations going forward.’

He thanked stakeholders, both in and outside Nigeria for their support and contributions.

“Thanks to Mr President and the Lawmakers for making this a reality. While appreciating everyone, I therefore call on all to embrace Early Action and follow us for in-season updates as we work together to maximise success and de-risk our activities.

“Without you partners and collaborators across MDAs, development partners, the academia, and research institutes, etc. our services would not be complete. We thank you for your support and contribution especially in the co-production process of this very important national document”, he added.

This will, inevitably, compound Nigeria’s slow economic growth woes arising from two recessions in five years. This generally worsened the weak domestic capacity, high cost of production, elevated inflation and mounting debt burden as GDP drags.

Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.25 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022. The growth rate was a 1.78 percent point decline from 4.03 percent in Q3 2021. On the other hand, it reflected a decrease by 1.29 percent points relative to 3.54 percent in Q2 2022. The GDP growth in Q1 2022 was barely 3.11 percent. These point to a struggling economy which the telecom came to its rescue.

Data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the Telecommunication and Information Services Sector, driven largely by telecom subsector, has outperformed oil and agriculture in sustaining the economy. Telecom in Q3 2022 recorded a growth rate of 10.53% in real terms, year-on-year, and contributed 15.35% to the GDP in contrast to oil which recorded a negative growth of -22.67 percent (year-on-year) and contributed 7.49 percent to the GDP. Agriculture recorded a much lower growth of 1.34 percent (year-on-year) in real terms, though it contributed 29.67 percent to the GDP.

Following the same trajectory, telecom grew by 6.55 percent in real terms (year-on-year) in Q2 2022 with a GDP contribution of 18.44 percent. Real growth of the oil sector was –11.77 percent (year-on-year) in Q2 2022 and contributed 6.33 percent to the total real GDP. The agricultural sector though contributed 23.24 percent to the GDP during the reference quarter grew by mere 1.20% (year-on-year) in real terms, The Q1 2022 performance was not on a different course. The sector where telecom belong recorded a

growth rate of 12.07 percent in real terms, year-on-year, with a GDP contribution of 16.20 percent. On the other hand, the real growth of the oil sector was -26.04 percent yearon-year, contributing 6.63 percent to the total real GDP. Agriculture grew by 3.16 percent year-on-year in real terms and contributed 22.36 percent to overall GDP in real terms during the review period.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, said the telecom sector has sustained the growth of the Nigerian economy by creating jobs, cushioning the effects of COVID-19 and boosting tax revenue for the government. The sector has also promoted foreign direct investment (FDI) in the nation’s economy dominated by foreign portfolio investment (FPI).

In the capital market segment of the economy, telecom are play a dominant role since the enlistment of major players about two years ago. The listing of two telecom giants, Airtel Africa Plc and MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, altered the fortunes of the equity market positively. They helped to uplift the market in ICT-related activities. The ICT sector which had tarried in what used to be the obscure dormant stock group over the years, has transformed into the active stock category through the performance of the telecom subsector.

Findings by THEWILL revealed that MTN Nigeria Communications is among the top 15 listed companies by assets (N597.29 billion) as of December 31, 2021. The company ranked second to Dangote Cement in Profits with N298.65 billion, and came top in Revenue with N1,65 trillion during the reference period. MTN was also second to Dangote Cement in Market Capitalization with N4 trillion; it also ranked second to Dangote Cement in Tax Payment: N138.03 billion.

•Continues online at www.thewillnigeria.com

Matazu

An early End of Season (EoS) is predicted over parts of the South (especially in Osun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and eastern parts of Ogun and Lagos) and parts of Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi

Supply chain constraints, inflation, decline in investment inflows, receding confidence in the domestic economy and high rate of unemployment are some of the scenarios that would define developing economies during the year

“

CBN's National Domestic Card to Boost SMEs

in the importation of equipment as well as export of commodities.

"When you have an efficient payment system, it makes business less cumbersome and helps you manage your time and resources profitably.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who launched the card at a virtual ceremony on Thursday, said the initiative is aimed at creating a robust payment system that would drive financial inclusion in the country.

He said, “The National Domestic Card avails us the sovereignty of our data. Secondly, it comes at lower costs and thirdly, the issue of foreign exchange.

“At this time, when foreign exchange challenges persist globally, it is important for me to say that we have come up with this card to ensure that all card online transactions will now be effective immediately, beginning to go on the Nigerian National Domestic System.

“At some point in the next few weeks, I am sure that the CBN will come up with the cut-off. All domestic card transactions that will be conducted in Nigeria will have to be through the Nigerian Domestic Cards.

"The Nigerian market is vast and the current participants have done so in the last 12 years to transform the ecosystem. Yet, there is much ground to cover as millions of Nigerians are still without

to consummate transactions.

cards

“I am convinced that the National Domestic Card scheme will make this a reality in the coming months. We can no longer neglect the vast majority of Nigerians.”

In her welcome remarks, CBN Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Mrs Aishah. N. Ahmad, described the National Domestic Card Scheme as momentous development for a number of reasons.

Not in the least the data sovereignty it confers and cost savings for the industry, it heralds a new vista of opportunities for the card business, that several countries continue to recognise and leverage as they create their own domestic card schemes to augment existing foreign payment card rails.

"This is an important platform for further innovation to solve some of the most pressing issues around financial inclusion,SME payments and trade facilitation primarily, supporting the drive for a robust digital economy for the Nigerian markets the African continent and the word.

"Robust industry engagement and collaboration was critica in getting Nigeria to this crucial miestone. We acknowledge the Board of Directors of NIBSS, particularly DMBs for their roe thus far and also other participantsin the ecosystem for their contributions."

Equities Market Closes Positive

At the end of the last weekday of trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX), a total of 171,109,870 shares in 3,599 deals, corresponding to a market value of NGN 2,343,568,438.20, were traded.

Compared with the previous NGX trading day (Thursday, January 26), Friday's data shows 22% improvement in volume, 16% improvement in turnover, and 1% improvement in deals. The current market capitalization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange is NGN 28.7 trillion.

In the aggregate, 111 NGX listed equities participated in trading, ending with 24 gainers and 11 losers. CAP led the gainers with 9.83% share price appreciation closing at NGN 19.55 per share, followed by Northern Nigeria

South-East Region Pays More For Kerosene in December 2022

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that residents based in the South-East region paid the highest kerosene costs in December 2022. This is contained in the NBS National Household Kerosene Price Watch report, which disclosed that South-Eastern Nigerians paid an average of N1,203.95 per litre of kerosene. Also, the average cost of a gallon of kerosene in the region cost N4,337.32.

The report further revealed that the average retail price per litre of kerosene paid by consumers in December 2022 was N1,104.61, which indicates an increase of 1.94% compared to N1,083.57 recorded in November 2022.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the average retail price per litre of the commodity rose by 136.04% from N467.97 in December 2021.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday said the prices of some food items in Nigeria increased in December.

Headline inflation (all goods and services) reached its lowest rate in eleven months in December, after ten straight monthly increases. Food inflation also slowed but remains high nonetheless.

In December 2022, the headline inflation rate eased to 21.34 per cent compared to November 2022 headline inflation rate which was 21.47 per cent. In terms of trend, December 2022 inflation rate showed a decline of 0.13 per cent when compared to November 2022 inflation rate, NBS said in its inflation report.

Inflation indicators compare prices of goods and services in 12 months. A decline does not necessarily imply a reduction in prices; instead, it shows the rate of price increase had fallen compared to previous months.

In its ‘Selected Food Price Watch’ data for December 2022, published on Friday, the bureau said the average price of 1kg beef boneless increased year-on-year by 28.75 per cent from the value recorded in December 2021 (N1,846.39), and 1.70 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N2,337.46 in November 2022.

It said the average price of 1kg rice (locally sold loose) increased on a year-on-year basis by 19.21 per cent from N424.62 in December 2021 to N506.17 in December 2022.

On a month-on-month basis, the average price of this item increased by 1.07 per cent in December 2022,” the statistics office added.

The average price of 1kg of Tomato on a year-on-year basis rose by 28.40 per cent from N357.03 in December 2021 to N458.42 in December 2022. Also, on a month-on-month basis, it increased to 0.72 per cent from N455.13 in November 2022

Flour Mills (+9.76%), Japaul Gold and Ventures (+9.68%) and Tripple Gee & Co. (+9.38%). On the losing side, Cutix came out last with an endof-day price depreciation of 8.11% at NGN 2.04 per share, followed by International Breweries (-6.12%), Glaxo Smithkline Consumer (-4.41%) and Access Holdings (-4.26%). Fidelity Bank recorded the highest volume of 26.6 million traded shares, followed by Chams (17.8m), FBN Holdings (15.1m) and Japaul Gold and Ventures (9.07m).

Regarding the performance of NGX market indices, the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) pared 95.08 (-0.18%) points to close at 52,657.88, representing a 1-week gain of 0.12%, a 4-week gain of 4.69%, and an overall year-to-date gain of 2.74%.

For other regions, the average price per litre of kerosene in the South-South was N1,087.15, in the South-West, it was N1,177.89, Meanwhile in the North-East, the cost was N1,085.65, in the North-West, it was N1,011.49 and in the North Central, it was N1,095.17 for the period under review.

The average price per gallon of kerosene in the South-South was N3,429.82, in the South-West it was N3,751.05. Meanwhile, in the North-East, the cost was N3,378.69, in the North-West, it was N3,722.18 and in the North Central, it was N3,967.97, for the period under review.

Generally, many poor Nigerians cannot afford to purchase cooking gas to prepare their meals. As of 2021, kerosene price per litre was less than N500, so a lot of Nigerians who could not afford cooking gas bought kerosene as an alternative cooking source.

Similarly, it said the average price of 1kg of onion bulb rose by 25.64 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N346.96 in December 2021 to N435.93 in December 2022. While on a month-on-month basis, the price rose by 2.40 per cent.

According to the report, the average price of Palm oil increased by 28.73 per cent from N795.57 in December 2021 to N1,024 in December 2022. It also grew by 1.74 per cent on a month-on-month basis.

It added that the average price of Vegetable oil (1 bottle, specify bottle) stood at N1,161.76 in December 2022, showing an increase of 29.60 per cent from N896.39 in December 2021. On a month-on-month basis, it rose by 1.64 per cent from N1,142.99 in November 2022.

L-R: Head, Corporate Social Responsibility, Airtel Nigeria, Chioma Okolie; Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Sylvester Abiodun Alabi; Director, Corporate Communications & CSR, Femi Adeniran and Ag. Head, Brands & Advertising, Airtel Nigeria, Omobolanle Osutole during the presentation of Traffic Booths to the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja, Lagos on January 19, 2023.

Continued from page 32

CAPITAL MARKET

Opening up Nigeria's Commodities Ecosystem

BY

Commodities are raw materials or primary agricultural products that can be bought or sold. The prices are driven by factors such as demand and supply, weather or disaster, seasonality, geopolitics, market information and storage level and transportation. Prices of commodities are generally inelastic.

Commodities impact on all human activities and this makes every commodity an integral part of economic growth and development of a country. There are commodities exchanges globally where electronic receipts of commodities products are traded. With the right policy and legal framework as well as an enabling environment, the commodities ecosystem can contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

At the basic level, the gloomy global economy, coupled with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rattled commodities market in 2022 and signaled a mixed outlook for 2023. The war in Ukraine disrupted supply chain of commodities’ products with attendant hike in their prices.

Unanticipated changes in supply and demand of commodities can lead to wide price swings. The outbreak of Russia's invasion elicited an abrupt rise in commodity prices in February 2022. This was followed by supply constraints and worries about inflation. Analysts from BMO Capital Market expect "increased volatility in the energy market in the short term due to efforts to curb Russian oil prices. Agricultural prices are torn between uncertainty surrounding grain exports from Ukraine and slowing global demand."

It is therefore believed that the overall commodity price index may pull back further this year across the globe while energy prices may experience upside risks.

In its outlook for commodities market, analysts at S & P Global Commodity Insight fingered China's COVID-19 policy as the most important fundamental factor for global demand in commodities and energy in 2023. According to the outlook, China's energy demand will increase by 3.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from virtually no growth in 2022, representing 47 percent of global energy demand growth next year.

From the foregoing, the analysts noted that "While forecasting markets based on the economics of supply and demand can be difficult, predicting what policy makers will do is next to impossible. It is obvious that the emergence of new trading patterns in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to grater level of inefficiencies in the shipping sector", according to the analysts.

In Nigeria, supply chain of commodities products are hampered by insecurity as typified by kidnapping in the six geo-political zones. Similarly, until recent time, government policies on agriculture have not yielded desired results despite the huge amount of

money earmarked for agriculture annually. However, there are strong expectations that the future of commodities ecosystem in Nigeria is bright.

The inauguration of Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) on July, 28, 2022 brought into fore the imperative of a commodities ecosystem in building a strong and competitive economy. The hallmark of the inauguration was the listing of the Eko Gold Coin. The Exchange is already in partnership with the Lagos State Government on the multibillion Naira Imota Rice Mill.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved 13 products for trading on the Exchange. The Exchange has capacity to trade electronic receipts of Oil and Gas, Agriculture, Solid Minerals and Currencies. The Exchange has also put in place necessary infrastructures to trade in derivatives as hedging instruments for investors. It also has the capacity to trade derivatives.

The goal of LCFE is to play a pivotal role in growing the Nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) into double digit. " In Africa, commodities ecosystem is the largest employer of labour. It provides a platform to deploy resources into the fungible assets that have been de-risked. We bring transparency through the operations of commodities exchange through our structures and two-way quote., according to LCFE's Managing Director, Akin Akeredolu-Ale.

However, there is a compelling need for the Federal Government to unlock the potentials of the Nigerian commodity ecosystem. This is part of the great expectations when the Investment and Securities Bill is finally passed into law by the National Assembly, At the minimum, it will enhance the competitiveness of commodities exchanges in Nigeria.

•Oni is the Chief Executive Officer, Sofunix Investment and Communications.

Commodities impact on all human activities and this makes every commodity an integral part of economic growth and development of a country

SOLA ONI

Olakunle Idowu, popularly known as Frank Donga is a multi-talented entertainer. He speaks with Shade Wesley-Metibogun on his foray into entertainment and sundry issues.

I ENJOY LIFE IN ALL FACETS – FRANK DONGA

Howwas 2022 to you?

It was an interesting year, a lot of businesses tried to pick up space again after the COVID-19 era. A lot of productions picked up in Nollywood. We saw a lot of collaborations with platforms. Personally, it was a unique year of redefining certain things in my own life and career. I ventured into some new areas. 2022 was a foundational year for me.

What were the new areas you ventured into?

I am now doing a lot of productions; being a cinematographer, a video editor and an actor. People will be seeing more of me as a director and a writer this year. I have always been doing wedding photography, cooperate video, post production supervision, documentaries, editing animation, writing for Television, social media, consulting in Agriculture. I have done a lot of those things before now. A lot of people around me know about the things I engage in. I am also behind some of the things you see on television, but a lot of people may not notice. In 2022, we restructured a few things, how the character will come out in a fresher and more matured way for the fans. A foundation was laid for all those aforementioned things. So, expect more feature films from my team, more smart comedy on YouTube and other streaming platforms. We are in talks with distributors, writers, and production teams. I am also in yet to be released movies that are coming to the cinema. There are a whole lot out there. I had an international collaboration where I wrote for a project. Like I said, expect growth, more TV series, more original contents from me, more evolution in terms of characters etc. They will see more characters that they have not seen before, my comedy series is in longer format. I started in 2012 doing full time content creation for comedy, then the job interview series. But now, we are evolving the character - what the character looks like now, has he gotten the job? As an actor and comedian, I still get requests from a lot of my fans, they tell me that they miss the good old days when they used to watch my series. So we are trying to see how we can make that appeal to the younger generation with more trendy things in terms of social commentaries. I am very heavy on political satires and social commentaries. I tend to have some people of a certain demographic in mind when doing social commentaries. I will do more in grooming the Gen Zs in front of the camera and behind the camera too.

When did it occur to you that you can make money from comedy?

I never intended to make money by making people laugh. It was not my primary goal. Value addition is my driving force. The pure joy of seeing people happy when I do something that I enjoy. That is very important to me and not the monetary reward. If money comes in the process, that is a double blessing. If I wanted money so bad, I would have been doing something else, but I just love to see people happy. The world is full of pain, fear and depression so it is important to be happy. The whole world can do with more joy and laughter, and I am happy to do that. I literally changed the course of my journey to what I do now. If I wasn’t doing this, I would have ended up as a research scientist doing molecular genetics in an international laboratory. Finding the cure for cancer or other genetic disabilities, but I saw the response and support from those who

enjoy what I do, and I don’t take it for granted. When money started coming, I was surprised because I didn’t know if I was good or not. I have always done it for fun. But I have been very careful about my jokes so that I don’t make people boring or offend them but to peel the mask off the society by telling them hard truths that would wake them up about politics, relationship, faith and life generally, so it is a delicate balance.

Was there ever a time you thought of quitting, perhaps, when things did not go the way, you expected them to?

I always say that you should not venture into a career path if you are looking for accolades. Do it because it makes you fulfilled. I didn’t go into skit making because I wanted people to clap for me. I went into it because I genuinely enjoy making it. I love the creative process of making skits, not because I am waiting for the approval of the audience. Their approval is an icing on the cake for me. I also watch my skits as well so that it can remind me about the personal lesson. If you do something because you genuinely love it, it will not become a burden and you will not want to quit.

You had a short fling with journalism. Do you see yourself going back to it one day?

I worked as a Journalist for Network News 24, which was CNN’s partner. We were trained by a group led by the former Vice President of the Cable News Network, Kent Stephen. I still have a very good relationship with my colleagues till now. Most of them are doing well out there. Once a journalist, always a journalist. I love journalism and what they do. You have to appreciate the fact that it may not be the most lucrative job in Nigeria, but it is a noble profession. It takes a lot of guts and perseverance to practice the profession in Nigeria. I do not see myself as a retired journalist. I see myself as a citizen journalist, we all have to hold ourselves accountable. We have to hold our leaders accountable as citizens. The problems come when our leaders are not held accountable, there will be chaos and things will turn upside down. It reflects in my tweets. I also try to create balance, which are all elements of journalism.

Will you at any point put your degree in Animal Genetics to use?

My first degree was in Animal Science from Olabisi Onabanjo University, I majored in Animal Production. I went to the University of Ibadan for my Masters in Animal Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture. My Masters has been one of the greatest blessings to me because it expanded my scope of the fundamentals of reproductions and genetic transfer or heredity in life. I love genetics that is why I studied it and I have utilized the knowledge I learnt in everything. First of all, it makes me realize that as a content creator, that little, tiny things come together to make the whole piece. I am very conscious of the little, tiny details in everything that I do, the tiny genetic molecules that make up the content of things people do, their attitudes, their defenses and reactions. I have been consulting

for people in Nigeria and outside Nigerians who want to establish agricultural businesses in Nigeria. Many times, the ideas are not even paid for, but it is my contribution to make the country a better place. I have a community of people that studied agriculture, so I use the connection and background to help people in their business. I also have a community of agriculture enthusiasts that I bring together on Twitter where we talk about common problems in Agriculture, how temperature affects agricultural produce, things to do for people in bird rearing businesses. I put our forum together, make them into broadcasts and videos and put them on YouTube and other platforms. I am also doing an agricultural documentary series that we are going to put out very soon. A lot of people will learn from it. Those are the types of things I am using my knowledge to solve.

Now that you’re enjoying fame and fortune, do you plan on going for a PhD?

I don’t know about finding fame and fortune because it can be relative. I don’t take it for granted when people greet me outside anyway. I am still interested in furthering my quest for knowledge because I am still passionate about it. That is why I don’t just create any content. I love to learn. I believe everyone should have a quest to learn. It is only a hopelessly arrogant soul that would reject knowledge. I am very open to do my PhD when I find the right topic to research on. About two years ago, I went to my former school to try and start my PhD but some of my lecturers and course mates couldn’t believe it. I am open to it very soon but it will not disturb my acting and every other thing that I do.

Idowu

Idowu

Aren't you gradually turning into a jack of all trades?

Some of the greatest men in the world that made some powerful things that we enjoy today were jack of all trades. A lot of them were writers, inventors, composers, scientists, artists, philosophers. A lot of the greatest minds were not doing just one thing. We have been erroneously put to think that we can only do one thing per time to succeed. The fundamental is getting something from the beginning to conclusion. Women are wonderful creatures, they can multitask, and men also have their specialty in what they can multitask in too. You can go as far as what you believe you can do. Sometimes, we are limited by our own expectations. I try to live beyond my own expectations. It’s just one world I came to, I have determined to express and explore my potentials to the fullest, not holding back anything. It requires careful planning though because we all have 24 hours in a day. It’s about how we plan and use them. I don’t do all at the same time, sometimes I take a break from one to attend to the other.

How many languages do you speak?

Not a lot, I speak Yoruba excellently well. I speak English with a bit of excellence too. I can say that I am comfortable with it. I am comfortable with Hausa and French as well. I have a passion for languages. Some people are gifted when it comes to learning languages. I had to learn French because I love the sound of the language. I went to a book shop and I bought a French language pack. I studied it every day, an hour before I go to bed and also for about an hour in the morning. I did it for 30 days. I was casually passing by a radio and heard a French program. I discovered that I could understand what they were saying. I even answered a quiz question, I called in with my father’s phone and I answered the question in French, and I got the prize. That was in 2000.

How did you come about your gestures and mannerism? Observation, I observe people a lot. My parents, family and friends, people that I watch on television. Acting is art and art imitates life. Every character we are told to portray as an actor is supposed to imitate the real person in life. If the audience watches it, they should be able to recognize the person you are imitating. Why do we remember all the characters you see in your favorite movies, it is because they consciously or unconsciously remind you of someone, maybe in your childhood or adulthood or even in your area.

How were you able to coin the name Frank Donga?

My birth name is Olakunle Idowu. I am from Oyo State, Ibadan to be precise but I decided to come up with a character that will not represent any tribe in Nigeria. It doesn’t look Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. You will have to wonder where he is from. That was my intention anyway. It was just me trying to pick a name that didn’t sound like any particular tribe. I wanted it to appeal to people who are not Africans. I wanted a first name that was easy to pronounce and remember. Something that would not identify with any tribe. I played with many names in my head until I came to Frank Donga.

You once said you are a shy person. How were you able to overcome that in order to make people laugh?

Who I am now is out of necessity because I realized that I have a gift which I enjoy tremendously. When I was growing up, I used to keep to myself a lot. I always try to be alone. I had to work on myself, learn how to talk in public, and look over people’s heads in the crowd. I give public speeches with ease now; it is like second nature to me now. But I used to be very shy.

Do you see yourself engaging in stand-up comedy anytime soon?

Before acting, I had done Mc jobs. Those are the type of things that stand-up comedians do but I am yet to explore going with prepared jokes to an audience just to make them laugh. I don’t have to prepare for my jokes, I am more of a spontaneous person.

What are the things that can be done to make Nollywood a better creative industry?

It may not be fair to compare Nollywood to other industries because of the way we started. We started with our folklores, people gathering around the fire to tell and enjoy stories. That was how our storytelling started. We must not forget that our culture has an influence on how we tell stories. Our story telling follows our pattern of making loud jokes with a lot of laughter. We need to have a way of having our own identity which will define our story telling. Our story telling is new and peculiar to use though there is need for improvement. Even abroad, there are changes. The way stories were told and presented ten years ago is not how it is presented now. I don’t have a formal education in film making but I read up

for myself to learn and improve on my craft. We need to constantly learn and add skills in knowledge. We can all learn to do better. The structure can improve, we are coming from a background where someone does almost everything. Though I must say that we don’t have the kind of structure and investment other countries have. Funding is another aspect to look at. I think it will become a cliché to continue talking about funding, it wouldn’t take us to where we are going. Knowledge and skills are more important. There is

a science on how to make good videos, there is a science on how to use colour, fabrics to tell stories with characters. The more we understand that science, the more we can increase our production value to international standards. I think we are evolving but the more we take interest in learning, the better we become. Most of the studios we are trying to compete with have their own film village. For example, Universal studio is an entire neighborhood. I have been there before. They can have a whole street and design it how they want. Make fake buildings which will appear real. Of course, it requires a lot of funding to get there. Most of them over there are paid well, they don’t struggle with electricity, noise pollution and more. We are getting there. Even if we invest so much money just to meet international standards, do we have enough cinemas or enough people to pay for the movies? Some Nigerians feel they don’t have to pay to watch what they can easily download or stream online. People in Nigeria don’t like rewarding creativity, as long as you have some people feeling that way, how will investors make back their money? So, it is encompassing but as I said, we are evolving.

Which among the things you are involved in is your favourite and why?

I am not sure there is anybody in my condition that will be able to answer that question. It’s like asking a man who his favourite child is. It is difficult. I am a multi-faceted human being and I enjoy life in all facets. I chose to enjoy every single thing that I have done. There is a purpose for each and every one of them. All of them are equally important.

How was growing up?

I grew up in Ibadan, Oyo State. I don’t put my personal business out there. Judging from those who have put it out there, fans will not be satisfied and will want more. It will put pressure on me. My personal struggles and victories should be for me alone. Growing up in Ibadan was fun. I have good childhood memories. My parents are retired teachers. They inspire some of my skits. My father is the king of sarcasm. My mother has the most thought-provoking poker face that I have ever seen. My mother is a character, she is extremely loving, she has taught me how to give, to be self-motivated and how to create balance in life.

Idowu

Idowu

It doesn’t sound Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. You will have to wonder where he is from.

I wanted it to appeal to people who are not Africans, something that is easy to pronounce and remember. Something that would not identify with any tribe. I played with many names in my head until I came to Frank Donga

STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

ADEDAPO TEJUOSHO'S SON GETS HOOKED

Gbadebo, one of the sons of Oba Adedapo Adewale Tejuosho, the Osile of Oke Ona Egbaland, got hitched last weekend to his fiancée, Aderonke Damilola Adedokun at a colourful wedding that had juju maestro, Chief Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi on the bandstand serenading guests. Gbadebo is the son of Yetunde, the second wife of the monarch. The couple met seven years ago at Custodian and Allied Insurance plc where Gbadebo was a staff member and Aderonke an intern. They graduated from just being friends after three years of meeting to becoming on and off lovers. In 2021, they both got engaged followed by their introduction ceremony

to their respective families in August 2022. On Friday January 14th, they held their introduction ceremony at Classique Events Centre, Ikeja, Lagos and the following day, they finally solemnized their relationship in the presence of friends and family members including Lanre Tejuosho, the monarch's first son who was a two term Senator and is currently the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. Also present at the ceremony was Funmi Tejusoho, a fourth term member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Mushin Constituency I and wife to Kayode Tejuosho, the third son

Amidu Tadase Narrowly Escapes Death

of the monarch. While Aderonke is a graduate of Office Technology Management from Yaba College of Technology and is a Human Resources Personnel at IEF Frenchies Teach It, Lagos, Gbadebo is a graduate of Economics from Bowen University. He also holds a Master's Degree in International Business from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. He is an entrepreneur and runs GTej Media, a marketing communication company and GTej photo studio. He is also an insurance consultant and holds the chieftaincy title, Sabgua of Oke Ona of Egbaland.

Oyindamola Adeyemi Stamps Presence in Energy Industry

Unlike the average wealthy Nigerian businesswoman who craves publicity and uses any guise to show off her acquisitions, Oyindamola Lami Adeyemi abhors the spotlight and does everything within her power to shun it. She prefers to have her work speak for her. Unfortunately, not many can put a face to some of the businesses she operates. A former banker with the defunct Equitorial Trust Bank, Oyindamola runs Still Earth Holdings, a conglomerate

that is into construction, (Still Earth Construction Limited); Onshore and Offshore drilling (Tirex P&E) as well as Private Equity & Finance, (Still Earth Capital Partners Ltd). She also runs a leadership advancement initiative that champions institutional independence and competence, (The Green Renaissance). While she has gotten accolades from her work in construction, finance and leadership advancement, in the past, it is the most recent pat she got on her back as a result of her can-dospirit that has got people talking. Tirex P&E which is a drilling and well intervention services company, recently announced the completion of the Ikike drilling and well intervention campaign for Total Energies, a European multinational energy and petroleum company and one of the seven super major oil companies. The project, which commenced in July 2021, is part of the Oil Mining Lease (OML99) with a total of five wells drilled and completed in record time. Subsequently, and as a result of the confidence reposed in Oyindamola and her service of excellence, Total Energies extended the offshore drilling contract to her with two additional wells. This says much for a company that is just two years and a month old. Unfortunately,

It's election season and attempts on the lives of politicians seems to be the order of the day. Barely a few weeks after Tajudeen Adefisoye, the youngest member of the National Assembly, representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency of Ondo State on the platform of All progressives Congress, escaped an assassination attempt, another politician has escaped death by whiskers. Dr Amidu Tadaese, the Osun West senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), was right between the devil and deep blue sea while campaigning at Ikire community, headquarters of Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State when suspected political thugs attempted to snuff life out of him. Political thugs numbering about 30 invaded the venue of the campaign and

started to shoot sporadically into the air. They fired several gun shots at the APC branded vehicles at the venue while searching for Tadase. They shot at a Sports Utility Vehicle they suspected he was in but he managed to escape while his getaway car was being shot at. In all, the thugs damaged 18 vehicles while searching for him. After the incident at the campaign ground, a reprisal attack happened in the community and claimed the life of a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was beheaded. Tadase blames Lere Oyewumi, the Osun west senatorial candidate of PDP for the attack and making an

attempt on his life but Oyewumi has denied being the mastermind of the attack.

Shola Ojora Marks Quiet 50th

Adeshola Ajibade Ojora Shola, the only son of retired society matriarch, Lanre Ojora and her late husband,

while she thrives in the business sector, the same cannot be said of her private life. Oyindamola is currently single. She was briefly married to football legend, Segun Odegbami but she ended things when it became obvious that getting entangled with Odegbami was an avoidable error.

Bade Ojora recently clocked 50. Rather than throw a lavish party to commemorate his new age, he chose to celebrate it quietly with his immediate family members and very few close friends. Having followed in his mother's footsteps and dropped off the party scene, it is understandable why he chose to have a quiet shindig. Besides, Shola has become more spiritual over the years and considers somethings too frivolous to engage in. Shola began his career in the energy sector, starting off in the upstream sector and later traded petroleum products in the downstream sector. After

six years in Oil & Gas, he decided to explore a different sector and went into Property Development. He was a director with Primrose Development Company (PDC), a property development firm owned by Otunba Subomi Balogun, the Chairman and CEO of the first wholly owned Nigerian Merchant bank, First City Monument Bank. He was in charge of sales & business development until 2012 when he moved on to other things after spending 16 years. He however remains a non-executive director of PDC. Currently, he is the Managing Director of ROSACheck Links Limited, which is a background screening company. He also sits on the board of a few other companies in the Technology and Digital space.

Bolaji Kuku Scores Major Point With Duport Modular Refinery

During the week, Duport Midstream Company Limited, owners of Duport Modular Refinery finally received its first crude feedstock for production. This is happening two years after it was initially scheduled to commence operations. The 10,000 projected barrels per day (bpd) modular refinery started production in its plant located at Ologbo community in the Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo state and is operated by the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company (ERPC) Limited. The modular refinery can produce 50% of diesel at 500,000 litres, 25% of Naphtha at 300,000 litres and 20% of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) at 200,000 litres. But what is more important is that the chairman of Duport Midstream

Company Limited is Bolaji Kuku, one of the children of the late Moshood Abiola Kashimawo Abiola with his first wife, Simbiat. That she is successful by miles cannot be over emphasized. Her name is hardly mentioned in the media, neither is her face a popular one but to those who know who she is, she is a big fish in the corporate world. She is a renowned entrepreneur with over 21 years of experience in several industries including agro-allied, retail, FMCG and education sectors. She holds a Law degree from Leicester University in the UK and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1992. She started her law career in Nigeria, working at Chris Ogunbanjo & Co. She serves as Non-Executive Director of Management Transformation

Limited and is the Chairman and owner of Ocean drive Foods Limited, owners of popular eateries in major cities in Nigeria. Duport Midstream Company Limited (DMCL), which is chairman of, was the first energy park in Nigeria. Besides operating a 10,000 BPD modular refinery, it has capacity to produce 60million SCF gas processing plant, 10 million SCF compressed natural gas (CNG) plant, 30,000 MT refined product terminal and a 20MW embedded power plant over a five-year period. Bolaji who is the direct younger sister of Kola Abiola is married to Femi Kuku, the first son of late Ogbeni Oja of Ijebuland, Chief Adebayo Kuku, a onetime Vice Chairman of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and the President of Nigerian Stock Exchange. Kuku

The Tejuoshos

Adeyemi

Tadase

Ojora

STORIES BY SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN

DELE ALAKE BAGS HONORARY DOCTORATE DEGREE

Henry Dele Alake, the former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, under the Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu led administration has bagged a honorary doctorate degree from Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State. The journalist cum technocrat who was the Director of Media and Strategic Communication, of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organization was honoured for his contributions to the growth of journalism, pro-democracy crusade, democratic development, and good governance in the country. Alake’s feats as an illustrious journalist, media statesman and astute administrator who has a record of excellence, character and core values

were commended as part of the reasons he was chosen for the doctorate degree. Ahead of the 12th convocation ceremony of the University which took place on January 21, 2023, where Alake was decorated, a letter of recognition was sent to Alake by the registrar of the university, Mayokun Olumeru. The Director of Strategic Communication of the All Progressive Congress, APC was described as a communication strategist who worked with former President-elect, Moshood Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP. His contributions to the ongoing electioneering as the APC-PCC Director of Media and Strategic Communication was also applauded.

Toyin Saraki Marks Posthumous Birthday of Late Brother

Toyin Saraki, founder of Wellbeing Foundation

Africa and wife of the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has marked the 61st posthumous birthday of her late brother, Dapo Ojora. Ojora, the polo-loving son of Otunba Adekunle Ojora and Ojuolape died from fatal gunshot wounds in 2020, a few years after he survived a ghastly auto bike crash. It wasn’t clear at the time of his death if he deliberately shot himself or if it was an accidental discharge from the gun. Police started an investigation into the tragic incident and some suspects were arrested and interrogated in connection to his death. However, the case died a natural death. Taking to her social media page on his 61st birthday, the former Kwara State first lady eulogized her elder brother whom she holds dear to her heart. She made a video collage of the pictures they took while growing up and some other pictures taken at family functions. A Christian song by Kaline Akinkugbe, a talented pianist and singer was playing

Osun Speaker, Lawmakers on War Path Over Yuletide Allowance

in the background while she wrote sweet memorable words to mark the late polo buff’s birthday. Unable to get over the death of her elder brother, Saraki ensures to celebrate both the

death anniversary and birthday of her late brother every year in order to keep his memory alive in her heart. The two were very close and Dapo often doted over her when he was alive.

OGUN COMMUNITY REJECTS GOVT TRANSFORMER

It seems the indigenes of Ijebu-Ife in Ijebu East, Local Government of Ogun State are not happy with the state government over alleged neglect in the last four years. The Indigenes rejected a brandnew transformer the government donated to the community last week. The transformer which was given to the community was sent after so many years of pleading. Members of the community came out en masse when the truck which conveyed the transformer got to its destination. According to them, they have not enjoyed the dividend of democracy from the Dapo Abiodun led administration since he assumed office in 2019, stressing that their community has been thrown into darkness for a period of four years without any succour coming from the state government. The indigenes had resigned to their fate until Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state came to their rescue and donated a transformer to the town. The community questioned why their request was granted just a few weeks to election despite being in need of help for four years. They emphasized that since Adebutu had given them one transformer, the newly brought one by the state government was of no use to them again.

Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Honourable Timothy Owoeye and some members of the house have engaged in an altercation over allowance given to the lawmakers during the festival season. The state government apportioned some allowance for the lawmakers during the festival season which ran into millions of naira considering the number of lawmakers in the house. However, some aggrieved members disagreed over Owoeye's sharing formula. It was gathered that he budgeted N250,000 for each lawmaker. But they rejected the money claiming that the speaker got more than he was giving each lawmaker. They accused him of high-handedness and also questioned why they were not informed before he used part of the money which was supposed to be shared to buy food items for some members of the assembly. Members also stated that it wasn't the first time that the speaker would be taking decisions on their behalf. Certain decisions were taken in the past which members of the

assembly were not comfortable with because they were not carried along. The lawmakers met on Thursday to discuss the issue with a view of ensuring that the Speaker’s over-bearing influence is checked and stopped. They vowed to get to the root of the problem so as to avert future occurrence. While responding to the aggrieved parties, the speaker through his spokesperson, Kunle Alabi made it known that whatever each lawmaker got for welfare is their legitimate earning. He also refuted the tale of misunderstanding and war among the members of the House of Assembly.

Alhaji Fatai Gbemisola's Son Quits Bachelorhood

Samsondeen Folajomi Gbemisola, second son of late oil and gas mogul, Alhaji Fatai Gbemisola, also known as Fatgbems Group of companies has quit bachelorhood. The handsome dude staged a talk of the town wedding with his lover of many years, Folahan Animashaun. The event took place at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The white and gold themed wedding was graced

by the crème la de crème in the social circle, oil and gas barons, traditional rulers and business moguls. Music maestro, Wasiu Ayinde, better known as K1 De Ultimate serenaded guests with melodious tunes while the event lasted. The late Gbemisola who owned several petrol stations, Fatgbems Oil across the country, was a prominent Egba businessman who died in 2012 after battling with cancer. Following his death, his older son, Jibola became the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Fatgbems Group while the groom, Folajomi is an Executive Director in the company. His bride, Folahan Animashaun is also from a wealthy background. She is the daughter of tourism boss, Alhaji Abdul Jelili Animashaun, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Al-hujjaj Travels and Tours. Folahan is a chef and baker, she is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bake and Brew, a confectionery business.

Abiodun

Alake

Gbemisola

Owoeye

Ojora and Saraki

STORIES

BY SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN

SEYI OSHODI CLOCKS 60

Nigeria's foremost artist, Oshodi Seyi Paul has joined the quadragenarian club. The Chief Executive Officer of Oshodi Arts and Gallery and convener of Ondo Art and Cultural Festival celebrated his day in a quiet way at his Art gallery which played host to few guests who celebrated with him. The gallery which is reputed to be the largest in the whole of West Africa has made notable sculptures which has earned the scholar some accolades in Nigeria and internationally. He is credited with creating different logos and designs for Nigeria such as the logo for Tai Solarin University of Education Ijebu Ode, the Nigeria Port Authority logo, and a host of others. Beautifully designed sculptures and images of foremost Nigerians have been done by

the artist. He erected the Gani Fawehinmi Statue at Ojota, the Tunji Braithwaite Statue at the 3rd Mainland Bridge, the sculpture of Fela in New York City, the monumental statue of the Hunter and Elephant at Ikorodu Oga in Ikorodu Local Government of Lagos State etc. The cerebral artist and a man of many facets attended Stella Maris College, Okitipupa, Ondo State and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, before earning a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education and a Master's degree in educational technology from Lagos State University. His quest for further artistic capacity took him to

Community Sends Obi Igbeke on Exile

the University of Ibadan where he bagged a Master's degree in Visual Arts and also a doctorate degree in Visual Arts and African Cultural Heritage from European American University.

Jibrin Isah Mocked at Kogi Rally

Kogi state indigenes recently disgraced Jibrin Isah, the All Progressives Congress, APC senatorial candidate for Kogi East district, last week. The politician who began his campaign ahead of the 2023 general was booed by hundreds of youths during a campaign rally at Ankpa Local Government Area of the state. Isah, popularly known as Echocho, who is the incumbent senator representing the district had attended the campaign rally in company of Edward Onoja, the

Kogi State deputy governor, and the House of Representatives candidate for Ankpa Federal Constituency in the state. While addressing the crowd during the visit, he stated that Governor Yayah Bello single- handedly took him to the seat of power in 2019. The obviously displeased constituents who came out in their numbers insulted the senator while he tried to solicit their support for his re-election bid. Many youths asked him to return to Yahaya Bello, the governor of the state, whom he reportedly claimed single-handedly made him senator in 2019.

The youths felt insulted because they voted massively for him and supported his political ambition a few years ago. They felt betrayed because he didn't acknowledge their contribution; instead, he stated that Bello single-handedly took him to power in 2019. Obviously his enormous statement led to being bullied by the youth during his campaign for his re-election bid.

Amid the noise and insult, the evidently infuriated senator allegedly attempted to physically engage some of the youths but was restrained by his aides who subsequently whisked him away to prevent further escalation.

The Ankpa incident was not the first time Isah, who seems to have clearly lost the support of his people, would be jeered at during a campaign

Former lawmaker, Senator Obi Igbeke is no longer in the good books of the people of Anambra North Local Government Area of Anambra State, the constituency he once represented at the National Assembly. The former Director General of All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, has been sent on exile from Nsugbe, his hometown over allegations of unlawfully arresting some youth leaders in the community. The former lawmaker was accused by the Nsugbe Council of Elders of Nsugbe community of forcefully snatching land and arbitrarily arresting eight youths who were taken to the police authorities in Awka and whose whereabouts are still unknown. It was alleged that he masterminded the killing of those eight youths. In November 2022, two youth leaders in Nsugbe community, Chidi Akudo and Charles Obodoechina, were arrested and detained by the Anambra State Police Command on the orders of Igbeke. Despite the fact that hundreds of women and youths from the community protested against the detention

of their sons by the Nigeria Police Force, the senator instructed that they should not be released. The Council of Elders also pleaded with him to release the boys. He promised that they would be released because they have committed no offence, but he didn’t fulfill his promise. He also instructed the Deputy Commissioner of Police not to attend to the council of elders who went to bail the youths. After so much pleading from the community, the two youths were released last week after spending about two months in detention. However, the whereabouts of the remaining eight youths are still unknown. The community has pleaded with him to disclose where they were taken to or what happened to them. The Council of elders had to place a fine of N1 million on the senator and also a fine of N100, 000 on whosoever associates with him because of all the allegations. However, Igbeke revealed that

they are lies fabricated by few disgruntled elements in the community who are envious of his achievements. He said at no time did he arrest any innocent youth and dumped them in a police cell. He also denied masterminding their killings, nor forcefully snatching people's lands as being alleged by the community. He accused his enemies of using the members of his community to smear his good name.

rally. He had similar rejections in Ogodu, Abejukolo, Olla and OjiAji, all in Omala Local Government Area of the state and even a more terrible outing in Ogugu, Okpo and Imane in Olamaboro Local Government Areas of the state, localities that should ordinarily have been the stronghold of the deputy governor, Onoja. Reacting to the development in a statement signed by Ojoachene Christian, Deputy Director of Protocol, Kogi APC Campaign Council, the politician considered the subject laughable and added they are compelled to respond to ensure that the reading public is not misled. The statement revealed that the politician is too busy to be distracted now that his achievements are being appreciated by the people of Kogi East. He denied being rejected and traced the tale of rejection to his political enemies who he accused of drowning and looking for whatever they can hold on to whip public sentiments.

Chinedu Obidigwe Accused of Assaulting Critic

Chinedu Obidigwe, the lawmaker representing Anambra East/West federal constituency at the National Assembly has been accused of allegedly maltreating one of his political critics, Chinedu Anaukwu. Anaukwu alleged that thugs were hired and sent after him to beat him into a stupor because he is constantly against the lawmaker and always criticizes his works. Anaukwu also uses his social media to post criticism about the politician. In one of his posts, he had warned the politician to stop fighting Obiano’s wife for no reason because he benefitted immensely from Obiano’s government. Anaukwu uses every opportunity he has to criticize the politician's work and effort which obviously doesn't sit well with the lawmaker. One day, the

businessman was approached by Primus Odili, a former Chief of Staff to Governor Obiano who asked him to accompany him to see a Reverend father. When they got to the Reverend Father's House, Obidigwe sighted him, he allegedly ordered his thugs to tie Anaukwu's and they descended on and started beating him. He was allegedly, seriously beaten and he sustained injuries. The Reverend Father and Odili who were present tried to stop the thugs but they couldn't. The thugs allegedly locked the gate and dealt with him mercilessly until he was able to escape and had to make his way to the hospital where he was admitted. He was admitted at the Life International hospital where he had to undergo treatment as a result of the wounds he sustained on his face, eyes, chest and legs.

Obidigwe didn't clearly state if he has any other issue against the businessman apart from the constant knocks he receives for the slightest action or move he makes.

Court Reinstates Biyi Otegbeye as ADC Governorship Candidate

Biyi Otegbeye, the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC in Ogun State and Ibikunle Amosun's anointed candidate has been reinstated by the Court of Appeal in Ibadan, Oyo State capital. This development came a few months after the Ogun State Labour Party and the All Progressive Congress, APC had separately dragged the ADC candidate to court over noncompliance with the Electoral Act in the conduct of their party’s primaries. The court ruled that the primaries which produced Otegbeye and other candidates from the party were not monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is a violation of the Electoral

Act. INEC was ordered by the court to remove Otegbeye's name and that of 26 House of Assembly candidates from its list ahead of the 2023 election. Before his disqualification, he had gained former Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun's backing. Though he is still a member of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Amosun turned his back on the incumbent, Dapo Abiodun who is seeking re-election in 2023. He threw his weight behind Otegbeye and has been doing all within his political power to ensure he is elected in 2023. Otegbeye on the other hand has also been boasting that Amosun's backing will help him to win the election. Aggrieved members of the ADC ran to the Supreme Court to

challenge the judgment of the Federal High Court. However, the Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abeokuta, which initially ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to expunge Otegbeye and other ADC Assembly candidates from its list. The court, in a unanimous judgment held that the lower court has no jurisdiction to adjudicate on the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the trial court challenging the primaries conducted by the ADC. The court subsequently set aside the decision and all the orders made by the trial court for want of jurisdiction. It awarded the cost of N50, 000 in favour of the appellants.

Oshodi

Igbeke

Obidigwe

SHOTS OF THE WEEK

Photo Editor: Peace Udugba [08033050729]

L-R: Acting Comptroller General Planning and Research, Nigeria Immigration Service, Dora Amahian; SVP/CEO, IHS (Nigeria) Limited, Mohamad Darwish; Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Isah Jere Idris MFR; Senior Manager, Sustainability IHS (Nigeria) Limited, Asmau Smaila; Deputy Comptroller General, Finance and Admin, Nigeria Immigration Service, Caroline Wuraola Adepoju; Chief Commercial Officer, IHS (Nigeria) Limited, Olufemi Arosanyin and Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs, IHS (Nigeria) Limited, Damian Udeh, during the company’s donation of telecommunication equipment to NIS in Abuja on January 25,2023.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, InfraCorp, Lazarus Angbaso; Chairman, Africa Plus Partners, Anhad Narula; Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Limited, Temi Popoola; Managing Director, Africa Plus Partners, Adeniran Ajakaiye; Senior Country Manager, Nigeria, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Kalim Shah and Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Ike Chioke, during a Closing Gong Ceremony in commemoration for the Memorandum Listing of its Africa Infra Plus Fund 1 at the Exchange on January 24,2023.

L-R: Manager, Events Management and Experiential Marketing, GTCO, Aderinsola Alex-Adedipe; President, Lagos Polo Club, Bode Makanjuola; Senior Manager, Go-to-Market, MTN Nigeria, Osaze Ebueku and Tournament Manager, Lagos Polo Club, Olumayowa Ogunnusi, during a press briefing at the Lagos International Polo Tournament at the Lagos Polo Club, Ikoyi, Lagos, on January 26, 2023.

L-R: Executive Publisher,

Publishers, Mrs. Gbemi Shasore; Wife of the celebrant and Senior Pastor, House on the Rock, Mrs. Ifeanyi Adefarasin; Celebrant and Senior Pastor, House on the Rock, Pastor Paul Adefarasin; Publisher, The Guardian Newspaper, Mrs. Maiden Ibru; Founding Partner, Africa Law Practice (ALP), Mr. Olasupo Shasore (SAN), and Partner, Africa Law Practice (ALP), Ms. Aisha Rimi, at a dinner party to mark the 60th birthday anniversary of Pastor Paul Adefarasin in Lagos on January 25, 2023.

Quramo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (middle); Sultan of Sokoto, His Royal Majesty, Abubakar Sa’ad III (right), and His Royal Majesty (HRM), Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atunwatse III, at the State House, Abuja during the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Endowment Meeting on January 26, 2023.

L-R: Group General Manager HR/Admin Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Mr. Hassan Salisu; Group Chief Human Resources Officer, Dangote Group, Mrs. Nglan Niat; Dangote Sugar 4th Quarter 2022 Employee Motivation Award Recipient, Ms. Onyeka Asuzu of Risk Management Department; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Mrs. Temitope Hassan and Group Chief Finance Officer, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Oscar Mbeche, during Dangote Sugar Refinery, Employee Award in Lagos on January 26, 2023.

Groaning Under Pastors, Police And Politicians

It is not only the P alphabet that connects pastors, politicians and the police. They also share similarities in their behaviour, attitude towards those they ought to counsel, govern and protect. Findings by THEWILL show that more often than not Nigerians are almost always hard done by - by those in whom they place their trust for spiritual guidance, proper governance, security of lives and property. Michael

Sometime in December 2021 in a white garment church in Akure Ondo state, a worshipper, Bukola, approached her pastor for deliverance. Whatever for has never been quite clear. She was five months pregnant. Probably fearful of a miscarriage, the woman took her case to the man of God and overseer of the church where she worships.

It was a Wednesday, a day the church in question used to have special prayer and delivery sessions. The programme had ended that day by the time Bukola got there. The unnamed man of God assured her all would be well. Declaring that the list, prescription given to the woman in her hospital was too long, the pastor instructed her to make a photocopy. She did and returned to the church. “He then said I should take it to the altar. While I was sitting down, he started pressing my stomach and asked how many months my pregnancy was and I said five months.”

By some funny coincidence, Bukola and the preacher man were alone in the church on that day. “He said he was going to do some

Nigerians themselves have known better. Ask any eligible voter his opinion of the average Nigerian politician and your guess is as good as ours. And yet, they can’t do without politicians or those in positions of authority, which makes the social contract between the two much worse

spiritual work on me before my delivery,” Bukola recalled the man of God saying. “He stood up and entered a room. He later called me to enter and I did.”

The “spiritual work,” it turned out, was a carefully worked out plan by the supposed man of God to seduce and bed the expecting woman.

Alone with Bukola in a room within the church premises, he commanded her to remove her clothes. Like most women would in the presence of an adult male not their husband, she timidly obeyed. Before she knew it, the pastor brought out anointing oil and proceeded to massage her private part with it.

Not done, he told the woman the baby in her womb was not in the

right position which he opted to correct. How did he do it?

Hear the woman herself: “He asked me to open my legs and dipped his middle finger with oil in my private part,” Bukola said. “He said my baby was in a vertical position instead of horizontal. He said he would put oil in my private and would help me insert it with his private part so that oil would get into the baby.”

Continuing the man of God’s tale of deception, Bukola said the pastor “then rubbed oil on his private part and had sex with me. He said he was not supposed to do it but he helped me because my husband was not around.”

Whether the anointing oil got the baby in the rightful position is hard to say. But what did happen was the man of God got himself into trouble. “It was later after he had sex with me that I came to my right senses,” Bukola recalled to the police in Akure, as if she’d just woken up from a hypnotic state.

For Bukola Dakolo, wife of singer song writer, Timi Dakolo, it took her decades to wake up from her hypnotic state, for her to “come to her senses,” as she later said. In her own case, her pastor and close friend of her family raped her at her family home. She was just sixteen!

Now a full grown adult, Bukola narrated how, in her teens, celeb preacher, Biodun Fatoyinbo of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly used to come around her family. One early morning, Fatoyinbo duly visited. Nobody was home, even Bukola’s mother. A mentee of Fatoyinbo whom the young Bukola depended on for everything from counseling to inspirational books, her sibs were upstairs asleep when the man of God arrived. After forcing himself on her, Bukola recalled, Fatoyinbo went to his car and returned with a bottle of Krest Bitter lemon for her to drink, telling her at the same time that “you should be happy that a man of God did this to you.”

Probably worried about the teenager’s depressive state after the act, Fatoyinbo, Bukola said, told her not to worry: “You’ll be fine. This thing is not a new thing. Men of God do this.”

If that was a personal confession, Fatoyinbo couldn’t have been more correct. In 2015, a lady called Stephanie Otobo let it be

Continues on page 44

Jimoh reports…

FEARURES

Pastors, Police And Politicians

Continued from page 43

known that she had an affair resulting in a pregnancy with Pastor Johnson Suleiman of Omega Fire Ministries. In her telling, she and the pastor spent time alone in a hotel where “they had intercourse among other practices.”

Suleman has since denied the charge.

But one man of God, Pastor Chukwuma Nkwocha Nkwocha of Tongue and Fire Restoration Ministry, at least owned up to camping and defiling more than a dozen under-aged girls in his church. Following complaints about his proclivity for minors, the Lagos State Police Command surprised him by raiding his church premises on Jacob Taiwo Street, Oshodi. What was the charge against Nkwocha? Having unlawful carnal knowledge of some of the girls.

Cases of Nigerian men of God taking advantage of parishioners or those under their custody – either through sex or by any other means – abound such that compiling them can fill a sizeable tome.

Like the predatory pastors, the police browbeat and intimidate Nigerians for even the flimsiest of offence and sometimes for no offence committed at all. Sometimes they even kill innocent Nigerians just for spot.

Gbenga Raheem and his wife, Bolanle, a lawyer, were in the company of their niece when the police waved them down at a check point in Ajah. They didn’t stop. A police inspector, Vandi calmly shot the person on the passenger seat. It was Bolanle who was hit. She was pregnant with twins when Vandi shot her. Doctors could not save her and her unborn babies. The case is presently in court.

To begin to document the brazen brutality of the police against Nigerians can equally fill a sizeable tome. In fact, it was on account of their numerous atrocities against civvies, their lack of empathy for those they are meant to protect, of their extra judicial killings and arbitrary arrest and detention of innocent Nigerians that led to the wave of uprisings across much of the country in October 2020 aka ENDSARS protests.

Fed up with the excesses of the police, Nigerian youths rose up with one voice against the law enforcement agents and, by extension, the Federal Government, an unexpected protest that shook the country right to its very foundation. Enough is enough, they hollered from the rooftops and on the streets.

Ironically, the same intrepid police who thought they were invincible prior to the riots simply melted from the scenes of demonstration. Some, it was said, hastily removed their uniforms and then joined the very protest directed against them. But some unfortunate ones were caught, killed or burnt alive in some state capitals. For the young people, it was like giving the police a dose of their own tripe.

Prior to the ENDSARS movement, a good number of the police really took laws into their hands. They gambled with the life of innocent Nigerians, throwing some in jail just on a whim, cocking their rifles and pulling the trigger on others when it pleased them. One of them, ASP James Nwafor, former OC Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) Akwuzu in Anambra state, symbolized such police brutality that Nigerians protested against in late October 2020.

He it was who, according to one report, “could chest-thump to a distraught parent that there was nothing he could do to him (Nwafor) after killing his son without recourse to the normal judicial process.”

Though the ENDSARS protest has come and gone, there seems to be no end in sight to spontaneous police brutality and intimidation of innocent Nigerians everywhere. It’s as if ENDSARS never happened judging from recent police/ civilian encounters. In most cases, civilians are left with the short end of the stick. Again, Raheem Bolanle’s casual and needless murder comes to mind.

Though without guns or the Bible to intimidate and stupefy Nigerians with, politicians also lord it over those they should otherwise court for success during elections.

In fact, of all the three Ps, politicians have the greatest influence over the lives of Nigerians for the very reason that they call the shots because they are in government – from the local to state and federal government.

To be sure, not every Nigerian falls under the spell of dubious men of God looking to just reaping them off. For instance, if

you don’t much care for their sermons, however sugar-coated or apocalyptic, you can call their bluff and see through them for what they are. Armed with your rights as a citizen and a law abiding one, for that matter, chances are you might never have anything to do with the police let alone become a victim of their intimidation and shake downs.

This is where politicians have an edge over the other Ps. Love them or hate them, you’re sure to be affected by a politician’s actions or inaction. Right now on the cusp of major elections, there is a consensus of opinion that politicians have really messed things up, have messed things up right from 1999 when the new civilian dispensation began.

To begin with, politicians are distrustful and generally do not care about the welfare of those who vote them into office but their own immediate families and cronies. They renege on campaign promises serially only for them to reappear every four years – like they are doing now – to ask to be elected or reelected into office.

And once elected, they seem to not care at all for the welfare of those who got them into office despite their campaign promises. In the eyes of many Nigerian voters, there is no such thing as public service for politicians, a genuine commitment to the betterment of the lives of the people they represent.

What there is, however, is a carefully calibrated attempt to do the masses in, to make life better for politicians themselves at the expense of the electorate.

There is no better time to witness this trend than now that the February and March general elections. From presidential

candidates to governorship and senatorial flag bearers, the spectacle is infectious right now, involving nearly every section of the society from the political actors themselves taking centre stage to traditional rulers and market women down to youth associations singing their praise and generally endorsing their candidature at campaign rallies in most state capitals.

Last Thursday, for example, Arise TV beamed to Nigerians and the rest of the world two mid-afternoon rallies at Abakaliki Ebonyi state. The first was of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress followed shortly by that of flag bearer of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar. With his wife by his side, party loyalists did what they are expected to do: vote for our candidate for a better Nigeria, they all chorused.

Of course, Nigerians themselves have known better. Ask any eligible voter his opinion of the average Nigerian politician and your guess is as good as ours. And yet, they can’t do without politicians or those in positions of authority, which makes the social contract between the two much worse.

Politicians are also not beyond using the religious big stick to whip the masses into line. In a sense, it is if they are in cahoots with the pastors and just like them, the resort to prayers to solve practical problems.

Last Friday soon after news emerged that the Electoral Tribunal sitting in Osogbo had nullified the election of Governor Adeleke of the state, the opposition All Progressives Congress were naturally over the moon.

But to the surprise of all, they exhorted party loyalist to embark on fasting and prayers for a positive outcome of the appeal the incumbent governor was sure to file at the Supreme Court.

Is the prayer and fasting session by APC members in the state going to affect the decisions of the Supreme Court judges? It is simply ridiculous. But others see it differently. It is a demonstration of the power the party (read politicians) hold over the electorate (read the masses.)

Do politicians know this one-sided arrangement?

Yes, they do and they know it is to their advantage. They know that the whole contraption called politics favour them more than those they rule over. After all, they have the power, the authority and the cash. A former governor of one of the states in the Southsouth once boasted that Nigerians cannot foment any revolution anytime soon. “They have to come to us for money to be able to start up anything like a revolution.”

How true! The lesson is blindingly obvious: Without us, the governor inferred you are nothing. And like Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, the military dictator-turned-senator for life in Chile, used to say, “No blade of grass moves in Chile without my ordering it.”

But over reliance and over dependence on politicians by the electorate also stems from one possible theory long ago proposed by HL Mencken: “The whole aim of practical politics,” the sage of Baltimore declared, “is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

Politicians are distrustful and generally do not care about the welfare of those who vote them into office but their own immediate families and cronies. They renege on campaign promises serially only for them to reappear every four years –like they are doing now – to ask to be elected or reelected into office

ARTS

Ifeakandu, Owusu, 10 Others Longlisted For 2023 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize

The international longlist for one of the world's largest literary prizes for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – was announced on Thursday 26 January, 2023 . With authors hailing from the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, Lebanon and Australia, this year's longlist of 12 features an even split of debut and established names, with African diaspora and female voices dominating the longlist.

Through themes of coming of age, adversity and love, this year's longlist comprises eight novels, two poetry collections and two short story collections:

• Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (Atlantic Books) – novel (Australia)

• Seven Steeples by Sara Baume (Tramp Press) – novel (Ireland)

• God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu (Orion, Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – short story collection (Nigeria)

• Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer (Picador, Pan Macmillan) – novel (UK)

• Phantom Gang by Ciarán O'Rourke (The Irish Pages Press) – poetry collection (Ireland)

• Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor (Oneworld) – novel (Kenya)

• Losing the Plot by Derek Owusu (Canongate Books) –novel (UK)

• I'm a Fan by Sheena Patel (Rough Trade Books) – novel (UK)

• Send Nudes by Saba Sams (Bloomsbury Publishing) –short story collection (UK)

• Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire (Chatto & Windus) – poetry collection (Somalia-UK)

• Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens (Picador, Pan Macmillan) – novel (UK)

•No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib (Atlantic Books, Allen & Unwin) – novel (Lebanon)

African diaspora writers are some of the new authors to watch out for on this year's longlist. Somali-British writer Warsan Shire, the celebrated poet behind Beyoncé's features Lemonade and Black is King, pays homage to Black women and teenage girls in Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, while Kenyan born, German based Okwiri Oduor uses magical realism to brilliant effect in Things They Lost. Nigeria's Arinze Ifeakandu explores what it means to be a queer male in his home country in the remarkable God's Children Are Little Broken Things, and Derek Owusu considers the generational impact of a mother's journey from Ghana to the UK in his second novel, Losing the Plot.

Totalling 8 of the 12 nominations, female voices dominate this year's longlist including up-and-coming British literary talent exploring how it feels to come of age in a hostile environment: Saba Sam's tender and witty Send

“African diaspora writers are some of the new authors to watch out for on this year's longlist. . . Nigeria's Arinze Ifeakandu explores what it means to be a queer male in his home country in the remarkable God's Children Are Little Broken Things, and Derek Owusu considers the generational impact of a mother's journey from Ghana to the UK in his second novel, Losing the Plot

home takes a troubling turn in No Land to Light On, the heart wrenching second novel from Lebanon born Yara Zgheib, who portrays a young Syrian couple torn apart by a hostile travel ban. Turning to Ireland, Ciarán O'Rourke's daring poetry collection Phantom Gang considers global inequalities from the context of his homeland, and Sara Baume depicts a young couple's attempts to disappear into the Irish countryside in the stunning Seven Steeples.

The longlisted titles will now be whittled down to a six strong shortlist by an impressive panel of judges chaired by esteemed British producer and Books Editor for BBC Radio Di Speirs, alongside prize-winning Welsh author and lecturer in English at Swansea University, Jon Gower, American bestselling author and 2012 winner of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize winner Maggie Shipstead, British poet and the founder of Octavia Poetry Collective for Women of Colour, Rachel Long, and NepaliIndian author and 2013 Prize shortlistee Prajwal Parajuly.

Worth £20,000, the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the UK's most prestigious literary prizes as well as the world's largest literary prize for young writers. Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under, the Prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.

American poet, novelist and essayist, Patricia Lockwood, received the award in 2022 for her inventive debut novel, No One Is Talking About This (Bloomsbury Publishing).

Commenting on the winner, Chair of the 2022 Judges, Namita Gokhale, said: "No One Is Talking About This is a vital reflection on online culture today. A deeply timely winner, Patricia Lockwood is the voice of a generation of new writers who grew up under the constant pressures of real-time news and social media."

Nudes highlights the confusing double standards facing women today; Sheena Patel offers a piercing critique of social media and heteronormative relationships in I'm a Fan; sexual politics are skewered by the teenage female protagonist of Briefly, A Delicious Life – Nell Stevens' foray into fiction— while Maddie Mortimer's Desmond Elliott prize-winning Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies offers a darkly funny depiction of a mother-daughter relationship. Elsewhere on the longlist, books consider national identity and the search for home. Australian Robbie Arnott's spellbinding coming-of-age novel, Limberlost, transports readers to rural Tasmania whilst the notion of

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist will be announced on Thursday, 23 March, followed by the Winner's Ceremony to be held in Swansea on Thursday 11 May, prior to International Dylan Thomas Day on Sunday 14 May, 2023.

Launched in 2006, the annual Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for young writers, aimed at encouraging raw creative talent worldwide. It celebrates and nurtures international literary excellence . The prize is named after the Swanseaborn writer, Dylan Thomas, and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. One of the most influential, internationally renowned writers of the mid-twentieth century, the prize invokes his memory to support the writers of today and nurture the talents of tomorrow.

Ifeakandu

Owusu

Osimhen, Lookman: Lighting up Serie A With Leading Goal-Scoring Form

BY JUDE OBAFEMI

In a top-of-the-table clash in the Italian Serie A on Friday, January 13, Napoli made their title contention extremely clear to even the most doubtful. There was a reason why the clash against Juventus was one of the most anticipated games of the 2022/2023 Serie A campaign. It featured Napoli, the league’s most prolific attack, against Juve, the league’s most composed defense. Heading into the tie, Juventus had notched eight consecutive league wins, keeping a clean sheet in all. Since the season began, their defense had conceded only seven goals in 17 Serie A rounds but none in the last eight.

However, they were pitched against Napoli’s freescoring forwards who were scoring goals for the fun of it. Led by the unplayable Nigerian Victor Osimhen, whose razor-sharp form in front of goal was at a peak, the anticipation ahead of the game was feverish. Yet, those who still underestimated Napoli's burning desire to end 33 whole years of waiting for another Serie A title were left astounded by the display of the side from Naples. The I Partenopei secured a domineering 5-1 victory over Juventus, with Osimhen once more leading the charge for the league leaders. Osimhen opened the scoring for Napoli, ending Juventus' run of 770 minutes without conceding in the league. He then assisted his scoring partner Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, before scoring again in the second half, in between goals from Amir Rrahmani and Elif Elmas.

Osimhen's performance was particularly impressive. He did not just score against the stingiest backline in Italian top flight football but found a way to earn an assist as

Both Osimhen and Lookman have shown that they are among the best young players in the world and their performances this season have only solidified their place among the elite. With the rest of the season still to play, there is no telling how far they can go and what records they can break. It is a privilege to watch these two players in action and the future of football looks bright with talents like Osimhen and Lookman leading the way

well. All of these in just the first 45 minutes of football. It was a performance that made the Nigerian only the third player to score and assist in the first half against Juventus in the past 15 seasons, after Cagliari's Luca Gagliano and Roma's Diego Perotti did the same in 2020. The 24-yearold has been in scintillating form since November 2022, and his dominance over Italian defenses is almost becoming as monotonous as his performances have been absolutely exhilarating.

With Inter Milan enduring a shock 1-0 home defeat by Empoli on Monday and AC Milan collapsing to a terrible 4-0 loss to Lazio, Napoli are now 12 points clear at the top of the table. It is further proof of how good the I Partenopei have been and what Osimhen’s fine form in front of goal has meant for that progress.

Yet, Osimhen is not standing alone in the goal-scoring spotlight. He is having to share that pedestal with another Nigerian, Ademola Lookman, who has taken the striking profile of Nigerian players in the top five League of Europe by storm as he makes headlines in Italy by the week. Lookman, who had previously struggled in the English Premier League with clubs such as Everton, Leicester, and Fulham, has found new life at Atalanta. The winger scored twice and registered an assist in Atalanta's 3-3 draw against Juventus, on Sunday, January 22, after Osimhen and Napoli had devastated the defenses of the Old Lady. With Lookman's brace against Juventus, the Super Eagles' striker took his goal tally to 11 goals for the season, behind only Osimhen in the goal-scoring charts of Italy’s top division.

...Lighting up Serie A With Leading Goal-Scoring Form

Lookman's performances have not gone unnoticed, and many are considering him to be the Serie A signing of the season so far. He is only the fourth Atalanta player in history to hit double figures in his first 19 Serie A games at the club, a record that had been held since 1953. He is proving to be influential as Atalanta chase a UEFA Champions League berth.

Lookman's journey to success in Italy has not been easy, however. The Nigerian, who was born in Wandsworth, joined Charlton's academy at the age of 16 after starting out at Waterloo. He was promoted to the Addicks' first team in 2015 and amassed a total of 12 goals in 49 appearances. In 2017, he made a big leap to Everton but struggled with only four goals in 48 matches. This led to a loan stint at RB Leipzig in 2018, where his impressive performances convinced the Bundesliga giants to sign him on a permanent deal a year later. But, soon after, he was sent back on loan in the Premier League with hapless stints at Fulham and Leicester in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Lookman only managed four goals at Craven Cottage and eight at the King Power Stadium for Leicester. That led to Leipzig selling him to Atalanta in the summer and he has since been firing on all cylinders.

With Osimhen and Lookman leading the charge, Nigerian football looks to be in good hands in Italy. They are continuing the fine tradition of their predecessors such as Kanu Nwankwo, Sunday Oliseh, Taye Taiwo, Taribo West, Obafemi Martins, Victor Moses and Odion Ighalo, all of whom made exploits in the Serie A. However, these two young stars are proving to be some of the best players in the Italian top flight and staking a veritable claim for the Best Player honours at this half point of the season.

There is enough rationale to believe they will keep up their performances baring injuries in the next half of the campaign. Osimhen has finally had a stretch of games at Napoli without serious injury and he is showing in every match why he is the best striker in the league. Against local rivals Salernitana, in the match after the Juventus massacre, he scored once again in Napoli’s 2-0 victory. That now makes it 13 goals in 15 league appearances to go with three assists. His goals have come from all sorts of angles too – from bullet headers to world class volleys, low driven finishes while running at full pace and curling finesse shots into the top corner. That is why the Nigerian striker has been deemed unplayable because there really is no such thing as a bulletproof way to defend him.

He is lightning quick and devastating on the counter, so it is a massive risk to play a high defensive line against Napoli. Most teams drop deep into a low block to limit the spaces in the final third against the Neapolitan

Continued from Back Page

possession game (currently the best in the league at over 60%), which allows Osimhen to show off his aerial ability. His leaping and timing on headers, combined with general accuracy, mean that he is a danger any time crosses are flung in from either flank into the opponents’ danger areas. The only thing that has stopped him from topping the “Capocannoniere” (the highest goal-scorer) charts in the past have been injuries. A fit-and-ready-tostrike Osimhen has proven to be a world class player.

Osimhen's journey to the top of the scoring charts in Serie A has been a long and winding one. The Nigerian international joined Napoli from Lille in the summer of 2020 for a reported fee of €70 million. At the time, many saw the move as a bit of a gamble for the Neapolitans, as Osimhen was coming off a relatively modest season in Ligue 1. However, the young striker quickly proved his worth, scoring 18 goals in his first season in Italy. However, an injury-plagued 2021 saw Osimhen limited to just 13 appearances, and he managed only six goals during

Why The Long Petrol Queues Are Not Going Away Soon

completely hands-off the determination of prices for petroleum products and allow market forces drive costs of these products. This is the free market economy that moves the capitalist system we operate as a democracy and has clearly worked efficiently for other commodities and even diesel. The subsidy regime continues to be responsible for a large volume of petroleum products being smuggled out of the country, which is compounding the scarcity in Nigeria. Millions of litres of petrol are smuggled to neighbouring West African countries where they are sold at market price.

To stem the tide of the scarcity, the Federal Government approved a 14-member committee to track fuel availability, an agenda that has been on since the President Muhammadu Buhari government came to power eight years ago. The committee is tasked with bringing a lasting solution to the disruptions in the supply and distribution of petroleum products in the country. Yet, instead of doing what ought to be done, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has

directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure strict compliance with government-approved prices for PMS and to ensure that the NNPC meets the domestic supply obligation for PMS and other petroleum products. He also directed the protection of consumers from price exploitation on other deregulated products such as AGO, DPK, and LPG. The fact is that, no matter how many committees get involved, until the regime of subsidy is extricated from the industry and the forces of demand and supply are allowed to determine the prices of petroleum products, we will continue this pitiful cycle and all the attendant suffering that are part and parcel of the problem. The will to make it happen appears to be what is lacking. As President Buhari has reneged from making it happen in his second term that is on its last legs, it behoves the next President to make it happen and put this sordid annual chapter of our continued existence behind us for good.

that time. But this season, he is back to his best and his performances have been nothing short of spectacular. On the other hand, Ademola Lookman’s production for Atalanta has been one of the biggest revelations of the season. The Atalanta winger has been in searing form, including 11 goals in his last 13 appearances in Serie A. There are some who could have probably predicted this sort of form once upon a time. After all, he has been able to garner some high profile transfers in the past –an €11.8m transfer from Charlton to Everton when he was a teenager, and then more recently that €18m sale that sent him from Everton to German club RB Leipzig. However, the London-born Lookman has never scored more than six goals in an entire season. As it stands at the halfway point of the season, he is on pace to potentially score 22 with Atalanta.

Fans of Atalanta will agree that since Gianpiero Gasperini took over six years ago, the Italian manager has developed a knack for being able to get the best out of enigmatic attacking players. The best example is perhaps Luis Muriel – a very talented but inconsistent striker who had issues keeping his weight down in the past. Under Gasperini, Muriel had a season where he was right alongside Robert Lewandowski in terms of goalsper-minute. This same trajectory is alongside Lookman's transformation. The Nigerian's impressive performance has not gone unnoticed and it has been reported that Juventus are already looking to sign the deadly attacker who has been dubbed defender's nightmare in the Scudetto. Lookman has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young talents in Italy and his performances have attracted the attention of some of other top clubs in Europe.

Further evidence of how scintillating a display this pair of Nigerian strikers have consistently delivered is seen in the nomination of both Osimhen and Lookman for the Serie A player of the month award category for January. The award, which is given to the best player in the league for the previous month, is a testament to the impact both players have had on the league this season. The final winner will be announced at the end of the month but regardless of the outcome, it is clear that both players are among the best in the league.

The race for the Golden Boot, given to the top goal scorer in the league, is heating up as the season progresses into the second half. With Osimhen and Lookman leading the way, it is shaping up to be an exciting battle between two of the best young forwards in the league. Osimhen's 13 goals gives him the slight edge over Lookman, who is hot on his heels with 11 goals. Both players have a chance to make history as no African player has finished top scorer in the 125-year history of the Italian topflight. As the second half of the season begins, all eyes will be on the two Nigerians as they look to continue their impressive form and lead their teams to success. With the league title and the Golden Boot on the line, it is sure to be an exciting and dramatic finish to the season especially Napoli who have waited 33 years for a league title.

As the league continues to evolve and new talents emerge, it will be interesting to see how these two players continue to develop and impact the game. Osimhen's displays have evoked a constant debate online that Manchester United, currently in need of a clinical striker to complete Erik ten Hag project of revamping the fortunes of the Red Devils, should bring him to Old Trafford. That possibility remains while the striker attempts to rewrite the books for Napoli. To keep him in Naples, the I Partenopei have slapped no less than €100m price tag on the Nigerian.

However, both Osimhen and Lookman have shown that they are among the best young players in the world and their performances this season have only solidified their place among the elite. With the rest of the season still to play, there is no telling how far they can go and what records they can break. It is a privilege to watch these two players in action and the future of football looks bright with talents like Osimhen and Lookman leading the way. It is hopeful that they will translate this form into the performances for the Super Eagles.

Lookman

Why The Long Petrol Queues Are Not Going Away Soon

Last October, there was a warning that went unheeded. Nigerians were facing an acute fuel crisis which signposted a bleak Christmas, New Year and uncertain 2023. This was because shipowners were threatening to stop rendering services to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) over the nonpayment of about $90m owed for their chartered services, which had accumulated over the previous nine months. A former President of the Nigerian Indigenous ShipOwners Association, Aminu Umar, warned that if the issue was not addressed in the coming weeks, the current petrol supply hitches might be compounded as members would not be able to fulfill their obligations. Umar also stated that if workers decided to stop because they were not being paid, it would affect the movement of cargoes, resulting in an increase of the already existing scarcity.

Similarly, President of the ShipOwners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), McGeorge Onyung, urged the NNPCL to try and pay up the ship owners to enable them to go back to work. Onyung explained that the NNPCL contacted ship owners to provide Nigerian ships for coastal shipping, but after almost nine months of working for the oil giant, ship owners were still waiting to be paid.

Oil marketers and petroleum experts at the time warned Nigerians to brace for a nationwide scarcity of petrol if the shipowners carried out the threat to withdraw their services. This, they said, would eventually lead to an economic crisis, as the transportation sector would grind to a halt if the supply of petrol ceased. However, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) started working with the NNPCL to improve the distribution of petrol nationwide.

By November, with the petrol shortage worsening, reports claimed that it was caused by illegal practices, such as arbitrary pricing and diversion to unauthorised locations. Some independent oil marketers, who are unhappy with the high cost of lifting the product at depots, are instead taking the product to places where they can get higher returns. This was due to the shortage and the high demand for the product, as some companies and other corporate users are willing to pay more, literally fuelling the diversion of the product by some marketers.

By December, Nigerians were facing major problems with both transportation and procuring foodstuffs for the holiday season. The scarcity caused a significant increase in transportation fares, food and services and left many stranded. Many Nigerians who typically travel to different parts of the country to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, were unable to do so with the high fares occasioned by the scarcity. Transportation companies milked the situation as they imposed a 100 percent increase in fares, blaming the hike on the shortage. The scarcity also caused difficulties for households and commercial motorists, with prices

increasing beyond the reach of many workers and residents.

The Federal Government and fuel marketers offered different explanations for the fuel crisis. The NNPCL stated that the scarcity was due to ongoing road infrastructure projects around Apapa and access road challenges in some parts of depots in Lagos. Meanwhile, the national operations control-

Less than a month to the presidential election and many months since the warnings of experts, Nigerians have resorted to buying fuel from black market operators at exorbitant prices. This has led to an increase in the number of illegal pump prices at fuel stations, where fuel is sold at prices as high as N600 per litre, against the N185 per litre regulated price. Expectedly, most Nigerians are blaming the federal government for the fuel crisis.

Even the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has blamed the scarcity on elements within the government trying to frustrate his presidential bid.

ler of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) attributed the scarcity to unsteady supply in the past few weeks.

Despite these excuses for the unavailability of petrol, the root cause is the NNPCL’s lack of capacity to refine crude oil locally despite pumping billions of dollars towards repairs of its four moribund refineries. After many years of ease of doing business under civil rule and democratic practice, none of these refineries have been fixed and the country still depends completely on the foreign refining of crude oil. This fixation on importing refined products, which continues to enrich a few, is at the very basis of incessant scarcities, the continuation of the fraudulent subsidy regime and the reason Nigeria does not benefit from price increases of crude. In an apparent belated effort to boost local production of refined products and permanently halt the subsidy regime, President Muhammadu Buhari signed an agreement with Daewoo Group of South Korea to revamp the 110, 000bpd Kaduna refinery, with the goal of delivering refined products before the first half of 2023. Is this target still achievable? We’ll see. The Dangote Refinery is also expected to start fuel production sometime in the year. Frankly, I don’t know for sure if we can achieve sufficiency in petrol refining this year. That is my honest truth. What is however factual is that the fuel scarcity will not abate anytime soon and with four months to the end of this administration, Nigerians are once again victims of a brutal and crushing fuel shortage.

There have been suggestions to mitigate the effects of the scarcity from different quarters. The oil marketers have called for an end to the NNPCL’s monopoly on petrol imports. The General Manager of Operations for TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Limited, Abdulmutalib Rabiu, stated that the government should allow competition by granting licenses and access to foreign exchange to marketers who want to import products. The Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Olumide Adeosun, added that there were sufficient products in the country, but the problem was a lack of investment in infrastructure to guarantee fast and smooth distribution. The Secretary and CEO of MOMAN, Clement Usong, suggested that full deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector should be implemented in phases to ease the effects of rising Premium Motor Spirit prices.

As the fuel crisis persists, what is abundantly obvious is that whoever wins the presidential election will have to contend with the issue of subsidy, which is currently draining the purse of the nation, despite being inefficient. By artificially making up for the shortfall between the international fluctuating price of petroleum products and the government-enforced fixed price of the commodity, which is the raison d'être of the grift that is the subsidy regime, the current administration and its predecessors have annually frittered away a ridiculous amount - $15.7 billion in 2022, for instance. One can only imagine the difference that could have been made in the economy were the money injected into capital projects and the funding of education, technological development and innovative projects.

In the months since the shortages began, the fuel crisis continued to be a major concern for Nigerians, with many blaming the government for not taking adequate steps to address the issue. The federal government must immediately commit to

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This fixation on importing refined products, which continues to enrich a few, is at the very basis of incessant scarcities, the continuation of the fraudulent subsidy regime and the reason Nigeria does not benefit from price increases of crude