THEWILL NEWSPAPER December 04, 2022

IS

DIGITAL

From playing a significant role that ensured African artists and creators benefit from the YouTube Black Voices Fund to being part of the team that launched the Africa Day Concert, Alex Okosi certainly understands the importance of promoting African content. He believes, “If you look at the number of British-trained black actors that have found success on the global stage, it provides a sample of what is possible if our talent could access similar levels of training. And this applies to those in front and behind the camera. “

And it didn’t start from his role at YouTube. While he was at Viacom, he and his team were responsible for bringing MTVBase and BET to our screens, which in turn put Afrobeats on the map.

Perhaps this solidified his being on Britain’s 100 Most Influential Black People, 2023, list for the second consecutive year.

Read about his inspiring story, from writing the business plan for Viacom and working there for 22 years to his not-so-new position as Managing Director of EMEA Emerging Markets at YouTube.

I’m pretty excited about the new docuseries, Harry & Meghan, which will show on Netflix soon. More so because we get to hear the young royals’ side of the story— as you can imagine, it can’t be easy adjusting to the rules and guidelines of being a royal, not even for Prince Harry. I’m looking forward to watching this one.

We often spend a lot of money trying to achieve great skin, but the truth is that you can have great skin with the littlest amount or nothing at all, and our beauty pages let you in on this secret.

Lisa Folawiyo showcased her Spring - Summer collection at a private show a few weeks ago, and to say the designs were gorgeous and the prints; vibrant is an understatement. We share some of her designs in this week’s issue. Still on fashion, getting your outfit to go from bland to fabulous doesn’t require much. Just a few simple accessories, and you are well on your way to being the most stylish person in the room.

Photo: Kola Oshalusi @insignamedia Makeup: Zaron

THEWILLNIGERIA THEWILLNG THEWILLNIGERIA

Revealed: Despite N625.43bn Derivation Windfall, Extreme Poverty Ravages Oil Producing States

•Governors Live Large While The People Suffer

•Infrastructural Development Not Commensurate With Available Resources

•Federal Government, States Trade Blames

BY AMOS ESELE AND SAM DIALA

When the Federal Government said a fortnight ago that 133 million of its citizens are currently living in poverty, it was hard to put a face to the statistics.

Speaking at the public presentation of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), calculated with five components of health, security, living standard, unemployment in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by the Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, said the survey method was used because it helps government to know and solve poverty with policies.

The MPI was based on a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNCF) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

The report shows that poverty is higher in the rural areas of the country “where 72 per cent of people in rural areas are poor, compared to 42 per cent living in the urban areas,” while “65 percent of poor people, about

86 million, live in the North. Also 35 per cent, nearly 47 million people, live in the South.

“In terms of the MPI value which captures the proportion of poor people, as well as the intensity of their poverty, the poorest states are Sokoto, Bayelsa, Jigawa, Kebbi, Gombe and Yobe, but we cannot say which of these is the poorest because statistically their confidence intervals (or the range within which the true value falls considering the sample) overlap.”

Just when Nigerians were digesting the information that appears to support previous indices by the World Clock, which described Nigeria as the headquarters of poverty with 90 per cent of its people living on less than three dollars per day, the Federal Government blamed state governors for failing to deploy remittances and policies to address poverty across the country.

Then on Friday, the Federal Government issued a statement that narrowed the perceived states to the nine oil producing states in the Niger Delta, namely Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers.

According to Presidential aide, Garba Shehu, in a statement titled: ‘Oil Derivation, Subsidy and SURE-P Refunds: Nine Oil Producing States Receive N625.43 Billion In Two Years; N1.1 Trn Still Outstanding,’ the total amount were refunds dating from 1999 to 2021, which the nine states received between October 2021, January 2022 and April and August and November 2022. The money was paid in three tranches of 13 percent derivation, Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and withdrawals from oil subsidy.

The statement reads, “Under the 13 per cent derivation fund on withdrawal from ECA without deducting derivation from 2004 to 2019, Abia State received N4.8 billion with outstanding sum of N2.8 billion, Akwa-Ibom received N128 billion with an outstanding sum of N77 billion, Bayelsa with N92.2bn, leaving an outstanding of N55 billion.

“Cross River State got a refund of N1.3 billion with a balance N792 million, Delta State received N110 billion, leaving a balance of N66.2 billion, Edo State received N11.3billion, with a balance of N6.8billion, Imo State, N5.5 billion, with an outstanding sum of N3.3 billion,

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N625.43bn Derivation Windfall, Extreme Poverty Ravages Oil Producing States

Ondo State, N19.4 billion with an outstanding sum of N11.7bn while Rivers State was paid 103.6 billion, with an outstanding balance of N62.3 billion.

“On the 13 per cent derivation fund on deductions made by NNPC without payment of derivation… Abia State received N1.1 billion, Akwa-Ibom got N15 billion, Bayelsa N11.6 billion, Cross River N432 million, Delta State N14.8 billion, Edo State N2.2 billion, Imo State N2.9, billion, Ondo State N3.7 billion and Rivers State N12.8 billion.

“Similarly, all the nine states received N4.7 billion each, totalling N42.34 billion, as refunds on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P between 2009 and 2015. The refund, which is for all the states and local government councils, was paid on November 10, 2022.

"The Federation Account also paid N3.52billion each as refund to local government councils on withdrawals for subsidy and SURE-P from 2009 to 2015 on the same date in November.”

ISSUES SURROUNDING THE REFUND

The politics and forthcoming general election in 2023 is said to be a major source of questionable spending with the refund. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State is the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who leads the aggrieved G-5 governors in the PDP, has doled out almost a billion naira within the past three months, first in Lagos, where he donated N300 million to the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO), another N200 million to his Abia counterpart, Okezie Ikpeazu, during the funeral rites of the latter’s father, as well as the logistics he promised to assist the presidential candidates of Labour Party, Peter Obi and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso. He also appointed over 200,000 aides in one day.

Governor Hope Uzodinma announced the donation of N1 billion to the campaign fund of the presidential candidate of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu. He however said the donation was made by a group of businessmen who are his kinsmen.

Other issues that have been raised, concerning the derivation refund, are accountability and transparency.

Bayelsa State, the fourth highest recipient of the funds with N92 billion, leaving an outstanding of N55 billion, for instance, is classified among the poorest states in the MPI survey, alongside Sokoto, Jigawa, Kebbi, Gombe and Yobe States. Other derivation states, such as Abia, Cross River, Imo and Akwa Ibom, have some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

According to the NBS and Debt Management Office (DMO) report for September 2022, Imo has an unemployment rate of 56.6 per cent, Cross River 53.7 per cent, Akwa Ibom 51.0 per cent and Abia 50.1 per cent. Again, in external debt stock holding, some of the derivation states rank high among 36 states and Abuja at of June, 2022.

In the external debt stock recorded by the DMO, Edo State with $268,314,205.93 debt, Cross River with $215,754,975.33 and Rivers with $140,177,828.95 came fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, after Lagos with $1,274,924,893.80, Kaduna with $586,776,219.18 and Bauchi with $172,762,304.16.

“There is no doubt that the Federal Government in publishing the derivation refund to the nine oil producing states can say it is a way of making them account for

the money they generate, although I suspect the intention behind the action might be political as we are in the season,” Mr Nik Ogbulue, financial analyst and Publisher of Money Report, told THEWILL on Friday in his assessment of the matter.

“The focus on oil producing states is suspect. What about mineral producing states? What about other income generating interventions by the World Bank and international agencies,”Ogbulue added.

REACTIONS

Speaking for Delta State, the Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, told THEWILL that it was laughable to suggest and even think that the refund would be diverted to campaigns. He said the derivation money received by the state was judiciously spent.

When told that the point at issue, as President Buhari pointed out, was not about building bridges and skyscrapers in urban areas, but in extending policy initiatives on health, education, employment and living standards to the rural areas according to the MPI survey, Aniagwu insisted on his premise.

He said, “I am not saying that states should not justify their expenditure. But if the Federal Government says that state governments should spend their money, Delta would be richer. They cannot take away 80 per cent of the state’s resources and give 20 per cent. When we prepare our budget, what do we use? Revenue projections based on what we are expecting as revenue, accruals and receipts. We had a budget of N200 billion, then N300 billion and now N400, billion.”

Insisting that the Federal Government missed the point by blaming the rising poverty in the country on the policies of state governments, Aniagwu blamed the centre for the hostile operating environment that has made many companies to fold up or relocate from

Nigeria, the poor exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar and the subsequent hyper-inflation that has reduced the purchasing power of the people.

“The impression that we concentrate development in the urban areas to the neglect of rural areas is untrue. Except for the Coker-interchange in Asaba, the state capital, built because there is no direct road leading into Asaba, other projects are rural-based. As I speak, 26 bridges are currently are under construction in the rural and riverine areas to link remote communities, enabling them to transport farm produce and interact with neighbouring communities. Youth and women empowerment programmes that equip our people with skill-sets are well known to most people,” he said.

The Media Assistant to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state, Ogwuike Nwachukwu, did not respond to our calls or WhatsApp messages, just as his Rivers counterpart, Kevin Ebri.

In his own response, the Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, said in a statement on Friday that the Federal Government and not the states is to blame for the ravaging poverty in the country, adding that the derivation refund was a smokescreen to play what he described as the politics of 2023 general election.

According to him, the Federal Government’s bad leadership, poor economic management and general insecurity have thrown over 133 million Nigerians into poverty.

He said, “It is rather unnerving that the Federal Government, which takes the lion share of the revenue accruing to the three tiers of government will turn around to accuse the two other tiers of failing the people. The Federal Government takes 56 percent from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) and shares the balance of 44 percent between the states and local government councils.

“In a time when these revenues have continued to dwindle as a result of the poor management of the economy by the Federal Government, who now resorts to borrowing to pay its workers, it is laughable that Agba, (Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning) is casting aspersions on states as a pretext to hide their failures.

“How will it dare to absolve itself of blame when a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which it commissioned, returned a verdict of failure in the wake of its parroting of an ineffective Social Investment Programme (SIP).”

Osagie maintained that the prudent management of the Edo State’s finances is the reason it was ranked in the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, as one of the seven states that are least impacted by multidimensional poverty in Nigeria.

Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State confirmed receipt of the money from the Federal Government. Although he disclosed that the state was underpaid, he said his administration was ready to answer any inquiry on due process in deploying the money.

“I do not play politics with this kind of thing. Anybody who wants to see how we use our money, the evidence of our monthly transparency briefing on our financial income and expenditure is available,” he said, adding, “One kilometre of road that we build in Yenagoa is costlier than three kilometres or four kilometres of road built elsewhere.''

It is rather unnerving that the Federal Government, which takes the lion share of the revenue accruing to the three tiers of government will turn around to accuse the two other tiers of failing the people. The Federal Government takes 56 percent from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) and shares the balance of 44 percent between the states and local government councils

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...Despite

How Media Can Help Electorate Make Informed Choices – Mike Igini

BASSEY ANIEKAN, CALABAR

Aformer Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, Mike Igini, has explained how the media can help the electorate make informed choices in the next general election.

He said this is possible when the media sets the agenda on issues and policy debates for candidates and political parties.

Igini made this known in a paper he presented in Calabar during the 2022 Media Week organised by the Cross River State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

Igini's paper was titled ‘2023 General Elections: The Nigeria Project and The Media.’

He contended that, "The most important role of the media in a democracy as a watchdog is setting agenda on issues and policy debates on security, economy, job creation and employment, education, health, infrastructure and foreign policy for political parties and their candidates.

"That is the only way the media can help the Nigerian people to make informed choices of qualified and competent leaders that would occupy the legislative and executive arms of government at all levels.

"My principal submission is that the success or failure of the Nigerian project is entirely up to us the people of this country.

"The forthcoming general election is yet another opportunity for us to renew the journey of our country both in terms of those who have run the affairs of the country and the policies that have been implemented in the last few years", he said.

He added that the 2023 general election is so critical to the country and we must make a success of it, hence must not be left in the hands of politicians alone.

He posted that all hands must be on deck come 2023 for the nation building process.

"The election is so critical that we must make success of it, the vocation of politics Charles de Gaulle admonished is too serious to be left alone to those who say they are politicians.

"The Nigerian project and governance cannot and must not be left entirely in the hands of those who are popularly elected

into power.

"The exigencies of the time demands that all hands must be on deck and all serious-minded groups and individuals of talents and vision must be passionately engaged in building the project which in my view requires a reset and demands ethical revolution or a process of moral regeneration," he said.

He highlighted some sections of the electoral act which will make next year's elections difficult to manipulate.

He said, "Sections 29, 31, 33, 34, 43, 47, 50, 51, 60, 61, 65, 77, 81, 84, 91, 95, 115,121,134,137 and section 47 of the Act provides for compulsory use of the Bimodal voters Accreditation system (BVAS) for the accreditation of all voters across Nigeria, failure to use invalidate the election.

"It’s a dual system i.e biometrics and facial recognition. Consequently, the use of incident form completely eliminated," he said.

He added that the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in section 22 specifically imposed on the media the obligation to "at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives...and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people."

Thus, he submitted that the most important function of the media in a democracy is the media’s role as a watchdog.

The watchdog role he surmised is the most important part of the journalist’s job, because it bridges the democratic variance between electoral promises, expectations and actual deliverables that affect the material and social condition of the people.

Earlier, NSA Gill, the Chairman of the Cross River State Chapter of the NUJ, said this year's theme of the media week "2023 General Elections: The Nigerian Project and the Media,” was carefully and deliberately chosen for obvious reasons.

He said, "Whether we like it or not we are faced with a political decision that would either make or mar our future as a country.

"No profession, individual, organisations or people can afford to stay aloof, without getting involved in the political process toward 2023 General Elections," he said.

It's Pathetic Political Offices Are Used to Promote Deprivation, Pain in C'River - Tawo

The former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Reconciliation Committee in Cross River State, Dr Pius Tawo, has decried the pains and deprivations in Cross River State.

He said it's pathetic that political office is used to promote pains, agonies, hardships, hunger and deprivations.

Dr Tawa disclosed this in Ikom during a town hall meeting organised by Professor Onor, the People's Democratic Party governorship candidate, for stakeholders in the Central Senatorial District.

He added that he had to defect to the PDP alongside his supporters because of his conscience and the need to help restore the lost glory of Cross River State.

"It's pathetic that the political offices bestowed upon some politicians by God is being use in promoting pains, agonies, hardships , hunger and deprivations in our state.

"My conscience cannot longer allow me to be part of such an inglorious legacy for the sake of posterity.

"I had to leave for the PDP because this is the party with the capacity and antecedents to reclaim and restore our lost glory in my state and country", he said.

He added that the PDP parades the best candidate with capacity, acumen, sound intellectual background, tenacity, experience and sincerity of purpose needed to salvage the state from present woes unleashed by the prevailing political scenarios in the state.

Receiving the defectors, state chairman of the Senate PDP Barrister Vena Ikem lauded the bold step taken by Dr Tawo to team up with the PDP in the quest to reclaim the state from the present predicament.

He enjoined stakeholders of the central senatorial district to ensure effective mobilization for a resounding victory of the party in the polls.

In his remarks the PDP flag bearer and Senator for Cross River Central Senator Sandy Onor promised to bring his wealth of experience to bear in running the state when voted into power.

Senator Onor posited " I am highly honoured by this adoption, I will be a good and worthy ambassador as I have always been. We will work assiduously to restore lost glory".

Draw Balance Between Work And Family, Diri, Others Urge Female Lawyers

BY DAVID OWEI, YENAGOA

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Kate Abiri, have urged female lawyers in Nigeria to redouble their efforts towards building a balanced line between family and professional practice in order to contribute effectively legal practice, build institutions and put an end to quick death associated with stress and other health challenges.

Governor Douye Diri, who was represented by his Deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo during the opening ceremony of a two-day maiden workshop of the Nigerian Bar Association Women Forum (NBAWF), Bayelsa State Chapter with the theme, "The NBA Woman of Today: Striking a Balance Between Career Growth and Family Life as Well as Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle" held at the State High Court complex in the state capital advised practicing female lawyers to draw a line between family, work and their overall wellbeing, urged them to create time for relaxation with loved ones to prevent being burnt out.

According to him, countless young people die of hypertension and other preventable ailments nowadays because of stress, noting that society places so much demand on legal professionals, which leaves them with a huge work load.

He said, "Drawing a line between your job as a lawyer and your family life is essential. Today many young people are dying of high blood pressure or hypertension because of stress.

"Society is putting much pressure on lawyers to deliver. But you don't have to accumulate your job. You just have to do the job that is required for each day. Don't allow it roll over to the next time, and don't attempt to please everybody.

"I want to encourage the NBA Women Forum to build systems and not individuals. More often than not, we build individuals, and if those individuals are corrupt, they end up corrupting the system. But if we build strong systems, there is no way a corrupt individual can corrupt such a system."

He also noted that despite agitations for Justice and Equity in the polity, the present administration in the state have deliberately focused on ensuring equity in protects allocation among the various Senatorial districts of the State by ensuring that projects are allocated to end inequality among the people.

In her keynote address, Justice Abiri described the workshop as most timely, stressing that female lawyers need a worklife balance comprising good health, marriage, family, rest and recreation.

The Chief Judge, who spoke through a Bayelsa High Court judge, Justice Doris Adokeme, maintained that work-life balance can be achieved through making right priority to avoid work overload, paying attention to personal health, and delegation of duties.

Earlier in her welcome address, the state Lead of the NBA Women's Forum, Mrs Dise Goddy-Harry, explained that the workshop was the first ever to be organized by the Forum in Bayelsa to promote the welfare, growth and upliftment of its members.

Mrs Goddy-Harry expressed the optimism that the workshop would "inspire young and old female professionals to think and act in such a way that would enable them to excel both at their workplaces and homes.

L-R: Vice President, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Africa, Emeka Oparah; UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Cristian Munduate; Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Surendran Chemmenkotil; Chief of Field Office, UNICEF, Celine Lafoucriere during the press conference announcing the partnership between Airtel and UNICEF on the reimagine Education-School connectivity and digital learning initiative in Nigeria in Lagos on December 2, 2022.

Photo: Peace Udugba

FROM

POLITICS

Attacks on INEC Facilities And Implication For 2023 General Election

Yakubu

BY AYO ESAN

The headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Iboko, Ebonyi State became the latest target of an attack by hoodlums, less than three months to the Presidential election.

Such repeated attacks on facilities belonging to the electoral umpire, especially in southern Nigeria, are giving many stakeholders cause for concern.

This latest incident was confirmed in a statement by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye.

According to Okoye, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ebonyi State, Mrs Onyeka Ugochi, reported that the incident occurred around 10.00 am when some unidentified persons set the entire building ablaze.

Okoye said that although no casualty was recorded in the attack, the main building, including all movable and immovable items, were destroyed.

He said the burnt items included 340 ballot boxes, 130 voting cubicles, 14 electric power generators, large water storage tanks, assorted office furniture and fixtures and yet to be determined quantities of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).

“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies has been drawn to the incident and investigation has commenced”, Okoye further disclosed.

He said, “sadly, this is the third attack on our local government office in less than three weeks, following similar attacks in Ogun and Osun States on November 10, 2022".

It would be recalled that two offices of INEC in Ogun and Osun States

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Baba

were recently attacked and set ablaze by suspected hoodlums.

Precisely, the hoodlums were said to have struck in the wee hours of the day, a Thursday, setting INEC offices at Iyana Mortuary, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on fire, while the Commission’s office in Ede South Local Government Area was attacked and some parts of the building burnt.

Speaking after the incidents, Festus Okoye described the spate of attacks on supporters of various political parties, since the commencement of electioneering about two months ago and the use of hate and incendiary language by some politicians as extremely disturbing.

He listed the items destroyed to include 904 ballot boxes, 29 voting

cubicles, 30 megaphones, 57 election bags, eight electric power generators and 65,699 uncollected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

It was gathered that the suspected hoodlums, numbering about eight, scaled the perimeter fence on the premises of the INEC building and set it on fire from the back.

They were said to have soaked loaves of bread in petrol and threw the same into the building at different angles. The security guard at the facility, Azeez Hamzat, was said to have made a distress call to the police around 1:00am, informing the police of the incident.

The police from Ibara division were said to have mobilised detectives to the scene, while contacting fire fighters, who raced to the scene to put out the fire.

The Registration Area Officer’s office and the conference room were affected by the inferno.

Continuing, Okoye also said the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, Dr Mutiu Agboke, reported that INEC’s office in Ede South Local Government Area was attacked and set ablaze.

According to him, the incident occurred in the early hours of the day. Fortunately, he said, “The damage to our Ede South Local Government Area office was limited to a section of the building and only some furniture items were destroyed.

“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force and other security and safety agencies has been drawn to the incidents and they have commenced investigation.

“With just 106 days to the 2023 General Election when the

He said, “sadly, this is the third attack on our local government office in less than three weeks, following similar attacks in Ogun and Osun States on November 10, 2022

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POLITICS

Attacks on INEC Facilities And Implication For 2023 General Election

Commission has commenced the movement of materials to our offices nationwide, these simultaneous attacks are very worrisome indeed,”, Okoye said.

Meanwhile, the Ogun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Niyi Ijalaye, has described the incident as shocking.

He said, “It is correct that our office was set on fire. The police are investigating. I do not know what to say. I’m in shock. We called the police and other security agencies at night. The fire brigade put the situation under control. The level of damage is still being assessed.

“It is very shocking and untoward. The security agencies are doing their very best. We are meeting again later today to come up with other strategies (toward securing our facilities).”

It would also be recalled that in 2021 INEC said it had recorded 41 deliberate attacks on its facilities across the country within two years of 2019 and 2020.

INEC Chairman, Yakubu said the attacks on the commission’s facilities should now be treated as a national security emergency.

He said that out of a total of 41 incidents involving deliberate attacks on the commission’s facilities, nine of them occurred in 2019 and 21 cases in 2020.

He further said that majority of the attacks (29 out of 41) were unrelated to election or electoral activities.

“In fact, 18 of them occurred during the #EndSARS protests in October 2020, while 11 attacks were organised by “unknown gunmen” and “hoodlums.”

Yakubu said that though the commission was assessing the loss of materials during recent attacks, its preliminary assessment so far indicated that it lost 1,105 ballot boxes, 694 voting cubicles, 429 electric generating sets and 13 utility vehicles (Toyota Hilux).

He said by working together with the security agencies, INEC could stop these attacks and the wanton destruction of critical electoral assets.

Observers believe that these attacks, which initially appeared as isolated and occasional actions, have now become more frequent and systematic, targeted at demobilising and dismantling critical electoral infrastructure in the country.

They also believe this is not only undermining the INEC’s capacity to organise elections and other electoral activities but will also damage the nation’s electoral process and democracy if it is not checked.

Worried by recent attacks on its facilities, INEC recently summoned an emergency security meeting under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), which INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, co-chairs with the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.).

At the emergency ICCES meeting, Yakubu said, “The Commission is worried that if no urgent and decisive steps are taken, the attacks will intensify as we approach the election date. As we all know, a peaceful campaign heralds a peaceful election. We need to take decisive steps to stem the ugly trend.”

As a body, Yakubu explained, ICCES brings together agencies responsible for securing the process and ensuring peaceful elections in Nigeria.

“Understandably, Nigerians expect decisive action from ICCES. It is important that we move swiftly to apprehend perpetrators, prosecute them as required by law and reinforce security around election officials and electoral infrastructure around the country,” he said.

With less than 90 days to the 2023 general election and despite commencing the movement of materials to its offices nationwide, INEC’s worries cannot be waved aside.

At the meeting, Monguno also read the riot act to those bent on disrupting the electoral process through the destruction of INEC facilities.

He said, “We’re all aware of the fact that as far as President Muhammadu Buhari is concerned, he is committed to upholding and safeguarding democracy. This is what the people want. The President has also given his directives through me to all the operational intelligence and law enforcement agencies to ensure that the 2023 general election is held in an atmosphere devoid of rancour.

“I want to send a very clear warning to those people who have gangsters working for them, a categorical and unequivocal warning to each and every one of them, regardless of which political party, including the ruling APC, they belong to, that as long as you decide

to scuttle the electoral process, the law enforcement agencies will equally be uninhibited in reacting to whatever actions you have taken,” he warned.

Also speaking on the incidents last week, INEC restated that the commission would recover from the attacks on its facilities.

Prof Yakubu made this disclosure on Tuesday while speaking at a retreat organised for resident electoral commissioners in Lagos.

He said, “In the last four months, five of our offices were attacked, buildings damaged, and materials destroyed across the country.

“It worrisome for us because we lost over 1990 ballot boxes, 399 voting cubicles, 24 generators, and quite a number of PVCs among many other items.

“These attacks must stop and the perpetrators prosecuted. Our responsibility is to conduct elections and I want to assure Nigerians that we will recover from these attacks and that the lost materials will be replaced.

“We will continue to work with security agencies, traditional and community leaders, and we’ll meaning Nigerians to stop the attacks. But the ultimate solution is to arrest and prosecute the culprits.

”One of the most painful is the recent attack in Ebonyi State. Staff relocated to the office on Friday and on Sunday the facility was attacked.

“We are confident that we will recover, but there’s a limit as to how much we can recover if the attacks continue within 86 days to the general elections.

“We are committed to ensuring that nothing will stop the election from going ahead as scheduled”.

Also, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has condemned in strong terms the penultimate Sunday’s attack on the INEC office in Ebonyi State by yet-to-be-identified arsonists.

The union warned that if not quickly tackled, the state of attacks on INEC facilities across the country is capable of adversely affecting the conduct of the 2023 general election.

The President of the union, Chris Isiguzo, stated this in Gombe on Tuesday at the opening of a two-day capacity building workshop for journalists and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the North-East zone on ‘Conflict Sensitive-Reporting, 2023 General Election and Countering Fake News’ organized by Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in conjunction with NUJ and INEC.

Isiguzo described the development as totally unacceptable, especially at a time Nigerians are preparing for a crucial election, just as he charged security agencies to rise to the occasion by ensuring adequate security for officials and facilities of the electoral body.

He said, “I want to condemn the recent arson attack on the INEC facility in Ebonyi State. This is totally unacceptable especially coming at a time Nigerians are preparing for a crucial election.

“I want to once more appeal to security agencies to up their game by providing adequate security for INEC officials and their facilities across the country. If there is any time the election management body and media professionals need adequate security, it is now. Anything short of this would adversely affect the 2023 general election.”

Observers are of the opinion that the damage being wrecked on the assets of electoral body infrastructure will impact negatively on its preparations for elections and that seems to be the objective of those behind the attacks.

Yakubu had warned last year that these attacks “are no longer freak events but appear to be quite orchestrated and targeted at INEC.”

He added that the violence on the commission’s property was, “targeted at demobilising and dismantling critical electoral infrastructure in the country” and to undermine INEC capacity to organise elections.

A careful appraisal of the attacks show particularly that they are of great consequences to the success of the forthcoming elections because the financial implications of replacing lost or damaged items under the present economic environment is huge.

Shortly before the 2019 general election, a two-container load of 4,695 smart card readers were destroyed along with other sensitive materials in a mysterious fire incident at the Anambra State headquarters of INEC. In May 2021 at Essien Udim Local Council of Akwa Ibom, some 345 ballot boxes, 135 voting cubicles, megaphones, water tanks and office furniture were razed. The culprits in these attacks were never caught.

INEC had in the past estimated that each card reader cost N167, 063 while each memory card cost N6,000. The cost will be much higher now, given the depreciation of the naira against foreign currencies. So, these attacks cannot be allowed to continue.

It is very important that the authorities, especially the security agencies, put in place measures that will forestall disruptions to upcoming electoral activities and safeguard the lives of innocent citizens.

“The implication of the targeted attacks is clear: If the Federal Government cannot protect strategic institutions like INEC, we may gradually be on our way to anarchy. While a combined technique of intelligence, law enforcement and special operations may help in containing the menace, it is also in the enlightened interest of our politicians to curb the attacks that could, if care is not taken, torpedo our democracy”, a political commentator recently said .

Politicians, political parties and other stakeholders in the electoral system should, therefore, note that political security is an integral component of national security and a threat to the political process is a threat to national security; to which the state is expected to respond robustly.

Effort should be sustained to ensure that security measures are constantly reviewed as we go into the next general election.

The promise given by the IGP, Alkali Baba, that it will ensure free, fair and credible elections should be sustained through action.

In the past, an Election Security Management Seminar was organised by the Police for security agencies, aimed at developing the capacity of security and law enforcement agencies to deal with the emerging electoral security threats. Also, the Department of State Services organised a Brainstorming Session with the media and CSOs ahead of the 2023 general elections. All these efforts should be sustained and people should be assured of their safety before, during and after the election.

With less than 90 days to the 2023 general election and despite commencing the movement of materials to its offices nationwide, INEC’s worries cannot be waved aside

“

Buhari

POLITICS

Osun And Task Before Adeleke

BY AYO ESAN

Penultimate Sunday, Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) was sworn-in as Governor of Osun State and he immediately hit the ground with some tough decisions.

Adeleke, who succeeded the former governor of the state, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, is from a very rich and influential political family in Osun State. His late father, Chief Raji Ayoola Adeleke, was a Nigerian politician, a labour activist and a senator in the Second Republic who represented Osun Senatorial District 11, comprising six local government areas —Ede, Osogbo, Irepodun, Ifelodun, Odo Otin, Ila Orangun – in the old Oyo State.

Also, the governor’s late senior brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke (Serubawon) was the first Executive Governor of Osun State. So observers in the state believe Governor Adeleke has a lot of political experience to lean on. In his acceptance speech, he acknowledged the enormous challenges and responsibilities ahead of him and promised to start working immediately with a deep sense of purpose to serve the people of Osun.

He said, “I promise that those expectations of the workers, traders, artisans, farmers, business owners, students, pensioners, traditional and religious leaders and indeed all residents of Osun State will be met by the grace of God and the cooperation of everyone.

“Under my watch as the Governor of Osun State, I will boldly correct all past injustice, corrupt acts or policies by any previous administration which are against the collective interest of our people.

“Your Governor will be a people’s Governor. I will be accessible, responsive, consultative and proactive in handling small and big matters of state governance.”

Looking at the task ahead in the area of education, he said, “It is disheartening to see our state at the bottom of the national educational ratings, especially in public primary and secondary schools examinations. My administration will reform the education sector with direct focus on the improvement of the learning environment and outcome. Our target is to reverse the poor performance of students in public examinations within the next few years.

“To achieve this target, we will prioritise in-service training and welfare of teachers, enhancement of school environment, entrenchment of discipline in the school system, as well as the involvement of the Parent-Teacher Association in our school system.

“Our administration will soon convene an emergency Education Conference to articulate our blueprint on the restoration of the state’s education glory.

“We regard as critical the need to boost wealth creation, job opportunities and food security through innovative agricultural reforms covering all the agricultural value chains.

“Aside the introduction of modern agricultural practices, we will shift attention to agriculture for export to take advantage of global markets.

“While we target agriculture export earnings, we will establish modern farmers' markets where producers and off takers can transact businesses.

“In our desire to diversify Osun economy, my administration will target the tourism sector to boost our GDP and create new jobs”.

Adeleke said Osun State is in need of urgent health attention. “Our government will give premium attention to improvement of the Primary Health care services. We will improve the working conditions of health workers and expand the coverage of our health insurance scheme. We plan to establish a standard diagnostic centre using the Public Private Partnership model and adopt measures that will retain medical practitioners in Osun State,” he said.

He pledged that his administration would guarantee local government autonomy in line with the Nigerian Constitution, with a view to making the third tier of government more responsible to the people at the grassroots.

Although the governor’s proposition looked attractive, he immediately took some actions that seemed too hasty, which later triggered opposition from the Osun State House of Assembly.

Political observers believed it was too early for the governor to attract the wrath of members of the All Progressives Congressdominated state assembly.

First he directed that a panel of inquiry be set up to probe last minute appointments and placements ordered by his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola. He also ordered a reversal of the state nomenclature from ‘State of Osun’ to Osun State and froze all state bank accounts with immediate effect.

It would be recalled that former Governor and current Minister of Interior, Engr. Rauf Aregbesola in 2011 changed the state’s name to State of Osun and changed its slogan from ‘State of the Living Spring’ to ‘State of the Virtue.’

However, Adeleke in his inaugural speech said that all injustice perpetrated by his predecessor would be corrected.

He said, “I, hereby, issue the following directives which will be backed up with appropriate Executive orders: Immediate freezing of all government accounts in banks and other financial institutions; an immediate reversal to the constitutionally recognised name of our state, Osun State. All government insignia, correspondences and signages should henceforth reflect Osun State rather than State of Osun, which is unknown to the Nigerian Constitution.”

Also, the governor ordered the establishment of a panel of inquiry to study and review appointments and placements of his predecessor from July 17, 2022 till date.

said that Oyetola maliciously started putting road blocks to make things difficult and almost impossible for the new administration to serve.

“Mass employment was carried out without budgetary provisions for salary payments for the new employees, even when the state was struggling to pay salaries and deliver other services. Various hurried and criminally backdated contracts were awarded and again without budgetary provisions.

“Appointments of several Obas were hurriedly done without following due process, just to mention a few.

“All efforts to get the governor set up a Transition Committee and submit hand-over notes in line with best practices proved abortive.

“It is, therefore, my desire to ask for your patience and understanding to give my administration a few weeks to review and sort out all the actions and malicious confusion which the immediate past administration has created since July 17, 2022. Those actions were indeed vindictive measures against the people of Osun State for voting them out of office.

“Immediate establishment of a panel to carry out an inventory and recover all government assets; An immediate establishment of a panel to review all appointments and major decisions of the immediate past administration taken after the 17th July, 2022.”

He said the appointment and employment made by the Adegboyega Oyetola administration would be reviewed to ensure legality and due process, stressing that nobody had been sacked, the executive order was misquoted.

However, in its response, the Osun State House of Assembly said it rejected the contents of the Executive Orders signed by the new helmsman.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Moshood Akande.

The assembly insisted that the state anthem, crest and flag were all backed by law, adding that their usage remains a matter of law and not optional.

The statement read, “The State of Osun House of Assembly having reviewed the inaugural speech of the governor and the activities of the inauguration hereby resolves as follows:

“The usage of the state anthem, crest and flag is an enactment of law and as such, its usage is a matter of law and not choice.

The enactment ‘State of Osun Anthem, Crest and Flag Law, 2012’ assented to on the 18th of December, 2012 contained in Schedule 1, Il, Ill, IV and V, which carefully details every component of this law is not in ambiguity.

“Schedule I is the State Anthem, Schedule I has to do with the state Crest, Schedule III is the symbolic significance of the symbolic significance of the element in the flag. Lastly, while we are aware of a court judgment in effect recognizing “Osun State”, the Assembly, pending the determination and exhaustion of all legal means, would not be drawn into this matter.

“However, the state shall and will continue to be described as the State of the Virtuous (Ipinle Omoluabi).”

The task before Adeleke now is how to navigate the state without incurring the wrath of the state assembly. The House, as presently constituted, has 23 APC members and three PDP members.

The APC governorship candidate, Oyetola, is already at the Election Petition Tribunal contesting the result of the last governorship election.

This will still give the APC members in the House the hope that the party may still reclaim the state from the PDP.

To avoid a logjam, Adeleke must use wisdom to court the favour of the House and not the wrath.

The governor’s attempt to rename the state may also anger Aregbesola’s supporters whose support contributed to Adeleke’s victory in the last governorship election.

“Adeleke needs to be cautious of the peculiarity of the situation on ground and he should take his steps slowly and carefully so as not to plunge the state into chaos”, a political commentator in the state, Alao Abdulkareem, warned while speaking with THEWILL.

He

He said that Oyetola maliciously started putting road blocks to make things difficult and almost impossible for the new administration to serve

“

Adeleke

POLITICS

Albert’s Conviction And His Supporters’ Infantile Blackmail

BY INIOBONG ITUEN

We woke up this morning to read a few poorly written articles couched, as usual, in blackmail and slavish devotion to lies and inaccuracies by certain suspected supporters of the convicted Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, otherwise known as OBA, notably Imo Udoima, who calls himself ‘The Informer’and whose main assignment has been to misinform, blackmail, grandstand and besmirch people’s hard- earned reputation to satisfy his maniacal loyalty to his political masters, Manfred Ekpe and others.

Udoima is not someone one should ordinarily join issues with because in the circle of the informed and those whose thoughts and actions matter in the larger scheme of things, he is more or less a court- jester, a man whose write-ups evoke derision because they lack the most basic element of journalism, which is objectivity and intellectual flourish.

I have heard people repeat the clichéd line “show me your friends and I will know who you are”. To them, it is rather shocking and bewildering for OBA to have picked these kinds of media advisers. The result has been the de-marketing of OBA and his ideals by the constant lies, insults, slander, blackmail and falsehood that emanate from the poisoned keyboards of these men against the enemies of his principal.

In his social media post this morning, Imo Udoima laboured in a laughable manner to ascribe the legal challenges that Senator Bassey Albert Akpan is currently experiencing to the machinations of the Akwa Ibom State Government. Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. This he even boldly acknowledged in the same write-up.

This is what he wrote, which in effect exonerates the involvement of the state government in the case. “It would be recalled that prior to the political heat of 2019, the case between OBA and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), initiated by Barrister Leo Ekpenyong in 2015, was revived in 2019” after what he stated in the write-up was OBA’s decision not to join Senator Godswill Akpabio in his new political journey. Leo Ekpenyong, to those who may not know, has taken the Government of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Udom Emmanuel to court severally on politicallymotivated matters that are still in court, and therefore, is NOT a friend of the government in any form, shape or manner.

The case between OBA and EFCC has had nothing to do with the State Government. It was pure and simple a prosecution and eventual conviction executed by the EFCC. The case against OBA was weighty and the evidence presented was overwhelming. His defence team was, to say the least, incapable of overcoming the mountain of evidence and testimonies of witnesses, when cross-examined. This is the fact of the case, pure and simple.

Imo Udoima, in his laboured attempt to link his phantom involvement of the state government in the conviction of OBA, went a great length to manufacture blatant falsehood, when he mentioned the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekerete Udoh, a man universally acknowledged as a fine gentleman, who goes about his duties in the best traditions expected of his office and maliciously stated that he had “arranged one of the photographers attached to the Office of the Deputy Governor to accompany EFCC officials in their tinted bus with the instruction that he should station himself inside the tinted bus and take pictures of OBA in chain while being taken to prison.”

The above statement is false and totally malicious. Udoima, here clearly advertised his ignorance on how the Press

Affairs Unit in Government House functions. The CPS to the Governor has over 40 members in the Press Corps that report and take instructions directly from him, amongst them several photographers. He therefore, did not need to “arrange one of the photographers attached to the Office of the Deputy Governor”, to take pictures of OBA as he exited the court. That, right there, is a lie from the pit of hell. Imo Udoima, knows this, but he maliciously still went ahead to manufacture the falsehood against the fine gentleman, who has been practicing journalism in the best of traditions both in Nigeria and in the United States, simply to smear his professional bonafides. Very sad!

Secondly, by maligning the integrity of the EFCC and its capacity to carry out its statutory responsibilities, Udoima should be ready to tell the world, when, as should be expected, the EFCC goes after him, to prove when such an arrangement was made to attach a photographer to the EFCC in their “ tinted bus”.

He should be ready to mention the name of the photographer. Failing to do so, he should be ready to face the wrath of the EFCC. He is essentially accusing a federal agency that reports to the Attorney-General of the Federation as being compromised. This is not a matter the EFCC would treat with levity. Manufacturing blatant falsehood in order to smear the hardwork of the men and officers of the EFCC should not be explained away lightly as Imo Udoimah has done. He must be ready to provide the evidence.

It is a fact that we are in a political season where falsehoods and blatant lies are peddled, but such peddlers of falsehood should be ready to defend their actions when called upon to do so. Imo Udoima knows the Government of Akwa Ibom State has no hands in the legal travails of OBA; he knows that Governor Udom Emmanuel has in the last seven years plus, ignored all the insults, slander, blackmail and morally objectionable falsehood that have been manufactured against his government.

No one, and I repeat, no one has been killed, no one has been kidnapped. The Governor has no iota of interest in OBA’s legal woes.

Udoima and his ilk should be busy explaining to the world the depth of malfeasance that led to the conviction of his principal by the EFCC, instead of engaging in a blame game.

But while he is at it, he should be ready to prove to the EFCC, when the falsehood he has peddled against the Agency took place.

•Iniobong Ituen, a public affairs commentator, writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Focus on Issue-Based Campaigns Not Defamation, LP Urges Parties

The Labour Party has advised political parties in Nigeria to focus on issue-based campaigns rather than engage in defaming others for publicity.

Mr. Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the party at a news conference on the state of the nation in Abuja.

Baba-Ahmed said that the acts of insulting and defaming others were violations of the peace accord signed by political parties.

“It is not too late to adopt LP’s style of strictly campaigning on relevant practical national issues, while respecting individuals and institutions,” he said.

He said that the LP Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, was a successful businessman before joining politics.

“Obi is a two term governor and a former Vice-Presidential Candidate before he moved to the LP, as the Presidential Candidate enjoying tremendous goodwill and overwhelming support of the people.

“In the squabble for second and third positions, some erstwhile major

political parties appear to have crossed the boundaries of decency to transgress our peaceful activities and our focus on political schedules.

“On Sept. 29 an eminent group of statesmen under the aegis of the National Peace Committee, brought together all the Presidential Candidates to sign a Peace Accord, which represents an agreed code of conduct for the 2023 Presidential Election.

“It is unfortunate that in spite of the noble objectives of this initiative, disinformation and misinformation about the LP and its candidates have become fashionable in this election season,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed added:“Recently, for example there was a false narrative being spread nationwide that Mr. Peter Obi is against the production of oil in the north; nothing could be farther from the truth.”

He said that that was not true about Obi as he has repeatedly stated at various local and international fora that the greatest physical asset of Nigeria was the vast rich land in the North.

He said that Obi declared his commitment to exploit same as a visionary transformative leader to exploit same for the overwhelming

benefit of the Nigerian people.

“To the architect of ‘consumption to production’, oil in the North means more revenue for development, more jobs and opportunities,” he said.

Baba-Ahmed said that earlier attempts to discredit the Obi’s candidacy through fabricated allegations of demolition of mosques, internal deportation of Northerners, issuance of ID cards to northerners and ethic hostilities were all conclusively proven to be false and without basis.

He called on politicians who had made negative and bad comments to pull down or demean others to respectfully retract same in order to be readmitted to the honour list of esteemed presidential candidates.

“Truth of the matter is that every Nigerian from anywhere needs a credible and competent President. Simple.”

Baba-Ahmed said the party was also concerned about the fate of areas designated by security agencies as ungoverned spaces which contain legally delineated polling units.

Albert

Resolving Israeli Arab Conflict: A Nigerian-American Filmmaker’s Approach

The Jewish Arab conflict in the Middle East has defied resolution for decades since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Political actors and senior citizens on both sides of the divide have taken sides correspondingly: Arabs want their occupied homelands back but the Israelis are unyielding. Diplomats from across the world wring their hands in frustration, making it seem as if there’s no end to the mutual suspicion and belligerence of the warring parties in the region. But after ten years of filming and talking to people in two border towns – Gaza and Sderot prime zones of the conflict – Nigerian-American filmmaker, writer and director, Ose Oyamendan, seems to be chalking up unimagined successes where politicians and diplomats have failed. Screened last October, “Aswat Acherim Other Voices,” the result of his documentary, has got the rest of the world listening and applauding, as THEWILL found out.

As a 10-year-old living in Ibadan in the seventies, Ose Oyamendan romped on the football field with some Israeli Jewish and Lebanese Arab kids who were slightly older than him. Like most pre-teens in the same neighbourhood, life was carefree. They related as friends with a common interest: soccer.

At the time, the conflict between Israel and the Arabs had been raging for decades. Far from the ever combustible region in the Middle East and safely ensconced in their homes in the ancient city in South west Nigeria, the kids seemed unmindful of the never-ending conflict back in their natal countries. But once they returned from vacation in Israel or Palestine to Nigeria, the formerly comradely youngsters kept to themselves: Not only did they stop playing football together, they stopped talking to one another possibly mirroring the mutually suspicious and belligerent adults in their respective countries.

According to Ose in a recent podcast interview with The Times of Israel, he was “struck by it.” His mother explained to him that the “kids where coming off age. But I didn’t understand why something on the other side of the world would affect us here.”

Of course, this strange behaviour of his formerly friendly Jewish and Arab playmates in Nigeria naturally piqued his interest as a journalist. What to do? Write a story about two kids who became friends playing football in Jerusalem – one from the East and the other from the West. Ose had never been to Jerusalem when he wrote his story “Other Voices” nor did he ever think he would visit anytime soon.

In the same podcast interview, the anchor, Jessica Steinberg, summarises “Other Voices” as a “documentary about very unlikely friends in Gaza and Sderot with several protagonists in this story. Obviously, it is a documentary but it also has a very strong storyline…the Israeli activists who persevered in their friendships and their desires to find a way through this conflict that is certainly far from over.”

In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for the premiere last October, and now on Amazon Prime, Ose told Jessica how his coming to Israel years ago was simply coincidental. His journey to the Middle East began from

“I did what a poor filmmaker would do. I have these other jobs that I do, so when I have enough money, I put enough money together to get the crew to come and film, because I wanted to have my very independent, my own observation. And I also decided that I want to know how true these people are

the most unlikely place and under the most unlikely circumstance. For some reason, the Nigerian-American found himself in Haiti soon after the earthquake of 2010.

Ever in search of man-made tragedies or natural calamities which the Caribbean country is in abundant supply of, international cable news media outfits such as ABC and CNN nosed it to Haiti for coverage of the earthquake that convulsed the island nation. Ose particularly recalls meeting Anderson Cooper of CNN in the hotel he was staying in Haiti, about the only facility with electricity supply for five or six hours daily. So, some of the newshounds asked to use Ose’s computer to dispatch their news to their headquarters in good time. “I didn’t think I was approachable,” Ose told the interviewer. But then, he obliged newsmen.

Among those in Haiti not for news coverage but on a rescue mission was an Israeli NGO that never wanted to be identified as such. It was not hard to see why: now cast as aggressors in occupied territories in the Middle East, very much like Hitler’s genocidal action against the Jews in late 30s to mid-forties Europe, the Israeli NGO feared they

might lose their funding. Even so, Ose showed the newsmen and the NGO crew the story he’d written. He wanted them to help with the geographical accuracy of the setting in his story since he’d never been to Israel.

They loved it. Thus began his journey to the Middle East, specifically the border towns of Gaza and Sderot.

Of course, there were bureaucratic bottlenecks from both the Israelis and Gazans, the filmmaker got his pass nonetheless. For one, he didn’t even know he needed a pass to enter both territories. What has a black person from Nigeria got do with the age-old confrontations in the benighted region? In the end, Ose got his way and began meeting and speaking with activists from both sides, using soccer and not politics as a unifying factor. They fell for it and, so, opened up to the filmmaker, with neighbours gleefully recalling the glorious times they had with one another before the crisis. There was one caveat from Ose though: No talk about politics, just the story of their lives without the divisive politics.

Possibly taking a cue from two great documentarians Akira Kurosawa and Sergei Eisenstein who gave an indelible stamp of originality to their works by filming characters in their true nature, Ose met, spoke with and filmed the subjects of his documentary in the same manner. Nothing was contrived. It was hearing and filming the characters in their own natural state without the meddlesome politics.

The filmmaker himself admitted as much to Jessica: “People on different sides of a story find a way not to talk to each other.” But “when you take the politics out of it, it’s a very strong human story.”

In Jessica’s intro during the interview with Ose, she mused that the film “brings viewers to the unexpected and unusual peace efforts and unwavering friendship between residents of Sderot, Israel and Gaza as the two bordering nations endure ongoing war, animosity and conflict.” Continuing, she insists that Ose has “gotten to know his protagonists well, learning how they cope with living in the region and experiencing some of their life as well.”

If the filmmaker had sourced for funds from individuals or organisations, he may or may not have gotten some financial assistance. He did not! From conception to funding and shooting, the story idea remained basically his. “It’s very tough to get financing for something like this,” he told The Times of Israel. “I did what a poor filmmaker would do. I have these other jobs that I do, so when I have enough money, I put enough money together to get the crew to come and film, because I wanted to have my very independent, my own observation. And I also decided that I want to know how true these people are.”

Of course, filming for that long in the volatile region would have presented some difficulties to Ose and his crew: hostile and reluctant interviewees, for instance, or rockets fired from either side of the combatants roaring overhead and falling on those below. True, the filmmaker claimed he actually “busted a knee” on one occasion. There was also the problem of language. He didn’t speak Arabic and most of the characters he interviewed and filmed didn’t speak English.

But one of the initial obstacles he had to overcome started right from the airport in Israel. “Where are you going?” “I am going to Sderot,” Ose told the airport officials. “Are you crazy?” Of course, the interpretation was not lost on the filmmaker, considering the volatility of the region. But like most committed creative types ever pushing the envelope, Ose replied that “I just feel like we had to get the story of these people trying in their own little way, to live a normal life in a place like this right now.”

Ose also had to contend with some who felt uncomfortable with his project. By his own admission, “I came against a lot of opposition, but I try not to look at the opposition as opposition. I look at it as people expressing their opinion. And one of the things that we do take for granted in the free parts of the world is the fact that we are able to have an opinion. And it’s a great thing. A lot of people die so we can have opinions, we can speak, that we can vote and do all sorts of things. So if you come to me and say, I don’t agree with this, and I say, yes, it’s fine not to agree with it, but do listen, watch the film, listen to the other side.”

*Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

When Ministers Speak in 'Coded' Language

The resolution of the recent spat between the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, and her Finance, Budget and National Planning counterpart, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, over alleged N206 billion budget padding, through 'coded' language, is unbecoming of ministers in the Muhammadu Buhari Administration. A whopping N206 billion project inserted into the budget of a ministry with seven parastatals without the knowledge of the Supervising Minister cannot be explained away as a coded project.

The Humanitarian Affairs minister was apparently embarrassed when members of the Senate Committee on Special Duties insinuated that the 2023 budget of her Ministry, which she was defending, had been padded by N206 billion. Hajia Farouq, who has always been tongue-lashed by critics over the humongous amount claimed to have been spent on the School Feeding Programme, therefore had no choice than to initially call out the Finance minister for the alleged misdemeanour.

Clearly distancing herself from the act which has always become synonymous with most ministries, the Humanitarian Affairs minister had demanded an explanation in order to save her face. The controversy generated by that development and the manner in which it was explained away and eventually justified is not only tantamount to giving another name for padding but also a blow to the much-avowed and highly flaunted anti-corruption stance of the Buhari Administration.

Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Ministry of

Finance, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, while defending the whopping sum, said the minister, Ahmed, had dismissed the budget padding allegation, saying the N206 billion was an oversight. According to the minister, the N206 billion was for the National Social Safety Nets Project funded by the World Bank and domiciled in the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry.

And in a surprising volte-face, Farouq also claimed that the ministry requested some projects for the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) and the National Social Safety Net Project in the 2022 budget, which were not released.

According to Farouq, her ministry was shocked to see the money inserted by 10 times in the proposed 2023 budget for her ministry.

“Yes, we made mention of the projects for 2022, which was not released, and part of it was for the NEDC. The money was not released and now we have seen it recurring by almost 10 folds. We are also going to clarify from the Ministry of Finance to know the reason for this increase, despite the fact that the previous year the money was not even released for the project. So, we will get the details and then send them to you on that," she had told the committee.

Apparently singing the same tune to explain away the coded project, as it relates to the National Safety Net Project, Farouq said: “These projects are under the National Social Safety Net, the conditional cash transfer, the updating of the national social register and the rapid response register as well to cushion the effect of inflation. This is all I can say for this. I cannot give full details of how this amount is going to be utilised because it is something that was negotiated between the Ministry of Finance and World Bank.”

Interestingly, the initial hullabaloo over the alleged budget padding

has simply been toned down and the controversial project initially thought to have been wrongly inserted into the budget has simply been explained away. But not many Nigerians are fooled by these antics as political office holders have a way of generating funds to deploy to their parties especially in a pre- election year.

For a fact, the finance minister has recently been exhibiting an attitude that does not portray her as a team player in the Muhammadu Buhari Administration, despite occupying one of the most important Federal Government Ministries in the country.

Not too long ago, the same minister caused an uproar when she claimed that her ministry knew nothing about the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)'s plan to redesign the Naira as she requested the Senate Committee to ask the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, for explanation.

Interestingly, the initial hullabaloo over the alleged budget padding has simply been toned down and the controversial project initially thought to have been wrongly inserted in the budget has been explained away. But not many Nigerians are fooled by these antics as political office holders have a way of generating funds to deploy to their parties, especially in a pre- election year

Distancing herself from the action of the same government, of which she is a part, does not portray her in good light and trying to disassociate herself from an action that has the support of President Buhari is like trying to commit a political suicide as she may be seen not to be in support of the action of a government of which she is a part. The latest case involving her ministry and the Humanitarian Affairs ministry is yet another pointer to the fact that the ministers seem to be singing discordant tunes as they appear not to be in agreement on issues of national importance.

The allegation of being responsible for the padding of the budget of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry is therefore grave and an indictment on her office despite the denial and should not be explained away by any coded language. More worrisome is the simple fact of not carrying the Supervising Minister of the ministry concerned along in whatever has been planted in the budget of that ministry.

For the avowed fight against corruption, which the Buhari Administration has been struggling with since inception to be taken seriously, transparency must be the watchword, especially among public office holders .

How Southern Kaduna Can Navigate 2023

BY DANJUMA MUSA

It is on record that late Senator Isaiah Balat was a very influential, strategic and pragmatic politician. He was the consummate politician. The astute Balat used his network to pave the way for the smooth emergence of Ahmed Makarfi as the Kaduna State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999.

Balat also contributed financially towards Makarfi’s eventual victory in the 1999 general elections. For his tremendous contribution and efforts, he was duly rewarded with a ministerial position by President Olusegun Obasanjo on the strong recommendation of Makarfi, ahead of Professor Ango Abdullahi, who was only compensated with an advisory position.

Balat’s sterling achievement was an eloquent statement that political networking and financial contribution to the victory of a political party and the candidate are very critical in the calculus for political appointments and patronage. Political rewards, to use the computer language, is garbage in,and garbage out.

Balat clearly understood these basic political facts and never hesitated to deploy his contacts and deep pocket towards advancing the political interest of his beloved Southern Kaduna and Kaduna State in general. He was also instrumental in helping the then Governor Namadi Sambo, emerge as the Vice President of Nigeria after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the subsequent elevation of his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, to the Presidential seat.

It is very important to stress that Balat achieved these feats. He built bridges across the country and bluntly refused to be seen as a local champion. He was a man of immense drive and ability. No obstacle was insurmountable to Balat, once he sets his mind to achieving any objective.

Balat became the president of the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, organisers of the famous Kaduna International Trade Fair, not by an accident, but because he had earned the trust of stakeholders. Balat was a big player in the oil and gas sector, a shareholder in many publicly quoted companies and a major player in real estate development.

Southern Kaduna has big decisions to make, regarding its political direction in the 2023 elections, because of the consequences of a wrong one. The area has since 1999 been loyal to the PDP, which lost power to the APC at the national and Kaduna State levels in 2015. Will Southern Kaduna, again opt for the grave danger

of four more years with the PDP, in its political wilderness or would it develop a new pragmatic political arithmetic?

Thankfully, Southern Kaduna has proven several times in the past that it has the capacity to successfully navigate the 2023 governorship election, like it did in 1999, when its elites chose the PDP over the defunct APP, and planted itself with the party which went on to dominate the state for the next 16 years.

Like in 1999, the way forward for Southern Kaduna in 2023, is to warmly embrace the APC and reject the PDP.

If only Southern Kaduna elites will decide to elevate and define the interest of the area beyond the narrow interest of a few, it will surprise cynics by overwhelmingly voting for Senator Uba Sani, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in what will be a fundamental reset of relationship between it and the rest of the state. It is thus incumbent on the elites to show leadership by looking forward to the future with optimism.

There are several 'Isaiah Balats’, who can engage with Senator Uba Sani, to ensure that Southern Kaduna interests would be adequately addressed under his administration. But they have to deliver to be in a position to benefit.

Nasir El-Rufai, who they seem to have issues with, is not on the ballot. Southern Kaduna should and can do business with the APC governorship candidate, Uba Sani, like Isaiah Balat did with Markarfi, which laid the foundation for the several appointments the area enjoyed.

El-Rufai’s several efforts to reach out since 2014 to date were thwarted by some Southern Kaduna elites, for their selfish reasons. He was largely ignored because they sold a lie to themselves and the people that he would be defeated,which hasn’t happened and is not likely to in 2023.

Senator Danjuma Laah and some of his co-travellers, who ought to have championed an engagement with El-Rufai, opted for confrontation because it guaranteed them continous political relevance to the detriment of the larger interests of the area.

Southern kaduna should negotiate with Senator Uba Sani, whose chances of winning the 2023 election are very bright, like Balat single handedly negotiated the deal with Makarfi, which led to the ministerial position being zoned to Southern Kaduna.

Makarfi, it must be emphasised, didn’t do Southern Kaduna any favour. It was a deal, a classic case of rubmy-back and I-rub-yours. The area needs another far sighted Balat who can negotiate with Uba Sani. ElRufai,is past.

Southern Kaduna voters must note that the PDP of today, is so fragmented and damaged that it cannot offer any serious challenge to the ruling APC, which has shown a great desire to win at the centre and in Kaduna State. If the area, decides to cast its lot with the PDP, it will no doubt be a strategic error.

Will Southern Kaduna again queue behind Isa Ashiru Kudan, the PDP candidate, who was roundly defeated in the 2019 election? Are the elites comfortable with the fact that Isa Ashiru’s secondary school result (WAEC), would not stand up to a rigorous judicial scrutiny, in the unlikely event of his victory?

Presently, Isa Ashiru is in court with Prof. Mohammed Bello, who in 2019 accused him of allegedly parading forged result. The Electoral law and the Constitution, are very clear that a candidate for any elective position doesn’t have to pass WAEC, it however frowns at doctored results.

Some Southern Kaduna elites are regrettably misleading the gullible ones, that the Deputy Governorship candidate, Dr John Ayuba would benefit from Isa Ashiru’s disqualification, which is a blatant lie. Being a joint ticket, both of them will fall.

Douye Diri is governor of Bayelsa State because he benefitted from the disqualification of David Lyon, the APC governorship candidate. Lyon's election was quashed by the Supreme Court, a day before his swearing in, because his deputy, Degi-Eremieoyo presented forged certificates for the election.

Politics is about interest. The critical question that Southern Kaduna elites must honestly ask themselves is, between Uba Sani and Isa Ashiru who will best serve the interest of the zone? For instance, despite representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Uba Sani attracted an ICT centre to the College of Education, Kafanchan and has equally thrown his weight behind the actualisation of the Federal University, Manchok. Will the 2023 elections be another case of the Southern Kaduna elite pushing the area into political irrelevance,or will they build bridges of inclusion? Only time will tell.

•Musa writes from Kaduna.

Adams Oshiomhole’s Litany of Betrayals

BY ILEOGBEN OKAIMA

Watching Adams Oshiomhole talk of betrayal must be puzzling for anyone who has followed the paths of the former union leader-turnedpolitician.

Oshiomhole’s very first steps in politics were shadowed with the shocking betrayal of a man who helped to form the Labour Party, but at the first opportunity, betrayed the very party he helped to found.

Well, one would not talk of the several betrayals of the labour movement with the repeated mobilisations for strike that were normally called off at the last minute. Indeed, Adams Oshiomhole must think Edo people have forgotten, twice, how he betrayed the Igbinedions, who brought him from political obscurity to Government House and political prominence.

Capt Hosa Wells Okunbo, may be late, but your betrayal of him remains evergreen within the Edo political class, especially in Edo South. When you needed a second tenure and Edo South votes, you made promises to them about your successor in office from amongst them and yet betrayed them.

Have you not betrayed the Owans from your Senatorial District by running for Senate when they are supposed

to produce the 2023 Senatorial candidate and you had promised it was their turn? Do not be in a hurry to think otherwise, because Edo State citizens cannot forget your betrayal in a hurry.

Think back and remind yourself of the pact you had with PDP that saw you win your second election as an ACN governor. Did you not betray PDP? In your Party, APC, did you not betray Odigie Oyegun, who you had promised to support his chairmanship election, only for you to turn around and contest the same position against him?

What was your promise to President Buhari on Governors Ambode and Obaseki? Was it not that they’d both be given tickets for a second tenure? Did you not also betray your words? Senility must be responsible for your selective forgetfulness, but we will keep on reminding you.

It is the height of imbecility, the argument that a man after office supported his wife to run for another elective office, as if their State is populated by just the two of them.

It is rather unfortunate that a man, who headed the Labour Union for years, was a governor for eight years, and today is aspiring to speak on behalf of his Senatorial District, can’t support the candidacy of a man whose mental acuity is questionable.

Well, when we remember that Oshiomhole was disgraced out of office when his presidential candidate was his godfather, we can fathom his idiotic support.

Atiku Abubakar is not running with your funds, neither is he looking for your vote in particular. One would have thought that at almost eighty years of age, you would have dropped your garrulous behaviour. Same irrational behaviour that saw you abuse Pastor Ize Iyamu and four years later, lick your vomit.

Same unstable character that made you foist Obaseki on Edo State, only four years after singing another tune. In 2023, you’d still lick the bile you’re pouring on Atiku Abubakar.

For the records, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, Jesus Christ is the only one you have not insulted. Of course you have betrayed him serially as evidenced in your betrayal of almost every person you’ve had dealings with.

Rather than waste your time shading Atiku Abubakar, spend your time more with your young wife or are the rumours true?

•Dr Okaima writes from Benin City, Edo State.

BY SAM DIALA

The milestone attained in the implementation of the Race-To-$200 billion (RT 200) programme points to the success story ahead as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intensifies efforts towards realising the objective.

The programme is aimed at raising $200 billion FX earnings through non-oil proceeds over the next three to five years as the exporters are incentivized to repatriate their export proceeds to boost foreign exchange supply.

Addressing the audience at the second edition of the RT200 Export Summit held at Eko Hotels, Lagos, on November 29, 2022, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, disclosed that a total of $4.987 billion had been repatriated into the country in 2022 by non-oil exporters. This figure is 56.4 percent higher than the $3.19 billion repatriated in 2021.

The programme includes a Non-Oil Exports Proceeds Repatriation Rebate Scheme, which incentivises exporters in the non-oil sector to repatriate and sell export proceeds in the official FX market. Under the scheme, CBN pays rebate of N65 for every dollar repatriated and sold in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window to authorised dealer banks for third party use.

The CBN also pays rebate of N35 for every dollar repatriated and sold into I&E for own use for eligible transactions only, provided the spread is not more than 10 kobo.

Emefiele said CBN has paid out a total sum of N81 billion to exporters in 2022 as rebates for repatriating their export proceeds in line with the RT 200 FX policy. The rebate policy was borne out of the need to develop new strategies aimed

at earning more suitable and sustainable inflows of forex in order to insulate the Nigerian economy from shocks and FX shortages.

With this milestone, Emefiele said that a total of $4.987 billion will have been repatriated into the country by non-oil exporters in 2022 higher than the $3.19 billion repatriated in 2021.

Giving a breakdown of the figures, he said only $1.966 billion qualified for the rebate programme, and that only $1.559 billion was sold at the I & E window or for own use.

“The CBN has also paid out about N81 billion in rebates to hard-working Nigerian exporters. This is a testament to the resolve of the CBN to ensure quick acceleration of the export value chain in the country”, he said.

The transparency and success of the scheme in its nine months of operation has attracted the interest of exporters in other areas who wish to be included in the scheme as Emefiele disclosed at the event.

He said, “We are already getting feedback from Banks of interest by exporters in adding value to the products they export to allow them to benefit from the program. We are happy that this is happening, and we encourage more exporters to find ways to add value to their exports so that they can benefit not only from the scheme but get better value for their exports.”

From Emefiele’s speech, it was fulfilling that an aspect of

Yuletide

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

There is an indication that Nigerians travelling by air this season are in for one of the most expensive pricing regimes in local airfares. This is because the airfares have increased in the last few months due to scarcity of forex and high cost of Jet A1,

among other factors. The situation is further worsened by the fact that there is always the prevalence of rush for the travelling public in December and early part of January, resulting from events

ontrary to an unsubstantiated report circulating on the internet, Access Bank Plc has not launched any Bitcoin bank or introduced a cryptocurrency product. A statement by the Bank’s management dissociated the financial institution from the information pushed out by a fictitious webpage.

Ogbonna

Emefiele

Yuletide Demand Spikes Ticket Costs by 100% Amid Disruptions

capital. In addition to that, the airline has also reintroduced the Port Harcourt Garden City Express.

While Dana Air has equally announced the resumption of its Abuja to Owerri, Enugu, Air Peace has already resumed Uyo operations.

Despite these efforts by domestic airlines, airfares offered by the local operators have doubled and cost an average of N100,000 for less than an hour flight.

A survey of the current airfares showed a slightly varying price range across the airlines and routes. On average, Economy Class one-way tickets on all routes, subject to seat availability, that were earlier sold for N35,000 were on the airlines’ website quoted between N55,000 and N74, 000 as of December 3, 2022.

For instance, Ibom Air Lagos-Abuja Economy flight tickets that used to sell for less than N50, 000 before were sold from N55, 000 to N74, 000 on December, 2, 2022. Its same route on December 3 went for N55, 000 to N96, 000.

THEWILL NEWSPAPER • www.thewillnigeria.com

ICT/FINANCE

RT 200 FX: Emefiele’s Scorecard Signals Optimism For FX Inflow

Continued from page 32

the challenges against export promotion has been tackled, that is inadequate processes and poor quality standards that make Nigerian exports unattractive. The attention now paid to the development of processes and infrastructure for improving trade performance is commendable, as the CBN boss confirmed that “we have recorded some achievements in automation and digitization of the trade processes.”

“As of today, SONCAP, NAFDAC, and Marine insurance certificates are automated and fully integrated with the Trade Monitoring System. In addition, we are working with the Quarantine Service to integrate their permits and certificates into the system, and very soon, the NPA eCall Up System will also be integrated.

“

marking the festive season.

Consequently, local airline operators have made moves to meet the envisaged high passenger demand during the Yuletide when passenger traffic more than double that of the previous months.

For instance, almost all the airlines in the country have started acquiring more aircraft to meet the expected surge in passenger movement.

Arik Air, Air Peace, Dana Air, United Nigeria, and others have injected more aircraft in their fleet. Even those who were not in operation have equally hastened up to restart operations in order to take part of the market share at this peak period.

While Value Jet joined the league of local operators a few months ago, Nigeria’s oldest carrier, Aero Contractors, which closed shop five months ago, will return to the skies on December 5, 2022. The airline, according to the management, is coming back with six aircrafts.

Beyond fleet expansions, most of the local airlines have also increased their routes randomly.

Arik Air recently resumed daily flights from Lagos and Abuja to Owerri, the Imo state

Despite these efforts by domestic airlines, airfares offered by the local operators have twice doubled and cost an average of N100,000 for less than an hour flight

Air Peace Lagos-Abuja as at December 2, sold for N65, 000 to N100, 000 depending on the time. Also in the same airline, AbujaIlorin went for N100, 000 while Lagos-Ilorin went for N82, 000 as at 3rd December, 2022.

Added to the high cost of airfares is the imminent flight disruptions expected at the end of this year and beginning of 2023.

Already, airline operators and travellers have been put on the alert for the most likely impact of Harmattan Haze on air travel by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

The agency had a few weeks ago warned of disruption of flight operations due to the onset of harmattan in some parts of the country.

The agency in its forecast said air turbulence, bird strikes would combine to cause flight delays and cancellations.

According to the advisory signed by the General Manager, Public Relations of the Agency, Muntari Ibrahim, airline operators should plan adequately for fuel as the amount of fuel consumed by the aircraft would be more this

The Director-General of NCAA, Capt Musa Nuhu, told THEWILL that there is always a rush for the travelling public in December. He said that while the airlines that put the necessary measures in place, airport operators and NCAA ensure that proper mitigating measures are put in place to facilitate operations during the Yuletide.

On flight delays and cancelations, Capt Nuhu said, "Flight cancellations can come from many reasons. I am not making excuses for any operator. Sometimes, you have technical problems, weather and other disruptions, which affect the flight schedules and sometimes, the airlines. Their planning is not the best. So, we work with everybody. It is not just the airlines; the airlines are part of the ecosystem in the airport. Whenever we are in the Yuletide, there is a surge in passenger traffic that may be beyond the terminal’s capacity.

"That one also has an impact on the departure of an airline. Sometimes, the handlers are overloaded. It will have an impact on the plan of the airline. So, we are doing our best to mitigate the challenges," he said.

Other enhancements that have been done with eNXP include integration with SGD and the development of the PIA portal aimed at digitising the process of issuing Clean Certificates of Inspection (CCIs) by PIAs and ease of scheduling of inspection by exporters. According to Emefiele, all these were made possible because of the interest shown and the commitment made by the stakeholders towards the success of the programme.

It was a fallout of the challenge thrown up by Emefiele at the first summit held on June 16, 2022 at the same venue when he stressed that the meeting must be a problem-solving one.

At that earlier event, Emefiele said “I am delighted to see that many of the agencies, businesspeople, financiers, and practitioners in the non-oil export space in Nigeria are present here. While I warmly welcome you all to this event, my hope is that this would be a problem-solving gathering.

“A summit that will guarantee that for every complaint, problem, issue, challenge or difficulty that is presented or identified, there will be one or several agencies or practitioners that can articulate options for solving that problem.

I strongly believe that the ideas harnessed from this maiden summit would be invaluable in helping us reach our ultimate goal of US$200 billion in non-oil exports over the medium term.”

The RT200 FX programme has five components: The key anchors are Value-Adding Exports Facility; Non-Oil Commodities Expansion Facility; Non-Oil FX Rebate Scheme; Dedicated Non-Oil Export Terminal and Biannual Non-Oil Export Summit.

A commodity exporter, Johnson Kelechi, said the determination of the CBN Governor in driving the RT 200 programme leaves no room for a guesswork. He told this newspaper that convening the biannual summit within 166 days of the introduction of the

scheme is a conviction that the scheme is destined to succeed, notwithstanding the skepticism that has trailed it among the stakeholders.

The non-oil sector has witnessed significant growth in recent times as the oil sector declines. According to the National Bureau of Statistics Q3 2022 GDP report, the sector grew by 4.27 percent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q3 2022). This rate was lower by 1.18\ percent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2021 and 0.50 percent points lower than the second quarter of 2022.

The report showed that the sector was driven in the third quarter of 2022 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication); Trade; Transportation (Road Transport); Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Agriculture (Crop Production) and Real Estate, accounting for positive GDP growth. In real terms, the non-Oil sector contributed 94.34 percent to the nation’s GDP in the third quarter of 2022, higher than the share recorded in the third quarter of 2021 which was 92.51 percent and higher than the second quarter of 2022 recorded as 93.67 percent.

The government has been battling challenges at the nation’s ports which have hindered efficient export processes. This prompted the introduction of dedicated ports under the RT 200 programme. The construction and establishment of a dedicated Non-Oil Export Terminal, a third anchor of the RT 200 Programme, is designed in recognition of the perennial problems of port congestion, which exporters cited as a major impediment to improved operations and foreign exchange earnings.

…it was fulfilling that an aspect of the challenges against export promotion has been tackled, that is inadequate processes and poor quality standards that make Nigerian exports unattractive

Nuhu

Access Bank Disowns Fake News Link With Crypto Platform

The article shows the photographs of the Managing Director, Mr Roosevelt Ogbonna, illicitly downloaded from Access Bank’s social media pages and then manipulated to fit the misleading narrative being promoted in the bogus article.

“The quotes also attributed to Mr Ogbonna in the contrived interview are also completely false”, the disclaimer reads.

“For the record, at no time did Mr Ogbonna grant any interview on the subject of a Bitcoin bank or made any comment on cryptocurrency business. Access Bank continues to maintain its absolute commitment to excellent practices in accordance with the laws of Nigeria.”

The statement said the bank is cooperating with the authorities to investigate the source of the fake news to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“The board, management and staff remain committed to transparency, outstanding corporate governance, and the promotion of global best practices for the good of our customers and all stakeholders,” it added.

The fake news occurred when the bank is poised to recording a significant performance in its year-end result.

This newspaper had reported that Nigeria’s largest company by assets, Access Holdings Plc, led the pack with the highest interest income of N497.47 billion in nine

months ending September 30, 2022, among the esteemed Tier1 players in the banking sector. The foremost financial service institution also came top in revenue from e-banking among the peers in the league of Tier-1 banks, which are United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and GTCO Plc.

Data compiled by THEWILL from their financial statements for the period show that Access Holdings grew its interest income by 25.9 percent from N395.13 billion in nine months of 2021 to the current level of N497.47 billion. The rising numbers which also reflected in the e-banking fees saw revenue from this window rise by 9.5 percent from N45.08 billion in the corresponding period to N49.39 billion. The marginal increase, notwithstanding, placed Access Holdings above the peers in the distinguished club.

Access Holdings has maintained a rising trajectory in credit expansion apparently in compliance with the 65 percent loan deposit ratio (LDR) policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The company is also ahead of its Tier-1 peers with N4.62 trillion loan and advances to customers in nine months ending September 30, 2022 – an 11 percent increase from N4.16 trillion as of December 31, 2021. Its Customer deposit also tops the league of Tier-1 banks: N8.18 trillion from N6.95 trillion in FY 2021.

African Airlines’ Traffic Soar 84.5% in October

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a recovery in air travel in October, pointing out that African airlines’ traffic rose 84.5% in October versus a year ago.

IATA also confirmed that October 2022 capacity was up 46.9% and load factor climbed 14.5 percentage points to 71.3%, the lowest among regions.

According to the IATA data, total traffic in October 2022 rose 44.6% compared to October 2021, adding that globally, traffic is now at 74.2% of October 2019 levels.

Commenting, Director General of IATA, Willie Walsh said “People are enjoying the freedom to travel, and businesses recognize the importance of air transport to their success.

A recent survey of European business leaders doing business across borders showed that 84% could not imagine doing so without access to air transport networks and 89% believed being close to an airport with global connections gave them a competitive advantage".

"Governments need to pay attention to the message that air travel is fundamental to how we live and work. That reality should drive policies to enable aviation to operate as efficiently as possible while supporting the industry’s 2050 Net Zero emission goals with meaningful incentives to encourage the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels".

“People are enjoying the freedom to travel, and businesses recognize the importance of air transport to their success. A recent survey of European business leaders doing business across borders showed that 84% could not imagine doing so without access to air transport networks and 89% believed being close to an airport with global connections gave them a competitive advantage",Walsh added.

Advising further, he said "governments need to pay attention to the message that air travel is fundamental to how we live and work. That reality should drive policies to enable aviation to operate as efficiently as possible while supporting the industry’s 2050 Net Zero emission goals with meaningful incentives to encourage the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels".

Q3 GDP: Transportation, Financial Sectors Lead in Growth

Nigeria’s transportation and financial sectors led the list of the fastest-growing sectors in the third quarter of 2022, printing real growths of 41.59% and 12.7%, respectively.

This is contained in the Q3 2022 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The Nigerian economy expanded by 2.25% in real terms year-on-year in Q3 2022, largely due to positive movement in the non-oil sector. However, the growth was at a slow pace compared to the previous quarter (3.54%) due to local and international constraints.

Meanwhile, in broad sectoral disaggregation, fifteen of the nineteen sectors recorded a year-on-year positive growth, while four of them printed contractions. The sectors with negative growth in the period were manufacturing (1.91%), other services (2.67%), electricity (3.56%), and mining and quarrying (21.31%). Some sectors, however, recorded recession. An economy is said to be in a recession if the aggregate GDP declines for two consecutive quarters. Two sectors remained in recession in broad sectoral classification. They are:

The electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector recorded a 3.56% contraction in its GDP, following an 11.48% contraction in Q2 2022 and an 11.2% decline in Q1 2022. The sector has maintained negative growth in the last three quarters, despite recording impressive growth rates in the previous year.

The mining and quarrying sector recorded a 21.31% contraction in the review quarter, on the back of an 11.09% contraction recorded in the previous quarter. The sector has been on a negative trajectory since Q2 2020 largely due to the performance of the crude petroleum and natural gas sector.

The Nigerian oil-producing sector has been bedeviled by the volatility in the global crude oil market, and the inability to produce at full capacity as a result of oil theft, vandalism, insecurity, and investment flight amongst others.

In terms of subsectors in recession, the oil refining sectors printed a 44.7% decline in Q3 2022 following the 42.12% decline recorded in Q2 2022. Textile, Apparel and footwear, rail transport, and pipeline recorded negative GDP growths for at least two successive quarters.

President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Ken Opara; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Chairman, Body of Banks, CEO/GMD Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu and DG, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs Aisha Ahmed during CIBN 57th Annual Bankers Dinner/Award night at Eko Hotel, Lagos on November 25, 2022.

Photo: Peace Udugba

BY THE ANTHONY AWUNOR

DMO DG to X-ray Nigeria's Public Debt at CAMCAN Workshop

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha, will lead other market regulators to discuss the prospects of Nigeria's public debt at the 2022 annual workshop of the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN).

The workshop scheduled to hold on December 3, 2022 at Orchid Hotels, Ajah, Lagos, is being organised by the association as part of its efforts to contribute to the development of the country's capital market and economy.

The theme of the programme is: “Nigeria’s Public Debt and the Capital Market,” and the Director-General of the DMO, Oniha is the guest speaker.

The workshop will be declared open by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, who will be the special guest of honour, while the Chief Executive Officer of the NGX Exchange, Mr Timi Popoola, the guest of honour, will give more details how the exchange is positioning itself as the Africa’s investment window.

The apex regulatory institutions in the Nigerian Capital market expected to grace the event include SEC Nigerian Exchange Ltd., NGX, FMDQ Exchange Ltd., as well as other market operators.

The Managing Director/CEO, FMDQ Exchange, Mr Bola Onadele, will bring perspectives on how the potential in the debt capital market can be unlocked to grow the economy.

Other dignitaries expected at the forum are: Chairman of Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), Mr Sam Onukwue and President of Chartered Institutes of Stockbroker (CIS), Mr Oluwole Adeosun.

Also expected to herald the workshop are, the DMD UBA Group, Mr Muyiwa Akinyemi and the TGI Group, amongst others.

The Guest Speaker, Oniha, will also throw more light on the high-

yielding opportunities in the Nigerian debt space, and how the country and corporates could tap into the opportunities that abound in the local market for infrastructure development funds.

Equally, she is expected to further unveil opportunities for retail investors in debt investing, as well as the commitment of the government in ensuring sound policies, and environment towards enhancing a vibrant local debt market.

In her 14 years at the DMO, Oniha spearheaded the introduction of benchmark bonds to develop the domestic bond market in order to improve liquidity and create a sovereign yield curve where the public and private sectors can access long-term funds to finance Nigeria’s growth and development.

Oniha led the successful issuance of Nigeria’s debut USD500 million Eurobond in January 2011 as a new source of funding for the Federal Government, as well as the first 30-year-tenor Eurobond in the International Capital Market which represents the first by a sub-Saharan country other than South Africa, and established the basis for long-term infrastructure funding for Nigeria.

She was also responsible for the inclusion of FGN Bonds in the J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index – Emerging Markets (GBI–EM) in October 2012, which made Nigeria the second country in Africa, after South Africa, to have its local currency sovereign bond included in the Index.

The inclusion of FGN Bonds in this Index attracted foreign investors to the domestic bond market as a whole.

This was followed by the inclusion of FGN Bonds in the Barclays Capital Emerging Markets – Local Currency Government Bond Index (EM – LCBI) in March 2013.

While at the DMO, Oniha was also appointed the Head of the Efficiency Unit at the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Equity Market Closes on Positive Note

Atotal turnover of 839.978 million shares worth N12.418 billion in 16,183 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 711.618 million shares valued at N15.338 billion that exchanged hands in the previous week in 16,662 deals.

The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 616.627 million shares valued at N4.305 billion traded in 7,609 deals; thus contributing 73.41% and 34.67% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 78.470 million shares worth N260.581 million in 575 deals.

The third place was the ICT Industry, with a turnover of 46.619 million shares worth N5.717 billion in 1,222 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely Regency Assurance Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and FCMB Group Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 256.521 million shares worth N1.237 billion in 1,042 deals, contributing 30.54% and 9.96% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

A total of 2,400 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETP) valued at N1.256 million were traded in the week in 36 deals compared with a total of 7,712 units valued at N980,634.80 transacted in the previous week in 31 deals.

In case of Bonds, a total of 9,687 units valued at N6.330 million were traded this week in 18 deals compared with a total of 21,215 units valued at N22.462 million transacted lin the previous week in 10 deals

The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalization appreciated by 1.26% to close the week at 48,154.65 and N26.229 trillion respectively. Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Industrial Goods and NGX Growth indices which depreciated by 0.61%, 1.20% and .07% respectively, while the NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.

Dronetecx: NUSA Vows to Sustain Safety in Drone Operations

BY ANTHONY AWUNOR

The President of Nigeria Unmanned Systems and Robotics Association (NUSA), Air Vice Marshal Olufemi Idowu (retd) has stated that , the body will continue to liase with the appropriate Nigeria's licensing authorities to ensure that safety is not compromised while operating drones .

Speaking at a safety seminar held at the NIGAV Centre, Murtala Muhammed International Airport Ikeja, with the theme 'Safety and Risk Management for Unmanned Aircraft Operations" AVM Idowu, explained that NUSA will ensure that interested members or would-bemembers were duly licensed by the the NCAA.

AVM said the licensing is very important in order to sustain safety in the airspace while fostering development on private unmanned systems.

"Today, NUSA as part of its commitment to the safe and responsible use of unmanned aircraft in Nigeria, is hosting this seminar to better educate members on safety and risk management in unmanned aircraft operations"

He revealed that the organisation was striving hard with a specific target to reach non members of NUSA especially the unlicensed ones that their operations may likely constitute a safety hazard in the national airspace.

AVM Idowu, further explained that NUSA will not encourage unauthorised operators in order to continue ensuring safety in the airspace.

"We serve as a body of knowledge on unmanned systems for government regulatory bodies as well as interested stakeholders and end users of unmanned systems especially remotely piloted aircraft systems" , he said.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of Dronteck and host of the seminar, Mr Fortune Idu, said NUSA is an NGO duly recognised by the NCAA as a body founded to foster, develop and promote unmanned vehicle systems and robotics technologies in the country.

Idu said the UAS and the autonomous vehicle industry has continued to grow at an exponential rate with the country left behind adding that the emerging industry remained a game changer with huge potential to create jobs in software and hardware engineering while empowering other sectors to deliver speed and efficiency.

Idu however lamented that drones entrepreneurship has continued to pose major safety challenges worldwide.

He noted that the vertical control which comes from regulation and monitoring was not completely firmed and harmonised with the regular aviation or manned aircraft system and Airspace was being developed

"This is a very sensitive window that can lead to disaster which should be a safety concern to all. As this industry continues to grow fast, so also the risk that comes with unsafe operations".

L-R: Head, Investment Operations, Afrinvest, Miss Sharon Ukachukwu; Managing Director, Optimus by Afrinvest, Mr Ayodeji Ebo; Chief Investment Officer, Afrinvest Asset Management, Mr Robert Omotunde; Managing Director, Afrinvest Securities, Mrs Allen Adedoyin and Investment Strategy Manager, Afrinvest Asset Management, Mr Omosuyi Temitope, during a pre-event press conference ahead of the company’s ‘Investment Strategy Outlook 2023: Soft or Hard Landing’ in Lagos on November 30, 2022.

www.thewillnigeria.com

BY IFEANYI EBENEZER ONYIKE

The news of crude oil discovery in Kolmani River, Bauchi and Gombe States and the subsequent commissioning of oilfield drilling operations by President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to generate interest among Nigerians across divides.

When, in 2019, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) announced its search for and discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the Northeast region, many dismissed it with a wave of the hand, because, according to them, availability of oil in the Northern region is nearly impossible, considering the topography and nature of the zone.

Of course, such an argument didn’t come from geologists with expert knowledge of shale formations, but Nigerians who are fed up not only with the government's inconsistencies; years and years of failed promises and what was seen as Buhari’s pro-north agenda. The latter subsists, even when evidence shows that indeed, the government was right about what they saw in the Northeast.

Personally, I had my doubts those days too, though not on availability of oil, but on the possibility of oil in commercial quantities. With my little knowledge of geography in SS1 I am convinced that if a search is conducted in any part of the 36 states in Nigeria, oil would be found, but, the question would be, what quantity?

Nevertheless, having followed activities of the NNPC over this period, my doubts and suspicions have since transformed into excitement for the country. But, not so with many Nigerians who still believe that the whole episode is suspect. There may be so many reasons for this. For instance, if indeed, oil has been discovered in the North, why the speed with which the Buhari led administration is laying pipelines from the Niger-Delta up north to the Nigerien corridors? Wouldn’t it have been better to save the resources or better still, use it to lay pipelines from Bauchi/Gombe oilfields to other parts of the North and to Niger Republic, since it’s closer?

To me, the argument in favour of the oil pipelines remained germane, until this recent discovery. Except the government comes up with a superior argument, I have now begun to consider it as a monumental waste of Nigeria’s scarce resources at a time the country borrows to finance recurrent expenditures.

I don't really agree with all the things citizens say about the government, especially, as it pertains to this Kolmani oil experiment. But, as I read comments on it, one question kept popping up. This Kolmani oil! I mean this our oil in the North-East, will it be treated like our gold in Zamfara and other parts of the North? Or will it be handled like the oil in the Niger-Delta region? Anyone that has answers to that question should help me. I’m very sure that such a question cannot arise in a transparent society, because the citizens already understand how things work.

By the way, one thing that seemed like a consensus among Nigerians, is that the discovery of oil in the North is God’s way of responding to the prayers of Nigerians for restructuring. In my little mind, I have also questioned what is to be restructured – Nigeria or the oil sector? And why should availability or otherwise of oil in the North become so significant in determining whether Nigeria succeeds or not?

I am too young to understand certain things and I’m yet to obtain answers to the questions. It’s safer therefore, to conclude like one TV presenter recently, that “if a witch cries at night, a child dies in the morning, it can be concluded that the witch is responsible”. Well, I’m not good at interpreting proverbs, so let me leave ‘the witch story’ for now’. I am even a Christian.

Kyari

Let us keep pretending about it, but the fact which remains unchallenged is that, in spite of the unity in diversity mantra, the regions coexist in mutual suspicion and distrust of each other. The quota system is a brain child of that distrust, the lack of faith in the quota system by the present administration has also further fueled the divide.

If not for this Buhari’s government, Nigerians believed that federal character had good character. Fortunately for us, Nigeria is unlike other countries where policies and procedures are taken seriously, otherwise, the staff of the Federal Character Commission would have been transferred to other ministries where they can become useful to us, since the office is no longer relevant in determining anything in Nigeria.

No matter what we think, Nigerians must realise that if a government is populated by a particular tribe or religion or cabal; it’s not the leader’s tribe that failed, it’s the team he assembled. This particularly, is one problem that has continued to tear the country apart. Many people, for instance, believe that Igbos planned Nigeria’s first military coup, because, majority of the participants were Igbos. We also believed that the counter coup about six months later, was planned by the North.

The Gideon Orkar Coup was a Middle-Belt Coup, the alleged coup plot by Gen. Oladipo Diya, Adisa and others is a Yoruba Coup. That means that all the regions have at one time planned and executed a coup d’ tat against the Nigerian State, since all these coups, including the one by Col. Dimka (I may be wrong) were planned majorly by soldiers from the same tribe. Something that sounds like rotational presidency, sorry…I meant rotational coup plotting!

I’m sorry for touching this sensitive issue and I must apologise. But this is exactly how we have continued to profile each region and ethnic group for the actions taken by a few persons. I have mentioned these ones because they are treasonable offences tantamount to imprisonment or even death. Hence, accusing an entire group of people, is almost like condemning them along with the culprits. Is this not exactly what we have done to Buhari, making his tribe culpable for every mistake he made in office –because, majority of his appointees are from the North. Did that also not affect our attitude to the search for oil by this administration? Wonderful.

•Dr Onyike is a senior lecturer at the Dominican University, Ibadan

Oil in The North: What Hope For Better Nigeria? (1)

SHOTS OF THE WEEK

Editor: Peace Udugba [08033050729]

THEWILLNIGERIA THEWILLNG THEWILLNIGERIA

L-R: Deputy Director, Central Bank of Nigeria, Isa Abdulmumin Abdulsalam; Publisher, THEWILL NEWSPAPER, Austyn Ogannah and Assistant Director, CBN, Olalekan Ajayi, during the CIBN 57th Annual Bankers Dinner/Award night in Lagos on November 25, 2022.

L-R: Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo; Chairman, House Committee on Tertiary  Education, Rep. Aminu Suleiman Goro and Speaker, House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, at the National Summit on Tertiary Education Reform 2022, Organised by the Speaker's Office in Abuja on November 22, 2022.

L-R: President Muhammadu Buhari, being presented with a plaque by the Director General, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Senior Course 44, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, during the parley with the Senior Course 44 participants held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. December 1, 2022.

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma (left), receives the Managing Director/Chief Executive Official, Polaris Bank, Mr. Adekunle Sonola, who paid a working visit to the Governor's office in Government House, Owerri, Imo State on November 30, 2022.

L-R: President/CEO, Nigerian Baptist Convention, Revd Israel Akanji; Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Mrs Oluremi Fadoju; her husband, Mr Deji Fadoju and his Mother, at the commissioning of a 140 Beds-pace Hostel at Baptist Academy Secondary School, in Lagos on November 29, 2022.

L-R: Steve Bamidele Omojafor; Chairman Brand Journalists' Association of Nigeria [BJAN], Ms Clara Okoro; MD, Nitro 121 Ltd, Mr Lampe Omoyele and Chief Press Secretary to Lagos State Governor, Mr Gboyega Akosile, at the BJAN 10th Annual Brands & Marketing Conference in Lagos on December 1,2022.

Photo

ANGELA EGUAVOEN

Living Her Dream

Nollywood actress, movie producer and the voice behind the soundtracks of some of your favourite movies, Angela Eguavoen speaks with Ivory Ukonu about her journey in the movie industry.

BEING AN ACTRESS AND SINGER IS MY DREAM COME TRUE

– ANGELA EGUAVOEN

Is acting for you a means to an end or a dream come true?

I have always wanted to be not only an actress but also an allround entertainer. I sing, too. My songs are used for movie soundtracks. I did the theme songs for Dear Sister and Blood of Enogie, an original hit series from the stables of Rok Studios. Also, I played lead roles in both movies, which are currently in the cinemas. So being an actress and singer is my dream come true.

How did your journey to the acting world begin?

I was introduced to the movie world by a producer known as Emeka Amaugho. He gave me my first role in a movie. At the time, I sent him a friend request on Facebook, he accepted and we got talking. A few weeks into our conversation, he sent me a script and an invitation to come on set.

I started acting in 2013, I was still in school. Combining my studies with acting was a major problem and at some point. I had to stop acting to face my studies squarely. I returned to acting when I was done with school and National Youth Service Corps. I am glad I didn’t abandon my education. The course I studied, English/Literature, has really helped in the career path I’ve chosen.

So you had no prior training before joining Nollywood?

I had no training in film acting when I first started. Although Theatre Art was my minor course in the university, I went for proper training after I already started acting. I still go for training.

How were you received in Nollywood? There are always challenges delving into any new thing. So I had some challenges here and there and it affected my academic performance which was why I had to quit acting temporarily to concentrate fully on studies.

Which movie would you say gave you your big break?

Blood of Enogie, a Rok studios original series. It was produced and directed by Charles Uwagbai. I was shooting the movie when I went for the audition of Enakhe, an Mnet original series executive produced and directed by Victor Sanchez Aghahowa. I eventually got the role of Ivie. These two TV shows gave me my major break yet, they came out almost at the same time and they shot my career to a great level.

What determines the kind of roles you take on in movies? When I read through a script, I always look out for the relevance of the character to the film. If I don’t see it, I reach out to the producer to make adjustments and they always rework the script. Because when I give my feedback on a script, I give it in a way that would make the story better.

Do you sometimes make inputs in the characters you play?

Yes, I do. I am a versatile actress that can take on a wide range of characters, but when the role is one that doesn’t portray my brand properly and cannot be adjusted, I turn it down.

What determines your appearance in any movie?

The major factor that I look out for is the story. If the story is very good, I am ready to go all out for it. If the production house is a very good one, too, I am ready to go extremely beyond

my boundaries to bring the character to life. Like I always say, an actor's body is like a canvas. You should be ready to act with the whole of your body and being.

Which character in a movie challenged your craft more as an actress?

The character, Queen Osato in Blood of Enogie took me on an emotional roller- coaster. It challenged me mentally and physically. I actually got injured while filming. I still walk around with a big scar on my knee.

Also, the character, Ivie Osakpolor, in Enakhe challenged me so much. The role had so many arches. I became so many people while playing Ivie, switching between so many emotions in a scene. It was one role that really bruised me both mentally and physically. It was one of the toughest characters I’ve played as an actress. Ivie made me to tap on the part of me I never knew existed and things I never knew I could do so seamlessly as an actress. Again, the character, Isoken, in Dear Sister, an EPI Projects limited film, directed by Uche Agbo is another film that took me on an emotional roller-coaster.

Did you ever expect to be as successful as you are today? I always knew I'd do well in this profession. I saw it, I still see it and the truth is, this is really just the beginning. God has so much in store for me because He has bestowed me so many talents.

Do you have a dream role on your bucket list and what is it?

I’ve got so many roles I wanna play. But for now, I really want to play a man in a film, a Tom boy or play the villain in an action film.

Like most of your colleagues, you are also a movie producer. How many movies have you produced so far and which would you say challenged your craft?

I’ve produced two films. Both were challenging but Stillborn almost took my blood. I acted and produced it.

Why did you feel the need to join the movie producing train rather than just stick to acting?

I started producing because I saw it as a way of having another source of income. I get to shoot the kind of roles I wish to play and also having content is a lifetime investment.

If you were given an opportunity to change one thing about Nollywood in order to take it to another level, what would that be and how would you go about it?

I think Nollywood is really thriving. For now, I don’t think I’d like to change anything, but then I’ll look for ways to get more movie exhibitors/distributors into the industry so the filmmakers can have larger markets and means to sell their films in order to make more money and pay actors and crew members better. Every single actor in Nollywood is underpaid, even the ones that are being paid in millions already.

What would you consider to be your greatest challenge in life generally?

Money! I need to make more money. And I think that’s just a

normal life challenge. Everybody wants to make more wealth.

What was growing up like for you?

Growing up with my parents and siblings is one of the best things about my life. We saw movies together every evening and I always admired everything about the actors on my screen. Dad will say, “They are not any better than you. They worked hard to get there, you too can."

But he always chased us to go to bed, especially when we were watching a movie late at night on a weekday and we had to prepare for school the next morning. My parents have always been in support of my chosen career.

What would you say must have significantly shaped you to be who you are today?

My love for the craft, for my family, friends and for God has really shaped me. Along the line, I’ve met really great friends who have been quite supportive.

Who are some of the people you look up to in Nollywood?

My number one love is Viola Davis. I love Rita Dominic, Kate Henshaw, Mercy Johnson. I literally watch Viola Davis, Charlize Theron, Rosamund Pike to enhance my craft. They have the whole of my heart.

Has there ever been a time you thought of quitting acting?

I have never thought of quitting because I was tired or frustrated. But I quit one time because I had to pay attention to my studies and when I was done and dusted with a very good grade, I returned to my love, acting.

What else do you do besides acting?

Aside acting, I make movie soundtracks, produce movies, influence for brands and I am announcing my personal business brand soon.

What is your opinion on your colleagues flaunting their material acquisitions on social media?

We are into show business. Some people are not comfortable and don’t like putting their personal life or acquisitions out there, while some love to put them out probably because it gives them the traffic and buzz they want. Either way, I am a strong advocate for “let people do what makes them happy.”

Eguavoen

Eguavoen

STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

Some say don’t mix business with family, but like most typical well-heeled families, billionaire businessman Taiwo Afolabi has clearly shown that the foundation of a successful venture is one that is supported by a family tree and that the bond of a family goes beyond sharing a surname. The successful businessman is following the footprints of those who have walked this path without regrets by positioning some of his children in key roles for the onerous task of running his conglomerate, SIFAX Group and most likely, taking over from him when the time comes.

SIFAX Group, a company that came into existence in 1988 as a freight forwarding agency, has grown to become a conglomerate with interests in maritime, aviation, oil and gas, haulage and logistics, financial services and hospitality. To help steer the daily affairs of the group is Yinka, Afolabi’s first son. He is the Deputy Managing Director at SIFAX Marine Limited, a subsidiary of SIFAX Group and a provider of special transportation with respect to offshore support services, marine vessel transportation, towage and other related marine services to both offshore and onshore oil

terminals in Nigeria and the West African region. This is in addition to Ports and Cargo Handling Services Limited, concessionaire and operator of Terminal C, Tin Can Island Ports, Apapa Lagos; SIFAX Off Dock Nigeria Limited, a bonded terminal operator; SIFAX Logistics Company Limited and Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc, an aviation ground handling company and SIFAX Shipping Company Limited.

Yinka is said to be well equipped to handle these humongous responsibilities as he had acquired the requisite experience working in Chevron as a compliance analyst and had previously held various management positions within the SIFAX Group before attaining his present position. With a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Valley View University, Ghana, and a Master’s degree in International Business Administration from Coventry University, United Kingdom, he is also a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), U.K.

Then there is the newly married Mariam Badmus who is the Group Executive Director, Compliance. A graduate of Law from the University

of Warwick, Coventry, England, and a Postgraduate degree (LLM with distinction) in International Maritime Law from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, Malta, Mariam has garnered experience across legal firms, maritime and aviation companies, such as Kayode Sofola and Co, Wole Olanipekun and Co, Kunle Ogunba and Co, Aluko and Oyebode, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc, SIFAX Shipping Company Limited and Nigerian Maritime Administration Safety Agency (NIMASA) before she took up her present appointment. A fashion and beauty conscious lady, Mariam also runs her own private business, The Style Cafe that comprises a fashion label, Mademoiselle Aglaia, a unisex salon, a spa, and an eatery that caters to local and intercontinental foods in Lagos. Tobi is the Executive Director, Planning, Ports and Cargo Handling Services Limited. A graduate of Business Marketing from the University of Ottawa, Canada, Tobi worked with the commercial department of SIFAX Shipping Company Limited where his responsibilities included agency formalities, prospects profiling, and exchanging sales leads before his present portfolio. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in International Maritime Management from Southampton Solent University, United Kingdom. However, one of Afolabi’s children, Damilola, chose a different path. He is passionate about music and would rather make music and be in the business of music than anything else. He goes by the stage name L.A.X. His father is ironically supportive of his choice and once rented one of the expansive halls in Oriental Hotel, Lagos for the album launch of his son. This was many years ago when Damilola was just starting out. Incidentally, Damilola was unavoidably absent on the day of the launch by no choice of his. His studies took precedence, but his father made sure that all went as planned.

Tosin Ajayi Bags Posthumous Award

Late Dr Tosin Ajayi has been recognised for his excellent contribution to healthcare in Nigeria.

The organisers of the Annual AfriHealth Expo, in collaboration with Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN), conferred a posthumous award of excellence on him.

AfriHealth Expo is an annual event aimed at improving healthcare business and patient care in Nigeria. The award was received on behalf of late Tosin by Tomisin and Tiffany Ajayi, his daughters with ex beauty queen, Helen Prest-Ajayi. Thanking the organisers

of the event for deeming it fit to honour her father for his contribution to the development of healthcare system in Nigeria, Tomisin said that everything her father did for the medical community was driven from his passion towards making sure he made an impact during his time on earth.

She concluded by appreciating AfriHealth Expo for honouring their father Dr. Tosin Ajayi even at death. Ajayi was the Managing Director of First Foundation Medical Engineering Company. He died on April 26, 2020 at St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos after battling a kidney problem.

Zainab Bagudu Loses Out on UICC Presidency

behavioural scientist and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, was elected to lead the organisation for the next two years. Bagudu was however made a member of the organisation’s board alongside 12 other UICC member organisations from 12 countries across Europe, Middle East, North America and Africa.

and the founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation, which she started in the course of looking after children and their mothers started confronting her with their medical issues and requesting assistance, particularly around breast and cervical cancer.

The First Lady of Kebbi State, Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, has lost out in the race to be president of the Union for International Cancer Control, an organisation based in Switzerland that unites and supports the global cancer community to reduce the burden of cancer, promote greater equity and ensure that cancer control continues to be a priority in the world health and development agenda. Instead, an Australian, Professor Jeff Dunn, a

THEWILL had earlier reported that while congratulating her on her nomination, alongside others, for the position of president of the organisation, President Muhammadu Buhari mandated the Federal Ministry of Health and Foreign Affairs to do everything possible to provide her with the support she needs to ensure her success in the elections.

An advocate of children’s and women’s health, Bagudu is a wellknown Global Cancer Advocate. She is a consultant paediatrician

She has served on many technical committees, including the steering committee for the National Cancer Control plan and a ministerial committee to build world-class diagnostic centres in six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

She obtained her MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine) from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria then went on to specialize in Paediatrics and Neonatology in the United Kingdom. She has a Master’s degree in Paediatrics, a Diploma in Tropical Child Health. She is also a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Hajiya Habibah Ireti Kingibe

is many things rolled into one. The wife of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, is an activist, a politician and a trained engineer. Hopefully, if everything goes as planned next year, she plans to expand her resume when she is elected to the Senate of the Federal Republic of

Nigeria. Ironically, she hopes to achieve this feat on the platform of the Labour Party and what this means by extension is her open endorsement of the presidential ambition of former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi.

Not a few Nigerians have applauded Hajiya Ireti Kingibe for the decision to achieve her political dreams on the platform of the Labour Party, especially as her husband has openly endorsed Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

That aside, Ireti, who is the younger sister to Nigeria’s former First Lady, Ajoke Muhammed, will have a tough hurdle to scale, defeating the incumbent of the constituency she hopes to represent, AMAC/ Bwari Area Council, Federal Capital Territory. Philip Aduda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the lawmaker representing the constituency is said to be invincible

to his political opponents. Aduda has been a member of the National Assembly, first in the House of Representatives and later as a senator. Since then, he has straddled the landscape like a colossus and is currently serving his third term in the Senate. He got his party’s nod to run for a fourth term in 2023. If he wins, he would be the longestserving lawmaker in the National Assembly. That is the person Ireti plans to battle at the general elections in 2023.

With feelers emerging from the electorate in the FCT projecting the Labour Party as the favoured party in the territory, Ireti's candidacy is already disrupting the feathers of the old order. However, Aduda will not go down easily without a fight. One wonders if her diplomat husband will use his clout to help her achieve her desires against the old horse despite his opposing views.

Afolabi

Afolabi

Afolabi

Afolabi-Badmus

Bagudu

Ajayi

The once thriving business of tech wonderkid, Emmanuel Njoku, may just be in jeopardy as his crypto payment startup, Lazerpay, is currently experiencing an upheaval due to the economic downturn. First, one of its major investors, Yele Bademosi, the CEO of Nestcoin, another Nigerian crypto-currency investment firm dedicated to building and investing in crypto-focused products, pulled the rug from under their feet. After announcing that it had made a huge investment in Lazerpay in November 2021, Nestcoin pulled out its

investments without warning. Bademosi attributes this to the collapse of FTX, another crypto-currency exchange and one of the largest in the world. The FXT collapse last month shook the crypto-currency community so much that it may take a long time before the community starts to experience a recovery. As an aftermath of this, Lazerpay resolved to downsize and lay off quite a number of its staff. Before this resolution, the management staff of the company had been working without pay for several months, even as the salaries of the

junior staff were cut. Njoku knows he has to do something fast to save Lazerpay from near collapse. Hopefully, this will just be a passing phase he will bounce back from. Recall that a few months ago, THEWILL chronicled the rise of the 19-year-old and how he was disrupting the technological space with his company. The dropout from the Enugu State University of Technology, got into the business of coding, became an authority in it and rose to become one of the best blockchain engineers of his generation.

The worrisome security situation in southeastern Nigeria has forced Senator Andy Uba, a former Special Assistant on Special Duties and Domestic Affairs to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, to give out one of his daughters in a traditional marriage ceremony in Abuja.

The colourful ceremony took place in his palatial residence in Abuja, instead of Anambra, his home state, for fear of what unknown gunmen could unleash on his family and guests. The ceremony, no doubt, brought back his signature coy smile on his face, a year after he suffered a huge political loss at the 2021 Anambra State governorship election. The said daughter, Chrystal from his first wife, Gloria Obiageli, is a lawyer by profession and was called to the bar five years ago after bagging a law degree from a university in the United Kingdom. Times have indeed changed as just five years ago, Uba shut down his community, Uga in Anambra

State, for the traditional marriage ceremony of Nkemjika, his first daughter with his first wife. Uba is not alone in this new fad to hold traditional ceremonies, considered

an important Igbo cultural norm away from their ancestral clan. Quite a few prominent Igbo men have jumped on this train for obvious reasons.

Otunba Akeem Adigun, popularly known as Socopao, a grassroots politician who enjoys a good relationship with the past and present governors of Ogun Sate, is still reeling from the shock of the wanton destruction of his property, a fallout of a kingship tussle in Agosasa community in Ipokia Local Government area of Ogun State. Following the death of the first Oja of Agosasa, Oba James Elegbede in February 2022, there had been tension over who would succeed the late traditional ruler. Matters came to a head in September when some youths of the community took to the streets to warn against the installation of an unpopular candidate as the next king. The youths were opposed to steps allegedly taken by Adigun to install a candidate of his choice against the wish of the people. During the protest, one of the youths was hit by a bullet and he later died. This allegedly infuriated the irate youths who were later joined by other assailants and all marched into Adigun's expansive country home on the outskirts of the town and wreaked massive havoc. His palatial country home in the town was torched and at least seven exotic and vintage cars, as well as property valued at hundreds of millions of naira were burnt. Adigun narrowly escaped death. During the mayhem, a former council Chairman in the state, Isiaka Aderounmu, also had his home and car torched by the rampaging youths. More youths died from the incident and not a few sustained injuries. The incident happened exactly a month after Adigun shut down Lagos for his 70th birthday party, which was wellattended by top socialites and dignitaries including Governor Dapo Abiodun and his deputy. It has been two months since the unfortunate incident and while the paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, has attempted to mediate between the youths of the community and Adigun, the socialite still finds it hard to believe that his life could easily have been snuffed out for allegedly promoting his own interest. And what is more, his property worth hundreds of millions of naira is yet to be replced and the reason for the whole melee - a replacement king is far from being appointed.

Not only is he the wealthiest traditional ruler in Nigeria and the second wealthiest in Africa, according to Forbes ratings, His Imperial Majesty Alaiyeluwa Oba (Dr) Frederick Enitiolorunda Obateru Akinruntan Okoro Ajiga 1, Olugbo of Ugbo, is as flamboyant as they come. Until 2009 when he ascended the throne of his forefathers as the Olugbo of Ugbo kingdom and the entire Ilaje confederacy, he lived like a king. He was in a class of his own and exuded royalty.

Not one to do things in half measures, the former societal patriarch celebrated the 13th anniversary of his coronation last week. He hosted dignitaries from all walks of life to a grand celebration in Ugbo in Ondo State. The event took place at The Obamakin Osangangan hall Ugbo in Ilaje Local Government Area. Businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim chaired the event where he eulogised the Olugbo as a 21st century African king who is very passionate about the position of history in Yorubaland, equally very particular about the place of Ugbo in the Yoruba narrative, as well as his determination to put Ugbo on the global map as a place of reckoning.

Other major highlights of the anniversary included the cutting of Olugbo’s 13th year coronation anniversary cake, cultural displays from different cultural groups among others. While thanking his subjects for a peaceful 13-year reign, Oba Akinruntan commended the Ondo State Government for investing heavily in the Ondo State Deep Sea port facility located in Ilaje, noting that the facility would bring the Sunshine state to the limelight and set the stage for turning it into a commercial and industrial hub in Nigeria.

Besides being the founder of Obat Oil, one of Nigeria’s top oil and gas firm, which he established in 1981 with perhaps the biggest farm tank in Nigeria, Oba Akinruntan has massive investments in real estate, hospitality etc. He is the Chairman, Yoruba Obas Conflict Resolution Council (YOCRC), Chairman, Traditional Rulers of Oil Minerals Producing Communities of Nigeria (TROMPCON) and a one-time Chairman, Ondo State Council of Obas.

At 72, his life has not been without a few battles. One of such battles was his ascendancy to the throne which came to fruition via a court ruling after several years of legal dispute.

THEWILLNIGERIA THEWILLNG THEWILLNIGERIA

STORIES BY IVORY UKONU

Njoku

STORIES BY SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has conferred an honorary fellowship on Kola Adeshina, the Group Managing Director of Sahara Group. The alumnus of Harvard Business School Executive Education received the award during the 55th National Engineering Conference, Exhibition and Annual General Meeting, AGM of the Society, which took place at the International Conference Centre, ICC in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The NSE had earlier sent Adeshina a congratulatory letter two months before the award ceremony to inform him about it ahead of the event. He was honoured for his

immense contribution to the promotion of engineering and his significant contributions to the development of the power sector and other remarkable efforts in his profession and in humanity in general.

The much sought-after resource person also chairs the board of some notable companies, such as Ikeja Electric where he provides strategic and visionary leadership for the execution of business goals and objectives.

He is a pan-Africanist, seasoned entrepreneur and avowed promoter

of the Pan African Dream of regional integration and trade. Adeshina was recently honoured by the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Member of the Federal Republic, MFR.

Kwara State Transporters Accuse Governor Abdulrazaq of Exploitation

Some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Kwara State are not happy with the Self Employment Assistance Programme (SEAP) introduced by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.

A few months ago, the governor had partnered with a finance company

to purchase 50 minibuses for road transporters, as part of a move to ease the transportation system in the state. The project was the second phase of his administration’s community transport intervention project. He had earlier given out 100 tricycles to some members. The minibuses were handed over to some members of the NURTW member who were at first grateful for the kind gesture. According to the Commissioner for Works, Iliasu Rotimi, who presented the buses to the beneficiaries, the project is meant to ease movement of commuters, goods and services across communities in the state. Those beneficiaries were expected to pay back a sum of N3.7 million on each of the vehicles within 18 months. A few months after receiving the buses, some of the

beneficiaries started crying out loud to their leaders that they would not be able to meet up with the N3.7 million expected from them in 18 months. They started returning the buses and labeled the scheme unprofitable and a means to exploit them. They lamented that the state government actually gave the sevenseater buses to them at a unit price of N3.7 million when the market price was around N2.150 million. Adding that the arrangement was for them to pay N30,000 per week, which translated into N120, 000 per month. It was after they received the buses that they realised the unprofitable nature of the scheme. They also lamented the poor condition of some of the roads in the state, claiming that this had led to the wear and tear of major parts of the buses that require a lot of money to fix. Despite their complaints, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Community Intervention, Kayode Oyin-Zubair, urged the transporters to make maximum use of the opportunity and not to see it as a means of exploitation, but rather a means to improve their economic development and growth.

Steve Babaeko’s X3M Soars

X3M, the brainchild of advertising guru, Steve Babaeko, has clinched several international awards at the Global Festivals held in Dubai, Portugal and Switzerland. The various projects that earned the advertising company numerous awards were dedicated to campaigns targeted at making the world a better place.

At the Luum Awards, a global festival dedicated to creativity, exclusively rewarding messages that seek to awaken a social, civic or environmental consciousness, Babaeko clinched the gold plaque in different categories.

This is not the first time they

would be clinching a Luum award. The company won the award in 2021. At the Loeries Awards, a non-profit company administering awards for the brand communications industry, in Africa and the Middle East, which took place in Cape Town, Johannesburg, the company carted home the gold award plaque. More than four awards were won at the WINA Awards event, which took place in Dubai. Gold, silver and honorable mention plaques were given in recognition of their wins. For Lisbon Award, two more categories were won in the bronze and silver categories. They also won big at the Pitcher Awards 2022.

The Chief of Protocol at the Presidential Villa, Lawal Kazaure, is basking in the euphoria of his latest achievement. The former diplomat, who is married to President Muhammadu Buhari’s niece, was recently turbanned as the Dan Masanin Kazaure in Jigawa State.

The septuagenarian was honoured by the Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Hussaini Adamu. He was conferred with the title for his royalty and staggering contributions to his community and national wellbeing, as well as his willingness to do more for the people of Jigawa State.

Kazaure also recently gave out his only daughter, Hafsah, in marriage to her beau, Ibrahim Tijjani Ibrahim. The wedding

fatiha took place at the palace of the Emir of Kazaure. It was preceded by the turban ceremony witnessed by notable politicians led by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. A reception was held in honour of the new couple and the chieftain in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Kazaure, was a Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Agency. He was among the first three appointed by President Buhari after his inauguration in 2015. He has received three important awards since he took over as the Chief Protocol Officer. He was awarded with the highest civilian award and the Order of the Federal Republic.

Bisi Abiola, one of the wives of late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, is planning to stage a talk of the town wedding for her beautiful daughter, Saudat Abiola. Bisi who is a nutritionist plans to spare no cost to ensure that her daughter gets the dream wedding her father would have staged for her if he was still alive. The Nikkai and traditional wedding will take place on December 8, 2022, and the choice place for the event is the Harbour Point, an event centre managed by Yewande Zaacheaus on Victoria Island.

Not known for doing things in half measure, the society woman has chosen pink as the color of the day and most of her friends are set to storm the venue in bright and glamorous ensembles as they honour her. Saudat Damilola, the bride to be, is the last child of Bisi and her late husband. She is an Information Technology expert. Yusuf Odutota Tikare, the groom to be, is the son of Adebola Waheed and Wakilat Tikare. The two love birds have been an item for a couple of years before they decided to take their relationship to the next level.

Adeshina

Babaeko

Kazaure

Abdulrazaq

Abiola

SEYI

AGBOOLA ON

The once rosy friendship between the number one citizen of Oyo State, Governor Seyi Makinde and one of his former close aides, Senator Hosea Agboola, otherwise known as Alleluya, has gone sour.

When the going was good, Alleluya rallied support for Makinde when he was going to the polls. In the early days of his governorship aspiration, Agboola was among the handful that did much of the groundwork and ensured that he emerged the number one citizen of the state.

After his election, Makinde

returned the favour and appointed Alleluya Chairman of the Governor's Advisory Council (GAC). He also became one of his most trusted allies and would involve him in decision making in the state. However, it seems the rancour and bitterness that is eating deep in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has affected their relationship.

Governor Nyesom Wike, of Rivers State had called for the resignation of Dr Iyorcha Ayu, the chairman of the party. He called for his resignation because he claimed that the presidential candidate, national chairman and director

general of the presidential campaign council cannot all come from the North.

The loyalty of party members became divided as some governor's teamed up with Wike and branded themselves G5. Other party members also took sides, with Makinde and Agboola joining the bandwagon.

Makinde stayed with Wike while Agboola chose Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the party.

Makinde felt that Agboola should have followed his footsteps because of their closeness. The two fell apart over who to pay obeisance and allegiance to between the estranged PDP G5 and Atiku. Agboola’s choice came as a huge surprise when he made his intention known with the declaration that he cannot work against Atiku. The duo tried to keep the differences away from the public and both started avoiding each other. Agboola maintained that his alliance to Atiku is based on their past relationship and the party’s progress.

The Customs Area Controller, KiriKiri Lighter Terminal Area Command, Mrs Nike Oladunni, has joined the diamond jubilee club.

Aformer Minister of Youth Development and Sport in the Goodluck Jonathan Administration and the senatorial candidate representing Kwara Central Senatorial district under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bolaji Abdullahi, does not seem to be in the good books of his constituents in Kwara State.

It was alleged that as minister of sport, he did not use his office to positively impact on the people of his constituency. A few years ago, former President Jonathan was scheduled to visit Kwara State and Abdullahi was responsible for organising and preparing for the visit. He allegedly treated his people unfairly just to be in Jonathan’s good books at the time. Many complained bitterly of the poor treatment he gave them during the visit.

Although the senatorial candidate claims to be a loyal supporter of former Senate President Bukola Saraki, someone he calls sister, Hajia Adebayo, who is the PDP women leader in the state,worked against Saraki.

The trio of Adebayo, Saraki and Abdullahi were all in the All Progressive Congress (APC) before they defected to the PDP. After their defection, Adebayo

who had her own anointed candidate for the senate was not given a ticket by the party so she in turn did not support Saraki in 2019 as one of the most influential women leaders in the state.

The support Saraki lost from people who were supposed to be loyal to him contributed to him losing his grip in Kwara State politics. Saraki’s bid to return to the senate in the same year was also frustrated at the polls. Abdullahi was blamed for some of the woes that befell their party then. He was accused of not convincing his sister to work with Saraki to enable them recapture the state.

The relationship between the founder of Christ Embassy, also known as Believers Love World, Pastor Chris Oykhilome, and his anointed daughter, Osinachi Egbu, fondly called Sinach, is not as solid as it used to be.

Sinach was groomed in Christ Embassy and given a platform to showcase her talent. She has enjoyed the love and support of the cleric over the years.

It was first rumoured that the two were not on good terms a few years ago when the annual interdenominational programme, The Experience, which is usually organised by the founder of House on the Rock, Pastor Paul Adefarasin kicked off.

She was invited for one of the programmes and many alleged that she had switched church and become a member of Adefarasin’s led church.

As the gospel singer's ministry grew in leap and bounds, she virtually stopped attending Christ Embassy because different singing engagements took her round the world. Oyakhilome was not too pleased with the fact that she wasn't active in church again. Even when Sinach and some other gospel singers, who grew and became established through Christ Embassy, ministered in some of the branches of the church, it was alleged that they demanded large

sums of money as royalty which Oyakhilome consistently frowned at. He instructed Sinach to return to her local assembly and be part of the singing ministry there. He also encouraged her to take Christian singing engagements almost for free as a sort of blessing to the body of Christ, but the gospel act would have none of that.

The pastor allegedly stopped most of her songs from being played or performed in his church and the decision also affected other music ministers who were discovered in the church.

Oyakhilome had called for a gospel ministers’ conference where he

expected the gospel act to be in attendance and even play a major role, however, she didn't turn up for the conference. The cleric felt disappointed that Sinach should be a role model for all other established acts from the ministry, but she has ignored most of the instructions he gave and has not been on very good terms with her since then.

The singer made a cryptic post last week on her Instagram page and many alleged that she was referring to the issue she had with her pastor. She wrote that what has happened to her as a gospel minister has in no way hindered her ministry but it has helped to further expand it.

The sexagenarian hosted a classy party to announce her grand entry into the landmark age.

Ahead of D-day, the celebrant had a photo shoot to welcome her to the new club. The lovely pictures were used to decorate the aisle leading to the hall where the birthday celebration took place.

The event, which was attended by friends, family and some dignitaries had Bola Okolie of Bonix Drinks as coordinator, while Samuel Sodeke of Aristo Band thrilled the guests to good music. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is very close to the celebrant, was in attendance and he took charge as Oladunni was cutting the cake.

The celebrant who is an ardent fan of Chelsea Football Club had a football themed party. The hall was decorated in royal blue, the official colour of the club. Cakes, throw pillows and decoration at the venue added glamour to the event as they gladly wore the colour of her favourite club. A large carpet with Chelsea logo welcomed guests at the entrance of the big hall that played host to guests. Oladunni served in various departments of the Nigeria Customs Service before she was appointed as Area Comptroller. She was Personal Assistant to several Deputy Comptroller-Generals before rising through the ranks to the peak of her career.

Pal Auto boss, Fred Ahuwa, seems not to have fulfilled all the promises made to his aggrieved clients a few months ago. The auto dealer had allegedly duped some clients of their hardearned money.

Ahuwa was introduced to some good clients by celebrity fashion designer, Yomi Makun, otherwise known as Yomi Casual. Yomi Casual was called out by aggrieved customers who had bought cars from Ahuwa. They neither took delivery of their orders nor get refunds of their money.

The customers claimed that Yomi had introduced Ahuwa to them as a trusted car dealer and they decided to patronise him, based on his recommendation. A male client paid N31 million in batches, but he didn’t get his car despite the fact that he sought the consent of the fashion designer to ensure that Ahuwa could be trusted.

Another female client paid over N3 million, but didn’t get a car in return. The auto dealer had promised to make refunds. He

posted a video on Instagram, which showed him apologise to all the troubled parties and promised to work out modalities of re-payment or getting their desired automobile across to them.

Ahuwa admitted that he received large sums of money from a lot of people and blamed a business deal gone sour, as well as fraudsters, for his woes.

He exonerated Yomi from his predicament and apologised to him for being at the centre of the controversy. He told the aggrieved customers that the designer has no hand in the situation as he was just acting based on their friendship and the good business deal between them.

Ahuwa pleaded for more time to resolve all the issues and promised to get across to all aggrieved parties individually. A visit to his social media handle revealed that he has since deleted the video of the promise he made. He has also restricted comments on some of his posts, while switching off comments in some old posts where he advertised some cars.

He has also not been active on the networking platform. He returned to Instagram in January to make a post about his birthday and restricted comments as usual, but some people managed to ask him about his whereabouts and why he has not been responding to their inquiries. It was gathered that not all aggrieved parties have been settled, but he is frantically trying to ensure he is out of debt and regains his reputation in the auto business.

Oladunni

Makinde

Agboola

Abdullahi

Sinach

Oyakhilome Ahuwa

INTERVIEW

11 Years Later, Unusual Praise is Bigger And Better

When Christians gather to sing praises with pentecostal music ministers, the assumption that it is a gathering of Pentecostal worshippers isn’t unlikely. But it’s different with the Catholic Church of Divine Mercy, Lekki, Lagos, which made a radical move most traditional Catholics might not agree with. They started a kind of evangelism in the form of praise, which they termed, Unusual Praise.

Now in its eleventh year, Unusual Praise gathers hundreds of thousands of people from different denominations of Christianity who all have one mission—to praise God. And this year it is a much bigger event.

Editor of THEWILL DOWNTOWN, Onah Nwachukwu, gets insights about this year’s event from the Parish Priest, Monsignor Paschal Nwaezeapu and this year’s Committee chairman, Chike Oruche.

Good day, Msgr. Pascal. What birthed the idea of Unusual Praise?

In 2011 our parish harvest theme was “Harvest of Praise”. This was inspired by Psalm 50:14, which says, “Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God and give the almighty all that you have promised”.

After recording an incredibly successful harvest season— a level of success that could only be possible with God, it seemed imperative to give more to God through praise and thanksgiving. The leader of the Catholic Charismatic Harvest Committee that year, Obinna Egwudo, then coined the term Unusual Praise and organised a small gathering within the society. And that was the birth of Unusual Praise. Then in 2016, it was adopted as a parish event by the priest and the parish pastoral council and thrown open to parishioners and Catholics from other parishes, Christians, and any other person who wanted to praise God.

It is not quite your typical Catholic event, yet it has gone on for 11 years. Do you think the traditional Catholic community have come to accept this mode of praising God?

It is actually very typical of Catholics to praise God, as praise and worship is a big part of our faith, though we used to do it more through traditional hymns and classical music. But also, we should not forget that the Holy Mass is the greatest act of praise. While we may have faced a little pushback from well-meaning Catholics initially, the overall response has been incredible, which is why, to the glory of God, Unusual Praise has continued to grow from strength to strength.

COVID-19 inspired an online worship mode; another online and physical session was held last year. However, this year sees the largest venue yet. What inspired moving the event to Tafawa Balewa Square? Because of the growth in numbers, there was a need to find a space big enough, but more importantly, we needed to find an area we could use every year instead of moving the event from one place to the other. This, in turn, allows us to plan appropriately.

Indeed, out of necessity, during the pandemic-induced restriction of movement and certain extents of public gathering, we could not gather physically —as we wanted. Still, it was important to gather, so we introduced online worship. At the same time, this also allowed us to reach a much wider audience via new media platforms; today, our YouTube channel has over 100k subscribers. While it served the purpose of reaching more people who might not be able to attend physically, it also increased awareness about Unusual Praise. The increased interest in the event and improved attendance inspired the move to TBS (Tafawa Balewa Square). Plus, worshippers need space to dance.

Is Unusual Praise for Catholics only? I noticed the line-up of Gospel Ministers is not exclusively Catholic. Unusual Praise is for anyone who wishes to worship and experience God in a new, special, and unique way— Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, and unbelievers are all welcome. This year’s theme is ‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.’ So everyone is invited to partake

and enjoy a refreshing time in the presence of God.

Unusual Praise started an Entrepreneur Training programme of sorts. How is that doing?

It is going great! In 2018 we introduced Unusual Entrepreneur, an economic empowerment initiative that combines mentoring and seed funding for small businesses. This initiative has seen about 400(four hundred) people benefit from the mentoring and seed funding exercise. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the harsh economic consequences in our country, the need to drive this initiative has become even more compelling. In the future, we desire to increase that figure with the cooperation of our parishioners and sponsors.

What about the night makes it one that everyone, whether Catholic or Pentecostal, shouldn’t miss?

Everything! The praise, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the joy, the fellowship, prayers and, of course, The Holy Mass. It is an event that needs to be experienced by all.

CHIKE ORUCHE, COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, 2022

Congratulations on your appointment as Chairman of the Unusual Praise Committee this year. What are you doing differently this year, which is the 11th year of the event?

Thank you very much for your kind words. It is truly an honour to be the chairman of the Unusual Praise Committee this year, although I see myself more as a Servant Leader, humbling working and serving alongside others members of the committee to make this the biggest and most exciting Unusual Praise event yet. Following in the footsteps of my predecessors, I’ll let God take the lead in the planning of the event as it is ultimately for His glory.

This is definitely a much bigger event this year, especially with the Tafawa Balewa Square as the venue. Do you think you are fully prepared to handle the crowd?

We are. We have carefully planned this year’s event to take place in a new, bigger and more central location, with all the necessary logistics in place to ensure that the crowd is properly managed.

What plans have you and your team made to ensure that the event is crime-free and not marred by stampede?

For security reasons I actually can’t share in detail. What I can say is that we have always taken security very seriously and this year is no different. Matter of fact, security is our top priority this year.

Hosting such an event at a location like that must cost a fortune. How easy is it to raise funds for it?

It is not easy raising funds under the present economic realities, but God has made a way and will continue to do so. Having the opportunity to see God in action, touching people’s hearts to be so generous, has been such an humbling experience for me. I also believe that people understand the importance of what it means to give back to God, especially for an event specifically set up to thank and praise Him. A grateful heart is a magnet for miracles.

You have an amazing line-up of music ministers. From Nathaniel Bassey to Ada Jesus and Mercy Chinwo, how easy or difficult was it to convince them to be part of this?

Unusual Praise, to the glory of God, is the biggest Catholic praise concert in Africa. We have a strong brand that is only getting better. As a result, it is not too difficult to get some incredible ministers to key in- or to come back again over the years, such as Nathaniel Bassey and Mercy Chinwo. I also think there is an element of curiosity. People want to see if Catholics can really praise and they are never disappointed by the Unusual Praise experience.

Unusual Praise is a form of evangelism. As the Chairman of Unusual Praise this year, what are your expectations for this year’s event?

My expectations for this year’s event is the same as the command to every Christian (Mark 16:15. ‘GO’), which is to ultimately win souls for Christ. That God may be glorified because He is indeed worthy of our praise and for an outpouring of blessings like we have never seen before.

Monsignor Paschal Nwaezapu, Parish Priest Catholic Church Of Divine Mercy, Lekki, Lagos

Oruche

Nwaezeapu

ARTS

ARTSPLIT Wraps up Grillo And Pemba Auction With VIP Dinner, Launches Out in Ghana With Bridges

ARTSPLIT, the pioneering African art trading platform, has wrapped up their contemporary masters split and lease auction featuring the iconic works of Yusuf Grillo and George Pemba with a VIP Dinner in Lagos. The auction was held from November 4 to 30 and it featured two iconic works by Nigerian artist Yusuf Grillo and South African artist George Pemba. Between Life and Death (1976) by George Pemba and Eyo (1993) by Yusuf Grillo.

The winning bidders have physical access to the works for 24 months, and the lease value of the works are $2000 for Eyo (1993) and $1000 for Between Life and Death (1976).

Dignitaries at the VIP dinner include Ugoma Ebilah, Founding Director and chief curator at BLOOM Art; Owen Omogiafo, President and Group CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp); Atul Chaudhary, Managing Director, Landcraft industries Ltd; Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Nigerian-based contemporary artist and curator; and Oyindamola Fakeye, Creative Director of Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos (CCA Lagos).

George Pemba is a well-known South African artist known for his bold use of colour, with many of his paintings inspired by his time in the hospital, where he spent much of his time drawing his surroundings, fellow patients, and doctors. Pemba is regarded as a forefather of African social realism, and in 2004 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Ikhamanga for his contributions to art and literature.

Yusuf Grillo is a well-known Nigerian artist and the founding president of the Society of Nigerian Artists. Grillo is regarded as one of Nigeria's most distinguished academically trained painters; he rose to prominence and international acclaim in the 1960s and 1970s, exhibiting an extensive collection of his early works. Many of his paintings incorporate elements of his western art training, combining western art techniques with traditional Yoruba sculpture characteristics. His use of blue in natural settings paintings is sometimes reminiscent of adire or resist-dye textiles used in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, this December, ARTSPLIT has announced the launch of their platform in Accra, Ghana, with an online auction and physical exhibition featuring Ghanaian artists Ablade Glover, Kofi Agorsor and Isshaq Ismail.

The December edition of the modern and contemporary auction, tagged Bridges, is featuring three iconic works by Ghanaian artists from 2 to 17 December and will be available to access via the dedicated ARTSPLIT app and on public view at The Mix Design Hub in Accra between 11-16 December.

The auction follows the successful inaugural Modern and Contemporary African Arts (MOCONA) Auction which took place in July 2022 and a recent November auction which coincided with Africa’s premier contemporary art fair ART X Lagos and saw the sales of works by some of the continent’s most celebrated artists including Yusuf Grillo and George Pemba.

This Bridges auction will continue ARTSPLIT’s efforts of creating better access and value for both emerging African artists and already established artists. The auction will feature works by three Ghanaian artists; bold colourful paintings by Isshaq Ismail, the vibrant works of Ablade Glover that capture the joyous everyday life of Ghana and finally Kofi Agorsor whose buoyant, semi-abstract and witty depictions of his subjects have received widespread international acclaim.

The artists included in the auction bridge generations of artistic excellence, divulging an exploratory voyage into artistic skill, medium, and narrative across generations. All three artists evoke emotions and canonise womanhood as an ode to the motherland, referencing sociocultural norms and features in their works and bridging generations of artistic mastery and skill. These artists use their art to express resilience, inspire, reflect, and motivate change in the face of ongoing national and international challenges.

Ablade Glover’s work reflects his deep love of life, activity, and colour. Glover depicts animated landscapes that mirror the exuberant diversity of Africa: its bustling market stalls, brightly attired crowds and women, and the dynamic energy that is Ghana, using warm impastoed pigments to express the dynamism, energy, and heat of his country. Mostly, his canvases are a love affair with Africa, generously splattered on canvas, evoking the continent’s struggle, tension, beauty, and verve.

The vibrant, bold colours used in Kofi Agorsor’s paintings depict the daily lives of modern Ghanaians. of spontaneity and order. His paintings are frequently embellished with splashes, drips,

and flows of paint that intertwine to form magnificent forests or labyrinths, reflecting the interplay of music, dance movements, and geometry. He frequently employs pulsing colours to create an interpretation of the essence of contemporary Ghanaians; lived experiences set against the backdrop of entertainment.

Isshaq Ismail uses black, brown, green, red, ochre, purple, and blue to investigate and explore grotesque figures and textures. Ismail describes his process in sculptural terms, describing how he manipulates paint with thick, gestural brushstrokes in the same way a sculptor shapes clay. Through these striking and evocative works, he hopes to subvert and interrogate conventional notions of beauty. Representing the masses and advocating for the voiceless; his paintings explore themes of desire, resilience, power, and hope.

The ARTSPLIT app allows users to own fractions of prominent African artworks, also known as "Splits," and keep or sell them on the app at the end of the Split Auction." The Splits allow multiple people to co-own a single iconic piece of art, which no other art platform currently does. Users can also participate in a 'Lease Auction' on the app to win physical custody of these co-owned artworks for a set period.

The December auction follows the massive success of the November auction as well as the inaugural MOCONA auction held in July and attended by key figures in the Lagos art scene and exhibiting artists Edosa Ogiugo, El-Dragg Okwoju, and

ARTSPLIT is an art trading technology company driven by one common goal; enhancing the investment status of African art by allowing users to co-own rare and valuable artworks on a platform that guarantees price discovery and market liquidity.

Our mission is to position African art & artists as the preferred alternative investment choice by democratising access to iconic African art alongside developing the African art ecosystem through technology and co-ownership. We believe that, in this way, we can make wealth accessible through alternative investments.

The platform (ARTSPLIT mobile app) allows its users to own fractions, also known as “Splits,” of prominent African artworks on the app and in the “Split Auction”, where they can either keep or sell in its secondary market to other users for profit. These “Splits” (fractions) enable multiple individuals to co-own a single iconic piece of art on the platform. Following the Split Auction, users on the app can also bid to win physical custody of these co-owned artworks for a set period via the “Lease Auction.” And this cycle is repeated on the app as far as multiple individuals own splits of that artwork.

Abiodun Olaku. The MOCONA auction, titled Ode to Mastery, featured five prominent Nigerian artists who are key drivers of the continent's contemporary art scene: Abiodun Olaku, Duke Asidere, Edosa Ogiugo, El-Dragg Okwoju, and Oliver Enwonwu.

L-R: Founding Director and chief curator at BLOOM Art, Ugoma Ebilah; President and Group CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), Owen Omogiafo; Managing Director, Landcraft industries Ltd, Atul Chaudhary; Nigerian-based contemporary artist and curator, Temitayo Ogunbiyi ; and the Creative Director, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos, Oyindamola Fakeye, at the VIP Dinner to close ARTSPLIT's Grillo and Pemba Auction in Lagos on Wednesday, 30 November 2022.

Works by Ghanaian artists Isshaq Ismail, Koffi Agorsor and Ablade Glover

Qatar Ball at Centre of Controversies

BY JUDE OBAFEMI

Beyond the quality of football displayed at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar and the upsets, including another early exit for Germany, one issue that has been much talked about in the news and on social media is the ball, especially with regards to Portuguese international, Cristiano Ronald and Thursday night when Japan caused another upset by beating Spain.

The debates have cut across different subjects, but the recurring denominator has been the ball, which has drawn interest to the manufacturing, design and the swathe of technological innovations that were considered in delivering the round leather that the 32 participating countries started kicking around with the goal of lifting the trophy when the tournament comes to an end on December 18.

What began the most debate about the ball took off after the Monday, November 28 Group H fixture between Portugal and Uruguay. By the final whistle, Portugal had beaten Uruguay 2-0 and booked their place in the round of 16.

However, for the first of those two winning goals, Ronaldo's ex-teammate at Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes, had curled in a cross, which Ronaldo leapt high into the air in a bid to head into the net.

Although the ball appeared to glance across Ronaldo’s head, while nestling in the bottom corner, the 37-year-old, whose controversial interview with Piers Morgan was still causing ripples in Manchester, wheeled away in delight, claiming the goal as his own. Yet, eagle-eyed observers noticed that the replays clearly showed that the former United man did not make contact with the ball enough to be credited with the goal.

Officially, match officials made the right call to award the goal to Fernandes. This did nothing to please the legendary marksman, who continued to claim that his head touched the ball before it sailed into the net. His celebration post-goal said that much. He even went as far as reporting the incident to Morgan - who is in regular contact with the clubless star - insisting that he got a touch.

In the spirit of sportsmanship, Fernandes took Ronaldo’s side. During the post-match interview, Fernandes addressed the issue saying: “I celebrated (the goal) as if it had been Cristiano’s goal. It seemed to me that he had touched the ball. My aim was to cross the ball for him.”

With Ronaldo on a record-breaking spree after becoming the first-ever player to score in five different World Cups, it is easy to understand his zeal to be at the forefront of Portugal's progression in Qatar. The goal would have taken him level with legendary striker Eusebio on nine World Cup goals for Portugal, but that will have to wait. However, there was a need to set the records straight. The responsibility for that fell on Adidas, the sports gear manufacturer that provides the official World Cup footballs. With the embedded technology in the ball, they were able to scientifically prove that the goal was rightly awarded to Fernandes because, as they explained, the technology in the match ball proved conclusively no contact was made when the ball went over Ronaldo, meaning he made no significant contact to have any right to be credited with the goal.

Continued from Back Page

A statement to that effect from FIFA on behalf of Adidas read: “In the match between Portugal and Uruguay, using the Connected Ball Technology housed in Adidas’s Al Rihla Official Match Ball, we are able to definitively show no contact on the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo for the opening goal in the game. No external force on the ball could be measured as shown by the lack of ‘heartbeat’

Kolmani Oil Field: Can Nigeria Avoid Another ‘Resource Curse’

are affected? When their farmlands are devastated? When the trajectory of their lives is impacted by the influx of expatriates and their ecosystem is hampered by the activi ties of oil mining and production? Are we looking at Niger Delta 2.0?

It is my sincere recommendation that the lessons of the Niger Delta be front and centre as the country enters a new phase of oil promise. It is early days and there is time to ensure that we do not put ourselves and already strained Northern Nigerians through the deleterious

experience that have desolated the land and waters of the Niger Delta and left them with the worst effects of climate change, including soot pollution and acid rains. We can do better than that and it is the responsibility of the government and all of us to make sure history does not repeat itself in the oil story of the North because, if we make the same mistake, as we have seen from the Niger Delta and the worst case scenario of the terrorists in the North, we will all be equally culpable and become victims of the fallout.

in our measurements. The 500Hz IMU sensor inside the ball allows us to be highly accurate in our analysis.”

While the dust disturbed by that incident was still stirring, alongside other decisions by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which have led to even more questions about controversial decisions, Thursday night's ball-over-the-line debate sparked into flame.

It was only the latest in terms of VAR decisions that have been questionable, such as Antoine Griezmann’s disallowed late equaliser against Tunisia for France; Argentina’s VAR-awarded penalty after Wojciech Szczesny appeared to gently brush Lionel Messi’s face with his hand; or the lack of a penalty after England’s Harry Maguire was wrestled to the floor against Iran.

Thursday's issue appeared to spark even more debate than these others. It came about when VAR allowed Japan’s second goal against Spain on Thursday evening to stand, even though, to the naked eye and some angles of the replay, it appeared that the ball had crossed the line and gone out of play. The resulting goal ended up sealing Japan’s qualification, effectively knocking Germany out of the tournament.

Japanese midfielder, Ao Tanaka, scored in the 51st minute to make it 2-1 to Japan, following a cross by Kaoru Mitoma. But, in the process of working for the goal, it seemed the ball crossed the goal line and that should have been given to Spain as goal kick instead of letting play continue for the goal. What became the crux of contention was the question of what the applicable FIFA rule was.

The terminology of the rule to determine whether the ball is out of play reads: "A goal kick is awarded when the whole of the ball passes over the goalline, on the ground or in the air, having last touched a player of the attacking team, and a goal is not scored."

With this knowledge, it is easier to address the situation fairly to know exactly whether the ball crossed the line or not, keeping in mind that camera angles can be deceptive and perspectives can change viewpoints.

Due to the fact that the novel Adidas tracking technology in the ball, which is excellent as part of the semi-automated offside system, but is not used to track when the ball is in play, there was every reason to turn to VAR to determine if the ball should remain in play. The VAR officials ultimately instructed the referee, Victor Gomes, to award the goal because they had seen an angle that showed that the ball had not wholly crossed the line.

The slightest fraction of the curvature of the ball being above the line is sufficient for it to be deemed still in play because the ball is not a straight line. Some portion of the curve can remain within the line even if the rest of it has crossed past and there is some green grass between the ball and the white end line. Camera angles that offered a bird’s eye view seemed to show that the ball hadn’t done this; that a sliver of it still hovered above a sliver of the line.

Some pundits and analysts were certain the ball should have been called for a goal kick and the goal not allowed to stand, a result that had the potential to keep Germany in the competition, with undertones of a covert campaign to see Germany exit early but, ideally, Germany had no one to blame for their departure but themselves.

The official match ball for the first-ever World Cup in the Arab world is called the Al Rihla, which means "the journey" in Arabic. It is reportedly the fastest-moving ball in the tournament history, according to FIFA, while the name is thought to be a nod to a travelogue made by the traveller Ibn Battuta, who explored Asia, Europe, and Africa in the 14th century.

*Continues online at www. thewillnigeria.com

He even went as far as reporting the incident to Morgan - who is in regular contact with the clubless star - insisting that he got a touch

“

Kolmani Oil Field: Can Nigeria Avoid Another ‘Resource Curse’

It will not be out of line to use Nigeria, as a country, to theorise the concept of "Resource Curse". Indeed, the supposed powerhouse of Africa is a ready-made example that consistently ticks all the boxes and provides justification for the viability of the theory.

As soon as one is conversant with the distinct character istics of the concept, it becomes abundantly obvious why this is the case.

The paradoxical circumstance in which a nation performs poorly economically, despite having access to valuable natural resources, is known as the "resource curse."

Richard M. Auty is credited with coining the phrase, which he discussed in his 1993 book entitled, ‘Sustaining Development in the Mineral Economies: The Resource Curse Thesis’ and the first econometric work on the sub ject was published in 1995 by economists, Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner.

A resource curse typically results from an over concentra tion of the nation's capital and workforce in a small num ber of resource-dependent industries. Countries might become sensitive to drops in commodity prices by failing to make sufficient investments in other areas, which can result in long-term economic underperformance.

A resource curse may emerge for a number of reasons, but the main one is when the nation starts to concentrate all of its production resources on a single industry, such as mining or oil production, and neglects investment in other critical industries.

This resource curse is also known as the paradox of plenty and it could be the outcome of corruption. With the significant portion of the nation's wealth concentrated in a small number of industries, the government often may abuse its regulatory authority by, for example, providing lucrative contracts in exchange for bribery.

A surplus of labour and capital that goes to just a few industries tends to damage the rest of the economy and hurt the progress of the whole nation. This kind of issue is frequently seen in emerging economies that find signifi cant natural resource deposits, the commercialisation of which births an entire industry.

The industry tends to attract available investment capital once a natural resource is discovered and material and natural resources are focused heavily on that industry. Local and foreign investments will also indiscriminately gravitate in that direction.

Petroleum is one natural resource in particular where the resource curse is quite apparent. Petroleum-rich nations such as Nigeria, indeed, suffer from a resource curse, according to studies examining the relationship between natural resource riches and politics.

Three negative (and mainly unresolved) impacts are clearly present in these nations. First, it promoted authori tarian regimes. Next, it increased corruption. Finally, it sparked conflict in low- and middle-income countries. It proved the irrefutable reality that a nation's economy can suffer severely and negatively if it depends too heavily on one or two resources.

The discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Oloibiri in the Niger Delta in 1955 marked a turning point in Nige ria's economic history. Agriculture used to be the primary source of government income prior to the discovery of oil resources. But as time went on, the economy's main source of income was from oil exports.

The only source of funding for the annual budget, which guides the nation's economic path, is crude oil earnings. This predicament is comparable to putting all of one's eggs in one basket. And, it is precisely this circumstance that has given rise to the majority of the agitation for resource control—or, to put it another way, fiscal federal ism—among Nigeria's oil-producing regions.

Without equivocation, it is obvious that these oil explora tion activities wreaked havoc on the environment in the Niger Delta region of the country.

As a consequence, environmentalists, human rights defenders, and proponents of fair trade from all over the world turned their focus on the Niger Delta. Environmen talist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni ethnic minor ity leaders were tried and executed by the repressive Gen eral Sani Abacha regime, gained international attention. Large oil companies like Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Elf and Agip, among others, who were gaining from the region's oil, came under fire and scrutiny as their operations made

late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

Most of these militants were products of a society torn apart by the resource curse.

These were the thoughts that coursed through my mind as I reflected on the fanfare that attended the com mencement of another oil drilling campaign, this time in northern Nigeria, following the presidential flag-off of the Kolmani Field Integrated Development Project straddling Bauchi and Gombe States.

The Kolmani River Field, which is situated in the Up per Benue trough, is estimated to hold a reserve of 500 billion cubic feet of gas and around a billion barrels of crude oil. The Kolmani Integrated Development Project also includes a 120,000- barrels per day refinery, a 500 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing plant, a 300-megawatt capacity power plant, and a 2,500 tonne per day fertiliser plant.

It is reported that the project has already attracted about $3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI). The North ern Nigeria Development Company Limited (NNDC), a business controlled by the 19 northern states, and Sterling Global, a Nigerian branch of the Indian Sandesara Group, are working together with NNPC to develop the field.

While it is a positive development for Nigeria on paper, it cannot be taken for granted that there are concerns, espe cially with Nigeria's experience and history of association with the resource curse, as I have belaboured to outline thus far. What makes it even more disturbingly worrisome is the status quo ante of the North.

headlines. Yet, business in the region continued.

In a bid to profit from the fossil fuels in the region, western governments and oil companies supported and maintained a number of oppressive and corrupt govern ments in Nigeria. In the Niger Delta, there has been a battle between the people and multinational oil compa nies over oil, leading to extreme poverty and environmen tal destruction.

The Niger Delta's Ogoni, Ijaw, and other natives—those who have suffered the most harm for decades—have been working to defend their own interests, the environ ment and their fundamental human and economic rights. In response, the Nigerian Government and the oil firms have violently repressed protesters.

Shell, for instance, came under fire at different times for attempting to rift communities by paying off some residents to quash peaceful rallies. Multinational oil companies are involved in the abuses carried out by the Nigerian military and police, as Human Rights Watch have previously reported.

Still, the oil of the Niger Delta, which should have been a blessing to the region and the country, poses a major threat to the local population. Farming and fishing have become impossible or very difficult in oil-affected areas due to the numerous environmental pollution-related effects of oil that are visible across the area. Even drink ing water has become scarce. Malnutrition and illness are widespread.

Additional negative repercussions of the presence of multinational oil firms on the local economy and society include property loss, price inflation, prostitution, and the negligent fathering of children by foreign oil workers. Military persecution frequently meets with organised re sistance and action by impacted populations, occasionally leading to fatalities. One cannot forget the disturbed his tory of armed resistance of the Niger Delta militants, who threatened oil installations and kidnapped expatriates to address their grievances until the Amnesty Programme of

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed last month that 133 million Nigerians experience multidimen sional poverty. It stated that 63 per cent of Nigerians were poor due to a lack of access to health, education, living standards, employment and security in its most recent National Multidimensional Poverty Index study.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index provides a multivari ate method of assessing poverty by highlighting depriva tions in the areas of health, education, living conditions, employment and shocks.

Semiu Adeniran, the CEO of the NBS and the Federation's Statistician-General, stated that this was the organisation's first attempt to undertake an international multidimen sional poverty survey in Nigeria.

What it revealed about the North confirmed previous studies on impoverishment indices in the region. Accord ing to the NBS research, Sokoto, Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa, and Plateau were the worst states in 2022. With 90.5 per cent of the state's population living in poverty, Sokoto was the poorest state in the country. It is followed by Bayelsa, with 88.5 per cent of its population living in poverty, then Gombe, with 86.2 per cent, Jigawa, with 84.3 per cent and Plateau, with 84.4 per cent.

At the other end of the list, Ondo had the lowest poverty rate with 27.2 per cent of the population living in poverty, followed by Lagos with 29.4 per cent, Abia with 29.8 per cent, Edo with 31 per cent and Anambra with 32.1 per cent. According to the survey, 86 million of Nigeria's poor people live in the North, compared to 37 million in the South.

This is just one angle of the level of decline that is the contemporary reality in the North with low levels of edu cation, lack of access for most women and the widespread statistics of unemployed men which has been inexorably linked to the increase in the population of terrorists who recruit from this number.

Is it into this conundrum that the country wants to add the resource curse to? What happens when their livelihoods

The only source of funding for the annual budget, which guides the nation's economic path, is crude oil earnings. This predicament is comparable to putting all of one's eggs in one basket