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Financial Autonomy for State Judiciary, Legislature, Lawyers Hail President Order effectively directs Accountant-general to fulfill the provisions of the constitution Tobi Soniyi Lagos lawyers, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) and Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre,

Mr. Clement Nwankwo, have commended President Muhammadu Buhari for enforcing the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, by signing into law an Executive Order to grant

financial autonomy to the legislature and the judiciary across the 36 states of the federation.

In separate interviews with THISDAY, the lawyers said the president acted

rightly when he issued the executive order on Friday to ensure financial autonomy for states' judiciary and Houses of Assembly.

Falana said since the governors would not comply

with the provisions of the constitution, the president had a duty to enforce the constitution. He stressed that the executive order was aimed at enforcing the constitution.

According to him, section

121 of the constitution grants the judiciary financial autonomy. But the governors would not comply with it.

Besides, Falana stated that Continued on page 10

UK Bulk Buys Hydroxychloroquine as Potential Covid-19 Treatment…Page 5 Sunday 24 May, 2020 Vol 25. No 9176

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FG Considers Models to Reopen Economy Tobi Soniyi The federal government is actively considering models to gradually reopen the economy following the easing of lockdown and closure of businesses in the last eight

weeks.

This comes after the submission of a proposal to reopen the economy to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed

and her counterpart in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo.

The proposal consists of different options and models to reopen the economy, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY checks also revealed among others, the federal government believes that Nigeria should be prepared to deal with Covid-19 for a long time to come and as such, the country could not afford an indefinite business

closures.

The economy was shut down in March following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

But the proposal, also noted that the death rate as a result of the recent easing of

the lockdown did not spike dramatically, an indication that the country has so far fared better than most in terms of managing the virus compared to some western countries.

Continued on page 10

It’s Time for Sober Reflection, Not Celebration, Says Buhari Says pandemic has taken heavy toll on people's spiritual, social, economic lives Reassures lockdown won’t go on longer than necessary Lawan, Gbajabiamila, Omo-Agege, Atiku, Saraki, Govs, others felicitate with Muslims NCDC confirms 265 new cases, tally now 7526, discharges 2174, death 221 Our Correspondents Amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed thousands of lives worldwide, crippled businesses, and caused massive disruption to daily living, including religious worship, with the closure of mosques and churches, the Islamic faithful will quietly offer prayers and supplications today to celebrate this year’s Eid-el-fitr. Also called the “Festival of Breaking the Fast”, Eid-el-fitr marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

Today’s celebration would

be devoid of the fanfare, fellowship, and ceremonial visits usually associated with Eid-el-fitr. This is due to the social/physical distancing and other containment measures introduced by governments to tackle the spread of the coronavirus.

It was against this new normal that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, called on Muslims across the country to see this year’s Eid event as “an occasion for sober reflection rather than celebration because of the long shadows of gloom Continued on page 5

Teriba: Donor Funds Can’t End Nigeria's Fiscal Crisis... Page 54

DELIBRATING POWER SECTOR REFORM...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (right) Chairs Presidential Working Group on Power Sector Reforms on Virtual Conference with ministers held at the Presidential Villa... Weekend state house photo

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UK Bulk Buys Hydroxychloroquine as Potential Covid-19 Treatment Tobi Soniyi

Hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug being taken by Donald Trump as an unproven protection against coronavirus, is being bought in bulk by the UK in case it does turn out to be an effective Covid-19 treatment, the UK based The Guardian has reported.

The newspapers said ministers were seeking 16m tablets in packets of up to 100 as part of a ÂŁ35m contract put out to tender last Friday.

The newspaper said the drug was being tested by government scientists, citing health officials.

It reported that authorities in the UK are securing additional supplies so it could be distributed among the population if required.

The contract, which was uploaded to a government

website on 15 May, is an “open opportunity� for pharmaceutical suppliers to supply more than 33m tablets of various drugs between June and next January.

There is no evidence hydroxychloroquine can prevent coronavirus, and regulators have warned the drug could cause heart problems.

However, there were concerns that Trump’s endorsement would prompt a worldwide shortage of the drug, which can be used to treat lupus and other conditions.

Trump last week told a White House press conference: “I’m taking it for about a week and a half now and I’m still here, I’m still here.�

The Guardian further reported that the UK government was asking for the drug to be supplied in

either 220mg or 250mg form. “In accordance with the terms of this invitation to offer the authority may accept offers for alternative strengths of tablets,� the contract says.

Studies are under way across the UK, Europe and the US to examine if the drug and a similar one, chloroquine, are effective against the coronavirus.

UK scientists have also been examining whether the drug can be used to treat the disease, rather than prevent it. The UK does not at present recommend its use.

The newspaper quoted an anonymous source with knowledge of the contract saying the drug was being bought in bulk so that if it proved to be effective as a treatment there was a ready supply. “All of the drugs being purchased can be used

to treat other conditions too so they don’t really go to waste if they aren’t proved effective for Covid,� the source said.

Other drugs being bought as part of the ÂŁ35m contract include 1.4m tablets of lopinavir-ritonavir, which is used to treat people who are HIV positive; dexamethasone as an oral solution; and 20m azithromycin capsules in packs of up to six.

It also quoted a Whitehall source who said the purchase of hydroxychloroquine was related to current clinical trials to evaluate it as a treatment for people with Covid-19, adding that it should only be taken on prescription or as part of a controlled clinical trial.

The World Health Organization has said it is concerned by reports of individuals self-medicating

and causing themselves serious harm.

Trump was hosting a meeting about the struggling restaurant industry on Monday when he caught reporters unawares by revealing he was taking the drug. “You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers before you catch it, the frontline workers, many, many are taking it,� he told reporters. “I happen to be taking it.� The drug was also endorsed by the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro.

The Guardian disclosed last weekthat the UK government had entered into 16 contracts for chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and chloroquine phosphate, and placed orders for lopinavirritonavir.

Contracts with Britishbased firms were entered

into without going to tender on the grounds of “extreme urgency�, according to an online record of the deals.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The UK is leading the way on research in the race to find and fast-track potential treatments, and clinical trials are under way to assess whether existing medicines are safe and effective for treating Covid-19. “This includes hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, dexamethasone and azithromycin, and we have procured these medicines to support clinical trials. “But until we have clear, definitive evidence these treatments are safe and effective, we do not recommend the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of a clinical trial.�

Uzodimma Signs Bill Repealing Pensions, Gratuities for Past Governors, Others Amby Uneze in Owerri Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, has signed an executive bill repealing the law that instituted pension allowances and gratuities for former governors, deputy governors, speakers, and deputy speakers of the state.

Speaking after assenting to the bill at the Sam Mbakwe Exco Chambers, Government House, Owerri, Uzodimma said a repeal of the law had become necessary as it ran contrary

to the 1999 Constitution, as amended. He said the constitution stipulated that a pensioner must have worked for at least 10 years and must be up to 45 years of age.

The governor stated, “Apart from the inconsistency of such a law to the provisions of the grundnorm, which is the constitution of 1999 (as amended), this has led, for a very long time, to a precedent that does not encourage diligence

and prudence in service delivery.�

He regretted a situation where some of the beneficiaries of the payments equally got huge amounts of money as salaries and allowances in other positions they occupied.

While thanking the Imo State House of Assembly for rising to the occasion and embracing the desire of government to strengthen the internally generated revenue base of the state, Uzodimma assured of his

commitment to an economy that will stand the test of time.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the exercise, Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Chiji Collins, said they presented two bills for the governor’s accent. They were the Bill on Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and Bill on the repeal of Pensions and Gratuity.

Collins said the Bill on Pensions and Gratuity had

long been repealed in many states of the federation when it was discovered to run contrary to the 1999 Constitution.

The Bill on Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, the speaker explained, was to ensure that the university was moved to where it belonged. He was the proper location was the Imo State College of Agriculture, Umuagwo, where the National Universities Commission (NUC) visited

for accreditation, not Aboh Mbaise, as some people were clamouring.

Present at the signing of the bill to repeal the Law on Pensions, Allowances and Gratuities included Deputy Governor of Imo State, Professor Placid Njoku; Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Amara Iwuanyanwu; Majority Leader, Uche Ogbuagu; and other members of the Assembly, as well as some members of the state’s expanded executive council.

an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gbajabiamila’s message was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi.

He urged Muslims to imbibe virtues, such as feeding the needy, being their brother's keepers, and praying for peaceful coexistence that usually came with the month of Ramadan.

Gbajabiamila stated, "I bring to Nigerian Muslims warm greetings at this season of Eid-el-Fitr. It is a season of remembrance of the good things that the Almighty Allah has done in our lives.

"Unfortunately, this year's Eid-el-Fitr will be celebrated low-key, not for our own making, but that is how our Creator wills it. That is why we all must return to Him in prayers to bring an end to this COVID-19 pandemic.

"I enjoin every Nigerian Muslim to be of good character and remain the best of examples, taking after the Holy Prophet (SAW). Let's also pray for an end to insecurity and other challenges that we face as a nation."

Omo-Agege, while calling on Nigerians to be fervent in prayers for a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic,

also sued for prayers for the country to overcome its other challenges.

The deputy senate president said, "I join all Muslims in praying that the world will recover from the prevailing pandemic, that the wounds of division become healed in Nigeria and that all citizens can enjoy the realisation of the Buhari administration’s goal of attaining better standards of living."

Former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu urged the Muslim Ummah not to relent in their prayers against COVID-19.

Ekweremadu enjoined Muslims to continue in the virtues of love, forgiveness, and unity imbibed during the Ramadan fast.

In the message by his media adviser, Uche Anichukwu, the former deputy senate president stated, “I felicitate with our Muslim brothers and sisters on this occasion of Eid-Fitr.

It is, however, important to note that this will be an unusual Sallah without the normal fanfare and exchange of goodwill visits across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I, therefore, enjoin the Muslim Ummah to celebrate safely, bearing in mind that this

IT’S TIME FOR SOBER REFLECTION, NOT CELEBRATION, SAYS BUHARI that the coronavirus has cast on people’s lives.�

Also yesterday, NCDC announce 265 new cases raising the tally to 7526 with 2174 discharges and 221 deaths so far.

Lagos as usual top the tally with 133, followed by Oyo with 34, Edo 28, Ogun 23, FCT 22, amongst others.

In his Eid-el-fitr message signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari admitted that the COVID-19 challenge had taken a huge toll on people’s spiritual, social and economic lives. He assured Nigerians that the current lockdown would not be longer than necessary.

Equally in the spirit of the season, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and other prominent Nigerians felicitated with Muslims all over the country for the completion of the Ramadan fasting period. They urged the citizens to continue to pray for the country as it battles the challenge of COVID-19.

Buhari told Muslims to keep their spirits up in

spite of the coronavirus pandemic. He said the virus, "which caught the world off-guard, has put a damper on what would otherwise have been a time of celebration for the Muslim faithful to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting period."

The president said, "For the first time in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the people's spiritual, social and economic lives.� He added, "This year's fasting period was particularly challenging for Muslims, because they had to forgo many important aspects of their daily worship, including the routine congregations for prayer and the recitation and interpretation of the Holy Qur'an as well as traveling for the lesser pilgrimage to Makkah.

"It is not easy to give up many of these important duties and activities, but it became imperative to do so in order to control or limit the spread of this deadly disease. Let me use this opportunity to commend the sacrifices of both Muslims and Christians for their cooperation in the enforcement of the social distancing guidelines. “I am well aware of the inconveniences these tough measures have

brought on the lives of Nigerians, including limiting religious activities and gatherings in large numbers.� The president said, “No government would intentionally impose these tough and demanding measures on its citizens if it had a choice."

The president appreciated Nigerians "whose businesses and means of livelihood were badly affected by the prolonged lockdown measures for their understanding and cooperation." He assured that the lockdown measures would not go on longer than necessary, saying they would be reviewed from time to time to ease the hardship on the people.

While exhorting people with means to help their neighbours and those in need “so that we can all come out of this pandemic stronger and more united,�

Buhari told the Muslim faithful, "This year's Eid event is an occasion for sober reflection rather than celebration because of the long shadows of gloom that the coronavirus has cast on people’s lives.�

He prayed Allah to ease the hardship among the people as they struggle to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections. He wished all Nigerians “Eid

Mubarak.�

Felicitating with Nigerians and, in particular, the Muslim Ummah, President of the Senate, Lawan, enjoined all to continue to observe the health precautions and sustain the acts of purity, charity, perseverance and tolerance in their daily lives and general conduct.

He said, “We should also continue to pray for Nigeria, our dear country, for God's intervention against all the challenges that confront our nation and our world.

I assure you on behalf of my colleagues that the National Assembly will continue to provide the initiatives and responses expected of a responsible legislature in a vibrant democracy and as an arm of a caring government. “I wish to specially commend all our healthcare and other essential services providers, who are at the front line of the fight against COVID-19 and assure them of full support of their lawmakers and representatives for victory against the vicious enemy.�

Gbajabiamila also congratulated Nigerian Muslims on the successful conclusion of this year's Ramadan fast and marking of a peaceful Eid-el-Fitr. He urged them to pray for

Continued on page 8

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NEWS IT’S TIME FOR SOBER REFLECTION, NOT CELEBRATION, SAYS BUHARI pandemic will pass and there will be more Sallah celebrations ahead.�

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives also congratulated Nigerians on the successful completion of the Ramadan fast and called on Muslims to use the Eid-el-fitr celebration to activate the much-needed national rebirth.

The Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, in a statement, urged Nigerians to ensure that they adhere strictly to all health and safety protocols on COVID-19 as they observe the Eid-el-fitr.

Elumelu stated, "As a nation, we must use this period for deep introspection and rekindle the virtues of forgiveness, tolerance, love for one another and commitment to the stability and progress of our dear nation and humanity at large.�

Atiku said the time called for sacrifice for national development. He stated, "This time calls for sacrifice in leadership. This is no time for extravagance and living in luxury.

"I wish all Nigerian Muslims and their counterparts across the world a more special celebration, filled with pleasant moments as we pray together and enjoy the day with our families. Just as it was a Ramadan like none other, the Eid-il-fitr celebrations marking the end of the fasting this year too would be epochal.

"I am sure there would be very few Muslims alive today – if any – who had witnessed a Ramadan fasting like the one we just had, and Eid celebration such as we would have this year without the mandatory congressional prayers.�

Sanwo-Olu Urges Muslims to Continue on Path of Spirituality, Peaceful Coexistence Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, urged Muslims to continue to demonstrate the virtues of peaceful coexistence imbibed during the monthlong fasting preceding Eid-el-Fitri.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, Sanwo-Olu, said Eid-el-Fitri was significant as it marked the end of the month of abstinence from worldly pleasures with fasting and prayers.

The governor said, “Today, I join millions of people around the world, to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters in Lagos State and in Nigeria happy Eid-el-fitri. For Muslims, today’s celebration is very unique. It is a feast to mark the end of a month-long spiritual renewal following 30 days of fasting and other religious acts. “Ramadan was a period that you denied yourselves the worldly pleasures, turned to your Creator for total cleansing, and upheld other religious values. Such values as the reaffirmation of your duty to serve one another, helping the poor and the vulnerable in the society, offering gratitude, showing compassion and

generosity among other good deeds that guide your faith. “As Muslims celebrate this year’s Eid-el-Fitri, we must remind ourselves of the need to further reflect spiritually and build communally.�

He added, “As we celebrate, I want us to remember that our fight against the COVID-19 is not over. “Let us reflect on the last two to three months of our lives as individuals, as a state and as a nation. We should also remember our health care workers, and thousands of COVID-19 patients who would have loved to be at home to celebrate with us at this moment.�

Ugwuanyi calls for Prayers, Abiding Faith in God Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi charged Muslims and, indeed, all Nigerians to remain resolute in their abiding faith in God, through prayers and sacrifice, as the country battles COVID-19.

Ugwuanyi congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari and other Muslim faithful on the successful completion of Ramadan. He said the religious exercise was a great boost to the country’s war against COVID-19 as well as efforts to sustain peace, unity and progress of the country.

Ugwuanyi stated, “This is an unusual time, not only for us as a people but for the entire humanity and the world. I, therefore, urge that we remain committed to the core values that strengthen the bond that brought us together as a prosperous nation, as we fight back in solidarity and in determined effort to contain this COVID-19 pandemic.�

Sule Calls for Enduring Ramadan Virtues Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule implored Muslims to remain steadfast in the virtues of Ramadan through sustained supplication, hospitality, and good neighbourliness.

In his Eid-el-fitr message to the Muslim faithful in the state, Sule said, "All good citizens of Nasarawa State should continue to pray for the peace, security and economic prosperity of the state. Let me re-echo my call to the people of Nasarawa State to be law abiding and live peacefully with one another.

"Government will not condone any acts capable of breaching the existing peace prevailing in our society and will deal decisively with any individual(s) or groups, whose stock in trade is to perpetuate crime, criminality and fan embers of disunity among the diverse ethnic nationalities in the state."

Wamakko Says Nigerians Should Continue in Prayers Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and former Sokoto State Governor, Senator Aliyu

Wamakko, advised Nigerians to continue to prayer for God's divine intervention in the coronavirus plague.

Wamakko, who represents Sokoto North Senatorial District, spoke on Friday night at his country home, Gidan Kara, in Wamakko Local Government Area, during the 21st Annual End of Ramadan Breakfast.

He said, "As pious and faithful Muslims, we have the unshakable belief that, whatever happens to us – good or bad – comes from the Almighty Allah. We can never shy away or dodge from what has been divinely predestined for us by the Almigthy God. “But, it can be lessened with sustained sincere prayers. May the Almighty Allah accept our prayers and forgive us all our sins as fallible mortals, as well as save us from this pandemic."

Uzodimma Commends Muslims Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma felicitated with the Muslim faithful on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr and commended them for dedication, resilience, and personal sacrifice. In a message by his media aide, Oguwike Nwachuku, on Saturday, Uzodimma said God had been merciful to Nigeria and Nigerians and advised the Muslim faithful to remain steadfast in their prayer for a united, peaceful and prosperous country.

He said this year's Eid-elFitr festval, which seemed "marred" by COVID-19, had provided an opportunity for the Muslim faithful to reflect deeply on the awesomeness of God in the face of predicament and the need for mankind to subject themselves to the sovereignty of the Almighty God. He advised the Muslim faithful to use this period of Eid-el-Fitr to remember the vulnerable, weak, and needy and show them love.

The governor encouraged Muslims to continue to pray for Nigerian leaders to be God-fearing and work in the interest of the society.

Ekiti Obas, Senator Canvass Value Reorientation, Religious Tolerance The Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Senator for Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Opeyemi Bamidele, congratulated Muslims on a peaceful fasting period. They sued for value reorientation and tolerance as part of the lessons of Ramadan.

They also admonished Muslims to take cognisance of the peculiarity of this year's celebration by observing all the laid down guidelines by government in the current fight against COVID-19.

In a statement by the council's chairman and Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Ajibade Alabi, on Saturday, the monarchs stressed that all religious leaders must work in tandem with government in the fight against the deadly coronavirus.

The Oba stated, "All Nigerians must continue to cooperate with government to stop the spread of the pandemic. We praise the stout leadership of the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, in leading the war against the spread of COVID-19 both as Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum.�

Bamidele, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, enjoined Nigerians to embrace value reorientation, personal and collective rebranding, for radical transformation of the country from its present state. He said, "Time has come for us to collectively rout the cankerworm of corruption that has become a widespread culture stifling the economy and asphyxiating less privileged citizens.

"That this year's Ramadan coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the globe was divine. It signposted that God, despite our iniquities, still offered us the opportunity to seek His face during this harrowing times.�

Fintiri Asks for Prayers to End COVID-19 Pandemic Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri felicitated with the Muslim Ummah for yet another Eid-el-Fitr celebration. In a release by his press secretary, Mr Humwashi Wonosikou, on Saturday, Fintiri urged Muslims to pray for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic so that life could return to normal.

"In this trying times of the novel coronavirus pandemic, everyone is also admonished to cooperate with the front-liners by observing the necessary protocols and contributing their quota in helping to save lives,� he said.

Yahaya Urges Sustenance of Ramadan Lessons Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Yahaya, advised Muslims to sustain the lessons of the holy month of Ramadan and replicate them in their daily lives for the good of the society. In a goodwill message Saturday, Yahaya said, "Eid el-fitr festival connotes sacrifice, selflessness, love and obedience to the tenets of Islam. I, therefore, enjoin us to draw enduring lessons from the Ramadan and show love to one another as well as promote harmony and peaceful coexistence among our diverse people.

"The same way we all remembered the less privileged and those afflicted by poverty and disease during Ramadan, I implore us to carry over these attributes beyond Ramadan. I also enjoin you to continue to complement government efforts in confronting the dreaded COVID-19, by observing all the preventive protocols and complying with restriction orders, while assuring you of our resolve to continue to adopt measures and

strategies to curb the spread of the pandemic in the state.�

Makinde Calls for Prayers for Oyo, Nigeria Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde congratulated Muslims in the state and beyond on the successful completion of Ramadan and urged them to use the occasion of Eid-el-Fitri to pray for themselves, the state, and Nigeria. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, Makinde said it was regrettable that Muslims in the state and across the country could not observe Eid-el-Fitri prayer at the Eid Praying Grounds, due to restrictions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor asked Muslims to see the situation as “part of the sacrifice we all have to make at this time,� adding, “It is gratifying to note that we are concluding this year’s Ramadan on a good note. Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the whole world, the Almighty Allah allowed Muslims in Oyo State to join the Muslim Ummah in making supplications for the forgiveness of our sins. “I remain grateful to my Muslim brothers and sisters and residents of the state for remaining steadfast despite the situation imposed on us by the COVID-19 pandemic.�

APC Urges Nigerians to Imbibe Ramadan Lessons The All Progressives Congress (APC) congratulated Muslims on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitri, and urged them to imbibe the lessons of the holy month. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, in a statement Saturday, said at this critical period in the country's history, the noble virtues of Ramadan should continue to guide everyone, as they stay safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Issa-Onilu said, “As we complete this important religious obligation, we join the Nigerian Muslim community in beseeching Allah to accede to all their prayers and accept their fasting as an act of worship. It is our hope that the important lessons of Ramadan, including personal sacrifice, charity, sobriety and self-discipline, would not cease to be part of our ways of life in the months and years ahead.

"In our continuous efforts to stem the spread of this virus, the APC urges all Nigerians to adhere to public health guidelines and instructions, including safe distancing, use of facemasks at public places, among others."

Obaseki Advises Muslims to Promote a Life of SacriďŹ ce Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, felicitated with the Muslim faithful on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr

and urged them to continue to promote a life of sacrifice, charity and love for one another.

Obaseki stated, “On behalf of the government and people of Edo State, I felicitate with our Muslim faithful on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr after the completion of the Ramadan fast, a major pillar of Islam.

It is impressive that the Ramadan fast was observed most devotedly amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the relevant government regulations observed by the Muslim faithful in the state. “The holy month of Ramadan is an opportunity for our Muslim brothers and sisters to deepen their relationship with Allah, promote a life of sacrifice, charity and love for one another. There is no better time to show love and togetherness than now when we are joining forces in battling a common enemy.

This is why it is remarkable that the bond among our people grew amid these very difficult times.�

Noting that his administration was committed to promotion of peaceful coexistence in the state, Obaseki said, “I urge all Muslims in Edo State to sustain these values even after the holy month to build a prosperous and peaceful Edo State, where everyone can actualise their dreams.�

Meanwhile, with the rise in number of confirmed cases of coronavirus carriers in Edo State, the state government increased the Active Case Search (ACS) activities in over 542 rural and urban communities across the state, testing 1,367 residents and contact tracing over 933 others.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia, who disclosed this to journalists in Benin City, reassured that the Obaseki administration had ramped up measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

The commissioner noted that the state was making steady progress in the management of the pandemic, adding that Edo has recorded successes in surveillance activities, including contact tracing, Persons of Interest (POI) tracking and active case search in the state’s 18 local government councils

Abiodun Greets Muslims, Urges Compliance with antiCOVID-19 Measures Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun sent a message of solidarity to Muslims, urging all citizens to keep faith and rededicate themselves to efforts to find solution to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, Abiodun advised Nigerians against reckless claims and non-compliance that could aggravate the pandemic. He advised the citizens to live in peace with one another.

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NEWS FINANCIAL AUTONOMY FOR STATE JUDICIARY, LEGISLATURE, LAWYERS HAIL PRESIDENT there had been two judgements calling on governments to uphold financial autonomy for the judiciary.

He said, “Remember that judiciary workers had to go on strike to force government to comply. That was what led to the amendment of the constitution in 2018. Despite that, the governors did not respect both the judgements and the amendment to the constitution. “What the president has now done is to use Executive Order to direct the accountant-general to fulfill the provisions of the constitution to actualise the constitutional amendments. “The president is in order in issuing the executive order.

The president has a right to enforce the constitution, if the governors would not do it.�

Adegboruwa commended the President for his bold initiative to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary, through the executive order.

He said: "It takes courage and selflessness for the head of the executive to seek to grant autonomy to the judicial arm of government, when it is considered that most cases in the courts are to check the excesses of the executive arm, being the organ of government responsible for the implementation of policies."

He however, warned that it was not enough to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary but also to ensure compliance with the rule of law through full and complete obedience to all orders and decisions of the courts.

He said: "I urge the President to grant total autonomy to the judiciary by signing another executive order to all parastatals, agencies and departments of government to implement section 287 of the 1999 Constitution by complying with all orders, judgments and decisions of the courts.

"In addition, the statutory power placed upon the Attorneys-General to grant approval for the enforcement of monetary judgments involving government revenue is one of the greatest encroachments upon the powers of the judiciary, whereby a member of the executive is still required to approve or refuse the enforcement of a final decision of any court, even after full trial. The President should uproot this anomaly urgently."

He urged governors of to cooperate with the President for the full implementation of the executive order in all parts of the federation.

Nwankwo said regarding the executive order, “It is welcome, especially since

state executives/governors have consistently hindered the constitutional provisions guaranteeing the financial autonomy and independence of these arms of government."

He explained that the order outlined implementation mechanisms for the amendments made by the National Assembly in the Fourth Alterations to the Constitution.

According to him, “It is not and cannot add to the well spelt out constitution alteration that provides for the financial budget of the state judiciary and state legislatures to be on first line charge. The National Assembly and the federal judiciary benefited from a similar amendment made to the constitution in the First Constitution Alteration of 2010. “The Executive Order reiterates what the Constitution Alteration set out to achieve.�

Buhari had on Friday signed Executive Order Number 10 of 2020 for the implementation of Financial Autonomy of State Legislature and State Judiciary. This was announced in a statement issued by Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations to the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Dr. Umar Gwandu.

The president signed the executive order based on the powers vested in him as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

This extends to the execution and maintenance of laws made by the National Assembly (including but not limited to Section 121(3) of the constitution), which guarantee financial autonomy of the state legislature and state judiciary.

The statement said a Presidential Implementation Committee was constituted to fashion out strategies and modalities for the implementation of financial autonomy for state legislature and state judiciary in compliance with section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.

According to the statement, “The amendment took into consideration all other applicable laws, instruments, conventions and regulations, which provide for financial autonomy at the state tier of government. “The implementation of financial autonomy of the state legislature and state judiciary will strengthen the institutions at that tier of government and make them more independent and accountable.

"This would be in line with

the tenets of democracy as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).�

The executive order states, "the Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this Order and any such other Orders, Regulations or Guidelines as may be issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, authorise the deduction from source in the course of Federation Accounts Allocation from the money allocated to any State of the Federation that fails to release allocation meant for the State Legislature and State Judiciary in line with the financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended).�

It said, “All states of the Federation shall include the allocations of the two Arms of Government in their Appropriation Laws.�

Article 6 (1) of the order also says, “Notwithstanding the provisions of this Executive Order, in the first three years of its implementation, there shall be special extraordinary capital allocations for the Judiciary to undertake capital development of State Judiciary Complexes, High Court Complexes, Sharia Court of Appeal, Customary Court of Appeal

and Court Complexes of other Courts befitting the status of Courts.�

Buhari had in 2018 assented to the constitution amendments granting autonomy to the two arms of government at the sub-national levels. In May last year, state governors pledged to implement financial autonomy for state legislatures and judiciary to ensure transparency and openness in governance. They made the pledge through the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) at the opening session of a two-day conference on the implementation of the initiative held at Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.

The then Chairman of the NGF, Abdulaziz Yari, who was then the governor of Zamfara State, said the governors would work with the federal government to implement the law.

Yari was represented at the event by the then Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar. He said the autonomy of the legislature and the judiciary was critical to sustainable development.

Despite the assurances by the governors, they refused to comply with the provisions of the constitution granting financial autonomy to state judiciary and legislature.

The president has now been forced to wield the big stick.

Sustainability Committee which is designing a sustainable economic roadmap in the immediate and near terms.

The push to reopen the economy came on the heels of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s expressed desire to fully reopen the economy.

The Governor on Friday said the state government was trying to get the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to allow flights from Lagos to Abuja to operate, following the increasing impact of the closure of the airports on the state’s economy.

Sanwo-Olu lamented that

the aviation industry, as well as the entertainment, hospitality and transportation sectors, had been “significantly� affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal government on March 23 shut all international airports in the country before it later extended the closure to all airports in the country, banning all local and international flights.

Sanwo-Olu recently issued new guidelines that could help guarantee the safety of residents and contain the spread of the virus as the state begins the second phase of the gradual easing of the lockdown.

The governor disclosed this on Sunday May 18, 2020, during a press briefing on the next steps to be taken in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

In his speech, SanwoOlu said the Lagos State Government was considering fully re-opening the economy just as it would embark on assessment of the readiness of businesses.

Thus, as part of the guidelines, Lagos would be rolling out a ‘register to open’ initiative, as part of the plans that would enable it assess the level of readiness of the operators in the identified sectors for supervised operations.

the period of the Ramadan fasting to take an objective assessment of their areas of strength and weakness.

"The strengths are consolidated while the weaknesses are strengthened. Eid-el-fitr reinforces the lessons of COVID-19. The need to love and to share has never been as profoundly communicated as during the current global fight against COVID-19.�

was contained in a statement issued in Ilorin on Saturday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, to mark the celebration of Eid-Fitr celebrations in the state. “We congratulate our Muslim brethren on the successful completion of Ramadan fasting, and pray the Almighty Allah to accept it as an act of worship, forgive our excesses, grant all our supplications during and after the holy month, and gift us long life and good health to observe several Ramadan in the best state of faith in God,� the governor said.

In the same spirit, the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, called on the Muslim Ummah to continue to abide with the state government on social distancing as they mark Eid-Fitr. A statement by the APC state chairman, Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa, urged Muslims to remain steadfast in prayers and imbibe the virtues of piety, patience, fortitude and godliness in their daily lives.

FG CONSIDERS MODELS TO REOPEN ECONOMY THISDAY sources reveal that, “The proposal takes cognizance of the prevailing death rates in western countries as a result of the disease and noted that Nigeria is not doing so badly.�

Buoyed by this realisation, and the fact that with deaths resulting from Covid-19 not as high as deaths from malaria and other diseases, the ministers believe that the country could manage the disease well if the lockdown is lifted.

The proposal, THISDAY further gathered, emphasised that “individuals and businesses will have to take responsibility for their

health and be more cautious of what to do and what they don't in the coming guidelines to be issued by the Federal Govenrment as early as next week.�

The proposal also recommends that different protocols and rules be issued to guide corporate organisations in the course of their operations, adding that manufacturing companies and others, even airports and air travels as well as schools will have their own new protocols.

This, nonetheless, the proposal has yet to make definite recommendations for reopening sporting activities and schools. It however gave

indication that the re-opening of schools and sports might take a while, possibly in September.

The recommendations, therefore, suggested a systematic reopening of the economy after which an assessment would be made to consider when to reopen schools and sports.

According to THISDAY sources, also being considered is a structure of the Nigerian economy going forward and how best to stern negative impact in a post-Covid economy.

Already the Presidency is also considering the report of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Economy

IT’S TIME FOR SOBER REFLECTION, NOT CELEBRATION, SAYS BUHARI through the difficult period of coronavirus and for us to successfully conclude another Ramadan fast.

"The governor applauds the resilience, understanding and patriotic zeal of all Nigerian Muslims and Christians on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr. He expresses joy that more people are recovering from the pandemic as we abide by the medical protocol of physical distancing, testing, wearing of facemasks and all other measures, including the curfew and lockdown rules.�

Saraki Wants Ramadan Values Sustained Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, congratulated Nigerian Muslims on the successful completion of this year’s Ramadan fasting and urged them to sustain the good values they imbibed during the holy month. In a statement by his media adviser, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki noted that the holy month taught the

faithful piety, self-denial, good neighbourliness, discipline, empathy and making provision for the less privileged in the society.

He said those values, if sustained and permanently imbibed by Muslims, would help to build a great country for the benefit of all.

Saraki said, “This last Ramadan was unique in that we observed it without all the normal gathering for Iftar, tarawih prayers, listening to tafsir and going for lesser hajj. Also, as advised by both health and religious authorities, there would be no gathering for Eid prayers. We all must therefore cooperate and work together to eliminate this pandemic and restore good health to our society. “I enjoin all Nigerians to use this period of the Eid-el-Fitri to rededicate ourselves to our country, pray for good health and a stronger economy that can withstand the post COVID-19 socio-economic challenges. We should comply with all safety rules and health advisories

being issued by relevant authorities.�

Labour Preaches Harmony, Opposes FG's Borrowing from China The Trade Union Congress (TUC) advocated peaceful coexistence by people of all tribes and religions, but said it was against the federal government’s loans from China. In its goodwill message to mark Eid-el-fitr, on Saturday, signed by TUC President, Quadri Olaleye, and Secretary-General, Musa-Lawal Ozigi, the union said Nigerians must be ready to show love to one another now more than ever before and maintain peace, a corruption-free society, and love one another, irrespective of religious affinities, to forge ahead.

TUC urged the federal government and other tiers of government to rise up to the task of rebuilding the economy, and dealing with tribalism, nepotism, corruption and religious intolerance that plagued

the country before now.

The statement said, "We wish to state here that we are against getting loans from China. Some African countries have rejected their loan offers, because of the conditionalities attached, why is ours different? We must be circumspect."

On its part, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the Ramadan season reminded Nigerians of the need for discipline, diligence, love and sharing.

In a goodwill message issued on Saturday, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the people should use the period to make an objective assessment of their areas of strength and weakness with a view to amending their ways.

Wabba said, "Eid-elfitr is a very significant event in the life of every Muslim, chiefly, because of the virtues it exemplifies.

Eid-el-fitr teaches denial, dedication, discipline, diligence, love and sharing.

Eid-el-fitr is also a time of stock taking as Muslims use

AbdulRazaq, Bolarinwa Greet Muslims at Eid-ďŹ tr Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, called on Muslims to observe their Eid prayers at home, as the ban on large social and religious gatherings was still in place, in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

AbdulRazaq felicitated with the Muslim community over the completion of the Ramadan fast, praying God to reward and grant the supplications of the faithful.

The governor's message

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 24, 2020

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EDITORIAL

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

THE END OF RAMADAN Ramadan holds lessons for humanity

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he Muslims’ holy month of self-purification and self-denial otherwise known as Ramadan ended last night without the congregational prayers and other activities that usually accompany it in previous years. Throughout the fasting period, adherents were largely restricted to their homes in a bid to slow down the spread of COVID-19, the global pandemic that has practically changed the way we live. The ban on group prayers in Nigeria, according to Dr Ibrahim Kana, of the federal ministry of health, was “to safeguard the lives of all Muslims so that we can live to see the next Ramadan.” Nevertheless, the season still offered adherents of By paying the faith the opportuattention to nity to reflect on their relationship with Allah the plight of while those with means the poor, as shared with the less was amply privileged around them. demonstrated Despite the restricin the course of tions and lockdowns occasioned by COVID-19 Ramadan, we the world, the invariably place across constant message of Ramathe welfare of dan is for all Muslims our neighbour to rededicate themselves to the teachings of the as important faith and the cause of as ours mankind as a whole. The spirit of Ramadan must be kept alive. The aim of abstinence from all forms of worldly comforts and pleasures was to enhance spiritual growth and foster charity and brotherly love. Altogether, fasting for 30 days provided opportunity for a deep reflection on the inter-relationship between man and his neighbour on one hand, as well as man and his God on another. As one of the five pillars of Islam, Ramadan was a period of self-emptying without which no spiritual being can have a truly rewarding relationship with their Maker.

As Muslims therefore mark the end of this annual spiritual exercise, it is hoped that the

Letters to the Editor

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outcome of this Ramadan will be of immense benefit to the nation. We hope they will continue to be their brother’s keeper as was demonstrated in the past one month. Clearly, there has never been a greater need for sharing with the poor and needy of our society than exists today with COVID-19 and the consequences. From Oxfam, which has already warned that more than half a billion people could fall into poverty because of the pandemic to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that has estimated that nearly 200 million full-time workers could lose their jobs, this has been a difficult season for humanity.

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S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS OLAWALE OLALEYE, TOBI SONIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI , PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS ERIC OJEH, PATRICK EIMIUHI ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO HEAD, COMPUTER DEPARTMENT PATRICIA UBAKA-ADEKOYA TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

he expectation of Ramadan is that Muslims across the world should help one another. But we enjoin them to look beyond fellow Muslims to all who may need their help regardless of faith or creed. By paying attention to the plight of the poor, as was amply demonstrated in the course of Ramadan, we invariably place the welfare of our neighbour as important as ours. By allowing others to partake of our wealth or material possessions, we honour the One who gave us the wealth in the first place. This happens to be at the heart of all religions but central to Ramadan which, like the other four pillars of Islam, was aimed at promoting both the spiritual and material well-being of man.

Indeed, it stands to reason that man is invariably better off doing the will of God than merely pleasing himself. The one who can make sacrifices in the bid to tame their desires would be a better person both for themselves and the larger society. The message is simple: when he is able to rein in the impulse for self-gratification and greedy accumulation of wealth, man is more liable to make his society a better place to live in.

That for us was one of the most enduring lessons of Ramadan which we hope many would have imbibed and continue to demonstrate, especially in this period of COVID-19 uncertainties.

Nigerian leaders, political and secular, have much to take from the lessons of this particular Ramadan. If only they can curtail their materialistic tendencies and pay more attention to the yearnings of the people, the country will certainly become a much happier place to live in.

To our numerous Muslim readers, we say, Eid Mubarak. May Allah reward your sacrifice.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

Access To Gosa Central Dumpsite in FCT

he access road to the Gosa solid waste dumpsite in the FCT, for some time, has really been a challenge to the management of waste in the FCT. Contractors handling the job of refuse evacuation from the city centre have been confronted with the herculean task of navigating the dilapidated access road to the dumpsite as well as the internal road within the dumpsite, where they need to reach tipping platform in order to dispatch their waste.

Depending on the capacity, some of the trucks conveying waste to the dumpsite carry as much as 18 to 20 tons of waste and navigating the road is a huge nightmare especially during the rainy season. According to available information, about 1000 to 1200 tons of wastes are being deposited at the Gosa dumpsite

on a daily basis.

With the rains nearing full swing in the FCT which is usually envisaged to be the worst time to ply the road, the story is however changing for the access road to the Gosa dumpsite.

And just like the Gaduwa road leading to the NCDC laboratory in the FCT which was recently completed in record time, the access road to the Gosa dumpsite is also wearing a new look.

For emphasis, the minister and his team paid a visit to the dumpsite early last month where it was assured that the road would be completed in 10 weeks when the rains would be in full swing. The main reason why the minister visited the dumpsite, together with the director of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Board and the FCDA Executive Secretary, was to ascertain that

the road is being fixed according to plan and to ensure that all obstacles to its completion are removed.

It is therefore gladdening to see today that this very important project is coasting into completion, despite the distractions of the rampaging Covid-19 pandemic that is so far posing serious challenge to the resources of government.

Gradually, the rains have started to pour in the FCT and the contractors handling the project are working assiduously with the FCDA to ensure that the access roads are fixed within the stated time frame so that the city remains absolutely clean.

As was observed also, the road is being expanded to create more access roads into the dumpsite so that trucks can go in simultaneously from three different

entry points. The access road has been remodeled to appear in the form of three fingers, so that waste will be done in three locations. This is to ensure that waste is properly disposed at the site, rather than having to queue up and dump wastes at the outermost parts of the dumpsite.

Another observation is that the FCT Administration has decided to make the road more concrete to withstand the heavy weight of the dump trucks and to ensure that the road does not fail.

Each truck weighs approximately about 20 tons and the whole idea is that if you make it concrete, then the road would last long.

These laudable improvements on the access road no doubt underscore the seriousness that the current FCT Administration, headed by Malam Muhammad Musa Bello and the Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Tijani Aliyu, attaches to projects that have positive impacts on the larger populace.

With the access road to the dumpsite now being asphalted also, it is expected that the turn-around time of vehicles that are bringing in solid waste from the city will be much faster.

Overall, the benefits of proper waste disposal cannot be overemphasized.

Imagine a city where no large-scale waste disposal takes place and consider how quickly waste would build up. This would cause a huge health hazard, as well as an environmental one since all types of waste would build up. Streets would overfill with literal rubbish, and open spaces would end up being new designated tips.

Kudos must therefore go to the FCT Administration for prioritizing waste disposal as not only will this promote the health of the population, but it will also help to preserve the immediate surroundings.

––Danladi Akilu, Durumi II, Gaduwa District, Abuja

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 24, 2020

OPINION Africa And COVID-19 Preparedness Local production could solve shortages of essential pandemic-fighting equipment, writes Joshua Setipa

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he new coronavirus has exposed the staggeringly uneven distribution of life-saving medical equipment across the world. Ventilators are an essential tool in the treatment of respiratory illnesses, including severe cases of Covid-19, yet across 41 African countries there are fewer than 2,000 ventilators serving hundreds of millions of people.

A recent investigation by the New York Times identified that 10 African countries have no ventilators at all.

From masks and gloves to diagnostic kits and materials, already vulnerable nations are underequipped, even in ‘normal’ circumstances.

Now the pandemic has compounded what was already an acute problem by breaking supply chains and spurring stockpiling amongst those who can afford it. Nations without the influence or affluence to secure orders of protective equipment, diagnostics and medical devices find their response to this pandemic severely limited. Weak health systems are quickly overwhelmed, leaving millions to choose between risking infection from coronavirus or foregoing treatment at clinics for other critical health conditions.

This dire situation brings with it an unprecedented opportunity to build local manufacturing capability across the developing world, empowering countries to ensure their populations get the equipment they need.

Doing so will not only support the immediate response to this pandemic but create more resilient health systems and supply chains going forward.

Local production of essential equipment in some developing countries – particularly for personal protective equipment, diagnostics and medical devices – is currently very limited due to lack of access to information, technical expertise and regulatory guidance.

Countries are overly reliant on international supply chains for these products, which can lead to challenges when global demand rises and supply is limited.

In the face of COVID-19, the public and private sector must come together to lend crucial expertise and technology to enable countries and regions to develop their own manufacturing capabilities. The

global economy will be unable to fully recover until all countries can identify and care for those infected with the virus, a fact that reinforces the case that there is no binary choice between lives and livelihoods. The only way to get the world’s economy back on track is to build unity, share knowledge and technology and ensure that together we’re slowing the spread of the virus while accelerating research and development into diagnostics, treatments and vaccines.

Already, this is happening on an ad hoc basis. Medical device company Medtronic recently announced that it would make the full design specifications and production manuals for one of its ventilators available to anyone for free. Other public and private innovators have made important commitments to open innovation models and pledged to share their knowledge and technology. However, proper global coordination is needed to maximize the potential impact – both short- and long-term.

That is the driving force behind the Tech Access Partnership (TAP), a new platform created by the UN Technology Bank, with support from the UN Development Programme, World Health Organization and UN Conference on Trade and Development. TAP will connect global innovators, manufacturers, universities and others with local manufacturers in developing countries to share data, knowledge, design specifications and other relevant information and support. Set up in 2016 by the United Nations General Assembly with a specific mandate to

This unprecedented crisis requires an equally exceptional response, one that unites sectors and empowers the world’s poorest countries to build their own capacity, making them stronger and more resilient now and in the future

strengthen the science, technology and innovation capacity of least developed countries, the UN Tech Bank and its core partners are offering a new solution to get around barriers and ensure quality health technology reaches those that need it most.

For countries and local businesses to make the most out of this technology being made available, there is still a need for access to financial support. In the future, the new partnership aims to provide opportunities for manufacturers in developing countries to secure the financing needed to re-purpose and scale up local production through collaborations with international financial institutions.

In the face of a global pandemic, we all have a role to play. For TAP to be successful, governments, the private sector, civil society and development partners must each do their part to address critical shortages of supplies and equipment.

At the turn of the century, with the prospect of millions of people dying from AIDS due to lack of access to antiretrovirals, activists around the world pushed governments to put lives over profits. Working with generic manufacturers in the Global South, generic versions of antiretrovirals were mass produced and estimates suggest more than 10 million lives were saved.

We are once again at a point in time where ensuring that people have access to lifesaving health technologies—from masks, to ventilators, to testing—is critical for the health of the entire world. This unprecedented crisis requires an equally exceptional response, one that unites sectors and empowers the world’s poorest countries to build their own capacity, making them stronger and more resilient now and in the future.

The road to recovery will be long and difficult. But we know that to get there, we must go together. By acting together now, we can address the systemic bottlenecks that are preventing the poorest and most marginalized communities from accessing lifesaving health technologies and equip them with the tools they need to build a brighter future.

––Setipa is Managing Director, UN Technology Bank.

Doubters of COVID-19 Are The True Nigerians Ayodele Okunfolami writes that COVID-19 is real

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ecause two of my sisters are practicing doctors in Nigeria, our prayers have doubled on them since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. They, like other health workers and first responders in outpatients, ICUs, ERs and isolation centres, are the front liners in this war against Covid-19. My heart and applause go out to each and every one of them. Thank you.

When news broke that coronavirus came into Nigeria through an Italian, I was sharing the incident with a doctor friend of mine. As we conversed, he told me one of his colleagues had told him that Nigeria would compulsorily report a corona case in order to be entitled to monies multilateral bodies were said to be sharing to affected nations. And unfortunately, my doctor pal’s coworker is not the only person with this mindset.

Government at all levels and private bodies have continued to use several channels to inform the populace of the reality of the pandemic and how they can keep safe. However, not a few Nigerians remain skeptic. These doubting Thomases may be convinced that Covid-19 is real abroad but not in Nigeria.

They view the Coronavirus that the World Health Organization upgraded from being an epidemic to a pandemic as nothing but another scamdemic the Nigerian political class are using to enrich themselves.

They wonder how it is easier to locate the poorest of the poor who typically are without addresses for palliatives but can’t contact trace travellers with official passports and contacts to be tested. They ask how the school feeding programme is being carried out when schools are not in session but complain they don’t have enough beds for Covid-19 patients.

They query the speed in which the social register increased by a million in two weeks but tests for coronavirus is still below 40,000 after three months. These things don’t sum up.

Word on the street is that since some index states got grants in billions of naira from the federal government to tackle the disease, other states don’t want to be left out and so are churning out inflated cases even if the illnesses are mild fevers unrelated to corona. The doubters question how Lassa fever that is claiming more lives is all of a sudden neglected to battle a virus they swear is not a black man’s disease.

Conspiracy theories floating the air makes matters worse.

Are Africans pawns in the struggle for who controls the emerging world order? Is it a lab virus to depopulate the earth? Does it have any connection with 5G? Why the uncharacteristic rush by a hitherto absentee national assembly to repeal the archaic quarantine act for a new one that makes vaccination obligatory?

If you think the Thomases are the uninformed, you are wrong. Even a sizable fraction of the urban elite propagates the falsehood of the whole thing. This is being reflected in the noncompliance to the lockdowns, social distancing or wearing of facemasks in banks, shopping malls and other supposed corporate settings the elite patronize. But why are Nigerians like this?

About a month after the disease broke out in Nigeria, I made a social media post challenging those that insist Covid-19 is fake in Nigeria to go to any isolation centre of their choice without any protective gear to hug, shake and spend time with the patients and return to disprove the truth of the pandemic. I got three similar comments bemusing how right-thinking people would not believe what they claimed was as clear as day. The irony of this oxymoronic scenario is that this threesome belongs to the vocal majority that cry foul when the judiciary makes its judgements, disagree with census figures that gives a section majority, perceive election figures are predetermined against the voters wish and say NTA never tells all. Following this, I asked one of them why he then believes the NCDC and doesn’t those other Nigerian institutions. Why cherry pick what (not) to believe?

Although life is not metrical, those that doubt Covid-19 have remained consistent and true to themselves at least. They believe that Chibok girls was another hoax to dispossess a sitting administration, that Dapchi girls was stage managed to affirm a sitting government, that those plane mishaps were not crashes but masterminded to eliminate some personalities, that those Abuja fires were not accidents but deliberate deeds to cover up fraud, that a former president’s eyes were that of cattle while the current is a double, and on and on. They even believe the entire Nigerian project is a scam. So disbelieving coronavirus in Nigeria aligns smoothly into their disbelief system.

However, these Thomases should not be blamed. The inability to lead the conversation, engage the people and be

transparent in dealings by those in authority have led to rumours and fake news making the communication managers mainly debunking already viral false information.

And when they do speak, it is muddled in contradictions.

The foggy explanations on the whereabouts, identity and mission of the Chinese 15 and the messy quarantining of the Benue index case only adds to the potpourri of cynicisms. Why does it appear as if some states are discrediting the work of NCDC priding in their contestable zero positive patients? And why did NCDC, a supposedly data driven agency, unprofessionally retract some of its figures in seeming apology to some states?

Beyond what is being heard, the inaudible is louder.

We have all lost faith in the government at one time or the other. Our belief in the government protecting us keeps eroding as we moved from hiring private security, to installing more fortifying home burglaries to avoiding living in certain areas. When we couldn’t get drinkable water straight from our kitchen sinks that makes us all to drill personal bore holes, our belief in the government watered. We enrolled our children in extra moral lessons because their undermotivated teachers and underequipped public schools couldn’t give them the optimum. We are now moving them from private schools to school overseas.

It is the same with the health sector where we now trust alternative medicines and prayers more than teaching hospitals. Even those that use the pulpit to encourage us to believe in Nigeria have their children in Canada.

Those that doubt Covid-19 Nigeria doubted it long before the index case was reported in our shores. Distrust in the government is subliminally becoming a religion in Nigeria and daily press briefings or campaigns by elected officials washing their hands with water flowing from golden faucets won’t make proselytes of them overnight. Good governance will.

So, if you encounter one of those people that don’t believe in coronavirus, just spare yourself arguments.

Socially distance yourself from them because their carelessness may infect you with either the reality of the existence of the disease or the reality that you are the one living in deceit.

––Okunfolami wrote from Festac, Lagos.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Y 24, 2020

MILESTONE

Governor Dapo Abiodun’s One Year in Office Lanre Alfred ĂĄĂœĂ“ĂžĂ?Ă? Ă‹ĂŒĂ™Ă&#x;Ăž ĂĄĂ’ĂŁ Ă‘Ă&#x;Ă˜ ÞËÞĂ? Ùà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă™ĂœËœ ËÚÙ ĂŒĂ“Ă™ĂŽĂ&#x;Ă˜Ëœ Ă?Ă–Ă“Ă?Ă“ĂžĂ? ĂŽĂ?Ă‹Ă?Ă?Ă˜Ă“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂœĂ“ĂŒĂ&#x;ĂžĂ?Ă? Ă™Ă? Ă“Ă˜ĂžĂ?ĂœĂ—Ă“Ă˜Ă‹ĂŒĂ–Ă? Ă?Ă’Ă?Ă?ĂœĂ? Ă‹Ăž ͞͸

M

ay 29, 2020, is an auspicious day for Prince Dapo Abiodun, the Governor of Ogun State. That day, he would be 60. The same day coincides, by providence perhaps, with his first anniversary as governor. Indeed, his emergence as governor last year was a fitting denouement to an episodic political journey which began about three decades ago.

At a time when it was generally believed that one had to be a lowbrow, an incorrigible liar and a bit of a murderer to be a politician, the successful businessman ventured into politics to improve lives yet, bucked at seeing people sacrificed or slaughtered for the sake of his ambition. It is a reason his life offers interminable lessons on the beauty and benefits of resolve, compassion, unpretentious generosity, humility, and family values.

For Ogun people, he came with the ‘Building the Future Together’ agenda has neither deviated nor dithered from exploring every avenue to attract growth and progress to the state; while he has been hands-on and virtually omnipresent in all areas of the state’s life with laudable policies and visible projects dotting its landscape.

Noteworthy also is that silently, but steadfastly, Governor Abiodun is redefining the art of governance because what many of his predecessors and peers make a song and a dance of, and mount billboards and take advertorials in newspapers to celebrate as achievements, Governor Abiodun sees them as all in a day’s job, writes Lanre Alfred. “A man is nothing without his virtues,�

Governor Dapo Abiodun once told this reporter during an interview session. This, he said with undisguised pathos, is why he endeavours to do good wherever he finds himself and that his deeds are done not as an apology or extenuation of his fortune and citizenship of the world; he does his thing because it is an intrinsic part of his humanity. This is the same principle that undergirds his governance approach in Ogun State as explicitly and elaborately outlined in his ‘Building the Future Together’ agenda.

If Ogun State was hitherto known for being among the best in Nigeria educationally, that notion had changed over time due to neglect and lack of proper funding. Starting with a 20% increase in budgetary allocation, Governor Abiodun has unleashed his ingenuity to bring back the lost education glory of the state. At the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, the state government has completed and commissioned the largest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) centre in any Nigerian university. The multi-purpose complex sits 3,000 persons at a time and is fitted with all the gizmos - computers, printers, free Wi-Fi facilities, etc., that make reading profound and pleasurable. There are also training programmes required to make learning and teaching easier for researchers and staff of the university.

At the Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa, the governor recently commissioned a 2, 000 capacity twin lecture theatre, remodelled the 1, 500 capacity multi-purpose hall; and refurbished and equipped its ICT centre. In the period under review, the governor offered automatic employment to the best graduating students in institutions like the OOU, Tai Solarin College of Education, and the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro.

Due to the COVID-19-induced school break, the state government introduced the Digiclass, which aims to provide digital education to students in primary and secondary schools.

Described as the first of its kind in Nigeria, Governor Abiodun said, “We plan to improve the development of the human capital through greater investment in qualitative education by harnessing innovative and creative strategies for qualitative, accessible and equitable Universal Basic Education for all children of Primary and Junior Secondary ages through (the) Universal

Abiodun Basic Education Act.�

Prior, he had made free education mandatory for pupils in primary and secondary schools who had, otherwise, been subjected to paying indiscriminate fees and levies over the years.

This declaration ended the N3, 700 levied on students as adopted by the former administration. Also, the Abiodun administration has embarked on the construction and rehabilitation of a total number of 94 blocks of classrooms for public primary and junior secondary schools across the 236 wards in the state while creating a mouth-watering reward system for teachers in both private and public schools. Commendably, Governor Abiodun authorized the release of the 2014 – 2017 UBE matching grant to the tune of N10billion which translates into 952 education projects across the state. The special needs school, in Sagamu, was renovated while 53 interactive boards were donated to all the special needs schools in the state.

Meanwhile, confronted with the deplorable state of rural and township roads, the governor vowed that his administration was determined to make it easy for people to move with relative ease between Lagos and Ogun State.

He promised then that the roads linking Ogun to neighbouring states would receive priority attention as well as the construction of rural roads to foster development. Thus, as a quick fix mechanism to address the deplorable condition of the roads, Governor Abiodun established the Ogun State Public Works Agency which is proving to be efficient and responsive in rehabilitating intra and intercity roads.

History and posterity would be most kind to the governor for remembering the Ijebu-Ode-Epe road, which had been in a state of disrepair leading to abandonment by commuters because successive administrations in the state only mouthed reconstructing it but never made good their words. Governor Abiodun recently turned the sod on the very important road, which is planned to have 10 lanes – four on each side with one pull-out section – and a toll plaza comprising 14 payment points. Aside from easing traffic on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the road would bring relief to commuters and indigenes, save Nigerians valuable time in traffic and engender the socio-economic growth of the state.

For information and communications technology-savvy youth, the governor also created the Ogun Tech Hub and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Stem) Centre. Located along Kobape Road, Abeokuta Expressway, the Ogun Tech Hub is sited on a vast expanse of land which used to house an abandoned school building. It was, however, re-purposed for the tech hub and is now a sight to behold at night and during the day. Inside the hub, which now serves as a knowledge platform where citizens connect, share, build new skills and competencies to solve local challenges that improve the quality

of life of Nigerians, are a sprawling tableau of ICT experts, trainees and gadgets. According to Governor Abiodun, the hub was conceptualized to make Ogun “the one-stop-shop for technological innovations across Africa where start-up companies will conveniently be set up.

This step is, firstly, a result of the collaboration of tech enthusiasts and private sector players largely independent of our government.�

Farmers are not left out of the manna from the man burning the midnight candle at Oke-Mosan so that Ogun State can be greater than any Nigerian state. Last year, he launched the Anchor Borrowers Programme in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A poverty-eradicating initiative that will provide inputs, service support, and training required for farmers through a single-digit loan and guaranteed off-taker, the ABP idea is in fulfilment of Abiodun’s promise to increase food production and create employment opportunities for Ogun people, especially youth and women involved in agriculture.

The governor also said that the scheme was another avenue to boost the nation’s selfsufficiency in food production, “which is in line with the federal government’s agenda on food security to save the foreign exchange spent annually on the importation of food items that could be produced locally. Providence has blessed us with a favourable climate and fertile soil for agriculture. We sit on a landmass that is over 16,000sqm, 80 percent of which is arable; that is, we have over 12,800sqm of arable land.�

Towards fulfilling his promise to make healthcare services accessible, affordable, and qualitative, Governor Abiodun instituted a health insurance scheme to meet the health needs of the citizenry. This, he said, became necessary because healthcare services come at a huge cost for many Nigerians. Over N50million has been expended on equipping hospitals across the three senatorial districts of the state alongside the acquisition of 10 ambulances to transport patients in times of emergency.

Beyond physical projects, some of Governor Abiodun’s initiatives are centred on empowering the people and making life better for them.

This was why he launched, in September 2019, the Oko-owo Dapo, an empowerment initiative to provide funds to women who are involved in legitimate SMEs across the state. The initiative also aims to enhance trade as well as micro, small, and medium scale enterprises. 2000 women benefitted in the first phase of the initiative as it is envisaged to reach at least 100,000 women in the first year of the Abiodun-administration. Beneficiaries include market women, politicians, and members of women’s societies, religious associations, or trade associations.

And to reduce the unemployment rate in the state, Governor Abiodun created the Ogun Job Portal, which aims to link the state’s unemployed youths with matching job opportunities in the labour market. Describing the job portal as one of the initiatives that would take the good people of Ogun State out of unemployment while also bettering the career chances of the employed, he said that the portal is particularly suited to preparing the people to fit into appropriate sectors while revitalizing all the sectors of the state’s economy.

Security is integral to the prosperity and growth of any state or nation and Governor Abiodun is blithely conscious of this which was why he promised at the outset of his administration that he would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the state maximized its potential to the fullest by creating an enabling environment for residents and prospective investors.

Firstly, he inaugurated the Security Trust Fund committee to source funds for the acquisition and deployment of security equipment, personnel gears, and other resources necessary to prevent crime and preserve public peace in Ogun State.

The committee is also to promote the synergy of all security agencies in the state and mobilize support in cash or kind from

public and private sources in a transparent and accountable manner. Secondly, the governor signed into law the State Security Trust Fund Bill. Thirdly, he procured 100 Patrol Vehicles and 200 Bikes to aid the activities of law enforcement agents in the state while reiterating his support for efforts and ideas that would make Ogun a crime-free state. Just recently, the governor also signed into law the creation of the Western Nigeria Security outfit, Operation Amotekun.

For several years, water was a scarce commodity in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, and environs. Millions of households had to improvise to get that basic necessity of life. Worse for the people was that the Ogun State Water Corporation in Arakanga, Abeokuta North Local Government Area of the state, had been comatose. The corporation has a pumping capacity of 103.68 million litres per day, yet, nothing was done to make it work; until recently. Governor Abiodun, who believes that water is not only an essential commodity but a right to which people should not be denied, didn’t see why the situation should persist regardless of the challenges.

Therefore, he embarked on an assessment tour of the corporation where he was confronted with its derelict and degenerate state. He announced on the spot that water would not only be restored, but there would also be prompt repair and restoration of faulty transformers in the corporation. That was early January. Two months later, the story has changed. When our correspondent visited the community recently, water had become available in many households while the corporation is being optimized for the benefits of the people. Even within the capital, there’s an improvement in water supply owing to the ongoing rehabilitation of the barrage across the Ogun River and the construction of cofferdam structures for ease of installation of the barrage.

Just as the Ota Regional Water Supply project has been completed in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

On Governor Abiodun’s watch, Ogun State is morphing from a plain sense of things to a tabernacle of feats and precious attainments.

His relentless bid to turn the fortunes of the state around has made this obvious to all and sundry. And he is exploring every avenue to attract growth and progress to the state just as he did on a recent trip to the UK where he met with the executives of at least nine UK-based companies in a bid to pull investments into Ogun.

Governor Abiodun, who attended the UK-Africa Investment Summit 2020 in London with President Muhammad Buhari, had promised to represent the interests of the people of the state both at the summit and on the sidelines. The summit, facilitated by the UK Department of International Trade under the Investment Promotion Programme, is a platform that avails participating countries the opportunity to establish a new phase of partnerships on investments and mutually beneficial economic prosperity. Abiodun had an assessment tour of the UK manufacturing and agro-processing headquarters of Alvan Blanch, which specializes in the manufacturing and supply of machines used for the processing of agricultural products and wastes. He also visited five other companies with specializations in energy, infrastructure, agriculture and agroprocessing, investment, and asset management to meet with their executives.

The governor opined that the state is a great destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) not only for its advantage as a transport-cumlogistics hub but also because of reforms in the ease of doing business and respect for the sanctity of contracts by government agencies among others. He said, “We have also given a fillip to our ‘Ease of Doing Business’ drive, by building institutional frameworks that disentangle investors from bureaucratic bottlenecks of all sort.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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SUNDAY MAY 24, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍźËœ 2020

BUSINESS

Editor: Kunle Aderinokun 08033204315, 08111813084 Email:kunle.aderinoku@thisdaylive.com

BUA Cement Delights Shareholders with N61bn ProďŹ t, Dividend Payment

Goddy Egene

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hen Chairman of BUA G ro u p , Alhaji Abdul Samad R a b i u , decided to merge the cement companies in the group late last year, one of the major reasons was to create value for shareholders and other stakeholders. BUA merged Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc and Obu Cement to become BUA Cement Plc. CCNN was delisted and BUA Cement Plc was listed in January.

Given the audited results of BUA Cement for the year ended December 31, 2019, the visionary leadership of Rabiu and his management acumen has been brought to bear. Despite the challenging environment that made many companies to post dismal performances, BUA Cement ended the year with N61 billion profit and the shareholders are going to smile home with a dividend of N1.75 per share.

Details of the financial performance showed that BUACement recorded revenue of N175.518 billion in 2019, up from N119.013 billion in 2018. Cost of sales jumped from N59.060 billion to N93.075 billion in 2019.

Gross profit stood at N82.443 billion in 2019, compared with N59.952 billion in 2018.

The management strived to contain administrative expenses from N12.522 billion to N10.516 billion in 2019. However, distribution and selling expenses soared from N6.081 billion to N11.844 billion in 2019.

At N71.428 billion in 2019, operating profit moved up by N28.586 billion from N42.842 billion in 2018. Net financing cost increased from N3.675 billion to N5.192 billion.

But a tax payment of N5.625 billion in 2019 as against a tax credit of N24.905 billion in 2018, made BUACement to end the year with profit after tax of N60.610 billion compared with N64.072 billion in 2018. Based on the performance, the board has recommended a dividend of N1.75 per share.

Commenting on the results, Managing Director of BUA Cement, Yusuf Binji, said: �Through the adoption of a focused and disciplined approach, we continue to record strong revenue growth, even as we derive revenue and cost synergies from the merger across: pricing, scale and operational efficiencies; all supported by a sustainable business model and a value-oriented strategy, which have translated to growing market acceptance and is reflective in our margins. This is despite the complexities and uncertainty that trailed the economic environment in 2019. We delivered on important strategic priorities, such as: the commissioning of our three mmtpa Line-2 at our Obu Plant in March, 2019; the merger completion between CCNN Plc and Obu Cement Company Limited and commenced the listing process of BUA Cement Plc, the resultant entity of the merger on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), with the eventual delisting of CCNN Plc.�

According to Binji, going forward, “our focus is to further harness the full benefits of the merger while making further in-roads to “new markets� both locally and outside Nigeria. We understand that the local and indeed the global economy would experience more uncertainties, yet we expect continued strong showing across the business, spurred-on by continued recovery across the global economy.�

Also commenting, Acting Chief Financial

Abdul Samad Rabiu

Officer (CFO), BUA Cement Plc, Mr. Chike Ajaero, said:“In 2019 we reported a decline in PAT from N64.07 billion in 2018 to N60.61 billion, which was due to income tax credit of N26.76 billion in 2018 from reversal of previous tax provision made on Obu Line 1 and deferred tax credit on securing approval for tax exemptions under pioneer status incentive in 2019. Net deferred tax charge ofN5.15 billion was provided for in the current year and actual tax payable of N475.29 million.� “Obu Line-1 and Kalambaina Line -2 are both on pioneer status approved in February 2020 for two-years (extension) and three-years respectively. The computation of earnings per share (EPS) for 2018 has been re-stated, to reflect a business combination under common control, as at January 2018,�

Ajaero noted.

BUA Cement Plc is Nigeria’s second largest cement producer and the largest producer in its North-west, South-south and South-east regions; with a combined installed capacity of 8 mmtpa and with plans underway to increase existing capacity to 11 mmtpa, through the commissioning of a new three mmtpa plant by the first half of 2021 in Sokoto State, Nigeria. BUA Cement operates strategically from Okpella, Edo State and Kalambaina, Sokoto State and is committed to quality - a differentiating attribute, driven by its people, innovation and technology; and positioned to solving Nigeria and Africa’s challenges while driving economic growth and development.

During the review period, Cement volume dispatched was up 53.2 per cent from 2,940kt in 2018 to 4,501kt, as at 2019; arising from increased capacity. The merger between CCNN Plc and Obu Cement Company Limited, yielding revenue and cost synergies and leading to return on asset (ROA) to rise from 16.7 per cent (2018) to 17.7 per

cent (2019).

According to the company, it would complete Kalambaina Line-3 (3mmtpa) by second half of 2021. It will drive further cost and revenue synergies from merger and build on gains recorded from current footholds in new markets.

In his letter to shareholders of CCNN, last year, Rabiu said the decision to merge was primarily motivated by the board’s goal of ensuring that the company is well positioned to grow and expand in the Nigerian cement industry. “The merger with Obu Cement will create an entity with increased production capacity.

We are of the opinion that the proposed merger will create a platform where significant synergies can be obtained for the benefit of our shareholders, employees, customers, distributors, suppliers and the broader economy,� he said.

Rabiu explained that the merger will increase the production capacity of the enlarged company to 8.0 million mtpa. “It is anticipated that in addition to meeting the demand from customers in our core regions in the country, the enlarged company would be positioned to distribute its products in new geographical markets, creating the potential for additional shareholder value creation,� he said.

In terms of operational efficiencies, Rabiu noted that the merger would provide opportunities for significant cost savings and improved operational efficiencies by streamlining operations and optimising the use of combined resources.

On economies of scale, Rabiu said: “The merger will provide a platform where the enlarged company benefits from economies of scale in procurement, distribution and manufacturing of the products offered to our customers.

We expect the benefits accruing from

greater economies of scale to accrue to many stakeholders.�

According to him, CCNN shareholders will become shareholders of a larger and highly profitable entity, stressing that synergies created as a result of the merger would create additional value for shareholders. “Besides, the enlarged company will create a platform for further investment that will have a positive impact on the communities where the operations of the companies are present as well as for the economy as a whole,� the foremost industrialist declared.

He said this consolidation would mark the culmination of the first phase of the BUA mid-term strategic plan for its cement businesses, which currently include four cement plants spread across Obu Cement Company and the CCNN. “A new $450million Sokoto Kalambaina II Plant is scheduled to come on stream in the second half of 2020 alongside another 48MW power plant to complement the existing assets and take advantage of a growing cement market in Northern Nigeria and the West African region. This consolidation will cement BUA’s position as the second largest cement producer in Nigeria whilst also positioning it to take advantage of the combined synergies to effectively serve Northern and Southern Nigeria based on the strategic locations of these plants – as well as a sizeable export market,� he said.

Rabiu said the board and management intended to continue creating value for the benefit of shareholders of the consolidated company by maintaining their focus on outperforming the Nigerian cement industry across key indices through a laser-like commitment to excellent products and service delivery, operational efficiency as well as maintaining leadership position in their home markets.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Nigeria: What Manner of Budget Cut? Though the federal government has lamented the impact of the drastic oil price slump and COVID-19 pandemic on revenue to finance its 2020 budget, its decision to slash the budget in line with the realities on ground does not in any way indicate that government is ready to make the sacrifice that is expected to sustain the economy in these hard times. Contrary to what is obtainable in other climes, the nation’s budget was reduced by a mere 0.6 percent or N71billion compared to Saudi Arabia, a leading world oil producer, which made a budget cut of 30 per cent. Nigeria hopes to increase its debt stock to finance a budget which favours recurrent expenditure more than capital expenditure. Bamidele Famoofo writes

N

Nigeria’s total debt stock as at December 31, 2019 stood at about N27.4 trillion according to data obtained from the Debt Management Office (DMO).

That figure surely must have increased as the largest country in Africa both by population and GDP has continued to borrow to keep the wheel of its economy running.

Since the economy is swimming in troubled waters due to oil price crash and the budgeted $57 per barrel slashed to a new benchmark of $20 per barrel, coupled with low revenue generation from the non-oil sector and tax as the Covid-19 pandemic ravages, the surest way to finance the marginally reviewed budget, according to government, is to borrow.

But analysts and economic pundits have raised the alarm that the decision to keep borrowing to satisfy the appetite of government officials and the legislative arm of government which feast on recurrent expenditure rather than deploy the cash to infrastructural development to grow the economy, will be to the detriment of the nation’s fragile economy.

A handsome N2.45trillion was estimated in the initial budget document

by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly in October 2019 to service debt while provision for a sinking fund to retire maturing bonds issued to local contractors is N296 billion.

As it is the custom in Nigeria, nondebt recurrent expenditure of N4.88 trillion more than double capital expenditure which stood at N2.14 trillion.

This excludes capital component of statutory transfers. The expenditure estimate includes statutory transfers of N556.7 billion.

Following the last budget review, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, said in a press statement that the nation cannot afford to live in luxury during an austerity. “It is to my consternation that despite the crash in the price of oil, and the inability of Nigeria to expand our revenue base through the non-oil sector, the federal government of Nigeria has only seen fit to slash our budget by a mere 0.6 percent, from N10.594 trillion to N 10.523 trillion. This represents a reduction of only N71 billion,� he said.

Atiku argued that the budget cut by the federal government was grossly insufficient and showed that ‘we have lost touch with the current realities in the global political economy.’ It would be noted that when the 2020 budget was presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday October 8, 2019, it was predicated on a projection that Nigeria would generate crude oil production of 2.18 million barrels a day, at an expected oil price of $57 per

above all, healthcare. “We must invest in the goose that lays the golden egg the Nigerian people.� “These are the types of sacrifices that we need in a time of crisis. We do not need empty gestures that will lead to empty treasuries. In times of austerity, no nation, not the least a mono-product economy, such as ours, should be living in luxury at a leadership level,� he argued.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said there were still consultations on the revised budget. She recently disclosed that her team met with the leaders of some key committees of the National Assembly to get their input for the revised 2020 budget.

The minister, who was accompanied by the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, said the interactive session was a continuation of the process she had started with the leadership of the two chambers of the nation’s parliament on the proposed fiscal document.

She spoke shortly before the meeting was held behind closed doors. Ahmed said, “We are here today as part of another consultative process just to take input from the leadership of the National Assembly regarding the work that we are doing in the process of amending the MTEF 2020-2022 and the 2020 budget. “The outcome of this meeting will form an input into the work that we are doing, which will subsequently be confirmed by the National Assembly.�

Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Barau Jibrin, said the consultation was to ensure a rancourfree deliberation during the budget defense session.

Ahmed

barrel. “Today, that is no longer the case.

Both our production and the price of oil have been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, to the extent that we have unsold vessels, and our income has tanked by more than 50 percent. Given that this is the case, how can anyone justify a reduction in expenditure of just 0.6 per cent? We cannot be the only nation bucking the trend? “Saudi Arabia, a nation with a much stronger production capacity than ours and with a larger global market share, as well as foreign reserves that is 12 times ours, has slashed her budget by almost 30 percent. Ditto for other oil economies,� he queried.

As far as Atiku is concerned, Nigeria cannot make up for the loss of expected revenue by taking out more loans and issuing out more bonds. He said debt will be the death of our economy and bonds will put our people in bondage.

He suggested that the best way out of the nation’s economic quagmire is to reduce its expenditure, noting that a 0.6

percent reduction is no reduction. It is only window dressing.

The former vice president wants government to realistically slash the budget. “Every pork barrel has to go.

The billions budgeted for the travels and feeding of the president and vice president has to be reduced. The N27 billion budget for the renovation of the National Assembly has to go. The massive budgets to run both the presidency and the legislature have to be downsized. The budget for purchasing luxury cars for the president, his vice, and other political office holders must be jettisoned. Leave the salaries of civil servants alone, but reduce the salaries of political appointees. Sell eight or nine of the jets in the Presidential Air Fleet.�

According to Atiku, any budget slash that is less than 25 percent will not be in the interest of Nigeria. And beyond a budget slash, Nigeria needs a budget realignment, to redirect expenditure away from running a massive bureaucracy, into social development sectors like education, infrastructure, and

Mounting Debt Stock Recently the 2020 Appropriation Act approved a total of about N1.6 trillion as new borrowing to part-finance the deficit in the budget. This was made up of about N745 billion domestic borrowing and N850 billion external borrowing. “With the COVID-19 Pandemic and its attendant effect on the world economy and the International Capital Market, the federal government reappraised its borrowing plans and decided that it would be more expedient to raise the N850 billion, earlier approved as external borrowing, from domestic sources. This conversion from external to domestic is to ensure that the implementation of the 2020 Appropriation Act is not jeopardised by lack of funds,� DMO disclosed.

The nation’s debt managers, however, explained that the N850 billion is not new or incremental borrowing, but rather an amendment of the source of borrowing from external to domestic. “With this change, the total new domestic borrowing under the 2020 Appropriation becomes N1,594.99 billion which is the same as the total new borrowing in the 2020 Appropriation Act.�

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BUSINESS/MONEY/INTERVIEW

FIC Markets’ Turnover Tumbles by 35% in April Bamidele Famoofo

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heFixedIncomeandCurrency (FIC) markets felt the impact of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic in the month of April as investors reduced their business transactions on the FMDQ platform to the tune of about 35 percent as turnover dropped by N8.96trillion. Turnover in the review month stood at N16.7trillion compared to N25.66trillion recorded in the same period of March.

The FMDQ has attributed the general decrease in market activities to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated exit by foreign portfolio investors, as well as the lockdown directive to curb the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the market recorded a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 2.02 per cent (N0.33trillion) from the turnover recorded in April 2019 (N16.37trillion) as Foreign Exchange (FX) and OMO bills remained the most actively traded products, jointly accounting for 72.10 per cent of the total FIC market turnover recorded in April 2020.

Total FX market turnover in April 2020 was $11.36billion (N4.38trillion), representing a MoM decrease of 60.73 percent ($17.57billion) from the turnover recorded in March 2020 ($28.92billion; N10.73trillion).

The FMDQ disclosed that the performance was driven mainly by the decline in economic activities and foreign capital inflows due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a decrease in FX supply, exacerbated by the temporary cessation of the periodic FX supply by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its intervention sales in April 2020.

Analysis of FX market turnover by trade type indicated that all categories recorded a MoM decrease inApril 2020. The member-client category accounted for 46.16 per cent ($8.11billion) of the total MoM decrease in FX turnover inApril 2020, representing the highest decrease across all trade categories. Additionally, analysis of FX market turnover by product type indicated that FX spot turnover and FX derivatives turnover recorded

FMDQ CEO, Mr. Bola Onadele.Koko

MoM decreases of 79.76 per cent ($11.12billion) and 43.03 per cent ($6.45billion) respectively in April 2020.

In the OTC FX Futures market, the near month contract(NGUSAPR292020)withanoutstanding notional amount of $1.52billion matured and was settled, whilst a new far month (60-month) contract, NGUS APR 30 2025 was introduced at a contract rate of $/N413.36. The total notional amount of open OTC FX Futures contracts as at April 30, 2020 stood at c.$15.00billion, representing a 3.23 per cent ($0.47billion) increase on the value of open contracts as at March 31, 2020 (c.$14.53billion), while the total notional amount of OTC FX Futures contracts traded to-date stood at $45.35billion as at April 30, 2020.

The CBN Official Spot US$/N exchange rate remained flat at $/N361.00, as at April 30, 2020 compared to the rate as at March 31, 2020, while the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window by $/N1.75 ($/N385.55 as at March 31, 2020) to close at $/N387.30 in April

2020. In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira depreciated by $/N35.00 to close at $/N450.00 (March 31, 2020 - $/N415.00), increasing the spread between exchange rates in the I&E FX window and the parallel market by 112.90 percent (N33.25) to N62.70 from the spread recorded in March 2020 Fixed Income Market (T.bills , OMO bills and FGN Bonds). In the primary market, average discount rates on the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day T.bills declined further in April 2020 to 1.99 per cent, 2.81 per cent and 4.05 per cent from 2.40 per cent, 3.59 per cent and 4.95 per cent recorded in March 2020 respectively. Similarly, average marginal rates for the 5-year, 15 year and 30-year FGN Bonds decreased to 9.00 percent, 12.00 percent and 12.50 percent from 10.00 percent, 12.50 percent and 12.98 percent respectively recorded in March 2020, as FGN Bonds were oversubscribed by an average of 459.45 percent at the April 2020 FGN Bond auction.

As at April 30, 2020, total T.bills outstanding value remained flat at N2.65trillion; OMO bills outstanding recorded a MoM decrease of 4.79 per cent (N0.50trillion) to N9.94trillion, while the total FGN Bonds outstanding value also recorded a MoM increase of 1.80 percent (N0.17trillion) to N9.64trillion from N9.47trillion as at March 31, 2020. Liquidity in the secondary market for T.bills declined further in April 2020 as trading intensity fell to 0.01 from 0.08 in March 2020, with T.bills turnover decreasing MoM by 85 per cent (N0.17trillion) to N0.03trillion due to investors holding their T.bills investments to maturity. Trading intensity for OMO bills decreased marginally to 0.75 in April 2020 from 0.76 in March 2020, the first (1st) MoM decrease in 2020 due to the MoM decrease in OMO bills turnover by 5.54 percent (N0.45trn). Trading intensity for FGN Bonds also decreased MoM to 0.16 in April 2020 from 0.26, as FGN Bonds turnover also decreased MoM by 34.85 percent (N0.84trillion) to N1.57trillion, all as a result of lower activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated impact on financial markets globally. However, trading intensity for bills (T.billsandOMObillscombined)andFGNBonds increased YoY to 1.20 and 0.16 respectively in April 2020, compared to 0.30 and 0.08 recorded

in April 2019.

InApril 2020, bills within the 6M - 12M maturity bucket remained the most traded across all tenors on the sovereign yield curve, accounting for 76.46 per cent of the total fixed income market turnover.

FGN Bonds within the 20Y – 30Y maturity bucket remained the most traded debt capital market securities, accounting for 5.40 per cent of total fixed income market turnover. Weighted average yields on short-term and medium-term maturities increased by 256bps and 754bps respectively in April 2020, due to sell-offs by foreign portfolio investors seeking to exit their Nigerian investments, while the weighted average yields on long-term maturities decreased by 86bps in April 2020. Additionally, inflation adjusted yield remained negative across all short-term securities (1M - 3Y), while medium to long-term securities (i.e. 5Y - 20Y) excluding the 5Y and 15Y tenors, recorded positive inflation-adjusted yields in April 2020.

Total turnover in the money market segment decreased MoM and YoY by 26.88 per cent and 27.75 percent respectively to N3.02trillion inApril 2020. The MoM decrease in Money Market turnover was driven by the MoM decrease in the RepurchaseAgreements/Buy-Backs segment which declined by 24.04 per cent (N0.94trillion) to N2.97trillion in April 2020 from N3.91trillion recorded in March 2020. Also, turnover in unsecured placements/takings recorded a MoM decrease by 76.19 percent (N0.16trn) to N0.05trillion in April 2020, and YoY by 44.40 percent (N0.04trn) from N0.09trillion recorded in April 2019. Average O/N8 and OBB9 rates both decreased by 552bps and 531bps to close at an average of 5.74 per cent and 5.15 per cent respectively in April 2020 from 11.26 per cent and 10.46 per cent in March 2020.

According to FMDQ, total number of executed trades reported on the Bloomberg E-Bond Trading System in April 2020 was 4,474, representing a MoM decrease of 52.45 per cent (4,935) against the number of executed trades recorded in March 2020 (9,409), driven by the decrease recorded across all executed trade types on bills and FGN Bonds. Further, this represented a YoY decrease of 61.32 per cent (7,092) against the number of executed trades recorded in April 2019 (11,566).

Omole: Nigeria’s Biggest Oxygen Plant was Shut over Insecurity With Lagos, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic experiencing an exponential rate of infection, the risk to the urban poor could be significant, given cramped living conditions, limited access to oxygen and ventilators, amidst the state’s grossly inadequate public health services. The Managing Director, Archers Gases, Mr. Victor Omole, speaks with Adedayo Adejobi on the state of availability of medical oxygen in Nigeria and provision of lifeline to the health sector

W

hat is the state of play regarding availability of medical oxygen in Nigeria now?

Thegasindustry is in a constant state of flux, especially with new medical coming up each day and unforeseen emergencies like COVID-19 pandemic; those are some the end-user flux.

Now the supply flux energy logistics capacity manpower and overall challenges of operating in Nigeria. The silver lining is that the product is available Tell us about your company and what sort of medical oxygen services you actually provide?

Archers Gases is a subsidiary ofArchers Nigeria Ltd.Archers Gases is a producer of both industrial and medical oxygen. Also bottler and distributor of domestic gases,Archers Oxygen produces 99.9 per cent pure oxygen for medical use.

How crucial is your product to the health value chain and most crucially in this time of the global pandemic?

Oxygen is the most crucial and critical supply in the treatment and management of COVID-19 patients. The COVID-19 weakens the lungs (which makes breathing difficult or sometimes almost impossible) the patient requires the assistance of supplementary oxygen to help fight the infection.

This supplementary oxygen are provided in small canister of liquid oxygen.

Since the breakout of the COVID-19

oxygen equipment, equipment functionality, healthcare worker knowledge and appropriateness of use are sufďŹ cient and at par with global best practice?

The quality of oxygen globally is uniform.

Some are medical oxygen whilst some serve as industrial use mostly due to level of purity. We produce medical and industrial oxygen.

The means by which oxygen is administered and dispensed at medical facilities is proportional to the level of technology available at those facilities. But overall oxygen administration and dispensation has improved a lot in our health care facilities. We can do more with oxygen equipment facilities and machines like incubator which is critical in lowering infant mortality rate as it helps babies get through survival stage.

More so, ventilators at this crucial moment assist COVID-19 patients to maintain respiratory function. The use of oxygen is so critical and crucial in the health care delivery sector. We’ve ramped up production to meet the demand.

Pandemic, what sort of orders have you got and how is Nigeria meeting oxygen needs?

The order for medical oxygen has witnessed a slight increase. We assure Nigerians that there is enough oxygen to meet the need.

How many litres can your oxygen vessel hold? How many oxygen vessels are you producing daily/weekly?

We produce about 6000 cu3 daily and approximately 42,000cu3 weekly ‌ enough to meet our medical need.

With a daily increase in demand due to the rising numbers of infected victims in Lagos and across the country, there are indications that soon, Nigeria could be faced with more cases of death. With people relying on machines and medical oxygen that you produce and which hospitals don’t seem to have enough of across the country, are you able to provide and sustain oxygen supply across Nigeria?

We do not have enough ventilators, but we have enough oxygen and are able to supply enough to Lagos hospitals weekly at the moment.

Your Ilesa oxygen plant is said to be the largest in the country. This could possibly take care of all the states in South-west and middle belt. Is that also in its full use at the moment?

Our Lagos plant has a large capacity- but our Ilesa plant can adequately cater for the south western states and middle belts. Ilesa supplies extend to Ilorin, Shaki, Ibadan, Owo, Ikirun,

Victor Omole

Ogbomoso, Benin, Akure, Ondo, Lokoja, Oyo, Abuja etc.

Whilst it was operational, the demands for oxygen in this area were adequately met. We stopped operation due to myriad of issues, but largely due to insecurity.

Oxygen is an essential medical therapy that is poorly available in Nigeria and globally.

Do you think the quality of oxygen therapy in Nigerian hospitals, including access to

Your product is a sort of lifeline and you must be swamped with orders, because internationally that’s what’s happening.

But do you think there might be demand for what you are doing outside Nigeria-even if the problem would be how you would get it to them?

The demand for oxygen is inelastic .Oxygen is vital part of health care delivery system.

Oxygen also plays vital role in industrialisation, construction and other ancillary services.

Nigeria is a blessed nation- our neighbours have benefited from us greatly some of their oxygen need are met from here.

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW BIODUN OTUNOLA Without Stimulus, Public Transport Can Undermine COVID-19 Regulations Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all sectors of Nigeria’s economy are struggling to stay afloat as some have begun downsizing their organizations. Mr. Biodun Otunola, the Chief Executive Officer of the Planet Project Limited, an indigenous transport infrastructure development company, believes that the transportation sector has been worst-hit during the COVID-19 lockdown. In this interview with Gboyega Akinsanmi, Otunola, whose company’s construction arm, conceptualized, designed and executed the Oshodi Transport Interchange, Nigeria’s biggest public transport terminal, within two years, calls on the federal and state governments to invest more in public transportation. Excerpts:

W

hat will be the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigeria’s public transport system?

To start with, one of the areas that will experience a lot of social interaction is public transport. Although, one of the measures to reducing the spread of the pandemic is social distancing and that’s because experts have widely reported that COVID-19 thrives mostly through person-to-person contact. If you look at the operation of public transport – road, rail and water, the rate of interaction among passengers is extremely high.

Lagos, for example, has over nine million people that use public transport on a daily basis. There are over 80 million people in Nigeria that rely on this mode of transportation daily. That means the propensity for the spread of COVID-19 is extremely high. So, there must be a different set of rules to guide public transport. If you ask me, the sector where this virus can spread at the fastest rate, believe it or not, is public transport. The sector has the largest number of people interacting daily, especially during the rush hour.

In the mornings and evenings, all the bus stops are crowded and people are struggling to board buses. However, I must give a lot of credit to the Lagos State and Federal Governments for various guidelines they have put in place.

One of the guidelines is that buses can carry only 50 percent of their capacity.

In addition, Lagos State fumigated all the bus stops and stations across the state. Generally, enforcement has been encouraging. Not only that, the transport unions, especially the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), also issued guidelines to their members. The guidelines require the NURTW members to carry only commuters that use facemasks. Also, they cannot carry more than eight passengers per bus instead of 16.

All these guidelines are being enforced.

Even though it was hellish on May 11 when the lockdown was eased, people are getting more relaxed now.

San Francisco’s BRT, for instance, lost $55 million a month while Brazil’s BRT lost $188 million. Can you quantify what the public transport sector lost to lockdown in ďŹ ve weeks?

It is mind-boggling. Let us look at it this way. Nigeria has over 80 million people that use public transport on a daily basis. If you take the average national fare of N150 per day and multiply it with 80 million passengers, it will give us as much as N3 trillion for the period of five weeks. To be honest, that is a huge amount. So, public transport is

Biodun Otunola

one sector that the five-week lockdown really affected. It is not just the transport operators, all the supply chains that are linked to transportation suffered the same consequences. That includes filling stations, mechanics, vulcanisers, spare parts dealers, tyre dealers and the entire chain of the public transport sector. Of course,

the whole economy suffered, but the transport sector suffered more because the transport system is the oxygen of the economy. When the transport sector stops, the economy stops.

Of its post-COVID-19 stimulus plan, the US set aside $2 billion for

public transport only. In Nigeria, however, there is no such plan for public transport. What will be the consequence of not making such provision in Nigeria?

We are going to have a number of issues. As time goes on, an operator, who is supposed to carry 16 passengers,

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW

Nigeria’s Transport Business Lost N3tn in Five Weeks Due to COVID-19 Lockdown has been directed to convey only eight because of COVID-19. Somewhere along the line, he incurs revenue loss.

Who will pay for the loss? If you look at the US transport system, it is run by operating companies. These companies are asked to run compulsorily during this period. It means that they are going to run without passengers or with fewer passengers. Although, the number of passengers coming out cannot support their operations because a lot of people are at home, they still have to comply with the government’s order to run. However, the government is also providing them support to make up for the revenue loss because the government did not only ask the operating companies to run, it required them to carry only 50 percent of their capacity in line with COVID-19 guidelines. To them, they are in business.

In Nigeria, however, we have not taken such measures.

It is something our government should look into. If we do not provide a subsidy for transport operators, they will not fully comply with the COVID- 19 regulations.

At the inception, they may comply but they will circumvent or boycott the system later. When they do that, the whole idea of social distancing is thrown out of the window. In other words, the government needs to sit down with the transport operators and provide incentives for them. It does not have to be as huge as what the US provided. When they have some incentives, they will be faithful to the COVID-19 guidelines. Unfortunately, there are no incentives for them. The government has only provided regulations but we all know that regulation alone is not enough. It is important the government sits down with them and works out incentives in order to commit them to social distancing requirements, especially during this pandemic. It is a 90-day thing. If we do the first 90 days, I believe everybody will get used to it.

Then, post- COVID-19, we can go back to our normal lives.

Beyond working out incentives for them, in what areas do you expect the government to support the public transport system?

Like I said before, the public transport system is the oxygen of the economy.

Sadly enough, the sector is grossly underfunded in Nigeria because it is left entirely to the private sector. At a time like this when we are dealing with the consequence of COVID-19, public transport has to be recognised as one of the sectors that can lead to the explosion of the pandemic if the sector is not properly handled. As a country, our public transport system still needs to be improved. In terms of rolling stocks, we need more buses. Then, we need infrastructure. For a country like Nigeria, we need more investments in our public transport system – waterways, railways.

In this country, no city has a functioning railway system. For a population of over 200 million, that is why commuting and daily lives of individuals are very difficult within the cities. At all levels, governments have to invest more in the provision of buses.

That is the quickest way to improve the public transport system. Right now, we need to enforce social distancing in our bus stops. If the infrastructure is not there, how do you ensure that? Lagos can do it now because it has a lot of bus terminals already built. Oshodi is there.

Yaba is there. Race Course is there. But in other 35 states where such infrastructures are not available, how are they going to do it? They will have problems. Governments need to see the public transport sector as an essential sector so that all the guidelines put in place to minimise the spread of the pandemic will be easier to enforce. Governments must invest a lot of resources in this area. That is the only way we can stop the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier, you described public transport as the oxygen of the economy.

As we approach the post-COVID-19 era, how can the sector revamp the

think of owning their own houses, that means construction. For instance, we are producing 1,000 graduates every year.

Let us assume that 500 of the graduates decide to buy their own houses. If you look at the impact of 500 houses on the construction sector, it is very massive.

That is why construction and real estate contribute hugely to the US economy because there is a demand for houses and people do not have to worry too much about transportation. In Europe, it is the same. But here, everybody struggles to buy a car. Once you buy a car, it becomes your perpetual liability.

Biodun Otunola

national economy?

Always, the transport sector is the nexus between the economy of the people and the economy of the country. The rate of development of the economy is a function of the rate of development of the transport system. If the transport system is sluggish, the economy will be sluggish. If it takes five weeks to move goods from Lagos to Kano instead of taking one day, then there is a problem.

You are not only paying for the wasted time, but also for the unproductivity.

So, efficient public transport can help in many ways. First, it helps in bridging the cost of goods and services. In Nigeria today, the cost of transportation accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the cost of goods. For instance, transportation accounts for 50 percent of the factors that determine the price of a lot of things that are produced in the North, especially agricultural produce – tomatoes, pepper, onion, rice or yam.

Let me cite another example. Granite is mostly produced around Abeokuta, Ibadan and Sagamu. If you are buying granite, it will amaze you that the cost of the granite is the same as the cost of transportation. It is as bad as that. That is a huge inefficiency. If we have a railway system that works efficiently, the cost of transportation should be about 10 to 15 percent. That is on one hand. If you look at its impact on the goods and services nationwide, you see the magnitude of this inefficiency. That kind of money can easily be unlocked if we have an efficient railway system. Commendably, the federal government is moving in the right direction in terms of railway system development. For the first time, we have a concerted and focused approach to ensure that the railway system works. We see what they are doing with the Abuja-Kaduna railway and LagosKano railway. Lagos-Ibadan railway will soon be completed. That is a step in the right direction. On the public transport

within the cities, an average Nigerian spends 40 to 50 percent of his income on transportation, especially in Lagos. The lowest earners are the ones that live in the farthest areas. For example, people live in Ikorodu but work in Victoria Island with a monthly salary of N50,000 as drivers and security guards. From Ikorodu to Victoria Island, they spend as much as N25,000 in a month. If half of their earnings go into transportation, what do they have left to participate in the economy?

That affects their purchasing power. That affects their disposable incomes.

That also affects the economy. In the West, transportation is taken as a social service. So, governments invest in it and subsidise it. It is one way of subsidising every citizen because it is not necessary you own a car. Let me tell you another problem we have today. An average graduate first thinks of purchasing a car once he starts working. Cars are items that are perishable and disposable. In the West, the first thing an average graduate wants to purchase is a house because public transport is there. So, he does not have to worry about transportation. He will invest his own money on assets that will appreciate in the future. If he buys a house or takes a mortgage, that house will appreciate. With it, he can take a short loan. So, he is wealthier. But the first thing his counterpart in Nigeria wants to own is a car. That car is a liability in the first two or three years. He spends money fueling the car. He spends money servicing the car. He spends money on maintaining the car. So, all his money goes down the drain. That is why many people are poor. It is a big problem that the government needs to urgently address. This is the time to redirect our economy and focus on things that affect the masses. Public transport is one area we have to address.

If young graduates do not have worries about transportation, they will invest their money in purchasing houses. If they

In the transport sector, what should be the investment priority of the government?

To be honest, the first priority of the government should be the infrastructure.

Our governments need to invest in the infrastructure elements of public transport.

If you are talking about the bus transport system, for instance, governments need to invest in depots, terminals, or bus stops while the private sector can invest in buses in a public-private partnership (PPP). In the railway, governments need to invest both in the infrastructure and rolling stock. The railway is capitalintensive. So, it is not what individuals can readily go into. It is a governmentto-government kind of transaction. It is important governments at different levels invest their money if they want to solve this problem. Also, we have said that Nigeria needs a national transport policy. Right now, most policies we have are not addressing our transportation issues.

For instance, there is no reason a city with at least a population of one million should lack a bus rapid transit (BRT) system. The federal government can invest in the feasibility study and master script. At the end of the day, everybody is a Nigerian. We can begin to come up with a global template for all cities in Nigeria.

This can be done at the federal level. The Federal Ministry of Transportation can coordinate it and share data with them through the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF). This is one of the things that the federal government needs to do. A lot of the states do not have the capacity.

But Lagos has enormous capacity in this area. We can see the result. It developed the first BRT in Africa. The second one is underway.

Do you think the post-COVID era will present fresh challenges to the transport sector?

Like other sectors, public transport will face its own challenges. One of the challenges is how we manage social distancing between passengers and the economic impact of that for the transport operators at large. It means fewer people will board buses and available buses will operate at 50% capacity. Currently, one of the operators in Lagos has cancelled its short-term ticket. So, they are not issuing the N200 ticket again. They are only issuing N300 ticket, which is a big issue for the passengers. In specific terms, the operators are now transferring the cost to the passengers. The sector will be heavily impacted, especially the passenger-driven side of the cost for urban transportation. It will cost some money for them to maintain the spacing requirements.

Who will pay this money? That is another critical issue that needs to be looked at. The issue of regulation is also there.

Because of COVID-19, public transport generally will come under scrutiny. That is one area we have the agglomeration of people at bus stops, stations, and at different spots. As a consequence, the government will beam a searchlight on the public transport sector and regulate it more than ever before. Regulation and compliance always involve money. So, the operators will have to spend more money.

Where will they get this revenue? It is either they are going to transfer the cost to the passengers, which means people are going to get poorer or the government steps in to assist the operators and passengers to ease the burden.

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

24.5.2020

TAIWO AJAI-LYCETT GOD HAS DONE A GOOD JOB ON ME Her tintinnabulating voice chimes through the telephone like a nightingale. It’s not hard to imagine her gaptoothed smile and her gleaming visage that has graced the TV, stage, and movies. As a superstar of the silver screen, a matriarch and an oracle of artistry, creativity and ‘womanity,’ Taiwo Ajai-Lycett is an icon and a confluence; a running brook of still waters. An awe-inspiring veteran actress, broadcaster, journalist and cosmetologist, Ajai-Lycett still rocks, dressing to the nines. With fame, fortune and fun, life is never-ending for the woman who goes with the flow. Her life defies age and time. For a superstar whose life story is like a public library, FUNKE OLAODE, in this interview, digs deeper to find out what makes the almost-80-year-old Ajai-Lycett irresistible and indefatigable ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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COVER

I Live for the Moment

H

ow would you say life has treated you in the last 79 years?

many female heads of government do they have? And in Nigeria, how many women are in the (government’s) cabinet? And a few in the position of authority always look subdued and submissive as if they have to apologize for being intelligent. A man can parade his intelligence and status but a woman has to apologize for being bright because of the way we are raising them. You know we always tell women not to show themselves so that they can find a husband. So, if we want peace and harmony in the world, put women in power because they have in-built divine virtues of nurture, love, tolerance, patient, perseverance.

They have lived the life of victims and they know how to handle things better.

Life has treated me robustly. Life is a challenge.

Life always leaves you in the eye of the storm. But I was lucky that I was able to rise above the storm. Yes. I have had my storm. It has been turbulent. I have been through the fire. I have been through the furnace. It has not been a quiet sort of life but it has been exciting.

You had a setback in your early years: had a child at 15 and dropped out of school. What gave you the strength to bounce back in the face of adversities?

In life you must always be moving. And you must not feel sorry for yourself because the world doesn’t owe anybody anything.

Our parents bring us into this world and we must fend for ourselves. Again, once you have had a good upbringing it will help. And if you stumble in the process, you get up quickly and start moving. In my case, I have been lucky to have the strength, motivation, and guidance to keep going.

COVID-19 is the rave of the moment.

Of course, it has put the world as we know it on hold. What is the way forward for actors?

I wish I knew. The entertainment industry is the worst hit in the world because we depend on proximity with people. We depend on the crowd to do our work. This season is not friendly. Let’s see what happens in postCOVID-19 as we continue to practise social distancing. This is the time for us to generate ideas because it generates money. At the moment, everyone should put on the thinking cap on doing one thing or the other because we don’t know what’s going to happen as per the pandemic until later this year or 2021 -perhaps 2022. We will think about it and how we get back to our audience. Honestly, it is a big blow and we pray that this phase will pass.

You have been in the limelight for over ďŹ ve decades now. What’s your staying power?

Well, it is by respecting the people who put me in the limelight. You must always be aware that life is not about you. So, if I have been in the limelight for decades and still relevant, it is because people who nurtured me to limelight still see something interesting about me. When I started out as an actor and a journalist, I didn’t think I had a choice but I was chosen. I was turned around. I was made to see my true purpose in life. Apart from that, hard work counts having switched from the corporate world into the arts embracing both journalism and acting simultaneously.

You covered the ďŹ rst International Women’s Conference in Mexico and later in Berlin, Germany. What was your experience and did it inuence your activism?

It was a wonderful time to know finally that the world recognized the part women play in this world. The United Nations decided that women’s role in developing the world was paramount. It was an exciting period for me.

If you knew how I started my life and if you are a woman, your role in life has already been prescribed: go to school if you can, get married, cook and look after your children. Period.

And everybody believes you have nothing to contribute. For the first time in human civilization, the UN declared that more attention should be paid to women. Women as a people populate the world. It was a wonderful experience and I feel very proud to be part of that historical gathering. In a way, it influenced my advocacy for women.

What year was that?

It was in 1975. I was with Africa Woman, a political, social and economic journal for black and African women in the diaspora.

I was the first editor of the Africa Woman journal. Our publisher was Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, who was the ambassador for Biafra in Paris during the civil war in those days. Ambassador Uwechue later moved to London and founded Africa journal. Peter Enahoro was one of the editors. I was an associate editor with the journal. My boss, Ambassador Uwechue later challenged me to start Africa Woman Journal.

Acting wasn’t part of your career plan.

How did you get to stay in the game?

I accompanied a friend to the Royal Court Theatre in London when a producer stumbled on me and the rest, as they say, is history. It was a turning point in my life.

I was in the British Civil Service and I had already had the discipline and everything.

In those days, every day during my annual vacation I would take one course or the other.

That was how I did fashion, cosmetology, management, accounting, etc. When this man (a producer) approached me while waiting for my friend I didn’t think somebody was discovering me at that particular moment. I just thought my holiday was coming up and saw the opportunity in the art as a pastime for that year. There is nothing you can’t learn if you put your mind into it.

I am a perpetual learner and knowledge seeker. Considering how I started my life, I was determined to give myself a broad

Do you believe that God exists?

Well, I know there is a power somewhere that exists and I believe there are unseen hands in our lives. I am a student of surrender, who always surrenders to fate.

Do you believe in life after death?

I don’t because whatever we do here on earth is done.

Ajai-Lycett

education. I wanted to be a generalist. I thought it was an opportunity to do theatre because at that time I had no idea or ever thought I wanted to be an actor. In fact, I wanted to be a lawyer. When I eventually started, I brought discipline, hard work, intensity, and focus to what I was asked to do. And suddenly I became an overnight sensation. And I said if people loved what I was doing I had to hone my skills. So, I went for training. While I was invited to the BBC to come and do play, I said I didn’t know anything and I threw myself into learning.

You went to school when education for a girl-child was considered a taboo.

Well, Lagos has always been cosmopolitan while the other towns were seen as hinterlands. They are backward and the people didn’t want to educate their girls. Lagos didn’t discriminate against girls. Everybody went to school. It was a disappointment when I stumbled during my teenage years. Nobody said because I was a girl, no. You may have the education and get married. We had education and how far we wanted to go was left to us. Whereas the boys were predestined to go as far as they wanted to go. There was no pressure on the girls to become doctors. But all that has changed now.

You took a course in cosmetology.

Does that explain your gorgeous and radiant looks? What is your beauty secret?

I am an African. African taught the world how to be beautiful. Europeans were backward as far as that aspect was concerned then. Then they started running schools on how to be beautiful and I was curious about taking that course. It has now become an industry. What an irony! And my beauty tips? I walk out, although part of it can be attributed to genes. Looking beautiful is a thing of the mind. For me, I concentrate on what I am doing. If you know me, I am not obsessed with my looks at all. On the contrary, if you come to my

PHOTO: Babs Longe Foto, Stylist: O.S. Creations

house you probably may not find a mirror.

I am not worried about how I look because God has already done good work on me. I read. I do exercise. I do yoga, aerobics and meditate. All that is not to stay pretty. It is about the unity of body and mind because if your blood is not circulating very well, you are not likely to look good. I eat anything and do exercise to keep my body and soul moving on. So, I don’t have any particular routine. I thank God for good health. Because good health is sexy.

As a feminist, you were involved in a stage play, ‘Hear Word’ which centered on African women. What inuenced it and what’s your take on violence against women?

I am a feminist and activist. I think women should own the world but nobody wants to accept it, especially the women themselves. ‘Hear Word’ is about ‘listen very well o!’ It’s a pidgin. The play itself is a collection of monologues of women in various conditions: women trafficking, genital mutilation, old age, rape, sexual harassment, widowhood rites, etc. These are inimical to the well-being of women; child marriage, barrenness, and the fact that men feel that only male children are worthy were addressed in the play.

Last year coincided with the #MeToo movement in America and we were able to pass the message that we have been discussing our issues before the ‘Me Too’ movement. Staging the play was our own way to change the narratives because we are trying to address both men and women.

Who do you think socialize both male and female children? They are mothers.

We are responsible for raising our children.

We are the ones that help men to subjugate women as second citizens. We are the ones who say to our girls ‘go to the kitchen and cook and tell the boys to go and play football.’ So, the narrative and dialogue must change from us women. Even in Europe and America we are talking about what is the percentage of women in government? How

And if you die today where do you think you would go?

I am not worried about where I will go. I am only concerned about the moment and that is why the moment is of great importance to me.

Where you are situated should be your priority.

I didn’t know where I was when I was born and don’t know where I would be when I’m dead. My business is what I am doing now because there are repercussions for our deeds. The universe is very ordered, organized and there are laws. And (I) don’t know about this business of waiting for heaven or earth.

You have been married thrice.You lost your last husband 27 years ago.

You’ve remained single since then. Was it deliberate?

I am not dogmatic about anything. I go with the flow. I flow with the tide. And I accept what comes my way. My husband was chosen for me and I called him my ‘Angel Gabriel’. He was a marvelous man who saw the talent I didn’t see and encouraged me to blossom in the arts. He had played his part. If I was meant to marry after his demise another man would have come into my life. And if the man didn’t show up it meant that he wasn’t meant for me. That is how I live my life.

My life has been ordered, orchestrated, and going smoothly. I have not lost anything, so I am blessed.

You avoided politics like the plague. Is this country the Nigeria of your dream?

Do we have politics in Nigeria? Politics everywhere is based on party politics. I work with ideologists but we don’t have political ideologists in Nigeria. Those who find their way into power don’t have what it takes to run the country. I work with the greatest good for the greatest number but I don’t see that here.

When are you slowing down?

I am energized. I am still on because it is not over until it is over. This question of retiring, slowing down, nature will take care of it.At almost 80, I am still very much in the game. You know some people once they are old, they believe they are not capable. For me, as long as I am breathing and my mental forces are on, the beat must go on. I am a member of the human race who will keep on living. I wrestled with forces in my life and whatever happened to me made my life triumphant. I call myself a victor.

What would you like to be remembered for?

I like people to remember me for being consistent, a woman of integrity and honour.

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High Life Olalekan Adebiyi Takes his Humanity to the Next Level

F

ew people can claim to have understood the depths to which the Covid-19 pandemic would take humanity. For now, the evidence of the virus and its strain is everywhere—locked doors and barred businesses. The heroes in this story are those who are at the forefront, ďŹ ghting against the spread. Within this category is one that consists of behind-thescenes men and women who are delivering food items and essentials to victims of the virus and the pandemic.

The role of renowned Lagos State construction boss, Olalekan Adebiyi, in the alleviation of the Covid-19 burden was neither evident nor publicised, until now. The former consensus concerning him was that he had too much on his plate—an understandable sentiment—to think about other people. However, it has now become apparent that the boss of LaraLek Constructions has not been idle, which was never his default position anyway.

Rather than make a deal of his donations to the underprivileged, Lekan Adebiyi has been smuggling relief materials to the South, where his people have been ravaged by the cold dryness of the pandemic and the absence of business bustle—a result of the buffering measures put in place to bar the virus from spreading further. Apparently, his gestures of goodwill have been ongoing for a while now, and would have remained incognito until Honourable Mudashiru Obasa unwittingly unmasked him.

Obasa’s unmasking of Lekan Adebiyi followed the former’s breakfast gesture—the provision of basic food items for Lagosians.

Obasa’s gesture encouraged and inspired Adebiyi to emerge from under the hood and donate 5 million, half of the total donations made to boost the Honourable Speaker’s breakfast relief package.

This is not the ďŹ rst time Lekan Adebiyi is working under the wraps to assist the underprivileged. For a billionaire whose brainchild and company—LaraLek Ultimate Construction—is at the zenith of the industry, Adebiyi favours quiet demonstrations of goodwill, and is not a fan of accolades and encomium.

Regardless, his private contributions have made immeasurable impacts on the Southern people, and are an inspiration to others like him.

Adebiyi

with KAYODE ALFRED 08116759807, E-mail: kayex2@yahoo.com

...Amazing lifestyles of Nigeria’s rich and famous

Retirement Plans! Akwa Ibom Governor, Emmanuel Udom, Builds Multi-Billion Naira Mansion in Ikoyi There’s a building under construction behind Ikoyi Baptist Church—along MacDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The edifice is exceptional in stateliness and scale, and definitely going to top many house-ranking lists in the year 2020, when it is finished.

This beauty of a residence has been purported to be the retirement home of Akwa Ibom Governor, Emmanuel Udom. Implications follow.

Governor Emmanuel Udom has never pretended to be anything less than regal in cash matters. From the very beginning, he has favoured the acquisition and enjoyment of the finer things of life over the blemished, broken things that other folks have to deal with.

Notwithstanding, the augustness of his alleged Ikoyi retirement home is on a higher scale than all that came before.

According to Media bees, the intention of Governor Udom is to retreat into the comfort of this Ikoyi House when the curtains close on his regime in 2023. As a result, they say that the labourers are working 25 hours

Udom

every day to make sure that the beauty is ready, possibly before the year runs out.

Moreover, the Governor is reportedly playing the part of a committed home builder, as he always finds time on his busy daily schedule to visit and supervise.

Again, it must be stressed that Governor Emmanuel Udom is not a lazy laissez-faire person, not by any stretch of the term. However, he’s a firm advocate of colour, and has never indulged a grey or beige life. Consider the burial ceremony of his late father, Elder Gabriel Emmanuel Nkanang.

This was one of the highlights of February, as the Elder was sent off by the ups-and-ups of high society.

The luxury of his graveside, it is said, is a lesson in context for those who say we take nothing to the grave.

The conclusion of the matter: it makes sense for Governor Udom to seek a Fortress of Solitude in Lagos, away from his State of origin. Much of his banking career (first in Diamond Bank, and then Zenith Bank) was in Lagos. So, yes.

To every labour there is a reward.

After years of serving his state and nation, a fine house in a fine neighbourhood will not kill Governor Emmanuel Udom.

Asiwaju Tinubu’s Media Adviser, Tunde Rahman, Gives Back to People Like his principal, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, whose generosity and philanthropic activities know no bounds and are widely acknowledged, his Media Adviser Tunde Rahman, former editor and writer, put smiles on the faces of many of his people in Iwo, Osun State recently.

It was during the just-ended Ramadan fast. As he is wont to do over the years during the Ramadan season, he reached out to them again. There was, however, a pleasant addition to the package and it was meant to cushion the effect of the rampaging coronavirus Nigeria is the proud bearer of countless individuals whose steps have rang, as Tennyson’s Ulysses, ‘far on the ringing plains of windy Troy’. May the 17th was the 45th birthday celebration of one of these individuals, and the spotlight is just right enough to chisel out a fitting profile.

Igho Sanomi (actually Igho Charles Sanomi II) is the renowned businessman, philanthropist and public speaker who has in recent years enticed the world’s attention to the smarts and quickness of mind that is native to the people of Delta State. Having emerged on the global corporate scene as a young visionary of note and the Founder and Chairman of the Taleveras Group, Sanomi’s name is a badge of distinction and accomplishment.

Igho Sanomi dove into the corporate pool long before he clocked the climactic 30. It was during this time that he worked at Cosmos Oil as an Executive Director, and milestone after milestone by negotiating fuel-oil exports from the Port Harcourt refinery. It is with this sort of experience— and an innate thing for the oil and gas sector—that he crafted the Taleveras Group from his numerous business activities in 2004, and has since grown it into the stellar energy-trading company it is today.

Curiously, although Sanomi’s business interests revolve around oil, power, logistics,

pandemic on the people.

Along with cash gifts, Rahman distributed over 2,000 crates of eggs and other consumables to the people.

Prominent and influential journalist and publicist with tremendous goodwill, Rahman was previously Editor, THISDAY on Saturday and later Sunday newspaper.

He was the go-to-editor at THISDAY during his time owing to his good human relations and warm personality. He pioneered the political arm of THISDAY on Sunday called The CICERO.

Rahman

Citizen of Humanity: The World Celebrates Igho Sanomi at 45

Medayese Sanomi

telecommunications, the maritime industry, aviation and real estate, he studied and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and Mining from the University of Jos, Plateau

State.

Sanomi’s philanthropy, for the most part, follows from the influence of his parents, as well as natural inclination.

The result of this is a long list of nonprofit enterprises and ventures, all primed towards aiding others from one disadvantage or the other, financially and health-wise. Along these lines, Sanomi is the CEO of the philanthropic Dickson Sanomi Foundation.. One of the more recent of Sanomi’s philanthropy is his demonstration of goodwill towards bowel cancer research in the United Kingdom. This is the reason behind the rousing recommendation that echoed all around the world, just over a year ago: Sanomi was praised for his continued sponsorship of the Bobby Moore fund and Cancer Research UK—and his raising more than $1.5 million for the Fund through his Taleveras company. At 45, the world celebrates an achiever, a considerate oilman, and a magnet of regard and esteem: Igho Sanomi.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

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Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

Stop the Rumour!

Ooni of Ife’s Marriage is Intact

Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan’s Greatest Desire Is Peace

Oba Akinruntan

Oba Ogunwusi and his wife Naomi

A few days ago, it was rumoured that the marriage between Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Enitan Babatunde Adeyeye Ogunwusi and his wife, Shilekunola Naomi Ogunwusi, had hit the rocks.

The news came as a rude shock to many, who could not wait for the royal couple to confirm or refute it.

Perhaps, what gave vent to the unconfirmed report was that, the revered king had previously been in two failed marriages, the last one with Zaynab Obanor Otiti,otherwise known as Olori Wuraola.

However, his fans heaved a sigh of relief when the Akure, Ondo State- born Queen wrote a lengthy note to debunk the hideous story.

She wrote: “There have been strange rumours and unfounded news making rounds on social media in recent times. “I want all believers of good news to know that, it is all lies and a picture of how the peddlers of the evil news would have loved our love story to turn out. “I would have loved to maintain silence.

However, due to concerns being expressed by well-meaning people something has to be said. Now, the gospel truth is that I have been busy with ministry off the social media space and you’d all agree with me that, with the ongoing pandemic ,which suddenly sprung up on all of us, only means more work needs to be done. “I can’t sit still (as nobody privileged enough should) and this isn’t a time for social media presence but a time that calls for solemnity; hence, my break from what people now call normal. “Finally, as duty will have me do, I have been in and out of the palace doing God’s bidding. “With all being said, I am compelled to ask the following questions: Why can’t people verify that which is the truth? Why do people believe more in falsehood and negativity? “Well, the Bible has something to say about them in Psalm 2:1-12. Now I say to you all, please disregard and jettison every fake and malicious news about me and my husband (Ooni Adeyeye Babatunde Enitan Ogunwusi) for ours is a love no earthly force is strong enough to break; we are very fine and healthy.

I will leave you with this “please be comforted and know that boredom is a killer and people do unimaginable things when they are.� Peace and love always.�

It will be recalled that the Ooni unveiled the new Olori in 2018, a day after his 44th birthday.

Before then, Oba Ogunwusi, had been allegedly linked to several ladies.

Though the ladies, including those simply identified as Abishine, Bolanle Emmanuella Ropo , Tobi Phillips, Temitope Adesegun, Co-Convener of Hope Alive, had reportedly tried to outsmart one another, none was successful in getting his attention as a worthy replacement for Olori Wuraola.

But just as many had thought the handsome and youthful king had shut his heart against love he, out of the blues, unveiled his new bride and queen, Shilekunola Moronke Naomi Oluwaseyi.

Since he became the Olugbo of Ugboland, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan has put the name of the riverine community on the world map with a number of projects such as his eyepopping palace.

In 2014, the extravagant monarch was ranked by Forbes magazine as the

second-richest king in Africa and the richest in Nigeria. Aside from oil and gas business, Oba Akinruntan is also into real estate. He has choice buildings in London and across Nigeria.

The stylish monarch, who sits atop a conglomerate with interests in petroleum, shipping, construction, fishery, tourism and hospitality, consultancy services and water purification and production, owns one of the most expensive yachts in the country.

In addition, he has a custom-built 2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II. The monarch is everything you would wish to be in life. Providence, no doubt, has literally lavished its favour on him.

For a man who has everything at his beck and call, you wonder what else he wants in life. But those close to him revealed to Society Watch that his greatest wish is to see peace reign supreme globally and that he prays about this ceaselessly. “Oba Olugbo’s most cherished wish in life is peace. He is a man of peace and will go to any length to make peace reign in the world,� said a source.

Perhaps, this explains why as the Chairman of Ondo State Council of Obas and current Chairman of Yoruba Obas Conflict Resolution Council he is miffed by the allegation that he sponsored an attack on a deposed monarch, Adebanjo Mafimisebi. “It was against any sensible reasoning that a personality with such pedigree as Kabiyesi would condescend so low to be involved directly or indirectly in an attack on the residence of one of his subjects, the deposed Monarch Adebanjo Mafimisebi. “It is very wrong, therefore, for anyone to link Kabiyesi to such an absurdity. “Oba Akinruntan, apart from being a man of peace, is well-travelled and exposed; he would never stoop so low to engage in violence.“Sitting atop sprawling local and international businesses, the revered monarch is far too busy and sophisticated to think, plan or instigate an attack on any of his subjects,� the source added.

Top Lawyer, Kenny Chukwuma’s Beautiful Ideas

Those who know Kenny Chukwuma, Managing Partner and Head of International Law, Ken and Kent Lawyers, Abuja, say he is a man of beautiful ideas.

This, undoubtedly, is not a fulsome praise, considering the fact that he is admired for his brains and guts.

Indeed, his wizardry as a lawyer beggars description and he is fast becoming a shining star in the nation’s legal firmament.

He is also not a pushover when it comes to legal matters; his forte is in immigration, citizenship and visa advisory services amongst other areas of legal practice.

When you watch him in action, you will be enthralled by his articulation and aplomb.

Chukwuma, who is endowed with great poise and infectious charm, understands the importance of global citizenship and believes that as the world is becoming a global market, there is need for Africans, especially Nigerians to enjoy the freedom of travelling to different parts of the world for business, tourism and to explore international markets for foreign investments without hindrances like visas and travel permits.

His chambers is an approved representative of the citizenship by Investment programme for the Caribbean Island of Grenada, which is a sovereign island in the West Indies and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Grenada is a politically stable and peaceful

country with idyllic environment and weather.

Citizens of Grenada enjoy Visa free travel to more than 130 countries, including United Kingdom, Ireland Schengen countries, China and Russia.

Most importantly, it is the only Caribbean country whose citizens can apply to live, work and invest in the USA under the Investor Treaty US E-2 Visa.

With the COVID 19 pandemic, which has resulted in huge number of deaths and threatened socio-economic development around the globe, many countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia have resolved to protect their borders and territories by adopting tight measures and stringent immigration policies.

The key area of focus for these countries is reducing the number of Visas granted to individuals wishing to travel for a variety of reasons to the countries.

Speaking with Society Watch, he said since it had become expedient for Nigerians to seek dual citizenship/second passports from certain countries in order to benefit from Visa free travels and gain the right to live, work and invest in other continents around the world, he had assisted clients applying for Grenada Citizenship through their Citizenship by Investment programme backed by the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Act 2013, Act No 15. According to him, the application process usually takes around 120 days and there are no requirements for residency in Grenada, interviews or language tests.

The well-travelled and handsome lawyer

Chukwuma

holds a Master’s degree in International Business Law from London, United Kingdom, where he lived and worked for almost two decades before returning to Nigeria in 2013 to be enrolled as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He has a decade experience in the area of Immigration Law and provides strategic advisory services to individuals and businesses operating in the ECOWAS and

90 Cheers to Mother of Kwara Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq

AbdulRazaq

Alhaja Raliat Amope AbdulRazaq, mother of the Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, will turn 90th next Tuesday, 26th May 2020.

She was born in Aba, Abia State, to parents of Ilorin origin.

Apart from being the pillar of support to Alhaji AGF Abdul-Razaq SAN (93), the first lawyer from the Old Northern Region, Alhaja Raliat is the mother of three distinguished senior lawyers — Dr Alimi AbdulRazaq, Managing Partner of AbdulRazaq SAN & Co.; Senator Khairat Razaq-Gwadabe; and Isiaka AbdulRazaq (FCA), the erstwhile Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the NNPC. Alhaja Raliat is the mother of Hajia Aisha Mohammed Lawal, the former First Lady of Kwara State, and Mallam Abdulrauph, an entrepreneur.

The amazon co-founded the Ilorin College Ilorin (now Government High School), the first private secondary school in Kwara State, with her husband AGF AbdulRazaq SAN. The college is renowned to have several crème de la crème from Kwara and beyond, including High Court Judges, several SANs, and an Attorney General of Kwara State. She was the first female Councillor in Kwara State as a Council member of the Ilorin Local Government. A philanthropist, Alhaja Raliat is the founder of the the renowned Ralia Islamic Foundation of Kwara State. She’s the Saidat (leader) of the Alasalatu Movement of Nigeria..She speaks very fluent Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, and English.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Í°Í˛Ëœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

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with JOSEPH EDGAR ̥͸Π͸Πͽ͝ͺͽͿΠ̢͚

The Lion and Liquid Metal The so-called Pentecostal pastors with their huge camps lining the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway would be green with envy. Christianity is now show business. Always has been with its promoters doing all they can to attract concertgoers who fool themselves, believing that they are adherents. Driven by the desire to rake in tithes, these pastors carry on with fake miracles, fake proclamations and services that would make promoters of Nigeria’s seedy Strip Clubs rue their competition. But they would never have contended with the lightskinned midget that has come out of Anambra screaming in very bad English that he is the Lion.

Illiterate Lion who goes with so many monikers like Liquid Metal has just turned Christianity on its head, pushing Jesus Christ to his last temptation. His services are a mix of wrestling, nightlife dancing, poorly orchestrated Nollywood scripts, badly delivered sermons and a platform for men of the underworld to display ill-gotten wealth all in the name of Christ. This Jesus has suffered. So what is the difference between this Lion and the Lions that litter the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and all over the country with sweet-smelling suits and who speak Queens English?

The Lion of Anambra and the

Indaboski is a little bit better than his sophisticated colleagues in the fact that he does not take tithes but instead showers his people with money. Unlike his senior cousins who take tithes to build schools that effectively push away the tithe payers, the ‘I am that I am’ dishes out, hence his huge popularity.

The Lion does not lie that he is the Servant of any God but that he himself is the Lion, believe him or not is your business. He has said his own. So you see the shame that is today’s Christianity in Nigeria but who am I to fight the Lord’s battle.

Let him fight his battle as for me, I really do need more snails in my Afang.

FEMI OTEDOLA AND HIS ANGELS In pure admiration, I had once proposed marriage to Dj Cuppy, the sinfully beautiful and massively talented daughter of business mogul Femi Otedola and ran into a fierce storm. DJ Cuppy did not help my matter by tweeting the proposal which was a tongue-in-cheek show of admiration and appreciation to her for her immense talent and aggression in showcasing it. That is how one night, sleep-deprived, I went on Youtube and stumbled on some malnourished boys parading themselves as TV host on one of the many Youtube Channels trying their best with limited brain capacity to analyze the said article. One kept saying, ‘This Duke has a beef with Femi Otedola‌.’the other one with too much powder on his face kept saying ‘No, he just wants some of Otedola’s money’. Then the clinger, ‘you see DJ Cuppy twitted meaning that she likes him’, the other one almost in tears screamed. ‘ noooo DJ can never be anybody’s fourth wife‌. Nooooooâ€?. These funny boys ended the show by saying that they have been looking for my picture on the net and can’t find it meaning that I am a robot. Finally they promised their listeners that they will dig deeper and get back to them. I could not laugh. Today, I don’t want to talk about those boys that looked like they had not seen a shower in decades but at the tremendous success this my egbon has recorded in fatherhood. For me, his success and indeed the success of any man is not in the amount of money or wealth you amass but in the ideals and ethos you pass on to your kids.

As I watched Temi speak on the premium CNN Africa Show about her fashion, her ideals and her drive, I cannot help but marvel at the hard work this gentleman must have put in to bring up these wondrous ladies.

From Cuppy to Tolani and now Temi, all you see is the Nigerian Dream.

A dream that should push us all to begin to change the dire narrative of this country by instilling in the next generation very strong tenets that go beyond the narrow and mundane ideals we all live with. Well-done my lord, on the matter of being a son-in-law, how we want start the discussion?

me. Every time they throw up your articles wherein you launched a series of tirades and diatribes against Alhaji Gambari, I will just be cringing. I will be shaking for you because even if we forget, conscience like they say will be flogging you. Ideals and positions should be based on principle and not on moving interests. No mind me, me sef as I am talking will I be able to resign if I were in your shoes? Resign ke, in this time of Covid and palliatives?

My brother, as an egbon I cannot advise you but to say, I will be using you as a case study in my next zoom talk on how to pursue legacy in life and career.

Na Zoom o, no come. Pele my brother.

It cannot be easy.

Otedola

FEMI ADESINA – GOOD MORNING SIR I will not say that I write you this morning with pity. Far from it, it is with fear for my own career as a columnist and socio-political commentator because I do not think with this Gambari appointment you are in a very good place. You see, the last time I saw you when Donald Duke and Ken Etete escorted you to come see my Play Oba Esugbayi, I liked you instantly because I had followed your writings and saw you – still see you as an icon in this our matter. But the way you are slipping and falling all over the place and splattering is making me rethink my career. So see the way, I am yabing my brother Osa now and then four years from now, Osa gets an appointment as Chief of Staff to the wife of his Local Government Chairman and me I am already the Chief Press Secretary to the same madam. How will Osa be looking at me? Me, I know that Osa will not be as urbane as Gambari would be with you. Osa will knock me o. I trust that one. He will really knock

Adesina

Odumuje

THAT UNKNOWN SOLDIER IS MY HERO So the video of the lone NAF soldier complete with the type of gun we see in Rambo movies dancing with some very serious steps hit my phone. The

boy is such a good dancer, I simply loved the clip. But as the day wore on, I started hearing unconfirmed reports that he had been arrested. I had offered him N100, 000 because what I saw was obviously not what his Ogas must have seen if it is true that he has been arrested. What I saw was the fact that this boy has serious passion for his job, the excitement of his career, his love for his uniform all showing in the wonderful dance steps saying I am very proud to fight and maybe die for Nigeria. Obviously, his people like the other ones, who I hear punished the ladies and the policeman who was looking so fine that I did not want the Duchess to see his picture are not looking at it this way. See major PR opportunities being missed by the dragons who rule us. These pictures will pull in more recruits, soften the image of the forces and build more cohesion within the forces. Americans do it a lot. They support Hollywood movies that glamorize service, encourage force men to go into the entertainment sector. I have seen a whole Navy band doing a Michael Jackson song.

For here na guardroom, which kind country be this sef? I cannot cry again. Mbok I have N100,000 for that boy wherever he is, whoever is his mother or wife or relation should contact me, I will give them the N100,000. That boy for me is the face of a new Nigeria. A Nigeria of zest, fun, unity, pride and love for country. That he could still dance not knowing if he will see next week should be celebrated. I just tire. I don go borrow the money. I ready.

Adibua

Buratai

OLISA ADIBUA HITS MILLIONS Please make una no run go borrow money o. The millions I am talking about here na millions of impression on internet. This huge and iconic veteran showbiz magnate has just launched his massive Play list which he aptly titled – the Oligarchy African Playlist. To say this is massive, is stating the obvious as Olisa’s play list reached millions all over the continent building, sustaining and creating careers. Olly’s influence now is bigger than that of his tummy as he bestrides the scene with so much power. I even hear he is on the hunt for a TV and Radio Licence. Welldone my bro, hope next time I come your house you will give me food. I just dey look you.

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MA ͺͼ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL COVID-19 Pandemic and Nigeria’s Foreign Policy Review in a New Cold War Setting: Quo Vadis?

T

he Public Affairs and Diplomacy Centre (PADICE), in collaboration with the EuroKnowledge Limited and Foreign Investment Network (fIN), both of which are UK- and Nigerian-based, organised a Zoom Meeting on COVID-19 and a New World Order: The Need for a Review of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy.’ The meeting was held on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 3.pm London time. The lead discussants included Dr. Jide Owoeye, Professor of International Relations and Pro-Chancellor of Lead City University and Ambassador Joe Keshi, former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Sierra Leone and former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The meeting was held against the background of COVID-19 pandemic, which is seen to be seriously impacting on international relations in an unusual manner. The moderator of the extraordinary meeting, so to say, Ambassador Akin Fayomi, former Ambassador of Nigeria to France and Managing Partner of PADICE, noted that COVID-19 is not only creating diplomatic tensions all over the world, but also submitted that ‘a New World Order looms.’ He cannot be more correct on his point of observation.

As Nigeria is part of the global community, feeling the painful impact of the pandemic, Ambassador Fayomi asked the panelists and all the participants whether the current situation of COVID-19 can be ‘an opportunity to review or realign Nigeria’s foreign policy to the new realities vis-à-vis her national interests?

In this regard, the theme of the meeting, as well as the question posed by Ambassador Fayomi, are not as simple as they appear to be. The theme presents one intellectual challenge. For instance, to seek a review of Nigeria’s foreign policy is also to admit that COVID-19 pandemic is an instrument of a New World Order that is in the making. Put differently, if we so admit, then the question cannot but be to determine the suitability of a foreign policy review: is there any need to take advantage of COVID-19 as an opportunity to act? Is there any need, if we have the opportunity, to review the country’s foreign policy? And more importantly, if there is need for a review, in which aspects of the country’s foreign policy should there be a review? What should be the methodological framework for the review?

Without scintilla of doubt, opinion was sharply divided on the several issues raised and the reasons cannot be far-fetched: psychology of human differences; difference in experiential background of contributors, many of whom were former Carrier Ambassadors; differences in the professional experiences of participants: social scientists, international functionaries, seasoned academics, etc. For instance, the active participants included Dr. Femi Badejo, seasoned scholar and UN international functionary; Dr. Charles Ukeje, Professor of International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University; Messieurs Tunde Mustapha, Soji Adeleye and Akin Soetan who made contributions from a multidisciplinary approach, as well as numerous retired ambassadors who are still actively engaged in non-diplomatic sectors of national life: Hameed Opeloyeru, Ayo Olukanni, and Tunde Ajisomo. The differences in their wealth of experiences could not easily give way to a common ground for analysis.

COVID-19 Pandemic as a Problem And true enough, COVID-19 pandemic has become a noisome problem. It has generated a lot of questions and problems in contemporary international relations. It first raises the question of how to contain it, especially that the virus is generally believed to be different from existing corona viruses. This issue of how to contain it also raises the question of origin: is it natural or wildlife? Is it a biological weapon and therefore man-made? If it is man-made, who originated it: is it China or the United States? The American school of thought holds China responsible as the originator, while the Chinese respond simply as follows: ‘with the complicity of the United States.’

Put differently, there is an ongoing Cold War between China and the United States. Is COVID-19 the joint making of China and the United States? The Cold War is new in various dimensions: unlike being a war between the West and the East, led by the former

VIE INTERNATIONALE with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Buhari Soviet Union and the United States, the New Cold War is limited to the Chinese and the Americans in the main. There is no proxy politics yet. It is being manifested at the level of bilateral trade disputes, with the United States accusing the Chinese of stealing American technology, pointing accusing fingers to and fighting the Huawei’s 5G technology, and politicisation of COVID-19 pandemic, especially with the United States’ withholding the payment of assessed dues and voluntary donations to the World Health Organisation. Thus, the Cold War is therefore bilateral in character, but with multilateral implications.

In other words, the New Cold War is impacting seriously on the whole world, especially from the perspective of the health challenges created by COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese adopted a foreign policy of telephone contact diplomacy with several world leaders, asking for international understanding. President Xi Jinping preaches the gospel of the need for international cooperation as one major effective way of containing the pandemic. He spoke with world leaders like those of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and even the United States. Donald Trump, however, is not on record to have given any listening ears to the Chinese epistle. Right from the time of his impeachment by the House, many scholars of Sino-American relations have explained the anti-China stand of Donald Trump as nothing more than an election strategy to ensure his re-election in November 2020. The analysis was likened to the US policy stand that Saddam Hussein of Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, which the International Atomic Energy Agency denied, but on which the United States still insisted to have a pretext to launch attack on Iraq.

The impact of COVID-19 in the aviation industry is great.

International flights have been seriously and negatively impacted upon, to the extent that many airlines have laid off a substantial part of their staff as a result of great economic losses. Many countries, including Nigeria, have closed their international borders to both local and international flights, meaning that revenue generation and inter-state vehicular movement has been

Nigeria’s foreign policy principles need no review for now.The policy of non-alignment should be sustained. So should the belief in equality of sovereign states and multilateral diplomacy. In the context of multilateralism, emphasis should be on plurilateral diplomacy. Nigeria should continue to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other nation-states, but subject to the rule of reciprocity. The principle of non-interference, which should not be confused with the principle of non-intervention as provided for in Article 2(7) of the UN Charter, should continue to be adhered to as defined in 1963 by Dr. Jaja Wachukwu, then Minister of External Affairs.Africa should become the cornerstone as it used to be before 1976 when Professor Adebayo Adedeji reconceptualised it to be centrepiece, if Nigeria is not given the due respects she deserves. Core foreign policy objectives of national security, self-preservation and survival need no review. What needs review is basically a foreign policy re-strategy; articulation of a Grand Strategy, removal of ‘respect for International law’ as provided for in the 1999 Constitution, placement of emphasis on Citizen Diplomacy and beneficial and constructive concentricism, and revisiting Professor Bolaji Akinyemi’s idea of Concert of Medium Powers.The new power rivalry between China and the United States makes such a concert a desideratum.This should be the answer to quo vadis

suspended.

Many countries also adopted the policy of lockdown, relaxed or not, a policy that has also generated controversy and violence. The number of COVID-19 infected people as at Friday, May 22, 2020 in Africa was 99,959 confirmed cases, with South Africa leading with 19, 137 cases, followed by Egypt with 15,003, Algeria with 7,728, Morocco with 7,211 and Nigeria with 7,016. Atotal number of 3,100 deaths has been recorded across Africa, with Egypt having the highest number, 696. Algeria followed with 575, South Africa with 369, Nigeria with 211 and Morocco with 196. The import of the foregoing is to underscore the point that the problem goes beyond Nigeria’s international borders. So do the socio-economic and militaro-strategic implications for national development.

And perhaps, more importantly, the Cold War is pointing to the emergence of a Sino-American-driven New World Order, the particulars of which are still difficult to delineate, but from which lessons can still be drawn for Nigeria’s foreign policy. In this regard, what are the issues in the Cold War? United States under Donald Trump has a policy of ‘America First’ and ‘Making America Great Again.’ The policy implies non-subjection of any American national interest to the sovereignty of another State and to any supranational organisation or authority. In this regard, will the policy give room in the near future to the Chinese to succeed the Americans as leaders of the world? Can there be an arrangement for a sort of US-China condominium over the conduct and management of global questions? Will the Chinese also give away their interest in playing greater roles in the conduct and management of global affairs? The likelihood of the United States or the Chinese reviewing their policy position is remote, because the rivalry is political in nature. China has been preparing for the leadership of the world and is expecting the United States to simply step down honourably. United States is not ready for that. This is the political lull with which the global community has found itself and that the discussion of a possible foreign policy review should be held..

In this context, in which way is Nigeria’s foreign policy likely to be affected? What are the specific implications for national security in Nigeria, especially in terms of human security? And most interestingly, how will the New Cold War be manifested in Africa, in general, and particularly in Nigeria? What are the current and relevant issues in Nigeria’s foreign policy? Above all, how should Nigeria react to the New World Order in the making in light of her national security interest?

NCWand Foreign Policy Review: the Issues That there is an emerging New Cold War (NCW) between China and the United States is a truism. That the NCW can precipitate the establishment of a New World Order still remains at the level of scholarly debate. However, there is no disputing the fact that the United States not only has its own world agenda, and not only wants an American mania of conducting and managing international affairs, but has also not prepared to relegate the protection of its interests to the direction of another sovereign state.

This is a clear pointer to future conflicting world orders, as there are several new centres of global power in the world of today.

Consequently, since the NWO is still in the making, no good foreign policy review can be carried out for now, especially in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 politics. The NWO is, at best, still ill-defined. And if a review becomes a desideratum, it then means that it has to be analytically carried out from the perspective of a conjectural methodology. Whereas the making of policy strategy and policy decision cannot, and should not, be predicated on conjectures. This does not mean that scenarios cannot be built to prevent being cut unawares.

While the articulation of the modalities of the NCW and the NWO should continue to be the business of the relevant stakeholders, we strongly believe that there is the urgent need for the review of Nigeria’s foreign policy for many reasons. First, there is the need to prepare and respond to the challenging situational realities in contemporary international politics.

Secondly, in 2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the academia disagreed over whether Nigeria’s foreign policy was on the path of decline Mr. Amedu Ode, then spokesperson for the Ministry, argued that Nigeria’s foreign policy was quite robust.

Dr. Adekeye Adebajo argued to the contrary and submitted that Nigeria was actually treading on the path of foreign policy decline, especially in light of the then increasing decline in the visibility of Nigeria in international relations. Since then, the international outings of Nigeria have remained a question without an answer. Most academics agreed with the position of Dr. Adebajo. In this case, why the decline? Aforeign policy review conference is required to investigate and explicate the problem.

Thirdly, Ambassador Obasola Samuel Fatunla, in his new book, entitled History of Reforms and Reorganisation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 1960-2007, published in 2019 by the College Press, made it clear that ‘there is a fundamental need to review the foreign policy strategies to accord greater priority to national interests.’ He has shown in the book, some cases in which foreign policy decisions have not reflected the protection of the national interest. This should not be so. In fact, Ambassador Fatunla also noted that ‘there is need to promote and encourage frequent review conferences on Nigeria’s foreign policy,’ during which issues of professionalism, rules and regulations, welfare, development, etc, will be addressed.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

24.05.2020

ADAPTINGTOTHENEWNORMALINATIMEOFCOVID-19 With his hopes of participating in a couple of exhibitions suddenly dashed because of a governmentimposed lockdown, Germany-based Nigerian artist Emeka Udemba is seeking new ways of adjusting to life while the pandemic lasts. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes

T

his should be over in a few weeks. Obviously, Emeka Udemba – like many people – had underestimated the Coronavirus – a. k. a. COVID-19. This was despite the fact that the pandemic had already begun to stir up global concern. The palpable fear of the virus that clung to the air that Friday, March 13 soon after his return with his family to Germany, after a visit to Nigeria, should have warned him.

But no. Rather, he was certain that things would soon afterwards return to normal.And, “normal” – for him and for so many others – meant nothing more than things continuing in the same old way as they had for centuries and even for millennia. Indeed, hasn’t the history of mankind always been littered with natural and man-made disasters? So, this too shall go the way of others, he had reasoned.

On the contrary, the pandemic hasn’t yet gone away. Nor has life returned to what he calls “normal”. Rather, the southwestern German city of Freiburg – where he resides with his German-born wife and daughter – joined most cities in the country and in the world to impose a cocktail of safety measures, which included social distancing, to contain the spread of the virus. Life in this pleasant city of approximately 230, 000 inhabitants seemed all of a sudden to have come under Orwellian scrutiny.

Now, this is a city that, under normal circumstances, plumes itself on its multicultural population as well as on its many public and private specialised cultural institutions ranging from the historical to the contemporary. Its artist-run spaces, which exist alongside these institutions, further lends the city its mystique of “unselfconsciousness” and a reputation for experimentation. Then, there is, of course, the additional fact that this city straddling the Dreisam river at the foot of Schlossberg leverages on its proximity to the Swiss city of the border town of Basel, one of the host cities of the annualArt Basel.

of humour.

Expectedly, the pandemic has taken its toll in his studio practice and in his personal life. But, he would rather see the silver lining in this ominous cloud. This period, in his opinion, should be the time for the right self-assessment and forbearance. This should also be the time to understand the sufferings and weaknesses of one’s neighbour.

He also quotes the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as once saying in an interview that “ it is dangerous for a person if he simply rushes from goal to goal and goes through with praise everywhere. It is better that he recognises his own limits.”

“With this in mind, this lockdown is not just a time of production in my studio, but a time of deep reflection on various issues that have been laid bare,” he resumes. “Atiny virus has made us realise that irrespective of our sophistication in all spheres of life, we can control many things, but by far not everything. The inequalities in our society have also been laid bare. The privileged in society have no difficulty self-isolating. But the poor, who must go to work to earn a living, are Udemba's recent paintings confronted with the stark choice between imminent hunger if they “The consequence is that we live presently in a historic time when all do not go out to work or going to work and possibly getting infected. the facets of our Globalisation is receiving a backlash.An event in one part of the lives seem to be fundamentally put under scrutiny,” the 52-year-old world can easily affect the rest of the world. The flow of people across University of Lagos graduate muses. “Suddenly, we are confronted borders have either plummeted or stopped entirely...” with how fragile and uncertain human existence could be, regardless of Work, for him, never stopped. With his sights set on new projects, society's industrial and technological advancements.” he muses about how he and his fellow artists would remain He was billed to participate in a couple of exhibitions. One was physically connected to the rest of the art community, especially now scheduled to hold inApril in Freiburg and the other was to hold in that the galleries and museums still remain closed. So far, he had May at the 1-54 New York, a contemporaryAfrican art fair. While conceived the idea of making postcards, which he hopes to produce the Freiburg exhibition was cancelled, the 1-54 New York has now with images from some of the paintings he had produced during the been postponed until May next year. “Consequently, I am creatively lockdown.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com) self-isolating most of the time in my studio,” Udemba says with a hint

LECTURE

Leveraging Art for National Development Chidinmma Iwuoha

C

ontemporary Nigerian art, if given its proper place would redirect our energies, creativity and imagination towards new approaches in addressing national issues. This was the view canvassed by Jerry Buhari, Professor of Fine Arts,Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was speaking on the topic: [Re]current Issues in the Development of Contemporary NigerianArt at the 12th edition of the DistinguishedAnnual Lecture organised recently by National Gallery of Art (NGA) inAbuja.

Expounding on the term, contemporary Nigerian art as against contemporary art in Nigeria, he focused on five of the [re]current issues affecting the sub-sector, namely: The place of formal and (or) informal education; the consequences of not having a national edifice; the problem of managing art collections; the place of professional practice; and the challenge of art forgeries.

On the place of formal and (or) informal education, Buhari noted that the terms were used by the West to create a distinction between western forms of education which they considered superior to others as different from theirs. “It simply constitutes a specific geographical location, a curriculum

Professor Buhari and time table as well as a host of instructors,” he argued. “Virtual education made possible by ICT is a fast-growing challenge to formal education and art is not exempted from its growing influence.”

He maintained that one of the consequences of the conspicuous lack of a national gallery edifice in Nigeria is the difficulty in building a coherent art collection that can serve as a tool for nation building, insisting that a

physical edifice holding art works that represent the artistic practice of a nation can be deployed to enhance unity, integration and a national dream.

This he links to the challenges of managing art collections which are diverse and can only be carried out appropriately by art institutions such as museums and galleries. “Artists are not equipped to carry out this function as older works tend to suffer neglect at the expense of new ones when stored in art studios. This again highlights the indispensable role of an edifice to shelter the rich art heritage of the nation where preservation and restoration are incorporated,” he added.

On issues surrounding professional practice in visual arts, Buhari classified them in terms of professional materials and ethics related to their use. “These pertain to artists in their production of art works, sale and the business aspect of the profession,” he explained. “The artist is required to indicate clearly, the media used for his production and also to get conversant with particular materials meant for each genre in order to avoid litigations that may result from misleading collectors who might term such an omission a deliberate act of deceit.”

He insisted that an artist must employ a manager to inventory his collection and manage the business aspect if he is unable to take time off

his production schedule to manage his business.

Regarding art forgeries, which the professor said often carries with it, sensational displays and complex politics, “is a growing business in Nigeria fuelled by rising prices of art works even in a challenging economic environment and the high demand for a particular artist’s works especially if the artist is no more alive to identify the fake.” His panacea is a kind of cultural warfare to combat the problem. “All hands to be on deck to frustrate the development of art forgery,” he proposed.

Buhari’s recommendations on the recurrent issues included: “Open and continuous discussions, sincere, ethical and bold handling; appropriate sanctions and bold exposure of unethical and unprofessional practices; very deliberate and sustained synergy between artists, artists’ associations, the public and private sectors.”

The professor opined that the private sector has been the driver of cultural revivals in other climes and it cannot be otherwise for Nigeria.

“Should all stakeholders take responsibility for the healthy development of art, this would automatically translate to the advancement of the private and individual interests of both artists and art collectors as well as cultural institutions, with government taking the credit.”

–––Iwuoha writes from NGA, Abuja.

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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APRIL 5, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

NEWS

Acting News Editor Gboyega Akinsanmi E-mail: gboyega.akinsanmi@thisdaylive.com,08081986590 (sms only)

Teriba: Donor Funds Can’t Solve Nigeria’s Fiscal Crisis t Recommends policies to attract FDIs, remittances tAdvocates sales of under-utilised public assets Gboyega Akinsanmi The Vice-Chairman, Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation, Dr. Ayo Teriba has advised the federal government against relianceontheOfficialDevelopmentAssistance(ODA),Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) or other donor funds to pull Nigeria out of fiscal doldrums.

Rather, Teriba, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates (EA), urged the federal government to come up with policies to attract more foreign direct investments(FDIs)anddiaspora remittances, noting that donor funds cannot bring Nigeria out of its fiscal crisis.

Hemadetheserecommendations in his article, Nigeria’s Post

Covid-19 Economic Outlook published by a US-based Social Science Research Network, a repository for preprints and international journal.

In the 16-page research paper, the economist observed that Nigeria had been in search of waysofstemmingtheeconomic decline before Covid-19 forced the country, like most other countries across the world,

into a lockdown that brought the economy to a halt since March 2020.

He argued that the unfolding global realities “now give Nigeria a chance to leverage its vast public assets to raise external liquidity thresholds enough to switch from contraction to expansion by adopting securitisation privatisation, liberalisation, commercialisa-

ENFORCING COVID-19 REGULATIONS...

L-R: Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Barr. Kelechi Igwe and Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu Statewith when the governor visited Enugu-Ebonyi boundary to enforce ban on inter-state transportation, yesterday

tion policies.”

Teriba situated his argument within the context of the increasing global liquidity glut, which he contended, had seen capital inflows to developing countries double in the last decade and Nigeria is well-placed to get a share of the liquidity glut if it created investor-friendly environment and policies.

Despite negative external income shock, he observed that Nigeria “remains asset domestically rich. Nigeria’s history of oil booms combines favourably with her large population, over half of which are spread in hundreds of urban centres, to bequeath her with huge stocks of valuable public assets.

“While Nigeria’s economic, fiscal, and financial struggles resulting from the decline in income have been conspicuous in news headlines and policy discussions, the solutions that the value of assets owned by Nigeria could unleash have been less so.

“It is time to broaden the conversation to include the differences that the value buried in vast assets owned by Nigeria could bring to the narratives, evaluate the case for unlocking domestic and external liquidity from them, and explore ways of doing so.”

On this note, the economist urged that the federal government to articulate clear enough visions of our future by coming up with credible external liquidity and infrastructure

roadmaps that our diaspora and foreign investors can invest in, like India, Saudi Arabia, and lately Egypt do.

He noted that African continental single market and West African single currency were conceived in a global environment in which net-exports dominated net capital inflows, which he suggested, should be realigned for optimise investment opportunities.

The economist recommended that both the continental single market and sub-regional single currency “must now be realigned with a new global reality in which net capital inflows dominate net-exports.”

Besides, Teriba equally suggested that Nigeria, like other African states should realign with the evolving reality that surging FDIs and Diaspora Remittances are more reliable sources of external liquidity than meagre donor funds.

Rather than opting for Official Development Assistance (ODA) or volatile Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), Teriba asked the federal government to work out policies that could attract more FDIs and diaspora remittances.

In general terms, the economist encouraged Nigeria and Africa to align their policies with unfolding global realities by repositioning themselves through effective investment friendly policies to obtain a fair share of the financial green shoots needed to promote growth and stability.

Virtual Proceedings, Not Unconstitutional, Falana Argues Tobi Soniyi Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, (SAN) has said that provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended) can accommodate virtual proceedings.

Falana, in a statement, he sent to THISDAY, allayed the fears of some judges and lawyers who haveexpressedreservationswith theplantogovirtualinthefaceof Covid-19whichhasforcedcourts nationwide to stop sitting.

He noted that before the coronaviruspandemic,therules

of procedure and practice directions issued by heads of courts had provided for e-filing and e-service of processes.

According to him, it has become mandatory for counsel to furnish the courts with their emails and telephone numbers.

Hesaid:“Thus,hearingnotices areservedonlawyersandparties byemailsorwassap.Suchservice was given judicial endorsement in C.M.& E.S LTD v. PAZAN SERVICES NIG LTD (2020) 1 NWLR (Pt 1704) 70 @ 95 where the Supreme Court (per Okoro JSC) held that ‘In the instant

appeal, there is evidence that a text message was sent by the registry of the Court to the GSM numbersprovidedbycounselto bothpartiesinformingthemthat the matter had been adjourned to 15th March, 2016. I hold the viewthatatthisageofprevalence of information technology, the serviceofhearingnoticethrough text message by the registrar of court is good and sufficient.’”

Falanacontendedthatjudicial proceedings by zoom or skype did not violate section 36 (3) and (4)ofthe1999Constitutionwhich provides for public trial in civil

and criminal proceedings.

He said: “With respect, section 36 (4) (a) of the Constitution provides that the right to public hearing may be waived in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, the interest of the welfare of a child under 18 years of age, the protection of the private lives of the parties or to such extent as may be necessary by reason of special circumstances in which publicity would be contrary to the interest of justice.

“Section 36 (4) (b) thereof also statesthataministerofthefederal

government or commissionerof a state government may apply to a court giving reasons while public trial should be waived.”

He also drew attention to section 34 (a) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013 which states that “An applicationtoprotectawitnessmay be made by the court court suo motuorbytheAttorney-General oftheFederationorotherrelevant law enforcement or security agencies.”

He also cited section 232 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which provides that

“A trial for the offences referred to in subsection (4) of this section may not, where the court so determines, be held in an open court.”

The provision applies to offences under the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013; Economic and Financial Crimes Act; Trafficking in Persons and related Offences Act and any other offence in respect of which the National Assembly permitstheuseofsuchprotective measures or as the judge may consider appropriate in the circumstances.

Don’t Allow COVID-19 Degenerate to Micro Ibrahim-Imam, APC’s Cornerstone, Says Akande Tinubu requested me to talk to ProgressivesCongress(APC)was Level Transmission, Gynaecologists Tell Govts Akinwale Adedayo BuharionIbrahim-Imam’sbehalf. registered as a political party in Segun James

The Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SGON) has urged both federal and state governments to intensify the COVID-19 fight to prevent the pandemic from degenerating from community transmission to the micro level.

SGON’s National President, Prof. Oluwarotimi Akinola gave the advice at the weekend during the public presentation ofpersonalprotectionequipment to the Lagos State Government atthestate’sMedicalWarehouse, Lekki.

Akinola made the donation of 100 pieces of protective face shield and 20 crates of Maltina drink, among others, alongside

the Chairman of SGON, Lagos StateChapter,DrJosephAkinde, SGON’s Vice Chairman, Dr Abidoye Gbadegesin and the Secretary,DrKehindeOkunade.

Speaking at the presentation, Akinola expressed concern about the claims by some state governorsthatthepandemichas not got to their states.

He,therefore,urgedthefederal governmenttoexerciseitspower to ensure that tests for the virus were carried out in those states to determine their true status.

According to him, the face shields were for medical personnel performing surgery on Covid19 patients or those carrying out child delivery of pregnant Covid19 patients.

Akinde lamented the rate of

infection of medical personnel and the death of some of them attending to COVID-19 patients, saying it was of great concern to the society and that that was what challenged the branch to make the donation to enhance theirjobsandalsosavetheirlives.

Akinde said the society frowned at reports that some health worker were sent to treat Covid19 patients without being equippedtosafelyperformtheir job.

Henotedthatthisamountedto sendingsoldiers“tothewar-front without arming them. The malt drink was the society’s stimulus fortheircolleaguesonlineofduty to cool down after a hard day assignment.

The Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, has described former Presidential Liaison Officer, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, as the party’s cornerstone hitherto overlooked in appointments.

HesaidIbrahim-Imamplayed a crucial role in the merger of legacy parties culminating in the birth of APC. WhilecongratulatingIbrahimImam on his appointment as Chairman, Board of Trustees of Tertiary Education Trust Fund(TETFUND),Akandealso thankedPresidentMuhammadu Buhari for doing what he called the right thing.

“When Buhari’s government, perhaps inadvertently, gave Ibrahim-Imam no position,

IrefusedbecauseIpresumedthat theremusthavebeenadangerous disconnectbetweentheAPCand its government.

“Now that the President has approved a position for Ibrahim-Imam in government, I congratulate President Buhari.

I congratulate Ibrahim-Imam. I also sincerely congratulate the APC. I hope that from now on, thepartyandthegovernmentcan learn to work in sync. IbrahimImam’s appointment shows that the rejected stone has been reserved for the corner of the house,” Akande, who is also a former governor of Osun State, said.

Akande’s special tribute to Ibrahim-Imam on his appointment read: “As soon as the All

July2013,therebeganseriesofmomentousevents,whichincluded theemergenceofanewfactionof People’sDemocraticParty(PDP) called ‘The New PDP’.

“This PDP faction must have had its origin in an earlier discussion between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and some leaders ofthePDP,especiallyDr.Olusola Saraki, Rotimi Amaechi and AminuWaziriTambuwal.They must have toyed with the idea of starting a new party perhaps withamergeroftheirfactionwith the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). “When another set of merger that produced APC had takenplace,AsiwajuTinubuwas nolongercomfortablethathehad notcarriedhis‘friends’inthePDP on board.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Y 24, 2020

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NEWS PDP, Wada Reject Kogi Tribunal Decision, Head to A’ Court t As tribunal in split judgment upholds election of Bello as Kogi governor Alex Enumah in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the November 16, 2019, governorship election in Kogi State, Mr Musa Wada, on Saturday said theywouldbeproceedingtothe CourtofAppealtochallengethe majority judgment of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which upheld the election of Yahaya Bello as governor of Kogi State.

Lead counsel to the PDP and Wada,MrJibrinOkutepa(SAN), speakingtojournalistsinAbuja, shortly after two justices of the

three man panel of the tribunal dismissed the petition of PDP and Wada against the election of Bello for lacking in merit.

The tribunal in a split judgmentdeliveredbyJusticeKashim Kaigama upheld Bello’s election on the grounds that the petitioners failed to prove allegations of riggingandothermalpracticesin theNovember16,2019governorship election.

According to the majority judgment the petitioners failed to prove their allegation of over votingbeyondreasonabledoubt as required by law.

Justice Kaigama accordingly

dismissedthepetitionwithacost of N500, 000 each in favour of the respondents.

However in a dissenting judgment, Justice Ohimai Obviagele who disagreed with his colleagues held that their were evidence of massive fraud in seven Local Government Areas in the state where election took place.

Obviagele subsequently ordered the Independent National

Electoral Commission (INEC) to conductarerunelectionwithin90 days in the seven Local Government Areas.

However, expressing their dissatisfaction with the majority judgment,Okutepasaidthateven the blind and deaf were aware of what happened during the Kogi governorship election. “We are going to appeal the judgment�, he said in response to questions from journalists.

PDP and Wada had in December 2019, filed their petition against INEC, Bello and the All Progressives Congress (APC) before the Kogi State Election PetitionTribunalsittinginAbuja.

They had prayed the tribunal todeclarethatthesecondrespondent (Bello) was not duly elected and/or returned by a majority of lawful votes cast during the election.

Accordingtothem,neitherthe

second nor the third respondent scored the majority of lawful votes cast at the election to the office of the state governor.

They therefore prayed the tribunaltoissueanordernullifying the Certificate of Return issued to Bello by INEC and in addition, issue an order nullifying the entire governorship election conducted in the state by reason of substantial non-compliance with the provisions of the ConstitutionandextantElectoralAct 2010 (As amended).

Tinubu Eulogises Akiolu on 17th Coronation Anniversary All Progressives National Congress (APC) National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, has eulogised Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Aremu Akiolu on his 17th coronation anniversary.

While congratulating the foremost traditional ruler on the anniversary, Tinubu said Akiolu had offered focused, committed and purposeful leadership in Lagos.

He said his reign has not only helped to foster peace, stability and tremendous development in the state, it has also brought unity and cohesion within the traditional institution in Lagos.

In a statement yesterday by his Media Office in Lagos and signed by Tunde Rahman, the APC leader said: “I congratulate His Royal Majesty, Rilwanu Aremu Okikiola Akiolu ‘Olowo Eko,’ on his 17th coronation anniversary. “Akiolu has offered focused, committed, purposeful and dynamic leadership in Lagos.

His reign this past 17 years has helped in engendering

peace, stability and development in the state as it has also brought unity and cohesion within the traditional institution in Lagos and beyond. “A foremost traditional ruler fondly called ‘Olowo Eko,’ Akiolu has led the way for other royal fathers in Lagos to follow. He has given unwavering support to government’s policies and activities in Lagos. “His wise counsel is invaluable. It helped in navigating difficult junctures during my time as governor. In the same fashion, he has also made his tremendous experience and wisdom available for successive governors after me including the present Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. “I pray that his reign continue to bring forth peace, stability and prosperity to Lagos State. May God grant Akiolu the grace of long life, good health and increased wisdom. Kabiyesi, ki ade o pe lori, ki bata o pe lese, ki esin oba o jeko pe ooo. Amin.�

HURIWACallsforIndependentProbe ofN48billionScaminAgricMinistry Akinwale Adedayo A civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed disappointment at the federal government’s handling of the raging allegations of N48 billion scam at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science and Technology Alhaji Mohammed Bello Umar who was the permanentsecretaryintheagric ministrywhentheallegedfraud took place had been querried by the Head of Service of the Federation on the orders of PresidentMuhammaduBuhari.

However, HURIWA, in a statement said the way and manner the corruption allegations were being handled would lead to the allegations being swept under the carpet.

HURIWA is therefore calling for an independent judicial panel to investigate the allegations and counter-allegations as contained in Umar’s reply to the querry.

In his reply, Umar said the ministry followed due process in handling the contracts in question and got the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

HURIWA faulted the entire scenarios playing out as political drama “because it is inconceivable and indeed outrageous that the president of the country can order that a query be issued to an appointee over allegations that the same official of government claimed that the approving authority who is President Muhammadu Buhari who ordered his indictment was actually the one who approved all the transactions for which he is being indicted.�

The rights group said it was unimaginable that the Permanent Secretary was queried for the same allegations that he claimed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigated, interrogated and cleared him without such a sensitive information of such a high profile investigation not being made known to the president.

NEW TOURISM PLAN...

L - R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of for Tourism, Arts & Culture, Babatunde Mesawaku; Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism, Tunji Seymour; Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf; Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Solomon Bonu and Co-ordinator FTAN, Lagos State, Gbenga Sunmonu at the presentation of 10-year Lagos State Tourism Master Plan at Alausa, Lagos...recently

APC Faction Accuses Obaseki of Plotting to Scuttle Primaries Adibe Emenyonu inBeninCity A faction of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State yesterday accused the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki of plotting to inflate the COVID-19 cases in the state as a strategy to scuttle the party’s primary election scheduled to hold on June 22.

The faction, which is loyal to the APC National Chairman, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission

(INEC), the Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC), Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigeria Police, among others, to refrain from succumbing to Obaseki’s alleged plan to scuttle the process.

The faction made the allegation in a letter it addressed to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on Thursday, detailing Obaseki’s plans to scuttle the party’s forthcoming primary election.

The eight-page letter was

copied to to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Director General, NCDC; Inspector General of the Nigeria Police; Director General, DSS and National Chairman of APC In a swift reply, however, the Publicity Secretary of Obaseki’s faction, Pastor Joseph Osagiede dismissed the allegation, saying that the signatory of the letter was not the Secretary of Edo APC. In the letter signed by its Secretary, Mr. Lawrence Okah,

the faction alleged that Obaseki had already instructed the testing of fictitious 300,000 persons with the ultimate desire to announce fake positive results to serve as a foundation for the scuttling of the party’s primary election.

The letter read in part: “Obaseki has concluded plan to scuttle the primary election of the APC scheduled to hold on June 22. The pretext is that if held, the primary election will escalate COVID-19 cases in Edo state.

Infectious Disease Bill, Violation of 1999 Constitution, Says Coalition Gboyega Akinsanmi A coalition of advocacy groups and professional bodies has faulted the Control of Infectious Diseases Bill, noting that some of its provisions violate the 1999 Constitution that guarantees fundamental rights to private properties, assemblies, human dignity and civil liberties.

The coalition, including the Advocates for Freedom and Democracy and Coalition against Mandatory Vaccination in Nigeria, alleged that the bill, if enacted, would create a number of avenues where chip implants could be smuggled in under the guise of controlling of infectious diseases.

In a statement by its National Coordinator, Prof. John Oginni

and National Chairman, Rev. Tony Akinyemi, the coalition warned that the infectious bill portended grave dangers to our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

In specific terms, the coalition identifiedinstancesofsummary abrogation of human rights, dignity and civil liberties and also the issue of mandatory vaccination with the possibility of chip-implantsunderthesections that addressed vaccine delivery, certification and surveillance.

The coalition rejected sections 6(1-2), 13(1,4) and section 70 of the bill on the ground that the document vested so much powerontheDirectorGeneralof the Nigerian Centre for Disease ControlandPrevention(NCDC).

It argued that the power of the

director-general would infringe on fundamental rights and civil liberties of citizens suspected of having an infectious disease, a judgmentforwhichhecouldnot be personally held liable even if it was wrong.

It, also, said the bill breached fundamental rights to private properties and assemblies, saying the bill empowered NCDC’s director-general “to summarily declare ‘any premises’ an isolation area under section 15(1). “If in his opinion any building is deemed overcrowded, the occupants could be asked to disperse with immediate effect, failure of which a police officer can thereafter come without warrant and use such force as may be necessary to close the building, and worse

still, the owner or occupants will berequiredtosettletheexpenses incurred in the exercise.�

Under section 8(4), the coalition explained how the infectious disease bill “will affect healthcare professionals if eventually enacted. They are required to transmit whatever informationthedirector-general asks them notwithstanding any restriction on the disclosure of suchinformationbyanywritten law, rule of law, rule of professional conduct.�

By implication, the coalition explained that the opinion of NCDC’s director-general could override any written law, which it said, obviously did not exempt the nation’s constitution and fundamental professional ethics.

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SUNDAY MAY 24, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 24, 2020

CICERO

Editor:Olawale Olaleye Email:wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha_ Minister of NHealth, Osagie Ehanire and his counterpart for state, Senator Olorunimbe Mamora at a briefing

Before the Lockdown Is Completely Lifted As the countdown to a total easing up of the COVID-19 lockdown begins soon, Samuel Ajayi writes on the need to educate those who still doubt the existence of the virus and also let citizens know that they are now fully in charge of their own safety

S

usan (not real names) was having malaria and typhoid fever symptoms and since virtually no hospital would treat anyone with COVID-19 status, she did not bother going to any hospital.

Rather, she went for the Coronavirus test and that was when her condition worsened. She went mid-April and by the beginning of May, the result had not yet come out.

She nearly died out of anxiety. She lost weight and she started exhibiting all the symptoms of the dreaded virus. All efforts by family members and friends to assure her that all would be well did nothing to improve her condition, which worsened everyday she awaited her COVID-19 test result.

Eventually, the result came and it was negative. She was relieved and within days, she got well with little or no medications.

“I have never had any doubt that COVID-19 is real,” Susan told this reporter. “In fact, before the index case was recorded in Nigeria, I have been following the spread of the virus in other parts of the world and I think I consumed too much news on the virus, reason I was scared to death.”

While Susan believed the virus was real, there are those, who still have their doubts about the virus, claiming it was not real and basing their position on the fact that it was not killing people the way it has been doing in countries worst hit like in Europe and Americas.

Just yesterday, the American President, Donald Trump, ordered that flags be flown at half-mast across the country as a mark of respect for over the 100,000 Americans that have died from the virus.

Many Nigerians, who are claiming the virus is not real (or that the Nigerian ‘version’ is different) usually back up their argument on the fact that those, who are in isolation centres in Nigeria do not usually show signs of sickness. In fact, many of them are always dancing, singing and making merry. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has, however, come out to explain that

many of those who are in the isolation centres are asymptomatic. In other words, they are not showing any signs of illness or symptoms of the virus. The body further explained that they are being kept in isolation so as to stem the spread of the virus.

Health experts have also explained that Nigeria has been extremely lucky as far as the Coronavirus pandemic was concerned.

They explained that one of the things that had helped the country is the weather and the fact that most of those who have been infected with the virus have been asymptomatic. Beyond this, the strain that is prevalent in the country seems to be the non-virulent strain.

A public health expert, who did not want his name in print, told THISDAY early in the month that there are families that might have one case and other members of that family would test negative. He explained that it is either the one that tested positive was a “weak carrier or he or she might be carrying the non-virulent strain of the virus.” He, however, cautioned that it is very wrong for Nigerians to say the virus was not real or it was a scam designed to siphon funds from the public purse.

And that is where the challenge lies as the nation prepares for the total lifting of the lockdown put in place since the beginning of April. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, had announced last week that the partial easing of the lockdown had been extended by two weeks. Also on Thursday, the government asked churches and mosques to come up with plans on how they would reopen their places of worship.

The interstate lockdown and 8pm to 6am curfew remain firmly in place and it was ruthlessly implemented last week to the extent that some essential workers, like medical personnel, were affected, which prompted the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to order their members to work from 8am to 4pm and in some states, to down tools outright. It took the intervention of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to appeal to the NMA

before it backed down. Journalists too were not left out in what was considered a deliberate action against them by the police for allegedly accusing them of sabotaging the lockdown order through compromises. Many journalists were even detained before an intervention came from Abuja.

Importantly, however, the measures that are still in place are all geared towards stemming the spread of the dreaded virus even if some Nigerians still have the wrong notion that the virus is not real.

The total and complete easing of the lockdown and opening up of the economy would mean that everyone would now have to be responsible for his or her own safety from the virus.

It would no longer be the responsibility of the authorities again.

In trying to ensure that each individual takes responsibility, one thing that might be staying with Nigerians for a long time to come is the wearing of nose and facemasks. After all, the Chinese have been wearing it for over 15 years.

Now, some offices and business places have made it mandatory that you must wear it before you are allowed into their premises.

In the same vein, the Lagos State government has issued a gazette, which makes it a punishable offence if any resident of the state fails to put on his or her facemask in public. Mobile courts have been deployed across the state to ensure speedy trial and handing down of penalty.

It is therefore gratifying to know that the NCDC has started a campaign aimed at disabusing the minds of Nigerians that the COVID-19 is a death sentence. A lot of fear and panic were planted in people’s minds in the early days of the virus, which prompted many to hide their family members, who had the virus.

It was this fear and panic as well as activities of scaremongers that nearly claimed the life of Citizen Susan. Even at that, as the lockdown is likely to be completely lifted in a few days, it would be suicidal to doubt the existence of the virus. That can kill more than the virus itself.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

COVID-19 and Police’s Revenge Mission

N Mba

ot until the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, through the force’s spokesman, Frank Mba, released a statement reiterating those exempted for free movement, the police, last Tuesday, sought a revenge with journalists for allegedly accusing them of compromising the lockdown order and therefore tagged the weakest link in the overall efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The Police had mounted their familiar roadblocks in different parts of the Lagos State, ostensibly to enforce the lockdown order the moment it was 8pm. Unknown to unsuspecting journalists – both the print and electronic categories – they were the chief targets of the May 19 mission, when the police in a coordinated curfew enforcement strategy, arrested and detained some of them. Others were stuck in the long stretch of traffic occasioned by their roadblocks.

However, reprieve only came after the news had traveled wide and the police IG, in consultation and agreement with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, as well as the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, cleared the grey areas, which was otherwise a no-brainer. Many of those detained didn’t get to their homes before midnight. Thanks to the police for their equalizer. Still, the journalists won!

Without a doubt, the police fumbled greatly at the start of the lockdown order and are still doing so. Their compromises caused the nation a lot of pains, resulting in the spike of the new cases since recorded daily. For tokens, many people were granted access to places they ordinarily ought not to be, forgetting also that they too stood the risk of being infected – their families inclusive. Whatever they chose to do last Tuesday only exposed their pettiness and inanity. It won’t stop others from closing the gaps they deliberately created.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 24, 2020

58

BRIEFINGNOTES Again, Buhari Rescues Insolvent States A moratorium on loan deductions gives states room to manoeuvre as the gloomy economic realities precipitated by the global pandemic start to manifest. Demola Ojo writes

L

ast week, President Muhammadu Buhari bailed out Nigerian state governments by approving the suspension of deductions of loans and bailout funds from their diminishing monthly allocation. The President heeded pleas made last month by governors of the 36 states of the federation, when they called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend all funds’ deductions from states and restructure their debt repayments.

The governors, under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), urged President Buhari to direct the suspension of the deductions of debts owed by the states till the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Chairman of the NGF and Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the President approved the suspension of the obligations for one year.

The pandemic has had a debilitating effect on economies globally, with Nigeria especially susceptible, due to an unhealthy dependence on crude oil exports. The price of crude oil plunged to all-time low in the global market, greatly affecting Nigeria’s revenue.

Federation account revenues have dropped drastically, a situation that will make it impossible for majority of states to meet up with their obligations, including payment of workers’ salaries from next month. It was projected that up to 15 states would have been unable to pay salaries from the end of June, before the federal government’s intervention.

Indications of a brewing financial crisis emerged last month during the Buhari sharing of revenue, as apart from reduced crude oil proceeds, tax receipts also showed a marked decrease. Income tax, import and export duties, petroleum profit tax and VAT all recorded a drop-off.

The numbers are concerning. Statutory revenue declined from N597.674 billion in March to N370.411billion in April; VAT in the corresponding period dropped from N120.268 billion to N94.495 billion.

With crude oil now trading at around $30 per barrel as against a projected of $57, dwindling revenues have necessitated a slash in the federal government’s budget for 2020. States have followed suit. Some states like Ekiti and Kano have already reduced salaries of political appointees, a sign of things to come regarding the other states.

Interestingly, however, this is not the first time that President Buhari has come to the aid of states during trying times. One of his first acts a few weeks into his assumption of office in 2015 was to approve bailout funds for states unable to pay workers’ salaries for months.

The funds were part of a relief package sourced from LNG sales proceeds, recognised as a special intervention fund, and a soft loan provided by the

CBN. At the time, 10 states including Osun, Rivers, Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, Plateau, Benue, and Bauchi, had a combined outstanding wage bill of N110 billion. The Federal Government disclosed that it gave over N1.1 trillion – including Paris Club refunds – to states during the period.

But last September, the federal government commenced the recovery of N614 billion in loans from the states by deducting directly from their allocations and remitting to the CBN. It is these deductions that have now been halted for a year.

It has come as a big relief to state executives, with the prospect of industrial crisis due to disgruntled workers. Some states had already resorted to pay cuts. Unfortunately, this relief is bound to be temporary as the states are being exposed for what they are: unproductive and heavily indebted territories that can’t afford to pay their workers.

According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), as at December 2019, the domestic debt of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory was N4.106 trillion. About 10 states had accumulated debts above N100 billion each. The external and domestic debt of these states collectively, is about N2.74 trillion.

State governors are always looking to the

federal government for handouts. But following President Buhari’s N10 billion grants to Lagos State to support the battle against COVID-19, the pandemic is now the latest excuse in soliciting for funds.

In a communiqué issued after the Northern Governors’ Forum held a teleconference last Wednesday, the governors said their states had 54 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases recorded in the country and appealed for special relief.

While the pandemic has thrown up unforeseen circumstances, it is true that many states are insolvent at the best of times. State governors, therefore, need to focus on making their states more viable by reducing expenses and eliminating mismanagement, among other measures.

Governors need to cultivate the habit of thinking like entrepreneurs. The moratorium on loan repayments should be seen as what it is: a period of grace for states to look inward and device innovative methods to boost internally generated revenue and wean themselves off the handouts from the federal government, since the current arrangement of depending on Abuja for survival is increasingly becoming unsustainable.

NOTES FOR FILE

Oyakhilome’s Hard Lessons

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

For one of Nigeria’s mega church preachers, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, charity failed to begin at home as a British media regulator, Ofcom, imposed sanctions against one of his channels, Loveworld News, a Television programme, for airing “unsubstantiated claims” linking 5G to the coronavirus pandemic and calling the pandemic a “global cover-up”.

The sermon questioned the need for lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus without providing context, according to the Ofcom investigation. Another report, Ofcom said, had during the broadcast, touted hydroxychloroquine as a cure for coronavirus, leaving out doubts about the efficacy of the drug and its potentially harmful side effects “However, given the unsubstantiated claims in both these programmes were not sufficiently put

into context, they risked undermining viewers’ trust in official health advice, with potentially serious consequences for public health,” Ofcom said.

Curiously, the Nigerian government had also debunked Oyakhilome’s claim that the government imposed movement restrictions in two states and Abuja was to allow the installation of the new generation wireless technology. But because his statement was not met with sanctions, he took it a notch up by airing it in a rather civilised and better run society and now with consequences.

There’s no doubting the fact that he deserved the sanction and more. Perhaps, it would serve as deterrent to others, who on the altar of the pulpit, propagate stark ignorance without recourse to the consequences of their actions. If only the sanction was stiffer, he truly deserved to learn in a hard way.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 24, 2020

CICERO/REPORT

In One Year, Abdulrazaq Carves Own Niche In a political space saturated with dishonest leadership, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has set out to be different, reports Hammed Shittu

I

t is stating the obvious that the ascension of office of the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq wasn’t for the asking. He had set out to be in the political equation of the state since 2007, 2011 and 2015, when he contested for various elective positions but could not make it.

His inability to win in any of the elections did not however stifle him but continued the struggle until the 2019 general election, when he contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and won.

Although his emergence as the APC candidate was not an easy task either as no fewer than 15 governorship aspirants jostled for the governorship ticket, Abdulrazaq would later emerge victorious in a keenly contested primary held at Savannah Hotel, along Ajase-Ipo road, Ilorin and became the governorship candidate of APC for the March 13, 2019 governorship election.

On May 29, 2019, Abdulrazaq and his running mate, Mr. Lekan Alabi, were sworn as the governor and deputy governor, respectively.

In his inauguration speech, Abdulrazaq pledged to be fair to all. It is on that premise that he put in place a formidable team that has been working with him to change the Kwara governance narrative.

He set the ball rolling with the health sector, injecting N232m to tackle malaria, maternal death, and malnutrition.

On January 19, 2019, Kwara recorded Africa’s first vaccinederived polio case, bringing back routine polio vaccination many years after.

His administration invested in counterpart funds so much that by December 2019, Kwara had received N8bn worth of vaccines, drugs, and technical support from the Ffederal government and development partners.

Equipped with state-of-the-art ICU facilities like defibrillators, patient monitors, ventilators, Kwara for the first time now has a five-ward air-conditioned isolation centre for infectious diseases.

The administration recently purchased five new militarygrade ambulances with the capacity to manage fragile patients on the go. Apart from training health workers, the administration was one of the first states in the country to pay medical workers mouth-watering allowances for managing COVID-19 patients.

The state’s oxygen plant was recently revived. Kwara, which used to buy oxygen for its hospitals, now sells oxygen to neighbouring states and private hospitals.

In addition, the era of medical workers lacking decent shelter to stay at the Specialist Hospital in Sobi is gone with the renovation of 15 units of 3-bedroom staff quarters at the hospital. The eye centre at the Civil Service Clinic has been revived with ultramodern facilities. Neglected since 2012, the College of Midwifery in Ilorin was revived and re-accredited.

Renovation is ongoing at the College of Nursing Oke Ode, while a 300-capacity ICT centre was built and equipped at the College of Health Technology Offa, with four blocks of three classrooms built along with a new access road. The school has since been re-accredited — thanks to the N40m Abdulrazaq released for the purpose.

Along with a free health insurance scheme launched for 10,000 indigent Kwarans, the government is renovating 37 primary health centres across the state, while 70 new medical personnel, including doctors were recruited to strengthen access to quality healthcare. It is worth mentioning that for the first time in history, Kwara is building a back-and-spine neurosurgery and neurology unit.

On water supply, the administration in the last 12 months, has fixed five waterworks and a few others are at various stages of repairs, and with this giant stride, clean potable water is back to Kwara households. Also, at least 402 boreholes were rehabilitated in the early days of the Abdulrazaq government, while 14 more have been dug in Baruten. The boreholes will complement the ongoing Yashikira waterwork.

It will be noted further that in 12 months, the governor successfully changed the Kwara narrative. From instant payment of relevant counterpart funds, which brought back development partners and took Kwara off UBEC blacklist, the state is now stabilised and repositioned for growth.

Kwara prides itself as an agrarian state and once constructed a large cargo shed to attract agro-processing investments. Yet, the farming hinterlands in Kaiama, Baruten, and elsewhere had no good roads connecting them to the market in the city. This is changing.

With one of the best arable lands around, the governor believes Kwara holds the ace in agriculture. He has not only paid N350m to enroll the state in the FADAMA III scheme, Kwara has also keyed into the National Livestock Transformation Plan, which is designed to ensure food security and end the perennial deadly clashes between herders and farmers.

The government is offering the right attitude to make the upcoming BUA sugar plantation in Lafiagi a reality.

Abdulrasaq Equipped with tractors, planters, and boom-sprayers recently repaired, the administration has recently flagged off the cropping season with a professional display of modern farming techniques to create awareness about mechanised farming in the state.

Before then, for the first time in years, the government established various nurseries, which raised 50,000 cocoa seedlings, 10,000 cashew seedlings, 200 citrus seedlings, 3,000 oil palm seedlings, 200 pawpaw seedlings, and 200 guava seedlings.

The Abdulrazaq administration is constructing a multipurpose Maigida Bani road, which connects farming communities in the north to those in the central district for easy access to the market.

The Gwanara road, famous for being the scene of unfortunate attacks on some politicians, is now receiving attention as the government, through anti-graft agencies got contractors back on site. Kwara had almost lost its RAAMP III slot to Bayelsa for failing to pay N200m counterpart funds but Governor Abdulrazaq took care of that.

Kwara houses Nigeria’s first museum in Esie. But what led to the historical site was what may be called a bush path.

That has changed under the AbdulRazaq administration.

At the moment, at least 68 townships, urban roads, and mini-bridges linking major communities have either been completed or undergoing construction.

Kwara had a few nice-sounding higher institutions. But it lacked basic facilities conducive for quality learning. This is evidenced in recent poor ratings of the state’s elementary education.

WAEC recently slapped N30.5m fine on several public schools over exam malpractice during the previous administration. Today, Abdulrazaq is rehabilitating 31 schools, while seven are undergoing overhauling. The schools are Oro Grammar School; Government Unity Secondary School, Kaiama; Government Secondary School Share; Patigi Secondary School; Government High School Ilorin; Ilorin Grammar School (awarded); and Government Secondary School Lafiagi. These renovations are expected to gulp N1.7bn.

Apart from paying the WAEC fine, the administration has begun gradual re-training of teachers, including sponsorship of their participation in the UNESCO programme.

Having taken Kwara off the UBEC blacklist, the administration began the long-drawn processes for accessing the over N7bn trapped in the commission. Indeed, the 2020 budget contains N2.3bn meant to access part of the funds, underscoring the passion of the administration for basic education.

Free exercise books were produced for schoolchildren even as exchange students are now being catered for.

Many classrooms at the school of special needs have been renovated, with teaching aids, special software and computers in addition to internet access made available to the children. More members of staff, including teachers, had been employed.

The administration has integrated the 26 teachers at the CoE Model Primary School, Ilorin into its payroll, ending

years of crisis at the school and paid their 30 months’ salary arrears. The state’s library complex was rehabilitated, a part of it equipped with e-learning facilities powered by 24-hour solar energy.

Teachers across the CoEs have returned to the classroom after the new administration paid their arrears totaling N700m. Like the school of midwifery, courses at the CoE (Technical) Lafiagi and College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, Ilorin, had through the efforts of the Abdulrazaq administration been re-accredited. Monthly subventions have been restored to the institutions following years of neglect.

For the first time, bursaries and scholarships were paid through transparent electronic windows to prevent fraud, which recently landed several officials in court. The inherited N19.5m salary arrears at the International Vocational, Technical and Entrepreneurship College (IVTEC) were also settled.

The Kwara State civil service is at its best in two decades.

The new administration has not only restored running costs across the MDAs, 27 new vehicles were purchased to aid the mobility of workers while modern computers were given to them. For the first time in decades, the civil servants escaped political victimisation.

The permanent secretaries inherited by the new government are gradually leaving the service in batches — a far cry from the tradition of the past.

All outstanding allowances to judicial officers, some dating back to 2014, were paid by the current administration. Its expansive waterlogged compound now paved with modern interlocking tiles. The administration has undertaken a complete remodeling of the ‘Centre Igboro’ Area Court in Ilorin – more than 30 years after it was abandoned.

For the first time since it was constructed during military rule, the Abdulrazaq administration has re-roofed the State High Court complex while the Sango Magistrate’s Court, gutted by fire over four years ago, was reconstructed. The 2020 budget, all things being equal, made provisions for the commencement of the construction of the Ministry of Justice’s building.

Apart from renovating the juvenile correctional home, the children reception centre and paying counterpart funds for the World Bank-funded community and social development projects (CSDP), the administration has launched its social investment programme (KWASIP), which targets the aged, the unemployed, petty traders, and little children.

AbdulRazaq is redefining governance in the state, giving hope to the disadvantaged, empowering local artisans, redistributing wealth, and calling global attention to Kwara with his bold enlistment of women in the decision-making process in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 – a practical way to inspire the girl-child to a new height.

His female cabinet pick is the highest ever on the African continent. With just one year gone in a four-year mandate, it is clear that the people of the state made the right choice and are better off sticking with a man, who walks the walk on restoring the glory of Kwara State and making the masses the centrepiece of his administration.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 24, 2020

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CICERO/ONTHEWATCH

APC holding its primaries in Edo during the last election

Mood Swings in Edo as Party Primaries Approach Adibe Emenyonu and Demola Ojo write on the state of the parties in Edo State as primaries ahead of the forthcoming governorship election, inch closer

E

arly last week, the national leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), released their guidelines for the governorship primary elections ahead of the September 19, 2020 elections in Edo and Ondo States.

Although there are other political parties that will feature candidates in the election, so far, only the two dominant parties – the PDP and the APC – have unveiled their guidelines, an indication that the battle at the end of the day is going to be a two-horse race.

For the APC, the primary election is slated for June 22, while the PDP fixed its own for June 23 and 24. Already, three aspirants had indicated their interest to become PDP’s standard-bearer.

They are Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, member, representing Oredo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives; Mr. Gideon Ikhine, an Engineer and former senior Staff of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Mr. Kenneth Imansuangbon, lawyer and proprietor of Abuja-based Pacesetters group of schools.

In the APC, there’s the incumbent governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; retired Army General, Charles Airhiavbere; former deputy governor and two-time member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Pius Odubu; former Secretary to State Government, Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu; and former Group Executive Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chris Ogiemwonyi.

From all indications, all the aspirants from the two political parties are no pushover, because of their individual pedigree. But one thing that is significant, which may derail the ambition of some of them is the zoning formula.

In the APC, for instance, while all the aspirants are from the south senatorial zone of the state, the PDP is different in the sense that amongst the three, one - Ogbeide-Ihama - is from the south, while the other two, Imansuangbon and Ikhine are from the central district.

Edo south commands a large chunk of the voting population

Obaseki

Obaseki

in the state, more than the two other zones of central and north put together, hence the permutation from the parties to field a candidate from the south.

This, no doubt, is not a foolproof plan, as those from the central are angling that the PDP should forgo the idea of bringing a candidate from the south, because according to them, the zone has had a fair share of the highest political office in the state right from the time of the late Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia till date.

Besides, they are of the view that the central senatorial district has always remained a PDP stronghold against all odds since the current political dispensation.

Against this backdrop, political elements from the central zone and like minds from other zones, are now calling on the party leadership to narrow the ticket to Imansuagbon as the candidate of the party, because of his outreach and his liberal political leanings.

In order to encourage this cause, the youth arm of the party said they had begun to contribute funds to purchase the nomination form for Imansuangbon. The youths from the three senatorial districts said the gesture was to appreciate and reciprocate Imansuangbon’s goodwill.

Addressing journalists in Benin City, Coordinator of the youth arm of PDP, Idemudia Clifford, said the project included some market women, artisans and professional bodies that have benefited from the school proprietor over the years, and have pledged to support the funding and campaign to ensure his emergence as the party’s candidate.

Idemudia explained that their support for Imansuangbon was because they knew he was the best person that could defeat the ruling APC and any other person the party wants to project as its candidate. “The time is now for Edo PDP to take over government through the ballot and the only person we the youths believe can lead the party to victory is Mr. Kenneth Imansuangbon.

“He is a household name in the state. He has been consistent in reaching out to the poor and the needy in the society. Our desire to raise the money for his nomination form is to show our gratitude and to tell him we are truly behind him.

“Many people across the state have called in to pledge their support. And those calling are actual voters willing to put their

Ize-Iyamu

Odubu

money to support his aspiration.”

In APC, first, there is no love lost between the governor and most party leaders in the state, mostly because of the governor’s protracted war with his benefactor and national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole. Secondly is the array of aspirants, who want to unseat him because of this inability to marry governance and party politics at the same time. But many of Obaseki’s supporters have said it was either him or no other candidate. In an interview with THISDAY, Matthew Iduoriyekevwen said those fighting the governor were doing so, because of personal grudges and nothing else. He however contended that, because Obaseki had performed creditably well, he deserved a second term.

Also, the immediate past national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has thrown his weight behind the governor, saying President Muhammadu Buhari has firmly endorsed the agreement reached to settle the disruptive leadership crisis at the national level that was threatening the very existence of APC. “The relevant part of the agreement was that both governors of Edo and Ondo have performed creditably and should be returned unless they do not so wish.”

Oyegun added that consensus should be built behind the incumbent governor of Edo State, because one, he has not offended any aspect of the APC constitution nor has he in any way brought the party to disrepute, adding that Obaseki has performed in an exemplary manner among others.

But those against Obaseki did not buy Oyegun’s sermons.

For instance, Washington Osifo, member-elect for Uhumwonde state constituency, who is among the 14 members of the House yet to be inaugurated, said Oyegun should not bring in the name of President Buhari in his support for Obaseki, because in the first place, the president never made such allusion or comment.

He said Buhari was a democrat, who had always told party leaders to subject themselves to party supremacy and constitution as the best way to go, adding that someone who preaches such message in the open could not turn around to say otherwise either covertly or overtly.

(See the concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

Imasuagbon

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 24, 2020

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CICERO/REPORT

Rumble in the NDIC The recent nomination of Diana Okonta as a non-Executive Director at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation amidst suspicion that the outgoing Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Umaru Ibrahim, was plotting a comeback after 31 years in service, is breeding intense resentment in the agency, writes Shola Oyeyipo

I

f there is any allegation of leadership indiscretion that the current government of President Muhammadu Buhari is still unable to explain away, it is the intentional lopsidedness in the choice of appointments at various levels.

While groups such as the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN); the umbrella body for the Ibo, Ohaneze Indigbo, pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) and a host of others had ceaselessly lamented the insensitivity of the Buhari leadership to the federal character principles, many concerned individuals also aired their views on the matter.

One of such persons was an Abuja-based lawyer, Dim-Udebuani Marcel, who as far back as 2015, accused President Buhari of favouring a section of the country against others in the appointments he made back then.

But even as this trend has not abated, there is a swirling discontent in the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), an independent agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) set up to protect depositors and guarantee the settlement of insured funds, when a deposit-taking financial institution can no longer repay their deposits, thereby helping to maintain financial system stability.

Sources in and outside the agency are hinting at a scheme by the outgoing Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the NDIC, Umaru Ibrahim, to perpetrate himself in the affairs of the agency.

The point being made is that despite the fact that the Karaye, Kano State born Ibrahim is due for retirement later this year (2020), he is already advancing his ambition to return to the NDIC Board after spending over 31 years in the Corporation.

“He has been busy hobnobbing from one government office to the other to perfect his plans to mutate in the organisation and he discusses it at will, boasting about his ‘connections,” the source said.

There is no doubting the fact that Ibrahim, who holds a Bachelor’s degree (1974) and Master in Public Administration (1977) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, worked in the Kano State public service for 10 years, rose to the position of Permanent Secretary NDIC’s Ibrahim and joined NDIC in 1989 as a Deputy Director in charge of Finance and Technical Supports, Centre for Banking and Financial Services, Manchester possesses the requisite qualification, but the concern is University. that the agency is fast becoming his fiefdom and he, an Others were Royal Institute of Public Administration, institution.

London; International Institute for Management DevelWhen he joined the NDIC in May 1989 as a Deputy opment (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland; INSEAD France, Director and a Departmental Head in charge of Financial ROSS School of Business, University of Michigan USA, and Technical Support, which was one of the key operaUniversity of Cranfield UK and the highly prestigious tional departments of the corporation then, he rose to the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. position of a full Director in charge of the Administration After completing his first five-year tenure, President Department of the Corporation in 1991. Between 1992 Buhari, in January 2016, asked him to stay back and and 2007, he headed several other departments amongst continue managing the corporation in acting capacity. He which were the Human Resource and Corporate Devellater asked the Senate to confirm the reappointment as the opment Departments.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NDIC Between September 1995 and September 1996, he was in a letter to former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. appointed Executive Director (Finance and AdministraSaraki quoted the president as saying the reappointtion) in the defunct First African Trust Bank and in Aument of Mr. Ibrahim was in accordance with Section 5 gust 2007, and later appointed as the Executive Director Subsection 4 and Section 8 Subsection 3 of the NDIC Act. of the Corporation in charge of Corporate Services, where But the suspicion that Ibrahim was up to something his responsibilities included General Administration, was aroused by the two persons nominated by President Human Resource Management, Information Technology Buhari as NDIC non-Executive Directors recently, in and Finance functions. persons of Diana Okonta and Ya’ana Yaro, who represent In December 2009, he was appointed the Acting ManSouth-south and North-east geo-political zones of the aging Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Corporacountry respectively. tion following the expiration of the term of the erstwhile The most curious nomination between the two, howMD/CEO. He was appointed Managing Director/Chief ever, is that of Diana Okonta, who retired in December Executive Officer on December 8, 2010.

2019 as Finance Director from the same Corporation.

Clearly, Ibrahim parades a well-off and enviable THISDAY source hinted that, “We were reliably technical and management expertise obtained at courses informed that she was allegedly nominated by the attended in some prestigious institutions both at the naManaging Director, Umaru Ibrahim, to replace the slot tional and international levels, chief among which were from the South-south, owing to the vacancy created by the ESSEC Graduate Business School, France; Templeton the appointment of Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) as the College of Oxford University, UK and International Minister of State for Labour and Productivity.”

To many in the agency, the employment of Okonta, who joined NDIC from Leventis as Manager, was fraught with irregularities, even from the onset. She was a Principal Manager at the Insurance Surveillance Department of NDIC as at 2009 and was curiously promoted three times over a period of five years against the usual practice of four years on each level, to become Director of Finance in 2012, over and above her superiors such as Mr. Ayoola Abiola, Mr. Abiodun Longe and Mr. Peter Ngadda.

There were some others she jumped over without any justification and these actions never went down well with the affected persons.

But without giving a hoot about whose ox was gored, Okonta served as Director of Finance for seven years and retired as recently as December 2019. Alas, less than six months after her retirement, she was nominated as Non-Executive Director to fill the slot of the South-South Geo-political zone. This is despite the fact that she had received her full benefits upon retirement.

During her active days in NDIC, the widespread perception was that Okonta is the Managing Director Ibrahim’s ‘stooge’ and is allegedly planted to undermine the current board, which is widely perceived as prudent and business-focused.

Irrespective of whatever good intentions the duo of Ibrahim and Okonta may claim they have for NDIC, perpetuating themselves in the agency for a lifetime is an ominous sign.

Whatever has a beginning is sculpted ab initio to have an end too. This is why President Buhari, who though might have acted out of good intentions, must revisit the issues and conditions for posterity.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž Y 24, 2020

PERSPECTIVE Corona Virus,The People and Good Governance in Rivers State Vincent Chukwu

T

he world was suddenly woken up by the emergence of a pandemic that has troubled world leaders, beyond politics, religion and almost tending to assault the capacity of medicine and science. Covid-19, as corona virus has presently been code-named continues to ravage the entire globe, with hundreds of thousands of death and several cases that are still tasking the medical profession and national resources.

The undeniably dangerous toll of the virus on the life and economy of Nigeria can be understood from several deaths and sudden drain on our resources which continue to re-order the priorities and preferences of government at all levels. The federating segments have gone ahead to set up measures all aimed at containing the virus as well as saving the lives and property of the people. For example, the terrific speed at which the pandemic raged in Lagos, Ogun state and Abuja necessitated a total lock-down order by the Federal government, to prevent further spread while the curative capacity of government was being enhanced in these areas.

However, try as the governments at the states and centre could, the virus transcended the boundaries with an unprecedented ravage in,at present, thirty four states of the federation.

It was this tendency to destroy the very fabric of our existence that prompted concerted and collective efforts by various governments, whose leaders had sworn to be vanguards of any sane society, to take what I consider to be very proactive steps, beyond any political colouration. These measures include sensitisation, mobilisation, prevention, curing as well as providing palliatives for the less privileged and vulnerable, to cushion the effect of business closures and lock down.

In Rivers State, for example, the government issued clear-cut guidelines and Executive Orders to ensure that citizens were protected against the virus. These orders that were not exclusive to Rivers State, are in tandem with similar guidelines emanating from the federal and other state governments with the resolve to comprehensively defeat the common enemy. And with the speedthat is synonymous with the Wike administration, the state government took the following steps in the collective interest of the state and in the overarching determination to engender good governance: First, was a grass roots parlance with the Traditional rulers who are the closest to the grass roots, as a way of informing the people that corona virus is deadly and needed to be avoided by simply adhering to the rules put in place. The rules of face mask, social distancing, washing of hands and the use of sanitisers. Also,the government issued an order banning all hotels, guest houses and beer parlours, including markets, churches and mosques from operating. We have heard that community infections could be more disastrous if no measures were taken to stem the spread of the virus. The traditional rulers who acknowledged the usual proactive tendency of the Governor described the interactive as timely and promised to relay the essence of the message to their various domains, where they hold sway.

Secondly, and within the confines of the law, Governor Wike set up some strategic committees to monitor compliance and streamline the measures put in place. So far, there are committees on the prevention of illegal movements across the boarders, opening of markets and business places such as hotels and other similar outfits and facilities within the state. There is also another committee for the distribution of palliatives to the down-trodden and vulnerable. Because these guidelines and Executive Orders were issued with attendant punitive measures, those violated any section, were summarily dealt with and any case where exigencies were obvious, a truce was easily procured. In the case of some oil company operatives who flew into Port Harcourt at the heat of the pandemic, reason was applied when their cases were adequately addressed. A very vigilant approach has also led the discovery of truck loads of agricultural products carrying human cargo, which counter to the rules of the period.

Thirdly, as part of the measures to alleviate the suffering encountered by the people, the Desmond Akawo-led palliatives committee is going round the state reaching out to the masses whose conditions require their staying at home. This particular effort is yielding positive results as various opinion leaders from the grassroot have continued to pour encomium on the government of Nyesom Wike for his tireless efforts to bring good governance to the people.

However, it was not envisaged that the process of fighting corona virus will be seamless. It was not planned that none of the proposals could meet with the opposition, howbeit unrealistic. Along the line, it was discovered that Prodest Hotel in Alode Eleme was operating in total violation of the extant order in Rivers State. Eleme, for the purpose of a reminder is home to several oil and gas activities. There is also a major ocean terminal located within the zone. In other words, the uncontrolled spread of the virus in that area is an instant call to calamity. This is an environment where the people were expected to apply maximum caution and security to avert danger from corona virus.

It is obvious that the contravention of the preventive orders of the state government by any individual or corporate body is capable of attracting punishment, no matter who and what were involved. It is on record that Prodest Hotel was visited by the monitoring committee which found out that the hotel

Wike was in full operation, in total violation of the order of state. It is also on record that these operatives were brutally attacked which has led to the death of one of the men. In keeping with his determination to enforce the order of state at this period, which has been described by well meaning Nigerians as perilous as in a war, Prodest Hotel in Alode Eleme was demolished. The demolition which was supervised by the state apparatus led by the Governor is now seemingly turning out to be the crux of the matter in the fight against corona virus in Rivers State.

However, the current resonance of media surfeit over the demolition, is completely unacceptable, unnecessary and irrelevant. It would appear that the untutored flaks drawn by the likes of a common irredentist like Raph Uwazurike and other face book critics are bereft of the knowledge of the processes of the current war against corona virus and even the history of demolition in the state.

These days, journalism is fighting the venality that has tried to kill the truth that lies behind the profession. The unreasonable hiatus created by some writer and lacks history. The previous administration demolished the former Olympic hotel, Abonnema wharf, and put them up for grabs by cronies who later positioned themselves for the governance of the state. These proposals have fallen through because they are ill-motivated. It is more worrisome that some senior citizens of the state, including two former senators who had previously applauded Governor Wike for his pragmatic decisions in fighting the pandemic would turn around to condemn the same act of demolition which was right in a previous dispensation. I think that this unbridled shenanigan is riddled with double standards and repugnant hypocrisy.

Let us not forget that the property at Eleme was in operation during the period of a total lock-down when the state had declared all forms of operation illegal, with definite consequences for violations. Maybe, Governor Wike would have been termed a toothless Bull dog, had he turned the other way while a section of the state was vile and malfeasant. But the imperatives of good governance entails, amongst other things that are a chief Executive must stand on his words, not just for the provision of amenities for the populace but also for the exert punishment on offenders. Some commentators have suggested a forfeiture of the property as a solution, without adding that forfeiture is tantamount to total ceding to another ownership which permits the current owner to sell, rebuild or even demolish as he deems fit.

In the midst of the arguments, Mr Princewill Osaroejiji has spoken from his hide-out to say that he is not the owner of

the Hotel in question while at the same time defending the management. According to him, the monitoring team had demanded a certain sum for the hotel to be allowed to operate.

The refusal of this request must have prompted the decision to demolish the property. He had also fingered the current Commissioner of finance Mr Isaac Kamalu who also hails from his place as having masterminded the entire set-up. One tends to be curious with Osaroejiji’s alibi as he ferociously defends a hotel whose owner he doesn’t know. The other issues that relate to cultism, gun running and criminal allegations may be resolved in juxtaposition with the current statement credited to the Traditional ruler of Eleme, stating inter alia that the entire Eleme Kingdom is in support of the actions taken so far by the state government to fight corona virus.

It would interest a careful observer that the act of demolition by any government is not novel and they have been found to fall within the legal exigencies of the time. The Kaduna state government has demolished some structures that constituted an obstruction in the way of successful war against the pandemic. In Lagos state, Governor Sanwo Olu, after several warnings against messing up the indelible marks the state government was making, undertook the demolition of buildings in the state.

The African Independent Television, had reported that the Bayelsa state government also brought down several structures that provided shelter for residents. Can Rivers State be excluded from the gamut of the war against covid-19 without public affairs analysts blossoming their credentials on the efficacy of calling out Governor Wike for pillory?

The merit of the imbroglio arising from Prodest Hotel is that nobody should wait until a law is violated before offering professional advice. Rather, the people who are likely to be victims should be able to get their consciousness adequately enlightened to remain in legitimacy rather than assume any special preference along the line. Princewill Osaroejiji may have assumed that his membership of the People Democratic Party was enough shelter for unpardonable infraction. But the action of the state government which was approved by the state security council has proved otherwise.

Good governance, as a matter of fact, must be anchored on forthrightness, capacity to deliver on promises as well as the will to stand by now inevitable process, no matter whose ox is gored. And those who the actions of government do not favour may approach the judiciary a proper interpretation and learning. But certainly, power cannot lie fallow.

Vincent Chukwu, writes from Port Harcourt,Themandate2007@yahoo.co.uk.

SUNDAY MAY 24, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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Sunday May 24, 2020

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UT H

& RE A S O

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Price: N400

MISSILE

Okutepa on Kogi Governorship Election Tribunal Judgement “Even the blind and the deaf were aware of what happened during the Kogi governorship election.”

– Counsel to Peoples Democratic Party at the Kogi State Governorship Election Tribunal, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) reacting to the tribunal’s judgement which upheld Yahaya Bello’s election as governor.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

COVID-19 Guide for Dummies

H

ave you heard any of these statements before? They did not even give me any medication yet they said I had COVID-19. What they treated me for was malaria.

Patients at isolation centres in Nigeria are eating, drinking and dancing while patients in other countries are on ventilators. If indeed there is coronavirus disease in Nigeria, how come the death toll is so low? As soon as they say they have discharged 20 patients, they announce 20 new cases. Is this not a ploy by government officials to steal money? And so on. Today, I will tease out some easy-to-use facts and information for those who genuinely want to know about COVID-19. Politicians and cynics can look away now.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. Coronaviruses are identical children of the same father. They have “crowns” covering them. (“Corona” is the Latin word for “crown”.) SARS-CoV, one of the siblings, was responsible for the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that broke out in 2002 in China. It spread to 26 countries, infected some 8,000 people and killed 770. The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) started in Saudi Arabia in June 2012 and killed 912 of the 2,494 confirmed cases. SARS-CoV-2, the latest addition to the family, is the one that has unleashed COVID-19 on the world. In all, there are seven known siblings in the family.

We are here to talk about SARS-CoV-2, the youngest coronavirus. COVID-19, the disease it causes, has so far infected more than 5.3 million humans and killed over 340,000. A virus is not considered a living organism: it is typically not a cell (the simplest unit of life that reproduces itself and multiplies independently of other cells). But the coronavirus can get a “life” if it can enter the human body, hijack a cell, attach itself to the cell, steal its ingredients, imitate the genetic language and begin to multiply in billions. Imagine that a kite does not have an engine but when you fling it into the wind, it imitates an aircraft and starts soaring. That is how the virus behaves in our cells.

How do humans catch the coronavirus?

Allow the virus particles enter your mouth, eyes or nose and it will do the rest of the job.

That is why doctors keep warning us not to touch our faces with unwashed hands. You can catch the virus by touching infected objects or surfaces and then touching your face. You are also at risk if you come in contact with droplets (saliva, mucus) from an infected person when they talk, shout, cough, sneeze or spit. That is why you need a face mask and physical distancing. People effortlessly catch the virus in crowded, enclosed spaces such as public transport, aircraft, gyms, worship centres and offices. Infected droplets are easily spread in crowded spaces.

Now this is the good news. If your immune system — that is, the police officers that fight diseases and strangers in your body — is very strong, the coronavirus will be a big-time loser.

It will be arrested on arrival. It will not be able to multiply in your body. You know, the armed robber has been nabbed by the police officers right at your gate. But if you are tested and you are positive, you may have to go into isolation for observation and also to protect other people from being infected. But, like HIV, you can transmit COVID-19 without showing symptoms. This seems to confuse those who think they must be coughing and rolling on the ground before they can infect others.

Someone says: “I was told I tested positive

Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire for COVID-19 and I was placed in isolation.

The doctors did not give me any medication throughout. They tested me again after some time and said I am now negative and I can go home. Scammers!” I would advise you to praise the Lord rather than moan and start propounding conspiracy theories. I said it already: it means your immunity was strong enough to fight off the virus. You tested positive because you were infected. They did not give you any medication because you did not have any symptoms and did not need any treatment. They told you to go home because after another test, the virus is no longer “active” in your system.

One weird fact is that some will have the virus and never know — because they didn’t have any symptoms. Also, some will have cough which they will treat with the regular syrup. They may never know they once had COVID-19! In both cases, only an antibody test can confirm that the coronavirus visited them once upon a time. And so, you ask: “If the coronavirus could be this harmless, why the mass hysteria?” Well, it kills those whose immune systems are already compromised by other pre-existing diseases. And, really, if you don’t know you have a serious ailment, such as the coronary heart disease, why risk your life?

Why not shame the devil by keeping safe?

Let’s be clear: there is no cure for COVID-19 yet. Only the symptoms caused by the virus are treated. According to WHO, the most common symptoms are: fever, dry cough and tiredness.

The serious ones are: difficulty breathing, chest pain and loss of speech/movement. The less common: aches, pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste/smell, skin rash, or discolouration of fingers/toes.

The virus is NOT a disease. Because it weakens your immunity, what doctors treat are the symptoms. For instance, you may have malaria parasites hiding somewhere in your suppressed system. Malaria may show up. Doctors will treat the malaria. It’s not COVID-19.

However, it will be disingenuous of you to say paracetamol is the cure for COVID-19 because it cured your fever, or chloroquine is the answer because it cured your malaria, or antibiotic drugs are the solution because they cured your sore throat. This goes for all the other claims that garlic, lime, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and the rest are the cure for COVID-19. What they do is boost your immunity or attack a particular ailment that COVID-19 has allowed to manifest in your body. They are not cures in themselves. A friend said recently that because a patient who has breathing problems is placed

on oxygen and he recovers does not mean oxygen is the cure for COVID-19. That’s a perfect example.

Nevertheless, there is a psychological value in taking lime, garlic and all that stuff if you are infected. Doctors call them “placebos”.

They may be equal to drinking just water, but it makes you believe you are applying some treatment and your mind is telling you the treatment is working. More so, these things may have medicinal value and help take care of mild to moderate symptoms. Like if you have common cold, they tell you to eat pepper soup and use one medicine or the other. What you get is relief, not cure. There is a joke about catching the cold virus: if you use medication, the illness will last for seven days; if you don’t use anything, it will last for one week. It must run its course!

How does COVID-19 kill people? When the armed robbers came calling, the police officers were overpowered or too weak to defend your house. That is, if you have any serious ailment, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart problems, kidney issues, severe asthma, and severe high blood pressure, your body’s immune system can be overpowered by the virus. The police officers will become helpless. Since the virus takes over the cells, this weakens your immunity. You may require intensive care as the virus attacks your lungs.

You may need a ventilator. It is people in this category that usually die. While COVID-19 can infect any age, the old and the sick are the worst-hit.

Why are there not many COVID-19 deaths in Nigeria compared to several other countries?

One Nigerian-born “nurse” in the US recently submitted her own contribution to the conspiracy theory by saying there is no coronavirus in Nigeria because many people are not dying.

Her argument is that more people should die.

Actually, based on the state of the health sector in Nigeria (and Africa), some people projected that there would be millions of death. But take away North Africa and the fatality is relatively low. No African country is burying hundreds per day. Nonetheless, I would rather ask scientists to help us find out why instead of relying on some random WhatsApp nurse.

My hunch is that our bodies are more battleready in Africa. We may underrate our diets but they are rich in nutrients that build the immunity. Also, our exposure to epidemics, malaria and a plethora of immunisation probably prepared our bodies better to confront the virus. But for some resilience, the fatal cases might have been overwhelming for us. Scientists should also help us find out. They should also help us understand if Africa’s temperature and humidity might have had an impact in slowing the virus. Various experiments have demonstrated that the virus survives for a particular length of time under certain temperatures and humidity. Over to you, dear researchers.

Will we ever find a cure? Unlike HIV, the coronavirus is probably no longer harmful after an infection. Research is still on. If this is confirmed, it means your body develops the antibodies and you cannot be infected again. Vaccines are also in the works to help our bodies fight the virus. Let us hope that sooner than later, the vaccines and drugs will be available. While we wait, please keep safe: boost your immunity, observe personal hygiene and use a face mask. Please note that the face mask is to cover your nose and mouth at the same time so that you won’t inhale (or spread) virus particles. The mask is not for your mouth alone. It is not for your chin or neck. It is NOT a bandana!

And Four Other Things…

COORDINATION CHAOS Any keen observer of Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria must have realised a major missing link: central coordination. Most states are doing what they like. Some governors are even exercising powers that they don’t have, such as closing state borders. Some will close worship centres today and re-open them tomorrow. It is so haphazard. Someone said it is “true federalism” at work and I think this is ridiculous. An epidemic of this proportion is a national emergency. President Buhari should have declared it so from day one in order to take full charge, adopt a common strategy and prevent this chaos. It is within his constitutional powers. Baffling.

POWER DRUNK We’ve had erratic ministers in this country, but Sale Mamman, the minister of power, is heading for the zenith at the speed of light. On Tuesday, he sacked Usman Mohammed as the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). In December, he fired Marilyn Amobi, as MD of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Limited (NBET). He also ordered the indefinite suspension of Damilola Ogunbiyi, now former MD of Rural Electrification Agency (REA). Both were later reversed. Could it be that the man does not know the meaning of his title, “minister of power”? Honourable Minister, it means “electricity” — not “might” or “bully”.

Shocking.

NIGERIEN SOLDIERS Did you hear what Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto east) said on the floor of the senate on Tuesday? In case you missed it, Gobir said soldiers from Niger Republic moved in to Sokoto state to fight bandits after the Nigerian military abandoned the place. “The situation in Sokoto east as far as armed banditry is concerned is pathetic and tragic because it is only the Nigerien army that has been coming to their rescue while the Nigerian army looks the other way round,” he alleged. I have been waiting for the military authorities to deny this massive indictment but, so far, there has been none, to the best of our knowledge. Should we start getting more worried than we are already?

Terrifying.

LINGUA FRANCA My attention has been drawn to my inaccurate claim, last week, that in the entire north, Kwara and Kogi are the only states where Hausa is not the language of doing business, otherwise known as lingua franca. Pardon me for the slip: Benue state is also an exception. Thanks to my colleague and editor of The Nation, Adeniyi Adesina, who was the first to draw my attention to the error early Sunday morning. He did his national youth service in the old Benue state. I also need to make clear that in Adamawa state, Fulfude — the Fulani language — is the lingua franca, along with Hausa. In Borno, as well, both Kanuri and Hausa are widely spoken side by side.

Clarified.

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