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NNPC, Partners Seal Deal on Disputed OML 130, Unlock $510m Gas Revenue Peter Uzoho The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said it had reached an agreement with its partners, China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) and South Atlantic

Petroleum (SAPETROL), to settle all outstanding issues surrounding the development of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130. The corporation stated that the move was part of efforts to meet the target of three million barrels of crude oil output per day and unlock

gas revenues to the tune of about $225 million in the short term, and $510 million in the long run.

Speaking at the signing of the Head of Terms (HoT) agreement with the partners at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, Group Managing Director of

NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, said the deal was in line with the corporation’s PSC Dispute Resolution and Renewal Strategy of 2017. Kyari said with the arrangement, an out of court settlement of all disputes around the 1993 Production Sharing Contracts

(PSC) and agreement on terms for their renewal had now been sealed.

A press release by NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, explained that the dispute had arisen from recognition of certain

“cost and discordant” interpretation of the fiscal terms of the PSC by NNPC and the contracting parties.

Kyari stated, “With the resolution and signing of the Head of Terms (HoT) Continued on page 5

N'Assembly: CAMA Will Ensure Corporate Accountability, Ease of Doing Business…Page 56 Sunday 9 August, 2020 Vol 25. No 9253

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Ize-Iyamu a Suspect, Not Convict, Presidency Tells PDP Challenges opposition to withdraw nomination to Bauchi and Adamawa govs, others who were on trial when they contested Omololu Ogunmade and Chuks Okocha in Abuja The presidency, yesterday, described the Edo State

governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Pastor Osagie IzeIyamu, as a mere suspect in a corruption case who was never

convicted. The clarification was made in reaction to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which condemned the endorsement of Ize-Iyamu

by President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, saying he is standing trial for alleged looting of N700 million..

The presidency, however,

maintained that though Buhari saw corruption in his government as well as the previous administrations, he remained steadfast in his

determination to fight sleaze.

But PDP said it was a somersault for a government Continued on page 5

In Show of Strength, APC Kicks Off Edo’s Campaign 11 Govs, deputy senate president, ministers, others in Benin for Ize-Iyamu Oba Ewuare II commends Buhari, maintains neutrality PDP vows to retain Edo as Shaibu, Oshiomhole trade tackles

Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

In an apparent show of strength, sculpted to intimidate the opposition, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, paraded the crème of its members, both in government and in the party to kick off the governorship campaign of its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu in Benin, the Edo State capital.

The list of top APC stalwarts, who graced the campaign kick-off was staggering, including but not limited to no fewer than 11 governors, Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, members of the national and state assemblies

as well as ministers amongst other.

Impressed by the presence of the August visitors in the ancient city was the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, who commended President Muhammadu Buhari for supporting the candidate of his party a day earlier, but was quick to reiterate the palace’s neutrality to politics.

This, notwithstanding, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has refused to be cowered by the mammoth turnout of APC supporters at the party’s campaign kick-off, saying it was determined to retain the state during the September 19 election.

Continued on page 5

SEEKING OBA'S BLESSING FOR IZE-IYAMU...

L-R: Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru el-rufai; former National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole and APC Governorship Candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu at the Oba Of Benin Palace during the flag off of APC governorship campaign rally in Benin City...yesterday

Kashamu Dies of COVID-19, He Escaped Justice but Couldn’t Evade Death , Says Obasanjo...Page 10

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PAGE FIVE IZE-IYAMU A SUSPECT, NOT CONVICT, PRESIDENCY TELLS PDP claiming

to be fighting corruption to turn around to endorse a corruption suspect.

The party said defence of IzeIyamu, was an admission of the graft charges.

Presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement, said PDP had no moral right to puncture the anti-graft war of Buhari's administration. Shehu said PDP was serious with its claim, it should first withdraw the nominations of some of its serving governors and senators, who were standing trial for corruption and yet secured their party's tickets that brought them to power.

Shehu chronicled corruption allegations against two PDP governors and the statuses of their trials in the courts.

He challenged the party to withdraw their nominations before condemning the endorsement of Ize-Iyamu or keep quiet.

He stated, “Let PDP first withdraw the governorship nominations it gave to Ahmadu Fintiri and Bala Mohammed of Adamawa and Bauchi states, respectively, before it opens its mouth and talk on the efforts of this administration in fighting corruption. Or, it should shut its mouth forever and leave us to do what it dares not attempt.

“Both PDP governors were actually on bail from criminal

trial on several counts of fraud and embezzlement.

“Justice A. R. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, July 1, 2016 granted bail to the former acting governor of Adamawa State, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri. He was charged on June 30, 2016 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alongside his company, Mayim Construction and Properties Limited on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N2.9 billion.

“In the case of Bala Mohammed, the PDP governor of Bauchi State, the EFCC, on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, arraigned the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, before Justice A. M. Talba of the Federal Capital Territory, High Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja, on a six-count charge bordering on abuse of office, false declaration of assets and fraud to the tune of N864 million.

“Bala, while in office as minister, allegedly received N550 million as bribe from Aso Savings and Loans Limited with respect to some properties in the Asokoro area of Abuja. He is said to have corruptly abused his position as Board Chairman of Aso Savings by allocating four numbers fully detached duplexes and 11 numbers semi-detached duplexes valued at N314 million through the

Presidential Taskforce on Sale of Government Houses, to himself.

“The former minister is also accused of making false declaration of his assets.”

Shehu said Ize-Iyamu was only standing trial for corruption along with some current leaders of the PDP in Edo State. He said as long as the APC candidate had not been convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction on any of the charges, he remained a mere suspect.

The presidential spokesman stressed that if PDP believed IzeIyamu was guilty as charged, it should lead by example by first withdrawing the nominations of its elected representatives, including senators standing trial for corruption.

Shehu stated, "Pastor IzeIyamu is being prosecuted by the EFCC alongside Lucky Imasuen, former deputy governor of Edo State, Chief Dan Orbih, PDP Chairman in Edo State, and other leaders of the party in the state, Tony Aziegbemi and Efe Erimuoghae.

“Under the country‘s laws, only the courts can convict. A suspect remains a suspect until conviction. But, if in the view of the PDP, a suspect is guilty as charged, then they must show examples by withdrawing the nomination of their governors and the party’s numerous senators and other legislators

standing trial in various courts of the country.”

He alleged that PDP had destroyed the economy for 16 years and had no moral right to criticise the current government of Buhari.

Shehu said regarding PDP, "A party which, 16 years in office destroyed the country’s economy and infrastructure has no moral authority to criticise the accelerated infrastructure development drive, largely drawing its energy from the Buhari anti-corruption campaign.

"A government that sees corruption in the past administration and sees corruption in its own administration, and fights it with equal gusto, cannot be placed on the same scale with those who, by their words and deeds said corruption is a way of life and Nigerians should learn to live with it."

He added that the clean-up exercise of the current government would accelerate the on-going trials and investigations, adding that the government would not be distracted from its anticorruption effort.

Shehu believed, "This cleanup drive by the President Buhari administration will only speed up with the ongoing investigations and trials.

The current administration’s

cleansing exercise of the government, politics and economy in line with the zero tolerance for corruption, will not be distracted.”

But PDP insisted that the presidency's response to the corruption charges against Ize-Iyamu was admitting that the APC candidate was corrupt as alleged. It said the response also reinforced allegations by the sacked national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, that the APC candidate was a person of questionable character, who was unfit to hold office as governor of Edo State.

National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the presidency’s defence and endorsement of a person it was prosecuting for corruption had confirmed that it was not fighting corruption, contrary to its promises, but had become a safe haven for corrupt persons.

Criticising the presidency for referring to unrelated cases and struggling to justify its widely condemned endorsement of an individual it was prosecuting for corruption, PDP stated, "By its response, the Buhari Presidency has turned itself into a defender of corruption and advocate for persons charged for corrupt acts in our country.

"Yet, this is the presidency that claimed to have zero tolerance for corruption; pretended that it cannot eat

with corrupt people with the longest of spoons, only to be found struggling to justify why it is swimming in an ocean of corruption.”

Beyond the case in court, PDP stressed, "This is an individual that APC’s former national chairman had openly described as a thief, treasury looter, acid bather and who, according to Oshiomhole, is only fit for ‘night meetings’ and not for the position of the governor of Edo state."

PDP said such stance by the Buhari presidency was an assault on the sensibilities of the people of Edo State, who had openly registered their rejection of Ize-Iyamu.

"Our party notes the absence of President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other top officials of the APC administration at Ize-Iyamu's campaign flag off, apparently, to dissociate themselves and the government from his baggage of corruption allegation,” Ologbondiyan stated. "This last minute stunt has exposed the pretence of Buhari Presidency towards the fight against corruption and further exposed Ize-Iyamu as described by Oshiomhole.”

PDP claimed the people of Edo State had already made up their minds to re-elect Governor Godwin Obaseki, come September 19.

we were here; you voted for APC and we have no doubt in our minds you are going to vote for APC and return our mandate back in Edo State," he said He, however, admonished party supporters to eschew violence throughout the campaign processes and in the election proper because history is already assured.

"We are here to win and not to fight. But we must ensure that every vote counts. With these few remarks, let me use this opportunity to present to you our in-coming governor of Edo State, Pastor Ize-Iyamu," Buni declared.

Receiving the party flag, the Edo APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu thanked all the leaders of the party including those who could not grace the occasion for making the rally a fruitful one "My job is just to thank all our National leaders for coming to identify with us. With the people (crowd) we are seeing today will anybody say we are in opposition? Can anybody say we will be intimidated?

Who will win the election, APC! “I want to assure them that in this election, we will not only win; we will win the 18 local governments. Let me assure you that never again will we have a governor that is ungrateful. We will have a governor that will respect Edo people, a governor that you can access, a governor that can empower our people and by the grace of God, I will do it.

"You know people ask me why did you come back to the APC and sing this song, there is something that makes me come into your presence, APC,” he sang.

Ize-Iyamu promised that from next week, the party

would begin to move from local government to local government while encouraging party loyalists to go back to their units with the code-name “Operation Win”.

On his part, Oshiomhole, commended the APC governors for devoting time to attend the rally. He accused Governor Godwin Obaseki of describing Edo youths as miscreants, when his duty as a governor is to build the capacity of the youths and empower them.

He also accused the governor of closing down educational institutions in the state viz College of Education, Ekiadolor; State School of Nursing, College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi and failing to build Tayo Akpata University of Education after the State House of Assembly had passed the Bill into law.

Oshiomhole, who repeatedly slammed Obaseki for deceiving the Vice President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbajo to perform groundbreaking of an Industrial Park in the state, which is now overgrown with weeds, also accused him (Obaseki) of privatising the Specialist Hospital his (Oshiomhole's) Administration built to a non Edo Consultant.

Meanwhile, the palace of the Oba of Benin, Omo N' Oba N'Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare N'Ogidgan II, while thanking President Buhari for endorsing Osagie Ize-Iyamu, insisting that the Benin Palace remained neutral in the politics of the state.

The highly revered Oba stated this when he received the APC candidate and the governors elected on the platform of the party, who visited him in his Palace in Benin City, during the campaign kick-off.

Oba Ewuare, who along

with his Palace chiefs, prayed and gave Ize-Iyamu the traditional blessing, said even though he was elated over the endorsement of the APC candidate by the President, he explained that the Palace of the Oba of Benin does not get involved in partisan politics.

He strongly advised that in order to avoid recurrent sociopolitical conflict that seems to regularly ravish the state, making the state a laughing stock to the rest of the country on how politicians manage their affairs, Edo political actors should eradicate the twin evil of political violence.

He prayed for peace during and after the state governorship election slated for September 19, advising all stakeholders to play by the rules.

Meanwhile, the Edo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Philip Shaibu, has raised the alarm over an assassination attempt on some notable members of the PDP in the state ahead of the September election.

He made the allegation while addressing journalists on the security situation of the state as it looks forward to the governorship election in few weeks from now.

Shaibu said it became imperative to notify the citizens of the state and the entire world of what the state is going through at the moment.

"It’s just to bring to the notice of Edo people and also to the entire country that we have intelligence report that some individuals are in Edo State courtesy of the former National Chairman of APC and the names of these individuals and their mode of entering are communicated to the security agencies. And they have the information.

development of OML 130 and other new fields, as the terms were now clearly spelt out.

The NNPC statement said the execution of the HoT signalled the resolution of a tax dispute that arose from the $2.3 billion acquisition of 45 per cent stake in OML 130 by CNNOC from SAPETRO in 2006.

The OML 130 consists of the Akpo and Egina Fields, which have been producing since 2009 and 2018, respectively. It is operated by Total Upstream Nigeria Limited, which holds 24 per cent stake, while Petrobras Oil and Gas BV and SAPETRO hold 16 per cent and 15 per cent stakes, respectively.

IN SHOW OF STRENGTH, APC KICKS OFF EDO’S CAMPAIGN Curiously, this is coming on the heels of some trade tackling between the Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shaibu and former national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, over assassination allegations against some PDP members.

With a colorful arena filled to capacity with party faithful and supporters, Ize-Iyamu had a good time acknowledging cheers from an overtly excited crowd, who livened the atmosphere with the songs and dance steps.

Present at the University of Benin Sports Complex, Ugbowo, were the Governor of Yobe State and Chairman, APC Caretaker Committee, Mai Mala Buni; Kebbi State Governor and Chairman, APC Governor's Forum, Abubakar Bagudu; Chairman Edo APC National Campaign Council and Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje; Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru and Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Also in attendance was the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma; Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El' Rufai; the Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola; Governor of Niger, Abubakar Sani Bello; Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN); Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun; the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Chief Edwin Onoja and the Deputy Senate President, Ovie OmoAgege.

Other were the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi; Minister of State Mines and Steel, Uchechukwu Oga; Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, Representing Owan Federal Constituency; Comrade Peter Akpatason, Johnson Oghuma, representing Akoko-Edo and

Etsako Federal Constituency respectively; former deputy governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu; Dr. Chris Ogiemwonyi, General Charles Airhiavbere, Comrade Abdul Oroh, Razaq Bello-Osagie and Pally Iriase, former members representing Owan and Oredo Federal Constituency respectively.

Conspicuously absent was Chief John Odige-Oyegun, a former National Chairman of APC; former governor of Edo State, Prof. Osarhieme Osunbor, and Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire; all sons of Edo State and Chieftains of APC. Speaking after the kick-off, Governor Ganduje said the main objective of coming to Edo State was to reclaim the state for the party, noting that the national campaign council had met several times and completed arrangements for APC’s successful victory.

Ganduje, who stated that the council was impressed with the performance of the election committee at the state level, noted that it was not in doubt that APC would win the election.

The Kano State Governor, while thanking the people of Edo for ensuring the return of the 14 lawmakers previously prevented, added that the next step would be to begin hamlet to hamlet campaign to ensure victory, saying what was left was the enabling environment for mobilisation of voters for the APC candidate and his SIMPLE agenda manifesto for the people of Edo. “Our Council has met several times and we have completed arrangements for successful election and Isha Allah, we will win this election. Our own responsibility is to create enabling environment for the mobilisation of voters for the presentation of our candidate

and his manifesto especially his SIMPLE agenda for the good people of Edo State.

"We are highly impressed with the state Council for the election. We are impressed with the performance of the election committee at the state level. We have seen elections and campaigns going on from hamlet to hamlet, from village to village, from town to town and within the metropolitan of Benin.

“From the crowd we have seen, we have to conclude that this election will be won by the APC. Also, I have to congratulate you. Listen to me.

I have to congratulate you for the swearing-in of 14 elected state Assembly members and also the election of the new principal officers of Edo State House of Assembly. We do congratulate you and we pray Almighty God to guide them for successful deliberations in Edo State House of Assembly.

"In fact, we were astonished, we were surprised, we were shocked for 13 good months, 14 members were not sworn in. But now, we have succeeded. Three other legislators including the deputy speaker have now joined the successful 12. Now, APC has 17.

Seventeen is more than three quarters of 24 legislators. We have more than three quarters.

We thank you for that."

In his address, Buni disclosed that the ritual of presenting flags to party’s candidates had been conducted on Friday by the president, Muhammadu Buhari.

According to him, since that has been done, the ceremony of yesterday was to formally present the Edo State candidate, Pastor Ize-Iyamu.

"We are here to take back our mandate, to take back our state. Four years ago,

Continued on page 56

NNPC, PARTNERS SEAL DEAL ON DISPUTED OML 130, UNLOCK $510M GAS REVENUE document, which sets out the terms agreed in principle between parties in the course of negotiations, apart from unlocking over $225 million of gas revenues, it will also enable settlement of renewal fees and create an environment conducive to further development of OML

130 with associated benefits to the federation.

“We are doing this with every other partner in the PSC dispute, we believe that we can close this engagement and conversation with all of you.

The HoT will clearly enable us to proceed and have a full settlement, and this will benefit

all of us.”

He commended CNOOC and SAPETROL for their understanding, while expressing delight that the HoT would facilitate the conclusion of all renewal issues.

In his response, Managing Director of CNOOC, Mr. Xie Vincent Wensheng, said the

agreement had opened a new chapter in his company’s relationship with NNPC. Wensheng said the deal was a win-win situation for all parties.

On his part, Managing Director of SAPETROL, Mr. Toyin Adenuga, said the resolution of the dispute was an important step towards further

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NEWS

Edo 2020: INEC Documents Violence, Hate Speeches PDP tackles Tinubu over Obaseki's re-election Obaseki: If they want violence, we will show them violence

Chuks Okocha in Abuja, Bayo Akinloye in Lagos and Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it has commenced documenting all incidences of violence and hate speeches in Edo State for necessary action as it prepares for the September 19 governorship election.

This is as the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a swipe at former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saying the reason he was against the re-election of Governor Godwin Obaseki was because he denied him access to the state’s treasury.

Obaseki, who has also been reading riot act to troublemakers in the state, has warned that his government and party would resist any act of violence and would be ready to match force with force in the event of a provocation.

However, while reacting to the comments by the PDP that the commission was playing to gallery because it knew the party perpetuating violence in Edo state, the INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Information, Festus Okoye said, "The Commission is documenting incendiary statements aimed at inflaming passion. The Commission is also documenting violent acts and threats to the smooth conduct of elections in Edo and Ondo State."

According to Okoye, who spoke exclusively to THISDAY, "In the coming days, the Commission will engage the leaders of the political parties, the campaign councils, the candidates in the election, traditional and religious leaders, civil society groups and organisations as well as the inter agency consultative committee on election security with a view to deescalating and degrading the level of violence in both state."

Okoye explained that the Commission as a regulatory agency would continue to nudge all the registered political parties to tow the path of peace and electoral transparency.

He stated that there were 18 registered political parties in Nigeria and all of them have equal registration incidents and in the eyes of the Commission and the law, all political parties are equal.

Accordingly, he said "All the political parties participating in the election must comply with the extant laws and regulations relating to the conduct of campaigns and rallies. The Commission is resolutely focused on the conduct of both elections and will not be drawn into partisan political issues.

“We will continue to emphasise and reiterate that the Commission is a regulatory agency and not a political party and has no partisan political leaning. Political Parties must realise and come to terms with the slippery constitutional timelines embedded in section 178(2) of the constitution.

"The Commission will not condone the present slide towards violence and the present escalation of abusive, intemperate, slanderous and base language designed to provoke violent reactions," the INEC Commissioner stated.

INEC also clarified that the recently inaugurated results viewing centre does not connote transmission of results that would go to a server, adding that the uploaded result goes to a portal, where it could

be viewed by the public.

"We are simply uploading results from the polling units for public viewing purposes only.

The main drive is to further strengthen our result management processes and procedures and enhance transparency of the system.

"The collation of results from the polling units to the Registration Area Collation Centers will be done manually and in accordance with existing law and the Commissions Regulations and Guidelines.

"The iRev falls within the ambit of Form EC 60E that is displayed at the polling units for public viewing and any member of the public can snap and post same on any platform. The Commission is just uploading Form 60E series that are posted at the polling Units after elections for public view. The Commission will continue to deepen the use of technology in the electoral process," Okoye explained.

Okoye further noted that the Commission would continue to provide robust leadership in the use of technology for elections given the global pandemic that is reshaping ways and means of doing things, explaining also that the innovation would be extended to all subsequent elections that would be conducted by the Commission.

He maintained that INEC would continue its creative innovations aimed at deepening the use of technology in the electoral process and guaranteeing transparency in results transmission.

PDP tackles Tinubu over Obaseki's re-election Tackling Tinubu, the PDP leadership in a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan Secretary, Publicity Sub-committee of the National Campaign Council said, "Our Campaign notes that Asiwaju's position also confirms allegations that some people in the APC are bitter with Governor Godwin Obaseki, because he (Obaseki) refused to allow the APC cabal to have access to Edo treasury as well as his refusal to foist illegal levies and taxes on the people.

"Our Campaign stands with the people of Edo State and Governor Obaseki in their firm decision not to allow certain APC interests to impose and collect suppressive levies and taxes from house owners, school proprietors, hotel owners, taxi drivers, okada riders, market women as well as artisans who are struggling to make a living in Edo State".

The PDP spokesperson said the APC cabal was distraught, because Obaseki would never compromise or mortgage the welfare and wellbeing of the people of the state hence their desperate attempt to foist their stooge on the state.

He further stated, it was imperative for leaders like Asiwaju not to allow himself to be dragged into putting personal and group pecuniary and political interests over and above the collective interest and wellbeing of the people of Edo State.

According to Ologbondiyan, it may interest Asiwaju to note that Nigerians have been waiting for a patriotic statement from him that would address the humongous corruption in this administration particularly in Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Health

IZE-IYAMU CAMPAIGN FLAG-OFF...

L-R: Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje who is also the chairman of the APC Campaign Council; Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives, Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, and APC Governorship candidate in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu during the official launch of APC campaign for the September 19th 2020 governorship election which was held at the sports complex of the University of Benin...yesterday Insurance Scheme (NHIS), North East Development Commission (NEDC) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), among others.

"What Nigerians also expect of leaders like Tinubu at this time is to be a voice of caution to selfconfessed liars like Oshiomhole and characters like Ize-Iyamu, whom Oshiomhole exposed as a thief, acid bather and person of questionable character, who should not be trusted with the governorship of Edo State.

"We wonder if Asiwaju, as a senator, abandoned his seat at the parliament for 180 days.

Of course, he did not, because he is aware of the implications.

Our campaign therefore counsels Asiwaju and indeed other APC leaders to desist from any attempts that would colour illegality, because of personal interests.

"Our campaign which enjoys the full followership and support of the Edo people wants Tinubu to know that contrary to his claims, Governor Obaseki has committed no impeachable acts by working in the interests of the people of Edo State," he stated.

Obaseki: If they Want Violence, We Will Show Them Violence Meanwhile, Obaseki has vowed to retaliate violence for violence to those who plan to foment trouble, noting that nobody has a monopoly of violence.

If they want violence, we will show them violence, Obaseki Vows In a press briefing, apparently addressing his supporters, Obaseki stated that he would not tolerate any perpetration of violence in the days leading to the governorship election.

"You know, you'll mobilise for yourself. Nobody has (a) monopoly of violence. If they want violence, we will show them violence. So, if I see anybody, if you see anybody, smashing any car because my sticker or poster is on the car, let us know. We will show that person that we are in government.

"We will show them that we are in government. I am (the) governor; Philip (Shaibu) is (the) deputy governor. We are the only two (people) who have immunity in this state. We are the only two people today who have immunity in this state.

"And I am sending a clear warning - very, very clear – if I find anybody misbehaving, no

matter who you have been, I will arrest you and I will deal with you," the governor said, in obvious reference to the gale of attacks lately in the state.

Supporters of Obaseki and his rival, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu had a violent clash recently.

In the same vein, Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, has challenged Ize-Iyamu to reconcile the pious posture he bandied on national television on Saturday morning, with the directives he gave to known political thugs in a video that went viral recently.

No Real Pastor Will Commission Dangerous Thugs Says Osagie The governor’s aide said: “No real pastor will commission dangerous thugs, call them dangerous lions and tigers and order them to move from one political unit, ward and local government to another, to cause violence and subvert the will of the electorate in the September 19 election.

“It was very convenient for the APC candidate to paint himself white on the Sam Omatseyeanchored programme on TVC. However, Edo people, who still have the video of Ize-Iyamu, giving orders to Tony Adun, popularly called Kabaka, and his co-thugs to cause violence in the forthcoming election, know the inherent tendencies of the APC candidate.

“We also know that the illegal activities of some house of assembly members are being carried out in the APC candidate's house. Words are cheap; but trust is earned, based on someone’s character, demonstrated consistently, overtime.

"People can claim anything on television to deceive their audience. Edo people will not fall for such publicity stunt or gimmick of the APC candidate because they know his penchant for violence,” he said.

According to Osagie, “The APC gubernatorial candidate reinforced his penchant for violence, when he converted his house to an illegal meeting point for his party members, who are parading themselves as members of a parallel House of Assembly in the state.

“What is more, Ize-Iyamu also claimed on the television programme that Edo people trust him. But the truth is that even his close associates do not trust him. Most of his former aides

are now supporting Governor Obaseki because they see in Obaseki, a man that is true to his words.”

In another development, the PDP has said the directive by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, to the Inspector General of Police to provide security for some members-elect of the Edo State House of Assembly, was a thoughtless unconstitutionality, and to that effect, null and void.

Addressing a press conference on this, Ologbondiyan, said nothing in sections 90, 91, 101 and 104 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cited by the Attorney General, empowered him to go to the streets of any part of the nation to assemble some people and declare them members-elect of any House of Assembly, without any electoral mandate.

"It is trite in law that with their seats declared vacant by the House, they have consequently lost their memberships and respective mandates," he said.

Opposition Party Condemns AGF According to him, the Attorney General ought to have availed himself of the facts that the Edo State House of Assembly, as constitutionally constituted, had written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asking it to conduct fresh elections into the vacant seats in line with the provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Act. "If the AGF had bothered to get his facts correctly before issuing the unconstitutional warrant for the gestapo operation to the IGP, he would have known that the matter of the declaration of the seats of the errant individuals and the request for the conduct of fresh elections to fill the vacant seats are pending in competent Court in Edo State at the instance of his ‘clients’ and therefore it is sub-justice for him to speak on it or cause an action to be taken.

"Yet, Malami is painfully our nation’s federal law officer.

However, we may have to remind the AGF, to go back to the Constitution and recheck if any sections warrant him to take any action whatsoever which compromises, derogates or infringes the powers donated to any Court in Nigeria apart from the powers of nolle pro seque of his office.

"Our party holds that there is

no part of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which enabled him to do so. The PDP wants to make it abundantly clear to Malami and his All Progressives Congress (APC) that he does not possess the powers of a competent court and as such, cannot, by any stroke of imagination, make any judicial declaration whatsoever on a matter that is before a court of competent jurisdiction," he stated.

To that extent, real estate developers in Edo State have declared their support for Obaseki’s reelection, lauding his uncommon reforms and policies that have opened up the real estate sector.

The developers, under the aegis of Edo Land Developers Forum, expressed confidence that the governor would emerge victorious in the September 19, 2020 gubernatorial poll, citing his remarkable strides across all sectors of the state in spite of dwindling resources.

According to the Secretary of the Forum, Oserheimen Idah, “The governor has been able to transform the state through massive infrastructure development across the 18 local government areas of the state and introduced a series of reforms aimed at reducing and totally eradicating bottlenecks and threats to doing business in Edo. “Obaseki has totally stopped the illegal activities of Community Development Associations, setting up a Private Property Protection Taskforce to ensure that developers and property owners do not fall prey to land-grabbers and other unscrupulous elements in the property sector.”

But a former House of Representatives member, Sunday Karimi has urged the members of the Edo State House of Assembly to impeach Obaseki with immediate effect to enable it serve as deterrence to other governors, who wantonly breach the nation's constitution with impunity.

Karimi, who was a two-term House of Representatives Member for Yagba Federal Constituency of Kogi State in National Assembly, made the call while speaking with Newsmen in Lokoja on Saturday, saying a governor, who took laws into his hands, choosing to on his own wish stop duly elected legislators from being sworn in to perform their constitutional responsibilities for eighteen months, needs to be taught a lesson for his reckless abuse of power.

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NEWS

Pondei Fights Back, Lists Contracts N’Assembly ‘Forced’ NDDC to Pay for Before Budget Approval Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei, yesterday said the commission was compelled to fully pay for certain contracts before the approval of its budget by the National Assembly.

Pondei listed some of the contracts paid for on the prompting of the National Assembly before its 2019 annual budget was harmonised. He alleged that some lawmakers, especially members of the adhoc committees, held the commission hostage over the years with the annual budget approval.

The revelations followed recent accusations of fraud against some top officials of the NDDC, which prompted an inquest by the National Assembly.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Edgar Ebigoni, the NDDC boss maintained that most of the contracts the commission was arm-twisted into paying for were either never done or never completed by the benefiting lawmakers. He alleged a “blackmail scheme” against the NDDC top echelons by the legislators, saying this explains why the National Assembly passed the 2019 budget of the NDDC, which was billed to expire in May 2020, in March 2020.

“The implication was that the management of the NDDC had only five weeks to implement the budget of one fiscal year, and present a performance report on the same budget,” Pondei stated.

He added, “This scheme has continued to play out, because as at this month of August 2020, the budget of the NDDC for the 2020 fiscal year has not been passed by the Joint National Assembly Committee on NDDC. “Sadly, nobody seems to care to ask questions because people are falling for the well-scripted smokescreen playing out in the two chambers of the National Assembly.”

Pondei contended that the document containing the list of companies awarded the contracts was among the many others tendered before the National Assembly committee, which never saw the light of the day. He said the NDDC committee never allowed the commission to speak on the issues, when they eventually appeared before the committee, during the public hearing.

According to him, “It was based on this evidential claim that the Interim Management Committee of NDDC staged a walk-out, on the first day they were to testify before the committee. The details of this list can be verified from the Central Bank of Nigeria, through a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request.

“Indeed, the same allegation informed the reason all wellmeaning Nigerians urged the committee chairman, Hon. Tunji-Ojo, to recuse himself from the chairmanship of that hearing.

“This is in keeping with the Nemo judex in causa sua, which is a Latin phrase that upholds the principle of natural justice that no one can judge a case in which they have an interest.”

The NDDC managing director stressed that against all objective appeals and moral persuasion, TunjiOjo, alongside some other accused members of the House Committee on NDDC, proceeded to hold a public hearing, which was initially slated for two days, July 15 and 16, 2020. He added that the hearing effectively ran till July 20, and, suddenly, TunjiOjo decided, at his own pace and time, to recuse himself from the hearing, on the last day. Pondei said the action cast a dark shade on the entire public hearing.

He stated, “This is because, the same reason for which he recused himself on the last day was enough for him to steer clear from the matter, ab initio. The foregoing points to a clear fact that the committee set out to do a bidding that was never in the interest of the public.

“They obviously needed a public hearing to tell the public what they wanted the public to hear, rather than the facts of the matter.

“The spokesperson the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, on a national television programme, recently, admitted publicly that contractors often approached chairmen of the House committees and the members to use their office to compel MDAs to pay them.

“This definitely should be the new height of the abuse of the oath of office they swore not to allow their personal interest interfere with the discharge of their official duties.

“Recall that since these allegations were first made by the Acting Executive Director, Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, on national television, TunjiOjo has not deemed it fit to discountenance the allegations by way of a law suit.”

Pondei listed the contracts and benefitting firms to include: Kith Global Ventures Limited, remedial works at New Ogorode roads Lot 3, at the cost of N493, 684,169.00, which was paid on 17/03/2020; 301 Constr. Ltd, remedial works at Nja Road to Akoku Uno Lot 1, at the cost of N350, 027,919.80, paid 17/03/2020; Cracked Stone Constr. Limited, remedial works at Ajaolubeti road, Environs Lot 2 at the cost of N394, 010,952.10, paid 17/03/2020.

Pondei stated that Collincrystal Energy Limited was to carry out emergency works at Benin Township Road Lot 7, at the cost of N431,053.035.20, which was paid 17/03/2020.

He listed the others as follows: Collincrystal Energy Limited, emergency works at Benin Township Road Lot 3, at the cost of N361, 357,276.20, paid 17/03/2020; Grapik Limited, emergency works at Umudee internal road, at the cost of N207, 673,107.70, paid 17/03/2020; Southland Constr. Limited, remedial works at Umuduru Chukwu Umuorlu Road, at the cost of N518, 409,089.30, paid 17/03/2020; Southland Constr.

Limited, remedial works at Umuduru, at the cost of N519, 949,949.10, paid 17/03/2020; and Grandfox Global Services Limited, emergency works at Ope Road Okigwe LGA, at the cost of N580, 438,578.00, paid 17/03/2020.

Named also were Collincrystal Energy Limited, which was to do emergency works at Benin Town Road Lot 6, at the cost of N348, 853,184.60 and paid on 7/03/2020; Crism Constr. Building Limited, emergency works at Eziama Osuama international roads, Isiala Mbano LGA, at the cost of N561, 592,377.80, paid 17/03/2020; Argento Limited, emergency works at

Benin Township Road Lot 4, at the cost of N382, 805,411.60, paid 18/03/2020; Two Rocks Cont. Limited, remedial works at New Ogorode Road Lot 4, N500, 875,848.00, paid 18/03/2020; Elkan Zibson Ltd, emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections of Ezumoha internal roads, Isiala Mbano LGA, at the cost of N531, 150,414.29, paid 19/03/2020; Cracked Stone

Constr. Limited, remedial works on failed and unmotorable sections of Benin Township Road Lot 8, at the cost of N417, 806,787.01, paid 19/03/2020; PDH Global Logistics Limited, emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections of Umuezuo Umuagbavu road, remedy of failed and unmotorable sections of Chikwe Orlu Street environment, at the cost of N543, 247,587.35,

paid 20/03/2020; Aritel Oil and Gas, remedying of failed sections of Chikwe Orlu Street environment, at the cost of N550,100,132.34, paid 24/03/2020; and Dis Concept and Solutions Limited, urgent remedy of failed and unmotorable sections of Jessy and Jenny Road, off Peter Odili Road, Port Harcourt, at the cost of N476,794,367.22, paid 26/03/2020.

Kashamu Dies of COVID-19 He escaped justice but couldn’t evade death, says Obasanjo Abiodun, Abati mourn NCDC announced 453 new cases, total now 46,140 Bayo Akinloye Senator Buruji Kashamu, a People's Democratic Party (PDP)'s chieftain and candidate in the last Ogun State governorship election, has died.

His death was announced on Saturday by Senator Ben Murray-Bruce.

Making the announcement on Twitter, Murray-Bruce said, “I have just lost my good friend of forever to #COVID19. Until his death, Sen. Buruji Kashamu and I were inseparable.

"He died today at First Cardiology Consultants, in Lagos. May his gentle soul rest in peace. I pray his family and loved ones the fortitude to bear this heavy loss.”

Meanwhile, NCDC announced 453 new confirmed cases yesterday, with FCT recording 75 new cases, Lagos 71, Benue-53, Delta-39, Borno-30, Enugu-25, Plateau-24, Osun-20, Abia-19, Oyo-17, Kaduna-16, Kano-13, Ebonyi-13, Ogun-9, Kwara-7, Ondo-6, Gombe-3, Ekiti-2, Akwa Ibom-1 and Rivers-1 The total national tally now stands at 46,140 with 33,044 discharged and 942 deaths.

Kashamu's health was reported to have deteriorated a couple of days ago which led to his being moved from an isolation centre in Lagos State to First Cardiology Consultants. He was said to have died of complications due to some underlying medical conditions.

Kashamu, before his death, represented Ogun East Senatorial District between 2015 and 2019.

In his reaction to the demise of the former senator, former president Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday condoled with Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun.

In a statement signed by his spokesman Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo said while Kashamu’s death was “sad”, his life and history left “lessons for those of all us on this side of the veil.”

Senator Buruji Kashamu in his lifetime used the maneuver of law and politics to escape from facing justice on alleged criminal offence in Nigeria and outside Nigeria,” Obasanjo said.

But no legal, political, cultural, social, or even medical maneuver could stop the cold hand of death when the Creator of all of us decides that the time is up.

“May Allah forgive his sin and accept his soul into Aljanah, and may God grant his family and friends fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

Born on May 19, 1958, the billionaire businessman and later politician was a subject of extradition between the United States and Nigeria.

On December 18, 1998, the UK’s Metropolitan Police arrested Kashamu, who was travelling

Late Kashamu with a Benin passport. Police found $230,000 in cash in his possession.

Before he was arrested in the UK, he had earlier been indicted in the US by a grand jury for conspiracy to import heroin into the U.S. Kashamu was indicted following incriminating evidence provided by three of his alleged co-conspirators.

They alleged that the man they said was also known as “Alaji” or “God” was the leader of the heroin smuggling ring.

Kashamu was detained at the Brixton Prison pending the completion of his extradition process which had been initiated by the United States’ Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.

However, Kashamu denied the allegations. He said he was not the leader of the drug-smuggling conspiracy. He has claimed that the so-called “Alaji”, the drug-smuggling kingpin was his brother, Adewale Kashamu, who was allegedly killed in 1989 by the personnel of the Nigerian Customs.

He claimed that he shared a striking resemblance with his deceased brother.

Though the US requested his extradition, the UK authorities refused to hand Kashamu over to the US. However, the Nigerian government worked unsuccessfully with the US authorities to have him extradited to America.

Until his death, Kashamu was regarded as a philanthropist and grass-roots politician.

Meanwhile, the governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has expressed shock over the death of Kashamu.

In a statement released in

Abeokuta on Saturday by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, the governor described Kashamu's passing as one death too many and a devastating blow to the nation's political family generally.

Abiodun said: “I received the sad news of the passing of Senator Buruji Kashamu today, 8 August, 2020, with a deep pain and grief that words cannot capture. On behalf of my family, the Government and good people of Ogun State, I convey our deepest condolences.

“His demise further diminishes the tribe of my close political associates. He was a large-hearted politician and courageous fighter for whatever cause he believed in.

"He was not just a loving personality, a generous giver and someone who lived for others, he was to many a beacon of hope of a better tomorrow.

This painful exit is much more than the end of an individual.

"Distinguished Senator Kashamu was a phenomenon, he was faithful to his principles and convictions and even his critics would attest to his tenacity of purpose.

"Our brother and friend was a consummate politician and patriot who will be sorely missed within and outside Ogun State for his larger than life disposition.

“Posterity will accord him his due recognition for his legacies of service and forthrightness. He was a worthy ambassador of Ogun State."

Abiodun, however, urged all to find solace in the saying of Prophet Muhammad (SAW): “Amazing is the affair of the believer, verily all of his affair is good and this is not for anyone except the believer. If something of good / happiness befalls him he is grateful and that is good

for him. If something of harm befalls him, he is patient and that is good for him."

Kashamu's running mate for the 2019 Ogun State governorship race, Dr Reuben Abati said he was heartbroken by the death of the politician.

In a statement, Abati said Kashamu was his political mentor.

He said: "I feel like an orphan all over again. I may have worked with the PDP government at the federal level, but he was the man who brought me into direct, partisan politics.

"He was one of the most generous men that I have ever known. He was determined to groom me and he did. He taught me the ropes. He linked me with the grassroots. I learnt a lot from him.

"Senator Kashamu mentored me and others without any strings attached."

Abati described Kashamu as a very simple man who was grossly misunderstood by his political opponents.

"His persona, his politics was indeed grossly misunderstood but those who knew him personally met a man who loved Nigeria dearly and was unapologetically public-spirited", he added.

Abati said Kashamu's death was yet another confirmation that COVID-19 is real, capricious and wicked.

According to him, Kashamu enjoyed giving other people opportunities.

Abati said: "He was humorous, kind-hearted, large-hearted and genial. With his death, Nigeria, Ogun state, Ijebuland and the people of Ijebu-Igbo have lost an illustrious son, who demonstrated courage, talent and creativity in everything to which he applied his energy.

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EDITORIAL

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

NBA AND THE ELECTION OF AKPATA The Akpata’s presidency should strive towards deepening the rule of law

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espite the misgivings that have in recent years trailed the adoption of electronic voting, the election of Olumide Akpata as the new President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a welcome development. For the past 22 years, the seat had been occupied only

by Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs). Akpata broke that jinx. He defeated his two opponents both of whom are SANs. But Akpata is assuming office at a period Nigeria is experiencing a deep crisis in the rule of law. This is therefore one moment the country can look up to the NBA to act as the bulwark of social justice and defender of the rule of law and democracy.

We particularly recall that while receiving a delegation of the NBA shortly after assuming office in 2015, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, expressed the readiness of the federal government to work on judicial and justice sector reforms. “If we are not careful we may not have a profession. There is no question at all that we need reforms. We have to do it,” said Osinbajo. Five years after, Nigerians are yet to see any efforts in that direction and the NBA that should ordinarily hold the administration to account has practically become a dog that could neither bark nor bite.

Such is the crisis of credibility in the profession that the current president of NBA is weighed down by corruption charges for which he is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

There are other problems. It is for instance distressful that some otherwise respected lawyers, who are supposed to be officers in the temple of justice, throw decorum and professional ethics overboard to bring frivolous court

applications in the bid to scuttle the judicial process. In recent times we have seen decency thrown out in open court and ex-parte orders put out for sale. Given his formidable credentials, there is hope that the emergence of Akpata as president will rekindle the waning confidence of the public in the NBA as a veritable force in re-ordering the Nigerian society.

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We look forward to seeing a rejuvenated bar that will promote social justice and the fundamental human rights of the citizenry

Letters to the Editor

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

e suggest that under Akpata, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) should regularly meet to decide on cases of professional misconduct. Once there are serious allegations that a lawyer whose name is on the roll has misbehaved with provable evidence, the LPDC should not hesitate to take appropriate disciplinary measures to deter others.

While it is good that lawyers can point accusing fingers at corrupt judges, even if unnamed, they will do better to be rid of the unscrupulous members among them too.

Akpata has promised to run an NBA that will be a bastion of the rule of law as well as advocate for the sanctity and independence of the judiciary, and a force against tyranny and oppression. We also urge Akpata to venture into the improvement of the deplorable criminal justice system in Nigeria where awaiting trial inmates spend years (sometimes decades) behind bars. Also, since charity begins at home, Akpata must remember that he owed his success at the NBA election to young lawyers, whose determination to change the status quo changed the outcome. He cannot afford to take their support for granted. A good place to start will be to engage senior lawyers to come out with practical ideas on how to improve the fortune of their young colleagues who are paid ridiculously low wages.

In the critical days ahead, the public will be looking forward to seeing a revamped NBA that will courageously and tenaciously defend justice and the rule of law no matter whose ox is gored.

Our only hope is that the Akpata-led NBA will live up to its promise. We look forward to seeing a rejuvenated bar that will promote social justice and the fundamental human rights of the citizenry. Thankfully, in his acceptance speech, Akpata recognised the fact that the NBA electoral process remains flawed and has pledged a reform. He must now walk the talk.

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.

WASSCE 2020: How Prepared Are Our Students?

"F

inally, our schools are gradually opening," was the expression on my lips upon the announcement by the Ministry of Education after its meeting with other stakeholders, having initially stated that schools would be opened when it is safe to do so. The joy didn't last long when it struck me that only the exit class in the secondary class are making their way to school beginning from August 4.

Exit class? Definitely, that's our precious SS3 students who were to take the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but the COVID-19 outbreak

halted the process. Before the announcement, the West African Examination Council (WAEC) had already slated the exam to commence by August 17 through to September 12.

August 4 is barely about two weeks to the examination. Even some state governments announced other dates from that of the federal government, reducing the time frame. A thought that kept flashing through my mind was, "are our students prepared?"

Before the outbreak and lockdown brouhaha, the preparation was on the high, but going four months down without the usual class activities and engagement certainly reduced the

zeal. Refreshing and getting the minds of the students ready for the examination within a short time is way impossible to achieve.

A glance at previous years' performance indices of the students, even with the usual high level of preparedness and focus, is way too low compared to the over 1.5 million that take the exam annually. Of the over 1.5 million students that took the exam in 2017, only 59.22 percent got the minimum five credits including English Language and Mathematics.

A 9.24% drop was recorded in the following year in same category while 2019 saw 64.18 percent record, all with minimum 1.5 million

registered students. How can just two weeks of preparation take the performance index for this year higher is a big question with an answer not too close.

The workload on the students will be more than normal as classes for the nine subjects they opted for would run uninterruptedly.

Some quarters might argue that the students had four months to prepare. No doubt, this could be true but more closer to being false. At the initial phase of the lockdown, the tempo was sustained as the students continued to get ready with the hope that the spread of the virus would be contained as quickly as possible.

The urge went down when they discovered it is taking more time than expected as one

month turned two, then three to four.

To incite the downtrodden mind suddenly with examination is not the best.

Even advance examination and professional bodies fixed theirs for September and onward with an upfront information to their prospects.

Knowingly or otherwise, the gateway for examination malpractices might be widely open as the students and their overzealous parents and even the teachers would opt for a better means of making their papers at a go. Why can't the WASSC Examination be shifted to give time for our students to get ready for the big and life changing task ahead of them?

–Shotonwa Waheed, shotonwa.waheed@gmail.com.

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OPINION

T HE IDEOLOGY OF CORRUPTION The country needs to clearly define corruption and understand the ideology that underpins and drives it, writes Agbo Agbo

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he will and determination to fight corruption has increased in societies across the world in the last two decades. To this end, the importance of effective anti-corruption measures has expanded into a global political agenda with the World Bank and the UN championing the cause.

It was therefore not surprising when the All Progressives Congress (APC) - Nigeria’s ruling party – campaigned under that banner during the 2014/2015 election circle. They anchored their campaign under three major planks: corruption, security and the economy. They promised to root out corruption in the body politics, contain the spiraling insecurity in the country, and set the economy on the right course.

As a result, Nigerians gave the party its mandate and President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in on May 29, 2015. The feat was repeated in 2019 - some say controversially. Five years later, both the president and his party are faltering on all fronts.

If there was any period in our recent history when there was an overwhelming consensus that we needed a radical turnaround, 2015 was it. Most Nigerians were hopeful that we could turn the tide, do a detour and head the right way. But there was a snag. In our mass euphoria, only a very few asked the most fundamental question: where is the roadmap to where we are going? The mass euphoria evaporated gradually when it became clearer that there were no concrete plans to a destination. Insecurity intensified, the economy tanked and most importantly, systemic corruption with impunity blossomed on an unimaginable scale. Recent revelations from the EFCC, NDDC, NSITF and elsewhere in the polity have shown how endemic the problems are. What might happen if the NNPC, for instance, is placed in the spotlight? I wonder. Already there are calls to beam the searchlight on the North East Development Commission (NEDC), This writer believes that the reason for the failure in tackling endemic corruption is because most do not see corruption as an entrenched ideology.

Ideological issues are not addressed with kid gloves; they require a multidisciplinary approach to tackle. Ideology as a concept was first used during the French Revolution in the 18th century to mean the “science of ideas.” And when the term ideology was used it referred to political ideology. It signifies beliefs and doctrines or guiding principles which are either dogmas beyond reach of criticism or cloaks for individuals and group interests. Fundamentalist and militant groups like

ISIS, Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda and others have used the ideology of religion and terrorism to recruit hundreds of thousands of die-hard followers.

However radical, ethical, liberal or revolutionary the ideology is, it has three major aspects namely; an ideology gives ideas and concepts in order to explain the existing reality; it offers a critique of the existing (popular) ideology and it proposes a path forward - a manifesto to be followed in order to achieve the desired goal in the future that has been identified by the ideology itself.

We shall use these three premises to try and put a handle or grip on the ideology of corruption in Nigeria. In the first instance, corruption is an “idea” and “concept” where you take what isn’t yours by virtue of the position you occupy or through proxies. It becomes an “unwritten ideology” because it triggers a chain reaction of events. Individuals have to be coopted, “foot soldiers” have to be recruited and deployed to reach out to people in the “chain of command” in other to assure them their interests are “factored” into and fully protected in the “deal.” Even if, for whatever reason the bubble bursts, you won’t be seen as a “common thief” because words like maladministration, misappropriation, etc., would be used to tamper the magnitude of your crime instead of out rightly calling you a common “thief.”

Secondly, if you follow the ideology of honesty and forthrightness, how do you drive that car of your dream? How do you build that country home? How do you survive after retirement? How do you send your child/children to universities in Europe or America?

How will people see you after spending years in government “without anything to show for it”? The question goes on and on.

Thirdly, it has to have a manifesto to be followed. The “manifesto of corruption” is often unwritten; it is subtly understood by those involved. It can look harmless and laced with “good” intensions,

There is one snag about corruption in Nigeria; most perceive it in the prism of only when money is stolen!

But corruption transcends that.

Nepotism, favouritism, tribalism are all elements of the web of corruption painfully overlooked in the country

but underneath it wrecks societies and destinies. Monies meant to build schools, hospitals, infrastructure, etc., are compromised and shared.

There is one snag about corruption in Nigeria; most perceive it in the prism of only when money is stolen! But corruption transcends that. Nepotism, favouritism, tribalism, family dysfunctionality, slavery, deceit, ignorance, etc., are all elements of the web of corruption painfully overlooked in the country. The president and his party “overlooked” these vital aspects which is why their fight against the scourge refused to gain traction.

During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade of the 16thcentury following, the slave owners entrenched their ideology to lock their slaves in the vice of perpetual servitude. The code was that no slave owner, for whatever reason, should educate a slave. They targeted education because an educated mind is most likely to be a liberated mind. By entrenching mass illiteracy they were able to keep slaves perpetually locked into the system. Even when slavery was eventually abolished, many of the slaves were not aware of their new rights and continued to work for their masters in perpetuity because of the entrenched ideology of slavery.

So, why is corruption an ideology in Nigeria? For us to understand corruption we must understand its ideology as a system of beliefs, normative values, attitudes and symbols that guide collective action of its adherents – the powerful elites in the society. This ideology advocates a particular pattern of social relationships and arrangements that caters for this elite group.

By using the ideology, the group justifies a particular pattern of conduct (which its proponents seek to promote, realise, pursue or maintain). In other to back it up, the source for ordering, defining and evaluating the political reality that underpins it is fully protected. Ideology serves as a blueprint of what to expect from such a country or society. Ideology is the superstructure that carries the weight and gives direction, if its veils are removed, people can have an idea of where they are going and how to get there.

From ongoing revelations in Nigeria, one cannot fault the fact that it starts from the budget. The budget is sponsored and “owned” by powerful individuals, civil servants, national assembly members, etc.

––Agbo, a Public Affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

(See concluding part of the article on www.thisdaylive.com)

Education in COVID-19 Times Ayodele Okunfolami canvasses investment in online educational programmes

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opefully, the back and forth on the partial reopening of schools should have come to rest following the decision of secondary school students in exit forms to return to class to write their certificate examinations.

Educational authorities have asked that schools be unlocked nationwide as from August 4, specifically for students writing the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. Dates for the different qualifying examinations have been fixed and so the students can resume, do some revision and sit for their exams.

To refresh our memories, in order to curb the spread of coronavirus as it entered the country, schools were immediately closed as a safety measure. That made common sense as the fear was that children are perceived as super spreaders considering their naïveté to not social distance, regularly wash their hands and observe other coronavirus secure guidelines. Places of worship closed. Large public gatherings followed. Markets and ultimately the entire economy went on a lockdown to curtail the pandemic. Nigeria was simply following a global template set by more developed nations in their fight against the virus.

Swaggers became stammers on if or when the pandemic would be defeated and life returning to a sense of normalcy led to humanity working remotely in order to carry on enterprise. This meant businesses (schools) had to device means to keep up transactions with their customers and clients (pupils and students). Thanks to the Internet. The hitherto zygotic e-economy hatched and zoomed into gigabyte adulthood.

Education practitioners began exploring diverse technological channels to continue the learning of students. The effectiveness of this can only be matched with the effectiveness of the school feeding programme during the period under review.

As much as we have to commend government at different levels and private practitioners that didn’t fold their arms but used miscellaneous media to keep the education of children running, Nigeria’s infrastructural deficits came to the fore. They explored radio, television and online outlets. Electricity was the major drawback while unaffordable and inconsistent Internet speed was either out of reach for or data signals fluctuated during downloads. Plus, those in far-flung areas where modern communication remains a mirage, one can surmise that the larger percentage of students remain unschooled

throughout this period leaving mainly children of the elite in elitist schools with the advantage, further increasing the educational gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Before COVID, education disparity was rife because aside the unhealthy commercialization, education in Nigeria has turned into where the rich reach for the quality schools, the poor for the below par public or substandard schools. Research has also shown that two-thirds of a child’s academic performance is influenced by outside classroom conditions. Meaning a child returning to a home where his assignments has parental supervision in a room with a study desk, all things being equal, has a greater chance of doing better than his classmate that returns to a home too small for learning, or to parents indifferent of his school work. So, although this remote learning gives a sense of normalcy, not every parent can homeschool. Some, even if enthusiastic about their wards’ academics, are not economically and cerebrally capable of doing so. They are neither financially empowered to provide the gadgets needed for the child’s e-learning nor apt enough to understand the science and literature of the child’s scheme of work.

Aside the infrastructural and intellectual downsides, getting the attention of the pupils without the help of pedagogues that are trained to do so is very demanding. With several competing signals on the airwaves and environment, asking naturally playful children to tune in or log on to tutorials through a screen without the deliberate supervision of a parent or adult caregiver renders academics through these media learning channels less effective.

Some schools used virtual electronic means to conclude their curriculum and conduct exams for the terms covered by corona.

Of course, this was in no way seamless as humans are by nature social beings, so interacting virtually with peers on the part of the pupils, and students, on the part of the teachers, was met with a lot of hiccups and reinventing of the e-classroom environment. How was the integrity of those e-exams guaranteed when students were tested unsupervised in the comfort of their textbooks or adult aid?

Except the questions were unconventionally fashioned to put these out-of-school environments into consideration anyway.

On the delivery of the lectures, I think it can be better.

Because the learning medium is different, virtual and most times non-interactive for those that are using mass media to nonspecific audience, telegenic presentations with matching animated visuals

would have gotten more attention. Just standing blandly in front of the cameras dishing out from a textbook a particular topic won’t get the required reach.

The kids these programmes are designed would be bored listening to or watching a drab stranger on radio or television speaking inaudibly and writing illegibly on a magic board. The facilitators should undergo reskilling tailored for broadcast with producers to make the bundle more entertaining. This may even entail using nonteachers to pass the message, after all it is not meteorologists that give us the weather report. The learning content should also be edited to be more generic so that the topic of the day would cut across different educational cadres instead of teaching SS2 algebra only for SS2 students. The generic topic, if properly done, would even endear nonstudents alike.

Although, the numbers of coronavirus infections are still increasing and keeping children at home is becoming logically unsustainable, the lockdown is being eased in phases. Markets, banks, offices, travel and places of worship have all opened in almost every part of the country even if skeletal with prescribed adherence to coronavirus control measures. However, can we guarantee bio bubbles to school our children? How would private school teachers, most of whom went unpaid or half-paid, be motivated to do their jobs considering the occupational hazards of either contracting the disease or the social effects of losing their jobs outrightly?

Nevertheless, other sectors of life have already plugged into the post-COVID world where virtual transactions are the new normal and so, even though in-person schooling is likely to resume after those external exams, education should be ready to take the cinematic journey from classrooms to the studios and online. We should be ready to have 21st century version of the educational belts we had on TV when Sesame Street, Square One, Bright Sparks, I Need to Know, Kiddie Vision 1O1, Speak Out and the other foreign and indigenous educational shows that enlightened the Nigerian child in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Edupreneurs should be more commanding in this digital economy by stretching the bands of social media to invest in educational programmes online that would be the trending feature, attracting viral views for the edification of this generation.

––Okunfolami wrote from Festac, Lagos.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ AUGUST 9, 2020

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LETTERS

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IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON STUDENTS

he global pandemic is no more news as COVID-19 ravages the world, dishing to us its obnoxious meals without remorse. What a year, 2020 has been. The virus has brought not only fear or risk of death from infection but also unbearable psychological pressure.

As a result of physical distancing measures implemented in response to COVID-19, schools have been shut since March 23 — for over four months now. Some schools and institutions in Nigeria have shifted to emergency online learning platforms.

Among students, COVID-19 has heightened the levels of psychological distress as a result of downturn in education and negative academic consequences.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented mental health burden not only on workers but on students — this of course requires urgent intervention. Most businesses are back in operation and workers have returned to their livelihood but most students are still left at home with uncertainty concerning their academics. The economy has been reopened while various schools and institutions remain closed — increasing the risk of children being left alone at home without any adult caregiver.

Research has shown that loneliness increases the risk of depression, anxiety and heightens the feelings of stress. According to Dr Louise C. Hawkley of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago — loneliness may be less of a problem for older adults than

Ihekweazu, NCDC DG it is for younger adults.

The academic disruption and delay would lead to reduced motivation towards studies and potential higher rates of dropout in the country — and increased pressures to learn independently as parents enroll their children to neighbouring tutorials and lessons — which of course come with zero physical distancing.

Furthermore, international research has shown that individuals with certain co-morbidities are at higher risk of COVID-19 mortality.

The World Health Organisation reports that “evidence to date suggests that two groups of people are at a higher risk of getting severe COVID-19 disease — people over 60 years old and those with underlying medical conditions — such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic

respiratory disease, and cancer.

This shows that children and young adults are generally less infectious than older adults.

Many have also agreed that the pandemic worsened pre-existing mental health conditions of students — mainly due to school closures, loss of normal routine and restricted social connections.

In many cases these could have a profound impact on the nation's mental health.

Dr. George Bonanno, head of the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab at Columbia University, elaborated that loss doesn’t simply pertain to death, but rather individuals “experience grief over anything that feels like a loss of identity.”

The sense of being a university student when one is physically separated from school campus, the feeling of having spent years in the

university working towards a degree only to graduate in one of the greatest recession — all of these concerns are enough to create a sense of loss for students.

In addition to the damaged academic session, a mental health crisis could emerge as many students have lost access to services that were offered by their schools. For children and young people who are already struggling with their mental health, this is an extremely difficult time for them. Some have lost many of their coping mechanisms, including contacts with friends or routines that help them manage or improve their conditions. To some having far more time at home would mean they could overthought things and were most likely to use negative coping strategies — like self-harm.

Also, other young people who never needed mental health support, are struggling to cope as the restrictions continue — as increased anxiety, problems with sleep,

C

damage to equipment and structures. It is, therefore, discouraging to note that most of these disasters are not act of God, but rather the products of human errors and carelessness.

For instance, the fire episode that once killed a family of seven, in Lagos in 2015, was reportedly caused by candle light which was not put off at night. Risky acts such as storing of petroleum products at homes and reckless use and storage of cooking gas are common causes of fire outbreaks in our society. Storing of petroleum products at home is especially a sheer act of inconceivable thoughtlessness that must be discouraged.

Equally, many people close at work or leave home without ensuring that all electrical appliances are shut down to prevent outbreak of fire in case of power surges. It is also dangerous to keep matches and other ignition materials within the reach of children. Other causes of fire outbreaks are careless attitude towards electrical outlets, faulty electrical wiring, damaged electrical appliances, heating gadgets, unattended stove and gases, uncontrolled children’s attitudes towards inflammable materials, among others.

To stem the tide of further fire disasters in the state, it has now become crucial for all offices and homes to have efficient fire extinguishers. This is in addition to having functional knowledge of their usages. It is also imperative for everybody to acquire safety information in respect of fire outbreaks. We all need to be aware that fires could generally be put off by water or sand while a special foam chemical could be used to quench oil fire.

People using gas for domestic or industrial purpose need to be more vigilant. Ovens and stoves should be shut off to prevent outflow of inflammables and food flaming.

Motorists, chiefly drivers of articulated vehicles, should be more safety conscious while driving tankers with inflammable products. Ideally, drivers of articulated vehicles ought to be careful and extremely cognizant of the damage any slip on their part could cause in terms of human and material losses. But then, findings have shown that several carnages recorded on Lagos roads which resulted in fire disasters, causing needless losses, have been caused by their complicity.

Additionally, well-meaning

family and friends, watching TV/films, exercise, learning new skills, reading books — also writing and journaling.

The federal government needs to acknowledge the importance of young people's mental health during the pandemic — schools and other citadels of learning should be reopened with safe guidelines to be followed.

Keeping students out of school is not totally in the best interest of the students as millions of Nigerian students' education and mental health have been compromised.

The entire performance of students depends on their mental health.

No matter when school resumes teachers are still likely to face a pressing issue, how they can help students whose lives have already be disrupted by the pandemic to recover and stay back on track — and the earlier for this, the better.

––Tunde Henry Oluokun, Dept of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan.

Insecurity: Let’s Walk The Talk

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ar more than at any time since the end of Nigeria’s protracted civil war in 1970, the country now faces profound, existential and multifaceted security challenges exemplified by bloodthirsty Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping and scores of crimes that threaten its existence. The recent attack on the convoy of Governor Babangana Zulum of Borno State has heightened the debate on insecurity as it has raised the level of conversations and engagement to an apogee.

The dastardly attack which

Incidence of Fire Outbreaks in Lagos

onsidering recent spate of fire occurrence in which goods and property were destroyed in Lagos State, it has become extremely essential for all and sundry to pay immense attention to safety issues.

Recently, a gas explosion rocked Ajao Estate, but thanks to the bravery of men of the State Fire Service and other first responders, the fire was quickly extinguished, thereby minimising damage.

Just as the dust raised by the incidence was settling,the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) made spirited efforts to douse another fire incidence that reportedly emanated from an apartment on the second floor of a two-storey building at 3, Ogunlana Street, Oshodi. The said fire incidence, which was reported via 767/112 Toll Free lines, was attributed to electrical power surge.

This development is worrying, bearing in mind its effects on socio-economic life. The price of fire incidents is apparently huge. It results in pains and sometimes deaths of victims, loss of human and material resources as well as

harmful alcohol and drug use or more frequent urges to self-harm.

Just a month after school closures in Hubei, nearly oneforth of children in Grades two-six (that is from ages five to 11) were reported to have symptoms of depression.

Also, during the pandemic, there has been a spike in sexual assaults and raping of minors — who were supposed to be in school.

The closure of schools to most students creates uncertainty in short term — also in relation to education and employment outcomes in the future with students in their final years anxious about the job market they will be entering soon.

Notwithstanding, with reduced mental health support, there will undoubtedly be a huge need for people — young and old - to find ways to look after their well-being and mental health.

Some activities that have been credited and found helpful are — face-to-face calls with

individuals, related government agencies and organisations need to embark on fire safety and emergency management.

With the level of painful losses experienced as a result of needless fire outbreaks in the state, it is vital for all stakeholders including religious bodies, corporate organisations, schools’ owners, community leaders, public servants, political leaders, traditional rulers, NGOs and individuals across the state to toe the path of safety in their daily activities.

Enlightenment advocacy on fire prevention and management must not be left in the hands of government alone.

Everyone must be involved.

Consequently, every adult resident must educate young ones on all safety measures in order to reduce to the barest minimum the incidence of fire in the state.

The present administration in Lagos State is poised to ensure a safer and better environment for all residents.

––Tayo Ogunbiyi, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

left two civilian task force and a policeman wounded has attracted condemnation from all quarters, with the National Assembly leading the packs and calling for the removal of service chiefs for efficiency and performance while the Nigeria Governors’ Forum alongside civil society organizations continue to echo NASS stance for a rejig of the nation's security architecture.

These calls coupled with events that led to them have unfortunately made Nigeria recipe for explosion, making her cumbersome system difficult to rely upon for the security of lives and property.

But how do Nigeria get to this state while it teetered on the brink of destruction? Where is government ab initio in all of these conversations?

Government everywhere and leaders elsewhere are saddled first and foremost with protection of lives and property of the citizens. Or what remains of a government which cannot secure its people from marauders and murderers? This implies that the most essential purpose of government is basically protection of citizens against internal aggression and external insurrection.

Through the menace of dreaded Boko Haram, the country has contended with internal aggression and

has continued to battle the monster for years- on- end with internally displaced people littered across war-ravaged part of the country. While insecurity is a global phenomenon, the level at which it disturbs and disrupts the socio-economic, and religious activities in Nigeria called for deeper moments of reflections and a change not just in tactics but in methods at which the scourge is being attacked and tackled.

Insecurity, like any other existential issues, are better solved and resolved using both the technical know-how typified by various security apparatus ranging from the military and the paramilitary to their funding, equipment and level of morale and patriotism.

The other is the use of adaptive techniques which has to do with a holistic assessment into the causes and factors that ab initio led to the scourge. These two-pronged approaches have been tested in tackling the dreaded Tamil Tiger in Sri Lanka and of course in flushing the deadly FARC rebels in Colombia. For Nigeria also to win the war against her existential security challenges, it is time for leaders across board to do more of the work and little of the talk.

––Muftau Gbadegesin, muftaugbadegesin@gmail. com.

AvocadosAnd COVID-19

N

o, avocados do not spread COVID-19 but the people handling them might. The search for a perfect breakfast avocado starts with squeezing them to check for ripeness as the skin color is not reliable enough. After checking a dozen or so the choice is made and the other eleven are left behind for others to check.

The wearing of masks is

a start, and surely should be compulsory, but we need to think of every possibility to prevent the spread of the virus. Yes, I do not like wearing the masks either, but I want to live and would be ashamed if I had not and someone had become ill.

Be a Superhero, put your mask on, although wear your underpants under your pants.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

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SUNDAY AUGUST 9, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ΁˜ 2020

BUSINESS

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

Will Ajaokuta Steel Mill Ever Work?

Kasim Sumaina x-rays the misconceptions chequered by history and interplay forces making the ASCL completion and commissioning elusive till date, even as the Senate visits

S

ince inception over 49 years ago, AjaokutaSteelCompanyLimited (ASCL), Kogi State, is yet to fulfill the yearning of Nigerians to have localised steel products to boost the manufacturing industry despite successive administration’s continuous follow-ups, but heavy lips service.

The Ajaokuta Steel complex conceived in 1976, was aimed at establishing a metallurgical process plant and engineering complex with other facilities, which is meant to generate important upstream and downstream industrial and economic activities that are critical to the industrialisation of Nigeria has been marred by one controversies to another. From legal tussle of NIOMCO and taking over of operationalisation of Ajaokuta by Indians at a certain point back to the Nigerian government whose interest in resuscitating the mill is fading everyday.

Since the country’s returned to democracy in 1999,Ajaokuta has witnessed several tourist visits by appointed Minister’s and committees set up to revitalise the moribund steel plant without success.

The necessity to reposition the steel in Nigeria has geared up to be part of this worthwhile aspiration, as history is yet to reveal a nation that ever industralised without a viable steel sector.

Nigeria cannot be exception.

Ajaokuta has gained more prominence in the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari, who five years ago appointed Mr. Kayode Fayemi, the current Ekiti State governor, to promote his non-oil economic development through the mining sector and Fayemi in one of his interviews noted that the president’s appreciation for diversification and the place that mining sits in the diversification agenda, the ministry was the juciest aside Agriculture and Trade. Despite his policies and programmes together with a robust road map to ensure that the foundation is rebuilt and that the mining sector becomes a driver of the economy, like his predeccessors, couldn’t deliver Ajaokuta.

A good aspect is that the federal government and the ministry of Solid Mines and Steel Development have expressed commitment to the resuscitation and effective operation of the steel plant to help produce the much-awaited iron ore. It was envisaged that the project would generateinnumerablesocioeconomicbenefitsand increase the productivity capacity of the nation through its linkage to other industrial sectors, but government recent pronouncements about not spending a dime on the project henceforth unless on what it termed, ‘Build, Operate and Transfer’, leaves much to be desired.

Presently, the project is said to be making a business case and according to the current minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, while taking stocks of what is accruing to the ministry in Post-Covid-19 federal government’s Intervention Fund, informed that the Nigerian government will not spend any money onAjaokuta anymore, adding, that the project was making a business case. President Muhammadu Buhari has said the Nigerian government will not spend any money on Ajoakuta again. “So Ajaokuta is making a business case which has been accepted and once it is resuscitated and producing it can pay back its loan. So the whole essence is that they will build and operate it for a while upon agreed terms and at the end of the term when the loan is paid with interest, the plant will be reverted back to Nigeria and at that time a decision will be taken on who will manage it.”

The minister stressed that essentially the project on the collaboration with Ajaokuta is the “build, operate and transfer with the Russian government and that President Muhammadu Buhari and President Vladimir Putin, sat together at a bilateral and agreed on a government to government cooperation to resuscitateAjaokuta because the Russians built Ajoakuta when they where the Soviet Union in collaboration with

Decrepit production hall and machinery of Ajaokuta Steel Mill

the Ukrainians and that is why we have gone back to them, the whole essence is for them to come here, access the plant and access the job to be done that is what we call a technical audit, the Russian government will have nominated a contractor who will do the job.”

He added, “The funding is coming from two sources, the Russian export centre, which is a Russian sort of Nexim bank, called the Russian Export Centre, they are providing $450m for the project and of course from the Afrexim bank will be providing $1billion so we have a total of $1.45billion, but the whole essence is that the Russian technical experts will come, do the audit which will lead to them giving us an exact figure of how much it will cost to resuscitate AjaokutaandNationalIronOreMiningCompany (NIOMCO), the two are tied together and once this is done, of course there will be negotiations, we won’t just take whatever they give us, their will be negotiations and at the end of the day, a sum will be agreed and contract formed and that is the basis that we will proceed.”

He further stated that the Russians will bring its experts to fix the plant, and that, the Nigeria government is working on what he called, ‘local context’, “right now we proposed 60 per cent local content, everything that is required in Ajaokuta and NIOMCO that is obtainable in Nigeria must be sourced from Nigeria, we don’t want everyone to come here and dump everything on us, only thosethingsthatwecannotprovidecanbebrought from outside so right now we are at that stage of 60/40 of 60 per cent local content and 40 per cent foreign.”

Similarly, the Sole Administrator, Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Engr. Samaila Akaaba, stated that there is no point in time that a President of the country took it upon himself to travel to Russia and engage the original builders of this complex, the TPE, and the Russian President has given his consent that the required support would be given to the partnership. “We have a ministerial and a Presidential committees on this already, and a lot of work is being done. The committee has been divided into subcommittees to look at the already existing agreements which are being amended.

“And also, the Finance Committee is engaging

theAFREXIM Bank and the Russia Trade Centre that made some pledges of $1 billion $0.45 billion.

We have never gone this far before. The Senate Committee, led by the Senate Majority Leader, Distinguish Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, is here now on an oversight function.

“We are praying that that COVID-19 pandemic eases off so that the restriction can be lifted, the Russians are ready to come back to do what we call revalidation of an audit we carried out in 2018 to ascertain the status of this plant, and based on that we have had discussions with TPE and AFREXIM Bank, and they have made proposal on modernisation, and upgrade of the plant.

They are supposed to be in Abuja just to revalidate the audit before we can sign on the actual contract. And I am confident in the integrity of Mr President. That is even why many nations we want to talk to us today, because they believe in what is happening. This is time for us to move the country forward; Ajaokuta for is for me one of the best opportunities we have as country to move forward.

Akaaba further noted that the management of ASCL was working hand in hand with NIOMCO. “Our relationship is very cordial. We are always together because Ajaokuta cannot work without Itakpe. Itakpe is to provide the raw materials for Ajaokuta to work. So if we don’t work harmoniously, it will be difficult for us. We have discussion all the time to compare notes.

Both of us are part of the Presidential Project Monitoring team.”

The Senate Committee Chairman on Solid Minerals, Mines, Steel Development and Metallurgy recently paid an oversight visit to the plant.

Led by the Senate leader, Sen Abdulahi Yahaya, pledged National Assembly’s support for the two companies to come on stream soon, noting that NASS is passionate to see that everything is donetomaketheeffortofPresidentMuhammadu Buhari comes to fruition.

He said, “I think all is on the amount of commitment and passion that we have for the project. The President of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has already entered into agreement with Russia to revive Ajaokuta. You cannot start Ajaokuta without NIOMCO. “Ajaokuta is a place that if visited by anyone,

he or she would shed tears, but there is hope now going by what is being done. So the equipment and other things over the years either by pilfering or abandonment need to be rehabilitated for it to start working. The most important thing is how do we do technical audit on the entire infrastructure? So from the basis of that technical audit, we will know what is wrong and what is required to start the process. In fact, you have to do it before doing the Ajaokuta one and we have informed the Sole Administrators to put it in the 2021 budget.

“The two technical audits have to go together so while you are doing the technical audit for this one the Ajaokuta one is going on and you can synchronise the two so by the time you finish the whole technical audit and rehabilitation because it will provide you with the cost profile. The kind of technical equipment and upgrade the plant and make sure it is working successfully and also do same thing for Ajaokuta because it has been neglected for a long time”, he said.

Speaking in same vein, the Senate Committee Chairman, Mining and Metallurgy, Sen Umar TankoAl-Makura, said the technical audit remains paramount and cardinal towards the successful take-off ofASCL. “One of the critical purposes the technical audit will serve apart from cost is the implication of revamping the company. It is also a fact that these things have been moribund for some time. The technical audit will also provide the necessary upgrade because from the time the mine stopped working and now technology has advanced.

“So the technical audit will find the way and means to bring the technology here in line with best practices and modern technology. That is the way to get everything back”, Al-Makura added.

Meanwhile, the SoleAdministrator, NIOMCO, Augustus Nkechika, informed that NIOMCO’S mandate to provide the basic raw material for iron and steel production makes the company strategic to the nation. “As an evident of this, NIOMCO is required to supply Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, ASCL, with 2.5 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate with Iron (Fe) content of 63-64 per cent in the latter’s operation during which it is expected to produce 1.3 million tonnes of steel.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ΁˜ 2020

BUSINESS/ENERGY

NNPC Headquarters, NNPC Towers, Abuja

Challenged, NNPC’s Kyari Maintains Course Clearly invigorated from the deserved plaudits trailing his first anniversary in the saddle as NNPC’s boss, Mallam Mele Kyari, brushes aside allegations from shadowy oil syndicates holding his focus on consolidating and further deepening good governance, writes Louis Achi

V

ia his Twitter handle, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State lauded but also warned the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, that oil cabal would soon come after him. El-Rufai’s prescient prediction came against the background of the sweeping, disruptive governance changes the GMD was putting in place.

Just as the governor predicted, several online publications, particularly two Nigerian-owned, US-based online platforms carried reports alleging that Nigerian officials and NNPC staff sold 48 million barrels of diverted crude oil.

Subsequently, several television broadcasts and commentaries in respect of the same subject were aired.

The publications mirrored the content of a recent letter forwarded to NNPC on behalf of SAMANO SA DE CV by its solicitors, Messrs. Lords & Temple.

The NNPC though reacting late, has however dismissed the publications’ allegations, stating unequivocally that they are “falsehoods, offensive, gold-digging and a calculated attempt by the said SAMANO SA DE CV (SAMANO) working in concert with its local and international agents to intimidate, blackmail and extort money from the Federal Government of Nigeria and NNPC.” The national oil coy further made specific clarifications which apparently unmasked SAMANO SA DE CV (SAMANO)’s dodgy plots and unwholesome schemes.

With its detailed, strong rebuttal of the allegations of missing 48 million barrels of crude oil valued at $2.5 billion, Kyari’s NNPC has left no one in doubt it is not about to tolerate shadowy international briefcase companies and syndicates of fraudsters adept at targeting Nigeria with all manner of tricky proposals that are of no benefit to the country.

These companies usually come up with ‘sweetheart’ deals and proposals of joint ventures only to turn round to claim breaches and then resort to blackmail in

an attempt to extract undeserved monetary benefits for themselves.

If they succeeded in the past, Kyari has just shown them he is not about to fall for their tricks. NNPC clearly did a detailed investigation of this particular company and exposed its fraudulent claims and criminal history.

But this time, the syndicate posed as providing information that would lead to recovery of stolen national asset it clearly didn’t exist.

The corporation revealed that SAMANO first contacted officials of the Federal Government sometime in 2015, indicating it had been approached by an unnamed group in China to buy 48 million barrels of Nigerian crude, which they believed to have been stolen from Nigeria. SAMANO had alleged that the oil was stolen and shipped to China before the assumption of office of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

SAMANO had then requested to be allowed to purchase the ‘stolen’ crude oil after its recovery by the Federal Government. In a seeming volte-face, SAMANO indicated

that it was no longer interested in buying the crude as it only obliged the Federal Government with the information to assist President Buhari’s anti-corruption fight.

From investigations and checks with top experts, based on the operations and state of the international crude oil market, it seems impossible to ship 48 million barrels of crude oil to just go missing from Nigeria to China without any record or trace.

Corroborating the national oil company’s position, an oil expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity, queried the huge volume alleged to be missing.

“It is not possible. How did they move such volume of crude oil? From which terminal was it moved? If you are able to get such volume out of the country illegally, it will require the active participation of over 20 agencies of the government that will sign off on it. How would you pull that off? If you succeeded in pulling that off, the impact on the country’s finance would be immediate,” the expert stated.

Also reacting, another operator in the sector, dismissed the allegation of 48 million

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ΁˜ 2020

BUSINESS/ENERGY Challenged, NNPC’s Kyari Maintains Course stolen crude. “This looks like another false alarm, like the $48.9 billion alleged to be missing or unaccounted for by the NNPC a few years ago. May be there is a special appeal the number 48 holds to those who want to attack NNPC,” he quipped .

According to NNPC, the daily production of crude oil in Nigeria, as of 2015, was below 1.6 million barrels. Forty-eight million barrels of crude oil would have been the total production capacity of the country for a whole month. It was simply impossible for one-month crude oil production for the entire country to disappear.

Besides, the NNPC was also aware that as of the time and considering the fact that China is one of the most regulated economies in the world, the export of crude oil from Nigeria to China was exclusively undertaken by four known companies approved by the Chinese government, under its control, ownership, and management.

It would, therefore, have been impossible to transport 48 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria to China without the active involvement of the said companies.

From an economic perspective, it made little sense that anyone would store that volume of crude oil in China for such a considerable period having regard to the attendant significant storage costs.

It is noteworthy that the Chinese government had, through its officials, stated emphatically in response to this allegation at different fora, including the United Nations General Assembly that there was no stolen Nigerian crude oil stored in any port or terminal or storage facility in China.

Given the fact that the recovery of the country’s looted resources has been an integral component of state policy under the current administration, a further decisive step was taken to establish or confirm SAMANO’s claims.

The Federal Government empaneled a Presidential Committee on Recovery of Stolen Nigerian Crude Oil in response to the claims made by several companies including SAMANO over alleged stolen Nigerian crude oil allegedly stored in China.

The presidential committee requested that SAMANO furnish it with proof of its allegations but SAMANO declined this request.

Despite the failure of SAMANO to produce verifiable evidence in support of its allegations, relevant officials were mandated to pay an in-person visit to China and further investigate SAMANO’s claim.

It was during this fact-finding trip to China that it was discovered that SAMANO’s claim was false as there were no 48 million barrels of stolen Nigerian crude oil in any port, terminal or storage facility in China.

The presidential committee also discovered that all the documents presented by SAMANO in support of its claims were not genuine as a result, the government terminated all communications with SAMANO as it became apparent that its claim was a hoax.

“When SAMANO realised the game was up, it apparently opted for blackmail and intimidation of key government officials.

It curiously threatened to publicise the fact that the non-existent crude oil had been recovered, sold and proceeds looted by senior government officials and other personalities when it knew this was absolute falsehood.

“SAMANO boldly made several demands including the payment of $125 million by the government officials to prevent it from disclosing this information to the public. This demand soon morphed into harassment as it embarked on a mischievous exercise to embarrass the Federal Government on international media platforms and before several international institutions like the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) all in a calculated bid to blackmail the government and NNPC to play ball and pay it a tidy amount of money as compensation,” a source said.

Enter DSS, Police, AGF Flowing from the constant nuisance SAMANO was constituting, NNPC was compelled to make a formal report to the

GMD of NNPC, Mele Kyari

Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police, while other victims wrote petitions in respect of the same subject to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

After investigations by the police and the DSS and confessions by agents of SAMANO, it was discovered that the allegations of conspiracy, forgery, obtaining money by false pretence, blackmail and extortion were well-founded and that some of the fraudulent activities of a certain Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Jose Salazar Tinajero (both agents of SAMANO) constituted a threat to the national security of the country.

According to Afe Babalola & Co, NNPC’s counsel, during its investigation, the Nigerian police discovered that SAMANO is part of a notorious crime syndicate that habitually intimidates, blackmails, and defrauds government officials and other high-profile persons.

The legal counsel explained further, “For instance, it was discovered that Mr. Ramirez, SAMANO’s representative, was indicted by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas as the mastermind of a scheme leading to the loss of several millions of dollars through various mail and wire frauds between 2010 and 2013.

“The police became aware that Mr. Ramirez fled the US and settled in Nigeria where he continued his criminal activities in conjunction with SAMANO and its managing director. There is a subsisting warrant issued by the United States government for the arrest of Mr. Ramirez.

His wife has been convicted in the United States for her role in a visa lottery scam he masterminded.”

Some of these investigations, according to NNPC’s counsel, have led to the filing of Charge No.: FCT/HC/BU/CR/134/2019 between Federal Republic of Nigeria v.

Marco Antonio Ramirez & 4 Others at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Some of the offences in the charge are criminal conspiracy, forgery, extortion and attempt to obtain money by false pretence.

On the part of NNPC, the corporation is convinced that “the chameleonic posture

of SAMANO as a potential buyer, then gratuitous informant and subsequently a whistle-blower demonstrates its desperation to hoodwink and defraud the Federal Republic of Nigeria by all means,” as its counsel captured the unfolding matter.

The NNPC also understands that Mr. Ramirez and his cohorts are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for other unrelated offences at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in Charge No: FCT/HC/CR/147/2016 and the Federal High Court, Lagos in Charge No: ID/2763/2016.

Having seen that its ploy was unravelling and in what appears a desperate last-ditch effort, according to NNPC’s reaction, SAMANO claimed it was entitled to compensation for supplying information on the missing crude oil pursuant to the Federal Government’s Whistle Blower Policy.

“But they forgot that the Whistle-blower Policy of the Federal Government only commenced in December 2016 while the flawed information they supplied was in 2015. Worse, it failed to establish that the information it allegedly provided led to any recovery or that the information was disseminated through the proper channel,” it stated.

Kyari Maintains Course NNPC is arguably the biggest stateowned oil company in Africa. NNPC, Algeria’s Sonatrach, Angola’s Sonangol and other notable NOCs in Africa stand on the brink of significant disruption – and of substantial opportunity - as a new era of structurally lower oil prices challenges business models that had long relied largely on exploration and production of hydrocarbons, oil.

To manage these challenges require new thinking and boldness. And this is where Kyari comes in. He was appointed GMD

by President Muhammadu Buhari, July 8, 2019.

Perhaps his toughest call in an industry he has spent much of his professional life in, Kyari has responded to his new top-draw responsibility by quickly taking charge

in close synergy with his corporation’s oversight entity, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. His one-year trajectory has simultaneously demonstrated a fundamental grasp of what fossil energy means and a nimble understanding of the imperative of adroit governance of the giant that supervises the strategic sector.

Besides its role as the bedrock of the Nigerian economy, the petroleum industry has been one of the key defining phenomena of the country’s post-independence history. This fact centralises NNPC in the nation’s political economy, given the corporation’s assigned role in the industry.

Not surprisingly, the corporation’s experience has been marked by struggles over what the corporation controls and over who controls it.

Kyari set sail by defining a vision of NNPC’s transformation and sent a clear message that the corporation’s lukewarm governance narratives of the past are gone for good.

With Kyari’s new vision of the corporation boldly anchored on the principle of ‘Transparency, Accountability, Performance and Excellence’ (TAPE), there is a renewed attempt to achieve global excellence.

Deploying more clarity to both staff and critical industry stakeholders, he stressed that going forward, excuses for poor performance are unacceptable.

He said, “We either deliver or walk away in shame.”

Perhaps, one of the most important governance initiatives that dealt a blow to the extreme operational opacity reputation of the corporation is ‘Operation White,’ a presidential mandated collaborative initiative, driven by NNPC with the active participation of regulatory and security agencies as well as other stakeholders in ensuring that all molecules of regulated petroleum products imported by NNPC are accounted for and utilised in the country.

This initiative effectively ended the era of poor transparency in the corporation’s governance style.

On account of this, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) commended the decision of NNPC to make public its audited accounts for the first time in its history with the publication of its 2018 Audited Financial Statement (AFS) on its website. This is the first in 43 years.

Kyari also followed up with a strong commitment by charging the chief operating officers of directorates to develop five key priority areas (KPA). These include the upstream, refining and petrochemicals, downstream and the finance/accounts directorates.

At a ceremony to sign off on the performance bonds for the priority areas, he repeated that there would be no hiding place for non-performance. Currently, several of those KPAs have been delivered, while a few of them are still being pursued vigorously across the entire value-chain of the NNPC business.

Significantly, Kyari has demonstrated a bold move in appointing the highest number of women into management positions such as the chief operating officer (Downstream Directorate), chief strategist/planner, and chief research/ innovation officer.

Kyari has recorded other important positives, including superintending the crude oil find in the Kolmani Structure in the Upper Benue Trough; signing of a Funding & Technical Services Agreement (FTSA) and Alternative Financing deal for NPDC’s OML 13 ($3.15billion) and OML 65 ($876million); achieving 20 percent year-on-year revenue reservoir studies alongside the upgrade of IDSL’s Data Processing Centre; $300 million reduction in AKK project cost via contract renegotiation; completion of feasibility studies for Condensate Refinery Project and the award of its Front End Engineering Design (FEED).

After it was exposed for what it was as a blackmail attempt, the sydincate continued to peddle falsehood by claiming that Kyari was grilled by the department of State Security, (DSS). THISDAY checks with DSS on its purported interogation of the Kyari proved not to be true as the agency denied that it even invited Kyari for questioning.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ΁˜ 2020

BUSINESS /PERSPECTIVE

Uphill Task to Get Nigeria Producing Again Armsfree Ajanaku

T

he existential threat confronting Nigeria on account of its ballooning population is one reality proving to be a big puzzle. Even for the most creative policy czars, one difficult question has to do with how best to engage such a big population at a time when industrial production, and other economic activities, which generate massive employment, have seriously declined. Another dimension of the problem confronting those who understand the severity of this threat is: how will a country, which is currently borrowing on a massive scale to fund supposed development priorities cater for a very youthful population, which continues to grow at an exponential rate? According to the World Bank, as at 2018, Nigeria annual population growth rate was of 2.603 percent. In its country overview on Nigeria, the very ominous point is made about how despite expansion in some sectors, employment creation in Nigeria remains weak and insufficient to absorb the fast-growing labour force, resulting in high rate of unemployment (23 percent in 2018), with another 20 percent of the labour force underemployed.

A further scrutiny of figures on Nigeria would lead to an extrapolation that nearly half of the national population made up of the unemployed and underemployed, is clearly not contributing in terms of development, growth and national progress. It further implies that this huge chunk of the population that has been excluded from economic activity neither contributes meaningfully to the national tax net, nor does it propel the wheel of economic progress by spending to support economic activities as it most likely does not have the purchasing power. While these worrying indices make some fret about the danger, which lies ahead, given such a disengaged population, that has not strategically equipped with the right skill set, and put to work through massive job creation, there are others who try to look at the sunny side of things. These optimists argue that there are countries, which are more populous than Nigeria, which have successfully used their huge population number as a key element to project national power. China is an example; with around 1.4 billion people as 2019. Not minding its pre-eminent place as the country with the most human beings on earth, China has managed to strategically harness its massive population to achieve the feat of becoming the industrial and production hub of the world.

Little wonder, China’s unemployment rate, notwithstanding reservations that the figures are too low to reflect the true state of its situation, still has a considerably low unemployment rate for its huge population.

So what is China doing right that Nigeria is not doing? The short and simple answer is that countries like China and the rest of the Asian Tigers are producing, while Nigeria has

Zainab Ahmed

been stuck in its very bad habit of compulsive and conspicuous consumption. As things stand, the national currency is fast losing ground, and has consistently lost its value.

This is happening as the fiscal authorities demonstrate no sufficient grasp about what to do to salvage the national currency. With unstable earnings from oil exports continuing to dominate most of the country’s fiscal plans, many citizens wonder why the long winding discussions about the imperative of diversifying the economy, have not been translated to real action on the ground. Beyond, the talk-based activity of policy articulation, the desperate fiscal situation Nigeria is currently stuck in, requires it takes important first steps to shed its anti-production toga by producing some of the basic things consumed in the country.

Considering the severity of the economic crisis, which has in no small measure contributed to the many manifestations of national instability Nigeria continues to experience, there is a dire need for bold new thinking and policy execution to Make Nigeria Produce Again (MANPA). Such a radical programme with the objective of resetting national policy priorities towards production should take inspiration from some milestones recorded in the past. There was indeed a time Nigeria was so productive that the same national currency, which is currently in tatters exchanged for 80Kobo to $1 (United States Dollar) in 1980. This feat, which would sound very impossible at the moment, was achieved at the time because there was a lot of local production going on within the country. In the automobile sector, Nigeria assembled

its cars, and even locally produced the car parts with such companies as Peugeot, Volkswagen, ANAMCO and Steyr blazing the trail. Companies like Exide produced car batteries while Dunlop in Lagos and Michelin in Port Harcourt, produced tryes which raw materials were sourced from the rubber plantations of the Niger Delta.

In the textile sector, Nigeria produced clothes from textile made in mills in Kaduna and Lagos. There was the shoe company, Bata, which made the footwear Nigerians needed. It is an indicator of the wasteful, prodigal and dream-killing kind of political leadership Nigeria has produced over the years that these businesses were eventually made prostrate, and finally collapsed. When these major drivers of industrial production in the country were allowed to go into coma, Nigeria replaced vibrant production with unbridled importation. The fact that Nigeria has over the years cemented its place as a dumping ground for finished goods, is at the heart of the fiscal crisis the country is engulfed in. To worsen things, Nigeria runs a parasitic federal system wherein 36 wobbly states go to Abuja every month to collect monies they have not worked for. Since free money breeds laziness of the most extreme type, the result of Nigeria’s “feeding bottle” federalism has breed indolence, corruption and a most dysfunctional country, where nothing matters except compulsive consumption. It is therefore no coincidence that the Naira continues to take a beating.

Despite this very bleak outlook, there are a few institutions piloting innovative ideas, which suggest some sort of understanding of

what needs to be done. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for instance has been pushing in the direction of using financing mechanisms to stimulate local production. Under the Governorship of Godwin Emefiele, supply of finance to the real sector to encourage local production has been ramped up. This approach reflects in such programmes as the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), which data from 2018 shows 188.96 billion being disbursed through 19 participating financial institutions to 646,213 small holder farmers who reportedly cultivated 640,422 hectares.

Other are the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, the Paddy Aggregation Scheme rice millers, the Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility and the Export Development Facility.

There is also the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, which saw N6.37billion being disbursed as loans and grants in 2018.

Despite the good intentions of institutions like the CBN, what it has been doing is largely to ignite a small spark, which could serve as promising practice, for the fiscal authorities with the primary responsibility policy implementation to replicate. Ultimately, the fiscal authorities have to closely study some of the ideas, which have been piloted, and then scale them up for long lasting impact.

If for instance the core ideas discussed in the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of 2017 are followed through, the country could be on the road anchoring the economy on production. The plan for instance focuses on achieving macroeconomic stability and economic diversification. These it hopes to achieve by undertaking fiscal stimulus, ensuring monetary stability and improving the external balance of trade.

To achieve economic diversification, the policy had looked at giving attention to key sectors driving and enabling economic growth, with particular focus on agriculture, energy and MSME led growth in industry, manufacturing and key services by leveraging science and technology. The ERGP in its approach had enthused that the current administration was not lacking the “strong political determination, commitment and will at the highest level.” Three years after the plan was put forward, the results in the short term do not look promising. Nigeria continues to retain its ignominious distinction as the poverty capital of the entire world. It will take exceptional political will, backed by visionary leadership to take up the cause of “making Nigeria produce again.” Again, this uphill requires an informed, enlightened and transformative political leadership, which would look squarely at the precarious state of the country and make the right decisions.

It is not the kind of political leadership as recently exemplified by the National Assembly, which will blatantly decline to patronise made in Nigerian cars, but prefers to use scarce financial resources to import exotic Japanese brands, while exporting precious jobs overseas.

Translating your Winning Mindset to your Small Business Growth Toyosi Olatunji There’s no denying the fact that owning and running a small business and then growing it consistently – takes a certain kind of mindset, a winning mindset, to be precise.

However, in discouraging times, such as when a pandemic hits and economies start to deflate around the world, it can be tough to remain positive and find ways of growing your small business.

How to translate your winning mindset into small business growth Inarguably, small businesses are probably the hardest to take a hit, post-pandemic. As a small business, you now need to be very careful about how you plan your cash flow, or what kind of remuneration your employees receive, for example.

While a volatile economy can destroy many opportunities for growth, it can potentially create

just as many. There are actually a number of ways small businesses can better prepare for the future, prime themselves for growth, and come out stronger during economic turmoil.

Know how to keep customers happy Existing, loyal customers are far more to likely to give you sales opportunities during a pandemic than new ones. This places extra responsibility on your shoulders to keep them happy – which means communicating any changes in business in a prompt manner.

This may include managerial decisions to keep customers informed, changing hours of operation, flexible service or value offerings which are available for a limited time, and so on.

Communication is key, and it’s even more important at a time like this, because you want to your existing customers to remain loyal – helping you stay on the path to growth.

Give your customer base a boost It’s time to hustle and get creative! During an economic downturn, you really need to be doing everything possible to offer your customers something that your competitors aren’t. In fact, opportunities are abound to even pull customers from your competitors.

Many small businesses tend to halt cash flow towards marketing altogether in challenging times, which can be a mistake. It’s quite likely that your competitors have cut down on their ad and marketing costs – and this actually presents you with an ‘open season’ to gain a market share by continuing to advertise and market. But naturally, it’s going to be within reason.

Just a few fantastic and cost-effective ways to market can range from implementing PPC campaigns to optimising content for search engines and revisiting your website to deliver a superior user experience. It’s really a time to look inwards !!!!

Grab that pencil sharpener A time such as the pandemic we’re currently going through is a good opportunity to sharpen the pencil, so to speak, and reflect on your key business strategies.

Start focusing on the things that you couldn’t seem to find the time to do so when things were ‘normal’. Gather, understand and process key data to make important strategic decisions.

For instance, you can use certain kinds of software to check online reviews about your business, update listings across more than 50 sites and monitor online reputation.

Try out these insightful tips and set coordinates for “business growth”.

Toyosi Olatunji is the CEO of Arcane Insights Ltd, a growth-strategy advisory firm for SMEs. www.arcaneinsights.com.

SUNDAY AUGUST 9, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ΁˜ 2020

BUSINESS/CONSUMER

One of the Shoprite outlet in Lagos

Shoprite’s Proposed Exit and Expected Fallouts Raheem Akingbolu

P

erhaps because its arrival in the Nigerian market redefined consumers’ purchasing habit, the news early last week that South Africanowned Shoprite, was considering leaving Nigeria, generated debate among Nigerians. Why some saw the development as retrogressive, considering the company’s economic advantage, especially in the area of job creation, others saw it as opportunity for Nigerian investors to key in and further explore the market. But before the dust could settled, the new was debunked.

The fallout from the development has however given birth to more questions: did promoters of Shoprite come up with the news to unsettle the market? Were they misquoted? What is the link between COVID-19 challenge referred to and the pending case against the Africa’s largest supermarket conglomerate? Can one justify the roles played by the purveyors of social media news and lots more?

According to the company, the restrictions as a result of the lockdown because of coronavirus had

affected its operations in 14 African countries, with sales declining by 1.4 per cent in those markets. The company, however, stated that its South African operations on the other hand witnessed “significant growth”.

The company disclosed this in a statement titled: “Operational and Voluntary Trading Update (52 Weeks Ended June 28, 2020), seen

by THISDAY recently.

“Following approaches from various potential investors and in line with our re-evaluation of the Group’s operating model in Nigeria, the Board has decided to initiate a formal process to consider the potential sale of all, or a majority stake, in Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shoprite International Limited.

“As such, Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited may be classified as discontinued operation when Shoprite reports its results for the year. Any further updates will be provided to the market at the appropriate time,” the company explained.

It disclosed that its international supermarkets (excluding Nigeria) contributed 11.6 per cent to the group’s sales and reported 1.4 per cent decline in sales from 2018.

South African operations contributed 78 per cent of overall sales and

saw 8.7 per cent rise for the year.

It stated that despite difficult circumstances occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown and accompanying regulations governing trade, transport and operations, the group increased total sale of merchandise for the 52-week to June 28, 2020 (including the impact of hyperinflation in the prior year), by 6.4 per cent to approximately R156.9 billion.

But beyond the reasons given, there were other factors experts mentioned as part of the reasons the company could decide to leave Nigeria. Top among this was the recent affirmation by the Appeal Court sitting in Lagos of the judgment of a Lagos High Court that awarded $10 million damages against Shoprite Checkers (PTY) Limited, in a suit filed by AIC Limited that the retail giant breached an agreement to set up its Nigerian arm. This coupled with the currency-induced inflation surges, which the group is battling in the continent - especially in Nigeria, where it has been hit hard in recent times.

The story took another dimension, when purveyors of online news took to the street to release speculative news trend about the likely benefactors of the company’s exit. While some reeled out names of existing

retail supermarket brands that may likely reaped from the failure of Shoprite, others affirmed that business moguls like Aliko Dangote, Peter Obi and Tayo Amusan had shown interest in the business.

However, according to feelers from within and outside the Supermarket conglomerate, Tayo Amusan is believed to have bought the majority shareholding in the company through his company, Persianas Group. Besides, another credible source had confirmed that a major rebranding, which may change the name Shoprite to Jarra, following the acquisition by Amusan’s Persianas Group, may happen in Nigeria, any moment from now.

From whichever way one chooses to look at it, the takeover by the new investor is expected to augur well for Nigeria and Nigerians as FX that would have been taken out will remain in the economy because most of the products, notably agricultural produces and other consumables that could be produced in the country will be sourced locally and there won’t be repatriation of funds, hitherto done by Shoprite.

With the recent development, if many things are not cleared, the fact that the brand is troubled, is not in doubt.

A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

09.08.2020

I

HIS GRAND PLAN FOR RIVERS STATE Against the backdrop of unending negative news coming out of Rivers State, Vanessa Obioha reports that creative consultant, Yibo Koko, who superintends the carefully-structured Rivers State Tourism Development Agency(RSTDA) as Director General and Chief Executive Officer by the Governor Nyesom Wike administration is pushing for a N100-billion grand scheme that is set to change the narrative, using culture and tourism

t is difficult to stamp a single title on Yibo Koko. To some, he is one of the top comedians who gained fame on the Opa Williams’ ‘Nite of A Thousand Laugh’ show and publicized the musical comedy genre. To another set, he is a prominent filmmaker with movies such as ‘A Clean Woman’ which fetched him accolades including an Outstanding Achievement in Film Making Award at the 42nd Brooklyn Arts Council International Film Festival, Long Island University, New York.

In the creative space, he goes by a slew of titles: concept designer, creative consultant to mention a few.

Perhaps, the most popular appellation that people easily connect with is a dramatist.

The graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Port Harcourt, who was once head of Production, African Magic MNET West Africa, is famous for his theatre productions, particularly ‘Seki’, the dance drama which Koko created and directed 23 years ago.

The drama was originally performed as Owu-Amapu-Ti and had its first showing at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos on May 27, 1998.

‘Seki’ has over the years become an identity, a badge of honour for the Niger Delta region, traversing different cultures to bring to the stage the spectacular colours, clatter and culture of the riverine region.

It was the preferred choice for the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) opening performance, and when the company wanted to entertain and educate its Big Brother Naija contestants last year on Nigeria’s rich culture, ‘Seki’ was the best option.

Beyond the drama and splendour, ‘Seki’ is multilayered with historical themes.

“Seki as a dance form is designed to elicit in the audience a nostalgic feeling of pristine proportions,” he explains. “To achieve this objective in design, the scripting of Seki, took into cognizance the traditional ethos of the Ijaws, Igbanis, Ikwerres, Ogonis, Ogbas, Egbemas, Ndonis and others of Old Rivers state in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria.

Select distinct dances and songs, masquerades displays were put together to retell a narrative almost obfuscated by the vagaries of modernity as expressed in pop culture, etc; which almost annihilated or render extinct the rich cultural mores of a people vibrant for their allegiance to their cultural heritage.”

A notable draft of history presented in the drama is the origin of the American tap dance. Koko argues that the dance which was popularised globally by African Americans, in the salty 19th Century, originally came from the old Rivers State in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria with the use of the Igbiri (traditional rattle).

“The unique sound that issues from the Igbiri transcends the American antecedence of the tap dancers’ shoes historically,” he says.

Dance is inarguably deeply ingrained in Koko’s DNA. It is not unlikely to find him giving tutorial classes on cultural dances on social media. However, with ‘Seki’, the dramatist’s ultimate goal is to change

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ ͷ˜ 2020

COVER

One Man Moving Rivers From Rhetoric to the Historic the narrative of the Niger Delta as an area rife with militancy.

“Ostensibly, the Niger Delta question has moved from rhetoric and is gradually assuming historic proportions,” he argues.

“The narrative of the region has generated and dominated discourse in different fora with stakeholders, gatekeepers and concerned or interested citizens proffering solutions or proactive measures toward addressing the issues confronting the region.

“One of the early forms of agitation was intellectual (dialogue) which threw up issues of resource control, 13% derivation and fiscal federalism. Despite these proposals, one of which was approved — 13% derivation — coupled with the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ministry of Niger Delta charged solely with the development and deployment of the resources derivable from the region for its overall benefit and development, these rather gave rise to violent agitation, resulting in pipeline vandalism and illegal refining of crude.

“These activities have further destroyed the ecosystem in this region. It is bad as it can be, presently. But one can only imagine what the future holds for our children. A journey through our communities and creeks would tell the story of a future that awaits us.”

The more he ponders on the devastating state of his region, the more he queries past actions.

“Wither the humongous sums already released over the last few years for the development of the region? How and for what were these monies deployed into by our leaders? One-kilometer roads that last but for a season and breakdown due to poor quality work? Or the servicing of political appointees?”

He adds, “However, as a region, we must be real with ourselves to say; we are miles behind in terms of development (structures and infrastructure). Blaming it on the difficult ‘terrain’ would not suffice.”

The urgency to change that perception which in recent times is on a lower level has notched up since Koko was appointed the new Director-General; Rivers State Tourism Development Agency (RSTDA) on January 2.

It is not the first time he is working with his state government.

He was the creative consultant to the Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism conceptualizing and designing the rebirth of the state’s carnival popularly called CARNIRIV in 2008.

With his new appointment, Koko didn’t waste time rolling up his sleeves. He rises before the sun, crafting creative ways to market Rivers state, the drilling well of most oil companies in the country to the world. Not even the capricious coronavirus pandemic which has an adverse effect on tourism globally intimidated Koko’s fired up ambition.

The stage performer devised ways to promote his cause, leveraging on social media to hold conversations that will advance his mission. Koko is convinced that the effective way to heal the bleeding region is to advance the creative economy.

“From the foregoing, it is fundamental to note that whereas the Niger Delta is blessed with numerous cerebral minds, we seem not to have made the most of these intangible assets. To that end, we have thoroughly considered solutions preferred and assessed their impact and concluded that in this age and time, violent agitation should give way to the Creative Economy (Green and Blue Economy). This concept is hinged on the fact that globally today, it

Koko

These activities have further destroyed the ecosystem in this region. It is bad as it can be, presently. But one can only imagine what the future holds for our children. A journey through our communities and creeks would tell the story of a future that awaits us.

Boat regatta

is the knowledge capacity, not so much of natural resources that holds sway,” he states.

He is convinced that tourism in Rivers has the potential to generate over N100 billion with the possibility of expanding to trillions of naira in a few years.

Koko takes his new assignment very seriously and he is throwing all the wealth of knowledge that he has acquired over the years into it. Because of his understanding of Governor Nyesom Wike’s drive to diversify the economy of the state

through exploration and exploitation of the abundant money-spinning potentials in the state, Koko has chosen to run with the governor’s vision by aligning with the revenue base financing stimulus programme.

He is convinced that revenue based financing is the most progressive economic stimulus instrument to reboot tourism to boost the IGR –profile of Rivers state by up to 50 percent.

RBF is basically an investment vehicle deployed by financial institutions (banks) to finance bankable marketplace commodities, in this case, the Rivers State Tourism Development Agency (RSTDA) presenting culture and tourism commodities from each of 23 Local Government Areas that make up the state.

In his calculation, Koko is targeting 10 culture and tourism products per local government area for a guaranteed return on investment.

He explained, “It is not a loan or a grant, it is simply a marketplace fiscal instrument using shared revenuepartnerships to deploy strategic commodities with a high profitability profile for the investing partners. The RSTDA –Revenue based-finance strategy drives 10 commercial banks to finance 10 tourism commodity marketplaces with N100 Billion economic stimulus across a four-year structured investment framework at a guaranteed 100% revenue rate of return).”

So how does it work? Koko has assembled a team that will create arts and culture tourism –marketplace mobile app, called ‘Tourivarian’.

With this in place, they will deploy 10 commodities across 50 weeks of mobile ‘tourivarian festivals to connect two million smart culture citizens in Rivers state. This will generate in excess of N500 billion as tourism marketplace revenue.

So, will the money come from the state government? “No!” Koko stated emphatically. What he needs is the start-up fund, tools and equipment for the agency. The good news is that his scheme may be a major plank of Governor Nyesom Wike’s plan to reform restive youths.

He supports his proposed solution with studies that postulate that there is a decline in the production and investment in Nigeria crude oil production due to oil theft and insecurities.

For long, the creative industry has been relegated but since its rapid growth in the past few years, including contributing to the Gross Domestic Product of the country, there’s been an increased interest in Nollywood that was acclaimed the second biggest employer in Nigeria by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

With oil losing its relevance in a pandemic ridden era, Koko’s proposal for a creative economy might be welcoming to pundits who have for long campaigned for the revival of the arts scene in the state.

Though the creative artist has been actively engaging informed persons from different parts of the industry on Instagram with the RSTDA Chats, he is using his ‘Seki’ dance as a touchpoint to promote his cause.

“We have pioneered and pushed a fresh narrative for the region through the Seki Dance Drama in what we style ‘Creative Economy: A Region Beyond Oil,’” he says.

“Through our performances thus far, we have proven that the majority of youths who have become cheap recruits for oil bunkering, cults, kidnapping and political thuggery ca n b e creatively engaged and their latent talent harnessed. “ We h a v e d i s c o v e r e d t h a t the creative industry is a huge canopy that can accommodate all manner of professionals from administrators, engineers, marketers, a c countants, designers, to make up artists. This can also ameliorate the unemployment rate among a teeming tribe of graduates,” he explains.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ AUGUST 9, 2020

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PEOPLE

Obaseki and his Midas Touch Intechnical, Vocational Education Rosemond Ugbe

R

he institution of goodgovernance forms the policy thrust of any responsive government. Such a governmentmust be able to impact positively on its domain during its tenure inoffice.

However, most leaders aspireto positions of authority without a clear-cut agenda or blueprint of whatgovernance entails. This shortcoming ultimately leaves the electorate asvictims of poor governance and underdevelopment.

Education is the greatestlegacy that any government can provide for its people to engender growth andprogress. It is the mainstay of innovations and ideas that can be galvanisedinto growth units for the socioeconomic transformation of the state.

Quality education entails amix of technical, vocational and theoretical aspects, designed to producedesired products for advancement of the nation.

Recognising the importance ofeducation as the bedrock of development, with special emphasis on skills andmanpower development, in driving the economic growth of Edo State, GovernorGodwin Obaseki, upon assumption of office convened an Education Summit tofashion out ways to revamp the technical and vocational sub-sector. Concerns ofstaffing, building of infrastructure, procurement of equipment and provision ofa conducive learning environment in line with current trends, were highlighted.

Prior to the advent of theadministration, Edo State had four technical colleges located in Benin City,Afuze, Igarra and Irrua. The present administration created a new technicalcollege which is the old St Kizito College at Isi in Uhunmwode Local GovernmentArea.

The schools were a shadow ofwhat ought to be in terms of vocational training, manpower and equipment. It ison record that the last renovation works and procurement of equipment in thecolleges were done in 1983. There was also a decline in enrolment and parentswere not forthcoming in sending their wards to the schools.

Governor Godwin Obaseki,after a guided tour of Benin Technical College (BTC) now Government Science andTechnical College, in line with the administration’s job creation initiativethrough skills acquisition, embarked on an action plan to restore the glory oftechnical colleges in each of the senatorial districts with the pilot scheme atBenin City, Igarra and Irrua.

The mandate was to redesignthe programme based on informed decision from the findings and subsequently,the schools were renamed Science and Technical colleges to reflect the reforms.

The Government Science andTechnical College (GSTC) in Benin City was reconstructed with new classroomsand workshops as well as modern equipment. New teachers were employed anddemonstrators were also recruited for the workshops which never existed in allthe technical colleges in the state.

The GSTC was also equippedwith an E-library which is connected to the internet. Power supply is constantas power is connected to the national grid for the effective deployment of theinstructional materials in the school.

At Igarra and Sugberu, IrruaScience and Technical Colleges, structures in the schools have been upgraded,more classrooms have been built, instructional equipment procured and moreteachers and moderators employed to man the workshops.

It should be pointed outhere, that one of the greatest legacies of the present administration is theutilisation of the interventions and grants for development and upgrading ofthe schools which had existed in the past, but were barely accessed.

It is worthy of note that theteachers and moderators in the pilot Science and Technical colleges are beingtrained and re-trained on how to source instructional materials and to boosttheir competence and capacity on the job. The overriding effect is that thestudents now have knowledge of digital science and emerging global trends inlearning.

Another milestone of theGovernor Obaseki’s administration worthy of mention in technical and vocationaleducation in the state is that all the Science and Technical Colleges have beenaccredited in line with the requirements of the Vocational and TechnicalEducation Board, having passed through the enlistment process of the programmesin the colleges, verification and subsequent accreditation. This isattributable to the reforms in technical and vocational education which haveyielded dividends.

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki (middle); Senior Special Assistant to the Edo State Governor on Skills Development and Job Creation, Mrs Ukinebo Dare (right), and Team Lead, Government Science and Technical College Benin Rehabilitation Programme, Giles Omezi, during the governor’s inspection tour of the College in Benin City, Edo State capital

Cross-section of students taking lessons in one of the newly rebuilt classrooms at the Government Science and Technical College (GSTC) formerly Benin Technical College project, in Benin City, Edo State

Newly revamped blocks of classrooms at the Government Science and Technical College (formerly Benin Technical College), during Governor Godwin Obaseki’s inspection tour of the College in Benin City, Edo State capital It is evident that GovernorGodwin Obaseki is determined to transform the educational sector and properlydirect the resources of the state towards human capacity development.

We are confident that anotherfour years in the saddle will sustain the ongoing reforms in educationaland infrastructural developments, open up

new vistas of ideas and innovationsand propel the economic, social and political advancement of the state.

One therefore wonders whatEdo State would have been in the area of vocational and technical educationwithout Governor Godwin Obaseki.

––RosemondUgbe writes from Benin City.

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ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͮ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

High Life Wole Aboderin’s Good Example

A

s the Special Assistant on NGO Matters, the office of the First Lady, Dr. Wole Aboderin has inadvertently made a grander name for himself.

Since taking up the mantle to assist Dr. Aisha Buhari, Aboderin has won several accolades and is regarded as one of the most diligent, loyal, and honest staff of the first lady. To date, there aren’t that many folks that can stand on equal footing with him regarding passion for the people and loyalty to the first lady and the president.

Among the younger generation of Nigerian leaders, Aboderin is blazing a trail of visionary and deliberate governance, diligence, astuteness, and empathy. With Nigerianness as his core identity, Aboderin is one of the few who makes no qualms about socio-economic class or religious beliefs, rendering unbiased service to the nation and its people. The latest example of Aboderin’s peerless service was his contributions to the people of Oyo State during the last Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.

According to reliable reports, Aboderin was a notable presence during the just-concluded Eid-el-Kabir Islamic celebrations. He reportedly convened several individuals in Oyo State capital, Ibadan, and celebrated the Sallah with them.

This endeavour encompassed entertaining his guests with food and drinks and keeping honest smiles on their faces. At the end of the celebration, these folks felt fulfilled and privileged and gave gratitude to God for people like Aboderin.

This particular effort of Aboderin follows the exact same path as that of his boss, Dr. Aisha Buhari. During the last Christmas celebrations, she empowered Aboderin to distribute food items to Nigerian families in Abuja. Apparently, Aboderin shares the same passion and heart.So far, Aboderin’s unique blend of skills in information and technology, project management, strategic negotiations, etc., has led to his being a golden goose in the First Lady’s cabinet. His belief that Nigeria’s socio-economic growth can only be shouldered by a skilled and youthful population is also unique to him, and an outstanding trait that others have begun to comprehend and echo.

But beyond these, Aboderin’s understanding of—and sympathy towards—the common man stands him out. Wole Aboderin is a good example of a leader, one with insight and vision, heart and guts.

Aboderin

with KAYODE ALFRED 08116759807, E-mail: kayflex2@yahoo.com

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

Glad Tidings! Billionaire Industrialist Abdul Samad Rabiu Is 60 The dynamic Chairman and visionary boss of BUA Group, AbdulSamad Rabiu, clocked 60 years on August 4, 2020. As a man of deeds in industry and philanthropy, the day marked a culmination of objectives and dreams, to the delight of business space and the society. Thus, Rabiu’s social media addresses were crammed with goodwill messages from every corner of Nigeria—and Africa.

If it were anyone else, there might have been a party from Damaturu to Dubai.

However, very few people in the world can claim equal footing with AbdulSamad Rabiu with regard to financial contributions toward fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, having a small gathering of relatives, friends, and business associates was a small price to pay for the billionaire entrepreneur and celebrated philanthropist.

At 60, AbdulSamad Rabiu is a legend in three different spaces: lineage, business, and philanthropy. These are the frames that Rabiu has been measured in recent years, and the advantages he has been demonstrated to have over the present generation.

Born in Kano to one of the most accomplished and renowned early Nigerian industrialists, Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, Rabiu

had the substructure of lineage available to him.

This influenced early motifs, such as bearing, values (in degree and depths), education, et cetera. This was Rabiu’s foundation and origin, all of which he made the most of, to the point of surpassing their trajectories.

Rabiu at 60 is a product of an industrialist’s heritage, whose social standing far outclassed the peak successes of his forebears.

In business, little needs to be said about Rabiu. His BUA Group continues to exist as a leading conglomerate in manufacturing, infrastructure, and agriculture and is allegedly currently worth over a trillion naira. Rabiu’s business style and dynamism have led to his frequent mention in the reputed Forbes list.

In fact, Rabiu’s establishment has led to his renown as an empire builder and a genius of determined industry.

It is reported that almost nobody else in Nigeria made as much money as Rabiu during the lockdown. This is because his business structures are as sturdy as they are contemporary, filling gaps of physical inactivity with digital innovation, and vice versa.

That’s our AbdulSamad Rabiu.

Since the global COVID-19 pandemic,

Rabiu

Rabiu has made the most individual donations, especially in Nigeria, allegedly totalling over 7 billion, and it doesn’t look like he’s done. The donations have pulled him out of the typical cocoon of corporate indifference and made him a darling of the people.

AbdulSamad Rabiu is one of those who strike a balance between personal growth and societal obligation. At 60, he remains the envy of his contemporaries in business and philanthropy: headlights for his seniors and a lighthouse for juniors.

The Palms Mall Owner, Tayo Amusan, Bounces Back

Amusan

The year 2020 is definitely looking better and better for Tayo Amusan, the Lagos-based businessman and owner of The Palms, a popular shopping mall in Lagos.

According to business reports, Amusan is set to acquire Africa’s largest food retailer, ShopRite, after the company revealed its intention to sell off the majority of its stakes

In recent years, quite a number of Nigerians have risen in financial status.

In fact, there are a few more from different parts of the country tooting their horns and wearing the billionaire status with much nodding and smiling.

Adebiyi Olalekan, on the other hand, remains as low-key as ever, even though he has climbed to the billionaire steps long ago. He continues to dazzle folks with silent achievements, evidently finding firmer fulfilment from bettering the lives of others, compared to stirring sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

Lagos is still the playground of many billionaires. However, very few have made much progress in cultivating their wealth for more far-reaching goals. Adebiyi Olalekan has erected such milestones that it might be easier to uproot bridges and drag out roads than erasing or ignoring his achievements.

Although his LaraLek Ultimate Constructions company wore out the eyes of newspaper-reading folks with construction after construction, Olalekan’s interests reportedly encompassed construction, hospitality, consumer goods, and others. But LaraLek is most notable in the construction industry.

It was under the supervision of Olalekan’s LaraLek that most roads and

in the Nigerian market. This development is a favourable outcome for the Palms boss, especially after his recent health conditions.

It was at the beginning of the second half of 2020 that Tayo Amusan reportedly began to recover from health complications arising from being infected with COVID-19.

It was a welcome development because Amusan is not as young as he once was.

Nevertheless, he recovered and is reportedly back to full function, and even ready to expand his business base to include ShopRite.

The fact that ShopRite is on the table is a very welcome development for countless Nigerian investors. Although the company is South African in origin, it is still the largest retail establishment operating in the African business environment. However, following the COVID-19 lockdown, the enterprise has reportedly enjoyed significantly lower returns in Nigeria.

This is why the major stakes of Retail Supermarkets Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary

of Shoprite International Limited, are available for purchase, and Amusan is reportedly in the queue to acquire it.

According to trending reports, Tayo Amusan is using his Persianas Nigeria Limited—a property development company—to make the bid for Retail Supermarkets, against two other serious bidders. The fact that some of his properties house ShopRite stores might also be an advantage.

It is the speculation of many people that Amusan might make more progress with ShopRite than its current management—that is assuming he wins the deal. This would not be the first time Amusan is turning the table to the amazement of others. His Palms Shopping Mall is essentially one of the earliest Nigerian establishments in the shopping-mall industry.

After suffering from COVID-19 infection, the wheels have reversed to help Amusan reap a harvest from the pandemic. This is Tayo Amusan bouncing back to his feet, ready to take on the competition and win the final prize.

Adebiyi Olalekan: A Silent Achiever with a Heart of Gold

bridges in Lagos were approved and constructed by the Lagos State government.

Such bridges include the 480-metres bridge linking Aboru to Abesan, in the Agbado Oke-Odo of Alimosho LGA and many others.

It was Olalekan’s countless contributions to the construction company that won him the honorary fellowship of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), the highest honour available to outstanding individuals in the engineering line of work, who did not study Engineering.

With LaraLek, Olalekan has employed countless Nigerians, young and otherwise, affording them the opportunity of improving their lot while contributing brilliantly to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

Then there are Olalekan’s philanthropic interests in healthcare, education, and humanitarian fields. In fact, it was former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who exposed Olalekan as contributing to the healthcare of the Alimosho people by donating a whole primary healthcare centre.

With his beloved wife, Omolara, and his company, LaraLek, Adebiyi Olalekan is already impacting more lives than most people will ever hope to imitate. In quietness and secrecy, Olalekan is doing well for others.

Medayese

Olalekan

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

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Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

Captain Hosa Osoba’s Fulfilled Dreams Okunbo Honoured Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo is a man of many parts.

No doubt, he also fits perfectly into the descriptions of a flight captain extraordinaire, an industrialist of repute, and a selfless philanthropist.

Perhaps, this explains why the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) recently singled him out for recognition as its “Anti-human trafficking hero” on the occasion of the commemoration of the 2020 World Day Against Human Trafficking.

Though this year’s celebration could not hold owing largely to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was stated in a citation uploaded on the agency’s website and social media handles that Okunbo remains a formidable individual in partnering NAPTIP. The citation further stated that he had committed personal resources into the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration.

According to the agency, Okunbo, a famed philanthropist, empowered victims of human trafficking and particularly supported it to mark the 2019 World Day Against Human Trafficking.

It further stated, “There is no doubt that he has become a reference point as it concerns an individual contribution and impact in NAPTIP’s drive to nip in the bud the danger of illegal migration and human trafficking, which is fast becoming the contemporary slave trade.

“During his 60th birthday celebration on February 16, 2018, he organised a public lecture on ‘Youth migration, consequences, and current realities.’”

Interestingly, the award did not come as a surprise to many who know his enviable record of selfless philanthropic activities in Edo and across the country.

No doubt, Hosa, as he is fondly called, loves giving back to humanity, an act which he sees as his own way of showing appreciation to God. Okunbo, who owns beautiful and expensive properties both home and abroad, is into real estate, entertainment, hospitality, energy, oil and gas, and consumables, among others.

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly,” said American poet, Langston Hughes.

One only wonders the visions the teenage Olusegun Osoba saw on his commute from Osogbo, where he was born and grew up, to Abeokuta where he’s from, and onwards to Lagos, where he attended secondary school.

A picture taken in 1958 shows a smartly dressed Osoba gazing, as if into the future, as the train that conveyed him rumbled on its path.

Only Chief Osoba can tell us his train of thought, the dreams he dreamt, and if he foresaw a future where commuters on a train headed for or passing through his home town, would bellow his name when they get to the Olodo station. Only he can tell us if it was part of his daydreams, or beyond his wildest dreams.

Yes, President Muhammadu Buhari deemed it fit to name the Olodo train station after the illustrious Ogun State citizen, and there is no denying that the octogenarian fully deserves it.

In the years following those teenage train

trips, Osoba has through visionary thoughts, hard work, commitment and dedication, built himself to be the serial achiever that he is today, all which have culminated in this latest honour.

Chief Osoba is a renowned journalist of international repute, and multiple awards are a testament to his excellence. He rose to the zenith of his profession working for various news organisations both local and foreign, editing various titles in the Daily Times stable, and later becoming the paper’s managing director.

The high esteem in which he’s held by his kinsmen is apparent: on two different occasions and under different political realities, he was elected governor of Ogun State at the beginning and at the end of the 1990s.

A statesman whose voice is respected across different party lines and political divides, Chief Osoba holds the chieftaincy titles of the Akinrogun of Egbaland and the Aremo Awujale of Ijebu.

Now, it must be pleasing to him that the long abandoned and criminally neglected rail transportation in Nigeria is experiencing

Anyone who has undertaken a careful study of the life of Tony Elumelu, Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, or even taken more than a passing interest in his inspirational journey in the industry, will know without any disputation that he has always plied his trade with impressive professionalism.

Today, he is a role model to many in and out of the banking industry obviously because of his disciplined lifestyle and strict adherence to the rules of the game, which has given him fame and acceptability across the globe.

As much as humanly possible, the banking guru also runs away always from any kind of business that will tarnish his hard-earned reputation.

Indeed, at a deeper level, Elumelu, who is loved for being business-minded, is said to detest negative publicity.

It is understandable, therefore, his angst last week when Senator Akinyelure, Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, accused both Elumelu and UBA of involvement in a N41billion fraud involving the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, NITEL, in liquidation.

Since Akinyelure’s proclamation, many who know Elumelu for being straightforward and honest have

Who Is After Banking Czar, Tony Elumelu?

maintained that there must be a kind of mistake somewhere.

Consequently, Elumelu is set to engage the

a long overdue renaissance under the leadership of the political party he belongs to. This once seemed like a pipe dream.

Very soon, teenagers with dreams and aspirations will embark on similar commutes reminiscent of the one the young Osoba took. This time though, when the train approaches the Olodo Station, there will be excited cries of “Osoba!”

senator in a legal battle to clear his name, as his lawyers, R.A. Lawal-Rabana (SAN) and Kemi Balogun (SAN), have written to the senator describing the accusation as “false, baseless, and mischievous allegation as neither him nor any of the organisations associated with him has ever been involved in or indicted for any fraud as was falsely alleged by Senator Ayo Akinyelure.”

According to his counsel, the allegation is also “a deliberate peddling of falsehood and misinformation against an unblemished personal and business reputation, painstakingly built by our client over several decades with great personal sacrifice and unquestionable integrity.”

Elumelu, through his lawyers, is demanding an immediate open, public, and unreserved retraction of the said statements credited to Akinyelure and an apology for the false allegation and defamation of his reputation.

A source disclosed to Society Watch that the founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation and Chairman of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, (TNC) would do his best possible to protect his reputation, adding that “he would not allow anyone to drag it in the mud.”

Oil Magnate Festus Fadeyi’s Myriad of Troubles

Fadeyi

Okunbo

Elumelu

Osoba on train ride in 1958

Festus Fadeyi is well-known as an oil magnate.

He is also known for living a kingly life, driving expensive cars, globetrotting in private jets, sailing across the seas in an eye-popping luxury yacht.

Given his status, Fadeyi, who also has choice properties in some highbrow areas of Lagos and other cities across the world, commands a lot of respect among his friends and associates.

However, Fadeyi is reportedly battling a myriad of troubles now. His headache is not unconnected with his running battle with the

Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, that took over his company’s assets and those of its subsidiaries over huge bank loans that led to the death of a Nigerian bank.

A report by some independent auditors revealed that Fadeyi, via his Pan Ocean Group, cumulatively secured over N240 billion (almost half of the total debt of defunct Skye Bank), thus making him the most heavily-indebted entity to the bank.

Fadeyi, through Pan Ocean, allegedly took the loans considered one of the biggest loan portfolios in the country to fund the firm’s oil and gas upstream projects operated under Joint Operating Agreements and Production Sharing Contracts with and on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Unfortunately, a case of conflict of interest was established against the oil magnate, as this large debt was incurred when he (Fadeyi) was represented on the board by his New York-based son, Dr. Jason Fadeyi, while Tunde Ayeni was chairman.

However, for some inexplicable reason, he was not able to repay this heavy debt to the bank, leading to the eventual takeover by AMCON, about two years ago.

As a result of this, after AMCON embarked on the recovery of the bad debts, Fadeyi is said to have lost ownership of his stately family mansion named Grand Villa on Modupe Alakija Crescent in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Seized by AMCON alongside that eyepopping Ikoyi mansion, which had served as the Fadeyi family’s home for several decades, are other choice properties including his FF Towers

and Ark Towers both on Ligali Ayorinde Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos; two other properties on Modupe Alakija Crescent; two properties on Samuel Manuwa Street, Victoria Island; and another property on Adebayo Doherty Street, off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1.

It was further compounded by another battle over the ownership of his age-long oil company, Pan Ocean Corporation with the family of the late Italian oil magnate, Vittorio Fabbri, the founder of InterOcean Oil Development Company and Inter Ocean Oil Exploration Company.

Fabbri’s two companies reportedly claimed 40 percent stakes in Fadeyi’s Pan Ocean Oil Corporation’s Oil Mining License, OML 98, — while the NNPC owns the remaining 60 percent.

Since the death of the family’s patriarch, Fabbri, in 1998, his family has been battling Fadeyi over Inter Ocean entities as the beneficial owners of the 40 percent stake in the OML. In September 2013, having failed to take control of the company, Fabbri’s companies initiated arbitration proceedings against NNPC and the federal government at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID. At the moment, Fadeyi is allegedly running from pillar to post to wriggle himself out of the webs, while he is losing sleep and growing grey hairs over these woes that many said might send him into irrelevance.

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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 ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Rotimi Amaechi’s Chinese Connection It is remaining for the honorable minister to start speaking Mandarin with the way he has been going on trying to defend the very urgent need for this his Chinese loan.

The man just tire me with all the dribble he has been spewing all in defence of this loan that is not even beginning to make sense to a lot of people.

But would you blame him especially with Nigerians’ penchant for dealing with the inconsequential?

Instead of us to be asking the major question of ‘wetin concern government in these times with rail transportation, we are fighting

ourselves over sovereignty clause.

Mbok, the fact that even if they take the sovereignty clause and smack most of us in the face, we will still not recognize it or even know what it stands for. That will not stop a lot of beer parlor talk around and about it especially on social media.

Please, my own is that, a government that recently handed over the National Theatre and has a BPE saddled with privatization and the rest not considering privatizing this rail line or at best concessioning it is further entrenching the position that this government is looking like the government for the Mumu.

Why must Amaechi decide to marry a Chinese wife on top of our head? What is so critical about this railway that we must enter 20-year debt on top of the one that we already have instead of just selling off the damn thing and using the money to do something better? Me, I am not ready to be a Chinese slave in this my life because we will definitely not be able to pay back that money.

Since OBJ, which debt have we been able to pay back? Mbok, Amaechi and co, kindly look for another avenue. No to this loan, privatize instead. That is if he will hear sef.

Onwenu

Ehanire

Sowore

ONYEKA ONWENU – I APOLOGIZE You know to say sorry no dey shake me. I can apologize for Africa. Me, I like to apologize o even when I am not wrong because it doesn’t remove anything from my body. As my oga Chike would say, ‘Edgar no get shame’. Me I no be proud man.

That is how I was looking for elegant stallion Onyeka Onwenu in retirement to come and write a foreword for my new book – Anonymous Nipples – The Naked Truth. The book will have over 300 pictures of semi-nude females, the kind that you won’t be very happy to hold in front of your pastor.

In fact, a lot of people have started placing orders and asking me to wrap it and surreptitiously deliver it in their car booth without even talking to them. Anyways that is how I decided to get mummy to help with the foreword simply because the very first time I heard of the phrase – wham, bang, thank you mam- na for her mouth.

The book would be discussing very strong issues like sex, rape in marriage, the mystery of the female orgasm, sex toys and many things I cannot mention on a family column like this. That is how I forgot that mummy was approaching 70 and as such, she would be nearer to God than a vibrator.

I called o, she no pick. I send WhatsApp message, she read but no reply. So I sent a text telling her what I wanted. She sent a terse, ‘not interested’ reply. Maybe she was fasting or on night vigil. That is how I got ‘isho’. But shey you know me na. That is how I reported her to my friends and most of them came back with their own experiences with her.

I nowforwarded one of the negative

comments to mummy. That is how mummy come curse me o. She say, ‘the way you have humiliated me that is how you will be humiliated’. Me wey I just lose wife come carry curse again? Fear catch me o. To compound my problem, my friend and brother, Amaeze, say I should not take the curse lightly that mummy was from Arondizuogu and that they don’t use to joke with people from there o. I have not been able to piss since then. I don’t know if the curse has started working o. That is why I am on my knees stark naked in my room sending this huge apology to mummy if for nothing else for the great work she has done and is still doing in this our nation. Mummy, please, forgive me. I am but a naughty, silly boy. If you read this kindly let me know where and when I can send a powerful bowl of afang, complete with periwinkles and ‘Ekwong’ to you. God bless you. Oya, remove the curse.

Naira Marley and Funke Akindele with support from D’banj, we are still less than 50,000 cases with over 31,000 discharged and less than 1,000 unfortunate deaths mostly from heavy underlying issues.

We are now shutting down isolation centres and the curve on its own is flattening. Nigerians simply ignored these our leaders and went about their duties with no face masks and no social distancing anything. Please, we do really need leaders in all sectors.

What we are seeing are just buccaneers who use every opportunity to fleece.

When the story of this lockdown will be told, we will see that my Akwa Ibom ‘Uncommon Leader’ and the ‘40 thieves’ at NDDC are just amateurs learning work. Kai.

COVID-19 – DIDN’T WE SAY SO? Shebi we were running around like a cat with no head? Me, I don’t like gloating but it is hard not to. When the first cases started appearing, we were running around like Ebola had come again. Shutting down, locking down, raising billions, squandering billions, people moving out of bedrooms so they will not infect or be infected by their partners.

Shebi me I looked at the thing very seriously and after two weeks I came out with a declaration that this thing no be am. I swore that we would not hit 500 by the first two weeks.

We did not. But our commissioner came out and said it was looking like we will hit 75,000. I look am laugh. This one get problem. Today, with all the carelessness and effort of

OMOYELE SOWORE – I CAN’T BEG AGAIN OH! This my brother no dey hear word o. I hear that he narrowly escaped arrest a few days ago following the #Revolution protest they allegedly called.

I must say I admire his courage sha coming out again after they tried to remove his head from his shoulders. You see, all these tiny attempts are but a mild irritation in the buttocks of our oppressors.

They are but a tiny ‘craw craw’ that they just scratch and move on.

The moment we come to the realization that we need a holistic approach, starting from thought processes through massive sensitization and leveraging the same system that threw them up to engage and wrest power from them, the better for us. See what has happened at the NBA, that is what I am talking about. Olu and co did not go to the main road and be shouting

Amaechi

Adefila

solidarity forever like hungry campus activists.

They took a decisive step, strategized using the power of the bottom table of lawyers to upturn the cart. With over 60 percent of our population below 40, why can’t we do the same and upturn the electoral process? All this Ikeja bus stop activism will not do anything my brother, na big joke.

But wait, wetin even dey this Ikeja wey every time na there you go dey do your own activism? Abi is there any ashewo joint of interest there?

Link your brother oh!

SEGUN ADEFILA’S ‘OUR DUKE HAS GONE MAD AGAIN’ You see, people are different in this world o. That is how I will be ranting on WhatsApp to my over 10,000 followers. I will be talking about all and any issue that catches my fancy.

Some yeye people will be blocking me but will also be asking me at night to send a naked woman picture to them.

But this talented award-winning dancer was quietly collating all my rants and came out with beautiful production. Kai, he invited me to come and see the play. Come and see the action. Six heavenly handsome boys playing Joseph Edgar and taking me through small snippets of my life, discussing very strong issues. The part that got me was when I had written about the time I prayed that Chantal my daughter marry a man like me and the Duchess said God forbid!

In anger, I went out to sleep in the car hoping that someone will come and beg me. After two hours it dawned on me that nobody was coming to beg, I humbly enter the house. Thank you so much, Segun. The production was mad… Can’t wait to see it at the Muson.

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

09.08.2020

UGWUANYI'S URBAN RENEWAL DRIVE BOOSTS PUBLIC ART

Cover continued on Page 54

Recent public sculptures in Enugu

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ AUGUST 9, 2020

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ARTS & REVIEW\\VISUAL ARTS

UGWUANYI'SURBANRENEWALDRIVEBOOSTSPUBLICART As part of his current urban renewal project, conceived to restore Enugu to its original masterplan, Enugu State Governor Ifeanyichukwu Ugwuanyi’s administration is adorning the capital city with a new set of public sculptures, Laurence Ani writes

A

s the global statistics of COVID-19 continue to worsen, it has been a particularly harrowing experience for the art sector, with several galleries and museums desperately soliciting support from governments and the public to stave off outright closure. But even at the best of times, patronage for the arts has never quite been at an optimal level, not least for younger artists who have long had to contend with shrinking platforms to showcase their works.

It's a challenge no less experienced by practitioners in the Nigerian art scene. But in Enugu, an ongoing urban renewal project launched by the state government has offered a rare window of opportunity to student-artists. Part of the urban renewal scheme involves the mounting of sculptures designed by students of the Institute of Management Technology's Fine and Applied Arts Department at major roundabouts and the Unity Park, the wooded area in the middle of the state's three-arm zone. Apart from the veritable platform it offers, participating artists also get paid for their works at going commercial rate.

Public art has always been one of the defining landmarks of Enugu, from the unvarnished artwork at the Milliken Hill - Iva Valley intersection depicting the 1949 massacre of protesting coal miners at the Iva Mines, to the sculpture of a drummer at a roundabout in downtown Enugu that lends its name to the surrounding Otigba neighbourhood. These works and several other such post-independence commissioned works were sculpted mostly by accomplished artists of the Ben Enwonwu generation. But the new project has further enlivened public spaces, enabling works by younger contemporary artists and those by preceding generation to Recently installed sculptures at the Unity Park Statue of Liberty in New York has been. "It's about 150 years old and enjoy a common platform. over 300 feet, but has only been repaired once and it's still standing "Public art celebrates heroism and is often therapeutic," Dr. strong."

Okey Ikenegbu, former director of School of Art, Design and Print But the lion sculpture wasn't conceived simply as an artistic object; Technology at the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, its purpose is also utilitarian. The design includes a cavernous interior explained. "In the Western world, there is always provision for meant to serve like a hall which, according to Ikenegbu, "can accomartworks in every public buildings. But we hardly do so in Nigeria. modate over 30 people comfortably". Its left frontal limb has a spiral It always seems like an afterthought," he lamented. He praised stairway that visitors could use to descend from the hall. There is as Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the paradigm shift which the current project represents, adding that the latter had long demonstrated well an emergency exit ladder and a void on the right frontal limb for possible installation of an elevator for the physically-challenged and his love for art as evident in his sustained support for Life in My the elderly.

City Art Festival, an art competition organised annually since 2007 The Unity Park has always been a popular picnic spots for families to give a broader platform to younger artist and create awareness and young couples seeking an idyllic backdrop for their pre- and about cultural and environmental issues. post-wedding pictures. So when complete, the massive sculpture Ikenegbu, who is coordinator of the public space art project, and other sundry rehabilitation, including landscaping, are expected describes it as a learning period for participating artists. "Some of to boost visits to the park where an artificial pond has been dug. "We the works you see adorning the streets are students' projects," he initially considered making it a fish pond, but decided against it," said. But the entire project's crowning glory is a huge lion sculpture Ikenegbu further explained, noting that they eventually settled on the sitting at the Unity Park. The structure which is over 40 feet high and idea of introducing ducks and two gondola-style boats that visitors 70 feet long, with a width of about 20 feet, is being put together by a could paddle. workforce comprising 12 sculptors and several artisans. Ikenegbu Amajor goal of the project is the planting of more trees at the park, has also had to depend on the expertise of diverse professionals a plan which addresses concern that the project's aesthetic makeover at various stages of work. "When we were at the architectural may affect the decades old trees in the park. "The woods were framework, we worked with builders, architects and engineers. It's conceived as an eco-protection for the Okpara Square area. But they a collaboration because the final work must stand the test of time," probably did not consider the nature of the trees, because eucalyptus he said, pointing out that he was inspired by how enduring the

doesn't have deep tap roots. It falls easily. Strong winds can always pull them down," he said.

The current urban renewal - of which the public sculptures are a part - in Enugu metropolis was conceived to restore the city's original masterplan, lost to many years of physical planning laws' abuse that saw once serene residential neighbourhoods overrun by the chaotic bustle of commerce. As in most cities, Enugu's masterplan was blighted by years of migration to the city in search of better economic opportunities and living conditions. This influx led to crowded tenements which, naturally, resulted in overstretched utilities and emergence of unplanned suburban communities.

However, in committing substantial resources to upgrade suburban communities, rehabilitation of inner city roads and construction of additional market stalls, the Ugwuanyi administration has gone beyond treating the symptoms of this modern day socio-economic reality by addressing the problem at its roots.

There is, as a result, a gradual walk towards reclaiming the serenity, orderliness and art-friendliness that made Enugu a city that endears itself to residents and visitors alike. That resilient quest reflects in Ikenegbu's optimism. "We want to be sure that even when we're no longer alive, this work will still be a reference point.

It's going to outlive all of us. This structure will remain strong in the next one hundred years," he said of the lion sculpture.

––Ani, formerly editor ofTHISDAY -The Saturday Newspaper and SaturdayTelegraph, is senior communications aide to the governor of Enugu State.

BOOKS

Weaves of Womanhood in Onagoruwa’s Debut Novel Yinka Olatunbosun Feminist literature holds a plethora of stories about issues affecting women but this debut novel titled Dear Alaere, written by Eriye Onagoruwa seems to be a little more than that. Though its simple plot is woven around narratives of women from the point of view of a narrator, Alaere, the kaleidoscopic narrative is a truthful fiction based on everyday realities.

Set in Lagos, the novel is a contemporary read, beaming lights on the life of a working class lady, Alaere from Southern Nigeria who is married to a Yoruba man, Laja.

She takes the reader through a maze of daily activities, revealing her experience in corporate organisations through an assemblage of stereotypical characters. In the firm called Neuterone, where she cuts her teeth as a legal and compliance officer, Alaere encounters the office politics that is born out of illicit office romance as exemplified in the affairs between Lady K and Chief. Well, the affair is short-lived as Chief picks a younger mistress who becomes a boss to the overbearing and estranged Lady K. The narrator presents the argument for women empowerment through the characters of Ebidemo and Anitorufa, a young couple whose lives were shattered by an unfortunate incident. Ebidemo is killed in a motor accident leaving his full-time housewife in a total mess upon his demise. Also, the same theme surfaces in the next firm she works with namely Criole. But this time, the narrator shows how some women work against other women in the corporate structure rather than support them.

Spotlight falls on several socio-economic issues in

the novel such as the quality of life in a city like Lagos vis-à-vis weak healthcare systems, poor transportation for a mega-city, nepotism and of course, the age-long discrimination against women and girls. The touching story of Alhaji Wasiu, whose wife dies during her delivery bears the complexity of the worldview of women in Africa. Alhaji Wasiu, who is Alaere’s driver is bent on having a male child; arguing that the female child needs just a little secular education as she will wind up in a man’s house. That faulty reasoning plunged him to putting pressure on his wife to have a son which never happened. As a widower, he is left with seven daughters to care for. The author’s reference to newspaper headlines is a creative effort at giving the plot some political relevance.

Back to Alaere, her quest for self-actualisation at work is sometimes expressed in culinary gratification which is symbolised by her love for puff-puff. Her home, which should be a safe haven from the toxic work environment, is infiltrated by the interference of her demanding mother-in-law. Through the judgmental remarks by Ms. Fasakin, the author developed an annoying character that is almost ubiquitous in the life of women with fertility challenges.

Onagoruwa’s literary skillet pan popped with intrigues, betrayals, deaths, romance, friendship, murder and a sweet ecstatic end. The story is deeply emotional, capable of evoking empathy and admiration from the reader. A balanced self-portraiture is seen in the depiction of Alaere as both a cerebral and fashionable woman wading against the tides of cultural boundaries that are created by myths and misconceptions to define women.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ UGUST 9, 2020

INTERNATIONAL Chinese Loan Agreement and Nigeria’s Sovereignty: Addressing Corruption and Political Chicanery

T

he People’s Republic of China (China) and the Republic of Nigeria (Nigeria) are two sovereign States with shared values in international relations. In terms of geo-political consideration, China is both a regional and a global power in many ways. It is the dominant militaroeconomic power in the Asian region and a

global superpower in the making. In fact, it is currently at logger head with the United States in the quest for global leadership.

Apart from the politico-military, China is the biggest second Telephone : 0807-688-2846 economy in the world after the United States. It also has the e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com biggest population in the world. Apparently for the purposes of competition for global leadership, China has been making frantic efforts to make Africa the centrepiece of its foreign policy by acquiring land for settlement in Africa, giving friendly loans and promoting a win-win cooperation diplomacy vis-à-vis Africa.

In the same vein, going by UN definition of a region, Nigeria is both a sub-regional (West Africa) and regional (Africa) power in the continent of Africa in various ways. Nigeria has the biggest population, the biggest arable land, and the biggest economy in Africa. Nigeria plays host to the most vibrant press in Africa. It is the biggest democracy. More interestingly, Nigeria made Africa not only the cornerstone of her foreign policy from 1960 to 1975, but also the foreign policy centrepiece with effect from 1976.

The implication of the use of Africa in the foreign policy calculations of both countries is clear: Africa as a source of foreign policy rivalry. The main interest of China is to have access to development resources in Africa. Nigeria’s own interest is precisely a negation of that. Under the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon, the then Commissioner for External Affairs, Dr. Okoi Arikpo, made Nigeria’s foreign policy stand crystal clear: that Nigeria would never accept the use of Africa simply as a source of raw materials for the development of Europe. The concern and focus then was mainly Europe.

Xi-Jinping, Chinese President The concern today goes beyond Europe and now includes China, another major importer of raw materials from Africa. do not have the same implications. Every contract is necessarNigeria’s major question was, and still is, ‘what would happen ily an agreement but not every agreement is a contract. The when the resources are depleted?’ Where will Africa get the Tenth Edition of the Black’s Law Dictionary has given several raw materials for its own development when the resources are examples of how the concepts should not be confused. Accorddepleted? ing to the dictionary, an agreement to have a dinner at a given Additionally, Nigeria’s foreign policy since 1960 has been time may not create an obligation. A conveyance of land or a gift aimed at the protection of black dignity, promotion of African of a chattel, may not be a contract, even though it involves an interests, even to the detriment of the interests of the people of agreement. It is not a contract because its primary legal operation Nigeria. For instance, the severing of diplomatic ties with Israel is simply to transfer property and not to create an obligation. during the Israelo-Arab conflict, and particularly Egypto-Israel From the perspective of the law courts, ‘an agreement is war in defence of the Palestinians, was in solidarity with Egypt. nothing more than a manifestation of mutual assent by two or Even when Egypt decided thereafter to settle its misunderstand- more parties, legally competent persons to one another. Agreeing with Israel by signing the Camp David agreement, Egypt ment is in some respects a broader term than contract, or even never had the courtoisie to carry Nigeria along. Nigeria was than bargain or promise. It covers executed sales, gifts, and other simply cut unawares about it. transfer of property.’

Thus, Nigeria’s foreign policy of defending Africa is still much What is noteworthy here is that the grant of any loan is largely in vogue as at today, meaning that Chinese inroads into Africa associated with three basic principles: agreement to voluntarily cannot but have Nigeria’s counter-influence to contend with. repay, non-invocation of sovereign immunity to avoid repayBut, can Nigeria continue to capably defend Africa if she loses ment and acceptance of arbitration in the event of misunderher sovereignty to China? Can Nigeria truly lose her sovereignty standing or payment default. Defaulting can arise at the level of to China on the basis of Nigeria’s loan agreement with China? the borrower and even the lenders who may not be faithful to the spirit and letters of an agreement. In fact, this is why many Sovereignty and Agreement in International agreements provide for repudiation clauses and the conditions for its management and resolution.

Practice In essence, the grant of loans is always defined by conditionalGrosso modo, the notions of sovereignty and agreement can be ambiguous. Sovereignty in the sense of independent statehood, ity, which can impinge on the sovereignty of a country. In this regard, what is sovereignty? What is national sovereignty? and therefore of sovereign immunity from subjection of oneself What is loss of sovereignty in the context of Sino-Nigerian to the supranational authority of another state, should not be confused with sovereignty in the sense of exercise of mere power commercial loan agreements? Is the problem of Chinese loan that of sovereignty or that of fear of galloping economic corrupor authority. While sovereignty in the first case of statehood or tion and political remissness and chicanery that may prevent nationhood can never be ceded, sovereignty in the second case Nigeria from complying with the rule of pacta sunt servanda, that can lead to cession of authority. is, sanctity of agreements?

In the same line of argument, there is the need to also difNigeria can only lose her sovereignty as a nation state, if there ferentiate between an agreement and a contract, which are, more often than not, confused. They are interchangeably used to is no more Nigeria as a State defined by territory, government, and population. In the absence of dismemberment of Nigeria mean the same thing, whereas they ought not to, because they

VIE INTERNATIONALE

Bola A. Akinterinwa

If,reportedly,the loan agreement stipulates that‘the borrower hereby irrevocably waives any immunity on the grounds of sovereign or otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any arbitration proceedingpursuanttoArticle8(5),thereofwiththeenforcementofanyarbitralawardpursuantthereto, except for the military assets and diplomatic assets,’there must have been something fundamentally wrong with Nigerian negotiators for being myopic on the implication of the factor of irrevocability of the waiver. With this, Nigeria cannot even revoke the waiver. Second, the scope of the waiver of immunity is not stricto sensu,but lato sensu,because the clause says there is no waiver‘on the grounds of sovereign or otherwise...’The emphasis is on ‘otherwise’ because unlimited things can fall under ‘otherwise.’Regardless of whether or not the conditions of the loan are friendly (2.8 per cent interest rate, 20-year repayment period and 7-year moratorium), the clause not only rejects any immunity for ‘itself’ (Nigeria as a sovereign), but also rejects any claim to eventual immunity for ‘its property’ with the exception of militaro-diplomatic assets. So the issue of sovereign immunity is still raised.

Even if this clause is simply considered as a normal waiver of immunity clause, as posited by Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, the argument is still necessarily neutralised by ‘the borrower hereby irrevocably waivesANY immunity.’In any case,the problem is not about immunity but how to prevent corruption and indiscipline from incapacitating Nigeria from paying her debts

as it is, there cannot be any loss of national sovereignty. This is why there is the need to identify the real problem involved in China-Nigeria loan agreements.

We contend here that the issue at stake is the challenge of total corruption as foundation pillar of political governance of Nigeria and political remissness and chicanery built on it, which have come to create fears for foreign investors, particularly in determining how to relate and do business with Nigeria. Why? This is because corruption has the potential to undermine the capacity to repay loans. Capacity to repay a loan is the first golden rule for the grant of loans in international economic relations. It is also the first dynamic for accepting to sign an agreement.

An agreement is ordinarily an expression of mutual desires and obligations. It can be for a given period. A loan agreement is of many types, depending on the purpose. A peace agreement is about the expression of how to avoid crises and conflicts between and among parties to the agreement. A ceasefire agreement is about bringing battles to an end, or how to stop shooting wars.

A loan agreement, with which we are more concerned here, is a contract that defines mutual consents, mutual obligations, and particularly how misunderstanding arising from the implementation of the agreement should be addressed. There is no international agreement that does not provide for entry into force, conditions of membership and withdrawal, as well as modalities for settlement of disputes. Indeed, international agreements are guided by the rule of sanctity of agreements and are not like toys that can be frolicked about by children. Agreements are behaviour regulators and must, therefore be faithfully respected.

Put differently, an agreement freely negotiated and duly signed should also be faithfully adhered to. A faithful adherence to such an agreement is also presumed, ab initio, to be a resultant from a clear understanding of the obligations and their implications for implementation. This should be the normal approach to the understanding of China-Nigeria loan agreements, which are not in any way different from the loans given by the Breton Woods institutions: International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

What is again noteworthy at this juncture is that the conditionality for the grant of a loan also varies from one agreement to the other. For instance, to be qualified for an IMF loan, a State borrower must accept to adjust or readjust as may be required by the IMF, its economic policies, especially in terms of what is identified as problems or dynamics of what had led to the problem. The main objective of the conditionality is essentially to ensure capacity to repay by reforming fiscal and monetary policies.

Consequently there is no way any conditionality does not impinge on national sovereignty in one way or the other, since the conditionality is imposed by the creditor and it is accepted by the borrower. However, this does not mean that a country’s sovereign existence will be lost. Sovereignty, as posited earlier in the sense of existence as a nation-state, cannot be lost. It is only part of sovereignty, as exercise of authority, that can be ceded.

This is what can be affected in the event a country defaults. Many cases lend credence to this observation in international practice.

From a multilateral perspective, Mexico and Greece are on record to have the highest loans from the IMF. The two countries have had reasons to default. More recently, Greece in June 2015, defaulted on a $1.7 billion payment to the IMF. Besides, countries like Argentina, Lebanon and Ecuador similarly defaulted in May 2017 on the payment of their debts. Their sovereignty as a nation-state has never been undermined. They still continue to exist as a sovereign state in international relations.

More interestingly at the level of the international creditors, they too have had reasons to write off some debts and have reconsidered the debtors for fresh loans. The international creditors know for sure that situations of default can always arise. In an attempt to make refusal or inability to repay more difficult, clauses on immunity waiver are generally inserted in many agreements. Immunity waiver should not be taken as end to existence as a nation state. The problem, therefore. is not stricto-sensu, the issue of conditionality in a loan agreement per se, that exclusively matters most, but how the conditionality is managed to one’s greater advantage.

And perhaps most interestingly at the level of Nigeria, it should be recalled that the Club de Paris (Paris Club), created in 1956 and comprising officials of creditor nations, wrote off Nigeria’s debt in October 2005. At that time, the Club considered that the economic reforms of the Federal Government of Nigeria were enough and far-reaching, and therefore cancelled sixty per cent of Nigeria’s debt, then $30 billion. As noted in this regard, The Punch of July 20, 2017 had it that the Federal Government reached agreements with State Governments to deduct certain amounts from their federal allocations to service foreign debts.

When the Federal Government reached an entente with the Paris Club, ‘some States that have been overcharged in the debt servicing arrangement applied for a refund. In December 2016, the Federal Government eventually agreed to refund the States, but in three tranches.’ This is a good illustration of how a situation of insolvency has been managed.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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

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NEWS

Acting News Editor ÌÙãÏÑË ÕÓØÝËØ×Ó E-mail: ÑÌÙãÏÑ˲ËÕÓØÝËØ×Ó̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙט͸΀͹ͽͺͻͽ΁ͺͽͻ ̙Ý×Ý ÙØÖã̚

China, Nigeria Seal $5.57bn Loan Agreements under Eight Years $3.313bn disbursed, 3.121 currently outstanding TI, CISLAC seek end to wastage by MDAs Gboyega Akinsanmi Amid fiscal pressure that threatened its capacity to fund capital projects, the federal government sealed $5.575 billion loan agreements with the Export– Import Bank of China between December 10, 2010 and May 29, 2018, a Debt Management Office (DMO) document has revealed.

With Nigeria’s rising exposure to external debt valued at $27.676 billion as at March 2020, Transparency International (TI) has decried federal government borrowing

spree despite huge resources wasted by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Details about the loan agreements were contained in the DMO’s status of loans obtained from China EXIM between December 10, 2010 and May 29, 2018. The status x-rayed Nigeria’s debt exposure to People’s Republic of China as at March 31, 2020 Of the total $5.575 loan agreements wrapped up with this timeframe, the document showed that China EXIM bank had already disbursed $3.313 billion

while the federal government was left with an outstanding loan of $3.121 billion.

Since the December 20, 2010 loan agreement was first closed, DMO’S document revealed that the federal government had paid $192.21 million as part of the principal and $269.68 million as interest on different loans obtained as at March 31, 2020.

The document showed that the facilities were sealed with the following terms of agreement: 2.5% interest rate; seven-year period of grace and 20-year period of

maturity.

Under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, for instance, the DMO’s document revealed, the federal government applied for $2.591 billion between August 26, 2016 and May 29, 2018, a period of one year and nine months.

As shown in the document, the Buhari administration sealed a $325.67 million loan agreement with China EXIM Bank on April 26, 2016 for the purpose of developing 40 parboiled rice processing plants under the Federal

EXERCISING SUFFRAGE . . .

Delta State Governor , Senator Ifeanyi Okowa casting ballot vote during the state delegate congress of Peoples Democratic Party at the cenotaph in Asaba... yesterday

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

However, the document revealed that the bank never disbursed the $325.67 million loan, which the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposed to develop 40 parboiled rice processing plants nationwide.

The document, also, revealed that of the $1.267 billion loan sealed for on August 18, 2017, the bank only disbursed $759.84 million, which according to the DMO, constituted about 59.96% of the value contained in the loan agreement.

Specifically, the document disclosed that the Buhari administration wrapped up the $1.267 billion loan agreement for the purpose of executing the Lagos-Ibadan section of the railway modernisation project.

Also, on August 18, 2017, the document showed that the Buhari administration agreed with China EXIM to borrow $480.82 million for the purpose of rehabilitating and upgrading Abuja-Keffi-Makurdi road project.

Of the $480.82 million the parties agreed upon, the document revealed that China EXIM had disbursed only $80.64 million, which DMO claimed, amounted to 17.5% of the total facility sought for the road project.

The document, further, revealed that on May 29, 2018, the Buhari administration applied for $157 million for the supply of rolling stocks and depot equipment for the Abuja light rail project and $381.09 million for the execution of Greater Abuja Water project. However, according to the document, none

of these credit facilities have been disbursed. All the facilities, which have been disbursed, are payable with the period of 20 years, though with a grace period of seven years.

Of the $2.591 billion loans the Buhari administration applied for, DMO’s document revealed that the Export–Import Bank of China only approved and disbursed $840.48 million. DMO’s document, however, was silent on why the bank did not disburse a sum of $1.759 billion.

On December 20, 2010, for instance, the document revealed that the Jonathan administration sealed a $399.5 million loan agreement for the execution of a national public security and communication system project and $500 million for the Idu-Kaduna section of the railway modernisation project.

As shown in the DMO’s documents, China EXIM fully disbursed the two facilities to the Jonathan administration while the federal government has already paid $169.44 million as interest and $172.98 million from the principal.

Also, DMO’s document disclosed that the Jonathan administration sealed a $500 million loan agreement for the development of the Abuja light rail project, which the Export–Import Bank of China had disbursed 100%.

The document further revealed that the Jonathan administration closed a $100 million loan deal for the Nigerian ICT infrastructure backbone project; $500 million for the expansion project of Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port-Harcourt Airport project and $984.32 million for Zungeru Hydro-Electric Power project

Experts Fault NIPOST’s Claim to Stamp Duties Collection, Cite Historical Error Gboyega Akinsanmi Experts in tax administration and law have censured the claim of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to the administration of Stamp Duties Act, noting that NIPOST’s involvement in stamp duties started as a historical error.

Consequently, the experts cited provisions of the Stamp Duties Act, 2004; the Finance Act, 2019 and the FIRS (Establishment) Act, 2007 that empowered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to administer and collect stamp duties charges on behalf of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In separate interviews yesterday, an erstwhile Registrar/Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), Prof. Taofeeq Abdulrazaq; Fiscal Policy Partner & West Africa Tax Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Mr. Taiwo Oyedele and a Senior Legal Officer, Africa Program of the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), Dr. Chidi Odinkalu clarified issues around the collection of stamp duty in Nigeria.

While Abdulrazaq and Oyedele argued that there was no basis for

conflict between FIRS and NIPOST considering the provisions of the extant laws, Odinkalu claimed that the heads of the agencies “are not fighting because of national interest, but because of 4% retention cost they would claim after collection.”

In a series of tweets Tuesday, the Chairman, NIPOST Board, Ms. Maimuna Abubakar protested the claim of FIRS as the designated authority for the administration of stamp duties, accusing the FIRS of stealing the mandate of NIPOST. Under the extant laws, Abubakar claimed that the

N’Assembly: CAMA Key to Corporate Accountability, Ease of Doing Business Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja The National Assembly on Saturday lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the Companies and Allied Matters (CAMA) Bill recently passed by the legislature, saying the new law would guarantee corporate accountability and ease of doing business in the country.

The two chambers of the bicameral legislature said in separate statements that the new CAMA law fulfilled a key agenda of the 9th National Assembly.

The new law repeals and replaces the extant Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990, which has been in use for over 30 years.

Chairman of the Senate Commit-

tee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said in a statement that the purpose of the amendment was to strengthen the legal framework for the incorporation of companies, which had become obsolete, as well as address several corporate legal innovations geared towards enhancing ease of doing business in Nigeria.

He said the assent also demonstrated the mutual cooperation between the executive and the National Assembly.

Basiru stated, “The assent

by Mr. President to this very important piece of legislation has further demonstrated the cordial relationship between the National Assembly and the Presidency, and is also a validation by the president of

the efforts of the National Assembly in providing the needed legislative interventions for the resuscitation of the nation’s economy.”

Basiru explained that the amended CAMA law, specifically, accommodated provisions, which insist on the disclosure of persons with significant control of companies in a register of beneficial owners to enhance corporate accountability and transparency.

According to him, “It is not in doubt that the provisions of the repealed Act had become very obsolete and, therefore, could not effectively address challenges being faced by companies and incorporated trustees, such as business rescue for insolvent companies and the merger of Incorporated Trustees for associations that share similar aims and objectives.

adhesive postage stamp “is not only used for postage. It is the only stamp with which denoting of all receipts documents and registrable instruments is to be done in Nigeria.

“The tax certificate or a tax clearance certificate and any other formalized document issued by the FIRS whether in the form of a paper copy or an electronic copy which is printed out remains a document liable to be denoted with an adhesive postage stamp minted

by NIPOST. “The Finance Act 2019 did

not delete nor repeal section 5(d) nor Section 34(1) and (2) of the NIPOST Act 2004; neither did it amend the sections” NIPOST’s board chairman had claimed in her series of tweets.

In a swift response on Wednesday, however, the FIRS faulted the position of the NIPOST Board on the ground that the power “to collect stamp duties resides with it and not NIPOST” citing the Finance Act 2019 and Stamp Duties Act 2004.

Amid these disagreements, Nigeria’s leading tax experts explained the mandates of

FIRS and NIPOST with respect to the administration of stamp duty charges, citing provisions of of Stamp Duties Act, 2004; Finance Act, 2019 and FIRS (Establishment) Act, 2007 to substantiate their standpoints.

Abdulrazaq, a Professor of Taxation, Faculty of Law, Lagos State University (LASU), explained that the friction between FIRS and NIPOST “is about who has the right to collect stamp duties under section 4(1) of the Stamp Duties Act, 2004 as amended by the Finance Act, 2019.”

In a Show of Strength, APC Kicks Off Edo’s Campaign “Their assignment is to come and assassinate some known individuals in the state. I hereby bring to the knowledge of the general public that these people are in town, we have communicated to the security agencies about their activities and why they are in town and also to use this medium to call on Mr. President to also call on the security agencies to do their work, because Edo is not going to be a theatre of war and for us, we will continue to appeal to our people not to look for trouble, not to disrupt any programme.

We are law-abiding.

“We have the duty to protect lives and property and that we will continue to do but just to bring to the entire nation and Edo State of the intention of these individuals. The Police, the DSS have been communicated the names of these individuals,” he said.

But, reacting, Oshiomole said there was no truth in the allegations, describing it as the antics of a defeated person.

Oshiomole, who spoke through his aide, Victor Oshioke, said “There is no truth in that. Why will I want to kill anybody? I contested election twice and I did not kill anybody but have rather preached against violence.

“PDP and Philip know that they have not performed, so, they are reducing their campaign to Oshiomhole. You can see that even today at the rally I still spoke against violence. Philip is sure of defeat for him and his party. Nobody will kill him, but he and his party will surely be defeated on September 19th,” Oshiomole stated In yet another statement by the Special Adviser to Edo State Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie,

which conflicted the position of the national leadership of the PDP, the Edo State government thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for not attending the APC campaign rally yesterday.

According to Osagie: “Once again, President Muhammadu Buhari reaffirmed his commitment to his administration’s fight against corruption by staying away from the public unveiling of the corruption-scarred gubernatorial candidate of the APC. “Knowing the collateral damage such a gesture would have caused the anti-corruption war and its promoters, home and abroad, the President decided to stay away. The vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and several APC governors that were expected at the event, were also absent.

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NEWSXTRA

More Troops Needed to Defeat Boko Haram, Claim N’East Govs Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto

UNITED WE STAND… L-R: Adamawa State Governor, Alhaji Ahmadu Fintiri; his Gombe counterpart, Alhaji Mohammed Yahaya; Prof. Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Senator Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Deputy Governor of Taraba State, Mr. Haruna Manu and his Yobe counterpart, Alhaji Idi Gubana at the second meeting of Northeast Governors’ Forum in Maiduguri ... yesterday

Osinbajo: Judiciary under Pressure from Political Elites

Faults judges’ appointment process CJN welcomes reforms in justices administration Alex Enumah in Abuja The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo yesterday observed that the justice administration “is under severe pressure from the elites who want to get ahead at all cost” while faulting the process of appointing judges in Nigeria.

With Osinbajo’s observation, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad made a case for new reforms in the judiciary, specifically with respect to the appointment of judges.

The leaders expressed grave concerns about the quality of judges and justice administration, at a webinar the Justice Research Institute (JRI) organised yesterday.

Among others, the webinar also featured the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah and a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amina Augie.

At the webinar, the leaders agreed that justice reforms had become necessary to restore

the dignity of the judiciary and judges lost to the manipulation of politicians and various sectional interests in the country.

In his presentation, the vice president said: “We have an elite.

When I speak of the elite, I speak of the Nigerian elite – political, religious, commercial or business etc. Everyone wants to get ahead, we want to own things, we want to control things and we want to own the judges too.”

Specifically, Osinbajo lamented that the political elite always wanted “to be sure of all the outcomes and they wanted all the outcomes to favour them.

That is the same pressure that we have with respect to the federal character.

“You cannot pick out the judiciary alone as the causes of failure. Nigerian elite, politicians want to own things. They want every decision to favour them.

They influence how judges are appointed”, Osinbajo said.

“Today, you can own the judge. Tomorrow, another person can own the judge. It does not make sense. We need to have this conversation. It is not enough

UN Agencies Charge Imo Monarchs to End Female Genital Mutilation Amby Uneze in Owerri The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) havr asked the Council of Traditional Rulers in Imo State to support development partners in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

The Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Dr. Ibrahim Conteh made the appeal in Owerri, the Imo State capital, at a dialogue with traditional leaders facilitated by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) with the support of UNICEF and UNFPA held at the weekend.

With 69% FGM’s prevalence in the state, Conteh expressed concern that Imo State had the highest record of Female Genital Mutilation, which according to World Health Organisation (WHO), involved the removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

At the dialogue, UNICE’s field officer noted that the two specialised agencies of the United Nations would sustain partnership with the federal government and Imo State government to end the FGM in the country.

Conteh noted that the Imo State FGM (Prohibition) Law which stipulated various terms of imprisonments and fine against culprits of the practice as being in consonance with the visions of the body to remedy the ugly trend.

They consequently sought the collaborations of the royal fathers towards the elimination of the FGM in the 55 autonomous communities in the two council areas He noted that the state government “has a law and policy against FGM. Based on these regimes, UNFPA and UNICEF have come out to support the crusade against FGM mainly through meaningful dialogue and consultations.”

to say judges are bad”, the vice president added.

He, therefore, suggested that the principle of federal character “is no longer necessarily seen as choosing the best from a particular zone or a particular state.

“It is the interest in that state or that zone who want to further their own purposes that would want to come together to ensure that the person who is appointed is not necessarily the best, but he is the one that is most suited to their own purposes. This is the problem that we have.

“I want to say that this is a natural human feeling. Most people in the world would rather have a situation where everything worked in their favour.

The vice-president said every nation makes up its mind at some point to create the best environment and circumstances it needs to succeed.

Osinbajo said that there should be honest conversation among the legal profession, the judiciary, the executive, the legislature and the elites nationwide on the necessity of appointing the best

judicial officers.

He explained: “If we leave it to the system that is going on at the moment, we are clearly headed in the wrong direction because interest whether private, political or group influences how judges are appointed.

“We must agree to an objective process to rigorously examine, test and interview all of those who want to come forward as judges,” the vice president said.

He also said it was important to pay attention to the welfare of judges by providing adequate remuneration in order to shield them from corruption.

He, however, observed that the perceived lapses in the judiciary and entire democracy in the country should not be entirely blamed on judges.

In response to Osinbajo’s standpoint, the CJN observed he was willing to accept any proposal that would reform the judiciary for better performances.

He said: “This is something for the nation and not for individuals.

If the law has conferred powers on an individual, it must be exercised.

But, I’m 100% ready for reforms.”

Buhari, NLC Greet Ngige at 68 Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) have commended the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige for strength of character.

In a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina on Friday, Buhari rejoiced with Ngige as he turned 68 on August 8.

“The president joined the medical community, the labour fraternity, the legislature where the celebrant served as senator and the people of Anambra State whom he served as governor, to salute Ngige for his meritorious stewardship to community, state, country and humanity, wishing him greater health, strength and sound mind.

“As he serves as conciliator-general between government and organised labour, Buhari wishes the minister well in all his endeavours.” he said.

Also, in a congratula-

tory message signed by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, NLC felicitated with Ngige, eulogising him for exhibiting traits of a truly great man.

The message read in part: ”Honourable Minister, you have carved a niche for yourself in the minds of many Nigerians as a dogged fighter in whatever cause you believe in.

“You demonstrated this trait very manifestly and robustly in Anambra State where you announced your emergence in national politics. It takes only a giant of a man to confront and defeat the political pantheon in Anambra State and their benefactors in higher reaches of power who wanted to keep Anambra State as a prized trophy.

“The minister went on to deliver excellent services to the people of Anambra State whose cause you chose to fight for rather than bow to the whims and caprices of a ravenous political elite.

The Forum of North-east Governors yesterday disclosed that the Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) did not have sufficient troops on ground to secure lives and properties in the troubled states of the region.

In a related development, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday acknowledged that the Sokoto State Government and the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar had played strategic roles in the fight against banditry and criminality in the Northwest.

The forum made the observation in a communique it issued after its 2nd meeting held in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency.

The forum has also nominated Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum as its chairman for a period of two years while the headquarters of

the forum would be located in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Reviewing the fight against Boko Haram yesterday, the forum urged the NAF to allow personnel of the Nigeria Police to carry state of the art weapons where necessary in the states that had been battling Boko Haram insurgency in the last decade.

The forum commended the federal government in fighting the insurgency, but urged the armed forces to secure hard-toreach areas in the region and ensure safe access to farm lands.

The forum, also, called on the federal government “to ensure the deployment of state of the art military hardware to the region.”

It recommended that the manpower deficit in the Nigerian Armed Forces should be bridged by allowing the police to carry state of the art weapons where necessary and be provided with strategic equipment like high velocity tear gas, trackers and armoured personnel carriers (APC).

Beirut Blast Sends African Maids out of Job in Lebanon Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja with agency report British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Focus on Africa radio is reporting that some Lebanese employers have sacked their African maids following the huge explosion that destroyed their houses.

The radio cited one domestic worker who fled her employer in February.

According to BBC, many African women move to Lebanon, and other countries in the Middle East, to work in houses in what is known as the kefala system - which ties their immigration status to tbeir live-in employment .

This employment system has been criticised because it leaves workers vulnerable to abuse from their employers.

Lucy Turay told BBC Focus on Africa radio that fellow domestic workers have been

phoned after Tuesday’s explosion by their employers to be told they have lost their jobs because the houses had been destroyed.

Turay reportedly fled her job as a maid and child minder in February after she said her employer threatened to kill her.

According to BBC Focus, she became homeless until an Indian woman found her on the streets of Beirut and gave her the phone number of her country’s consulate.

“While she now lives in a safe house, she says she does not have money for a flight home and her consulate does not either”, the report said.

She told the BBC Focus that the only way her and her compatriots have to raise the money for their flights home would be from funds from a song she wrote.

Coalition Asks FG to Sack NDDC’s Management The Niger Delta Renaissance Coalition (NDRC) has urged the federal government to dismiss the Prof. Keme Pondei-led Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for alleged corrupt practice The coalition made this call in a statement by its National Coordinator, Mr. Godknows Sotonye yesterday, alleging that NDDC’s interim management had in its own official letter admitted its guilt and had accepted the findings of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating its activities.

The coalition claimed that the interim management should no longer manage the resources of the people in the region through the interventionist agency having accepted the allegations of corruption and financial recklessness at the NDDC.

The statement said the IMC “has in its own official letter admitted its guilt and accepted the findings of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the allegations of corruption and financial recklessness in NDDC. “The recommendations were adopted by the Senate in plenary on July 23, to wit: ‘that the IMC be disbanded and made to refund the sum of N4.923 billion and that the substantive Governing Board of the NDDC be sworn in to manage the commission in line with the provisions of the law.

“The committee also recommended that the NDDC be moved back to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in the presidency for proper supervision to guarantee independence, credibility, transparency and professionalism in the output of the exercise.

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NEWSXTRA

Agents of Genocide at Work in Southern Kaduna, Allege Afenifere, MBF

Donates food items worth N2m to displaced person ·Blame security forces sustained attacks on defenceless persons John Shiklam in Kaduna Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF and the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) have alleged that agents of genocide are on the prowl in Southern Kaduna, a predominantly Christian-dominated area that has been under sustained armed attacks.

Citing the inability of security forces to end the armed attacks on the defenceless people, the socio-cultural groups have also alleged that security forces seemed to be supervisors in the killing field of Southern Kaduna.

MBF’s National President, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, Afenifere Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin; PANDEF’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Ken Robinson and Ohanaeze Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu expressed these concerns during a solidarity visit to the people of South Kaduna yesterday.

The leaders of the socio-cultural groups, who were received by the leadership of Southern Kaduna People Union (SOKAPU), also donated food items worth N2 million to the internally displaced persons (IDPs) during the solidarity visit.

Odumakin noted that it was shameful that the Nigerian security forces had failed in bringing those unleashing terror in southern Kaduna to justice.

Odumakin said the attacks on the people of Southern Kaduna were attacks on all socio-cultural groups nationwide, hence the decision to pay the visit.

He said: “We are so sad to visit you in this condition. We are not here to bring you relief.

There is no relief we can bring at this time to the families who have lost their loved ones in these gruesome attacks, this genocide, in the hands of enemies that we know. ”If we say we do not know these enemies, we are deceiving ourselves. We in the South-west, South-south, South-east and Middle Belt have all agreed that whatever affects one affects all,” Afenifere spokesperson said.

He, therefore, declared that the attack on the people of Southern Kaduna “is an attack against all of us. That is why we are here this afternoon to commiserate with you.”

Citing their failure to end the killing, Odumakin lamented that Nigerian security forces seemed “to be supervisors in the killing field.

They watch as agents of genocide kill our people without being able to bring them to justice.”

He said it was unfortunate that the government attributed these genocidal massacres “to revenge or reprisals by some people. If it is revenge, who are the people?

Who spoke with them? Who did they complain to?

“The government knows where the attacks are coming from. The government is just rubbing it on our faces. But we are praying today that God Almighty should bring

justice to the land. The people, who are killed, should not be killed in vain. The land is crying for justice” Odumakin said.

Also during the solidarity, Pogu said the four socio-cultural groups had been crying for the restructuring of the country, saying if there were native policemen, in the affected communities, the people would have been protected from the killers.

Pogu, MBF’s national president, alleged that the security personnel under the control of the federal

government, had no commitment to the people.

He said: ”We have everything centred at the federal level. The Nigeria Police is federal. The Nigeria Armed Forces (NAF) is federal. Everything is federal. So, these security forces have no commitment to the people of Southern Kaduna.

“That is why we are crying for restructuring so that we can be defended by our people. El-Rufai said you

should not go on self-defence, yet these killers move around under the 24-hour curfew he imposed on you.

“They come in the night and kill you. Has the government ever gone after them? The answer is no!

El-Rufai said it is revenge killings.

Revenge killing against who? Have they gone to challenge them in their camp? No! “They come to your villages in the dead of the night and kill; burn and destroy just like a thief comes to steal, kill and destroy,” he lamented.

... Omokri Donates to Christians, Muslims Bayo Akinloye in Lagos Reno Omokri, a former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has donated half a million naira to victims of Southern Kaduna violence.

The former presidential aide has also produced a song, ‘Life No Balance,’ to raise more funds for the victims.

Omokri told THISDAY that he made the donation public to draw attention to the plight of Southern Kaduna people, claiming that many Nigerians are still not aware of the violent attacks on the people in the area by herdsmen.

He said: “First thing you need to understand is that a lot of people are not aware of what’s happening in Southern Kaduna. I’ve been doing a lot of work in trying to get people to notice what’s happening in Southern Kaduna to the international media.”

He also pointed out that though the majority of the victims of the attacks were Christians, his donations were dictated by his religious

conviction.

Omokri said: “I didn’t make the donation to the Christian community. I speak directly to the leadership of the Christians in Southern Kaduna and the leadership of the Muslims in Kaduna. Most of the victims, the vast majority of the victims are Christians. But there are few who are Muslims.”

Speaking about the song produced to raise more funds, he stated, “I co-wrote and produced a song. The song was released on Saturday at about 10:30 am on iTunes, available worldwide on Apple’s Music Stores.

“All the proceeds of the song are going directly to the victims of the Southern Kaduna massacre and the money is going directly to the committee headed by Rev John Hayab, the chairman of CAN in Kaduna and Sheik Halley Maraya, the head of the Muslims.”

He urged Nigerians to download the song assuring that the proceeds will go directly to the committee providing relief to the Southern Kaduna people.

NACC Appoints Obadimu New DG The Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce (NACC) has announced the appointment of Mr Sola Obadimu as Director-General.

He took over from Mrs Joyce Akpata on August 1, 2020.

Obadimu has a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering, M.Sc in Economics and MBA in Marketing & Strategy, all from the University of Lagos.

He brings to the chamber a wealth of experience from the organised private sector, having served, at various times, as Director-General, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce and Founding/Start-up Executive Secretary, Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce.

At different times, Obadimu served as acting Director-General,

Obadina

Institute of Directors; Head of Administration, West African College of Surgeons; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Society of Engineers and Director at the Nigerian Institute of Management in the past.

He also brings, on board, qualitative project management and senior consulting experience.

He is married with children.

SOCIAL DISTANCING AT PLAY..

Muslims praying six months after government lift the ban on Covid-19 at Ansar-Ud-Deen Mosque , Oshodi Branch, Lagos ... Friday

El-Rufai: I Won’t Support Northerner for Presidency in 2023 John Shiklam in Kaduna Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai yesterday agreed that the next president of Nigeria should come from the southern part of the country.

He reversed his position on the zoning principle in an interview with BBC Hausa, saying he would not support a northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

After the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, political gladiators nationwide

had argued that the presidency should return to the south.

On August 10, 2019, specifically, el-Rufai warned against zoning principle, urging the country “to choose competence over zoning when electing its president.”

In the prologue he contributed to “Power of Possibilities and Politics of Change in Nigeria”, a book by Salihu Lukman, directorgeneral of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, el-Rufai argued that zoning has to be abandoned.

El-Rufai said competence

should be chosen over zoning as far as the number one seat in the country was concerned.

The governor described zoning as “opaque”, adding that it was a barrier to political equality.

However, in a radio programme yesterday, the governor said he would not support a northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

He added that it was baseless for anyone to insinuate that he would contest for presidency in 2023, saying he did not have any interest in the seat.

El-Rufai said the idea of rotating the presidency might not be constitutional, but it was based on the country’s political arrangement.

“In Nigerian politics, there is a system of rotation, in which everyone agrees that if the north rules for eight years, the south will rule for eight years,” el-Rufai said.

“That is why I came out and said that after President Buhari has been in office for eight years, no northerner should run for office. Let the southerners also have eight years.

NCFront Asks FG, INEC to Stop Violence in Edo Gboyega Akinsanmi The National Consultative Front (NCFront) yesterday asked the federal government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to end violence in Edo State ahead of the governorship election scheduled to hold on September 19.

NCFront, a newly floated political platform with the mandate to rescue Nigeria from doldrums, also asked all security forces and their personnel to maintain neutrality before, during and after the electoral process.

It made these demands in a statement by its Head of Public Affairs Bureau, Dr. Tanko Yunusa yesterday, lamenting that supposedly democratic elections in Nigeria “are fast acquiring notoriety for violence

and brigandage.”

In a statement, NCFront described signals emerging from Edo State in the run up to the September 19 gubernatorial elections as advancing despicable acts of desperation clothed in violence and rascality of a frighteningly dangerous proportion.

It said: “Elections, to us, should not be a matter of ‘do or die’ if the end intention is to provide selfless service to the citizenry.

When the level of desperation to win elections at all cost becomes evident as in the case of the run up to the Edo elections, it suggests that other considerations outside selfless service to the people may be the priority.”

The movement, therefore, warned that the trend should not be allowed to fester, pointing out that it portended grave threat to

civil democratic governance in the country.

According to it, this ugly and unflattering development in our country runs against the tenets of democracy and civility and should trouble all patriotic citizens.

On these grounds, NCFront urged INEC “to ensure a level playing ground for all participants, while security agencies are expected to maintain the neutrality required and necessary for their respectable non partisanship.”

It added that it viewed INEC’s preemptive threat “to halt the elections as unhelpful. What we think is needed is for security agencies to immediately get on top of the situation and provide formidable and dynamic security initiatives to ensure a level playing ground in the run up to the elections.”

It, also, suggested that the

security forces should work in harmony with INEC to guarantee the sanctity and integrity of the elections and its outcome.

It warned that the presidency might have partisan political interests in the outcome of the governorship election scheduled to hold on September 19.

It explained that the federal government “has a higher responsibility and duty of ensuring an equitably peaceful environment for all parties if the outcome of the election is to enjoy popular legitimacy, reflect the choice of the electorate and stabilize the polity.”

It urged all stakeholders, particularly the federal government, constitutionally charged with ensuring security in the electoral process to take urgent steps to de-escalate the palpable tension thrown up in Edo state.

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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 ˾ AUGUST 9, 2020

CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

The Misplaced Loan for Sovereignty Uproar More attention should be paid to what loans are used for, and if they are judiciously spent, rather than raise a false alarm over standard lender-borrower contracts, writes Demola Ojo

P

enultimate week, a House of Representatives panel raised the alarm over “clauses conceding Nigeria’s sovereignty to China” in a loan agreement, when Minister of Transportation, Rotimi appeared before it.

The “discovery” of the clause pitted the National Assembly against the Federal Executive Council (FEC) with critics arguing that the clause should not have been included in a commercial agreement.

According to article 8(1) of a 2018 commercial loan agreement between Nigeria and the Export-Import Bank of China, “The borrower hereby irrevocably waives any immunity on the grounds of sovereign or otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any arbitration proceeding pursuant to Article 8(5), thereof with the enforcement of any arbitral award pursuant thereto, except for the military assets and diplomatic assets.”

Amaechi, last week, explained during a TV interview that the contentious clause was only a contract term, a sovereign guarantee that assures payback according to the terms and conditions of any loan. Amaechi inspecting ongoing railway construction with some chinese contractors “The contract between Nigeria and of loans.

However, the distrust Nigerians generally have for China is usually signed by the ministry of finance on “Concessions relating to immunity for the purpose of politicians and government officials has necessitated that behalf of Nigeria, but that will be escaping the issue. the views of respected experts be heard, to calm nerves and provision of commercial guarantee are a normal, traditional Whether it is the ministry of finance that signed it or the ritual. Nations enter into respective interstate agreements allay fears. ministry of transport, the issues are the issues. and in the course of so doing, surrendering their jurisdicAccording to a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Bolaji “There is no contract without an agreement and that tional immunity,” Malami said.

Akinyemi, there’s usually a clause in these agreements, agreement must contain some terms and one of the terms Stating that commercial immunity is in essence a mere which is standard procedure. “A country cannot plead its that this one contains, is not that you’re signing away the guarantee that allows an advancing state an opportunity, sovereignty to protect it from arbitration.” sovereignty of the country. No country will sign away right and power to claim back the financial advances made Economic relations are different from political relations its sovereignty. What you do is, you give a sovereign to a party state, he elaborated: he further explained. In the latter, a country can plead its guarantee; and I’m ashamed of those who interpret it the “It is in no way extended to perhaps concession to sovereignty to protect it, but not in the former. It is the wrong way,” he said. diplomatic immunity by which you now surrender the responsibility of the borrowing country to make sure its He made clear that by waiving the immunity clause, the economists thoroughly examine the contracts to make sure rights, privileges and independence of a nation state. But it lender has a right to reclaim assets built by the borrower is a commercial term that is restrictive, exclusive to an asset, they don’t lead to economic slavery. with the loan to help it recover funds, in case there is a a commercial asset for that matter in the event of default.”

Akinyemi also pointed out that similar clauses are in default in payment.

Rather than focus on a clause, which is standard fare in agreements signed with Western countries and financial “The waiving of immunity simply means in trade these cases, the National Assembly will do well to closely institutions. He cautioned that Nigerians and Africans in parlance that I’m not giving you this loan free,” he scrutinise what loans are used for, and make sure they are general, be wary of the “propaganda” of Western nations explained. “...The Chinese will never take over what was expended judiciously. regarding China and loans. not constructed with the loan.”

Taking loans for infrastructure purposes can be defended “There is nothing wrong with Africa broadening the To allay fears, Amaechi further revealed that the loan if the projects are economically viable and stimulate basis of its interaction with the economic global commuwas already being repaid, with $96 million already paid industrial growth that would in turn facilitate the repaynity, rather than just being dependent on one source”, he out of the initial loan of $500 million. He also highlighted ment of said loans. the low interest rate of the loan, which is 2.8 per cent for 20 contends. “It makes sense for us to have many economic However, taking loans to pay for recurrent expenditure and trading partners,” he said. years with seven years moratorium.

Also, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the such as salaries and increased allowances of public offiAmaechi also reiterated his call to the National Assembly cials, or to pay for unnecessary and economically unviable Federation, Abubakar Malami, said there was a difference to put a hold on the probe as some loans were still being projects like, say, rehabilitating the National Assembly expected for the completion of the Lagos to Ibadan railway between international diplomatic immunity, which has to complex, deserves the criticism and condemnation of do with a nation’s sovereignty, and commercial immunity, and the construction of the rail from Ibadan to Kano and concerned Nigerians. which has to do with a commitment to ensure repayment Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

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

Not Surprisingly, Edo PDP Keeps Going Low!

B

Obaseki

y the time former United States President,Barack Obama and his wife,Michelle,were leaving office, they were rated two of the most contemporary retail politicians in the American politics at the time.

One of the campaign slogans that stood them out at the time was their decision to steer clear of mudslinging and character assassination while staying focused on issues affecting governance and development of the US,in support of the democratic party’s candidate,Hillary Clinton.

To that extent,Michelle invented the slogan:“When they go low, we go high”,referring to the gutter ideas of the then candidate Trump campaign strategists.

That,naturally,reconnected with the already averagely abused minds like a wild fire,which sent some resonating and reverberating messages down the political aisle of the state,without impugning on anyone’s character,name or image.The message was distinct and in its own class.

Typically,and as it is with nearly every election here in this part of the world,the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to do everything to avoid any issue-based debate but instead descended into the gutters ahead of the September 19, governorship election in Edo State.

Their latest infantile display of crass political immaturity,which featured the wife of former governor Adams Oshiomhole,is the lowest any individual could go – drafting a man’s wife into their murky,filthy,stinking and despicable terrain without restraint, common sense,honour,discipline and the requisite character for the office they collectively seek.

To also think that the news about Mrs.Oshiomhole being somewhat indisposed is not new to many of them on the stage, exposes their hypocrisy and indecency as well as the tendency to gloat over other’s misfortunes at political expense.

They simply do not deserve the office they seek,because their character tells it all.Only those above the board of petty considerations should be called“His Excellency”.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 9, 2020

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BRIEFINGNOTES Lawal: Flying the 2023 Kite at a Poor Altitude Recently, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, said power must return to the South. But his fillip to it showed he was merely playing politics of selfish preference, writes Shola Oyeyipo

I

f his words were taken on their face value, any keen observer of the nations political undercurrents would comfortably say former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Babachir Lawal, was a patriot, who loves equity and would always put fairness at first in anything he does.

Recently, the former scribe said power must return to the South. He berated northern elements that were insinuating that competence rather than geography of birth should determine where the next President comes from. In fact, Mamman Daura, a merchant of power and nephew to the current President, Muhammadu Buhari, was recently at the forefront of this campaign.

Lawal berated power mongers from the North who had been insisting power must remain in the region, demanding to know what the region had gained since the days of the late General Sani Abacha.

“By the way, what did we get from several years of governance with the Presidency being from the North? Since the demise of General Sani Abacha, the country has been into crises of insecurity and poor economy.

Along the line, we have also had vice-presidents, who were northerners. We have had presidents who were northerners but for whatever reason, the system is not improving. Presidency from the North is like an albatross around our neck,” he reckoned.

He was not done. He said the most sensible thing to do was for President Buhari to support power shift to the South since he (Buhari) currently enjoys his second term in office.

A just and equitable way of doing things is to agree, as gentlemen, that since the North has had its President for the second tenure, the opportunity should be given to the South to produce the next President.

But, as commendable as his position was, Lawal was playing politics and he knew. He didn’t just say power should shift to the South, which has three zones, Southeast, South-south and Southwest; he pointedly said power must shift to the Southwest. And not only that power should shift to the Southwest, he had his preferred candidate: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Lawal said nobody in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has the right to prevent Tinubu from contesting the 2023 Presidency.

According to Lawal, those who were behind the removal of the suspended National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, were targeting Tinubu, adding that the aim was to prevent the former Lagos State governor and godfather of the state from contesting the party primaries for the presidential ticket not to talk of the presidential election itself.

“Those who wanted Adams Oshiomhole out are more desperate because of 2023, because as a national chairman of a party, from my own observation, there’s very little he could do to favour or impose a presidential candidate in his party.

Nobody with a clear conscience in the APC will deny Tinubu the opportunity to contest the Presidency.

“Nobody within the party has the moral right to even put a stumbling block on his path. The party must create an environment that is free and fair for anybody, who wants to contest, including Bola Tinubu. Let the delegates, who must have emerged through a similarly free and fair process, decide who they want to vote for.

Going rather spiritual, Lawal said except the party wanted to bring the wrath of God on its head, “because of his (Tinubus) role in building the party, equity and a sense of justice demand that he be given a chance in a free and fair system and let his

Lawal, former Secretary to then Government of the Federation

luck prevail.

From all indications, Lawal’s intervention was nothing but another act in the power game going on within the party. Right from the campaign period that led to the success of the party first at the 2015 general election and later in 2019, Lawal has always been a Tinubu person within the party.

And from what he just came out with concerning the 2023 ticket of the party, it is quite clear that Lawal has not repudiated his loyalty to the former Lagos State governor.

Limiting his rather good intervention to someone trying to deny Tinubu the chance to contest for the ticket of the party in 2023 has shown that, perhaps, he was not better than those northern elements that were saying power should remain in the region after Buhari might have completed his term of office.

Without mentioning names, there are other eminently qualified individuals from the South, who could succeed Buhari and hence, Lawal would have retained the toga of a patriot and supporter of equity if he had not pinpointed a particular individual. Perhaps, he has also forgotten that there is a sitting Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who happens to be from the same Southwest and who, ordinarily on paper, should be given the right of first refusal as far as the party’s presidential ticket is concerned.

The rumour out there is that the return of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to the ruling

APC was to facilitate his ticket with Tinubu. While there is still nothing to back this school of thought, it is equally pertinent to note that the timing of Dogaras return to the APC was instructive.

Alongside former Senate President and former governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Dogara had defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018.

Though the governor of Yobe State, who is also the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Committee, Mai Mala Buni, has come to say the purported rumour of the Tinubu/Dogara ticket was what it was: rumour.

“These are mere rumours and rumour thrives in a democracy. That’s not even our concern for now. It is not even proper to start talking about 2023 when we have a sitting President.

People were surprised, when Dogara joined us (APC). That’s how we will continue to spring surprises. In a democracy, people talk but 2023 is not even our priority now. We are working towards uniting the party,” Buni cleared.

Good intervention from the Borno governor. But like his other colleagues in the ruling although troubled party, the main issue is 2023, no matter the level of pretence otherwise towards it. And that is what Lawal too has done, even if he covered his position with some veneer of patriotism and fairness. It is all about 2023 and all have different interests.

NOTES FOR FILE

Akeredolu: Is the Ondo Deal Now Sealed?

Akeredolu with Tinubu

By the time former United States President, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, were leaving office, they were rated two of the most contemporary retail politicians in the American politics at the time.

One of the campaign slogans that stood them out at the time was their decision to steer clear of mudslinging and character assassination while staying focused on issues affecting governance and development of the US, in support of the democratic party’s candidate, Hillary Clinton.

To that extent, Michelle invented the slogan: “When they go low, we go high”, referring to the gutter ideas of the then candidate Trump campaign strategists.

That, naturally, reconnected with the already averagely abused minds like a wild fire, which sent some resonating and reverberating messages down the political aisle of the state, without impugning on anyone’s character, name or image.

The message was distinct and in its own class.

Typically, and as it is with nearly every election here in this

part of the world, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to do everything to avoid any issue-based debate but instead descended into the gutters ahead of the September 19, governorship election in Edo State. Their latest infantile display of crass political immaturity, which featured the wife of former governor Adams Oshiomhole, is the lowest any individual could go – drafting a man’s wife into their murky, filthy, stinking and despicable terrain without restraint, common sense, honour, discipline and the requisite character for the office they collectively seek.

To also think that the news about Mrs. Oshiomhole being somewhat indisposed is not new to many of them on the stage, exposes their hypocrisy and indecency as well as the tendency to gloat over other’s misfortunes at political expense.

They simply do not deserve the office they seek, because their character tells it all. Only those above the board of petty considerations should be called “His Excellency”.

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CICERO/REPORT

Obaseki and deputy at the state assembly

In Edo, the Battle Just Begins...

The prolonged conict in the Edo State House of Assembly and its consequences on the September 19 governorship election are beginning to take their tolls, writes Adibe Emenyonu

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he controversy and nomenclature surrounding the 7th Assembly of Edo State will continue to haunt its existence until something meaningful is done to correct that anomaly.

This is because it was constituted on what might be described as a faulty foundation.

The faulty foundation was a product of perceived fear of who controls the state legislature between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his erstwhile godfather and predecessor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole It all began before the 24 members were elected in 2019.

Before Governor Obaseki was elected, the state had six lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while his party then, the All Progressives Congress (APC) had 19 members.

The table, however, turned during last year’s general election, when the APC claimed all the 24 seats. There was wild jubilation in the party. The governor celebrated the feat even with a Church Thanksgiving.

With that, everyone had thought that there would be political harmony devoid of rancour usually experienced when there are opposition members in an assembly. Even the governor attested to that when he said, “With the victory of 24 over 24, the state is set for rapid development, because all the development bills to the House will enjoy quick and easy passage by the assembly.

This, some political analysts had also reechoed could propel faster growth in the state.

However, all the dreams and expected yearnings soon evaporated. Trouble set in when some persons with inordinate ambitions sold a carrot to the governor that allowing then Speaker, (Victor Edoror) who was impeached shortly after Oshiomhole handed over to him to continue would spell doom for the governor.

The story was that Oshiomhole wanted to use Edoro to control the governor and any refusal could earn him an impeachment. Incidentally, the man, believed to have sold the carrot to Obaseki became the Speaker shortly after by masterminding the removal of Edoro.

This story was bought and the plot began on how to stop the perceived enemy from succeeding. And knowing full well that in an open contest, the man could triumph the need to deny him and his supporters their inauguration was hatched, resulting in the late night inauguration of 10 members, shutting out 14.

In June last year, Obaseki defiled political calculations, when an inauguration of 10 members-elect was done in a controversial circumstance, shutting out 14 others he believed were loyal to Oshiomhole in an assembly of 24 member – all APC. Two later appeared and were sworn in but also left to join the other 12, bringing the figure outside to 14. By simple calculation, the house is being run by a minority as against the majority.

The National Assembly waded in since all the members were

from the same political party with the governor. From their findings, the proclamation by the governor was selectively communicated to those he preferred. Besides, the federal lawmakers said from their findings, the inauguration was done outside legislative hours, which warranted them to tell Obaseki to issue a fresh proclamation so as to accommodate those not covered.

The Edo governor not only rebuffed them but went ahead to obtain an injunction from a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State restraining them and their proxies from taking over the assembly, when the date given to him to do so expired which warranted the need to take over the assembly as the constitution stipulates.

His argument is that once a proclamation is issued, no fresh one could come because those who were not inaugurated refused to avail themselves for swearing-in by the Clerk.

To further strengthen their position, the Speaker then declared the position of the 12 vacant for absenteeism for 180 days as required by the Constitution. But another argument emanated that the seat of a lawmaker-elect not sworn in could not be declared vacant, which today has remained a subject of litigations. Recently, the state deputy governor, Philip Shaibu while appearing on one of the television stations said Oshiomhole sought his support to remove Obaseki, which he refused and of course, triggered the crisis that’s now taken a different dimension.

The governor told Nigerians that his differences with Oshiomhole and his supporters was that they asked him to share the state treasury for them, which he refused to oblige.

That notwithstanding, the fresh crisis rocking the assembly as gathered was powered by Obaseki’s recent defection from APC to PDP after losing the nomination ticket. Added to this is the fact that three members of the original 10 have refused to be coerced by the governor to join his new party, the PDP. They said they preferred to remain in APC and had even paid solidarity loyalty to the APC candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

Therefore, even without applying logic, the House as formally constituted by the governor and led by Frank Okiye cannot continue.

This snowballs into the latest bickering that resurfaced Thursday. Sensing earlier that it had lost control of not only simple but more than two-thirds majority, Okiye raised the alarm of plot by the 17 members to import mace from Imo State to impeach him and subsequently, the governor.

In order to thwart the move, a rumour was circulated that APC leaders in conjunction with the 17 members had invaded the assembly to sit with the intent to Impeach, which warranted the drive by PDP supporters and the subsequent removal of the roof of the assembly building on account of renovation.

The fears of Obaseki and the PDP was further heightened, when news of the emergence new leaders of the state assembly with Victor Edoror (Esan West) constituency emerging as the

Speaker while Emmanuel Agbaje (Akoko-Edo II) as Deputy Speaker after a motion for the impeachment of former Speaker Frank Okiye was not opposed.

The exercise said to have taken place in an undisclosed location had Sunday Aghedo, (APC Ovia Southwest) move the motion and signed by the entire members 17 members, who called for Okiye’s ouster and was seconded by Ohio Ezomo (APC Owan West).

The motion nominating Edoror was moved by Washington Osifo (APC Uhunmwonde) and seconded by Eric Okaka (APC, Owan East), and in the absence of further nominations, he was elected.

Mr Chris Okaeben (APC, Oredo West) moved the motion that got Hon Emma Agbaje (APC, Akoko-Edo II) who acted as Speaker ex tempore elected as Deputy Speaker.

Before the election, 12 out of the 14 members, who were not sworn in last year, took their oaths administered by the Deputy Clerk of the assembly, Mr Tom Efezokhae. The oath taking effectively made the 12 legislators of the state at an event, which was said to have taken place at the Conference Hall of the state assembly.

Seventeen members attended plenary at the end of which Hon Ohio moved for adjournment as the Speaker announced that plenary would resume on Friday, 7th August 2020. In his address after he was elected, Speaker Victor Edoror said the 7th Assembly would focus on its legislative duties, and not pursue the impeachment of any member of the Executive.

He called for unity and togetherness, stating that there was no victor, no vanquished. Edoror also directed the Edo Commissioner of Police, the IGP, and other security agencies to eject the thugs, who invaded the Assembly Complex to pave the way for a rancor-free plenary on Friday, August 7.

The Blame Game The two warring parties have continued to trade blame, claiming the other group is responsible for the evident breakdown of law and order, which warranted the presence of the Police and other security agencies.

At a media briefing, the PDP state chairman, Dr. Tony Aziegbemi, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to wade in and arrest those behind the impeachment of Okiye saying, failing to do so would spell doom for democracy.

He made the call while expressing the party’s position on the recent happening in the state. Aziegbemi said the action of the lawmakers was treasonable and that they should not be spared but be dealt with accordingly.

Aziegbemi said: “To what happened yesterday at the House of Assembly in Edo State. As a party, we looked at the issue and we have come to the inevitable conclusion, which is, there was a

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž AUGUST 9, 2020

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CICERO/UPDATE

"U /%%$ *U T /PX A$POUSBDUT %JTUBODJOH As robust denials and ‘contracts distancing’ by alleged beneficiaries of the corruption that has become the story of the NDDC mount, Louis Achi asks: whodunit?

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eering deep into human history and nature, a puzzled Scottish historical novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott, once bemoaned: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!�

But whatever quirky intrigues and impunities that shaped Walter’s early worldview of Scotland, they probably may not hold a candle to the absurd deceptions playing out in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), currently.

Such is the absurdity that even the House Committee chaired by Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi nimbly broke the insightful rule by Napoleon Bonaparte, which counseled: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.� “Honourable minister, it’s okay, off your mic,� Ereyitomi was quick off the blocks, protesting and trying to gag the minister with several bangs of the gavel. Was the minister ‘making a mistake’?

During an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives last month, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, had told lawmakers to their faces that they were the biggest beneficiaries of the corruption that has become the story of the NDDC.

This spawned a storm with Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila of the House, handing down an ultimatum demanding the Minister released the touted names of beneďŹ ciaries or faced legal action.

Not cowed, Akpabio subsequently released a list of contractors, in a July 23 letter to the Speaker, which included the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Peter Nwabaoshi, whose name was listed against 53 projects.

The minister’s letter addressed to the Clerk to the House, Mr. Patrick Giwa, with Reference Number MNDA/HM/04/IV/158, was also copied to the OfďŹ ce of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Senator Matthew Urhoghide, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts; and Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, Senate Whip, were among the lawmakers named as beneďŹ ciaries. James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan, two former governors of Delta State, were equally listed as beneďŹ ciaries. There are many more.

SigniďŹ cantly, most of them had denied beneďŹ tting from the contracts, accusing Akpabio of tarnishing their reputation.

A fallout from Akpabio’s disclosures, which is signiďŹ cant, is the chorus of denials and lengthy homilies from a broad swathe of the character cast of ‘beneďŹ ciaries.’ Then Whodunit?

Former Delta State Governor, Chief James Ibori, his successor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, took issue with Akpabio, for naming them among alleged beneďŹ ciaries of NDDC contract awards.

The trio, in separate statements, denied they did not take any contracts from the commission, which is being probed by the National Assembly for alleged ďŹ nancial misconduct.

In October, President Buhari ordered a forensic audit into the ďŹ nances of the NDDC from 2001 to 2019.

However, Ibori, in a statement by his media aide, Tony Eluemunor, dismissed the allegation, stating he had never solicited for any contract from the commission or been awarded one. “Chief Ibori hereby states categorically that he never solicited for, or was awarded, or indeed executed any contract with NDDC or any government agency, at any time, for that matter. “And in all, he has been through in and out of public ofďŹ ce, he has never been accused of being a government contractor, let alone a failed one hence he did not want to dignify the allegation with a response

Akpabio

because it is ridiculous.�

For good measure, Ibori also described as tragic, the NDDC’s degeneracy, adding that, “We owe it a duty to the people of the Niger Delta to make NDDC work to ameliorate the sufferings of the people of the region and to realise the dream for which we fought for it to be set up. So, let everybody involved in the NDDC do their duties to the good people of the region.�

Uduaghan also denied being an NDDC contractor, saying he could not have collected N429million road contract from the commission as alleged by the minister, adding that he “had never approached the NDDC for any contract whatsoever.�

In yet another statement by his Media Assistant, Monoyo Edon, he said he had already reached out to Akpabio “to immediately correct the report� as he had never been awarded contracts by the interventionist agency. “We want to state very clearly that the said accusation is false. Dr. Uduaghan has never approached the NDDC for any contract whatsoever. It is even more ridiculous that the said contract is a road inside Port Harcourt town,� the statement read.

Kalu, in a pitch by Emeka Nwala of the ofďŹ ce of the Senate Chief Whip, said he believed that the issues at stake in the NDDC had to do with missing funds and not work done.

According to him, the road projects mentioned by the minister as being awarded to him were the interventions he facilitated for the communities as a private citizen before he became a senator.

He said his name was mentioned because he used his letterhead paper to write a sympathetic letter to the NDDC in 2016 pleading with it to repair roads in Abia.

His words: “Between 2016-2018 during my tour

to several communities; leaders and welfare unions of most communities pleaded for urgent intervention on some dilapidated roads. I wrote to the NDDC informing the body of the conditions of these roads and the need for their attention since Abia is an NDDC state.�

Many other federal legislators listed in the NDDC contract scandal have also deftly denied culpability. But interestingly, the NDDC maintains the list of contract beneďŹ ciaries released by Akpabio is authentic.

In a statement on Tuesday, Charles Odili, NDDC’s director of corporate affairs, afďŹ rmed the list emanated from 8,000 documents handed over to forensic auditors.

His words: “The Interim Management Committee of the commission stands by the list which came from ďŹ les already in the possession of the forensic auditors. “It is not an Akpabio list but the NDDC’s list; the list is part of the volume of 8,000 documents already handed over to the forensic auditors.â€?

Curiously, NDDC added another twist to the story by revealing that, “Prominent indigenes of the Niger Delta whose names were on the list should not panic as the commission knew that people used the names of prominent persons in the region to secure contracts, and the ongoing forensic audit would unearth those behind the contracts. “The intention of the list was to expose committee chairmen in the National Assembly, who used fronts to collect contracts from the commission, some of which were never executed.�

It’s debatable whether the added spin was intended to make the short-changed folks of the Niger Delta feel better. In a milieu where crucial processes are routinely short-circuited, laws cavalierly outed and sundry impunity glossed over, what hope is there that the culprits would be visited by justice? Big question!

t */ &%0 5)& #"55-& +645 #&(*/4y t

coup attempt yesterday in Edo State. There was an attempt by the APC to upset the democracy we are experiencing in Edo State and to that effect, we expect the law to take its cause. “We call on all the security agencies to look at this issue and we have come to the same conclusion that there was a coup attempt and we all know what happens when a coup fails and the consequence embedded in that failure.

For us, it is very clear. We are not saying this, because we are the ruling party in the state. We are saying because that is what it’s.�

He claimed that those, who carried out the purported impeachment were no longer members of the Assembly, as their seats had long been declared vacant by the House.

The APC fired back, saying the crisis in the assembly began last year, when Governor Obaseki sponsored a midnight inauguration of minority members of the assembly, which amounts to Executive recklessness and affront

on the constitution and the rule of law, not minding that the legislative arm is a co-equal arm of government with a constitutionally protected independence from external interference or pressure under the principles of Separation of Powers.

Vice-Chairman, Media and Publicity of the APC Campaign Council, Mr. Patrick Obahiagbon, who stated this at a media conference, described Obaseki’s unilateral dictate over the affairs of the House as an unconstitutional bid to sideline majority lawmakers-elect, who he felt were not aligned to his political ideology.

He recalled that at some point in this longstanding drama, the party structure, from the national level, including the presidency, decided on an intervention, which was met with stiff and overt resistance by the governor.

According to him, the matters at hand are very pressing and urgent, that needed the immediate and comprehensive attention of the

people of Edo State and that of the nation at large. He claimed it had become imperative to remind Edo State citizens and Nigerians how the state government under the leadership of Obaseki descended from the sublime to the ridiculous on the state assembly matter.

The former lawmaker queried the rationale behind the governor to lead his party members and thugs to stop majority members of the assembly from having and enjoying a peaceful sitting in accordance with their constitutional obligations.

Governor Obaseki is being considered the aggressor in the latest development for refusing the reign of peace, and remains standing in the way of justice and fairness, by putting his knees on the neck of democracy in the state. As the trajectory of the election reveals that the odds are against him, one may not wonder what he stands to gain from his current undertakings.

Now that the crisis has continued to fester like a badly treated sore, it may blossom if not nipped in the board before the September 19 governorship election. Security agencies are expected to act fast while the judiciary as a matter of urgency, gives a quick and unbiased interpretation to the assembly drama.

Already there are claims and counter claims by the two parties of plot to deploy thugs to unleash mayhem during the election.

While PDP is accusing the APC of trying to use federal might to subvert the will of the people, the APC on the other hand is accusing the PDP of plans to use militants from neighbouring stated to intimidate and snatch ballot boxes to enable it declare favourable results. Will the law enforcement agents and voters allow the situation degenerate any further?

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ AUGUST 9, 2020

SCIENCETECHNOLOGY/TRIBUTE

The Interlocking Nature of Science and Art Although many might see differences between science and art, Kofo Babalola writes that there are more similarities than differences in both fields

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n an ever-changing world, we often forget to pay attention to the details of the environment around us. We lose our sense of self in the fast-paced world that we live in today, as we care more about how we are going to keep up and adapt to the events that take place around us, rather than taking time to brainstorm and develop the skills hidden in us to aid our growth.

It is through the opportunity I have had to close off from the outside noise that has enabled me to find out what really makes me tick. In the field of science, I have seen the beauty that one often overlooks in mathematical equations and theories. Many see the complex jargons written through the representation of letters and Greek symbols that make up the equations as unsolvable and painful to even read but others that have an appreciation of maths see the beauty that goes on in the heads of these geniuses that managed to translate the wisdom they have encountered in their heads into mathematical equations.

There is much more to these equations than just a jumble of letters as they help us to solve the mysteries of the unknown. There is a lot that can be deduced from these mathematical equations as it is a form of language that helps to prove many of the theories that have been made about the world we live in today.

Although many might see the great differences that science and art have, there are more similarities than differences in these fields. It can be better explained through the

artist which goes by the name of Leonardo DaVinci. He was a great artist mostly known for his work on the Mona Lisa painting. But it was surprising when I found out that he was also a scientist.

When one looks into his past, you can see that nothing restricted him from doing everything and anything. His mathematical mind aided his paintings in many ways, as he used his art as an outlet to show how his scientific mind envisioned the act of time travelling.

The painting of Mona Lisa shows the fusion between art and science as Einstein’s theory of relativity which aimed to prove the act of time travelling, led to paradoxes like the theory of the Mona Lisa painting. The connected nature between Einstein’s theory of relativity and the Mona Lisa painting enhances the ideology that there is creativity in each of the formulas made in the scientific field.

The use of different formulas that follow off one another to solve a problem is a form of art as the many different equations coalesce into an artistic painting that forms the solution.

My teacher like many others often saw the beauty in Euler’s identity which is an equation- èiπ+1=0. This equation has been likened to Shakespeare’s sonnet as it is deemed the most beautiful equation, bringing five of the fundamental numbers in mathematics into one equation.

The form of interconnecting these numbers through the use of multiplication, addition, and exponentiation, shows the creativity in the scientific field as one can see the

similarity with an artist blending different colours and shapes to make a masterpiece.

There is a lot that can be deduced from this equationèìπ+1=0 that appears ever so simple.

In each entity of the equation, one can see the different applications as the constant ‘e’ is used in the study of compound interest and the letter ‘i’, represents an imaginary number and the constant ‘π’ defines a circle.

It is absurd how all these obscurities manage to come together and simplify so easily.

This concept manages to bring together many different numbers and constants in maths to form a simple line of the equation.

What often seems as simple is much more complex than what the eye lets on. It is just like how artists go through the detailed complex layout of their planning which ends with a beautiful painting that doesn’t show the different layers that the artist often goes through of dimension analysis.

This is the same as the process of solving a problem as the solution has more underlying layers that aren’t always visible to those observing as a lot of reasoning goes on in the scientific minds of a mathematician that goes beyond what is written on paper.

The intertwined nature between art and science is inevitable as often those of mathematical and scientific backgrounds are the world’s greatest artists. It takes creativity to show the overlapping nature of the things that we see as beauty in the world with science.

Many often see the logical nature in the field of science and overlook the creativity that science and maths encompasses.

Through the study of mechanical engineering, one is taught to have an eye for detail for the separate parts of an engine that mesh together to form a single structure just like a sculpture that is seen in an art exhibition carefully crafted as we see the blending of the crevices done by a sculptor.

The synthesizing of different parts into one is often seen in both art and science. The only difference is the creativity you see in art is often appealing to the eyes but in science, it is often seen as dull and bland as it has a repetitive nature. This doesn’t change the fact that most of the structures in science are borne from creativity.

The only difference is that the creativity in science seems unappealing to the eyes but a lot more artistry takes place beneath the surfaces of the structures built that’s invisible to the eyes. Scientists tend to not dwell on trying to show the story of how they got to their solution as they put the focus on the outcome and the function of their invention whereas an artist leads their audience on into the journey of how they got to the finale piece as the colours depict the emotions and thoughts that run through their minds as they create.

Scientists also tell their story but in a less blatant format as one has to look deep into their creations to analyse their experiences.

The only difference between science and art is that they both tell a story but one more obvious than the other. This is the beauty in science that we often don’t see.

––Babalola is an Engineering student of the University College London

GLIT FOCUS / FEATURES

Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi: His 80th Birthday Gift to Nigerian Youths

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TN Foundation has set up several youthdriven schemes and initiatives, the latest being the launch of the e-library at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), in honour of its Chairman, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, on his 80th birthday. Ferdinand Ekechukwu reports Any young Nigerian who has passed through a government-owned tertiary institution in Nigeria has experienced one of the maladies that assail the education sector in Nigeria.

Constant strike actions that interrupt the learning experience and libraries lacking up-to-date textbooks are only a few of these experiences. Even a diligent and motivated student forced to learn under these circumstances would be frustrated.

To improve the quality of life and experience of young Nigerians, the MTN Foundation has set up an e-Library at Obafemi Awolowo University, in honour of its Chairman, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, on his 80th birthday. OAU is Adelusi-Adeluyi’s alma mater.

The foundation was inaugurated in May 2005 with a commitment from MTN Nigeria of up to one percent of its profit after tax as the foundation’s main source of funds.

It was created out of a mission to improve the quality of life in the area of health, education, and economic empowerment.

Ten years later, when Adelusi-Adeluyi became the foundation’s chair, it was clear that he was going to bring his wealth of experience to his new position.

He understands the value of youth, health, and education.

This has reflected constantly throughout the course of his life and more recently in his role as the chairman of the foundation.

He is a pharmacist and a lawyer. Starting out with pharmacy, he was one of the pioneer students of the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University.

Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi passed through the halls of this ivory tower and excelled as a student and a leader, even then, showing signs of the great accomplishments for which he was destined.

He combined his education with the many positions he held.

In 1964, he served as the vice president of the International Affairs of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS).

Even though by 1965 he had graduated, he did not slow down in his student union activities.

Soon after his graduation, Adelusi-Adeluyi became the

Adelusi-Adeluyi secretary-general of the world student body, the International Students Conference (ISC), headquartered in Leiden, Holland.

In his early 20s at the time, he displayed excellence, service, and leadership in his capacity, building student union organizations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In the process, he visited 143 countries and became multilingual.

In an act of bravery and concern for his country, he led a 17-nation delegation to Nigeria during the civil war of 1967 for advocacy and peaceful resolution of the conflict for which he received a special letter of commendation for service to the nation from then-military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.

In 1968 Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi was done with his mission in Holland and rested his student leadership hat. He returned to Nigeria to pursue his profession as a pharmacist and in 1970, began building what eventually became JULI PLC.

With painstaking diligence, JULI PLC made history as the first indigenous company to be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1986.

About the time, Adelusi-Adeluyi started nursing the desire to have his company quoted on the NSE, he also decided to return to school to study Law. In 1986, he graduated from the University of Lagos with an LL.B degree, and by 1987, emerged as the best graduating student of the Nigerian Law School.

A scholar like Prince Adelusi-Adeluyi with two degrees in different fields of study is a man who understands that it is important for youths to explore the opportunities around them.

It, therefore, comes as no surprise that as part of its investment in youth education and empowerment, the MTN Foundation has completed the renovation of a digital library at OAU to mark its chairman’s 80th birthday.

Adelusi-Adeluyi said, “The infrastructure was donated to enable OAU students to have easy access to books that will broaden their scope of learning.”

Due to the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the handover ceremony took place at a virtual event on July 30, 2020. The library will herald a new learning experience for OAU students and society, providing a much-needed solution to the lack of learning materials in the country.

Other efforts of the foundation in improving the prospects of the Nigerian youth under the leadership of Prince AdelusiAdeluyi includes establishing the MTN Scholarship Scheme, which is made up of the MTN Foundation Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme (MTN STSS) and the MTN Scholarship Scheme for Blind Students (MTN SSBS).

Under both scholarships, eligible 300 level students studying science and technology-related courses and blind students studying in public tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education) across Nigeria are awarded scholarships worth N200, 000.00 annually until graduation as long as they maintain the required grades.

In its continued concern for the youth population in Nigeria, and the scourge of substance abuse, the foundation launched the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP), a multi-sectoral platform aimed at promoting awareness on drug abuse and discouraging first-time users.

The MTN Foundation has invested over N22bn in youth empowerment, improvement of healthcare, education, arts and culture in Nigeria.

Sunday August 9, 2020

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MISSILE

Pogu on Southern Kaduna Killings “When the government fails to live up to its primary responsibility as provided in the constitution, especially security and welfare of the people, anarchy sets in” – National President, Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu bemoaning the failure of government to put an end to killings in Southern Kaduna.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Shoprite and Our ‘Bad Belle’Syndrome

W

hen Shoprite owners announced that they were selling their stake in the Nigerian market, many of us were baffled. Initially misunderstood to mean the South African food retailer was going to close its stores in the country, the development was clarified as a case of investors opting to sell the business to Nigerians in a deal certainly going to be worth several billions of naira. While this clarification offered some relief — at least, there will be no significant job losses, if any at all, and THAT bread will still be around — it was astounding that a supermarket supposedly making good money from Nigeria would exit so suddenly. Imagine MTN or DStv opting to sell off!

Shoprite has become well loved in Nigeria since it started with a single store in Lekki in 2002. In 18 years, it has expanded to 25 outlets across the federation. At a point, states were positioning to give land to mall developers, knowing that Shoprite would be the anchor tenants. I would not be surprised if some governors were re-elected because they “brought” Shoprite to their states. That’s a joke, obviously, but in many state capitals today, Shoprite is the most modern supermarket and the most photo-friendly backdrop they can boast of. Many Nigerians have established an emotional relationship with the retail outlet, so anything that affects Shoprite is bound to generate reactions.

Why are the investors selling their interest? There are a thousand and one reasons — some obvious, some not.

The obvious ones affect virtually every foreign-owned or big business in Nigeria: increasing difficulty in accessing foreign exchange, worsened by the multiple rates that distort pricing; the terrible state of things at the ports and the roads to and fro; and the expensive and insecure local logistics (Stears Business estimates that conveying 30 tonnes of goods from New York to Lagos will cost N600,000, while moving them onwards to Taraba can cost up to an additional N1 million). Also, the multiple taxation insanity is afflicting businesses across Nigeria. It is what it is.

Meanwhile, Shoprite owners may not voice it openly, but Nigerians are increasingly becoming hostile to South African interests. Some will see this as reprisal for the xenophobic attacks on Nigerian shop owners in South Africa.

Last year, Shoprite outlets were looted in Nigeria in what was supposed to be tit-for-tat, although these stores operate with workforces and suppliers that are overwhelmingly Nigerians. In a sense, Nigerians were losing home and abroad: those in South Africa were being attacked

by South African blacks; those working for South African businesses in Nigeria were also being attacked. Nigerians were bound to lose by a heavy margin, home and away.

My initial reaction to the exit plan was that Shoprite would be making a mistake because, even though our current circumstances are difficult and discouraging, they had

Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo mastered things over the years and would do well to hold on for a bit longer as the world tries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. If I owned Shoprite Nigeria, I would provide for a few more difficult years, assured that when the boom returns, as it surely would, Nigerians would be in their consumption element again. As for the xenophobia, it is not out of control yet, so it is about the management of it.

Nevertheless, Nigeria is not a big fry for Shoprite: our 25 stores are roughly 1% of its chain of 2372.

My takes on the Shoprite situation are slightly off-topic, though. One, instead of being worried about foreign investors seemingly losing interest in our market, I am more troubled by the fact that it seems Nigerian entrepreneurs are not pulling their weight in many sectors of the economy. I do not want to name names, but there are many Nigerian-owned supermarkets that were in the game before Shoprite but can barely boast of having added more than one or two outlets in the last 20 years. I am forced to ask: what exactly is the problem?

Is it lack of capital? Lack of vision? Lack of imagination? Lack of ambition? Lack of management skills? Or what?

It’s not that I have the answer, or the answers, but I find it very disheartening that Shoprite came to Nigeria and started spreading north and south while our own supermarkets remained stunted. If you ask Nigerian supermarket owners, they will tell you that the “hostile” economic environment hurts retail business, yet a company operating in the same environment enjoyed significant success. What explains that? Some will blame it on capital — that the South Africans had access to a lot of it, while Nigerians don’t. But why are they not able to raise the capital if the projects are truly bankable? Or maybe we are not interested in setting up supermarket chains?

Maybe they don’t have the stamina.

To be fair, it is not that Nigerian entrepreneurs are not doing well at all.

That would be an exaggeration taken too far. We have plenty success stories. I am just a bit curious why supermarket chains are uncommon here. It is not as if Shoprite

manufactures, so we cannot give inability to manufacture as an excuse. The products in the stores are either imported or locally made. What does it take to secure a large space, buy generators and diesel, assemble shelves, acquire deep freezers, refrigerators and tills, contract suppliers, put price tags on the goods, and set the ball rolling? If South Africans can play this big in the sector, why can’t Nigerians?

Two, some Nigerians celebrated Shoprite’s exit, saying that South Africans are taking over our economy and we should chase them away. This is our typical “bad belle” syndrome: we fail to do something well and begin to resent anyone who does. It is the same syndrome behind the new broadcast code. According to Prof Armstrong Idachaba, the acting director-general of the National Broadcast Commission (NBC), the code was designed to “deal with” DStv. We’ve been here before: a Nigerian company once got the same live football broadcast rights on a platter of gold purportedly to break DStv’s “monopoly”. What happened next? The company ended up in the morgue.

It is one thing to use political might to muscle out a company in favour of locals; it is another thing for the locals to have the expertise and capacity to manage their businesses. I would be the first to say there is nothing wrong in encouraging Nigerian companies to play big. I dream of the day Nigerian-owned and Nigerian-managed companies will not only dominate our market but will also play big on the continent, including South Africa, and on the globe. I dream of Nigerian companies drilling the oil. I dream of Nigerian companies building the biggest roads and bridges. Shell and Julius Berger don’t have two heads. But sentiments cannot replace competence and character.

The reality on the ground is that we are not getting many things right. Rather, we are busy begrudging those who do. I am more worried that things we can do as Nigerians are being done by foreigners and instead of us to take up the challenge, acquire the expertise and compete, we resort to sentiments and a warped sense of nationalism that papers over our inadequacies and lack of imagination.

Even if we had unlimited capital, can we really do what Shoprite has done in 18 years in Nigeria? If we can, why don’t we? There are hard questions we have to ask ourselves, disciplines we have to cultivate and skills we have to hone if indeed we want to chase South Africans away.

Let the truth be told: we are sleeping on duty. There are several economic opportunities staring us in the face in Nigeria but we do little or nothing about them. We complain about everything that is not working. We dwell on problems.

Foreign companies will come into the same economy and begin to prosper — under the same temperature, humidity and vegetation.

Shoprite did not invent the supermarket.

They did not bring their own electricity or water. There is something they are getting right and there is something we are getting wrong. We need to reflect on this if we intend to stop grumbling and start growing.

These guys are human — they use the toilet like you and me.

And Four Other Things…

EDO DRAMA The Edo governorship election, scheduled for September, is not going to be pretty, if early indications are worth anything. Since a war broke out between Governor Godwin Obaseki and his ex-godfather, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the state has been soaked in political tension and I am secretly scared that we are heading for violence.

Obaseki refused to swear in many members of the state house of assembly since last year — and now they have sworn themselves in, electing their own speaker, ready for anarchy. We have been here before and if our democracy is really growing, we should not be witnessing these absurdities again.

This is a giant step backward. Disgraceful.

LIVE SCORE Hope you didn’t miss the news?

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has finally embraced another important modern technology: live transmission of results. Starting with the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, scores from each polling unit will now be transmitted directly to an INEC portal. The implication is that an aspect of rigging will be taken care of — that of altering results at the collation centres.

It does not stop the hijack of ballot boxes, sure, but this is one big problem we are about to tackle (if it works well). Technology has made the world an easier place and it is good that INEC is finally accepting help to become more efficient. Beautiful.

AL-QAEDA AGAIN The US has warned us about the penetration of north-western Nigeria by the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and I must say I am not surprised. I have found it hard to understand the pattern of killings in the north-west in recent times. How can gunmen invade a village, kill everyone in sight and then retreat without taking as much as a tuber of yam?

We’ve been calling them bandits, but what is banditry when no spoils are being taken?

The different factions of Boko Haram are tormenting the north-east and, right under our nose, terrorist groups are now operating full-fledged in the north-west. Meanwhile, the kidnapping and ethno-religious killings continue non-stop. Dreadful.

ONE IS COMPANY President Buhari on Friday signed the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) into law. It is described as our “most significant business legislation” in 30 years. A limited liability company can now have only one director. Filings fees have been reduced. The requirement for disclosure of beneficial owners will help transparency. CAMA has finally recognised that we are in the digital age, so virtual AGMs are now allowed, along with e-filings.

But we want more: the Land Use Act of 1978, which abolished freehold, is a major clog in the wheel of progress. I’m surprised the so-called progressive politicians are not pushing for the amendment of this antienterprise law. Needful.

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