SUNDAY 9TH MAY 2021 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

Ogun Nets N21bn IGR in Q1, Targets N100bn in 2021 Eyes N30 billion in second quarter Obinna Chima Despite the decline in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) last year due mainly to the effects of COVID-19, Ogun State Government raked in

N21 billion in the first quarter of this year. Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying the state has perfected plans to generate over N100 billion in 2021.

Abiodun spoke at a special Iftar (breaking of fast) with members of the House of Representatives, House of Assembly, State Executive Council, and the Body of Permanent Secretaries. He

stressed that his administration was committed to putting the state on a strong financial and economic footing through creative governance. The governor said the dip in the state’s IGR in 2020

was due to drop in earnings from the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), tax incentives given to industries in the state, and lack of revenue from the education sector. He said the target for the

second quarter of 2021 was N30 billion. Abiodun stated, "Our IGR dipped in 2020 and there are some reasons for that – there Continued on page 10

INEC May Approve 176,996 Centres for 2023 Elections… Page 8 Sunday 9 May, 2021 Vol 26. No 9526

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UK Parliament Worried about Nigeria’s Growing Insecurity Debates frequent students’ abductions, boko haram attacks

Bayo Akinloye

Worried about the nation’s unceasing insecurity, the United Kingdom’s parliament,

the House of Commons, has held consistent debates between April 12 and 22 over the continued abductions of students and the sustained

attacks by Boko Haream’s insurgents. The lawmakers debate, THISDAY understood, centred around understanding

the situation in Nigeriaand subsequently providing assistance to her government. For example, on April 12, lawmaker Jim Shannon, the

Democratic Unionist Party MP for Strangford, sought to find out what discussions the UK government had had with President Muhammadu

Buhari's administration on helping to prevent the kidnap of children from schools. Continued on page 8

El-Rufai, Ortom Trade Blame over Insecurity in Nigeria Kaduna Gov: Ortom attacks the president to hide his failure Benue Gov: El-Rufai is misleading Buhari and has divided Kaduna George Okoh in Makurdi The disturbing security situation in the country appears to have turned two governors against each other as the Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai and his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom have thrown caution to the wind, attacking each other over the security situation in the country. Nasir el-Rufai fired the first salvo, ostensibly in support of President Muhammadu Buhari, when he claimed Governor Ortom only uses the insecurity in his state to attack the Buhari-led administration as a way to cover up for his own failure. But an obviously agitated Ortom immediately fired back and came down heavily on his Kaduna State counterpart, accusing him of not only misleading President Buhari Continued on page 10

RECEPTION IN HONOUR OF LATE FADAYOMI... L-R: Mrs Lande Akinluyi, Dr Alexander Thomopulos; wife of the deceased, Mrs Eniola Fadayomi; Publisher, The Guardian Newspapers, Maiden Alex Ibru; Mrs Judith Alakija and in law to the deceased, Eric Idiahi, at the funeral reception for Late Kehinde Fadayomi held at the wings Complex, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday

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INEC May Approve 176,996 Centres for 2023 Elections Centres to have between 750 and 1000 voters

Chuks Okocha in Abuja There are indications that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may approve up to 176,996 polling centres across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as part of the ongoing expansion and verification of polling centres ahead of the 2023 general election. But the adjustments of the lower and upper thresholds for voting points, according to INEC, would be from 750 and 1000, to 500 and 750. The implication is that INEC would be creating additional 57,023 polling units nationwide, although the breakdown is not known yet. A memo dated April 20, 2021 was said to have backed the development. The document with reference number INEC/ DE/No:72/2021 and titled: “Decision Extraction on the Amendment of the Threshold for the Conversion of Voting Points to Polling Units,” reads in part: “The Commission at its meeting held on Tuesday, April 20, 2021, deliberated on the above subject and approved as follows: The adjustment of the lower and upper thresholds for Voting Points from 750 and 1000 to 500 and 750, respectively “That the ICT and Electoral Operations Departments and the state and local government area offices of the Commission should adopt these new thresholds in implementing the ongoing programme of expanding voting access to Polling Units. “You may wish to refer the extract to all Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and Directors for

TYING THE KNOT... R-L: Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi; Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Callistus Onaga; his Awgu Diocese counterpart, bridegroom and son of Prof. Frank Ezeugwu, Provost, ESUT College of Medicine, Enugu, Ifeanyi; his bride, Mmesoma; and Most Rev. Ifeanyichukwu John Okoye, during the couple's wedding, at Holy Trinity Parish, Independence Layout, Enugu... yesterday information and necessary action, please.” Maryam Iya Musa, a director at the Commission, signed the memo. INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Festus Okoye, had earlier told THISDAY that the commission planned to

create new polling units from the existing 119,973 polling centres. Okoye said INEC would create additional 57,023 polling units, to make the proposed 176,996 polling centres This is coming 25 years after the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) created

the existing polling units, which INEC has been using. Under the new polling centres, units would have between 500 and 750 voters. Putting all elements into consideration, INEC, THISDAY gathered, had settled for the application of 500 lower limit and 750 upper limit.

Under the former INEC leadership, headed by Professor Attahiru Jega, the commission planned the creation of 30,000 polling units. In the new polling centres before it was rejected, northern states had over 21,000 while the entire South got a little above 8,000. Voting point platform,

as widely known and accepted by stakeholders, was based on lower and upper thresholds of 750 and 1,000 registered voters, respectively. But, as at press time, the commission was yet to give a breakdown of state-by-state or zone-by-zone of the polling centres.

views," he said. He further told the House of Commons that intercommunal violence across multiple states also "has a devastating impact" on Christian and Muslim communities and disclosed that the "underlying drivers of violence are complex, and frequently relate to competition over resources and increasing criminality." On April 26 and 27 April, the UK minister disclosed that he met with "a range of Nigerian interlocutors, including governors" from some northern states and Nigerian government representatives, including the foreign affairs minister, Geoffrey Onyeama. "I raised the need for all communities to be protected amidst increasing insecurity... We will continue to encourage the Nigerian government to take urgent action to protect all communities and to implement long-term solutions that address the root causes of violence," he told the parliament.

The UK envoy also told the House of Commons about the issues of LGBT in Nigeria, noting that the UK government is worried about the criminalisation of homosexuality, recognising that there is a long way to go before all LGBT people can live free and equal lives in Nigeria. Speaking of the country and others in Africa, Duddridge explained, "We make regular representations to governments around the world on this issue, including in Uganda, Ghana, Namibia and Nigeria. We work through our Embassies and High Commissions, as well as international organisations, including the UN, Council of Europe, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Commonwealth, to promote non-discrimination towards LGBT people, and to address discriminatory laws." He added: "We directly challenge governments that criminalise homosexuality at the highest political levels."

UK PARLIAMENT WORRIED ABOUT NIGERIA’S GROWING INSECURITY In response, James Duddridge, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, said, "We are deeply concerned by the kidnapping and continued captivity of schoolchildren by Boko Haram (BH) and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) in North-East Nigeria. “The British High Commission continues to raise these cases with the Nigerian government, most recently in March 2021. We are also concerned by the recent attacks on schools in Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, and Katsina states, conducted by criminal groups." He further stated: "I publicly condemned these attacks and stressed the importance of all children being able to access an education without fear. The UK Deputy National Security Advisor discussed the abduction of Nigerian schoolboys in Kankara in Katsina State with the president's Chief of Staff,

Ibrahim Gambari, on December 15, 2020. "Our High Commissioner in Abuja spoke to the Inspector General of the Nigerian Police on improving school safety and addressing kidnapping in March 2021." Duddridge explained that the UK provided mentoring and capacity building for units of the Nigerian Police Force to improve their antikidnap capacity and response to organised crime groups in Nigeria. The following week, on April 19, another UK lawmaker, Stephen Doughty, the Labour (Co-op) MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, demanded from the British government an assessment of the security and humanitarian situation in the North-East following recent attacks and the displacement of people in the Damasak area. Duddgride explained that the UK government was concerned by the security and humanitarian situation in the North-East, where

terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa, continue to attack local communities. Shedding more light on his assessment, he noted, "Recent attacks on Damasak in Borno State, in which civilians, humanitarian workers, and facilities were targeted, have led to a worsening humanitarian situation, and the displacement of local residents and internally displaced people to Niger or other areas of northeast Nigeria. As the UK government has repeatedly made clear, humanitarian workers should never be a target." He reiterated to the House of Commons that the UK remained "committed to helping Nigeria tackle the threat posed by the terrorist groups" in the North-East, adding, "We are providing significant humanitarian and stabilisation assistance to support affected communities, including those who have been displaced." THISDAY's findings

also showed that 60 to 69 UK-based staff were posted by the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development and currently Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office to all posts in Nigeria as of March 31, 2021. On April 20, another legislator Hilary Benn, the Labour MP for Leeds Central, asked specifically about the threat to Christians amid killings in Nigeria. In response, Duddridge stated that the UK condemned all violence against civilians in Nigeria, irrespective of religion. He pointed out that in the North-East, terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and ISWA, "continue to cause immense suffering to both Muslim and Christian" communities. "These groups seek to undermine the right to freedom of religion or belief by indiscriminately attacking those of all faiths, who do not subscribe to their extremist

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TINUBU IN MECCA L-R: House of Representatives member, representing from Kano State, Hon. Kabiru Alhassan Usman Rurum; Lagos Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola; House of Representatives Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa; Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje; Oba Saheed Elegushi and another guest in Mecca, Saudi Arabia...yesterday

US Dollar Share of Global Forex Reserves Drops to 25-Year Low Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The share of United States dollar reserves held by central banks across the world fell to 59 per cent—its lowest level in 25 years, during the fourth quarter of 2020. This is according to the just-released International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) survey. Some analysts claimed this partly reflected the declining

role of the US dollar in the global economy, in the face of competition from other currencies used by central banks for international transactions. If the shifts in central bank reserves were large enough, they could affect currency and bond markets. The dollar acts as the primary reserve currency for the global economy, and foreign exchange reserves in central banks around the world account for the bulk of the

US dollar. According to the survey, the share of US dollar assets in central bank reserves dropped by 12 percentage points—from 71 to 59 per cent—since the euro was launched in 1999, although with notable fluctuations in-between. It noted that the share of the euro has fluctuated around 20 per cent, while the share of other currencies including the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, and Chinese renminbi climbed to 9 per cent in the

fourth quarter. The value of the US dollar has been broadly unchanged, while the US dollar’s share of global reserves has declined, indicating that central banks have indeed been shifting gradually away from the US dollar. Some expected that the US dollar share of global reserves would continue to fall as emerging market and developing economy central banks sought further diversification of the currency

composition of their reserves. A few countries, such as Russia, have already announced their intention to do so. But despite major structural shifts in the international monetary system over the past six decades, the US dollar has remained the dominant international reserve currency. Any changes to the US dollar’s status are likely to emerge in the long run, the survey noted. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had on April 27, 2018, on behalf of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria signed a Currency Swap Agreement with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. The swap deal, an agreement with a three-year tenor, allows both the CBN and PBoC to swap a maximum amount of 15 billion Renminbi/Chinese Yuan (CNY 15 billion) for N720 billion. This amount is equivalent to $2.5 billion using the prevailing exchange rate of N305:$1 at the time.

owned property alone, all those that have built on government property will have to come and regularise their papers,” he said, adding, "We are not talking about those that built on any other land, we are talking of government land alone, so we bring them in to regularise their papers." Commenting on the state of the nation and the intended reversal of the new minimum wage by some states, the governor said his administration, being one of the first to sign the minimum wage into law, was committed

to the continuous payment of the new wage to its workforce. He stated, "Not only did we implement it, my colleagues are now reversing the minimum wage because they can't pay it. Some of my colleagues have even asked me if I am sure I can keep on paying the minimum wage, I told them that Ogun State is not like other states, that in Ogun State, we have to keep on paying the wage. “So, I am committing to the very excellent public service that I have that I will continue to pay the minimum wage."

Abiodun urged members of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), to democratically put their best candidates forward at the forthcoming local government elections in the state. He assured that everything would be done in consonance with the principles of democracy. Speaking earlier, the deputy governor, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, commended the governor for his quality leadership, saying this is behind the giant strides of his administration in the last two years.

acts of terrorism are still fresh in our minds. El-Rufai is on record to have said repeatedly that Fulani people must retaliate any wrong done to them no matter how long it takes. "Is Governor Ortom responsible for El-Rufai’s inability to ensure peace in Kaduna State, where bandits have taken over some communities while kidnappings and killings occur on daily basis?" Ortom also disclosed that El-Rufai admitted to paying Fulani herdsmen whom he invited from other West African countries in the name of stopping attacks in Southern Kaduna, adding that since he made the confessional statement, attacks on the people of Southern Kaduna have escalated. The Benue State governor stated, "This is why he wants men of good conscience, like Governor Ortom, to be silent to pave way for the conquest and expansion agenda to succeed. Kidnapping has become a common crime in Kaduna State under Nasir

el-Rufai. “Aside the much celebrated cases, it has been estimated that at every given time, not less than 300 persons are abducted in Kaduna by kidnappers, who are always identified as el-Rufai’s kinsmen. He pays them billions to embolden them. He has turned the state into one of the most unsafe places to live in Nigeria today. "Talking about taking someone seriously, if other Nigerians take El-Rufai seriously, we in Benue do not do same. A man, who has no regard for humanity does not deserve our attention. Nasir el-Rufai is a sycophant, ethnic champion and religious bigot, who hates anyone, who does not share the same faith with him. He is among the very few persons who have misled President Muhammadu Buhari. “El-Rufai is one of the real enemies of this country, who do not hide their divisive tendencies by elevating nepotism and ethnicity above the good values that have

held Nigeria together over the decades. Nasir el-Rufai doesn’t possess the credentials to counsel anyone on payment of salaries and the welfare of workers. This is a governor, who recently sacked 4,000 workers for no just cause. He ought to be ashamed of himself. What happened to the lofty promises he made to Kaduna people in 2015." Ortom warned el-Rufai that Benue State would not repeal the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, no matter the amount of blackmail, hatred and threats against the state. "We advise the Kaduna State governor to focus on addressing the numerous problems he has created in his state and leave Governor Ortom to lead Benue in peace," the statement said. THISDAY checks confirmed that Governor Ortom is owing workers in his State several months salary arrears. However checks also revealed that farmers in the state face security challenges each time the venture out to their farms.

OGUN NETS N21BN IGR IN Q1, TARGETS N100BN IN 2021 was no Pay As You Earn (PAYE) for us during the COVID-19 period, we gave incentives to industries because they couldn't work during that period, and because we are the education capital of the country, a lot of our IGR was coming from the tertiary institutions and because there were no students in schools, the revenue did not come in. "Let me tell you what the good news is, the good news is that first quarter of 2021, we already got N21 billion. “Last year, we did N58 billion, so we've already gotten

half of what we got last year in one quarter. This present quarter, we will do at least N30 billion, and by the end of this year, by the grace of God, we will do over N100 billion in Ogun State." The governor said his administration discovered that Land Use Charge was not being paid in the state, stressing that it inherited a database of 14,000 people from the previous administration. He said the discovery led his administration to put in place mechanisms, which had helped the state to realise a

database of Land Use Charge for over 1.5 million people. "This will translate into a lot for our administration," he stated. Abiodun stated that his administration would soon launch Ogun State Land Administration and Management System (OLAS) to help residents of the state who had built on government property to come and regularise their papers. “That system using ICT, we are going to ensure that all those that have built, we are starting with government

EL-RUFAI, ORTOM TRADE BLAME OVER INSECURITY IN NIGERIA to gain favours, but also one of the real enemies of the country. El-Rufai, who first hit at Ortom while responding to a video, which featured Ortom addressing protesters after some killings in Benue State, during a webinar organised by the Africa Leadership Group, claimed he no longer took his Benue colleague seriously. “I did not hear what Governor Ortom said (in the video) but I know him and he is not somebody I take very seriously, frankly. He has other issues of governance that he is using the Federal Government as a punching bag to distract attention from his failures. “Go and find out how many months’ salaries are being owed teachers and public servants in Benue State then you can understand a lot of what Ortom is doing,” he said. El-Rufai, however, admitted that there was a fundamental problem with the capacity of the Armed Forces and the police. His words: “We have a serious national problem. I wouldn’t say we are totally

helpless but we are in a situation, where the Armed Forces and the Police have lost significant confidence in themselves and their institutions.” He, therefore, said the security agents needed more weapons and that there was a need to increase the manpower of the agencies. But, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Terver Akase, the Benue governor said El-Rufai was instead a failure in many respects, even as his state remained one of the most unsafe places to live in Nigeria. According to him, el-Rufai had failed in several aspects as governor of Kaduna State and had no moral justification to accuse another governor. The statement stated: “A governor, who has divided the good people of Kaduna against one another by not hiding his hatred for indigenes of the state on account of religion and ethnicity is not qualified to judge another governor on any issue whatsoever. A governor, who chose a Muslim deputy in

a state, where Christians have a huge population is certainly not one to preach unity and peaceful co-existence." The statement noted that, El-Rufai’s attack on Ortom was merely a ploy to make him look good before the Presidency. "He has apparently fallen out of favour at the Villa and wants to use Governor Ortom as a launch pad back to reckoning,” that statement alleged. It further questioned ElRufai thus: “How has he handled his own problems in Kaduna? This is a man, who has insulted almost every prominent Nigerian, including the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a man who is his former boss and one who brought him to limelight." Berating E-Rufai for saying unprintable things during President Goodluck Jonathan’s era, Ortom said, "He insulted the then president and publicly supported terrorists attacking parts of the country. His statements on the abduction of Chibok girls and several other

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In Show of Unity, Oshiomhole, Oyegun Urge APC Members to Close Ranks, Work Together Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Appearing to have put their personal animosity aside for the larger interest of their party, two former National Chairmen of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole have urged party members in Edo State and Nigeria at large to close ranks and work as one in the interest of the party. The duo made the appeal in Benin weekend at a stakeholders meeting of the party on the heels of the just concluded membership registration exercise in the state. The two APC chiefs fought bitterly on opposite side in the last governorship election. While Oshiomhole supported the aspiration Pastor Ize Iyamu on the platform of the APC, Oyegun supported the reelection bid of the incumbent, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who had earlier defected from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after he was disqualified by the APC Governorship Screening Committee. But, last weekend, the two men, who commended the State Caretaker Committee of the party led by Col David Imuse, Rtd, for the success of the exercise in the state, expressed optimism that the "future is very bright for the APC as a party." Oshiomhole urged party members in the state to close ranks and work with the leadership of the party at the state and all other levels,

harmoniously in the overall interest of the party. On his part, Oyegun while reiterating his membership of the party said, "Let us put the past behind and let us look at the future", adding, "I am APC. I belong to APC – body and soul.” Oyegun, who is also the chairman, Governing Council,

University of Ibadan, appealed to party leaders to recognise the role of party members in the growth of the party. "Every member of the party including party leaders have a contribution to make for the improvement and success of the party", he said, adding, "No individual can be greater than the party".

Earlier, Imuse described the just concluded membership registration exercise as a huge success, adding that the turnout of eager voters to join the party was quite impressive against the backdrop of the fact that the party is in opposition in Edo state. "Right now, the APC has a very credible and reliable

data base of its members, in every unit across the entire country. Our party is now a stronger and more united party as a result of the exceptional membership registration exercise. "The implication of this healthy development is that in subsequent, free and fair elections, our party

is confident of undisputable victory. But this does not mean we should rest on our oars. We must stay focused, awake, and be alert to the whiles of our opponents. We must keep working as one, united and indivisible members of the APC, so that, we can stop them, very early, on their nefarious tracks," Imuse said.

IGBO LEADERS VISIT DAPO ABIODUN... L-R: Eze Ndigbo of Ogun State, Willy Ejimnkeonye, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, and the Eze Ndigbo of Republic of Guinea, Fidelis Okafor, during a courtesy visit to the governor by Igbo leaders at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta... Friday

Group Claims over 200 People Killed in Benue this Year As LG head leads vigilante group in Plateau Bennett Oghifo, George Okoh in Makurdi and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos A group, MINDA Strategic Contact Group (MSCG) has disclosed that over 200 people have been killed by suspected herdsmen between January and April of this year in Benue State. This is as the Chairman of Langtang North Local Government Council Area of Plateau State, Hon. Ubandoma Joshua Laven, has been decorated as state patron of Vigilante Group of Nigeria VGN, with the mandate to get rid of criminal elements in the state. But the Archbishop of the African Church, Lagos Province, Most Reverend Julius Oludotun, has called on the federal and state governments to make efforts to tackle the seemingly intractable security problem. However, on the Benue killings, the MINDA group has also raised the alarm over what it described as threat to exterminate Benue by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The group, while briefing reporters at the BIPC center, Makurdi, disclosed that the

over 200 people killed were scatted across such councils as Logo, Kwande, Guma, Makurdi, Gwer West, Apa, Agatu, Ado and Okpowku local government areas of the state with wanton destruction of farm crops, produce and property worth billions of naira. In a statement read by a former Permanent Secretary, Government House, Dr. Tivlumun Nyitse, the group called on the federal government to live up to its full constitutional responsibility and provide security for the lives and property of the people of the state. The group also condemned the recent unprovoked armed attack on Governor Samuel Ortom and the one on Abagana IDP Camp by suspected herdsmen in which seven people lost their lives and many others injured. While calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to rise and turn the tide against insecurity in the country, he urged him to arrest the drift to a failed state, eschew provincialism and be the president of all Nigerians so as to preserve, protect and enhance the unity of the country.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we stand with the Governor of Benue State to demand that President Muhammadu Buhari should rise up to his duties as President and Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to protect all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, religion or sex because this is the primary responsibility of government as enshrined in the constitution for which he also swore on oath to do,” the statement emphasised. However, from Jos, Laven, who spoke shortly after his decoration at the council's secreteriat in Langtang North at the weekend, said peace, security and the well being of Nigerians remainedparamount and a panacea for economic and political development of the country. The chairman also called for adequate support to all other volunteer security outfits to rid the society of criminal elements. He argued that vigilante groups should be permitted by the federal government to carry small arms so that they could effectively police their environment, adding: "We can not go after kidnappers and bandits with bare hands as

Cleric tasks government to tighten security doing so will endanger our lives in the line of duties." He said there was an urgent need for government at the three tiers to support the vigilante group of Nigeria by training and empowering them to support the fight against crimes such as armed robbery, banditry, kidnapping and all forms of anti-social behaviours in the society. "It is no longer news that the capacity of the Nigerian Police today cannot curtail the rising trend of criminal violence in the society, hence the need for community policing like the VGN. "I make bold to say that the vigilante group are closer to the communities and if properly engaged, they can contribute in addressing the overwhelming security challenges bedevilling the nation," he said. The Council boss further said experience has shown in recent times how vigilante groups mostly comprising of volunteers, operating under the mandate of community consensus to fight crime have recorded huge success. He therefore advised Nigerians to communally police their environment to

complement the efforts of other security agencies in the fight against the menace of banditry and kidnapping that have now become a lucrative business in the country. Administrative commander of vigilante group of Nigeria, Plateau State command, Abubakar Sadiq said the chairman was chosen from among many others to be their Patron, because of his contribution to the growth and development of his immediate community . According to him, to whom much is given, much is expected and as such expressed confident that the chairman, now their patron, would do better than he has been doing in the past. On his part, Oludotun made the appeal at a press conference held yesterday at the African Church Saviour's Cathedral, Agege Diocese to commemorate the 3rd Biennial Congress and the 5th year founder's day anniversary of the Lagos Province with the theme: "He is able". The cleric raised fears about the worsening trend of abductions and kidnappings that is clearly overwhelming

the security apparatus of the nation. "The government should tighten the security apparatus of the nation and we the citizens should obey simple instructions. We appeal to the federal and state governments that they should accord security the importance it deserves, because all of us know we are not safe, especially, the Church. "I won't deceive you, they are after the church but we know as Christians we are normal, we don't fight if there is any problems, we pray to God. The states have a group called Amotekun. In some states now they have already defeated the bandits, so, the federal government should do more on security, especially, because they are after the Church now. "We as Christians need to turn back to God. We are equally guilty of some of the sins committed. Our God is able just as earlier stated to deliver us from every challenge and unpalatable situation we may be going through now. We know with God all things are possible, Nigeria needs prayer at crucial time, by the grace of God peace will come back to Nigeria.”

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943 MDAs, 541 Corporations, Huge Drain on Nation’s Fragile Economy Kinsley Nwezeh in Abuja

allocations to INEC."

Last Tuesday, the Professor Bolaji Owasanoyeled Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) organised a high profile policy dialogue and zoom conference titled, "Corruption and Cost of Governance in Nigeria." The conference revealed that government at a critical time like this in the country's history still retained 943 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and 541 state-owned corporations. The policy dialogue was attended by Senate President Ahmed Lawan; Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; and Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs Yemi Esan; among several academics. Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben. Akabueze, declared at the meeting that 943 MDAs and 541 corporations owned by the federal government had become a drag on the economy. Akabueze said the present size of the federal bureaucracy was unsustainable. He identified bloated civil service, high number of political office holders, cabinet size, corrupt budget practices, election cost, and multiplication of MDAs as drivers of high cost of governance. He noted that there was a growing concern over huge government spending on recurrent expenditure at the expense of capital projects. Akabueze said, "There have been persistent calls for reduction of governance cost in Nigeria in view of the impact on government’s fiscal situation. The current system is clearly unsustainable." He disclosed that recurrent spending accounted for more than 75 per cent of actual MDA expenditure between 2011 and 2020, personnel costs accounted for 40 per cent of actual recurrent spending in 2020, while overhead was just three per cent. Actual MDA recurrent spending rose sharply from N3.61 trillion in 2015 to N5.26 trillion in 2018 and N7.91 trillion in 2020, he said. Akubueze said beyond Nigeria’s 27 ministers, 16 ministers of state, and 27 ministries, there were 561 federal governmentowned corporations whose duplicated functions had significantly shot up the cost of governance. He said the multiplicity of ministries and extra-ministerial bodies had become a huge drain on the economy. On the bloated federal civil service, Akabueze stated, "The current structure and size of the federal bureaucracy is clearly unsustainable for the size of the Nigerian economy." He, however, said "current efforts aimed at eliminating ‘ghost’ non-existent staff on FGN payroll are yielding some result; however hardly any sanctions against the perpetrators.” He lamented the huge number of political office holders and their retinue of aides, saying they are driving up the cost of governance. At issue at the conference was the high cost of governance in Nigeria, which was weighing heavily on the economy. In her submission, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said the federal government had initiated a raft of measures to cut the cost of governance in the face of dwindling revenue occasioned by the headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant global economic tailspin. Ahmed said the measures were targeted at reducing recurrent expenditure, which was projected to gulp about 41.5 per cent of the total provisions of N13.588 trillion in the 2021 budget, amounting to N5.64 trillion. She stated that the proposed cost-saving measures were aimed at streamlining government expenditure with revenue. “We still see government expenditure increase to a terrain twice higher than our revenue," she said, and urged all government agencies to come together to trim the cost. The minister said the national budgets were filled every year with projects that were not only recycled but also unnecessary.

Effects of High Governance Cost

President Muhammadu Buhari

"Mr. President has directed that the salaries committee that I chair, work together with the Head of Service and other members of the committee to review the government payrolls in terms of stepping down on cost,” she said. The minister disclosed that the federal government would review the number of government agencies in terms of their mandates, adding that the government would consider merging agencies with similar mandates. According to Ahmed, “We need to work together, all agencies of the government, to cut down our cost. We need to cut down unnecessary expenditures, expenditures that we can do without. "Our budgets are filled year-in-year-out with projects that we see over and over again and also projects that are not necessary."

Reducing Cost of Governance Akabueze maintained that it was imperative to minimise corruption and reduce governance cost in Nigeria to engender development. He recommended critical steps to be taken to include prioritising the completion of on-going projects to enable the country reap the benefits of such projects and save variation costs; allowing only properly conceptualised, designed, costed, and appraised projects; exclusion of projects that relate to matters that are the responsibilities of state and local governments; and exclusion of recurrent expenditure items from the capital budget. He also advocated the amendment of the constitution to restructure the federation to six regions, instead of the current 36 states. In addition, he said the constitutional provision on appointment of ministers should be amended to reduce the number of cabinet ministers. "The president is obliged to appoint not more than 24 to be appointed from the six geopolitical zones, reduce the number of federal ministries from 27 to not more than 20,"Akabueze said. He said the United States with 54 states and Washington D.C. had 15 departments/ ministries. On the federal bureaucracy, Akabueze stated, "To build a more efficient civil service, we must stop treating the civil service as some other form of political, ethnic, and religious patronage. "A comprehensive staff audit and job

evaluation is imperative to determine the right size for the federal civil service without any adverse effect on efficiency in the service. To avoid disruptions in the civil service, the staff rationalisation process should be gradual and handled fairly. Staff salaries need to be consolidated and harmonised across MDAs while allowances should be role-based." In a paper titled, "Reducing the Cost of Governance in Nigeria," Akabueze stated, "This will reduce disparity, boost staff morale and reduce the motivation for corrupt practices. In addition, it is important to amend sections in the act establishing some agencies, which allows their boards to periodically review staff salaries without considering government’s fiscal position. "Also, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission needs to consider government fiscal position in approving salary structures. To control abuse associated with non-regular allowances paid through GIFMIS to house officers and interns in the health sector, limit the number of such staff, their exit period and introduce mechanism for monitoring the implementation." He argued, "Payment of allowances should be role-based. Hence, for example, medical doctors in allied institutions and research institutes should not be paid shift allowance unless they are practising." The director-general of budget maintained that regarding recruitment abuses, the Budget Office and the Office of the Accountant General needed to work more collaboratively to prevent abuses in personnel cost. He said, "We need to adopt a cost effective electoral system and limit the number and aides of political office holders.

Conduct of Elections Akabueze identified elections as a major driver of high cost of governance. He said the conduct of periodic elections and the resultant litigations in tribunals and courts contributed to the high cost of governance in Nigeria. According to him, "Although the conduct of open, free, fair and competitive election is important in democratic governance, its management should not be so costly to the government. "The budget for the 2019 general elections exceeded N200 billion while about N40 billion is allocated to INEC in the annual budgets. Every year we see extra-budgetary

Akabueze examined the effects of high cost of governance on the economy. He asserted that low revenue collections and high recurrent costs, actual capital spending had trended below N2 trillion for a decade. According to him, the investments required to bridge infrastructure gap are way beyond the means available to government. He said, "Due to funding constraints, many capital projects are abandoned, or uncompleted. “Government’s huge recurrent expenditure has constrained the provision of good roads, steady power supply, healthcare services, quality education, quality shelter etcetera. "This has contributed to observable underperformance of the economy, slow growth and current infrastructural challenges. No country can develop where a large part of its earnings is spent on administrative structures rather than on capital investment." He noted that budget objectives had been difficult to achieve. Akabueze said, "Poverty rate remains high; NBS’ latest estimate is that 40.1% of the population (82.9 million people) are poor. High poverty is worsened by high unemployment. Unemployment rate increased from 27.1% in Q2 2020 to 33.3% in Q4 2020. "More than half of the labour force (56.1%) are unemployed or underemployed. The infrastructure required to translate opportunities in the Nigerian economy to economic value is in deficit." In his welcome address, the chairman of ICPC said the policy dialogue and its concomitant policy brief were part of the key performance indicators in the implementation of the National AntiCorruption Strategy (NACS), 2017-2021 and the Policies, Programmes and Projects Audit Committee (PPPAC) Roadmap (2019 - 2023) adopted by the federal government at the commencement of its second term in 2019. Owasanoye noted that the documents required that stakeholders be engaged as part of activities "to promote an improved legal, policy and regulatory environment for the fight against corruption". He said, "For us at ICPC, this is not only a stakeholder engagement but a key component of our prevention mandate as we beam the searchlight on one of the drivers of corruption in Nigeria. "In the PPPAC document, government committed itself to increase revenue from existing and new sources, improve coordination and cohesion amongst agencies in the revenue generating and expenditure ecosystem, drastically cut costs, including reducing all kinds of subsidies while protecting the poor and vulnerable, reduce the cost of delivering government services by streamlining payroll, reducing cost of contracts and procurement, and improve coordination and avoid duplication of efforts by MDAs etcetera. “At a time the nation is facing myriad of challenges, including insecurity, high unemployment, high indebtedness, cost of funding political office holders and a near empty treasury, running such a nervewracking, bloated bureaucracy is unwelcome. It is most imperative that urgent steps are taken to address this stunning revelation. “Overall, it is important to note that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has so far lived up to its name and mandate.” The Owasanoye-led commission has tried to identify loopholes deliberately created by bureaucracy, and it has conducted investigations, arrested culprits, and secured convictions. The continuing policy dialogue is a multistakeholder approach aimed at finding lasting solutions to the hydra-headed challenge of corruption, and a dialogue that could be adopted nationally to confront the challenge of misgovernance, and widespread corrupt practices.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 9, 2021

OPINION

BOLA TINUBU AND THE LAST NIGERIANS Tinubu is ﬁt and proper to run for the presidency, argues Ike Okonta

atchers of the Nigerian political scene are grappling with two major questions at the moment. Will the presidency move to the southern part of the country in 2023? Will Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Peoples Congress (APC), throw his hat into the ring and contest the presidential election? The Northern Peoples Summit, a coalition of northern political and social groups including the Arewa Consultative Forum and Northern Elders Forum, fired a warning shot after a two-day meeting in Kaduna last April when it declared: ‘The North believes that restructuring the country is now a vital necessity for survival as one united entity. The North will not be stampeded or blackmailed into taking major decisions around rotating the presidency.’ Put in stark terms, northern politicians and leaders of thought are saying that now that they have the presidency on their lap, they will not willingly let it return to the south as is expected. The Fourth Republic which began life in May 1999 was founded on the unwritten agreement that the presidency would rotate between the south and north after two presidential terms. This is what informed President Olusegun Obasanjo’s decision to support Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a northerner from Katsina State, to vie for the presidency in 2007 after his term expired. Unfortunately, Yar’Adua took ill and died in September 2010 before he had even completed one term and the presidency went to Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy and a southerner. This development did not go down well with northern politicians who were quick to remind their southern counterparts of the unwritten 1999 agreement on presidential power rotation. Northern anger made itself felt in 2015 when even northern politicians in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the platform on which President Jonathan contested the 2015 election, campaigned openly for Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the latter went on to win the election. Northern anger was understandable. A multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like Nigeria just emerging from several decades of military dictatorship needed to spread power between its various constituent groups and ensure that no one was left out. Democracy, properly understood, is all about inclusion, and denying power to a key social group will not only threaten national cohesion, it will threaten the continued practice of democracy itself. Bola Tinubu, a leading Nigerian politician, understands this

truism more than most. This is why, after he left the governorship of Lagos State in 2007, the Action Congress (AC), the political party he helped found, fielded Atiku Abubakar, a northerner from Adamawa State, as its presidential candidate to challenge Umaru Musa Yar’Adua that same year. Obasanjo, a southerner from Ogun State, had just relinquished power as president and it was clear to Tinubu that it was time for the office to return to the north. Unfortunately, the election was heavily rigged by the departing Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar and the Action Congress were unjustly denied power. Even so, Tinubu’s desire that presidential power return to the north was fulfilled in the person of Yar’Adua flying the flag of the PDP. The death of Yar’Adua in 2010 threw the country into the political wilderness. The cabal behind the late president was most reluctant to hand over to Vice President Jonathan, a southerner. Bola Tinubu’s was one of the leading voices that insisted that the provisions of the 1999 Constitution be respected and that Jonathan should be immediately sworn in as President. Invoking a ‘doctrine of necessity’ the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council worked together and Jonathan was duly sworn in. Even so, Bola Tinubu recognized that northern politicians would be aggrieved and that the path to political wisdom and fairness lay in placating them. Consequently, he chose another northerner – the second time – to fly the Action Congress flag during the 2011 presidential election. Tinubu’s choice of Nuhu Ribadu was significant. At the time Ribadu had absolutely no political experience, nor did he have a political base of his own in the north or anywhere else. His claim to fame was headship of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) between 2003 and 2007 where he acquitted himself creditably. Tinubu’s calculation was that Nuhu Ribadu’s fame as a corruption fighter and his fearlessness in taking on the

It is not clear yet whether Tinubu, the kingmaker, will now move to be king by contesting the 2023 presidential election. If he does take that decision, then clearly he deserves to be supported fully by the north, after all one good turn deserves another

powerful and mighty in the country would attract the necessary winning votes. But uppermost in Tinubu’s mind was the desire to plug the hole which the death of Musa Yar’Adua had left in the country’s political firmament with the northern part feeling shortchanged. If Ribadu won the presidential election flying the flag of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), this would see presidential power return to the north, thereby mollifying northern politicians. Like Atiku Abubakar before him, Ribadu failed to win the 2011 presidential election. But Tinubu was undeterred. As 2015 neared, he began to prepare the ground for a grand coalition of opposition parties to take on the PDP. The All Progressives Congress which emerged in 2014 with Muhammadu Buhari as presidential candidate was largely Bola Tinubu’s doing. Ever faithful to the unwritten agreement of 1999 on presidential power rotation, it was necessary that power move from Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner, to another northerner. Tinubu had nothing personal against Jonathan: the future political stability of the country was far more important. Tinubu’s long-held wish was fulfilled when Buhari won the presidential election in 2015 and again in 2019. Come 2023 and northern politicians will be called upon to replicate the Tinubu example and ensure that presidential power returns to the south. Such northern governors as Aminu Masari of Katsina State and Babagana Zulum of Borno State have led the way in this regard, stating in clear and unequivocal terms that it is the turn of the south to produce the president. That is as it should be. It is not clear yet whether Bola Tinubu, the kingmaker, will now move to be king by contesting the 2023 presidential election. If he does take that decision, then clearly he deserves to be supported fully by the north, after all one good turn deserves another. However, if efforts are made to frustrate Bola Tinubu’s legitimate ambition to be president, this will give new life to the secessionist currents presently roiling the southeast and the southwest. Champions of secession will point to what has been done to Tinubu in spite of his ardent support for a northern president in 2015 and argue that the north is not interested in a fair, balanced and inclusive federation. Others who are presently undecided will begin to see reason with the secessionists and continued Nigerian unity will be imperiled. If this happens, then this present generation will turn out to be the last Nigerians. ––Dr. Okonta was until recently Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Politics, University of Oxford. He lives in Abuja.

Remembering Innocent Chukwuma Jacob Olupona pays tribute to Chukwuma, former director, West African oﬃce of Ford Foundation

any who mourn Innocent Chukwuma today, will take comfort from the memories of the good times shared with him. His departure, at a very difficult time in Nigerian life, has left a vacuum, particularly among civil society compatriots and we hope that God in his mercy will fill this emptiness. Our paths crossed, barely about two years ago, when I paid a visit to his office to discuss the programs and activities of the Institute of Advanced Studies at Ile Ife, which began in 2017. It was at the urging of Olusegun Adeniyi, a former Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and Editorial Board Chairman of THISDAY Newspaper. As we sat down to talk, Innocent reminded me very quickly that, like himself, I had schooled at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. And like him, I also read Religion and was very actively involved in Student Union activities in the early 1970s. This coincidence led me almost to forget the purpose of my visit. While I was thinking about the sheer force of this introduction, he quickly added that my BA long essay, written in 1975, still lies in the department of religious studies library at Nsukka. We then sat down to talk about the program I had wanted to discuss with him, and I was quite amazed that he knew about the annual Ife Summer Institute, had read about it, and had indeed been following the progress of this scholarly endeavor and training offered to the younger scholars in the academy. The monumental work and services that Innocent offered at the Ford Foundation, as director of its West African office, his leadership role in developing and enhancing several civil society groups will be his lasting legacy. Further, the provision of support to many fascinating initiatives which patrons like myself brought before him will remain in our memories for a long time. His tenure at the Ford Foundation opened up an exciting new chapter on several fronts. He stood for social justice in a country that is increasingly disintegrating, supporting numerous civic organizations, young and upcoming scholars and community workers and making necessary interventions in the important sector of Gender and Women’s Studies. We were honored to have Innocent speak at the opening session of the 2020 Summer Institute, Ile Ife and serve as the guest of honor. Innocent shared theplatform with the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede and (now former) Chairman of First Bank, Nigeria, Dr Ibukun Awosika. For

Ife Summer Institute’s 2020 participants, Innocent’s presence at the opening will continue to loom large in their memories as an unforgettable experience. His remarks on that day demonstrated that education was one of his primary interests and quite close to his heart. The speech as reported by THISDAY newspaper recognized him as one of the very few transformative leaders the nation has ever had. That day, Innocent remarked that the Summer Institute realized that, since the World Bank and IMF-inspired structural adjustment programs were implemented in Nigeria and the rest of Africa, the fortunes of public education in Nigeria had dwindled. By his estimation, every academic of African descent living outside of Africa complained about the quality of doctoral dissertations in Nigeria and by extension the academic research coming out of African universities. However, very few of them have done anything to remedy the situation. When I told him about the summer initiative two years earlier, he said, “Prof. we want to support your work. It is only a matter of finding an appropriate framework and a robust approach to it that will align with our strategies and priorities at the Ford Foundation.” He understood how important the work of the Institute was, but more importantly he was vocal about what the Ford Foundation wanted to support that year. During our discussion, Innocent mentioned how impressed he was with the gender representation in the composition of the Fellows, and how the empowerment of women and girls aligned well with Ford’s strategic initiatives. It did not take much for him to make the connection between the Summer Institute and the Ford Foundation. Innocent’s speech also applauded how the Institute quickly pivoted when the COVID-19 pandemic destabilized the world. He highlighted how institutions should take advantage of pitfalls and disappointments to model creative ways of finding solutions to the challenges they face. He challenged us to embrace the infinite opportunities available to advance our vision for the global academy, and also through the virtual model, appending other programs which could extend our offerings into areas beyond the humanities and social sciences. In 2022, we hope to include Science Technology Engineering and Math programs in the Summer Institute, thus entering a new frontier of academic training excellence for Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Unknown to him, Innocent had conveyed to the Fellows a masterful speech on Ford’s process and progress of championing worthy projects that add practical value to the Institute's lectures through transparency, visionary leadership and nation-building. It is also no surprise that since Innocent’s transition the Institute for Advanced Studies has been receiving condolences on the departure of the Institute’s loyal friend and a benefactor. Sadly, Innocent will never know how much his remarks inspired the minds of almost two hundred young scholars who participated in the online Institute from Nigeria, Africa and other parts of the world. My sadness also emerges from the unaccomplished dreams and projects Innocent was mapping out for his post-Ford career. In what turned out to be our last telephone conversation, I shared with him several items that I considered to be important areas of national need, which he could explore. Surprisingly, he already had a catalog of projects he had lined up for the present and future pursuits, such as writing his memoir, rethinking philanthropy in Nigeria, fostering and shaping political participation, reorienting our youth into more rigorous civil engagement and social services. This is why his transition is very painful and sad. Innocent’s sharp mind, his joy in waving the flag of freedom in our country, his contentment and his very well-lived life of service among us are some of the reasons that lead us to give thanks to God for sending him our way. We know that Innocent would have loved to depart Nigeria as a nation in a better state than he met it. But fate did not allow him to do so. Innocent was an open-hearted person and had a very amiable and humble personality. His vibrancy and hard work were fillips to all his admirers. His energy and commitment were amazing. It is a blessing to have known him and connected with him two years ago. I pray that Nigerians, at home and abroad, will continue to honor Innocence legacy of hard work, friendly disposition, and deep love for Nigeria. May God console his family and all his loved ones. And May his memory be a blessing to all of us. –Olupona, NNOM, is Professor of African Religious Traditions, Harvard Divinity School and Professor of African and African American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 9, 2021

LETTERS

HOW THE MEDIA CAN GET ITS GROOVE BACK

t’s that time of the year when the significance of a free press is brought to the fore. Globally known as World Press Freedom Day, it is a day set aside to celebrate press freedom by reminding governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom, and as well remind media professionals of issues of press freedom and their respect for ethics. As announced by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the theme of this year's commemoration isInformation as a Public Good. This is an auspicious nudge for media professionals to acknowledge their importance in the society and take pleasure in their role as source of news and information in the society. As purveyors of a service that is classified as public good, journalists are obliged to pay serious attention to the veracity and relevance of information they dish out to the public. The current state of the media is also aggravated by the weakening of the resistance by journalists to trends as permitted by the system. Here, truth is the victim. Lies, unverified claims have found their way into the prominent pages of many publications. The decentralization of the media and the unrestrained access to air your views which technology provides with the social media should not repudiate time-tested principles and values upon which journalism was founded. Just recently, the story of Ojonuwa Onu, the amputee hawker, who was identified as Mary Daniel, went viral. It is strange that the story as published by the mainstream media and copied by other online media, was

devoid of attribution and quotation by other persons that she mentioned in the story. Clearly, the reporter, who broke the news was plagued by emotions. A diligent reporter would have verified some of the claims in her story. Under no circumstance should a journalist be overwhelmed by emotions. In fact, his emotional quotient should have suggested to him the need to seek for one or more relations or institutions, who were referred to in her unsubstantiated story. Sadly, none of the media organisations which reported the story did anything close to that. The story which attracted the goodwill of kind-hearted Nigerians ended on an uncharitable note of fudged claims. Such shoddy reportage is our bane at the moment. They fuel the pitch of anti-press sentiment, erosion of public confidence, mistrust and violence against journalist. How sad that social responsibilities and restraint are falling short of professional ethos, especially by mainstream media organisations. Gaffes by these respected media channels is fast eroding the trust and confidence we have placed in these organisations. Beyond the ordinariness of mediocrity and mad rush for breaking the news, the sanctity of professionalism and the sacrilege of publishing falsehood in any guise cannot be accepted. Same is the release of the CCTV footage of the minor molested by the popular entertainment personality. That video is awful and distasteful. Many claimed that the video was released out of public interest. While it may have aided the believability of the claims

of the accusers against the accused, it further lends to the victimisation and stigmatisation of the victim. The right place for that CCTV video remains the court of law where it is admissible as evidence. As the fourth estate of the realm, the media wields a powerful influence in the society. In addition to reporting the society and holding governments accountable, the media system, using its product – information - enables citizens to know their rights, duties and prerogatives, just as it also contributes to the general interest, and the service of sustainable development. As the world celebrates and remembers world press freedom day, this year’s theme is apt and timely for Nigerian media in particular, especially at a time like this.

The role of media houses in enhancing the capacity of journalists to recognise and value the elements of information as a public good cannot be overemphasised. This will further help them to defend and promote the type of content which they gather, produce and disseminate for public consumption. Information as public good underscores the irrefutable substance of verified, reliable and beneficial information to the society. Once again, it is a clarion call to the essential role of professional journalists in the gathering, production and dissemination of information, by trashing misinformation, and other contents which may be considered harmful in the society. ––Yinka Adeosun, Akure, Ondo State.

My Views on ‘The Platform’

e’s got a gift of the gab and dresses smart. But unlike the other guys, does some of the things he says. I was getting furious at ushers for not letting me and here he was, not to be noticed yet waved them away and at me at once to go ahead. I dashed to the front clutching my handbook of Igbo glossary to represent or rather present to one of those in the front pew and in a moment was making my way out of the hall of fame. Famous individuals come to teach in the Church. I got to focus later in view of “The Platform” this time around. The thing is not all bad, people got to talk and try to speak. Now, I got the view in focus, when one of the guys like a movie-star began to talk and I read his lips, so we went he on …I come from ‘government school’ yours is a show of the chosen to receive light from

darkness, which in no doubt is your choice of my voice to hear loud and clear. You know what am talking about, yours is a programme of anti-ethical in arts theatre, artificial-church, look we’re not gold but shine on you….” By the way, I forgot that today is 1st of May, that’s why I don’t remember who said ‘happy new month’. I now mean this other platform of wolf-gang, where wolf down VOM, eat Von. Gang with woman that don’t gang-up, man does not reveal his secret for he cannot go round. Man cannot teach woman her duty, woman cannot teach man her responsibility. They are there ‘as you like it’. Prof de teach student wey neva pass-out, come teach government wey don start to work. Now back to annual Church platform organized as govern-

BREAKING THE JINX ON ATAN - AGBARA ROAD

or the people living or engaging in business activities in and around Ota, Atan, Igbesa, Lusada, Agbara and its environs, the deplorable condition of the road that links Atan to Agbara has been a source of worry. Apart from losing valuable lives as a result of incessant accidents, the sorry state of the road has caused them to lose properties and valuable time. Some companies even closed shop in the axis due to the fact that the deplorable condition of the road added to their cost of production. It appears that the road is jinxed because of the many years it had been abandoned. It is incontrovertible that good road network contributes to economic development and growth which brings important social benefits to the people. Road infrastructure is one

of the most important of all public assets because apart from easy movement of people from one place to another, it also helps in moving raw materials to factories and goods from point of production to the final consumers. Despite its essentiality, good road network has continued to remain a mirage in Nigeria. From Sokoto to Calabar, Maiduguri to Lagos, the major complaint of Nigerians is the issue of bad roads. The deplorable conditions of roads have made an hour journey to last for four hours or more. Nowadays, apart from praying not to fall victim to kidnappers and other criminals, Nigerians spend a lot of time praying against accidents as a result of bad roads. Knowing the significant role that axis plays in making Ogun State an

Obaigbena, President of NPAN

industrial destination of choice in Nigeria and the fact that this axis provides the federal and Ogun State governments huge Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the Ogun State Government under Prince Dapo Abiodun, decided to do what the previous governments in the state and even the federal government could not do by putting an end to many years of hardship and misery of those plying the road on daily basis. To this end, 29 April 2021 would remain indelible in the minds of the people of these areas. It was the day Governor Abiodun turned the sod, signalling the commencement of the reconstruction of the 19Km Atan-LusadaAtan road. The question any right-thinking person would ask at this point in time is, how can the goose

that lay the golden egg be abandoned for so long? The deplorable condition of the road is such that anyone who is visiting the Atan, Lusada-Agbara road for the first time would think that the area had recently witnessed war. The award of contract for the reconstruction of this road is an indication that the Prince Abiodun is keeping to his words not to focus on developing one section of the state to the detriment of the other. One is happy that succour has finally come to the people and the 19km road, scheduled to be completed in 19 months, would bring back smile on the faces of the people and the economic activities in this axis would come back in full swing soon. ––Elijah Udoﬁa, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State

ment that is non. The topic is given up-front, no neutral invigilators or honest arbiters. But they gather, all them that think not on what they spend but spend on whatever they like, get on the platform from the market-place to lace their sermon with anecdotes that underscore how wise or great they were. One gets unto the podium, a look of disapproval on front-row faces ‘this man wants to eat his cake and have it, he’s had his fair-share’. To serve in any government you’ve got to be a hypocrite but in Nigerian government you’ve got to be an Actor. And I don’t mean those elected or appointed into executive but the boys quartered in the legislature, the full castrated judiciary and the incarcerated press. The one that will save his country must have learnt to do without things good in themselves. But now the Church try to out-do even pre-empt the world, so they trudge in, including some of those guys you’d come across no matter which route you chose to take. Some boring phrases begin to fly ‘’ Strategic,

Culture, Inclusion, Conversation, System, Structure…” and one do double talk on security, so Pastor asked “…are you saying that Governors cannot secure their states” I think some governors will but can’t, instead some more double talk. Then his body-language interjects “…you minister in the Church, I was once a cabinet minister, I got no degree in security now you drag me out from my academic and work experience, for which I was not sober. Super-artificial honorifics, you’re done for. Men! This platform got no traction, church overlook much to oversee. I used to be both a politician and administrative staff, civil servant-leader, If only you knew am your ruler.” Pastor own body speaks “… no, I now have to take to or give into choosing my words, hahaha, a round of delirious applause” that is followed by more jesting forbidden in Eph5:4 but they hire comedians to church these days and it gets even more hilarious. –Eleje Willy, Lagos. Read the full article online www.thisdaylive.com

HOW MUCH IS THAT PUPPY NOW?

uppies have become the new must have toy over the COVID time, the must have accessory. Many of the COVID lockdown restrictions permitted walking a dog and thus there was a need for dogs. The simplest rule from economic theory is that if there is a demand beyond supply then prices rise and so puppies cost thousands of dollars. Similar upsurges in interest occurred with home gardening so there was a run on vegetable seeds, library borrowing went up and people returned to old hobbies and there were queues outside hobby shops.

But what will happen when life returns to normal? The gardens will go to weeds, the jigsaws will be put away but what of all the now grown up dogs? They are too 'valuable' to give away, they can't be returned easily, they cost money and walking them each day will get boring. There is just another, quite sad, example of how COVID has changed many people's lives and not always for the better even if they were never affected by the Virus itself. How long will it take before we can safely return to the old ways? ––Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

MAY 9, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

EDITORIAL

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

A FINAL NAIL ON MUSHROOM PARTIES Fewer political parties will serve the nation better

n a major blow to those who have perfected the art of registering political parties at every election season, essentially for transactional purposes, the Supreme Court on Friday reaffirmed the deregistration of 74 political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). And with that, one of the impediments to credible polls in our country has been removed ahead of the 2023 general elections. We hope the verdict will also compel a change in the polity so that people begin to form political parties based on shared ideals. Since collective problems are common in societies, the essence of political parties is to aggregate ideas on how to solve these problems. But that is not what obtains in Nigeria where these platforms are mere vehicles for seeking political What has become offices. Indeed, clearinrecentyears what has become istheincreasing clear in recent years is the increasing desperation desperation for for power not power not necessarily necessarilyto to advance public good advance public good but rather to target the but rather to target enormous spoils of theenormousspoils office attached to politiof office attached to cal positions at all levels of governance. It is this politicalpositions same reason that drives the establishment of political parties that have, for all practical purposes, become business ventures. As we have argued in the past, there is a fundamental reason why the best democracies in the world gravitate around two major parties. Such a choice even among the most enlightened electorate tends to be binary: either apples or oranges. But even under a multi-party arrangement, a maximum upper limit that is robust enough to accommodate all ideological options, makes more sense than what currently obtains in Nigeria where every politician aspires to have his own party. For democracy to thrive, core belief, national presence, spread of membership and basic infrastructure and not the whims of individuals should guide party registration.

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

hen in February last year INEC deregistered 74 political parties, based on Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, explained that there were 91 political parties before the 2019 general election with another one registered by court order shortly after, making a total of 92 political parties. He added that the last alteration to the 1999 Constitution in 2018 specifically empowers INEC to deregister political parties on the following grounds: Breach of any of the requirements for registration as a political party; failure to win at least 25% of the votes cast in one state of the federation in a presidential election or 25% of the votes cast in one local government area in a governorship election and failure to win at least one ward in a chairmanship election, one seat in the national or state assembly election or one seat in a councillorship election. None of the 74 deregistered parties could meet that simple requirement. Even if people have the right to form political parties, proliferation is counterproductive to our democracy. Beyond the logistical nightmare of administering elections without creating room for endless litigations that we have witnessed over the years, a largely illiterate electorate will find it difficult making informed choices in a situation where too many parties and candidates are on the ballot. Besides, these parties are not built around any ideology or interest group and from experience, majority of them never exert any remarkable influence good enough to win elections. And they never do. For years, INEC has been burdened with repeat elections that are needless and that trend has only multiplied as the number of political parties and candidates grew. Under what is termed ‘unlawful exclusion’, elections are often nullified on several grounds, including a wrong spelling of names, even if such candidates were electoral no-hopers. In terms of logistics and cost to INEC, the previous close to 100 parties is a nightmare. For the sake of growing our democracy therefore, the fewer the parties, the better for democratic choice. Now that the Supreme Court has affirmed the position of INEC, there may be an urgent need by the National Assembly to revise electoral law (and possibly amend the constitution) so that political parties deregistered after an election do not, on the eve of another, seek and secure fresh registration.

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.

NIGERIA A ND CORRUPTION LAWS

s the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) remains at the forefront of the fight against federal and state corruption, bribery, and other financial crimes in Nigeria, the newly established anti-corruption commission for Lagos State is a welcome move. Every state should have its own watchdog covering its local jurisdiction; with the EFCC remaining the federal anti-corruption authority across all states and local governments. Like the United States of America, whose constitution ours was modeled after, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the principal

anti-corruption federal law enforcement agency of the United States - exactly the same standing the Economic and Financial Crimes maintains as the federal anti-corruption law enforcement body that serves as a national watchdog with investigative powers across the nation. It is responsible for investigating corruption violations of federal laws by public officials at the federal, states, and local levels of government. A role (although duplicative) that also involves the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Just like the FBI, the EFCC is mandated to oversee the nationwide

investigation of allegations of fraud related to federal government procurements, contracts, and federallyfunded programs. The Nigerian government through the EFCC works together with international law enforcement partners to investigate Nigerians anywhere who are complicit in paying bribes to foreign officials. No state government has such powers. Unlike state governments, federal watchdogs like the EFCC mainly prosecute corruption offenders at the highest levels of the court systems like the federal courts. So, all states and local governments whether they have an anti-corruption commission or not, if they receive any

type of federal money, the EFCC remains the principal anticorruption body to assist the federal government in investigating and prosecuting public officials and agencies within any state and local government. In its capacity as the federal financial crimes watchdog, unlike a state like Lagos or other states that have anti-corruption agency, the EFCC can investigate and prosecute individuals and firms engaged in bribery, contract extortion, bid rigging, illegal cash payments, kickback schemes, illegal gratuities, corporate schemes where federal money and interest are involved. As such, the talk that state domestic anti-corruption laws are motivated to shield persons such as politicians, ex-politicians, state officials, ex-officials, influential individuals, and

corporations involved in public corruption has no grounds. Now that anti-corruption commissions are being set up in various states, these local anti-corruption-based agencies should on ethical grounds be in the position to help in coordinating and showing collaborative efforts in terms of providing information, assistance and other support to federal agencies investigating public corruption offences in their states. Combating the threat of public corruption against our young democracy should never be seen as a form of competition between entities at the regional and federal level. –––Prof. John Egbeazien Oshodi is an American based police/prison scientist and forensic psychologist.

SUNDAY MAY 9, 2021 • T H I S D AY

MA ΁˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL Relocating the AFRICOM to Nigeria: The GeoPolitical Dimensions of an Unwanted Necessity

FRICOM is the acronym for Africa Command, and also a short form for United States Africa Command, which was created within the framework of the reorganisation of the US Military Command structure in February 2007, under the George W. Bush administration. As explained by the first Commander of the AFRICOM, General William ‘KIP’ Ward, the rationale for establishing the AFRICOM was to enable good governance in Africa without undermining the national sovereignty of any country. What is good governance in this case? President Bush explained the mission statement of the AFRICOM thus: ‘this new Command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and help to create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa. Africa Command will enhance our efforts to help bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth in Africa.’ In fact, as President Bush further presents it, ‘Africa is of strategic and economic importance. Our focus is to build the capacity of our African partners to reduce conflict, improve security, defeat terrorists and support US Government activities across Africa to integrate US interagency efforts and assist diplomacy and development efforts.’ Additionally, President Bush made an important statement that should have largely convinced African leaders about the seriousness of purpose and non-imperialist agenda of the United States, when he said his country did not have any intention of establishing a military base in Africa, but, at the same time, admitted that this never meant that there would not be an office in Africa. As he put it: ‘we do not contemplate adding new bases... I know there’s rumour in Ghana... That doesn’t mean we won’t develop some kind of office somewhere in Africa. We haven’t made our minds up. This is a new concept... I want to dispel the notion that all of a sudden, America, you know, is bringing all kinds of military to Africa. It’s just simply not true... The whole purpose of AFRICOM is to help leaders deal with African problems (vide ‘’No Plan for Military Base in Africa - George Bush,’’ Nigerian Tribune, 21 February, 2008, p.4). When Donna Blair resumed duty as US Consul General to Nigeria, she submitted that ‘there is no anti-Americanism in Nigeria. The AFRICOM will further strengthen the existing ties with Nigeria and other African countries. We urge them to receive it positively rather than negatively...We are very concerned about the Niger Delta, but it is a domestic issue for Nigeria. We are willing to assist Nigeria on the crisis based on request.’ Thus, The way the AFRICOM is presented gives the impression that the Command was altruistically created to serve the purposes of Africa, whereas the USAonly wants to assist Africa in order to better secure its national development and live in peace. If AFRICOM will be allowed to function on the basis of win-win, without military base, there are no qualms about it, but there are.

AFRICOM:AnUnwantedNecessity AFRICOM formally began its operations on October 1, 2007, with the objective of building its headquarters and having its members of staff within the following one year. There is yet to be an African office for the Command, which is currently located in Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart-Moehringen, Germany. On October 1, 2008, the AFRICOM was unified and made an independent Command, combining military and civil functions. Explained differently, even though AFRICOM was headed by a four-star Army General, General William Ward, the deputy commander was a civilian, an ambassador from the State Department. This was unique to the AFRICOM at the time of inception. According to US Ambassador Loftis, the AFRICOM resembles the mission statement of other regional Commands but the ‘difference is that building partnership is first and foremost of the strategies.’ What is noteworthy at this juncture is that, the United States has 11 Combatant Commands, one of which is the AFRICOM. Each Command has its specific mission. According to the US Department of Defence, the ‘US Africa Command, with partners, counters transnational threats and malign actors, strengthens security forces, and responds to crises in order to advance US national

VIE INTERNATIONALE

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Buhari interests and promote regional security, stability and prosperity.’ For these purposes, a military base was established in Stuttgart in Germany, which used to ‘house the former Air Force base which served as the facility where over 400,000 US soldiers, who fought the Second World War, withdrawn between 1948-1992, were kept’ (Julianah Taiwo, ‘’Location of US African Command Worries FG,’’ The Guardian, 02 October, 2007, p.9). However, for various reasons, including domestic pressure from the host State, Germany, the US began to make efforts to relocate the AFRICOM to Africa in the mid-2000s, but the efforts have been to no avail. In Nigeria, for example, the Nigerian military favoured the AFRICOM to be in Nigeria. On 23 October, 2003, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Andrew Owoye Azazi, justified the need for it. As he explained it, ‘I want to believe that wherever the US has some business, they want relative peace to undertake their business. Anywhere you are talking of defence of an environment, it is a cooperative venture. So would it be wrong if you say US troops are interested in Gulf of Guinea because they want to make sure that as we undertake the normal business of oil exploration, there is relative peace in that environment for everybody to partake. So I think it (US troops’ presence) is in the interest of ensuring that there is relative peace in that environment for the business of oil to go on (The Guardian, 24 October, 2007, p.3). In this regard, can it be expected that there will be relative peace in Nigeria with PMB’s call for AFRICOM? Does the call imply the establishment of a military base? True enough, PMB appealed to the international community during a virtual meeting with the US Secretary of State, Mr Anthony Blinken, on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 for support in the efforts by his government to contain insecurity in Nigeria. His request can be partly commended, but should mostly be condemned for particularly not investigating well the implications before making the request. In spite of this, the plea is still partly commendable because many concerned Nigerians have asked him to seek foreign help, because of the criticality of the struggle against the boko haramic insurrection in the country. Calling on the Washingtonian authorities for possible help from the AFRICOM means that he is

In essence, to what extent can the spirit of cooperation between the United States and Nigeria be sustained on the basis of PMB’s call for AFRICOM, which was suspended in January 2008 for ten years because of the unwelcoming reactions of African countries? In 2012, the AFRICOM Commander, General Carter Ham, at a Military and Media Symposium held in Garmisch near Munich, Germany, said the US would no longer establish the headquarters of the AFRICOM in any part of the African continent due to its heavy financial demand (THISDAY, 07 September, 2012, p.12a). In this case, will PMB’s call imply heavy financial demand and a military base in Nigeria? Whatever is the case, Nigeria does not need and does not want any military-based AFRICOM because it unnecessarily subjects Nigeria’s sovereignty into ridicule through dependency. Assistance of the US, through equipment donation and capacity development is what is needed. The US should support Africa’s Standby Force, rather than sponsoring the AFRICOM and help to fight terror without tying it into establishment of a military base and undermining Nigeria’s sovereignty. PMB’s call for AFRICOM can seriously undermine national sovereignty, and therefore, most unfortunate. AFRICOM cannot solve the problem of intra-governmental corruption responsible for the recidivist boko haramic insurgency in Nigeria

now listening to public opinion. Partly again commendable is the fact that the PMB administration does not have all the required wherewithal to contain the multidimensional insurgency in the country. The need for public safety and national survival makes PMB’s request a desideratum. From this perspective, the proponents of welcoming an AFRICOM may therefore be right. On the contrary, requesting for AFRICOM cannot but be an unwanted necessity, because it is more critically detrimental to national security to the extent that the purpose of requesting for AFRICOM cannot but be defeated in various ways.

AFRICOMasObstacletoAfricanPersonality First, in conception and design, the AFRICOM is supposed to be an instrument of US foreign and defence policy and, therefore, cannot be subjected to any supranational authority, even in its host country. The land of its location cannot but also have a diplomatic exterritorial status. This is why the AFRICOM has the potential to negate whatever Africa may purport to be. It should be recalled that in April 2007, some top American defence officials visited not only Nigeria, but also South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia to canvass the goodness in the AFRICOM for the whole of Africa. US security support may be good and needed, it necessarily conflicts with the decision of the Maritime Organisation of West Africa and Central Africa to set up a single coast guard to curb various maritime crimes, like the spate of armed banditry and piracy. The AFRICOM necessarily prevents Africa from owning its own home-grown instrument of anti-insecurity, especially in light of the fact that the United States wants to control the Gulf of Guinea, which is also the natural sphere of influence of West and Central African countries. Second, with AFRICOM, the strategic agenda of the United States is to bring the whole of Africa under one single umbrella, but with the exception of Egypt, which is attached to the US Central Command. The exception of Egypt cannot but be fraught with suspicions and difficulties. Egypt is both an African country by geopolitical location and an Arab country by religio-cultural affinities. Egypt cannot be expected to behave like a typical black African country when its security interests run into conflict with those of the Arab world. This is one of the main reasons why Africa has always been divided against itself. Egypt also poses another problematic at the level of possible permanent representation of Africa at the level of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Following the heated controversial debates in Addis Ababa and the Ezulwini Consensus on candidates to be sponsored by the African Union for the UNSC seats, there were three main contending countries, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt. In this regard, contrary to the wishes of the African Union that wanted five Permanent Members on the basis of one representative per one region of Africa, the international community only agreed in principle for Africa to be represented by two countries. By implication, one of the three contending candidates must be withdrawn. In this case, the United States wanted a Permanent Seat for the Arabian world but which does not constitute a region of the world as defined by the United Nations. Representation in the UNSC is not only determined on the basis of how much of assessed dues is paid and extent of involvement in UN peacekeeping missions, the conditionality of regional representation must also be met. Consequently, in the strategic calculations of the United States, Egypt should be assisted to be an African candidate, leaving Nigeria and South Africa to struggle for the other one seat left. It is against this background that a whole AFRICOM without Egypt should be seen. Third, complaints by the people in countries playing host to American Military Command have not been complimentary. It is generally observed that ‘America cares more about the prosperity of its people than the suffering of other peoples under tyrannical regimes.’ There should not be any qualms if the US Government seeks to give priority to the protection of its citizens. Only responsible Governments can do that. However, when seeking to protect the national interest, it must be done on the basis of truth and objectivity of purpose. It must never be done by destroying other people to enable Americans to survive. When there are people who are hostile to Americans living in peace and harmoniously, yes such people should be seriously dealt with and neutralised, but only on the basis of truth as determinant. For example, the objective of the United States in sending troops to Africa and also to Iraq was to protect its economic interests. The United States invaded Iraq, certainly not because of any possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction, but because of the need to have access to its huge crude oil reserves. Besides, there is the case of South Koreans where the United States has a military base and where the host people do not see the Americans as a protector but as people whose presence on their soil has the potential to provoke a North Korean attack. And true enough again, South Koreans have been publicly demonstrating against US military presence, which is also one major issue militating against a better understanding between the two Koreas. Perhaps one should also ask why Germans also want the relocation of the AFRICOM from their soil? Why the people of Nigeria also kicked against AFRICOM in Nigeria? Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

BUSINESS

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

When Will Nigeria’s Investment Potential Materialise? The government must ensure that the right investment policies are created and clear all obstacles towards ensuring that both local and international investors don’t just express passing interest in the economy but back investment announcements with action. James Emejo writes

xecutive Secretary, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Ms Yewande Sadiku, recently at the quarterly media interactive session, stated that investors had shown their willingness to invest a total of $8.41 billion in various sectors of the economy during the Àrst quarter of year. The revelation is particularly exciting, given the dearth of foreign portfolio inÁows in recent times, as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll on global and domestic economies. Amidst rising unemployment rate at 33.3 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), foreign capital injection to boost job creation had become inevitable for stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, the investment announcements tracked by the NIPC are more of a wishlist, with no immediate impact. According to Sadiku, although there’s clear gap between announcements and investments, nonetheless, this “gives us a sense of who is looking at investing in Nigeria”. According to the report on investment announcements for Q1, the $8.41 billion investment prospects were tied to 15 projects spread across eight states of the federation with Bayelsa, accounting for $3.60 billion of the total share. Delta, Akwa Ibom, Lagos and Bauchi followed respectively, recording $2.90 billion, $1.40 billion, $0.15 billion and $0.07 billion. Interests were mostly indicated in the manufacturing, construction, mining and quarrying, electricity and agricultural sectors of the economy. However, more disturbing for the country’s economic managers is the fact that investment announcements had been on the decline in recent times, partly owing to the pandemic and unfavourable investment climate. Investment potentials stood at $66.35 billion in 2017, rising to $90.89 billion in 2018, but declined to $29.91 billion in 2019, $16.74 billion in 2020 and $8.41 billion in Q1 2021. Sadiku, however, noted that the decline may not be unconnected with security challenges in the country as well as a lot of issues relating to foreign exchange. She pointed out that a more proactive, all of government approach towards investor support across the federal and state governments was required to convert more announcements to actual investments. The NIPC boss further explained that some investment announcement might not necessarily translate to actual investments in the same year the interests were made know for various reasons. She added that while the FDI slump remained a global issue which did not aͿect Nigeria alone, the country had in the recent past made material policy reforms which had resulted massive inÁow of capital. Sadiku, particularly pointed out that the competition for capital remained Àerce globally as countries struggle to reÁate their economies - “which is why we are talking about investments going to another country because investors would go to

Minister of Indsutry, Trade and investment, Niyi Adebayo

whatever countries appeal to them”. She said all the states of the federation had a lot to do to woo investments into their respective jurisdiction in the interest of the country in general. “But we would like every single state in Nigeria to be trying to appeal to investors to get the to come to that state. Any state that wins at that game , Nigeria is the winner. “The more states have the capacity to promote investments to themselves, to sell themselves the better of Nigeria as a country is, “ she said. According to her, the government at all levels must move to clear obstacles that could hamper actualisation of investment aspirations going forward. NIPC Director, Department of Strategic Communication, Mr. Emeka OͿor, further explained that though the announcements were not actual investment, they represented “low hanging fruits and they could be actual investments if we all work to together to help the investors realise their investment potentials.” “Basically for us, it’s a Àrst step of what needs to be done in attracting investments to Nigeria. “FDI Áows were greatly impacted by COVID-19 and we expect that there will be some recovery. “ OͿor said ”If you look at the case of

Nigeria, you will Ànd out that basically, the government needs to do much more to ensure that we increase FDI Áow. “The major spike or growth occurred when Nigeria introduced very proactive government policy. Around 2003 was the sale of GSM licenses and around 2005 to 2006 was banking consolidation and 2011 to 2012 witnessed the sale of indigenous assets. “So, we believe at NIPC that bold and coherent policy changes and deep economic reforms will be required to reverse the decline in investment inÁows seen in 2020 and even beyond. “For us, there are low-hanging fruits that the states can work on to bring their aspirations to realisation.” Analysts Express Concerns However, analysts, in separate interviews with THISDAY, identiÀed a litany of problems which may hamper investment drive as well as actualise current aspirations. They said the current security challenges posed by terrorists and banditry, policy summersaults by the government and foreign exchange crisis, among others, constituted major risks to foreign capital inÁows. The Chairman, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Abuja Branch,

Prof. Uche Uwaleke, while reacting to the investment announcement, said, the chances of investment intentions crystallising depended a lot on the extent to which the rising insecurity is tackled. He said ”Any foreign investor will consider security paramount in making investment decision. “Another important factor will be liquidity in the forex market and associated ease of repatriating proÀts.” Also, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Credent Investment Managers Limited, Mr. Ibrahim Shelleng, pointed out that with the current insecurity and political instability in the country, it will be somewhat naive to think that these investment potentials will crystallise as actual investments. “Potential foreign investors analysing the investment opportunities in Nigeria will undoubtedly be put oͿ by the multiple risk factors that may signiÀcantly aͿect their investment. “Aside from the obvious insecurity, they may also consider foreign exchange risk given the volatile nature of the naira presently. “Whilst Nigeria may still draw potential investors with the prospect of an abundance of natural resources and a large population, it must be noted that the current state of the economy will make it very di΀cult to attract signiÀcant investment.” Shelleng further argued that there had been no obvious strategy from the government to curtail the economic malaise adding that more stable countries within the country’s geographical location will continue to attract FDI over Nigeria. Also, commenting on the development, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Dignity Finance and Investmemt Limited, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, said though the country was replete with potentials in all sectors, waiting to be harnessed, the current state of insecurity may limit results. He said ”These investment announcements may not be actualised if we do not deal with security challenges of the country, which are worsening instead of improving. “Every business opportunity that may come into the country can only stem from our ability to reduce insecurity.” On his part, Managing Director/Chief Executive, SD&D Capital Management Limited, Mr. Idakolo Gbolade, however, explained that investment announcement has a great potential of being turned to actual investment. According to him, investment announcement had recorded higher degree of actualisation in the past years and only witness a drastic reduction during 2020, due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Gbolade said ”Most of the investments in oil and gas and the capital markets have higher actualisation potential because of the higher margin of proÀt to investors in these sectors.” He, further argued that the issue of insecurity which is a major factor determining investment pattern had not been seen to seriously aͿect investments in these sectors. “However, federal and state governments policies on ease of doing business could be a major hindrance to actualisation of investment announcement in agriculture, mining among others, “ he said.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

PROPERTY

%ULGJLQJ +RXVLQJ 'HÀFLW LQ 1LJHULD Among the many problems plaguing the Nigerian populace, shelter happens to be a more biting crisis. At over 17 million in deÀcit and tens of millions homeless, housing issue in Nigeria has assumed an alarming proportion. COVID-19 came in 2020, crashed economies and deepened the housing crisis among others. In the midst of this, however, the real estate sector is improvising its way around the pandemic and shelter scarcity, to develop creative designs and themes to ameliorate the hardship to provide accommodation for as many as are economically able. The operators are rising above the challenges that are speciÀc to their trade and the larger economy. Chris Paul looks at the industry using the experience and example of Purple Group

ousing in Nigeria, like most of her crisis is dire strait. According to the report titled Addressing Housing DeÀcit in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects, written by Emmanuel Abolo Moore, a recent study of housing situation in Nigeria put existing housing stock at 23 per 1000 inhabitant. Currently housing deÀcit in the country stands as at December 2018 is estimated at a whopping 20 million units, which is about 15.0 per cent increase from the Àgures in -anuary 2019. Funding the deÀcit will require an estimated N21 trillion. With a population of nearly 200 million, the current deÀcit is alarmingly high. Housing deÀcit in Nigeria, as at 1991, was at seven million and rose to 12 million in 2007, 14 million in 2010 and currently 20 million units. Growing ahead of general inÁation, on the other hand, are the costs of houses and rental payments for houses. Making matters worse, the composition of houses for sale and rent in the market has been inexorably shifting towards very expensive houses. According to experts only 10 per cent of those, who desire to own a home in Nigeria can afford it either by way of purchase or personal construction as against: 72.0 per cent in USA 78.0 per cent in U. 60.0 per cent in China 54.0 per cent in .orea and 92.0 per cent in Singapore. In Nigeria, the need for private sector participation that would support the government’s target is a major focus in the Federal Government Economic Sustainability Plan on Mass Housing. Uplifting millions of people from poverty, as an economic strategy without integrating the housing sector and its entire ecosystem will remain an impossible task for any government. In 2020, China achieved the development of 15million housing units, which speaks further to the need for the government in Nigeria to explore a robust policy on “Social Housing” that the private sector can key into. Although, there is adequate data and research in the Nigerian 5eal Estate and Housing Market abound, accessibility, interpretation and application remain a challenge. Quality of infrastructure, security, demand and supply are some of the factors that have led to the rising cost of apartments and rents across the country. When COVID-19 disease became a pandemic, it devastatingly disrupted economic activities across communities, countries, continents and the entire world. The unique challenges faced in 2020 arose from the global pandemic and lockdowns to the unrest, speciÀcally that aͿected Nigeria, recently, that left several businesses gasping for survival. This year has been a steep learning curve for many businesses as it has shown the survival instincts of businesses in the face of unexpected economic disruptions. For some real estate players like Purple Group, owners of purplemaryland and purplelekki, these challenges have led to a continuous reconÀguration of their capital structure, quick response to market changes and customer/partner changes to the market. The Purple Group Co-founder and Chief Executive, Laide Agboola, said the organisation has been able to test its products in the worst of market conditions both in 2016 and now in 2020. “We continue to work towards maintaining our continuous conÀdence amongst our domestic and international alliances. The questions have remained the same: How do we assure our investors their returns are achievable" And, how

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola

Agboola

do we deliver on the proposed assets amidst lockdowns and a contracting economy" “Fortunately, our mixed use development products have been designed, speciÀcally, for this market, based on deep research analysis and as a response to the market both in 2016 and now validated as the appropriate product for our Nigerian market even in 2020,” he said. According to him, Purple’s relationship with its tenants/partners and the growth of their businesses remain paramount to the operators. This, he said, has made those partners remain with the company despite the several economic issues. “We have continuously prioritised brand awareness, our product and partner products awareness and marketing with an unusually lower priced rental regime derived from our lower priced building strategy supported by smaller Àt for purpose spatial planning. This has been our strategy in maintaining our 97 per cent occupancy level. Albeit, this has not been without some sort of grant period in 2020. It has been an unusual year and has required us to deliver unusual responses tailor-made across our partners to arrive at sustainable businesses within our build environment going forward. This also speaks to the resilience of the businesses within our centre. However, this year has also reinforced our belief in our mixed use retail strategy, focusing on essential services and domestic retailers, who are Áexible and have shown adaptability to the peculiarities of the Nigerian Market,” said Agboola. .nown as a property development company, Purple has seen numerous shifts in the past few years, from the rise of shared spaces and services bringing about co-working and co-living to this year, which Agboola said, “has also shown us the value of mixed use assets, but also a need for privacy and self-sustainability.” “We believe there is gradual shift towards smaller, mixed used facilities that give customers some sort of balanced, but aͿordable and Áexible lifestyle. This is the immediate future of real estate and it is what our purple nano product line brings to complement our purplelekki and eventually would complement our purplemaryland (formerly Maryland mall) product oͿerings. The drive is to be able to deliver on work, shop, eat, play, drink and live concept across our product oͿerings and back it up with a strong online marketplace, purple.shop,” he explained. For us as a lifestyle and real estate development business, the ability to deliver products to customers and partners at sustainably attractive

prices should be a major priority for a smart real estate player. The Purple CEO noted that prior to a lower interest rate regime currently being experienced, attractive naira-based Ànancing for real estate lifestyle especially around hospitality had not been entirely forthcoming. “We also need supportive policies and economic laws to ensure we are all driving towards resolving shelter deÀcits in every form whether it be residential or hospitality. “There is obviously an infrastructural gap that can only be driven by investors. “This is even more apparent now than ever with the collapse of the oil price coupled with the pandemic, we can feel the need for domestic players and institutions to back leading domestic players that have boots on the ground and neck deep in the development cycle of our dear country, Nigeria. “We are not a portfolio international company or investor. We are Nigerians and we are on the ground. Our focus is to develop Nigeria, but Nigeria must provide an investment climate that is evidently supportive of growth so as the domestic players and institutions do not shy away from investing locally especially at a time like this. We are all we have. Our target is to continuously work on delivering value assets to our customers and partners at attractive prices irrespective of the exchange rate movements experienced. “Thesemovementsformathreattoourmargins created from lower interest rate regimes as our ultimate plan is not to continuously pass on this exchange rate changes in our lifestyle developments to our consumers,” Agboola said. Besides development challenges, there are operational challenges bottlenecks such as cost of power, good access roads and other infrastructural deÀcits, meaning developers have to bear these costs. “We are very mindful about pricing and continuous increase in prices in a down market. Our ability to sell or lease products at attractive prices can only be sustained where we do not have variables moving constantly. With the current economic recession as well as reduced spending power, real estate tends to be seen as luxury rather than an investment. We bank on the fact that the pandemic has shown the real importance of work, shop, eat play, drink, live in a singular location. However, this must be at the right price point. “Material sourcing and a weak domestic

manufacturing industry continues to be a stretch on right product pricing for the domestic market, as appropriate items continually have to be sourced oͿshore. “This coupled with the downward direction of the Naira continues to increase the cost of developments, limiting developers in terms of Ànishing and Ànance to innovate further. “Notwithstanding, we continue to innovate and form alliances with our network of contractors, building partnerships that align our interest of delivering value to our consumers based on attractive pricing,” he said. In terms of development and operations, Purple found a way to work with the best of the domestic space it operates in whilst delivering international standard Àt-for-purpose assets. Agboola said ¶We need to ensure we are not losing our best hands at all levels of the real estate value chain to the Diaspora. Taking on international expertise at greater cost is at the detriment of the Nigerian 5eal Estate development Industry and can only lead to stagnation if the best minds and artisans are brought in and never home grown.” Recent economic development in Nigeria has made investors to be wary, indicating that the conÀdence level in the country’s policy environment and in the markets needs to be rebuilt. Fortunately, he said, Purple’s product oͿerings work for its partners, pointing out that, “Our short, long and residential product are essentials. We have witnessed a signiÀcant oͿ-take despite the turbulence associated with 2020. For Purple, we continue to build conÀdence that our investors have in us. Our plan is to continuously deliver value to them. We aimed to remain liquid prior to the pandemic whilst restructuring our books. “We are achieving that via a combination of a second round of equity investment achieved in the chaotic year of 2020 plus additional domestic debt funding for our expansionary activities within the essential space despite market conditions.” Purple’s residential developments are a function of co-habitation principle towards real estate asset classes in the Àrst instance let alone the multiuse as aparthotels, short and long stay as well as co-living. “The concepts discussed here are alien and somewhat new to the market, but the market must adapt. We had conducted that research as far back as 2018 and began our quest for delivery ever since then. We are here now. The quest to create unique, but yet attractively priced living solutions for the mid-market, a discerning investor’s haven,” he said. In a post-pandemic era, values that include perseverance, audacity, collaboration and transparency are features that will distinguish innovative players in the sector. “Although these principles have guided us thus far, we have only just better deÀned these such that our end users feel the purple way. We want to ensure our investors also remain very much at the centre of all we do as a business. With our new products, we are only ensuring that we oͿer our investors a diversiÀed portfolio that enhances better returns. “Nanos will feature top tier hotel management services. “Merging this hotel management approach with a residential style building has created a unique well catered experience for occupiers as well as a viable professionally managed asset for investors who are able to receive an assured tenancy return for these nanos at purplelekki, only where they choose to.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

FOCUS

Access Bank Targets Domination Goddy Egene with steady growth in financial performance, rapid expansion and drive, Access Bank Plc is moving to dominate and deliver better value to all stakeholders

hen Access Bank Plc merged with DiamondBankPlc in 2019, it was in line with its vision “to be the world’s most respected African bank.” After the merging Access Bank became one of Africa’s largest retail banks by retail customer base. With over 900,000 shareholders (including several Nigerian and International Institutional Investors), the bank has enjoyed what is arguably Africa’s most successful banking growth trajectory in the last 12 years and going by its latest Ànancial performance and strategies, Access Bank Plc is on its way to dominate the African continent in the very near term. For the year ended December 31, 2020, posted gross earnings of N764.7 billion, showing a growth of 15 per cent from N666.8 billion in 2019. Interest and non-interest income contributing 64 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. ProÀt before tax (PBT) grew by 13 per cent to N125.9 billion, from N111.9 billion in 2019, while proÀt after tax (PAT) rose from N94.1 billion to N106 billion on the back of on the back of a 32 per cent growth in operating income which oͿset the rise in impairment charges and operating expenses. Impairment chargers stood at N62.893 billion, compared with N20.189 billion in 2019. According to the bank, net impairment charge of near N43 billion arose principally from a Structured Trade Finance(STF) portfolio in the Access Bank UK. It explained that the STF impairment is one-oͿ/ COVID related and recoverable over the next 12-18 months against insurance cover from world class insurers. Given the improved bottom-line, the board has recommended a Ànal dividend of 55 kobo per share bringing the total dividend to 80 kobo per share for the year. The CEO explained that Access Bank Plc recorded a consistent growth in its retail banking business, reporting a 5.8 million growth in customer sign-on during the year through its Ànancial inclusion eͿorts. “This increase in customer base led to a retail revenue of N177.2 billion, a 64.4 per cent increase from its 2019 Àgures of N107.8 billion. The bank’s customer deposits also grew by 31 per cent to N5.59 trillion in December 2020 with savings account deposits standing at N1.31trillion. Similarly, net loans and advances grew by 18 per cent to N3.61 trillion in comparison to 2019 Àgures of N3.06 trillion,” Wigwe said. He disclosed that as the bank intensiÀed recovery eͿorts, undertook signiÀcant write oͿ and leveraged its robust risk management practices, its asset quality improved to 4.3 per cent compared to its 2019 report of 5.8 per cent, noting that this is expected to continue to trend downwards as it strives to surpass the standard it had built in the industry prior to the merger with Diamond Bank Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive O΀cer ofAccess Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, said the institution’s resilient performance was testament to the eͿectiveness of their our strategy and capacity to generate sustainable revenue. “The strategic actions that the bank has taken over the past 12 months evidence a strong focus on retail banking and Ànancial inclusion, an African expansion strategy and a drive for scale for sustainable value creation. In 2020, Access Bank proudly opened its doors for business in Kenya and Mo]ambique, further increasing our footprints across the African Continent. Access Bank Zambia also concluded the acquisition of Cavmont Bank Limited in January 2021 and the group recently announced the approval by relevant regulatory authorities for the acquisition of Grobank Limited, creating an inroad into the SouthAfrican market in realisation of the group’s strategic ambitions,” he said. Wigwe had said that going into the fourth year of their 5-year cyclical strategy, their focus remained on consolidating their retail momentum and expanding their African footprint in a sustainable manner. The CEO explained that Access Bank Plc recorded a consistent growth in its retail banking business, reporting a 5.8 million growth in

Wigwe

customer sign-on during the year through its Ànancial inclusion eͿorts. “This increase in customer base led to a retail revenue of N177.2 billion, a 64.4 per cent increase from its 2019 Àgures of N107.8 billion. The bank’s customer deposits also grew by 31 per cent to N5.59 trillion in December 2020 with savings account deposits standing at N1.31trillion. Similarly, net loans and advances grew by 18 per cent to N3.61 trillion in comparison to 2019 Àgures of N3.06 trillion,” Wigwe said. He disclosed that as the bank intensiÀed recovery eͿorts, undertook signiÀcant write oͿ and leveraged its robust risk management practices, its asset quality improved to 4.3 per cent compared to its 2019 report of 5.8 per cent, noting that this is expected to continue to trend downwards as it strives to surpass the standard it had built in the industry prior to the merger with Diamond Bank. Despitethechallengingoperatingenvironment, Access Bank delivered strong results in the Àrst quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2021 with the gross earnings printing at N222.1 billion was recorded, up by six per cent above the Àgures posted in the corresponding period of 2020. PBT rose by 30 per cent to N60.1 billion, from N46.2 billion, while ProÀt After Tax (PAT) grew by 28 per cent to N52.6 billion compared with N40.9 billion in 2020 on the back of a 13 per cent growth in operating Income and a 16 per cent reduction in interest expense. AccordingtoWigwe, theperformance showed the strong capacity of their business to generate sustainable earnings on the strength of their balance sheet, diverse revenue streams and their dedicated people. “As a result of eͿective implementation of our cost reduction strategy, operating expenses remained Áat, despite the inÁationary environment and increased regulatory cost. Our retail banking business also showed steady growth with a 112 per cent increase in revenue to N57.5 billion and a 941,631 new customer sign-on via our Ànancial inclusion drive during the quarter. This improvement is evidenced by the consistent and robust savings account growth to N1.3 trillion , leading to a signiÀcant reduction in

our cost of funds,” he said. He said the increased adoption of digital channels and the growing customer base, the bank recorded a 29 per cent growth in USSD transaction value and 40 per cent increase in mobile and internet banking transaction value. “In line with our risk appetite and e΀cient risk management, our asset quality continued to improve as guided with NPL Ratio of4.0 per cent (Dec. 2020 4.3 per cent), as we intensiÀed our recovery eͿorts. Likewise, we expanded our loan portfolio cautiously as reÁected by the marginal growth in our net loans and advances to N3.65 trillion year-to-date (Dec 2020: N3.61trillion). Furthermore, we maintained robust capital and liquidity positions, well above regulatory levels with a Capital Adequacy Ratio of 22.2 per cent and a liquidity ratio of 48.3 per cent, positioning us to support our customers across various markets and adequately execute our expansion strategy,” he added. Wigwe stated that in furtherance of their vision to be the World’s most respected African bank and Africa’s payment gateway, they remain committed to a disciplined and thoughtful expansion strategy. Considering the growth the bank is witnessing and Wigwe, at the annual general meeting (AGM) held recently, assured shareholders of sustained healthy dividend payout saying the bank is well positioned to achieve signiÀcant growth in proÀtability and pay higher dividend. He said the shareholders should expect better dividend that would be sustain given the various strategies put to grow the business. According to him, Access Bank is best positioned to maximi]e the identiÀed opportunities in Africa on the back of a growing customer base and the move to a cashless economy. “We have identiÀed Africa to be a vast pool of opportunities with over 370 million unbanked adults, US$9.2 billion in remittances and cross border payments, 89 cities of over 1.3 billion inhabitants by 2025 and the overall African Ànancial ecosystem. We also see opportunities coming from the new African Continental Free TradeArea (AfCFTA), as it is expected to expand intra-Africa trade to 53 per cent by 2022, eliminate

tariͿ on qualifying trade and increase Ànancial Áows,” he said. Wigwe said that on the domestic front, Nigeria presents several opportunities due to its large population, huge payments and remittance Áows, and an emerging insurance market. “To capture these opportunities, Access Bank will transition into a holding company structure that will enable it tap into the market opportunities that are available in the regulated banking and consumer lending market, electronic payments industry and retail insurance market. Through the restructuring, we will create new product revenues without taking incremental risks for the enterprise, ensure diversiÀcation of earnings, and support outside of Africa,” he said. The CEO noted that the series of mergers and acquisition they had undertaken since 2005 have all been value accretive, adding they had commenced green Àeld operations in Mo]ambique and completed the acquisition of Transnational Bank and Cavmont Bank in Kenya and Zambia respectively to strengthen and increase their market presence. Last week, Access Bank formally acquired Grobank Limited of South Africa and renamed the bank Access Bank South Africa Limited. The deal was Ànalised after Access Bank’s acquisition of controlling shares in the former Grobank Limited, South Africa. With this new development, Access Bank South Africa Limited is positioned to deliver a robust banking operation that connects key African markets. The CEO of Grobank, Bennie van Rooy, had said the acquisition was an extremely exciting day for the South African banking industry. “Our corporate customers will now have increased access to trade Ànance, treasury, international payments and loans through the wider distribution network oͿered by Access Bank’s presence in the key trade corridors that connect Africa to the rest of the world. Banking with Access Bank South Africa means greater security as well as access to more products and services through a best-in-class digital platform, and a full retail banking suite will soon be on oͿer,” Rooy said. On his part, Wigwe said the acquisition in South Africa sealed their commitment to delivering their strategic aspirations of becoming Africa’s Gateway to the World, in line with their vision to be the World’s most respected African Bank. “We look forward to the many opportunities our collective experience and deep understanding of theAfrican market brings to our valued clients, and the journey ahead being one of great promise for our institution and the continent,” he said. The Chairman of Access Bank Plc, Dr. Ajoritsedere Awosika, at the AGM had disclosed that in 2020, the bank made several investments to strengthen relationships with its customers in the year. “By redeÀning our approach to customer service through streamlining our internal processes, and digiti]ing about 30 per cent of customer journeys, we were able to improve on our customer experience. Also, we were able to manage our expenses in line with the target for 2020 despite double digit inÁation and overall cost of running the enlarged enterprise. As a result, we achieved a Cost-to-Income Ratio (CIR) of 63.4 per cent from 66.1 per cent in 2019. We worked hard to recover and dispose of a signiÀcant portion of our non-performing assets. With a decline in the portfolio of overdue loans, our asset quality improved across our retail and wholesale segments. Our capital and liquidity ratios were also well above regulatory limits with our capital adequacy ratio remaining strong at 20.6 per cent,” he said. Looking ahead, Awosika said Access Bank would grow its businesses and continue to invest in IT capacity until it becomes an incredibly strong bank for retail and wholesale customers around the world. “As we continue to consolidate the gains from our decisive approach to pushing our retail franchise, we have identiÀed several opportunities within Africa and beyond, for Access Bank to deepen its Ànancial services oͿerings to banked customers as well as extend Ànancial services to the unbanked,” she stated.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

THE EXECUTIVE TONY ELUMELU Exiting UBA as CEO at Age 47 was a Blessing In the African corporate community, the name Tony Elumelu rings loud as one of the top five multi-sectorial big players in the continent’s economy. Originally a banker, Elumelu, who plays big in the Nigerian economy, regional economies and notable in the global terrain, is breaking grounds in sectors unrelated to his core skills as a banker. He holds sway at the commanding height of various sectors including banking, hospitality, power, oil and gas, health and philanthropy. In this interview with Arise News, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, Elumelu, who is the President of Heirs Holding Ltd and Chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc, speaks on a wide range of issues in the economy, investment, power sector, entrepreneurship, amongst others. Nume Ekeghe, Chris Paul and Nosa Alekhuogie bring the excerpts:

n 2010, you left your position as the GMD/CEOofUBAandthenventured intoserialentrepreneurship.Today,you run Heirs Holdings, Transcorp, you are into oil and gas, the Tony Elumelu Foundation(TEF)andmanymore.How do you manage to juggle all of these and what are challenges you face in terms of managing all your businesses? In2010,whenIleftUnitedBankforAfrica(UBA), I founded Heirs Holdings which is a family investment company that invests in key sectors of the African economy. We basically are driven by our philosophy of Africapitalism. We want to see the private sector-based role in the economic development of our continent and that is why we founded Heirs Holdings. When we started, the ambition was to help to improve lives and transform the continent and we thought that the way to do this is by investing in critical sectors of the economy such as Power. Access to electricity we believe, is very critical for the economic upliftment of our people and the development of our country. We also decided to make sure we have an integrated energy, not just Power, but we made sure there is gas that helps the Power to operate. That is why we are also investing in oil and gas. For us, it’s just to make sure the ecosystem is complete, and we help to power our country out of poverty and into economic prosperity. We also believe hospitality is critical for attracting investment into our country andthecontinenthencetheacquisitionofTranscorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja and today, we are doing a lot. In the area of healthcare, we are also doing quite a lot to help improve the human capital of our country. We’ve seen with the pandemic that health is wealth. Talking about the challenges and how we have been able to juggle all of this, as I’ve always said, investment and success in the private sector to a large extent depends on leadership surrounding itself with capable hands that are more intelligent than the leadership. In our group, we have quite a lot and it seems to people that it’s stressful, yes it’s tough, but I’m blessed with capable hands. If you look at Transcorp, we have competentleadership.ThePresident/GroupCEO of Transcorp Owen Omogiafo; CEO of Transcorp Hotel, Dupe Olusola; CEO of Transcorp Power, Chris Ezeafulukwe; CEO of Trans-Afam Power, Vincent Ozoude; and others, they are very capable people. They help to Àre our growth. Also, if you look at the area of healthcare, Dr.Awele Elumelu, my wife, runs our Avon Medical business; while SimboUkirileadsAvonHMO,ourhealthinsurance Àrm. So these are great leaders, who help to make this enterprise not as di΀cult as it would have been. My job today is more of thinking, sitting at board sessions with them, providing some level of strategic direction at that level, but allowing themdowhattheyknowhowtodo.Thechallenge we face is basically the challenge as it is with any other enterprise, which is how to manage the macro and socio- economic issues. But basically we are happy with what we are doing, and with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), we are also happy that we are able to impact lives and help to transform our continent through the economic

Elumelu

empowerment of our young ones.

Taking it back to 2010 when you were forced to step down as MD/CEO of UBA at the age of ZLWK VR PXFK WR VWLOO R;HU WKH EDQN ZRXOG you look back and now say especially with the trajectory you have achieved that the then governor of CBN, Lamido Sanusi, did you a huge favour? So that day, we had a Bankers’ Committee meeting and at the end of the meeting, the then CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the CEOs who had done 10 years will step aside. I immediatelycalledtheChairmanofUBAtoexplain what happened, and the next day, we conveyed an emergency board meeting.At the board meeting, it was a divided household for the Àrst time:

some directors said no, we have to go to court to contest it, and about one or two other directors did not think so. But I spoke and I told the board members that there are Àve critical stakeholders: the customers of UBA, will they like to know that we took our regulator to court" No Then the staͿ of UBA, will they be comfortable working in a bank that took their regulator to court? No; then the shareholders, and then the regulator wouldn’t like it. So, four constituents will not like us going to court, there is only one constituent that may like it and that’s Tony Elumelu, which makes it one over Àve, that’s 20 percent which is certainly not enough to go to court. And by the way, 10 years is not bad. Also, I had been planning to move on and leave at the age of 50; so what happened kind of fast-tracked this. It was also why within

24 hours, we appointed a successor. The pipeline for succession at UBA is always there, about 1-5 people are always there to step in. Looking back today, we’ve come a long way, and it’s always been about impacting humanity, improving lives and transforming everything we do. In business, we are known as turnaround experts, we take businesses and transform them. In philanthropy, we are also catalysing the creation of a new crop ofAfrican leaders. It’s all about transforming our society and making sure we leave the society better than we met it. For me, that opportunity to start all these three years ahead of the planned time, is a blessing.

What’syourtakeonthepowersectorinNigeria today, what do you think needs to be done to

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

THE EXECUTIVE

Transmission Company of Nigeria Should be Privatised PDNH LW PRUH HͿFLHQW SDUWLFXODUO\ LQ WHUPV RI service delivery? In the power sector, there are three parts to it: the generation, the transmission and the distribution. Transcorp, through Transcorp Power and TransAfam Power as at today in Nigeria, we own the highestgeneratingcapacityinthecountry.Wehave a generating capacity of about 2,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity a day, but unfortunately we do less than 500 MW at this point in time.Amajor constraint in this area is gas, then there is the issue of transmission and evacuation of the generated electricity, and there is also the issue of payment. For us to be able to generate more, we need to have gas, and this is why our Group invested in oil and gas. Investing in oil and gas as a Group isn’t necessarily because of oil, it is more because of gas. We want to be able to ensure that we have gas from our oil and gas production to convert it to electricity. With the acquisition we did recently, I’m happy to say it is already supplying gas to our Trans-Afampowerplant,butwealsoneedtomake surewestabiliseourtransmissionlines.Thiscountry needs at least 100,000 MW of electricity a day to powertheeconomy,buttodayweoperatelessthan 5,000.We need to do more. Some other critical parts are payments, distribution, and metering. I must commend the CBN Governor, Godwin EmeÀele, he has done very well because he came in to help increase revenue in that space. Up until end of last year, we used to get less than 20 per cent payment for power supplied, but today, it’s improved to 50 per cent. Transcorp Power alone is owed over N100 billion, but it’s gradually improving. For the power sector in Nigeria to work well ² if we want to drive this economy ² we need to increase generation, make sure we address gas, supply to generating companies, we need to make sure the transmission lines are capacitised to evacuate the power, we need to also make sure that power Elemelu generated is taken by DisCos and the metering should be right for the end users to pay. If I generate electricity,IshouldbeabletogetmoneysothatIcan signiÀed interest to be involved in the transmisservice my obligations as well as make sure that sion so that collectively, we will be able to make the spares in particular are serviced to ensure the it work. But even when that works, we need to generatingplantskeeprunning.Itisacriticalsector, make sure that the last mile, people are metered we need to invest in it, and the stakeholders need and they pay. The distribution companies should to make sure that it works. If it works, the country’s also take what is supplied to them and they pay economic development becomes more real, if it to NBET who will in turn pay the GenCos. So, doesn’t work, it’s going to be a problem. I, through each of the three critical parts must work well; the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), empower the generating companies must generate, the young entrepreneurs and if you ask them what transmission company must transmit, and the the challenges they face in this country are, they tell distribution company must make sure it gets to you that it’s poor access to electricity.And so, any end users because that’s where people feel the amount you give, some of them will not succeed impact of electricity. because they spend so much on electricity. Even WhatistheupdateonTranscorpHotelGlover in the hospital business, healthcare, every sector in our economy, we need to Àx the power sector. Road, Ikoyi? It is in the pipeline. We had issues with certain We need to prioritise it more, but I commend the eͿorts going on now making sure we privatise governmentauthorisationsandthatslowedthings the remaining GenCos. But the transmission lines down. We have done a lot and we are in a good needs to be Àxed and the payment system needs place now. I must commend the leadership in our hospitality space; it is about having good people to be improved. work with you. They are doing quite a lot, being DoyouthinktheNigeriangovernmentshould very creative and innovative. Watch this space, KDQGV R; WUDQVPLVVLRQ DQG DUH \RX JRLQJ WR I believe before the end of this year, you will see make a bid for some of those GenCos that the a lot. The hotel is a medium-to-long term plan but in the short term, the team want to do certain government is proposing to privatise? We will be interested in one of the Hydros. In the things. I think before the end of this year, you will area of the transmission line, I think that ultimately, see some commercial activity going on there. it should be privatised. What some of us have Is the project of the old Falomo shopping advocated is that the GenCos and DisCos, the entire power stakeholders should come together complex still ongoing, what is the state of that? About the Falomo shopping complex, we were and have a deal with the Federal Government, take over the transmission lines, and it will be in extremelyexcited,wewantedtoputupsomething our self-interest to make sure it works. If you have very magniÀcent because Falomo is kind of the the transmission lines and it doesn’t work, there is heart of Lagos. We ran into di΀culty with the no way to evacuate your power. That sector is so Ambode government. Again, it had to do with critical and pivotal for the survival of our power government authorisation and we kind of went sector, it’s critical for improving access to electricity. to court, but at some point, there is a limit to how What is important to us as operators is to have you can litigate on these things. But where we are expandedcapacity,butI’msureifyoutalktopeople at now is very good. Last Sunday I had meetings in the transmission line, they will also give you on this and I’m happy to say that the government, reasons why they have their own constraints. But the company, the investors in the company, are to us, we want to see massive improvement, we Ànally coming together to start it again. This time, should be able to capacitise that space. I think the we are thinking of putting up an o΀ce complex, a Ericsson deal I’m told is able to make that happen, hotel and a small mall because there is also concern the details of that I don’t know but I’m told it’s to about the tra΀c conditions there. We have Ànally come to terms under the new leadership in Lagos help capacitise the transmission line. State, which is quite interesting as it started with Do you subscribe to the unbundling of the Fashola’s regime, Ambode’s regime truncated Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for it, and now the new government, Sanwo-Olu is reviving it. So, we are happy we are there now. HͿFLHQF\ LQ WKH SRZHU VHFWRU" What I do know is that we need to improve Unfortunately,itcostsmoretodonowcomparedto capacity in the area of transmission, and whatever what we would have achieved if we had put it up weneedtodotomakethathappenshouldbedone. then because of the exchange rate then compared The time is now because we are all suͿering this. to today, it’s totally diͿerent, it will cost three times At times, the generating plant runs into di΀culties more. That’s why we are also changing the initial because you generate and it can’t be taken, and concept but we want something extremely iconic the power plant can just break down. We don’t in that place. need all of that frustration in the power sector. Afam Power plant costs over N100 billion, Whatever it takes to Àx that sector, we should do so. Some of us in the power generating space have why haven’t you concluded the payments of

happy to say that it is a truly indigenous oil and gas company owned by Nigerians, operated by Nigerians and between when we took over and now, there has been an improvement. Today, we produce over 31,000 barrels of oil per day, which is a slight improvement from what it was. We think we are just starting. The CEO of the company resumed just yesterday (Tuesday). Our ambition is to produce over 100,000 barrels of oil per day because the asset in the past has produced close to that. We want to do what we know how to do which is extracting value for stakeholders. We are really happy to have that responsibility to operate this asset and we think it will be done to the beneÀt of all stakeholders, the government, host community and the investors.

Afam GenCo as required? Could you please clarify the situation of things? Transcorphastwocompaniesinthepowersector whichareTranscorpPowerandTrans-AfamPower and they are all limited companies. Transcorp Power owns the Ughelli power plant and the instore capacity is about 980/990 MW of electricity, we own that 100 per cent. The second Trans-Afam Limited, which comprises Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited, is a $300 million acquisition. Our deal with the federal government is hinged on the fact that the plant has not been completed. General Electric (GE) is handling the fast power and they promised to complete it this year,buttheGovernmentbelievesinwhatwehave done at the Ughelli power plant. When we took over the Power Plant, it was generating 150MW of electricity per day. We took Ughelli¶s generation to 750 MW and the Federal Government was very impressed ² that was under President Jonathan’s regime. Now, under President Buhari’s regime, we completed the Trans-Afam power plant deal. Thecurrentgovernmentimpressedwithourtrack record in Ughelli allowed us to invest there, and the understanding is that GE will complete it. But while that’s pending, we wanted to take over the plant and say, pay 25 per cent, while supervising thecompletionoftheinstallationwhichisongoing. Thanks to the Federal Government, thanks to the Minister of Finance, and the CBN, because they are making the payment so that GE can complete it. When they do, we make the Ànal payments. Trans-AfamPowerandTranscorpPowercombined haveabout2,000generatingcapacity,whichIearlier spoke about. We have a track record of turning aroundbusinesses,andinthiscase,seeingwhatwe did at Ughelli, moving it from 150 to over 750MW per day. Nigeria needs huge electricity, we don’t have enough. I think the government is doing the right thing in encouraging people who have the capacity to help improve electricity to do so. We want to do that and we want to even do more in the country in this space. With our gas supply to the power plant, we think we are just starting. Earlier this year, Heirs Holdings acquired a 45 per cent stake previously held by Shell, Total and ENI in OML 17. Does that deal give Heirs Holdings operatorship or is that going to be handled by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company? Again, the acquisition of investment in Oil and Gas by Heirs Oil and Gas is one that speaks to our overall energy strategy. Our energy strategy is integrated to make sure we help the least person in Nigeria andAfrica to have improved access to electricity. So we acquired the OML 17 from the international oil companies you mentioned and then we made a case to the NNPC and we justiÀed that we have the capacity and capability to operate the asset and they approved for us to operate. I’m

Thereareconcernsexpressedbymarketobservers that those acquisitions are funded by UBA. What’s UBA’s exposure to your companies by the way of insider lending? Let’s start with the Oil and Gas acquisition we just made, UBAdidn’t participate in the funding. It’s a club of international and local lenders. For people to know, the local receiving bank for our proceeds is Union Bank of Nigeria. The international receiving bank for the proceeds of our oil sales is Standard Chartered Bank, London. The transaction, if people read, would have seen it was funded by a consortium of banks, Standard Charteredbank,ABSAinSouthAfrica,UnionBank, Fidelity Bank in Nigeria, and a host of others. We are mindful of all these issues and we are very prudent in making sure we do not put pressure on the bank. So, we do go out to seek funds to support our operations. We also put in equity investment, our own investments but when we need to get funding, we try not to put pressure on the institution. The other businesses like Transcorp Power, UBA, participated in the syndication that was done for the Transcorp power acquisition. In total ² UBA, AFC, FCMB, Fidelity, and two other banks. This is the limit of the exposure, but what is important to note is that it is within the single obligor limit and it is performing very well. With the issue between First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) and CBN over insider trading, insider lending, do you think that the situation could KDYH EHHQ KDQGOHG GL;HUHQWO\" I am the chairman of a competing institution, UBA, it may not be prudent for me to express judgment or comment on this. It may not be very professional of me. I know the shareholders in the bank, the regulators and the regulatory mindset. The regulators want a sound and safe banking environment. I believe the shareholders also seek that and in due course I believe they will be able to resolve the issues. I believe the issue will be resolved. What is important to me is best practices, sound corporate governance, and survival of the Nigerian banking system. I must say that the Nigerian banking sector has done very well, both the participants and the players and the regulatory body. UBAoperates in 20African countries, it is the onlyAfricanbankthatoperatesintheUnitedStates of America (USA) with a deposit-taking license, and a member of the Federal Reserve Clearing System in US. We are also in the United Kingdom (UK). The toughest regulatory environment in the world is the USA. UBA, a bank with Nigerian heritage, operating in the toughest regulatory environment in the world with a 2 rating which is 80 percent in the USA, is something that must give pride to Nigerian regulators that an oͿshoot of the Nigerian banking system is doing so well. Across Africa, we see the standards, and I must say that regulations have changed. I commend the regulators, not only them, also those being regulated because it’s a two way thing to create this kind of environment. How have you dealt with the challenges brought about by COVID -19 and the macroeconomic challenges that we have now. How will you want the federal government to ensure that other businesses thrive and jobs are created? It’s been tough. The Àrst time I saw the CEO of UBA since March last year was on the 6th of April during theAnnual General Meeting. Things havechanged,weneveranticipatedthis,theworld has moved. I tell you a story: Last year at Heirs Holding,ourHRorganisationmadeapresentation on new modes of working, asking us to consider oͿ-site working arrangement. When they were presenting it, I told them to stop, don’t get too excited, how can people work oͿ-site, you have to come to work 8am in the morning and close. That was just January 2021, fast-forward to March 2021, how do we work today? O΁ine. Things have changed, the world has moved, the digital evolution is here. See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

BRANDS & MARKETING

Sanwo-Olu Leverages Brand with Video Communication Government o΀cials in Nigeria often walk the jaded path of communicating with the citizens through daily press releases which often look predictable and pedestrian. If you simply swap the names of some o΀cials, the press releases will look the same. But just before Nigerians give up, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State chose to be diͿerent. In this report, Raheem Akingbolu x-rays the governor’s recently released video communication asset aimed at keeping Lagosians abreast of inauguration of activities marking his second anniversary in o΀ce

idyouseethatvideoasset released by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu by the way? If you didn’t, you may need to search for it online. Stunning would be an under-statement. In an approach that is refreshingly diͿerent in every way, Sanwo-Olu introduced a video communication asset to inaugurate commencement of the presentation of his administration’s two-year score card and give Lagosians a glimpse into what is to come. And yes, he did And in a refreshingly diͿerent manner In the one-minute, 23 seconds Video News Release (VNR) to herald the series of activities commemorating the anniversary, Sanwo-Olu is seen in a white shirt on a pair of blue jeans, a clear departure from the usual style of our elected leaders speaking to us in full ceremonial dresses best suited for social gatherings or state functions. Perhaps the governor’s handlers are deliberate in the choice of his outÀt. A white shirt on a pair of jeans reminds discerning citizens that Sanwo-Olu is indeed a governor at work. If that was the intent, the message was well delivered. With Lagos, by every breaking of the day, now looking more like one massive construction site with infrastructure renewal works dotting the landscape everywhere you turn, that image of the governor connects with reality. This is what public relations epitomises. It is never an attempt to whitewash a sepulchre full of dry bones. It must connect with reality. This one does. The governor hints in his address that the campaign, themed “Sanwo-Olu:731 Days & Beyond”, is a Social Accountability Report featuring his colleagues and himself giving accounts of their stewardship to the people of the state. In the simple, but high-quality video communication, the governor summarises his administration’s scorecard with the assurance that the story to be told of Lagos would be an audacious saying, “our best days are on their way.” Governor Sanwo-Olu added with undoubtableoptimismthat,“theGreaterLagos we envisioned is closer now than ever before.” The short, but impactful video closes with a visual picture of the envisioned Greater Lagos in the closing frames, with a cluster of high-rise buildings amidst immense lights, among other cues to depict what Lagos can become in the foreseeable future. “It is about the awesome sensory. It is an invitation to Lagosians to travel into a possible future of Lagos. It is a quest to make people take a mental leap into the Greater Lagos of the

Sanwo-Olu

future”, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Gboyega Akosile, enthuses. One impactful element running through the video asset is the eye-catching smart creative thread. “Our creative choice is deliberately rooted in the journey motif. It is a fact that we are not there yet, but that we are well on the journey to the envisioned Lagos. That explains the symbolism of the road in the creative treatment. The cluster of the high-rise buildings as seen in the video, along with immense lights, bright colours and the skylines rest in awe-

some harmony to inspire thoughts of what the new Lagos Ànancial centre would be like in the foreseeable future,” Akosile explains. He further says that the number ‘731’ in the video is rendered in big, bold streaky lines as an a΀rmation of the fact that the state is on track in her journey to Greater Lagos. The lines inside the numbers are creative expressions of tracks. A deeper understanding of creative symbolism will make one agree with the framers of the campaign that the bright Áashy lights

indeed depict innovation and creativity. Afact Akosile alludes to when he says, “When you look at how Governor Sanwo-Olu and his team have raised funding for the red line rail project right in the midst of a global economic meltdown and a pandemic, you cannot, but agree with the governor’s description of it as a feat built on creative Ànancing.” Akosile further reveals that the cluster of skyscrapers is emblematic of the growth and development Governor Sanwo-Olu and his team envision for Lagos. The embedded compass in the horizon, according to him, connotes the state’s audacious leverage of technology to drive socio-economic growth and development. Under the Smart City initiative, Lagos is currently building the Àrst ever state-owned 6,000km Àbre optic infrastructure round the state. The Àrst phase of 3,000km has taken oͿ. This infrastructure is what the 2,000 security cameras being installed round the state will rest on. Lagos will in fact extend the infrastructure to the telecoms companies for use too. No sub-national in Nigeria has tried this yet. Only countries like South Africa, Rwanda, Mexico, Russia and Kenya have tried what Lagos is showing the audacity to do. The creative rendition of the campaign material also features the full complement of the brand colours of Lagos State stylishly embedded with each equally communicating key attributes of the state as a brand. For example, the yellow symbolises the state’s positivity, and the joy Lagos gives to all and sundry.Ask a new comer into Lagos. The Blue represents stability, harmony, peace and calm, the key requirements of development. Red symbolises the passion and the high energy Lagos is known for. Prior to COVID-19, this city runs on its own energy. In branding, Green symbolises growth and productivity. On a balance of scale, this is true of the story of Lagos. The framers of the campaign then introduced an additional colour, Orange.Akosile says this is deliberately to underscore the youthfulness of the Lagos population, the importance of the youth demography, the friendliness of the people and the invigorating energy Lagos evokes. In all, the overarching look and feel of the creative treatment given to the video communication is not an accidental breath of fresh air, but a well-thought-out campaign by some of the best brains in Sanwo-Olu’s team. Now that they have raised the bar of excellence again with this, all eyes are on them. Will they keep this mojo? For now, Governor Sanwo-Olu and his team can take a bow for the creative mastery displayed with this campaign.

Celebrating Olu Maduka, Nigeria’s Oil & Gas Icon, at 80 Chris Paul

In the twilight of last week, Nigerian women in energy, oil and gas community celebrated Engr. Joanna Olutunmbi Maduka, one of the pioneering engineers, who shattered the glass ceiling and made great strides in the early days of the nation’s oil and gas industry. It was the 80th birthday celebration, on May 6, of the Àrst female engineer to break grounds in the hydrocarbon terrain in the country. Noted for her distinguished and unique

accomplishments and track record, Joanna Olutunmbi Maduka, is the Àrst to attain several feats among the female gender of Nigerian engineers. With a B.Sc. in applied physics in 1965, she passed the Graduateship Examination of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), (UK) in 1966 and earned an M.Sc. (Engineering) degree from Trinity College, Dublin in 1969. She worked brieÁy in the media and later moved to engineering consultancy in 1970 she became a partner of Leccom Associates in 1975. She founded Association of Professional

Women Engineers Nigeria; Friends of the Environment (FOTE); was Chairperson, Better Life for Rural Women; Foundation Board Member, International Network of Women in Engineering & Science (INWES). First female fellow and president Council for the regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Àrst female Vice President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers NSE; First Female President of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE). Maduka also served on boards of several polytechnics & Universities across the nation. First female governing board member of

the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and member of the founding executives of the Nigerian LiquiÀed Natural Gas Company (NLNG), she played a major role in the facilitation of the full take-oͿ of the company’s operations in Nigeria. Maduka is the epitome of an energy woman closing energy gap and moving nations forward. In 2008, she was conferred with the national honour: Member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR). She is currently the Chairperson of the International Forum for Women in Energy OIL and Gas (WEOG).

SUNDAY MAY 9, 2021 • T H I S D AY

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

9.5.2021

YENI KUTI SIXTY SHADES OF YENI KUTI’S 60 YEARS At 60, Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti, a dancer, businesswoman, media personality and the first child of Fela, the Afrobeat Legend, is arguably one of the sassiest women of her generation. She is a co-host on the breakfast show YOUR VIEW on TVC. Raised by a maverick father who was once married to 30 wives, Yeni has fast become a reference point in coordinating a blended family comprising five surviving children and some loyal ‘Kalakuta queens.’ Upon her father’s death on August 2, 1997, YK, as she is fondly called, took on the mantle of uniting the family and immortalising her father’s music legacy by instituting the annual week-long music festival Felabration. A vivacious grandmother who turns 60 on May 24, Yeni recounts her story of self-determinism, single motherhood, trauma, perseverance, and tolerance in this interview with Yinka Olatunbosun

eing 60 is a milestone for Nigerians, especially for professionals in show business. It also came with a different reality for Yeni AnikulapoKuti, whose father died at 59. In her younger years, Yeni was a dancer with her father’s band and later joined the Positive Force- her brother’s band in 1986. She retired almost two decades later but remains inseparable from her brother. “To be 60, I don’t feel much different from when I was 50,” she began. “I feel a lot different from when I was 21 and when I was 30 and 40. The difference between 50 and 60 is not that much except for more bones hurting than when I was 50. When I was 50, I didn’t have ankle pain, but now I have ankle pain. The pains are increasing with age. For me, it is really exciting. I was driving here today, and I was thinking, wow! I am going to be 60.” “Sixty is the age that a lot of people retire and use drivers. I was just thinking to myself that very soon, I may not be able to drive myself. Let me just make use of my ability to drive and feel young. I call 60 the young age of old age. We are the babies of old age. Fifty is the ‘agbalagba’ of youth,” she said in her usual bubbly self. Dancing was an unpopular profession at the time she ventured into it. Even though she had trained as a journalist at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, she loved the stage and was even happier knowing she was dancing with her family members. But that doesn’t mean she was oblivious of the public perception of dance at the period. “It wasn’t easy. People say ‘dancer’ with derogatory tones. I just love to be proud of who I was and what I wanted to do. I wouldn’t let anybody judge me. As long as I am not begging anyone for money and I am making my own money and earning my respect. We (myself and my sister) just weathered the storm. I am happy to see that dance has become a recognised profession in Nigeria. I look at myself as one of the forerunners and flagbearers of dance. With due respect, I mustn’t forget Tessy. She died last year, and she was quite big in her time. She danced for Shina Peters, and she was an inspiration to me as well. I am still dancing. I can still move, and I can still shake if I want to. I wouldn’t dance on stage anymore because the other girls are much younger than I am, and there is no way I can have that same energy. All the pains I told you about are there. Also, there is a time in your life where you make way for the younger people to take up the mantle. What I can do is to do a few dances here and there but not professionally,” she said. As the eldest child of Abami Eda, her responsibility is huge owing to the generational legacy that trails her consciousness. Apart from music, her family members are renowned human rights activists. Her grandmother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was a women’s suffrage activist documented as the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria. Yeni’s ease at wheels in a busy city has some maternal genesis. Very likely, too, her leadership streak may have been cultivated firsthand from her father in the way he led his commune and the band. It is an unusual turf for a woman to take a prominent lead in a Yoruba household because, according to tradition, the first male child is naturally bequeathed with such a role. Yeni thinks her family shares a realistic point of view in this regard. “That doesn’t happen in my family. All of them give me that respect as the eldest. I think it happened naturally. Starting from Femi, who gave me the respect that is due, the rest just followed. I am there for all of them.

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9 2021

COVER

My Life, Fela, Femi, Dance and Music

Kuti

They can call me. Sometimes, we quarrel, but they give me that respect. And when it comes to the inheritance, I don’t cheat them. Everyone takes equal share. I won’t say because I am the most senior, then I should take the lion’s share. No, I don’t do that,” she said. Panning away from her matriarchal role, she reminisced on her life as a divorced mother raising her daughter, Rolari. She explained why her only child did not continue in the music business like others in the family. “First and foremost, when my daughter was growing up, I was broke. I couldn’t afford piano lessons for her. I would have really loved her to learn the piano, and I remember stopping at a school to ask how much it would cost, and I simply turned away. I would have loved her to play the piano. It was tough, and at that time, I had to pay for her school fees. Her father supported me, but then it was not easy. I couldn’t afford to buy a new car because I saved all my money towards her university and my daughter was so fixated on going to England for her education. But, my daughter draws very well. She is a very good artist. So I used to beg her to do the arts and bring some money to the family. But she did Computer Science. She has started developing her love for arts. But I don’t think that she has much interest in the arts. I am not the kind of person that will force you to do what you don’t want to do,” she explained. She also recalled how Made and her other cousins, with whom they grew up together, enjoyed music lessons and how she never really showed any interest in joining them. Instead, she pursued her studies in Computer science even though art runs in the family. Yeni’s former motherin-law, Mabel Segun, is a leading poet who still keeps a picture of Yeni, her daughter Rolari and grandchildren. For Yeni, the family bond is everything, and even if the marriage didn’t work out, she didn’t disconnect totally from her now 91-yearold mother-in-law after her son, Yeni’s ex-husband, died some years ago. Whilst discussing other areas of life where tolerance is important, she narrated her experience on how many Africans still disparage others for their choice of religion. She described herself as a free thinker and a believer in the African religion but still open to attending church services.

PHOTO: Kunle Ogunfuyi

“I really don’t like talking about religion because it is very controversial, and everyone is entitled to his or her own religion. Like I say, here again, tolerance -- if you are a Christian or a Muslim, I am not going to hate you or disparage you. I will only tell you why I think the way I do. I really hate it when I say I believe in the African religion, and people say you are juju people. Believing in African religion doesn’t mean you are a juju person. African religion does not mean you are a witch doctor,” she explained. Having lived for six decades, it is inevitable that she would like to rewrite some moments in those years if possible. Though she has no regret, she sees mistakes as opportunities to gain experience. But the trauma of the loss of her sister, Sola, would remain indelible in her mind. “My sister’s death was the most traumatic thing that had happened to me. Growing up, we were close in age. I am 60, Femi is 59, and she would have been 58. We were all close in age, and I didn’t believe that she would die so young. I am sad about her death. I wished things had worked out differently, but they didn’t. We have to move on from there. But that doesn’t stop me from missing her or wishing that she were alive. Yesterday, I was going through my pictures. And I came across pictures of her, and I felt really sad,” Yeni said as she was moved to tears. After fetching some tissue paper to wipe her tears, she added, “I miss her.” Yeni linked her sister’s death to the failure of the Nigerian health system. She finds it worrisome that despite its nagging problems, not much had changed since her sister died. Yeni insisted that the healthcare delivery needs to be revamped and all healthcare workers retrained to treat patients as humans. She recounted how own distressing experiencing. “While pregnant, I didn’t miss antenatal sessions. At 38 weeks, I was told that the baby’s head was engaged. She came really late at 41 weeks. Then I got to the hospital. I was in labour. But I was told to lie down. I am the kind of person that can endure a lot of pain. So, I didn’t make noise while in labour. I kept quiet. Because I wasn’t shouting, I was there from 9 pm till 9 am. I gave birth at 9 am, and they gave me a caesarian section after I had been in pain for 12 hours. This was a private hospital. The nurse did not attend to me. When I was in pain, I was crawling to the bathroom. She would just say, ‘Eeya! Pele! Sorry!’ She didn’t call the doctor. She even said the doctor was sleeping - a doctor that was on call. It was until my mother called the son of the owner of the hospital that the doctor rushed in. I was five fingers dilated. My baby was breached. But she had not checked me. The doctor was furious,”

Yeni recalled. She compared her experience with her daughter’s own in the UK, which she was privileged to witness at NHS, and urged governments in Africa to improve on this current situation. “Then, I remember my own experience, and I thought, ‘we have a long way to go.’ The mortality rate is so high here. You will go to a hospital, and you’d see dead mothers wheeled out of the wards. The child would survive, but the mother would have died. I realise that in England if you are going to die, it is your time. In Nigeria, whether it is your time or not, you’d go. I thought, ‘When are we going to be like this in Africa?’ The only thing I can do is to go on ‘Your View’ and talk about it. We need to change the narrative in Africa,” she said, with a look of pain etched on her eyebrows. As someone from a family of activists, she had firsthand experience of how fighting against an oppressive system can impact one’s family financially, physically, and emotionally. But did she think this is the way Nigeria would be by the time she turns 60? “No. When I look back at Nigeria then, Nigeria was 1,000 times better than it is today. As a child, how can I believe that Nigeria was going to be like this? We had military, and later civilians, and those ones chop, chop, chop and passed it to the military. It is just ‘football’ government. Fela had one song that he never released till he died with that title, ‘Football government.’ It is just like that. When I was a child, the naira was 60 kobo to one dollar. Today, it is N477 to one dollar. We were not rich people. So I didn’t go on vacation abroad. I remember when I told Fela I wanted to go for summer in England, Fela damned me. So, I went to England for the first time in my life, when I was 21. My mother bought the ticket for me as a gift. I changed money. I changed N500 to £498. The first car my mother bought was a Beetle brand new for N3,000, which was £2,800. “That is why I really hate it when one person who has been president maybe some 10 years ago come and start criticising the present government. I would think they did not fare any better while they were there. They are all trailing a bad system, so there is no exception. All leaders are to blame. They should stop throwing shades. They should beat themselves and say, ‘we are all useless leaders.’ I can’t believe that Nigeria is even worse than when I was 21 and even 13. I can’t believe that there is so much insecurity.

I never thought it would be this bad - total mismanagement,” she said. If there is any child of Fela who has the same fashion gene as the Abami Eda, it is Yeni. She often sports clothing and accessories with the same colour theme. She even had a stint as a fashion designer before embracing dance as a full-time practice. Dance paid off as it keeps her fit, camera-ready with a pulsating sex appeal. Unsure about throwing any party for her 60th birthday on May 24, she had contemplated travelling to a quiet place, but with the travel restrictions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, whatever celebration plan is low-key. Besides, she is weighing the cost of a birthday bash against her budget for a new car. Many who had worked for or just encountered her father had written books and held lectures on their experiences. Still, Yeni is yet to write any memoir on her childhood with Fela. After prodding her for some hilarious chronicles, she remarked that she would rather do such in collaboration with her brother. “Fela was a very hilarious person. People may not know that side of him except those who came to watch his shows then. Femi tells people some of these stories. We would roll in laughter. I wish to have a tape where we could record all those. Maybe one day, Femi and I would tell our story. It is just different aspects of our life. I am trying to think of when Fela took the coffin to Dodan Barracks, but no one knows the build-up to that. On the way there, they met one serious traffic on Eko bridge. There was a checkpoint there mounted to stop Fela. So, they were checking every car. Fela has passed Iddo to Ebute Metta and made it to Dodan Barracks. He caught them off guard because they thought he would have been arrested on the way. Fela and his people brought out the coffin and dropped it. The soldiers surrounded the bus and started to shake the bus. Fela said he would not carry any coffin, and so he came down. They started to beat Fela. Fela now held the commandant tightly, and when they were beating Fela, they were beating the commandant too. So as they were beating Fela, part of it would hit the commandant too,” she said, laughing really hard at the memory. Meanwhile, the remaining people on the bus, including band boys and the backup singers known as the ‘Queens,’ were beaten. The soldiers reportedly formed a line all the way to the guardroom, and each soldier thrashed each passenger that disembarked from the Fela bus. Femi was the first to disembark from the bus after Fela. “They beat him till he got to the guardroom. When he got there, he saw Fela laughing, and he asked his son, “They beat you?” Abdul (a journalist) was there too. He was beaten too. Before then, soldiers had been beating Fela. But this time, Fela carried himself to their ‘doormot’ to go and collect beating. “Meanwhile, it was three days before Obasanjo would hand over to Shagari, so what they did was to lock all of them up in that police station on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. They didn’t give them food. We went to see them, but they didn’t let us enter. They were chanting, ‘We are hungry oh! We are hungry!’ Fela would say, ‘Continue singing.’ Then they gave them watery rice. On the day after the handover, they put all of them in a Black Maria and took them to court. It was very stuffy inside the Black Maria. They didn’t want Fela to disrupt Obasanjo’s handover to Shagari. But they later released all of them,” she narrated. Although unmarried at 60, Yeni is full of life and zest. In her view, many women have allowed themselves to be sucked in by societal pressure to get married, thereby missing out on great opportunities. While reflecting on the toxic nature of many marriages today, she encouraged people to make decisions based on the right motives. “I don’t think people should be judged by their marital status. I was married before. I was very unhappily married. Na so I carry my bag comot and my baby’s bag. There was nothing that people did not tell me to convince me to go back, but I wasn’t happy there. I didn’t believe that should define me. I am in a relationship now, but we are not married - we are partners. I am happy as I am. I even believe that perhaps if we had married, we would have fought and maybe divorced by now. I went from my parents’ house to my husband’s house, and I had not experienced life. I was not a tolerant person at that time. Maybe if I had married a bit later, I would have been able to tolerate him, and I am not saying he was not the right person. I think we were too young,” she said.

SUNDAY MAY 9, 2021 • T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

HighLife Idowu Lamidi Reshapes Ibadan with Dollar Construction

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

Akwa Ibom Guber...Who’ll Akpabio Support? For those interested in large-scale political drama, the forthcoming 2023 general election has been advertised as packing a lot of punches. Asides from the contest for the seat of presidency, Nigerians might see domesticated cats becoming wild lions. Akwa Ibom is a case in point. As is the case in a certain politically ‘happening’ state, there is a bit of a tussle for the top chair under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom. The former Senator and Governor of the State (now Minister of the Niger Delta), Godswill Akpabio, is allegedly baring his fangs against Senator John Akpaudoedehe, the current national secretary of the APC caretaker committee. Since Akpaudoedehe intends to run for the governorship seat in 2023, he must wrestle the party’s leadership power from Akpabio or face greater opposition from the political elites of Akwa Ibom. According to recent reports on Akpaudoedehe’s gubernatorial ambition, Akpabio is all against it. Analysts have submitted that Akpabio flexes his muscles to thrust Akpaudoedehe out of the limelight

before 2023 because he has found a candidate after his own heart. Interestingly, the name accompanying this augury is none other than Akanimo Udofia, the billionaire businessman, Harvard graduate and MD of Desicon Engineering Limited. So far, it does not look like Akpabio will stand behind Akpaudoedehe—not for all the wealth in this world. In this regard, the Akwa Ibom APC division has reportedly split into two groups: the Akpabio loyalists’ group and those kneading the shoulders of Akpaudoedehe and urging him onto gubernatorial heights. The latter group is responsible for the latest report from the Land of Promise that Akpabio is not the party leader, contrary to the declaration of the former group a few weeks ago. Do you still remember that Senator John Akpanudoedehe was in charge of Akpabio’s Campaign Organisation in 2006? Times seem to have changed. All in all, although Akpabio once reportedly promised to not meddle in the 2023 Akwa Ibom governorship race, folks are still wondering whose yard will win the support of the Niger Delta Minister.

Akpabio

Will it be his old campaign Chairman or Akanimo Udofia, the celebrated and fertile businessman? The stage is set.

Toyin Subair Returns, Launches New TV Station

Lamidi

he Chinese say that a rabbit does not eat the grasses around its hole but nurtures them to show that it too is a cultured member of the environment. In the case of the young Engr. Idowu Lamidi, MD/CEO of Dollar Group, the trailblazing construction company, is simply about paying respect to one’s roots. Folks resident in Ibadan are celebrating their fortune for settling in a loved and cherished place by its natives. This is the response following the blueprints and projects expected to descend on Ibadan, thanks to the dreams and visions of Engr. Idowu Lamidi. According to those in the know, what Lamidi intends to do is raise Ibadan a few extra bars on the scale of tourism, allowing the city ‘among seven hills’ to sparkle and shine as a centre of tourist attractions. Lamidi’s first main project is named the ‘Dollar Estate’, an appropriate name for a massive edifice that occupies 46 hectares of Ibadan land. What others are calling the first of its kind in Ibadan is what Lamidi had reportedly referred to as the first of many to come. Of course, to those in the know, this is not bragging but fact. From research, it has been shown that although Lamidi’s Dollar Group company is only about 11 years old, the young construction genius has been in the industry for much longer. The man also has thick fingers in Pan Media, Fingerlick and Source Model Academy. Nevertheless, it is in construction that he stands the tallest. To his credit, there is a housing project with 105 housing units at the Jericho/Idi-Ishin GRA of Ibadan, that is, not counting the many completed luxury housing projects in Abuja and Lagos. For Engr. Idowu Lamidi, it isn’t just about building edifices around his favourite city; it is about giving others a chance to excel, either by employment or imbibing the legacy of a son of the soil. In either case, the man is doing well for himself, a source of pride for all Ibadan people.

with KAYODE ALFRED ͮͶͯͯʹ͵ͳͷͶͮ͵˜ E-mail: kayﬂex2@yahoo.com

Subair

If at first, you do not succeed, try, try, and try again. This is a piece of reasonably intelligent advice that is useful in all circumstances but suicide. However, it

just so happens that it is valid for people like ‘notorious’ media and entertainment entrepreneur and serial TV investor Toyin Subair. After several projects, the business spirit in Subair remains strong and has brought forth a new blueprint for his continued relevance in the media market. The word on the streets now is that Toyin Subair has launched a new TV Station, cleverly named FreeTV. According to reports, the new station is expected to serve a minimum of 5.5 million households, and because it is situated in Lagos, Lagosians get to take the first bite. Already, congratulatory messages are flowing in, and motivational speakers are jotting down points to teach the young Nigerian who is not entirely averse to quitting to look to the persistence and success of Toyin Subair. Considering that the man has gone through what others would have classified as a failure but never stopped pushing on, Subair is deserving of this high placement. Folks are doubtless

aware that FreeTV is not Subair’s first foray into the media business. Not the second either. Maybe the third. Toyin Subair is most notable for his role in the establishment of HiTV. It was a multi-channel digital satellite television service that was expected to raise the bar for the pay-per-view decoder system. Unfortunately, it failed for several reasons. But HiTV is not the only TV venture with Subair’s involvement that has failed to meet expectations after a few years of operation. As evident from its near obscurity, PlayTV does not appear in the top ten of anything anymore. FreeTV may be different. Subair takes advantage of the enforced transition from analogue broadcast platforms to digital platforms from the speculations regarding this new launch. Unquestionably, Subair has timed his dream to manifest at this time. Persistence is a key to success. Ask Toyin Subair any time.

Mo Abudu Sees Better Days Ahead as EbonyLife Leaves DSTV Folks have begun to get curious about unexpected changes in DSTV channels. What used to be Channel 165, EbonyLife TV is no longer present. The word on the street is that the beloved network will no longer be a part of the DSTV ensemble. Some folks are worried, and others are confused. Regardless, everybody wants to know what is going on and what EbonyLife TV founder and president, Mo Abudu, is doing about it. Since the network’s first broadcast on DSTV in 2013, EbonyLife TV has come to become a well-liked network with an understandably large following. This has been met with happiness and celebration from all over Nigeria and the rest of West Africa. However, the news of the network leaving DSTV has provoked the ire of some subscribers because it was sudden and very few of these subscribers knew the rationale behind the move. Mo Abudu has been reported as clearing the air, explaining that EbonyLife TV left DSTV for its own EbonyLife ON app platform. Abudu

further highlighted the advantages of this development, including that EbonyLife TV subscribers will no longer have to wait a week before seeing their favourite soap operas— they can watch everything at once. Furthermore, the stress of waiting on PHCN and using generators is now a thing of the past since folks can download the app on their smartphones and use it on the go. In other words, all good and all correct for EbonyLife TV subscribers. To polish the cake with extra icing, it is no secret that the whole EbonyLife gig has had significant success in recent years. It has not only brought Mo Abudu boundless fame and fortune but has also allowed the development of similarity-themed media ventures, including EbonyLife Films, Ebonylife Place, and the many partnerships with Sony Pictures Television AMC Networks, Netflix, and Westbrook Studios, to name a few. Both EbonyLife TV and Mo Abudu are doing very well. The latter, after all, is still the Oprah Winfrey of West Africa as a media mogul and philanthropist.

Abudu

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

HIGHLIFE

Bella, Jameel Disu Celebrate 11 Years of Blissful Union

Bella and Jameel Disu

Regardless of the bottomlessness of one’s pockets or the heavenly reach of one’s political stature, the life of a person is not described as a fairy tale unless there is someone else in the picture, someone who is beloved and Looks forward to sharing the many years ahead, whether these turn out to be happy years or otherwise. This is the life of Bella Adenuga-Disu and her happy hubby, Jameel Disu. 11 years and counting and both parties have nothing but gratitude to God for being partners and lovers. A few days ago, social media had much to say in the way of congratulations to Bella Adenuga-Disu and Jameel Disu. Because it was their 11th anniversary, folks did not hold back with goodwill messages and flattering comments that smacked of mild envy and sheer awe. The Disu couple, it would seem, are not going to have their love dimmed by the passage of time or the accumulation of wealth and prestige. 11 years ago, they got wedded together in pomp and

ceremony —every anniversary is no different. Some people only know Bella Adenuga-Disu as a shoot of the old Adenuga tree. To be sure, she has demonstrated that she is no less a business genius than her father, Dr Mike Adenuga. The many awards that she has won as the Executive Vice Chairman of Globacom attest to this. Her most recent promotion to the chairmanship of the construction company, Abumet Nigeria, attests to this. Despite all these, for Jameel Disu, Bella is best at being the love of his life and the mother of his children. And the proud wife likely thinks the same. Why else would the couple prefer to share a quiet day rather than thrust themselves into the celebrations? A most fortunate choice indeed that the lovebirds found each other. After all, 11 years together with the public constantly watching to see cracks in their relationship—it is no small accomplishment. Saraki

Grass-to-Grace Story of Greg Uanseru, Clocks 61 Soon Some folks are born to live a good life with a silver spoon as proof of their status. Others are Saturday’s children who, as Countee Cullen captured in a poem, “cut their teeth as a black racoon for implements of battle.” Greg Uanseru is a case in point: the man started from the bottom and rose steadily until he could trample the sky. Soon to be 61, Uanseru has set many precedents in the Nigerian society, a quiet and happy billionaire. Among the oil merchants that make up the list of the Nigerian wealthy, Greg Uanseru occupies a special position. A brilliant man, on all accounts, Uanseru has on the success coat of many colours, with hard-working brown and persistent green. His story of ascending beyond the limits of heritage, talent and association sets him apart from his peers and establishes him as

one who escaped the cycle of the earth and sky on his own terms. For those who have read about him before, it is no longer news that Greg Uanseru built his company from his acquired knowledge and experiences over time in relatively humble job positions. Before the man we all know today as the president and CEO of Greg Continental Agency (GCA) Energy Limited came to be, he worked as an ordinary cabin crew of Nigerian Airways. After this time, perhaps from seeing the other side of life, Uanseru geared up and began taking bolder steps. Not long after, he founded his company, and it has continued to grow ever since. Most people came to know Greg Uanseru during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was one of the first to assist underprivileged Nigerians in bearing the pandemic’s burdens,

Friends, Family Celebrate Senator Gbemi Saraki at 56

Uanseru

distributing palliatives and relief materials. His decision saved many lives and inspired his peers to do the same. At 61, Greg Uanseru has touched many, many lives. And yet, it is the fact that he keeps such a low profile that endears him to some folks.

Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, Saheed Elegushi, Gbolahan Lawal: What They Have in Common One of the distinguishing features of monarchy in Nigeria is style. Our kings and queens do not only pave the way in their administration and governance; they also present a picture of how the people ought to bear themselves in speech and suavity, among other things. In the case of the youngest monarchs of Yoruba origin, this is as common a fact as any. Leaving aside a few quirks and peculiarities, it is not impossible to assume that some of the youngest reigning monarchs of Yoruba descent are blood brothers. These blue-bloods possess the bearing and brilliance that so easily separate principalities from peasants and the sense of style. Most notable among these monarchs are Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the amiable Ooni of Ile-Ife and number one traditional ruler of Yoruba kingdom; Oba Alayeluwa

Oba Ogunwwusi

Saheed Ademola Elegushi, Kusenla III, the Royal Majesty of Ikate-Elegushi Kingdom; Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Abisogun II, the Oniru of Iruland and most recent addition to the mix of monarchs; and Oba Adewale Rashid Akanbi, the Oluwo of Iwo. Each one of these royals has his unique presence and style. What they have in common, which intrigues Nigerians far and wide, is their dedication to wearing the colours of their respective domains with pride. Oba Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, is a celebrity in this way. The blogosphere of traditional clothing and fashion is rife with framed proofs of his style. Besides, there is hardly anyone else on this list who wears the colour white as if he were born to it. Oba Ademola Elegushi is a man of many colours, literally. There is almost always

Oba Elegushi

a splash of red to his every outfit. And his outfits fit, for which he has become the paragon of style among his peers. The Oniru, Oba Lawal came from the outside, interestingly. Because he spent most of his early years in active civil service, folks were not always aware of his royalty. Nevertheless, although he has style back then, it is nothing compared to his style now. It would seem as if grace has been tailored to fit his ascension. What else is there to say? The Oluwo of Iwo is the proof that opinions and perspectives cannot soften a king’s royal style. Maybe it is because they were all friends before their ascension. Maybe it is because this new generation demands that kings set the tone for everything. Whichever, these men are not only monarchs of their domains but also style and grace.

Oba Lawal

A few days ago, the extended family and friends of the Sarakis gathered to celebrate the 56th Birthday of Senator Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki, Minister of State for Transportation and younger sister of the former Senate President (of the 8th Assembly) of Nigeria), Bukola Saraki. The State Transport Minister was overjoyed at the respect paid to her, did nothing to hide under the restrictions of her office, but showed herself a humble character capable of responding to the goodwill messages from common folks. May is a month of champions. The first of these champions to have her social media accounts flooded with congratulatory messages and toasts to the start of a year with boundless possibilities was Senator Gbemi Saraki. A few of these messages might have been perfunctory, but most of them were heartfelt celebrations of a woman unwilling to be shackled by limiting conventions. Gbemi Saraki has been in politics before the advent of the Fourth Republic. Before that, she had enjoyed the oils and wines of the corporate world. Regardless, in the years that followed her foray into public life, Gbemi Saraki has made more waves in the political sphere than anywhere else. Considering her young age when she first came into the limelight in the executive halls of banking, it is obvious that Gbemi is more of a monster than her brother. One might say that she has been labouring in politics nonstop since 1999, and it has paid off. From being a member of the House of Representatives in ‘99 to being a Senator representing her Kwara Central District to working as a member of the ECOWAS Parliament to take up the Minister of State for Transportation—talk about a strong and passionate woman. And that is what Gbemi Saraki is from her 56 years of living—a strong and passionate woman.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Nigerian Doctors – Still on Your Matter My last week’s piece where I blatantly called the whole incompetent lot killers really got to them. Plenty of them reached out to me, including the beautiful Ngozi who screamed, ‘Edgar WTF’. The generalisation of the piece angered them: that I cannot just say that all doctors are incompetent and self-preserving cabal. For those who did not understand literature, that piece is called a trigger piece—deliberately aimed at causing a disturbance and shaking the table. They have said to me, why didn’t I go to the hospital in question and engage them. That would be the most stupid thing to do because then the matter will just be isolated between Edgar and that rubbish in Ikoyi. The matter is much bigger than that. It is a systematic collapse. A stupendous erosion of ethics cascades through the profession, weakening structures and causing the untimely

death of many. You see, in my eyes, as long as just one Nigerian loses his life through the incompetence of one doctor, then all of them are complicit. That is me. Come and see the messages I have been receiving. Gory tales of needless suffering and deaths Nigerians have been facing. It is not just Mena Joseph Edgar. Daily, Nigerians are dying, and something has to be done about it. We can’t all continue to be leaving it to God. Mbok, this is too much. People will say it is the system. It is Nigeria. Well, I can pardon the education, banking and the rest but not health. This is life we are all playing with. How do you reconcile going to a general hospital and get referred to a private hospital owned by the consultant you need to see at the general hospital? In that his yeye hospital, he is the only one that has sense? He would have employed security men, parttime prostitutes and his driver to mask

as nurses. Yes, I have seen it. I once had a friend in Shomolu who was jobless. Me and him will be sitting down at Folami street and be eating Agoyin beans, then one day, he started going to work. I wish him well. Then one day, my sister took ill, and her office took her to one private hospital in Gbagada. Mbok, guess who was the nurse that came to ‘chook’ my sister injection? The mumu that was eating Agoyin beans with me o. I screamed and almost died. My people, my sister-in-law, says I should leave it to God, that God will fight and that it was ‘sheri’ that killed Mena through witchcraft. I cannot laugh in tears from this statement. The truth is that the government has to withdraw all licences in that sector and recertify them. The whole lot are just charlatans. Let them come and beat me. I am waiting—killers in white garments.

AKAN UDOFIA – THE RENAISSANCE MAN When you see some people, you begin to ask God wetin happen for your own turn. I walked into Akan Udofia’s sweet place in Uyo last weekend and met one tall, dark man. I look Duchess, say, ‘When did Idris Elba land for Uyo”, she laughed. He looked like that talented actor. He sat with us, swigging precise brandy. I ask for my coke and talk start. He is a Renaissance man. He talked about things that touched my heart. He talked about demystifying governance, giving the power back to the people, decentralising economic power and empowering the man on the street. The one that killed me was him as governor, walking into the humble abode of a civil servant and having lunch with him and his family to show appreciation for the work and sacrifice. That messed me up. That is a populist penetration of the psyche of a disenfranchised grouping giving them back their mojos and pulling them back into the grain of rediscovery. As Akan spoke, I was seeing a new Nigeria. Some of us have been yearning for a Nigeria but have been drowned by the cacophony of lousy short-termism. What we need is a robust renaissance in thought processes, a tugboat turnaround in narrative and a rehash of our essence, all pushing towards reenergizing the

people so that they can begin to see the possibilities that surround us. People like Akan have shown a strong resolve for a true renaissance and should be allowed to spread this message using the 6million people in Akwa Ibom to trigger a national rebirth. Let’s listen more intently to him, the renaissance man. Thanks.

for military intervention’ because my mind was on the afang, I no catch am well. But it disturbed me sha. The next day, I saw the statement by the military authorities decrying that statement and naming oga as the author of that statement. When you want to yab SAN you have to be careful, but after reading his statement as carried by Channels TV, I say this is real mumu talk. That the president should hand over to the chief of defence or something like that, dissolve legislators and all that baloney. Be like say oga did not eat breakfast before he went on that TV interview. He must be drunk in love. You know when you love something so much, you will not be rational again. You will just be emotive towards that thing. Look, Nigeria of today is giving everybody concern but not enough to ask soldiers to come back for anything. That cannot be any solution. It will just worsen the whole thing. Abi, haven’t you seen what they have told us about military spending since this thing started, but yet na white-bearded Gumi we dey listen to after all the trillions spent on defence? Mr Clarke, if you really have nothing credible to say on TV, please go and enter Big Brother House and bath. Imagine!

performance of my wonderful play Ibiom, which held in Uyo over the weekend. Daddy is just so gentle and meek. I love him. When he arrived, the MTN people took him into their lounge, and I met him there. I knelt in full respect, and he said, ‘We talk every Sunday’. I say me? He says yes. I come dey think wetin dey do daddy. How we go talk when I dey Shomolu and me no get daddy number. Then he said, ‘I read your column every Sunday’. I say oh. Lord, you read my column. He says yes o unfailingly, you are truly crazy. My head swell. Deputy Governor know me. He went in to see the show, and at the end, he gave a rousing speech where he said he did not understand why I was Duke of Shomolu, seeing that I was from Nsit Ibom in Akwa Ibom. He went ahead to read His Excellency’s speech, and even his Excellency hailed me as Duke of Shomolu and thanked me for the effort. I was so proud. I stood on the stage and cried.

Udoﬁa

Clarke

Ehanire

ROBERT CLARKE (SAN) – THATWAS UTTER BALDERDASH As I was crawling in the midnight to go and cheat (see you!) As I say cheat, I am sure some of you have started thinking that Duke wants to go and knack house girl now o. God forgive you). I am not supposed to eat after 6:00 p.m. again, according to Dr Nwabuoko. But when you take Greek yoghurt and fruits by 5.30 p.m., by 11 p.m., Afang will start calling you. You will begin to see afang everywhere. In fact, even if Duchess dresses like Playboy bunny and come to you, it is afang you will see. So, at night I used to sneak into the kitchen and cheat with Afang. I will lick the soup that she would have kept on the cooker to cool. I used to steal only a piece of meat, so she will not notice before they give me a bad name. So, this night as I was moving in on the kitchen, she had slept off. You know ZEE world don catch that one. So she had slept off on the couch, but the TV was on Arise TV, and I saw scrolling down ‘SAN calls

MOSES EBONG – NICE SEEING YOU Moses Ebong is the deputy governor of my state. He represented our Governor Udom Emmanuel at the Command

Ebong

THANKS TO HIS EXCELLENCY EMMANUEL UDOM AND FIRST LADY I stood on that stage at Ibom Hall in Uyo with my hands covering my handsome face and trying unfailingly to hide my tears. My people had

Udom

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ͱ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

LOUD WHISPERS accepted me. They had come out in droves to welcome the prodigal son. His Excellency made sure it happened. When the call came from hard-working Orman Esin, the Commissioner of Culture and Tourism that His Excellency had approved, I shook in fear. His Excellency had opened the doors of Akwa Ibom to a son. He sent his Deputy and extremely beautiful wife, over 70% of his cabinet and such great sons like Tony Ndah and Udeme Ufot to see the show. Special mention must be made of my brother Gabriel Ukpe who made calls, agreed for his name be put in marketing letters, kai. Much more importantly, the people were there. Plenty. They stood up, embraced me, sang for me and gave me warmth. The biggest stage production in the South-South had just happened with the full support of His Excellency. He, in his usual manner, had supported innovation, creativity and made sure a dream was fulfilled. The institutional support was mad. From the attorney general, who approved the use of the official seal of the state in promotions, to the information commissioner, my brother Ini Ememobong, to the Finance Commissioner who is a brother down to Ini Akpabio, the Hotel Management Board Chairman, and the Dakkada people, Uwah and Meflyn down to the private sector – Monty Suites, Ibom Air and the rest. Akwa Ibom rose up and Akwa Ibom was one that night. Thank you so so much my people, thank you so so much His Excellency and much more specially thank you so so much Her Excellency- wow she is beautiful. Kai. OBA OTUDEKO – JOBLESSNESS BECKONS Lord, I need to speak to you directly. You see, when you lose your job, it can be terrifying. The news of your sacking met me in Uyo as I was about to devour a hot plate of Afang at the famous Monty suites. Wait, let me describe this Afang. The way they garnished it with periwinkles and what we call Ekwong, you will weak. Then the pounded yam was as smooth as the bum of Miss Brazil, I tell you. Well, back to Oba Otudeko. Don’t panic o. Me too I have lost my job before even though my own na Nicholas sack me and nobody hear. Your own is all over, but there should not be any shame. You should be a man about it. Withdraw, go back home and ask for a moment of reflection. Don’t have sex for a bit because you will need to be spiritually attuned so that God can talk to you. The things we hear that led to your sacking are scary, and I must say you really have mind sha. But there is no problem that cannot be solved. Just maintain your focus and keep praying but much more importantly, if it is true that the money you are owing is N75b, he go pass fasting o. You need to engage the people plus regulatory bodies constructively. Don’t go and be doing all that ‘I want go court’, just go and beg. Call me, I will follow you. I know how to beg. We will just lie down and say sorry, give me small time. Then you come and let’s go and see Pastor Ifeanyi in Mowe. That was where I went when it happened to me, the mumu say - Grace has left me, that’s why I lost my job - na because I know give am tithe o. Your case will be different at least you go give am tithe, so your own prophecy will be different. Pending when you resolve all these problems, you can come to Duke of Shomolu Productions for small internship. We are about to produce two massive plays – Awo and Aremu

TAIWO AFOLABI – COZY AMBIENCE OF THE MARRIOTT I had the very good fortune to be taken around the new Marriott Hotel this great man just dropped in Ikeja. It was him and my lord Chike Ogeah that took me on tour: 250 exquisite rooms all built to the global taste of the Marriott, down to the scent that pervades all of their hotels worldwide; you can’t help but marvel at the huge confidence this daddy has in this our economy. The hotel is a huge work of art. The hanging gardens, the palm trees from the Middle East, the Asian restaurants and the three floors underground parking space just hit you with astonishment. Built to recover its cost in five years, I hear it cost a whopping N45b, the Marriott, I tell you, will redefine the industry once it opens its doors. I will start working very hard so that by December 2024, I go fit to afford one night for the place. Well done, and congratulations, my lord. Afolabi

Otudeko

this August, and we can use some extra hands-on stage. You can help with costumes. No board seat here o before

you come and want to sack me o. It is well, my brother. This, too, shall pass.

FATHER MBAKA – SACK HIM

I don’t know how to hide my mouth or show fear for this kind thing. Last, he will see vision for me that I will die. What else is new? My mama has died. My papa has died. My Erelu has died, and we will all die? Mbok sack the man, simple! The controversy is too much abeg. From Jonathan to Patience and now Buhari, what is it? I have never seen a more controversial reverend father than this one. He cannot be like Desmond Tutu or even Mathew Kukah. What is it? Now we are talking contract or no contract. How can a Father be so partisan and the church is just looking? This one be like the reverend father that tell my Anne to leave me. That

Mbaka

one catch me cheating on her and went for confession, and instead of that Father to tell her to calm down that these things happen, he ask her to leave me, and if you know how Catholics dey fear these dem fathers, you will just pity me. I beg tire, nothing o Father has spoken. This particular father says vote Jonathan, vote Buhari, all based on some very spurious fundamentals and when things scatter, they will start to fight. Which kind father be this one o? Now the federal government is using Rome to threaten him. They even get time. Abeg whoever is his head of department, please do the needful and let’s hear word abeg. Too much noise.

BILL AND MELINDA GATES – KEEP THIS FROM DUCHESS When this news hit me, I quickly rushed to check my bank balance – Zenith N35,000, Access N24,000, Vbank, N10,000. GTB I dey owe them, so I relax. You know, the kind of money these women are making from divorce could inspire other women to be funny. So if Duchess try me, na wetin we go share be that complete with the money I dey owe GTB, we will share everything equally. These two people have together created enormous wealth and have impacted the world. Forget about all this crap they talk about them. They have simply been a major force. No be them remove polio from the world, even from Nigeria? For me, this is sad news and must be held on solemn terms. I wish them well as they begin the next phase of their lives. It is well. MOHAMMED GARUBA CHAIRS THE ALVIN REPORT Mohammed is a cerebral investment banker, one of the best in the space. His trajectory professionally has been swift and engaging. His depth and clear understanding of economic issues made me look in his direction when I was looking for someone of pedigree to chair the advisory board of The Alvin Report. You see, there is so much noise in the system. Everybody is talking, and mostly it is mumu people who are talking and crowding out sensible people. So the crap pervading the space now crowds out very serious-minded people. So we set up The Alvin report to provide a veritable platform for intelligent people to discuss very serious issues about the economy, business, finance and public policy. The site, in less than two weeks, has garnered an impressive 4,000 views and growing. With over 37 well-chosen contributors, putting together some of the brightest minds, including people like Robert Mbonu, Tope Fasua, Olumide Aju (SAN) and the rest, the articles have all been an orgy of ideas. So to farm out these ideas and put them in a state that can be used to influence policy formulation and execution, the need to have a uniquelysetup advisory board emerged, and to chair the board we needed a young but highly cerebral apolitical professional with a strong grasp of the issues to chair it. This is where Mohammed Garuba comes in. In discussions with him, I continue to come out with highly impressive notions. Welcome, oga, let’s do this. Let’s begin the change in the narrative. Enough of all that bole-kaja talk abeg.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

Billionaire Oba Otudeko in Biggest Fight of His Career

Seriki

Tunde Seriki Bounces Back, Donates to Less Privileged

ometimes we fall because there is something down there that we are supposed to find. This seems to capture the story of Tunde Seriki, the Chief Executive Officer of Sultan Music international in Chicago. Those familiar with his peregrination in life are quick to say that he has been down, betrayed and disappointed in the past. They would even add that, when he cried, there was no one to comfort him. But, as Lilly Singh said, “There is no shame in falling, but there is pride in getting back up.” Mercifully, the Ogun Stateborn businessman, who the vicissitudes of life have floored, has picked up the pieces of his life and moved on. Despite the betrayal and disappointment he has suffered in the hands of some people in the past, he has remained committed to the service of humanity. The US-based show promoter, last week, expended millions of Naira when he donated food items to the less privileged Muslim faithful in Lagos, Ogun and Osun. Seriki, through his foundation, Tunde Seriki Foundation, had lifted the souls of some needy individuals with food items and cash donations during the lockdown last year. According to him, the gesture was informed by the need to encourage Muslim communities during the Ramadan period. He also advised Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for the development and peace of Nigeria. “I also want to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to use this period to pray for the country and also seek the face of Allah so that he can give him the insight to know the way out of the insecurity in the country. He needs to pray seriously during this period to seek divine intervention,” he added.

Obafunke Otudeko’s name remains on record as one of the first businessmen in his generation to lead the path many are benefiting from today. Even while most of his age mates were still bogged down by morbid fear of failure, the Ijebu Igbo-born businessman ventured into business. Today, he can thump his chest for this singular act. He is a man born under the proverbial lucky star; it is also clear that he is endowed with the proverbial Midas touch. According to Forbes, the chairman of Honeywell Group joined the business world at a very tender age; at a time, he was named the 46th Africa’s richest man. Given his status, Otudeko, who also has choice properties in some highbrow areas of Lagos and other cities worldwide, commands a lot of respect among his friends and associates. He has always made a success of all his ventures. He is a boardroom warrior who has fought many wars and won in the boardroom. He is currently fighting the biggest fight of his career as he is about to lose what he has laboured for many years to build. The serial entrepreneur is reportedly battling with a myriad of troubles now. His headache is not unconnected with his sacking alongside others from the board of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings by

the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. As if that was not enough, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed Honeywell Flour Mills, owned by Otudeko, to repay a loan to First Bank within 48 hours. According to the letter by the apex bank, the company (Honeywell Flour Mills) is required to fully repay its obligations to the bank within 48 hours, failing which the CBN will take appropriate regulatory measures against the insider borrower and the bank.” Insider lending is when a bank makes a loan to one or more of its officers or directors. Otudeko served as the chairman of FBN Holdings PLC, the holding company that owns First Bank, until the penultimate week’s restructuring. He had also served as Chairman of First Bank until 2010. He stands the risk of losing his shareholding in FBN Holdco if he fails to offset the loan within the deadline given by the CBN. The apex bank is upset with First Bank for non-compliance with regulatory directives to divest its interest in Honeywell Flour Mills, despite several reminders. Meanwhile, as a man who will never go down so easy, his firm, Honeywell, countered CBN’s statement to the public, claiming that it has always serviced its loan accordingly. Nevertheless, industry watchers are following the saga with keen interest, wondering how the boardroom guru will survive all this.

Otudeko

Otunba Segun Runsewe Back, Bigger and Better

Runsewe

Otunba Segun Runsewe comes across as brainy and hard-working. Only cynics Though Williams Shakespeare said, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones,” it is doubtful if the words are true. When you consider how family and friends have continued to honour the late Segun Odubela (SAN) since his death on March 15, 2021, after succumbing to COVID-19, informs the conclusion. In recognition of his worthy deeds in life, Odubela, who would have been 56 on May 5, 2021, was celebrated by family and friends. As part of activities to mark the posthumous birthday celebrations, his friends and family, under the auspices of JOO Forever led by Adeola Agoro, gave out some symbolic gifts to widows, single mothers and children in remembrance of the good Odubela represented. “Barrister Segun Odubela was not known for only giving out to the less privileged. He gave a lot of his time and resources to everybody around him. He was somebody you could call at any time of the day. He

would underrate his capabilities, considering that he is also cerebral. The wide acceptance that amiable Runsewe enjoys did not fall on his laps. He earned through hard work, consistency, honesty, humility and grace of God. His exploits cannot be put aside with a wave of the hand as he is known to have delivered every assignment given to him impressively. The ever-bubbly Otunba ensures he is never caught napping. Instead, he deploys all it requires to stay on top of his game. Little wonder when the news of his reappointment as Director-General, National Council of Arts and Culture, NCAC, broke last weekend, there was jubilation from his fans and admirers. The reason may not be unconnected because he is considered the best in that field. He is famously known as ‘Mr. Tourism,’ his sterling record says it all. He’s seen as holding a magic wand when it comes to the issue of tourism, arts and related spheres. “Being extrovert and cosmopolitan,

he will once again definitely bring his experience to bear. It is obvious that the confidence reposed in him by the federal government is an indication that Runsewe has performed well at the agency,” said a source. Otunba Runsewe has remained a consistent phenomenon in Nigeria’s culture and tourism sectors in the last three decades. He was appointed as an executive director at the National Orientation Agency in 2000, a position he held until he was appointed the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation’s DG in August 2006. His tenure at the NTDC was a watershed in the development of the Tourism Sector in Nigeria. His aggressive Tourism marketing campaign, anchored on the catch-phrase “Tourism is Life,” gave the Nigerian Tourism Industry unprecedented national and international visibility. The tenure positioned Nigeria as one of the leading faces of tourism and a preferred destination in Africa.

Families, Friends Celebrate Ex-Ogun Commissioner, Segun Odubela’s Posthumous Birthday

Odubela

would not only answer his calls, but he would also go out of his way to assist you with whatever demand you may require of him. “He would help connect you if that was what you needed and solve any problem for you if that was your request. His death came with a devastating feeling that many wondered for days what life was all about. “He was so good that you wouldn’t think death would come near him. But as he’s gone from all of us who love him, we take solace in the fact that he touched many lives before he departed this earth. “We won’t allow his memory to die; hence we formed this group, ‘JOO Forever ’ to try in our own ways to do some of the good he was doing on his behalf,” Agoro said.

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

09.05.2021

RE-EVOKING OLA ROTIMI’S ORI OLOKUN THEATRE LEGACY OriginalmembersoftheOriOlokunActingCompany,Ile-IfewhichhadoneofNigeria’sleadingplaywrightstheLateProfessor OlaRotimi, asitsfoundingartisticdirector,heldawebinarinhonouroflegacyofthistheatremovementthuscoincidingwith thegoldenanniversaryofdramaclassics‘TheGodsAreNottoBlame’and‘Kurunmi.’Yinka Olatunbosun reports

oseAyeni Tsevende, a founding member of the Ori OlokunActing Company was once a young, restless and highly spirited 17-year-old in Ibadan. She had just completed her secondary school education and was staying with her sister. One evening, her brother-in-law returned home with a copy of a newspaper that had an advertisement placed by the Ori OlokunActing Company, Ile-Ife in search of aspiring actors.After registering her interest in the advert, her brother-in-law gave her one pound as transport fare from Ibadan to Ile Ife. “In the morning of the day of audition, I discovered that there were over 200 people at the venue,’’ she recalled. “My name must have been 200 and something on the list. I had the opportunity to watch a lot of people at the audition. Each person had one minute. When they finally called BoseAyeni, I sang my native song and danced. Everyone clapped for me.” Fast-forward to 2021, she is now the Director, Total New Image Theatre whose specialties include dance and choreography. Her story was a typical one among the legions of stories told during the An Ohio Production of Ola Rotimi's The Gods are Not to Blame webinar to re-evoke the legacies of Ori OlokunActing Company that had a rare breed of artists. Like others, Tsevende was amazed at the and University of Ife (now ObafemiAwolowo University). She was non-discriminatory casting style of the director. a co-founder of the Ori Olokun Cultural Centre. Perhaps, she was the “When I was employed by Ori Olokun, we were the first two ladies only one who consciously documented her work in collaboration who worked in the theatre company as professionals, that is myself with an anthropological film maker, Frank Speed.Also, her work was and Mosun Falode. In those days, Ola Rotimi didn’t let us experience filmed by Tony Isaacs for the BBC TV series ‘The WorldAbout Us.’ She any visible biases as females in Ori Olokun. We were able to mix freely predicted that the recordings would “be of immense value historically with the men in the theatre and we worked together. Sometimes, and sociologically, and as raw material for the theatre of the future’’ and women had to play male roles. We built the set together. Ola Rotimi they are tucked away safely in British Library. Harper dedicated much had one research methodology; it was to take all the cast and crew to a of her life to the study of traditional Nigerian dance even though she village to learn first-hand the history of the real-life characters we were trained as a ballet dancer at the University of Cape Town. She also had a to imitate. The feeling of being part of the production was there. There stint with BBC as a freelance choreographer and scriptwriter. was no closing time for rehearsals.All the vigilantes in Ife knew us. That sort of pedigree was what the students of Drama at OAU, The bus would take us home after rehearsals and wait until you enter Ile-Ife relished. There were a lot of young scholars who had returned into your apartment before moving on.Akin Euba taught us music; to Nigeria from their overseas studies. They include scholars like Prof. we ladies learnt to play omele (African drum usually played by men) Ola Rotimi (theatre), Prof.Akin Euba (music), SamuelAkpabot (music) and went on tours. Our first tour was in Germany.And Peggy Harper and Prof Wangboje (VisualArt). TheirAmerican and European taught us dance drama.” influences had to be matched some indigenous aesthetics. Peggy Harper was a SouthAfrican born choreographer and Hence, they called it ‘a meeting of town and gown’ or better dancer who worked between 1963 and 1978 at University of Ibadan still, that was its overarching policy. Ori Olokun Theatre, one of the

pioneering experimental theatre traditions in Nigeria, was a breeding ground for performing artists sourced from the academic environment (gown) and the community (town). Formed in 1967, it boasted of an assortment of artists who were multi-skilled. Named after the Olokun deity, Ori Olokun was a product of many experimental workshops of the 60s including OshogboArt Workshop and Mbari Club. Breaking free from the boredom of formalism, these workshops were unconventional, skills-driven, thus making significant contribution to heightened cultural consciousness of the period. Convened by the Director of the School of Theatre, Television and Film, San Diego State University, California, Prof. Niyi Coker, the Ori Olokun webinar became a rendez-vous for the original cast. Some reeled out their lines from the classic plays while reminiscing on the past theatre productions by theActing Company under the directorial leadership of Ola Rotimi. As a kick-starter, the moderator and culture activist, Jahman Anikulapo set the tone for the webinar, highlighting how the knowledge shared would advance theatre studies and inspire the younger generation of artists. Opening with a brief audio excerpt from an interview with Ola Rotimi, Professor Coker remarked that the webinar was designed to honour those who made history with Ori Olokun. “In theatre, one person doesn’t make history,” he said. “There is a collective that makes the work of a person shine. If you don’t have the cast that share the same vision, the same dream, the same ideal and are on the same ship with you, you are not going to get to that destination.” He also pointed out that Ori Olokun was instrumental to the development of the movie industry today. Indeed, the Department of DramaticArts, ObafemiAwolowo University was established on the foundation of Ori OlokunActing Company. Other Ori Olokun members include Dr. EmekaAkaezuwa, BankeAkosile Ola,Ademola Williams, Professor Diedre Badejo, Peter Badejo, Dr Gabriel Kola Oyewo, Dr. Tunji Ojeyemi, Prof Akin Sofoluwe, Jimi Solanke, Prof. OmofolaboAjayi-Soyinka, Bob Sherry Oyeleke, Kola Sorunke, Dr. Bode Sowande, Toyin Bifarin Ogundeji and Teju Kareem. (See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

BOOK REVIEW

Lyrico-Poetic Testimonies of Nigerian Artistes on Bukar Usman Ben Tomoloju

he renascence of African culture is supposed to be as all-encompassing as it is dynamic. Its banner was borne aloft during the years of nationalist struggles by the then political titans. Alongside the assertion of the negritude writers whose poetry was described by Leopold Sedar Senghor as a means of revitalising and re-invigorating the African heritage, his Nigerian counterpart, Nnamdi Azikiwe, was who sensitised the public with the idea of re-nascent Africa. An example, and a highly significant one for that matter, is the multi-faceted, monumental scholarly output of Dr. Bukar Usman in the promotion, propagation and preservation of Nigerian folklore, especially in the field of orature. Scholars have

written – and will continue to write – about the phenomenal field and literary works of Dr. Bukar Usman who is, in fact, the President of the Nigerian Folklore Society (NFS) at this point in time. They have written about his transnational support to literary development through the Dr. Bukar Usman Foundation. His social vision as a public affairs analyst, expressed in books and the media have also received commendation from observers. But there is yet another fascinating side to the life of this individual role model. Even as an elite within a patrician bracket, Bukar is also grassrooted in his socialisation bearing evidence by the works of the five oral poets featured in this book, Songs for Bukar Usman by Khalid Imam. Reading the book, Songs for Bukar Usman, one cannot but appreciate the manner in which Dr. Usman’s goodwill permeates the entire spectrum of the society in terms of

relevance and veneration as a real man of the people. The book proves copiously that the subject’s creative and critical labour are not only seminal, but are also acknowledged among the grassroots folk. And this is borne out by the lyrico-poetic testimonies of the five oral artistes from the northern part of Nigeria whose panegyric works extol in heroic staves the virtues of the subject that makes him worthy of celebration. These singers (who essentially are oral poets) are Umar Idris (Dan Kwairon Biu); Sulaiman A. Tijjani (self-styled Professor of Poetry); Aminu Ladan Abubakar (a.k.a ALA); Maryam A. Baba (a.k.a. Sangandale), the only female among them, and Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi. As praise-singers, they do not compromise their art with any kind of pretension or vainglorification. Apraise-singer is a praise-singer. A jester is a jester. ––Tomoloju is a veteran journalist

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 ˾ MAY 9, 2021

TRIBUTE

Kingsley Moghalu: An Exciting Odyssey at 58 Kingsley Moghalu who turned 58 last Friday, May 7, is a man whose cap of accomplishments is festooned with many feathers. His entry into the Presidential contest in 2018 changed the Nigerian political narrative, Nduka Nwosu writes

n his autobiography My Odyssey, President Nnamdi Azikiwe in a scintillating narrative, described how how he focused his mind as a student in America in the 1920s. He came to acquire the knowledge of the white man and equip himself for the war ahead, the quest for an independent Nigeria, not to acquire wealth. Chief Obafemi Awolowo on the other hand went into the cocoa business primarily to make some money and travel to England to read law. The cocoa season was so rewarding he moved into the next season and even borrowed money from others to make a big return. The inclement weather failed him so much so he lost all his investments and became a debtor who had his property auctioned before his very eyes. These two great men stayed on course in their quest for knowledge. That partly explains why in Anambra State the Nnewi kindred still places a high premium on education notwithstanding the fact that the people are largely mercantile in their pursuit. Therefore when the Nnewi king, Igwe Dr. Kenneth Orizu III who himself comes from an intimidating lineage of a 600-year-old hereditary kingdom, conferred on Professor Kingsley Moghalu, the presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in 2019, the traditional title of ‘Ifekaego’ of Nnewi (literally meaning something higher than money) it was a case of giving honour to whom honour is due. Moghalu’s track record as a merchant of knowledge and intellectual property, and a courageous national political leader has distinguished him as a pace setter and endeared him not just to his community in Nnewi, a town of great men and women, but also across Nigeria and the world. Moghalu has lived a thousand lives in one lifetime. These days, he wears his renown and intellectual affluence comfortably like a pair of overalls, and enjoys a scandal-free life as the political, intellectual and social equivalent of any top Hollywood star. He is, if you like, the suave, cosmopolitan middleaged Professor of the new millennium, who embraces life with a knowing wink. And why not? Moghalu was born in Lagos in 1963 to Isaac Moghalu, a Nigerian diplomat, and Vidah Moghalu, a schoolteacher. He moved with his parents to Switzerland and Washington DC as his father’s calling demanded. The senior Moghalus later gave their young first child a deserving exposure in Ife’Ka Ego of Nnewi such institutions as Government College Umuahia and Federal Government College Enugu with Eziama High School Aba as his take off point. That background plus his admission into the University of Nigeria Nsukka where he read law, equipped him for his latter day foray into academic excellence, criss-crossing Europe and America and getting admitted into such institutions as The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University where he picked his Master of Arts degree, London School of Economics (LSE) where he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Institute of Risk Management in London, and executive education at Harvard, Wharton, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Institute. In the words of Time magazine’s famous essayist Lance Morrow, the question resonates: which is a better bargain, a pact with the Devil in order to be known or a bargain with Lucifer in order to know all things? Morrow concludes that either way it is a Faustian bargain. Neither Plato who delved heavily into metaphysics and the Eleusinian mysteries where the secret religious rites of ancient Greece flourished, nor Aristotle who taught Alexander the Great in his Academy, nor Socrates who thought Plato and Pythagoras could unveil the mystery of the universe, their great learning and contemplation of the nature of God notwithstanding. These scholars did not set out to be known though they could be accused of wanting to know all things, in which case it was a Faustian Bargain. Moghalu’s universe on the other hand, transcends the Faustian alternative. Indeed he suffers the private pains of humanity, just as his personal Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did, and in the sense that every new knowledge that came his way became a reinforcement of the previous

knowledge, not in the quest to be known or to know all things but to be better equipped to help make the lives of his fellow men better. In this context the man paints the image of a male complement or the twin brother of Doris Day, Alfred Hitchcock’s heroine in the epic screenplay Man Who Knows Too Much. Or maybe, just maybe, a brother of Catherine Hepburn, the blithe siren character of James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story. They both exemplify the glamour and idealism of the 1980s. Moghalu’s intellectual glamour and philosophical depth first took centre stage when, while he was still a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, he published his globally acclaimed book Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy’s ‘Last Frontier” Can Prosper and Matter, where he summarized his world view to make Africa prosper. Next, just before his presidential candidacy, came Build, Innovate and Grow (BIG): My Vision for Our Country. This vision was sold to the youth of Nigeria and endorsed by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, his former boss the de-throned Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and the Ooni of Ife among many great personalities and movements who saw something refreshingly different from the soapbox when Moghalu threw his gauntlet into the ring of presidential contest. For him it was a matter of vision translated into the reality of a country that is facing an existential problem, a country that has been abbreviated in the past tense headlined as: ‘There Was a Country,’ in Achebe’s last dialogue with his people. All this relates to the sense of urgency with which Moghalu approaches the problems of humanity. This sacrificial commitment to public service comes from his parents, who could have

settled for the beautiful life offered abroad, but returned home to Nigeria and walked into a civil war many flew away from to escape hunger and death. Moghalu survived the Nigeria-Biafra war, and as a child witnessed some of its sordid tragedies. A combination of that family background and the civil war experience paradoxically sharpened his discomfort at seeing human suffering. This family background and his prestigious qualifications prepared Moghalu, who elected for academic pursuits after a brief stint in journalism as a legal correspondent at Newswatch magazine in the late 1980s, for public service. His career from the United Nations to the CBN and his bold entry into the political space as a serious candidate for Nigeria’s presidency, is a story of leadership foretold. At the United Nations where he largely served under Secretary General Kofi Anan, Moghalu saw a silhouette of Nigeria’s Civil War in those of Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, and could not but marvel how leaders used ethnic politics to further their selfish interests not minding the wider consequences for those they lead. Between 1992 and 2008 when Moghalu worked with the UN, he served high profile assignments including as Human Rights and Electoral Officer in Cambodia, Political Advisor at UN Headquarters in New York on the conflicts in Somalia, Angola, and Rwanda, in Croatia, and as Legal Adviser and Spokesman for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda (UNICTR). He was also at a point the Head of Global Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATAM) in Geneva, Switzerland. Moghalu resigned from the United Nations in December 2008 and founded his own business outfit Sogato Strategies SA, a global strategy and risk consultancy, in Geneva. When the late President Umaru Yar’Adua appointed Moghalu Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a regulator and manager of the financial system of the country, Moghalu did not disappoint. By 2014 when he stepped down, he had become firmly associated with revolutionary changes especially in the area of financial stability and financial technology (FinTech) reform in the Nigerian financial system. As Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability Moghalu played a key role in ensuring that no Nigerian bank failed after the global financial crisis, and no Nigerian lost one kobo of his or her savings, thus safeguarding the livelihoods of millions of his compatriots. As Deputy Governor for Operations, in charge of currency and branch operations, payment systems, and the management of Nigeria’s foreign reserves of $37 billion, he led the rollout of payment systems reforms including the development and introduction of the unique identifier Bank Verification Number (BVN). We should also not lose sight of the significance of his professorship at the prestigious Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, a reflection of a man who had impacted largely on society and needed to return to the ivory tower to impart the lessons learned during his active years in international assignments even before his bid for the highest office in his country - the Presidency. Although he lost the election to Muhammadu Buhari, he made a bold statement carrying the flag of a new-generation political party, and that young people have what it takes to lead the country without compromising their values.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 9, 2021

CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

Confronting the Muddle of Intractable Insecurity With a social contract in tatters, an indecisive political leadership and Nigeria bleeding out, the nation’s unending insecurity could only spell disaster, writes Louis Achi

ll the cases of insecurity in Nigeria beg the question: Do we have a functional federal government? Are our priorities set right as a country? Of what use is Trader-Moni and N-Power if the citizens that the government seeks to empower with N10,000 are not sure if they would see the light of the next day? These lucid posers were recently pushed by miffed Professor of History Toyin Falola-Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker, Chair in the Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin. More, mid last week, the US warned that ISIS and al-Qaeda were planning to penetrate Southern Nigeria. It also said Al-Qaeda has started penetrating the North-western part of the country. US Air Force Maj. General Dagvin R. M. Anderson passed on this warning during a recent media briefing. Anderson serves as the Commander of the Special Operations Command Africa. Previously, he was the Deputy Director of Operations of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. His words: “We have engaged with Nigeria and continue to engage with them in intel sharing and in underBuhari standing what these violent extremists are doing. And that has been absolutely critical to their engagements up in the Borno State and into an emerging area of Northwest Nigeria that we’re seeing al-Qaeda starting to make some inroads in. “So, this intelligence sharing is absolutely vital and we stay fully engaged with the government of Nigeria to provide them with an understanding of what these terrorists are doing, what Boko Haram is doing, what ISIS-West Africa is doing, and how ISIS and al-Qaeda are looking to expand further South into the littoral areas. “When it comes to Nigeria in general, Nigeria, obviously, is a critical nation to West Africa. It is a critical nation and we realise that Nigeria is a lynchpin.” Anderson then cut to the heart of the matter by pointedly noting that for international efforts to yield desired results in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, the government must take the lead. Perhaps, in a quirky sense, in terms of policy obfuscation, opaque military spending and procurements, debatable inter-agency cooperation, indecisive leadership and huge trust deficit, the government is actually taking the lead. On Thursday, the nation’s security chiefs including the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor; Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru; Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Gambo and Chief of Air Staff, Isiaka Amao appeared before a jittery Senate in plenary. Also present were the Director Generals of

the State Security Service, National Intelligence Agency, and the Defence Intelligence Agency as well as the Acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba. This was in response to an invitation by the Senate penultimate week, over the nightmarish and intractable security situation in the country. It is no secret that terrorists and sundry criminals are taunting the Nigerian State and the government appears clearly helpless. One of the most dangerous dimensions to the infamy playing out is that schools are being mercilessly targeted. Twenty-three students of the Greenfield University, Kaduna State, kidnapped on April 18 are still in captivity after the kidnappers murdered five of them and are threatening to kill the others unless a ransom of N100 million and 10 motor cycles are paid. On Wednesday, kidnappers released the remaining 29 students they were holding captive nearly two months after abducting them from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna State. Gunmen took 39 students on March 11 and previously released 10 of them. The newly released students arrived at police headquarters in Kaduna city on Wednesday night looking weak, forlorn and wearing dirty, torn clothing. More than 700 people have been abducted from schools in Northwestern Nigeria since December in a rash of kidnappings for ransom in the volatile region. Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai

has repeatedly said his state government would not negotiate with “bandits.” Many stakeholders are counselling closure of threatened schools in Northern Nigeria or anywhere kidnap threats exist. With modern educational technology, students can learn from their homes until a semblance of normalcy is restored. Recently, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Minister, Zainab Ahmed, told the Senate Committee on Army on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, that a total of N1,008.84tn was released to the Army between January 2019 and April 2021. Ahmed, who was summoned based on complaints by the Nigerian Army that it had outstanding N50bn to collect from the ministry, which was part of the budgetary provision to fight terrorism, had said the Army got more than budgetary provision during the period under review. Kabir Adamu, a security risk management and intelligence specialist believes the Nigerian Army had so far failed in its mandate despite the money released to it. He holds that Nigeria witnessed more cases of banditry, terrorism and kidnapping during the period. His words: “What was the mandate given to them? Is it not to contain insurgency? Unfortunately, they have not justified it. If their mandate was also to curb banditry, they have not been able to do that.” Adamu’s position was however countered by Col. Hassan Stan-Labo (retd.), a security specialist, who said the N1tn was not enough, describing it as a drop in the ocean. Stan-Labo, who described the defence sector as a capital-intensive venture, stressed that the sector’s neglect in the past years had created a vacuum, which made the funding by the Ministry of Finance insufficient. According to him, “The defence sector has been neglected for too long by being starved of adequate fund and well-equipped inventory. This got this long, because as a nation, we are not security-conscious. Even under this dispensation, you can see that there is no seriousness.” Clearly, with rising attacks against security agencies and their facilities in the Southeast, terrorist and criminal turmoil in the North and detectible threats and outright killings in the Southwest, many strongly believe the nation’s fate is hanging over the precipice. Many are also wondering why calls for separation are scaling up. Today, even respected statesmen are morphing into activists. The time for decisive action is now.

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

Tinubu

Tinubu Loves Kano!

here’s a need for serious interrogation of the choices and preferences of a former governor of Lagos State and one of the leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is presumed to be one of the leading figures in the battle for the 2023 presidential bout. Although he has yet to muster the guts to announce his presidential intention, his movements, swelling support base, actions and inactions have, however, confirmed the speculation: Tinubu is eyeing the nation’s top job. But there’s one more thing to ponder; it’s his sudden but curious love for Kano State and the north in general.

Of course, as an aspiring presidential contender, it is most certain that for geo-political balance of power, he would consider a running mate from the north. But his reason for closely courting Kano is also understandable. As the state allegedly with the highest votes turnout, it may be politically smart and expedient to think Kano and by extension, befriend the north. From donating to fire victims and other philanthropic gestures towards Kano alone, there’s hardly ever anything unintended about Tinubu. He knows what he is doing and hardly does anything for free. While is love for Kano is good and understandable, it is yet to be seen how far that preference would push his bid to rule Nigeria. Fingers crossed!

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 9, 2021

BRIEFINGNOTES Why Are Governors Afraid of Judicial Autonomy? If the oﬃces of the governors are a creation of the Constitution, why are those who occupy them continue to violate the provisions of the same law in respect to ﬁnancial autonomy for the judiciary? Asks Davidson Iriekpen

or another week last Friday, courts across the country remained closed after the meeting between the umbrella body of judiciary workers in Nigeria, Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and representatives of the federal government ended with no concrete solutions. The meeting was postponed again to this week. The workers have been on strike since April 6 to press home their demands for a complete financial autonomy for the judiciary. At the meeting to end the lingering crisis last Thursday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, reiterated that the federal government had no problem with the issue of financial autonomy for the judiciary. He said the appropriate laws for judiciary autonomy have been signed into law and that implementation lies with state governments and governors. JUSUN had on April 1, 2021, directed its members across the country to shut down all courts on April 6, a directive that has since crippled both court proceedings and commercial activities within the court premises across the country. This was immediately followed by a nationwide peaceful protest in furtherance of their demand for the 36 states to implement financial autonomy for the judiciary. Its reason for the indefinite strike and protest is to press home the demand for financial autonomy for the country’s judicial arm of government. For decades, despite constitutional provisions guaranteeing financial autonomy to the judiciary, state governments have found increasingly innovative and pernicious ways of subjugating and emasculating the judiciary. While many would understand why this was so under the military rule, the same cannot be said under a democracy. Years of financial strangulation, and a brazen subversion of the constitution, have driven the judiciary to impotence, incapacitation and impoverishment. Incidentally, with the exception of governors, who now find themselves prevaricating over unambiguous constitutional provisions, no Nigerian is opposed to JUSUN or their strike. So far, the industrial action has been tremendously effective, totally grounding the country’s groggy justice system, and is more effective than any the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has ever organised in the past two decades. The attendant consequences of the strike have left nonlitigants, who are largely business people, reeling from the courts closure. Court users and non-litigants, alike, have been venting their anger and frustrations as life becomes more difficult with the nationwide shutdown of the entire third arm of government entering its fifth week today. To many Nigerians, granting financial autonomy to the judiciary is one major way with which the judiciary can be truly independent. They posit that if the country’s democracy was a true constitutional democracy, the issue of granting financial independence to the judiciary should not have arisen. According to a public affairs commentator, Festus Ogun, “subjecting the judiciary to the shadow of the executive through financial dependence is to make nonsense of the independence of the judiciary and compromise the course of justice. The only way judicial independence can materialise is to bestow on it financial willpower.” While the federal government feels that it has since complied with the relevant sections of the constitution, which grants financial autonomy to the judiciary, and the various judgments regarding complete autonomy for the judiciary, the state governors have refused to follow suit. President of the union, Comrade Mustapha Marwan, who spoke with journalists in Abuja recently, said the state chief executive officers have frustrated financial autonomy for the

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammad judicial arm of government. He added that this situation has left magistrate and customary courts across the country in a sorry state, with dilapidated court buildings not suitable for court sittings. By law, the independence of the judiciary is not only guaranteed, its financial autonomy remains the pillar upon which indirect control and manipulation is resisted. Sections 121 and 81 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provide succinctly for the financial autonomy of the judiciary. Section 121(3) explicitly provides that, “Any amount standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the heads of the court concerned”. If the Constitution is very clear on an issue, it begs the question why the Governors have chosen to take the path of executive recklessness. Incidentally, the sacred provisions of the Constitution in respect to financial autonomy of the judiciary have been given judicial blessing by the courts. In cases separately filed by JUSUN and Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN against the federal government, the court upheld the financial independence of the judiciary as a constitutional stipulation that cannot be waived or varied by the executive. This, still did not change anything. But last year, sensing that the state governors were not willing to comply with neither the constitutional provisions nor the court judgments, President Muhammadu Buhari issued Executive Order 10 of 2020 to compel the states to obey the constitution, the governors coaxed the president to tarry a little on gazetting the order, thus stymieing the immediate implementation of the order. While it is not clear why that anomalous stricture of gazettes had to be introduced, nor why it is needed especially, in clear constitutional cases, the governors seized upon that hiatus to go to court to litigate and forestall the Executive Order, as if the

order was the issue, and not their violation of the constitution. The case is pending before the Supreme Court. What the governors have issues with is perhaps the concomitant amendment in the same Section 121 (3) of the 1999 constitution, which also gives the states legislature financial autonomy. State governors have since seen the autonomies granted the judiciary and legislature as a complete castration of their powers and imperial persons. For decades they had subjugated the other two arms of government. They fear that if the other arms no longer had to make recourse to the executives for their financial needs, they would look the governors in the eyes and check their excesses with great daring and gusto. The governors may have reservations about judicial financial autonomy, but what ails them more is the freedom which that financial autonomy would give the state lawmakers, freedoms that might conceivably include impeaching any lawless governor. To many, the refusal to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary by the governors speaks volume of the level of unconstitutionality, lawlessness and impunity the country deals with. Therefore, they believe that the state chief executives cannot cherry-pick what aspect of the constitution to obey,neither can they set a particular time to obey the constitution. To put it straight, Ogun said, “The Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state, established under Section 120 of the Constitution, is not a personal property of the executive. It belongs to the executive, legislature and judiciary. So, keeping what rightfully belongs to other arms of government is an abuse. The offices of the governors are a creation of the law and those who occupy them cannot continue to whimsically act as though they are above the law.” Knowing the recalcitrant position of the governors had taken all along on this issue, many observers are anxiously waiting to see how the dispute would be resolved.

NOTES FOR FILE

Odebowale’s Debased Mind!

Egbebi

Senior Special Assistant to the Ondo State Governor on Special Duty, Dr. Doyin Odebowale, last week, reportedly slapped a ‘heavily pregnant’ environmental security guard, Mrs. Adeola Egbebi, who immediately slumped, at Oja Oba market in Akure, the state capital. Odebowale, allegedly assaulted someone else’s wife, who was on duty for not standing up to greet him like other environmental workers. This is nothing but a gross abuse of power and office, which exposes the frailties of a sick mind. Coming from someone, whose office is not permanent and could be laid off tomorrow, if his employer deems fit, it is a typical example of an innately decadent elitist political setting, in need of help from self. Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu must not pretend to be unaware of this. He must find out what happened and step in as a leader. But for him, Odebowale would not be in a position to oppress the people that elected him into office. This is oppression. It was no

doubt man’s inhumanity to man and the governor must play a role in condemning such contaminative arrogant disposition. …Saluting Onem’s Good Deeds! In faraway Bayelsa State, one Ms. Miracle Tyna Onem, the Councillor representing Ward 2 in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state provided a counterbalance to the despicable attitude of Odebowale in Ondo State, when she used the money meant for the purchase of her official car to complete a bridge for the use of her community. With more of Onem in power, there’s no debating the fact that the world would be a better place. Her display of selflessness and empathy in the face of serious economic challenges, political uncertainty and personal needs is comparable to none. Onem is a critical and enviable lesson in service to humanity, the type that everyone – irrespective of office – must emulate. Kudos to a woman of good deeds!

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 9, 2021

MILESTONE

Shina Peller: Characterised By His Ideas Forty-five this Friday, House of Representatives member from Oyo State, Hon. Shina Peller, not only represents the age of his ideas, his vision for the future says even more. Olawale Olaleye writes

on. Shina Peller, a member of the House of Representatives for Iseyin/Itesiwaju/ Kajola/Iwajowa federal constituency in Oyo State, does not cut the image of your regular lawmaker. Although a bunch of the typical Nigerian lawmakers are no less jokers, Peller’s free-spirit and irrepressible youthfulness stand him out at every contact. Constantly bursting with ideas – progressives ideas – you can’t but admire his energy too, which is proportionate and firing those ideas. Largely typified by his choices, these choices, interestingly, are his distinguishing difference from the lot, which is why he is none other than Shina Peller. Since his election in 2019, Peller has made a personal pledge to go into politics to make a difference and this has been evident from day one. Challenged by the inability of the political class to deliver good governance and change the fortunes of their people, he is yet to see why that has remained a rocket science. Otherwise a socialite by disposition and upbringing, how Peller has switched from that which he was hitherto known to a promising political leader is worthy of study. Even more, the speed at which he gets things done, including the rate he’s been churning out ideas – the type that could put effect to his much desired change – are curious. Ordinarily, his 45th birthday would have been a talk of the town if he were to relive his old self. But times have changed hence the intellectual slant to his new life would not support a jamboree. It was no surprise, therefore, that he chose to focus on the ills of the society, using the occasion of his birthday as a solution-finding exploration. With a symposium themed: “National Security and Peace: Roles of Government, Citizens and Institutions”, billed to hold in Ibadan, Oyo State, the political capital of the Southwest, the event promises to gather everyone, who matters in the society – from the political class to the private sector, the traditional institution and the media – to put heads together and mull the options before the country. This, however, isn’t the first time Peller is either setting up a discussion on the state of the nation or instigating a conversation

Peller on the future that everyone looks forward to. It’s a constant engagement until the answers to the national discontent are found. Besides, to effectively galvanise the possibility of a desired future, he has also set up a group called, “The Lead Generation Initiative”, an idea that is replicated in different parts of the country and designed to coordinate the youth for the change they collectively seek, by properly channeling their creativity, energy and aspirations for the needs of the society. This is beside his many interventions for the good of his people through various empowerment initiatives like health intervention programme that is taking place today at the Government Technical College, Oluyole, Iseyin, Oyo State, where he plans to

present ambulances and medical equipment to health centres in his constituency; conduct free eye tests for several of his people and provide them with recommended glasses. An upwardly mobile young man, Peller has been traveling around the world to build contacts and give sound footing to his ideas of the Nigerian dream. He does not let any opportunity go to waste and he is quick to identifying them once they come his way. Disturbing as things appear today, Peller’s optimism is remarkable. This is not because he is banking on some magical wands to turn the tide around, but because his analysis of the situation does not present anything intractable or sheer hopelessness. He believes the problem is in the willpower to cause change to happen. “If we approach 2023 with requisite optimism and make a good choice in leadership, everything we consider a problem today will be gone before we know it. I believe and I’m convinced that 2023 is the turning point for Nigeria”, he was quick to say at an informal gathering. Today, it goes without saying that his transformation from the old Peller to the new one, whose love for country and the people, is second to none, explains the reasons for his development and progressive ideas. And the ideas too, have come to gradually redefine his place in the contraption called Nigeria especially, in his local Oyo State, where leadership is explicably absent. Honestly speaking and without playing to the gallery, the political class does not seem to have a clue what’s on its hands with a Peller as an addition to the family. The ideas to cause change to happen is one, the capacity to mobilise and galvanise the change is a different kettle of fish. Yet, Peller has them all rolled up in him with an unusual energy and zeal. This is why it suffices to say, as Peller sets a new target for himself and generation at 45, he just might be the hurdle in his own way. For as long as he continues to have a grip of himself, the future is his taking. He has made decisions and is resolute about them. But will he be able to stay the course even in the face of intimidation, harassment, betrayal and disappointment? This, in the long run, will justify, define and affirm the new Peller that the world can’t wait to see exhale. But, for now, Peller has proven something right and without apologies: it is really not how far, but how well.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ΁˜ ͰͮͰͯ

GLITZ FOCUS

On the Voice Nigeria S3 coaches: L-R: Darey, Yemi Alade, Waje and Falz

The Voice Nigeria: Giving Voice to the Talented Vanessa Obioha reports that the music reality TV show The Voice Nigeria is gaining traction both on the traditional and digital media, thereby putting the vocal talents in the global spotlight

ince it premiered its third season in March, The Voice Nigeria has gained traction both in digital and traditional media. The combined views of its blind auditions episodes on YouTube have garnered over three million views. This is not in addition to the talents and coaches’ interview clips. On average, the reality TV show records 500,000 views on YouTube, according to its PR company, Seid. Having the episodes on a digital platform like YouTube helps put the participating talents in the global spotlight. Usually, the episodes get aired on selected TV channels first. In this case, Africa Magic Channels on DStv, Views TV, and Wazobia TV are the dedicated TV channels that air the singing competition. The episodes are then uploaded on YouTube for fans to either catch up or relive moments. YouTube is one of the production partners of the show produced by UN1TY Ltd and Livespot360. Recently, performances from this season’s episodes were added to the global franchise ‘Best of the Voice’ playlist on YouTube.

The playlist highlights the best weekly performances of The Voice from different parts of the world. They included Peace Amaefula, Okemdiya Chimomez, Esther Benyeogo, and Ayomikun Ojoade from the first, second, third, and fourth episodes. The growing popularity of the show can be attributed to its unique format. Unlike other music reality TV shows, the Voice distinguished itself with its nomenclature, audition, and elimination processes. For instance, it is almost taboo to call the vocal participants on the show ‘contestants’. They are known as talents, while the team of music professionals that vet their performances are known as coaches. One of the unique features of the show is the audition process. The Voice employs a format whereby the talents perform blindly to the coaches and only get a ‘yes,’ if any of the coaches (usually four) press the red button that automatically turns their chairs to see the participant. Once a talent gets more than one chair turn, he or she will have to decide which of the coaches he/she wants. At this stage, the coaches

will have to pitch fiercely to persuade the talent to be on their team. For the third season of the Voice Nigeria, the coaches — Waje, Darey, Yemi Alade, and Falz— needed six talents on their team before moving to the Knockouts stage. The Knockouts stage officially kicked off on Saturday, May 8, and saw coaches pairing talents on stage. Those who failed to dazzle the coaches with their performances will be eliminated. The final round of elimination by coaches is the Battle Rounds. Again, team members are paired, but unlike the Knockouts stage where they performed individually, they will be performing together in the battles.The final set of talents to survive this stage will now proceed to the live performance, where their fates are left in the hands of the voting public. The ultimate winner will be rewarded with an undisclosed cash prize, a brand-new car, and an international recording contract. Fans, too, stand a chance to

win prizes. On-air-personality Toke Makinwa and TV host Nancy Isime serve as the hosts of the season sponsored by First Bank Nigeria, Baba Ijebu, Airtel Nigeria, and Minimie. Many Nigerian youths are musically inclined, but there are few platforms available to showcase their talents. With Voice Nigeria, the talents stand a chance to be discovered, groomed, and showcased globally. Before the premiere of the third season, there were very few singing competitions showing on TV. In fact, the pandemic starved fans of music reality TV shows last year due to restrictions on social gatherings. That restriction delayed the premiere of the season, which was slated for 2020. However, with its return, fans eagerly look forward to new episodes every Saturday and Sunday night as each episode is loaded with emotional tales and performances from the talents and the dramatic pitching competition among coaches. Indeed, TV viewing on weekends has never been so musically entertaining that it makes one say, “Thank God, it’s the weekend!”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ MAY 9, 2021

CICERO/INTERVIEW

Farouk: Alternate School Programme Crucial to Stemming Insecurity Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk argues that providing education for every child is the best way to secure the country. She spoke with Tobi Soniyi. Excerpts:

et’s talk about the Alternate School Programme.What’s it about? Constitutionally, education is on the concurrent list, meaning the federal, states and local governments can all design and implement education programmes. Though public primary education is mainly the responsibility of the local governments, the requirements are too high for that level, that is why states and the federal government intervene to ensure that this basic need is met. At the federal level, the contribution is made through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) which is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Education. So, there are efforts at all levels to ensure that we meet the constitutional requirement of getting every child in Nigeria to have access to basic education, which is primary schooling (as a right), and we are making reasonable progress in this. But despite all these efforts the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria are alarming (UBEC estimates them to be above 13 million). Before this crisis gets worse, there needs to be an intervention. This is where the Alternate School Programme comes in. It is an intervention programme focused on providing education in a flexible way to out-of-school children while also providing them with Social Investment Programme benefits. While there are many programmes from government and in the non-governmental space targeted at OOSC, the ASP is different because it also targets the humanitarian and social challenges faced by the OOSC. There are many reasons children do not go to school even when the facility is available. For example,their households are unable to afford basic needs, they are pursuing apprenticeships, gender inequalities, social and cultural reasons; they are unable to access school structures etc.. The ASP will bring basic education to these children so that they are equipped with the education and skills to be part of the social-economy as they grow. Every child has the right to education, no matter their circumstances and the ASP will be part of what ensures that for our country’s children. At a minimum these children will be equipped with arithmetic, literacy, basic technology and social studies education. The ASP will also pair the existing Social Investment Programmes to their particular circumstances, for example, with the Home Grown School Feeding, these children will be provided nutrition when they are being schooled. The programme is co-chaired by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and the Federal Ministry of Education, bringing our mandates together– doing our part to ensure that ‘no one is left behind’. In what ways is the ASP beneﬁcial to Nigerians? The ASP will benefit Nigerians in many ways. Directly it will reduce the number of OOSC while providing social protection to them and their families or guardians. The Social Investment Programmes themselves also help the local economies of those who are recipients. Some of these OOSC are loitering around the towns and cities, others are at the markets, some are at the mechanic and spare-parts villages, some are at the motor parks, and many are the Almajiris (many are in Islamic schooling and care, others are just beggars on the streets) who are mainly in the Northern part of our country, etc. Most of these children are about 10 – 12 years today. In the next 10 years they will be 20 – 22. Already they are vulnerable to risks

I want to assure Nigerians that this programme utilises already existing resources. We have learnt lessons from past interventions and along with our partners, we are committed to applying these lessons and bridging the remaining gaps. It is not simply a case of throwing more resources at a problem, but creatively targeting and providing a solution to problems

Farouk including: trafficking of children, stealing children, recruiting children in criminal activities, children on drugs, use of children in cultist activities etc. are consuming many of these children. No Nigerian will admire this or like it for our country. Reducing the number of OOSC will reduce the risks these children are faced with.These are the short to medium term benefits of the ASP. The long term benefit for Nigerians is that this investment in education coupled with the humanitarian needs of these children being met allows these children to fulfil their potential and be protected as Nigerians. This ability to provide education and social welfare to children is an investment for Nigeria’s future. When we invest in our nation’s children, when we provide them with the ability to be productive members of society – that benefits us all. This ASP is an investment into our collective future. This is why the President in his wisdom decided to further intensify the education activities reaching these children so that we can be able to mop up as many of these children off the street and inject at least a basic amount of education in their lives to ensure that they either join the formal education system, or they can inclusively participate in nation building appropriately. This marks the birth of the ASP. The ASP by reducing the number of OOSC, will reduce the number of Nigerians subject to these social problems. Why is this programme different from the other ones? This programme is different because it is coupled with social welfare elements – it is not an education programme alone, it is not a social protection programme alone – it is a combination aimed at children who need both in order to gain a benefit. There are education programmes that children are not able to access due to socio-economic factors. Likewise, there are some Social Investment Programmes where the social welfare provided does not cover the educational needs of the children. This programme does both for those children in circumstances that require help in both areas. How do you intend to choose the beneﬁciaries? The children will be chosen from all over the country. Different groups of children unable to access education including those in IDP camps, those in vulnerable conditions, victims of insurgency and social and environmental dislocation, children on the street and in markets etc. It is important to us that no one is left behind and for this purpose we have a Technical Working Group (TWG) with members drawn from across government ministries, international organisations and as civil society organisations. The TWG will go into the field to document and organize these children so that we can systematically intervene. This programme is very important, and as you know ideas are great but the implementation is the most important thing. We are committed to doing this well. What role is your ministry playing in all this as well as the Education ministry? Also, why is the FMHADMSD

involved with the ASP? Well, the FMHADM&SD is not a specific sectoral ministry as such, it is literally “a jack of all trades and master of none” ministry. The ministry was specifically established to coordinate all poverty eradication activities in Nigeria, facilitate for an effective cooperation between all stake stakeholders in poverty eradication, and ensure the deployment of an effective social safety net system on the poor and vulnerable Nigerians including those that are affected by disasters, mainly to manage the poverty levels in our country at the barest minimum. So, Out Of School Children are part of the poor and vulnerable, whose management falls under the generic mandate of my ministry. But because education is the sectoral subject matter specialists, we must cooperate very closely with the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure that there are no unnecessary duplications, no wastage of resources, enhanced complementarity and technical effectiveness, and most importantly, to achieve the desired high impacts of the programme. The programme is jointly chaired by my ministry and the Federal Ministry of Education. The involvement of my ministry is needed for the humanitarian intervention addressing the underlying issues OOSC experience. Due to the circumstances many OOSC are faced with, they are unable to access educational opportunities. Their circumstances – socio-economic, cultural, etc.- determine their level of access. My ministry, which is responsible for humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development provides a means to close some of these gaps to enable these children fulfil their right to education. As a government, we have individual mandates but we are all united by one purpose – to make Nigeria and Nigerians lives better. This programme will help us make Nigeria better, getting us closer to our UN Sustainable Development Goals and helping to bring 100 million Nigerians on their way out of poverty, as is Mr. President’s goal. How are you going to implement the ASP? Well, back in December 2020, after so much preparatory work, stakeholder consultations and intense research & studies on this urgent matter, I submitted a request to Mr President for him to kindly consider and approve the ASP concept and to also kindly approve the establishment of a National Steering Committee (NSC) with all the key stakeholders to be involved for its implementation. In that letter I highlighted the following among others: That the out of school children syndrome is at the root of so many of the restive challenges we are facing; The alarming high numbers of OOSC in Nigeria which stood at over 13 million; The importance of factoring the issue of these vulnerable children in Mr President’s policy of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030. The requirement in these modern days to urgently get all Nigerians including these vulnerable children to be functional, to effectively communicate and engage with, which makes it necessary for them to acquire minimum literacy, numeracy and skill; That serious effort has to be made to take schooling to the children, as it is increasingly proving difficult for many children to attend formal schools; and That a survey of children who are not in school revealed that many of them do attend non-formal schools (such as for Quranic Education) but many are found stray in many places including marketplaces, motor parks, superstores, spare parts/ mechanic spots. Mr President graciously approved the submission and inaugurated the NSC on the 26th January 2021.We had our inaugural meeting on the 15th February 2021 where we even co-opted more stakeholders, including the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, to ensure full participation. We have also formed and inaugurated a Technical Working Group (TWG) which will serve as the Technical Clearing House for the NSC. They are now fashioning the practical routes that we should follow to quickly go to the field and start the schooling. The ASP will be implemented across the country in phases. It is important to implement this programme strategically and efficiently. We are all working together to provide this solution for OOSC and ensure that we reach as many as possible. How do you convince those Nigerians, who feel this will be a waste of resources? I want to assure Nigerians that this programme utilises already existing resources. We have learnt lessons from past interventions and along with our partners, we are committed to applying these lessons and bridging the remaining gaps. It is not simply a case of throwing more resources at a problem, but creatively targeting and providing a solution to problems.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MAY 9, 2021

with ChidiAmuta e-mail:chidi.amuta@gmail.com

ENGAGEMENTS

Nation at Point Zero

n the eve of the 2015 presidential election, this reporter had cause to write a dying minute column in this newspaper entitled: “A Call at Midnight”. It was a warning on the clear and present calamity awaiting the nation if the Jonathan administration mismanaged the election and its eventual outcome. At that point, there was clear evidence of dangerous desperation on both sides which needed to be carefully managed. The specific object of focus was the imminent orderly transfer of power to a successor administration whatever the outcome of the election. Jonathan was being encouraged by his in -house devotees to dig in while Buhari and his weaponized acolytes were threatening bloody Armageddon if they lost. Jonathan’s subsequent orderly transfer of power to Mr. Buhari was a nullification of the fears of that moment and a victory for the future of a democratic Nigeria. The drums of war were silenced. The halo of fear was lifted and replaced with the euphoria of some conditional optimism in the horizon. Even if he now denies all that he inherited from Mr. Jonathan, President Buhari cannot deny the prime gift that democracy under Jonathan gave him. That lone afternoon phone call from Jonathan to congratulate him and concede defeat in the 2015 presidential election was perhaps the most sterling act of statesmanship in recent Nigerian political history and will remain a major landmark in the evolution of Nigerian democracy. The cruel irony of this moment in Nigeria is that a president that received power on a platter of grace has navigated the nation into such an avoidable storm. And as the nation grapples with a different and more grave uncertainty, the central question confronting Nigeria as a democratic republic is whether, come May 29th, 2023, Mr. Buhari will be able to hand to his successor what he received painlessly from Jonathan in 2015. As matters stand today, however, it may be too much to ask Mr. Buhari to bequeath a better nation than what he received from Mr. Jonathan. All we can now ask, pray and hope for is that Nigeria does not implode under Buhari’s watch. It is literally another midnight hour for Nigeria even though a transitional election is still about two years away. Before our very eyes, our worst fears have replaced the faint hope that we once entertained. In spite of fancy titles, lofty offices and elaborate ceremonies of state power, the incumbent leadership has failed to reassure our people on even the most elementary entitlements of citizenship. In the ravaging unprecedented insecurity that is sweeping through the entire country, so many pillars of nation statehood have virtually dissolved or have been badly compromised. The value of our individual citizenship has sadly been reduced to day to day survival from ever present danger. As a national society, our sense of community is gone. The mutual trust that until now held nationalities, regions, states, peoples and individuals together has been vastly eroded. The language of national cohesion has been replaced by an indiscriminate exchange of hate rhetoric across the lines that divide us. Suddenly, the things that divide us – faith, ethnicity, region, means and access to opportunity- have been played to the forefront of our national discourse. Among those entrusted with the security of the state, all we hear is a cacophony of discordant voices. While the babel of discord rages, here is what ordinary Nigerians are experiencing on a daily basis. No one can keep tabs of the exact figure of people being killed, kidnapped, abducted or displaced on a daily basis. Funerals for souls lost in this undeclared war dovetail into each other. Even the presidency has run short of words for routine condolence messages for lost citizens. The children we labour so hard to send to schools are being routinely carted away into dangerous forests by agents of the dark. Some of them have been wasted in dark forests by agents of the devil. Education, the known key to end ignorance and poverty, has become a dangerous and ambiguous adventure in many parts of the country. People who leave their homes in quest of livelihood or to visit loved ones are no longer sure that they will get to their destinations or return to the loved ones they left behind. Our highways have become avenues of death. The innocence of pastoral life in the villages is daily assaulted and violated by armed strangers. Our farmlands have become killing fields. It used to be that when trouble visits urban areas, we return to the villages for shelter in the primal embrace of nativity. Not any longer. Urban neighbourhoods are terrorized by youth in cultic formations wielding dangerous weapons and incensed with unknown concoctions from hell. Wives and daughters are openly violated sometimes in full view of family while desperate calls for help from law enforcement is met with uncaring indifference or polite avoidance. Even for law enforcement personnel, the uniform that used to confer strength, authority and some immunity has become a mark of the beast, the costume of those who must die. Progressively, the forces of insecurity seem to be armed with a compass systematically targeted at suffocating the arteries of our shrinking national sovereignty. Beginning from the North East, the campaign of untidy conquest and sporadic occupations has spread steadily to the North West. North Central and now the South East. Abuja is within gun sights as panic has been reported even in the most hallowed precincts. Lagos is stressed as the remaining bastion of economic survival erupts ever so frequently in cult clashes and daylight gang upheaval. Geidam, the Yobe state home town of the new IG of police, is

Buhari effectively under the control of Boko Haram, invaded with little or no resistance. The Governor of Niger State says Boko Haram is within two hours of Abuja, having hoisted their flag in five Niger State local governments. As if that was not enough, Boko Haram has taken over homes, confiscated people’s wives and has now begun collecting taxes in the affected areas. In effect, Boko Haram has mapped a bloody trail of sporadic occupations and conquests from Lake Chad and Maiduguri to parts of Niger and Bauchi State. Kaduna state is effectively a theatre of war, with a daily count of kidnappings, shootings, abductions and sectarian blood letting on a scale that is hard to understand. In the South East, a range of carefully selected strategic targets have come under systematic attack in recent weeks. Police formations, stations posts and correctional institutions in Imo, Anambra, Abia and pats of Akwa Ibom states have been razed and law enforcement personnel killed at a frightening rate. Arms and ammunitions are being lost to non -state actors in these daily raids. From most indications, groups like IPOB may have entered an active combat stage in their separatist struggle in obvious retaliation to the violent crackdown of the state. Vigilantes and private armies armed and equipped by stupendously rich politicians are equally at work. They are on the prowl, wreaking vengeance on opponents on behalf of their patrons through acts of arson, murder and pillage. It is now hard to make a distinction between jihadists, bandits, armed political thugs and free lance criminals in a national free for all where criminality has graduated into a thriving enterprise. The state as the ultimate guarantor of security and order is everywhere under siege. The army, police and other security agencies that we have so lavishly funded to protect us are overwhelmed by the fire power of armed non- state competitors. The sense of national sovereignty that sustained Nigeria for the fifty years after a sad civil war is gradually shrinking as we watch helplessly while swathes of our national territory have come under the armed control of all manner of hoodlums, bandits, separatists and extremist terrorists. Literally outgunned and outnumbered by armed competitors it created and empowered by default or design, the state is literally gasping for breadth. The superiority of force which confers pre-eminence on every nation state is today in doubt in Nigeria. A strong and capable state does not negotiate and appeal to criminals that constrict the freedom and liberty of citizens or threaten their lives, limbs and livelihood. As we speak, no one has had the courage to tell us whether Nigeria is at peace or at war. But our citizens know they are living in a theatre of war. Even in a war situation, the choice is simple. Who goes there? Enemy or friend? If you choose wisely, you live. Otherwise, you perish as part of conflict statistics. But in Nigeria today, there is neither friend nor outright foe. Reality wears an inscrutable mask. People die needless deaths. Government can neither guarantee the fierce protection of a war situation nor the secure tranquility of peace time. Increasing the numerical strength of the armed forces without disarming the illegal armed contestants is futile. Inequality, poverty, porous borders and insecurity as an industry are producing armed criminals at a pace faster than the state can ever match with its declining resources. Regular soldiers and police men need time for training and a budget to be equipped and armed. Bandits need only a phone invitation, an AK -47 sourced from hell and a few hours of weapons training. Soldiers and policemen are supposed to be inspired by patriotism and protection of national sovereignty. For bandits and outlaws, hunger, anger and greed are the only sources of morale. The more politically charged segments of the elite are now asking whether Nigeria as we have come to know it can survive in tact with all the forces of stress and tension pulling the nation in many different separatist directions. The ugly message of ‘re-structuring’ and national separation has trickled down to the markets, village squares, churches, mosques and bus stops. Ordinary people have begun to imagine themselves as citizens of unlikely places like

Oduduwa Republic, Biafra, Arewa Republic and the like. How did we get here? In the period between 1970 and 2015, greater inclusiveness became the bedrock of a new national order. Through balancing acts like the zoning formula adopted by successive political parties for key political offices and observance of the federal character principle, Nigerians built up a sense of national community based on balancing and compromise. National survival and cohesiveness became a function of sustaining the inclusiveness that makes us a diverse polity and a multi cultural society. Among ordinary Nigerians, this sense of give and take had become an axiom of national life. It fuelled social and cultural interactions and an acceptance of our diversity. Nigerian Moslems celebrated Christmas as much as their Christian compatriots observed and celebrated the various Moslem holy festivities. Children of Moslem elite were as comfortable in Western fashion and cultural norms just as Nigerian Christian holiday makers opted for Dubai and Abu Dhabi as their favorite holiday destinations. The harmless Fulani herdsmen were a common sight across the country and posed no danger to anyone. The difference between the incumbent Buhari administration and all his post civil war predecessors is his systematic and deliberate policy of nepotism and exclusion of ‘other’ Nigerians from the pinnacle of state power and patronage. For Mr. Buhari, Nigeria seems to begin and end in a concentric circle that spans outwards from Daura, Katsina State, North West, North East and North Central and then fades into ‘other’ parts of Nigeria. Some have blamed this nativism on the man’s limited national exposure. I do not agree. He has been military commander around the country, a military head of state, roving politician and now elected president for nearly six years. This is enough exposure to cultivate a national network of competent Nigerians to entrust with the affairs of the nation. Under the Buhari administration, therefore, we have suddenly woken up to a nation divided along all conceivable lines. The harmless Fulani herdsmen of yesterday have been replaced by roving AK-47 wielding criminals. Churches and mosques have become the favourite targets of senseless suicide bombers. Christians and Moslems now find themselves on different sides of an avoidable divide. As the government looks on literally unperturbed, the politics of ethnicity and regionalism has re-emerged to exploit the sense of insecurity and the openly divisive politics of the central government. In a predominantly ethnocentric society in which the dominant mentality of the majority is to interpret government actions, policies and appointments from a purely ethnocentric perspective, Buhari has fed a latent monster and it has returned to haunt us all. A restive political class whose political socialization is rooted in primordial sensibilities now has a ready turf to play on. From being proud Nigerians, we are now children of Oduduwa, Biafrans, Children of Arewa, Niger Deltans and Middle Beltans etc. Our preferred security architecture now boasts of strange formations like Amotekun, Ebube Agu, Civilian Joint Task Force and sundry other nameless militias armed by incumbent politicians. A rudderless economic policy template has worsened the poverty and inequality that have always been with us. While India, China and Brazil pride themselves in the millions of their citizens they have migrated out of poverty in the last decade, Nigeria now stands out as the one resource endowed nation that has migrated the largest percentage (almost 40%) of its population into avoidable poverty in the same time frame. The poverty capital of the world now has over 100 million Nigerians in it! Perhaps nothing else explains the epidemic of insecurity in today’s Nigeria than the unprecedented inequality and crisis of abject poverty. Poverty and uncertainty have deepened Nigeria’s most stubborn pre-existing condition: systemic corruption. The very security forces entrusted with the task of securing the nation cannot credibly account for billions of dollars in extra budgetary security and defense spending in recent years. Overflowing bureaucracies at federal and state levels ensure that often inflated charges for recurrent expenditure take precedence over much needed spending on social services like education, health and social welfare. The provisions for capital development are often inflated by a legislature that places a price tag on basic oversight functions. The already impoverished majority are further burdened with ever increasing taxes on gasoline, electricity, airport use and tolls on badly maintained roads. By the moment, the urgency of the emergency we face is recasting the defining questions of our national life. Those who believe in democracy are wondering whether routine democracy can dig Nigeria out of the ditch dug for us by the Buhari presidency. At best, the nagging question is whether in fact the precarious state of our national security will allow Mr. Buhari to get to the end of his tenure in 2023. On this, we really have no choice. Only democracy offers the way out of our present quagmire. We must not entertain the nightmare of alternative forms of regime change. Nor should we encourage the political hounds in Abuja to chase off the beleaguered President through an untidy impeachment move. That is lazy politics. The legislature, executive and the professional managers of violence should work together to contain the security situation in the context of democratic norms. Still, Nigeria’s current existential insecurity poses a novel question for both political theory and practice: the poser is simply this: When a democratically elected leadership runs a nation aground, can democracy save itself and also salvage the nation so endangered?

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

NEWS Downsizing Won’t End Fiscal Crisis, Experts Warn

News Editor: Gboyega Akinsanmi E-mail: ÑÌÙãÏÑË˛ËÕÓØÝËØ×Ó̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙ×˜͸΀͹ͽͺͻͽ΁ͺͽͻ

Utomi urges FG to sell 3% from NLNG shares Yusuf, Oyedele seek removal of fuel subsidy Gboyega Akinsanmi

As the federal and state governments are consider stringent measures in response to the prevailing fiscal crisis, public finance experts yesterday warned that reducing staff strength would complicate their challenges rather than solving them. Rather than downsizing or rightsizing, the experts challenged the governments to come up with creative fiscal strategies to improve public finance, recommending fuel subsidy removal and creating an enabling environment to attract foreign direct investments, among others. Nigeria’s leading political economist, Prof Pat Utomi; Director-General, Lagos Chambers of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), Dr. Muda Yusuf and Fiscal Policy Partner, PwC Nigeria, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele made these recommendations in separate interviews with THISDAY yesterday. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had alerted the federal and state governments to its dwindling contribution to the federation account as a result of the bloated fuel subsidy. The state oil giant had noted that it would only be remitting N12.966 billion to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FACC) in June after deducting the value of fuel subsidy from its income. The document, which was attached to a letter written to the Accountant General of the Federation, was dated April 26 and signed by the NNPC’s Chief Financial Officer, Umar Isa. Consequently, the letter had

sparked stern responses with President Muhammadu Buhari directing the presidential committee on salaries and wages to review and realign earnings of employees of ministries, agencies, and parastatals while some state governments were considering downsizing. With these stringent measures under consideration, Utomi warned that downsizing would complicate the fiscal quagmire for both federal and state government while Oyedele said it would worsen the country’s existing social and security challenges. Yusuf canvassed outright removal of the fuel subsidy regime, describing it as an important element of the solution to the fiscal crisis and seeking a creative exit strategy from the subsidy quagmire. Utomi explained the budget crisis from two interrelated perspectives, which according to him, revealed the government was receiving enough dollars to fund the budget on the one hand and crude oil prices and sales ran into turbulence in the global oil market on the other hand. He said the country’s public finance funding primarily “depends on oil receipt. Also, internally generated revenue (IGR) cannot go up at the time businesses are struggling and companies are retrenching. Right now, the private sector is in a weak position. In fact, increasing taxes will compound our problems.”Utomi, therefore, warned against retrenching in the public service, which according to him would compound the country’s economic and security challenges at the time inflation was on the steady increase and unemployment

rate unduly scary. Rather than downsizing, Utomi noted that the country required more creative approaches to improve public finance, citing the need for the federal government to leverage on its national assets to attract funds locally and internationally. He cited the case of Federal Secretariat in Lagos, which according to him, had not been attracting the kind of commercial revenue it should generate in taxes after 30 years of relocating to Abuja. He said: “If we do things properly in Nigeria, we should not be in this mess. We should internationally value assets like the Federal Secretariat and list in our asset register. Foreign capital will be flowing in to energise such assets to create

more wealth.” Utomi, also, cited the case of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), which he said, was the most profitable investment in the country given the billion of dollars it had been generating for the governments at all levels. He rhetorically asked: “Can you imagine what will be flowing into the country if we list NLNG in the London Stock Exchange? Its value will be much higher than what it is now. We can sell 3% of NLNG shares to raise millions of dollars instead of borrowing to fund the budget.” The political economist, also, suggested the need “to improve the country’s regulatory environment,” noting that the country’s budgetary process would be quite better if it did

not have many regulatory crises. He, then, noted that creating a friendly and responsive regulatory environment “will make Nigeria a destination for investments. We need to give incentives to foreign companies to relocate. “Let us give a grant to those companies so that they can come here. Let us give tax holiday so that they can locate here. Let us give bank guarantees to secure loans so that they can locate. These are what local councils are doing in the United States. He, also, recommended sourcing private capitals finance infrastructure rather than funding it from the budget, saying there are no longer many places where governments finance

infrastructure from the budget. “Private capital is used significantly for infrastructure. Currently, there is $17.1 trillion currently at zero or negative interest rates. This fund is out there. The question is: are we attractive enough for them to come to Nigeria?” With the prevailing fiscal crisis, Yusuf challenged the political leaders at all levels to address the issues of high cost of governance and fiscal leakages in their various domains, urging them to scale up the culture of accountability in governance. Also, he emphasised the need to address the national concern around the restoration of true federalism to the federation, which he argued would encourage healthy competition among the federating units.

FOR EFFECTIVE POLICING . . L-R: Head, Sales and Marketing, Axxela Limited, Mr Tunde Baba-Agba; Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Security Trust Fund (OGSTF), Otunba Opeyemi Agbaje; Chief Executive Officer, Axxela Limited and Head, Community Relations & Security, Axxela Limited during the presentation of two brand new patrol vehicles to OGSTF in Victoria Island, Lagos… Friday

NFF Raises the Alarm over Rising Violence against Women, Girls Tobi Soniyi

The Nigerian Feminist Forum has expressed concern at the rising level of insecurity, despair, and bloodshed across the country even as it called on governments at all levels to put measures in place to protect women and girls. In a statement signed by its Communications Officer, Angela Nkwo, NFF said its meme bees were disheartened to see reports showing increase

in incidents of kidnapping, rape, sexual violence and murder, perpetuated on women and girls. The statement said: “We are compelled to call for the protection of women and girls throughout the country especially against all forms of gender-based violence. “We are concerned at the seeming absence of adequate internal security from the security agencies to protect the people, and call on the

government at all levels to rise up to their constitutional duty to ensure the protection of lives and properties in Nigeria.” The group stated that women and girls were routinely victims of sexual and gender-based violence, harassment, and the gradual and systematic breakdown of law and order might lead to a national crisis. NFF said recent kidnap under false pretences, rape

and murder of 20 year old philosophy graduate Iniobong Umoren by Uduak Akpan in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State had again raised the antenna on sexual violence experienced by women and girls. It said: “In Lagos, respected thespian, Olarenwaju Omiyinka, popularly known as Baba Ijesha was caught trying to defile a 14 year old minor, right in the comfort of her home even when he was a trusted family friend. Video

evidence circulating on social media. “There are countless persons violating the rights of girls and women walking free, not facing justice and causing more harm such as Uduak who had a history of sexual assault and rape.” NFF has therefore called on everyone no matter how highly placed to respect the dignity of every girl-child and woman, whilst reminding the authorities on the declared

#StateofEmergencyonSGBV. It also appealed to the Nigerian Governor’s Forum not to forget its promises and callout on addressing Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) within its ranks by peer-to-peer reviewing of those that have domesticated the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) and have demonstrated a robust prosecution of perpetrators of violence.

Adewole: How Nigeria Can Earn $20bn from Oil Palm Annually Gboyega Akinsanmi

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Okitipupa Oil Palm Plc, Mr. Taiwo Adewole yesterday asked the federal government to set up Oil Palm Development Trust Fund in partnership with producing states as a strategy to earn $20 billion from oil palm production annually. Adewole, a member of the Nigerian Oil Palm Growers

Association (NOPGA), noted that the development fund would help states with comparative advantages to increase oil palm production to the country’s needs and export to other countries that were not self-sufficient. He made the recommendation at a session with THISDAY at the weekend, disclosing that Nigeria “still imports 25% of its national requirements annually rather than being a leading

exporter of oil palm globally.” The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had revealed that Nigeria could make above $20billion annually from cultivation and processing of palm oil if it maintained its market dominance in the palm oil industry. In the 1960s, according to the apex bank, Nigeria was the world’s largest producer of palm oil, before it was over-taken by Indonesia and

Malaysia. However, Adewole said with mounting concern that Nigeria, a one time net exporter of palm oil and its allied products, today had become a net importer and losing the foreign exchange benefits that followed it. Today, according to him, Nigeria has slid to the 6th largest producer in both Africa and the world. Nigeria’s annual palm oil consumption

is 1.34 metric ton, while her average Annual production is 1.02 metric ton. She imports annually an average of 0.32 metric ton. Adewole, therefore, charged the federal government to create Oil Palm Development Trust Funds (OPDTF) in partnership with oil palm producing states, for the development of the crop and to bridge the widening gap between national demand and

national production. The managing director noted that the challenge to re-dress the embarrassing trend was a national task for all the stakeholders, with the government at the front. He noted that the oil palm development fund “has begun to play its role in this regard with the commencement of the development of additional 6,000 hectares of oil palm plantation around its base in Okitipupa.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͷ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

NEWSXTRA Alternate School Programme Will Reduce Number of Out-of-School Children, Farouk Reveals Tobi Soniyi

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Ms. Sadiya Farouk has said providing education for every child is the best way to secure Nigeria. The minister, in an interview with our correspondent said this informed the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the Alternate School Programme. She noted that Nigeria has more than 13 million children out of school and that the government was determined to make sure that no child was left out of school. She said: “This is where the Alternate School Programme comes in. It is an intervention programme focused on providing education in a flexible way to out-of-school children while also providing them with social investment Program benefits

“While there are many programmes from government and in the non-governmental space targeted at OOSC, the ASP is different because it also targets the humanitarian and social challenges faced by the OOSC. “There are many reasons children do not go to school even when the facility is available; for example: their households are unable to afford basic needs, they are pursuing apprenticeships, gender inequalities, social and cultural reasons, they are unable to access school structures etc.. “The ASP will bring basic education to these children so that they are equipped with the education and skills to be part of the social-economy as they grow. Every child has the right to education, no matter their circumstances and the ASP will be part of what ensures that for our country’s children.

“At a minimum these children will be equipped with arithmetic, literacy, basic technology and social studies education. The ASP will also pair the existing Social Investment Programs to their particular circumstances, for example with the Home Grown School Feeding these children will be provided nutrition when they are being

schooled.” According to her, the programme will benefit Nigerians in many ways. Apart from reducing the number of out of school children, the minister said it would also provide the children and their families with social protection. She said: “Some of these out of school children are loitering around

the towns and cities, others are at the markets, some are at the mechanic and spare-parts villages, some are at the motor parks, and many are the Almajiris (many are in Islamic schooling and care, others are just beggars on the streets) who are mainly in the Northern part of our country, etc. “Most of these children are

about 10 – 12 years today. In the next 10 years they will be 20 – 22. Already they are vulnerable to risks including: trafficking of children, stealing children, recruiting children in criminal activities, children on drugs, use of children in cultist activities etc. are consuming many of these children.”

APM Terminals Greets Shonekan at 85 The Board and Management of APM Terminals Nigeria have felicitated with elder statesman and former Head of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, on the occasion of his 85th birthday. Shonekan, a former Board Chairman of APM Terminals Apapa, is 85 today the 9th of May. The Country Manager of APM Terminals Nigeria, Klaus Laursen, in a statement issued by his office weekend, hailed Shonekan’s contribution to peace and stability in Nigeria, and to the economy of the country. He described the elder statesman as an accomplished administrator,

astute businessman and patriotic Nigerian. “Chief Ernest Shonekan GCFR is an epitome of patriotism, professionalism, commitment and diligence. He is a rare breed and an embodiment of high-level achievements. “On behalf of APM Terminals Nigeria, we thank him for his immense contribution to the economic development of Nigeria and to APM Terminals,” Mr. Laursen said. He said APM Terminals would continue to appreciate Shonekan’s fatherly counsel. He prayed to God Almighty to grant him happiness and good health in the years ahead.

Accord Party Begins Preparation for Lagos Council Election Sunday Ehigiator

Accord Party (AP), Lagos State, yesterday announced sale of forms to anyone wishing to contest for council chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillor positions, under the party’s umbrella. The chairman of the chapter, Mr. Joseph Beckley disclosed this at the weekend while addressing journalists in Lagos State. The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LAISEC) had scheduled the forthcoming council elections for July 24. In compliance with the directive, Beckley said the party “is fully prepared to field candidates for the forthcoming elections “and there is no going back on our arrangement.” He added that Accord Party “is one of the foremost political parties in the country that is youth focused and more connected to the grassroots. “Due to these reasons, we make sure that prices for our forms are better affordable to youth and we don’t believe in ‘godfatherism’ “In our party, everyone has an equal chance to aspire for any political office in the

country. We believe this is the only way to maintain peace and unity not only among members of the party, but throughout Nigeria as a whole.” After due consultation among the party leaders and also factoring every variables and electoral logistics involved, Beckley disclosed that the party resolved that the chairmanship form would go for N500,000; vice-chairmanship for N100,000 and councillor form for N150,000. According to him, this is far less than you will have in other political parties because we are more concerned about inclusive government that would meet up with the needs of the people at the grassroots. He added that the sales of forms had begun since April 27, and is scheduled to close by May 25, 2021. A statement signed by the chapter’s Publicity Secretary, Oladeji Tosin also revealed that the party had inaugurated a seven man ‘2021 Lagos LG Election Steering Committee’ to set-up modalities for the council election, oversee the sales of forms and screening of applicants.

DEDICATED TO CHRIST . . . Former presidential spokesman, Reno Omokri and his wife, Hana dedicates their daughter at the Debre Genet Kidist Selassie, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, London... yesterday

Campbell: Nigerian Elite Panicky, Weighing Radical Options Bayo Akinloye

A former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell has described Nigeria’s political elites as panicky and as such, considering “radical options” against the backdrop of the worsening insecurity in Nigeria, although they have yet to agree on “radical restructuring” of the country. Campbell, the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in his latest post on the CFR website that, some Nigerian movers and shakers appeared panicky over the worsening security nationwide. He cited calls by a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole

Soyinka, for President Muhammadu Buhari to seek foreign assistance to tackle the nation’s deterioration of security. “The bottom line is that... something of a consensus among Nigerian elites seems to be forming that the country is in deep trouble and that radical options must be considered,” Campbell pointed out. Last Sunday, Robert Clarke (SAN), often critical of the Buhari government, had raised a fresh dust,when he recommended that the country’s democratically-elected administration should hand over power to the military to save Africa’s most populous nation from disintegrating as he wondered whether Nigeria would survive another six months. However, the former U.S.

diplomat, who had served twice in Nigeria, as a political counsellor from 1988 to 1990, and as an ambassador from 2004 to 2007, further noted: “But no consensus exists about what state collapse would look like, what the way forward should be, and what’ radical restructuring of the Nigerian state’ would actually mean or how it could be achieved. “For now, however, the outlook would seem to be continuing, perhaps accelerating instability and uncertainty.” On April 27, President Buhari, in a virtual meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, requested that the headquarters of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) be moved

from Germany to Africa so that it would be closer to the fighting against terrorism in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Campbell noted: “In the face of the deterioration of security, doom and gloom about the future of Nigeria is widespread in public discourse. Still, Clarke went further than most—and on national television.” “Buhari’s AFRICOM request is an indication of a willingness to consider hitherto unacceptable options. Twenty-two years after the military left power and civilian, ostensibly democratic federalism was restored, it is striking that the army felt it necessary to issue a denial of any intention to seize power,” he added.

Again, Gunmen Attack A’Ibom Police, Kill Five Ofﬁcers Okon Bassey in Uyo

Gunmen have murdered five police officers and a wife of an officer during an attack on the Divisional Police Office, Odoro Ikpe in Ini Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. The attack took place barely a week after the bandits invaded the Divisional Police Office at Ibiaku Ntok Okpo, Ikono Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. The bandits, according to our findings, attacked the

police facility in the early hours of Saturday. The hoodlums also destroyed facilities, vehicles and other valuables at the station. Speaking with THISDAY yesterday, the spokesman of Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Mr. Odiko MacDon confirmed the attack, saying he was at the scene for an on-the-spot assessment. Odiko, a Superintendent of Police, said: “Yes, there was an attack at the Divisional Police headquarters, Odoro Ikpe in

Ini Local government area. “Six persons comprising five police officers and the wife of a serving police officer were killed during the attack. I am at the station as we speak,” he said In Akwa Ibom State, police stations and other security posts have been targets of serial armed attacks recently, leading to the death of officers and destruction of facilities, including utility vehicles and infrastructures. Disturbed by Saturday’s

attacks, the Chairman of Ini LGA, Mr. Israel Idaisin alleged that the invasion was from the Eastern Security Network (ESN). He said the gunmen, who came in two buses and a Sienna car filled with armed men numbering more than 40, arrived Ini LGA with sophisticated weapons broke into the police facility at precisely 2:45 a.m. killing five policemen on duty, burning of vehicles while inflicting injuries on others.”

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER MAY 9, 2021

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by: Duro Ikhazuagbe email:Duro.Ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Chelsea Delay Man City’s Coronation as Premier League Champions Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report

ergio Aguero made a mess of a Panenka penalty as Chelsea ensured Manchester City must wait a little longer to wrap up the Premier League title by Àghting back to earn a dramatic 2-1 win at Etihad Stadium. City, needing three points to become champions of England for the seventh time, took the lead just before half-time through Raheem Sterling’s close-range strike. Aguero had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 from the spot moments later when Billy Gilmour fouled Gabriel Jesus, but the Argentina striker opted for a dinked eͿort that was easily saved by Edouard Mendy. It proved a costly miss, as Chelsea improved after the break and equalised when Cesar Azpilicueta set up Hakim Ziyech to Àre home from the edge of the area. The visitors had two more eͿorts ruled out for oͿside before Marcus Alonso won it for them in injury time, meeting Timo Werner’s pull-back and sending the ball looping over Ederson. This was Chelsea’s second win over City in the space of three weeks, following their victory in the FA Cup semi-Ànal at Wembley in April. The two sides will meet again in the Champions League Ànal in Istanbul at the end of this month. This result can only give Chelsea extra conÀdence for that game, as well as providing a big boost to their hopes of a top-four Ànish, but in truth this encounter oͿered few clues to how their next meeting will be decided. City boss Pep Guardiola made nine changes to the side that beat Paris St-

Sergio Aguero (in front) ﬂunked the Panenka-styled panelty against Chelsea last night. Now, Man City will have to wait longer before being crowned champions of the English Premier League

Germain here on Tuesday, while his Chelsea counterpart Thomas Tuchel made Àve - and the result was a disjointed performance from both sides. Elsewhere on the evening, Patrick Bamford scored for Leeds United in front of watching England boss Gareth Southgate to help dent Tottenham’s European chances.

In an absorbing game at Elland Road, Stuart Dallas put Leeds ahead with his eighth league goal of the season, the Northern Ireland midÀelder pouncing from close range after Hugo Lloris’ terriÀc reaction save to prevent Sergio Reguilon putting through his own net. The lead lasted 12 minutes, Son Heungmin equalising with a clinical Ànish after

Dele Alli was allowed to run unchallenged before threading a clever pass into the South Korea forward’s path. But Leeds responded through Bamford, who tapped in Ezgjan Alioski’s cross before substitute Rodrigo conÀrmed Spurs’ Àrst league defeat in three games under interim manager Ryan Mason.

Impressive Eze again Shows His Potentials as Palace Consolidate Status AFN: Nigeria Athletes Focused on Qualifying for Tokyo Relay Events Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report

Nigeria target, Eberechi Eze, was on target yesterday as Crystal Palace secured their Premier League status for another season with a comfortable 2-0 victory at already-relegated She΀eld United. Ebere who is on the radar of Super Eagles Head Coach, Gernot Rohr to beef up his attacking midÀeld, broke forward late on to convert a second and secure

Crystal Palace’s Àrst win in Àve games, putting them beyond reach of third-bottom Fulham. That capped a Àne performance by the English midÀelder, 22, who breezed past Egan in the opening minute before laying oͿ to Christian Benteke, whose shot deÁected oͿ George Baldock and over Ramsdale into the Blades’ net for the opening goal. Crystal Palace have signed Eze and Tyrick Mitchell, 21, to long-term deals and they could

be mainstays in the Palace side for years to come. Deployed in an attacking midÀeld role, Eze continued an impressive Àrst season since making a £19.5m move from Championship side QPR. He was a constant threat with his pace and poise on the ball. He laid on the opener and dispossessed Chris Basham before Àring narrowly wide in the Àrst half. In the Àrst half, Eze also found Wilfried Zaha, whose

shot was blocked by Egan, and he burst forward again to clinch victory. Eze broke down the left and cut inside, feinting past a couple of defenders before scu΀ng a shot into the bottom corner. Palace now need just three wins from their last four matches to reach 50 points for the Àrst time in a Premier League campaign. If Eze and Mitchell continue to develop, the Eagles will hope to be challenging for a top-half Ànish next term.

Bayern Win Ninth Straight Bundesliga Title with Three Matches to Spare Bayern Munich were crowned champions of Germany for the ninth straight season yesterday after nearest challengers RB Leipzig lost to Borussia Dortmund. Leipzig, who started the day seven points behind the leaders with three games left, went down 3-2. England’s Jadon Sancho doubled the lead after Marco Reus got the Àrst goal. Lukas Klostermann and Dani Olmo made it 2-2

before Sancho’s winner conÀrmed Bayern as champions before their game with Borussia Monchengladbach. In April, Bayern announced RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmannwould join them on a Àve-year contract at the end of this season after current boss Hansi Flick said he wanted to leave the club. Meanwhile, Dortmund’s win lifted them to fourth spot and kept alive their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.

Bayern Munich players celebrating their ninth straight Bundesliga title...yesterday

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has described as a total fabrication the report that the purported dropping of some coaches from Team Nigeria’s trip to the USA to secure qualiÀcations for the relay events of the Tokyo Olympics is unsettling some athletes. TheAFN described the story as a Àgment of imagination of the writer. “Thereportisuntrueandacalculatedattempt to distract the team from achieving the goal of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics relay events and achieving podium appearances at the Games proper,” Secretary General of the AFN, PrinceAdisa Beyioku said in a statement at the weekend. Beyioku insisted that it was the prerogative of the federation to pick the coaches and athletes for any competition. “It is the prerogative of the federation to pick the team (coaches and athletes) to any competition based on pre-championship or Games rules set by the federation. “The USAtrip does not qualify as a championship or Games where elite athletes require the presence of their personal coaches. The objective for going to the USAis to secure qualiÀcations for the relay teams and it requires coaches who have had the experience of taking our team for relay training and qualiÀcation,” stressed the AFN scribe.

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ALGON to Makinde “It was a display of executive rascality on the part of Governor Seyi Makinde to sack democratically elected council oﬃcials.” – Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) while calling on the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) to postpone council elections in the state following the Supreme Court’s judgment reversing the governor’s decision.

WAZIRIADIO POSTSCRIPT

waziri.adio@thisdaylive.com

The Limits of Personal Example “The first and the greatest victory is to conquer yourself”– Plato

arrived in public office as a public critic. Most Nigerians are critics of the system in various ways. We rail and rant to our families and friends, and with the advent of social media, on our timelines. I had the honour of being a member of the commentariat quite early and for so long. I started writing a column on the back-page of THISDAY in 1999, was an editorial page editor for a few years, and a member of the paper’s editorial board for some time. I did more than my share of x-raying the system and its operators, and railing against them. At a point, I was called “the angry young man” in some circles. It was a derisive label that I came to like. My abandoned collection of essays in the early 2000s was to be titled: “The Anatomy of Anger.” So, being in public office posed a dual challenge to me: when given the opportunity, can this critic get the job done and can he walk his talk? For five breathless years, I served as the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). I drove myself and the team hard to ensure that we had concrete achievements to point to during and by the end of my non-renewable tenure. How we fared on that score is better adjudged by others. But I am proud of the little we were able to achieve, even with all the unadvertised constraints. However, I am prouder of my ability to remain myself, my refusal to get sucked into the grandeur and permissiveness that we weave around public office in Nigeria, the conscious decision to uphold, largely through myself, the values I hold dear. Ordinarily, most of the things I did in this wise should not warrant a drop of ink. But that is exactly the point: they are so basic as to be taken for granted elsewhere, but mostly notable by their near absence in our country. For a start, we continue to have a problematic relationship with public office. With our mostly monarchical heritage possibly playing a part, we elevate public office holders to the pedestal of royalty, ply them with perks and protections that have little to do with their tasks. We expect them to use public resources to take care of themselves, their families, friends and communities as long as they are kind enough to bend the rules for us here and there. This is a well-studied pathology. Scholars from Max Weber to Francis Fukuyama spoke about patrimonialism. Richard Joseph implicates prebendalism in the fall of our Second Republic. And in his seminal essay, the late Peter Ekeh gave insights into our amoral relations with the civic realm. In my short stint in public office, I encountered various manifestations of this well-theorised malaise. I will touch on a few areas, some of them quite mundane but highlighted because they serve as windows to larger issues. The first is that I resisted the attempt by those who would rather treat me as a “big man” or the temptation to treat myself as one just because I was merely lucky to be appointed the head of a government agency.

President Muhammadu Buhari I remain convinced that the ostentation, obsequiousness, and idolatry that we have inserted into public service are not only unnecessary but also obscene and open to abuse. In a society where what is public can easily be privatised and where existing checks can easily be compromised, such permissiveness can easily feed into the megalomania, insecurities and greed of duty bearers and invariably lead to further immiseration of the collective. A year into my tenure, I ran into two friends at the airport in Abuja. I was travelling alone and was doing what normal people with the benefit of two hands do: drawing my two bags myself. Jokingly, one of the friends wondered if I was really working in government. A few minutes before we met, they had encountered another head of a federal agency surrounded by gun-toting security-men. This person held a position that did not warrant any such protection. As the head of an agency beaming the searchlight on the still dominant oil sector and always talking about unremitted or unpaid billions of dollars, I could make a better claim for state protection than that my colleague. But I never asked for one because I actually did not need one. Beyond having unnecessary security detail mostly for egoistic reasons and denying the public of badly-needed security, it is not unusual for some public officials to drive in convoys, push other road-users out of the way, terrorise their neighbours with sirens. While some public officials may need such, my conclusion is that most do not. I have always been a simple person. Public office didn’t change that. We lived in our semi-detached three-bedroom bungalow on the outskirt of Abuja for almost two years of my time at NEITI before we moved to a rented house closer to town. I drove in my 2011 Passat to and from work for most of my tenure. I used the official vehicle strictly for official duties. And that did not include taking our then six-year-old to school on my way to work or going out for lunch in the afternoon or going for Jummat prayers. For this, I drew inspiration from the late Lateef Jakande, an outstanding public administrator, who, as the governor of Lagos State, lived in his own house in Ilupeju and drove in

his own car. I had a clear line about what is private and what is official. For instance, school-run was a private activity, and our child did not have a place in an official vehicle—so I had to take her in my car. But it is not unusual for most public servants to use public property for clearly private purposes, including unofficial travels and errands for their spouses. To be honest, I also chose to drive in my car most of the time for practical purposes: to not tie myself to the desperation to keep the job, to be able to move freely and stay grounded, or to be able to eat my lunch in peace in a restaurant without being besieged by potential contractors or job seekers. Our expectation of public office in Nigeria is a grossly distorted one. In other societies, citizens mostly approach public service in what can be simplified as either customer service or service to shareholders. In the first role, they expect to be well served; in the other, they expect their agents to adopt the most cost-effective means. Despite what most people say publicly, this is my sense of their expectations: government work is not meant to be exacting; public servants are expected to be mostly patronage-dispensing machines, and in the spirit of “where the goat is tethered is where it eats” it is not really seen as bad for public servants to take advantage of their positions for personal gains. These dispositions may appear harmless, but they spawn the vaulting sense of entitlement and status, the soughing lack of urgency and sense of duty, and the pervasive unfairness, waste and predation that contribute to the governance deficits in our society. I chose to work with a different set of expectations. I consciously opted to always go beyond prescribed minimums and found ways to signal a business-unusual approach. But this did not discourage those who wanted business to be usual. For example, I received torrent of requests for processes to be bent to give contracts or employments. Some of these requests for manipulation came from people who are otherwise very decent, religious even, and they made the requests without any hint of dissonance, a confirmation of Ekeh’s thesis about how what we see as immoral in the primordial realm is not seen as immoral in the civic realm, our legendary bifurcation of morality. I insisted that procurements and the few recruitments must be done fairly, competitively, and transparently. In my first meeting with the procurement team, I told them on my own that no matter the pressure brought on me, I would never tell them to manipulate the process for anyone, and if I ever did, they should refuse and remind me of my pledge. Steering clear of conflict of interests remains a big deal for me. I left a standing instruction that the office must never buy food or pastries from my wife who runs a bakery and a food business, and that if anyone did I would not approve the payment. I turned down allowances or perks that didn’t make sense or appeared wasteful to me and insisted that not everything that is allowed should be done; I asked that even token gifts like hampers be returned,

and if not possible shared or donated, and I tried to institute a gift policy. Also, the job was never a sinecure for me. I actually threw myself into it, got to the office before most of the staff, closed after most, and did more than just hold meetings or treat files: I actually spent a considerable amount of time reading, editing, and writing reports. To ensure prudence, I worked for most part from a very basic office (it is the people and not the football-pitch-sized and glitzy offices that get the work done), I insisted on travelling economy class even before there was a circular to that effect, and I travelled only when absolutely necessary and stayed for minimum days possible, retired advances given (even when shown that the rule didn’t stipulate that) and returned whatever amount due for return. This provided the moral authority to check the entitlement dispositions of others, an endeavour that didn’t win me plaudits. I have nothing against earned wealth and comfort, but my attitude is that we should spend public money more prudently than we spend private one, not the other way round. This attitude was conditioned by a few things. One, public office is at its core a moral undertaking, as positions are held in trust, not at the expense of the collective. Two, there are existing rules, codes, regulations and even laws designed to tame the base human instinct to take undue advantage of positions, but they can be undermined easily by a permissive culture. Three, there is a lot those at the top can do, beyond delivering on their core mandate, to set the tone and shape behaviours of others. And indeed, it is important to acknowledge that there are more than a few public officials doing a lot in modelling a prudent and an ethical approach to public life in Nigeria, but my sense is that they are still in the minority. On deep reflection, I have come to conclude on why this is so: though leading by example is necessary and has its personal and public utility, it has its limits. It goes back to the unsettled debate about individual agency and the operating environment/culture. In our case, the overarching norms and cultural narratives around state-society relations not only impose costs and reduce the incentive for the multiplication of this breed but also circumscribe the impact of personal example especially at such a limited level. We still run a system where those who try to be different are seen simply as outliers to be tolerated, and possibly labelled as naive or wicked; they are treated as curios to be admired, not replicated, and as temporary passers-by to be timed out if not undermined. While not discounting the power of individual agency, I will submit that the real arena for lasting change is the reform of the dysfunctional culture around public office. The individual cannot replace the environment. t"EJP B WJTJUJOH GFMMPX BU UIF "GSJDBO 4UVEJFT $FOUSF PG UIF 6OJWFSTJUZ PG 0YGPSE JT XPSLJOH PO B CPPL BOE TPNF FTTBZT PO IJT TUJOU BT UIF &YFDVUJWF 4FDSFUBSZ PG /&*5*

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