SUNDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2020

NPA: INTELS Withholding FG’s $304.675M from Service Boat Revenue Says pilotage contract expired, not cancelled ‘Logistics firm acts as agent to govt, IOCs’ Eromosele Abiodun The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has accused Integrated Logistic Services (INTELS) Nigeria Limited of refusing to remit to the federal

government service boat pilotage revenue in the firm’s custody, which amounted to $207.646 million (N78.905 billion) as at September 30, 2019. NPA said the money was aside from service

boat pilotage revenue for January 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020 amounting to $97.029 million, which adds up to $307.675 million (N115.775 billion) in the custody of INTELS, Nigeria’s largest

logistics company.

Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman, stated this in an exclusive interview with THISDAY. Bala-Usman also clarified that its service boat pilotage

contract with INTELS was not cancelled, as widely construed, but only expired last month. She said the process for renewal of the contract was being frustrated by the manipulation of court

processes by INTELS. The NPA managing director decried what she called the impunity of INTELS and its disregard for the federal Continued on page 5

ECOWAS Insists on Okonjo-Iweala for WTO Top Job… Page 8 Sunday 20 September, 2020 Vol 25. No 9295

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Facebook to Open Second African Office in Lagos Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja The global tech and social media giant, Facebook, has announced its readiness to open an office in Lagos in

December. The announcement of the office, which would be the company’s second office in Africa, after the one in Johannesburg, followed a meeting with Vice President

Yemi Osinbajo.

During the virtual fireside chat by Osinbajo in Abuja and Facebook's Vice President on Global Affairs and Communications and

former United Kingdom's Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Nick Clegg in California, on Friday, the Nigerian number two citizen pledged the federal government's commitment to

improvement of the country's technology sector and the digital economy.

According to a statement by the vice president's spokesman, Mr. Laolu Akande, Clegg said

he was impressed by Nigeria’s broadband goals and what the Nigerian government was doing to improve the Continued on page 8

In Major Victory, Obaseki Leads in Edo Guber Poll With over 60% results in, his lead seems insurmmountable Edo gov, main challenger, Oshiomhole, Shaibu, Akerele deliver polling units Election peaceful despite skirmishes

Nseobong Okon-Ekong, Chuks Okocha, Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja In a major upset, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, may have done the seemingly impossible. The results of the election so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reflects a pattern that might be indicative of the outcome of yesterday’s fiercely contested governorship election.

As Obaseki very early yesterday opened what appears to be an insurmmountable lead over his rival and main challenger, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osagie Ize-Iyamu, with well over 60 per cent of the results published by INEC on

its result portal.

The electoral commission, as at 4.46am this morning had released results of 1,858 polling units’ out of the 2,627 in the state and the APC candidate was clearly trailing in many of the polling units state wide.

Polling units’ results from seven local government areas of Igueben, Esan Central, Esan North-east, Esan South-east, Akoko Edo, Ikpoba Okha and Owan East, gave Obaseki an early advantage over his main rival, APC’s Ize-Iyamu.

According to tally of results on INEC portal, in Igueben, the incumbent, who is seeking re-election, polled 7,870 votes, while his main rival garnered 5,199 votes. In Esan central, Obaseki secured 10,964 votes while Ize-Iyamu trailed with 6,719 votes, and in Esan Northeast, the PDP candidate polled Continued on page 8

Obaseki

Ize-Iyamu

Places of Worship, Entertainment, Gyms to Open in Lagos, Says Sanwo-Olu…Page 5

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Places of Worship, Entertainment, Gyms to Open in Lagos, Says Sanwo-Olu Segun James Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered the reopening of places of worship in the state. Sanwo-Olu said mosques could hold their prayers five times daily, while churches could also commence weekly services.

Worship centres had been restricted to one gathering weekly after they were allowed to reopen following the easing of the lockdowns put in place to check the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

The governor said public and private schools should resume fully from Monday, September 21.

Sanwo-Olu made the pronouncements during his eighteenth update on coronavirus as the Incident Commander. He also said it had become necessary to issue clarifications regarding the resumption of schools, to clear any confusion that might have arisen since the original announcement was made.

He stated, “It is important for all parents, guardians and stakeholders to note that there are different resumption schedules for Public and Private Schools in Lagos State. “Public Schools will adopt a phased protocol for resumption of physical classes. Students in JS 3 and SS 2 in public schools in Lagos State are to resume physical classes from Monday, the 21st of September, 2020.

This resumption will allow the JS 3 students to adequately revise and prepare for their forthcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) organised by the Lagos State Examination Board, and scheduled for Tuesday, 6th October until Monday, 12th of October, 2020.

“The resumption will also afford the present SS 2 students an opportunity to prepare effectively for their transition to SS 3. The scheduled dates and venues for Entrance Examination into Lagos State Model Colleges will be announced in due course by the Lagos State Examination Board. “For all other public-school classes – All Primary School Classes, and JS 1, JS 2, and SS 1, announcements for resumption will be made as soon as the Lagos State Government is satisfied that all necessary resumption protocols have been put in place.�

The governor said those yet to resume classes in public schools were to continue their lessons on the distance learning platforms (online, radio, television, and WhatsApp) pending their physical resumption.

He said the private primary and secondary schools were permitted to resume from September 21. “We have strongly advised school owners and managers to put safety first and open in phases similar to the announced schedule for public schools,� he stated. “We have also advised private primary and secondary school owners and managers to seriously consider implementing a staggered daily resumption schedule, classes on alternate days during the week, and utilisation of distance learning methods as a complement to physical classes,� the governor added.

He said all private primary and secondary schools were to comply with safety protocols and hygiene guidelines as instructed by the state government through the

Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA).

Sanwo-Olu, however, said all “Pre-Primary – Nursery, Daycare Centres and Kindergarten – classes and schools in both public and private schools will remain closed until further announcements are made by the Lagos State Government.�

He disclosed that as at Friday, September 18, Lagos State had conducted close to 100,000 tests; and recorded a total of 18,854 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The governor said of that number, 15,598 had recovered in community, 592 were currently active in community, and 207 had died. “Our management strategy

in Lagos State continues to focus on a combination of admission to COVID-19 Care Centres for some cases, and Home-Based care and support for asymptomatic, mild or moderate cases,� he stated.

He said the state had decentralised its sample collection to the 57 local council development areas to increase testing for COVID-19.

The governor said the state had also recently accredited 10 private laboratories, in addition to the existing four public laboratories. “All incoming travellers to Lagos State must be certified by testing to be COVID-19-free before and

after arrival in the state. We encourage outbound travellers to also do a COVID-19 test 72 hours before departure to avoid inconveniences at their respective destinations,� the governor said.

Sanwo-Olu said since the commencement of the flights into the country on September 5, “We have recorded a total of 50 flights – a daily average of six flights – carrying a total of almost 8,000 passengers.

Despite this inbound volume of passengers, our positivity rate still remains on the downward trend at under five per cent.

He stressed that from October, "We will announce

the decisions regarding the reopening of other sectors of the economy: night-clubs, bars, event centres, spas, public parks, and so on. For now, these will continue to remain closed, until fixed plans for reopening are announced in October 2020.�

Sanwo-Olu, however, warned, “We must not forget that the coronavirus pandemic is still very much with us, and we must, therefore, strive to prioritise the safety of all our children, teachers, parents, and the entire society. “All of these resumption guidelines and protocols must be strictly adhered to by the various stakeholders.�

AT KING'S COLLEGE LECTURE...

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, delivers virtually keynote remarks at the King's College 111th Founder's Day Lecture... yesterday

NPA: INTELS WITHHOLDING FG’S $304.675M FROM SERVICE BOAT REVENUE government, adding that the logistics company’s bid to use the court to frustrate the government is regrettable.

Giving a breakdown of the unremitted funds, Bala-Usman said the total unremitted reconciled service boat pilotage revenue in the custody of INTELS, after deduction of the firm’s 28 per cent agency commission and all other deductions, and adjustments, amounted to $152.377 million as at October 31, 2017.

According to her, “The total reconciled revenue generated for the periods November 11, 2017 to March 2018 amounted to $77.973 million, while the sum of $22.270 million ($20.63 million for INTELS and $1.631 million for other agents) was remitted to service boat dedicated TSA account, leaving an unremitted balance of $55.702 million in INTELS custody. “The total reconciled revenue for the periods August 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 amounted to $75.36 million, out of which other agents remitted $10.674 million, leaving an unremitted balance of $64.7 million. The total sum of $3.53 million was remitted into the service boat TSA account for the periods October 1, 2019 to December

31, 2019, leaving an unremitted balance of $81.841 million.�

Bala-Usman added, “NPA has requested INTELS to forward the service boat schedules for January 1, 2020 to June 2020 to enable commencement of the reconciliation by NPA. However, INTELS is yet to respond. The total service boats reconciled unremitted balance as at September 30, 2019 amounted to $207.646 million (INTEL $179.463 million and other agents $28.183 million).

NPA service boat pilotage revenue for January 2020 to July 31, 2020 schedule showed a total of $97.029 million (awaiting INTELS schedule to commence reconciliation).�

The managing director said NPA was not obligated to renew the service boat pilotage contract with INTELS. She explained that other agents could collect the revenue for the government to service its debt to INTELS sister company, Deep Offshore Limited, for the construction of a section of Onne Port for $2.7 billion.

Bala-Usman stressed, “NPA had a contract with INTELS from 2011, it commenced on August 9, 2010 and expired August 8, 2020. It's a 10-year contract for service boat revenue collection. So we

entered into the agreement 10 years ago with INTELS, for revenue monitoring, for managing agents, for service boat collection in our pilotage district. They collect revenue and monitor operations on behalf of Nigerian Ports Authority, and NPA gives them 28 per cent of the revenues collected. “That is the agreement that was entered into. And that is the agreement we had issues with INTELS concerning compliance with TSA, where they are mandated that the revenues collected should come into the coffers of the government before any remittance of the 28 per cent. So the contract, as I said, expired on August 8, 2020. “There is an existing contract for the development of Onne 4B by Deep Offshore Limited, a sister company to INTELS Nigeria. Part of the agreement with Deep Offshore is an amortisation project to develop a section of Onne Port. It is a total contract of $2.7 billion, and it is an amortisation, meaning that they will invest their money, and government will now reimburse them from service boats revenue.�

She alleged that the country was short-changed in the

contract agreement, saying, “The contract is to develop part of the port at Onne.

What I would want you to do is to research and see if, indeed, there was value for money for a $2. 7 billion to build berth 12 to 19 and certain works in 2013. “I'll like you to research yourselves and make comparison with the Singaporean ports and other ports that were built at the same time. Look at the facilities and the cost they spent building that port, you would see the huge differentials. $2.7 billion is a huge amount of money that the Nigerian government decided to invest in building not a full port actually, it is just 200 metres of berths that was built.�

Bala-Usman said Nigeria had been paying the debt for over 10 years and not making any headway because the government also paid for the cost of funds.

She stated, “Nigeria is required to pay for the cost of funds. This has been the battle that we took on when I became Managing Director of NPA. A company was given a contract to build berth 12 to 19 at the cost of $2.7 billion.

When you build it, government

would pay you. It's like a contract. And every time when you award contracts, it is not government’s business how you go and source your money to execute the contract. “Government does not pay for the cost of funds.

As a contractor, if you are given a project, you go to any bank, they give you a loan, you give your bond, your bank guarantee. How does government take up the liability of the cost of funds? “So in this instance, government has been paying for the cost of funds. Yes, it was stated in the contract, which is quite a shame that government will enter into a contract where it will pay for the cost of funds, it will pay for the interest on the loans its contractor collected to execute the contract awarded to it.�

The managing director said the federal government did not know how much INTELS collected as revenue, adding that INTELS acts as agent to the federal government and the international oil companies (IOCs), which are clients to the government. “It is a huge challenge because when they collect revenue, they collect to themselves,� she said. “We

don't know what it is they collect, to a certain extent, they are the ones to tell you, ‘we have collected X amount.’�

She disclosed, “Two years ago, we instituted a process where the monies would come directly into the government coffers and government would be able to see it and remit INTELS commission. “So, hitherto, they used to collect it, but now, in the last two years, monies are paid into TSA account. Even at that, it's a battle. INTELS has refused to fully comply with the TSA. So I feel the contract, from the beginning, was not done in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians. Now that the contract has ended in its own volition, INTELS is going to court to insist that the same contract that was never done in the interest of Nigeria or Nigerians should be in perpetuity until a different contract is fully paid for. “Some of the wrong policies and agreements that have been entered into in the past, even when they come to an end, we still have a mischief making company going to court to seek all manners of injunctions against the government and stop government from performing its own function.�

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ECOWAS Insists on Okonjo-Iweala for WTO Top Job Asks Continent to back Her Tobi Soniyi Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s request, Presidents of West African countries have reiterated their commitment to ensure that a Nigerian former minister for

finance, Dr Ngozi OkonjoIweala clinches the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

They also urged Africa to unite behind her candidacy as the continent’s best option in the hotly contested race.

I N M A J O R V I CTO RY, O B AS E K I L E A D S I N EDO GUBER POLL 13,579 votes, leaving his APC counterpart with 6,559 votes.

In Akoko Edo, APC made a good showing by leading the PDP in 38 polling units with 6,289 while the ruling party trailed with 5,441 votes.

In Esan South-east, PDP has 10,565 and APC, 9,237. Also, in Ikpoba Okha, the PDP polled 41,030, while the APC had 18,218. In Owan East, APC polled 19,295, while the PDP had 14,762.

At press time, the total votes of the candidates in the seven local governments left the PDP with healthy margin over the APC .

However, contrary to some of the many doomsday predictions, yesterday’s governorship election turned out a peaceful, free and fair exercise as Obaseki and IzeIyamu fought to the finish.

This is as INEC has begun to collate results in other local government areas of the state, with either of the two leading parties boasting strengths and advantages in their respective strongholds.

A majority of the political actors in the state, also delivered their areas, including Obaseki, Ize-Iyamu, Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu; former governor Adams Oshiomhole and former Chief of Staff to Obaseki, Taiwo Akerele, who had defected to the APC in the thick of the crisis that characterised the countdown to the election.

National Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmud Waziri, who spoke on some of the challenges allegedly encountered at the start of voting said in some places, said, “I haven’t heard reports of people being allowed to vote without facemasks. “However, we will pay particular attention to situations, where some people give out facemasks with particular colours apparently to achieve a partisan end. “We have gotten reports about Ward 9, Unit 15 in Egor LGA, where it was alleged that electoral materials were hijacked and taken to a hotel called ‘Playhouse’. I have gotten in touch with the Pop CE to salvage the situation so that even though it is called ‘Playhouse’, that they do not play with our materials,� he said.

He added that the Commission might have to take decisive action on results from the unit if it was established that the materials were tampered with.

In the same breath, INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of the South-south states May Agbamuche-Mbu, who spoke from the collation centre in Benin said, all the faulty Smart card readers had been replaced.

Obaseki Protests Initial Card Reader

Hiccups Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Godwin Obaseki, who arrived his polling unit at 10: 53am with his wife, Betsy Obaseki to vote, expressed disappointment over the initial failure of the card readers in several wards across the state.

The governor, who won his Unit 19, Oredo Local Government Area, in the Saturday's gubernatorial election, however, scored 184 votes to Ize-lyamu’s 62 votes.

Speaking to journalists shortly after casting his vote on Saturday, in Oredo Local Government Area of the state, he noted that after spending several hours on the queue due to card reader issues, the failure of the card readers shows the unpreparedness of INEC. “I expected better preparation on the part of those saddled with the responsibility to conduct this election. To wait for one and a half hour on the queue before exercising my franchise is a bit disappointing. “Given that this is a sole day’s election, I expected better planning and preparation and resources should have been put into this election. “At the last presidential election, in my polling unit, there were two polling points which eased the burden on voters. You all are witnesses to how long it has taken. “The card reader here is working slowly, and this is the situation in all the major voting centres in Oredo Local Government Area of the state as I speak. “At Garrick Memorial School, I understand that over 500 voters are already stranded, because they can't vote due to slow processing of the card reader. “One would have expected that INEC would have deployed more card readers and more voting points in high density polling centres,� he said.

Responding to the issue of vote buying at polling units, the governor said the security agencies are not doing what they assured the Edo people and Nigerians before the election. “The security agencies assured us that they won't allow anybody, who doesn't have business of voting, into a particular place, but they are working contrary to what they promised us. “You can see cars parked with a lot of cash being disbursed to people buying votes, and it seems to be normal practice, but we are not perturbed as people know what to do. Cash can't buy their future," Obaseki noted.

He accused security agencies of indifference towards alleged Continued on page 10

The leaders expressed the strong show of support during the 57th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which took place recently in Niamey, Republic of Niger.

The event which was held at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Centre, Niamey considered reports form the 44th Ordinary Session of the Mediation and Security Council at the Ministerial Level

and the 84th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, which preceded the summit.

According to the Presidents who spoke at the event, the focus of the sub-region is to persuade other African countries to support Nigeria’s highly respected pick for the position, one of five candidates who recently scaled the first stage of the WTO leadership hurdle.

Apart Okonjo-Iweala others still in the race for the WTO job

is Saudi Arabia's Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri, Amina Mohamed of Kenya, Liam Fox of the United Kingdom and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee.

ECOWAS had in June endorsed Okonjo-Iweala for the job. The sub-regional body anchored its support for the former World Bank Managing Director based on her track record of high performance and leadership in top positions.

According to the ECOWAS Presidents, Okonjo-Iweala is eminently qualified to head

the WTO based on her “long years of managerial experience at the top echelon of multilateral institutions, her reputation as a fearless reformer, her excellent negotiating and political skills, her experience of over 30 years as a developmental economist with a long-standing interest in trade, her excellent academic qualification, her position as Managing Director World Bank, and currently as Board Chair, Gavi, and AU Special Envoy to mobilize financial resources for the fight against COVID-19.’’

GETTING READY TO VOTE...

Former APC National Chairman/a former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, during accreditation for the Edo 2020 governorship election in Edo‌ yesterday NAN

FACEBOOK TO OPEN SECOND AFRICAN OFFICE IN LAGOS digital sector.

He was quoted as saying, “Let me say how excited I am, on behalf of the whole of Facebook and all of our teams, of the emerging ambitions that we see in the broadband space in Nigeria, particularly with the economic sustainability plan led by His Excellency, the Vice President. “What a huge pleasure for me to hear directly from the vice president about these ambitions.�

The statement said the Facebook officials involved in the chat revealed that the proposed office in Lagos would be the company’s second office on the African continent, adding that it would be part of its continuous commitment and on-going investment in Africa.

Facebook opened its first Africa office in Johannesburg in 2015.

Akande also said the Facebook officials noted that the move into Nigeria was aimed at supporting the entire Sub-Saharan Africa, disclosing that the office will formally commence operations in 2021.

He added that the Facebook Nigeria office would be the first in Africa to house a team of expert engineers building for the future of Africa and beyond.

Facebook was further quoted as saying that the “office will be home to various teams servicing the continent from across the business, including sales, partnerships, policy, communications as well as engineers."

Akande said the chat focused

on the digital economic pillar of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).

The statement also said Clegg and other Facebook officials, including its Head of Public Policy, Africa, Ebele Okobi, would open the office in Lagos before the end of this year.

Akande stated that a federal government delegation, led by the vice president, comprising the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Ali Pantami, had visited Silicon Valley in 2018. One of the issues that followed the visit, he said, was how global technology giants, such as Facebook, could have full representation in the country with a Nigerian office.

The statement said Osinbajo had during the chat emphasised the federal government’s focus on the digital sector, saying the sector is crucial to various aspects of the country’s socio-economic life, including education, e-commerce, social investments programmes, and activities of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government. “The NESP is our response to the economic crisis caused by the (COVID-19) pandemic,� the statement quoted Osinbajo as saying. He added, “Our focus on the digital sector is really because practically, everything we are doing centres around expanding our reach in the digital sector. “For example, financial inclusion is critical for us because we are spreading and extending our social services, payment of cash transfers to the

poorest and most vulnerable and other manners of such payment; and sometimes to the farthest flung places in Nigeria. So, we certainly need to expand our reach in order to do so. Of course, technology is critical to that.�

Osinbajo also disclosed that the federal government was collaborating with the private sector to fund, establish and expand e-learning and education platforms, and other areas of digital technology growth.

The vice president stated, “Practically everything is now being done remotely.

Earlier on today, I did a virtual commissioning of the MSME clinic in Lagos, sitting in my office in Abuja. So, for us, the digital space is very important, which is why the focus was on the digital economy in the economic sustainability plan. “We are led by the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, which is the ministry fully devoted to all we do in the digital space. We have NITDA, an agency responsible for information technology (policy implementation); as well as the private sector.�

Osinbajo was said to have recalled the trip to Silicon Valley and Facebook campus in the United States in 2018, noting that the tour has helped to boost government’s digital drive, resulting in significant improvement in the country’s digital sector.

He added that as at 2019, the country had an investment of $377 million in technology sector, noting, however, that

such investment is still meagre when compared to the size of the economy.

The statement added, “The tours were extremely successful.

In Silicon Valley, Nigerian startups got a chance to pitch their products to tech sector investors; that was very good. In fact, before we left Silicon Valley, one of our venture platforms was able to sign a deal worth about $10 million with the Nigeria-US Council.

"Since then, we’ve seen tremendous activity post-trip.

The visit helped in showing our seriousness about the technology sector, and also the entertainment industry.

We held a few meetings also with the entertainment industry. “As of 2018/19, we’ve gotten about $377 million in investments in the tech sector.

Although, it still scratches the surface if one considers the size of our economy and country.

But there were very significant gains, and I’m very happy to do that. I think we’ve started off a series of interactions that have been very useful and we will continue to engage.�

Osinbajo also said the country was currently collaborating with the African Development Bank (AfDB), which he said had "a $500m fund; at the moment, we are at the final stages, trying to bring that into existence."

He added, "So, there is quite a bit of activity to ensure that there is access to funding, while we are improving the business environment and the environment for technology companies to operate."

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TIME TO REOPEN SCHOOLS, GYMS, RECREATION CENTRES...

L-R: Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo during a COVID-19 update press brieďŹ ng at Lagos House, Marina... yesterday

IN MAJOR VICTORY, OBASEKI LEADS IN EDO GUBER POLL vote buying by foot soldiers of Pastor Ize Iyamu.

"You have to ask the security agencies, who told us that those who have no Permanent Voters Cards would not be allowed near voting centres but what is happening is different from the assurance they gave us. They told us adequate security measures have been taken. But a lot of cash distribution has been going on, a lot of cash for votes."

Ize-Iyamu: Exercise Is Peaceful, Commendable Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in yesterday’s governorship election in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, after voting at Ugboko ward 4, unit 26, Orhionmwon Local Government Council of the state at about 9: 25 am, commended INEC for a peaceful conduct of the electoral process and also for adhering to the Covid-19 protocol. “The process is good and going on smoothly. There is no thuggery and violence.

The place is peaceful and calm. I am happy that INEC has a thermometer to check temperature and they also give out facemasks to our people.

We encourage our people to come out in batches so they can strictly adhere to the Covid-19 protocols of social distancing,� he said.

According to him, he was unable to get information about the conduct of the election across the state due to the poor network at his voting community.

He expressed optimism that he would emerge victorious in the election saying, "I am confident of victory across the 18 LGAs of the State.�

Oshiomhole Happy Election Is Violencefree Former National Chairman of APC and immediate past governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday, expressed optimism that his party would prevail in the 2020 governorship election in the state.

He told journalists at his Polling Unit in Iyamho Primary School that he was a consistent voter in Nigeria and he had performed his civic duty again at the Edo 2020 governorship election.

Oshiomhole was particularly happy that the anticipated

violence predicted by many analysts did not happen at all.

Okunbo SatisďŹ ed With Process Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ocean Marine Solutions Limited, Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the Edo gubernatorial election and called for calmness as the process continued in order to be able to elect a governor that would bring about a better Edo State.

Okunbo, who spoke to newsmen shortly after casting his vote at George Idah primary School, Ihama, G.R.A Benin City at about 11.58am, said he was satisfied with the peaceful process so far. “I am very happy, because everywhere is calm; everywhere is peaceful and this is what we have been praying for. No antagonisms, no oppression as far as I can see around here. I thank God for today. It’s a day we have all waited for.

"I pray that God will do his own. That’s what I am praying for – a better Edo State – Edo State that is devoid of oppression, Edo State that our children can be once more employed in the real way, positively and a positive change for our children,� he said.

Election Highly Successful, Says Airhiavbere Major General Charles Airhiavbere, one of the APC aspirants, who spoke at Oredo Ward 1, after casting his vote yesterday observed that the initial apprehension about the security situation in the state was not there, and that the election was conducted under a peaceful atmosphere.

"As you can see, voting is going on under a peaceful atmosphere with no violence, and casualty as expected before the election," adding that, since 2012 that he began voting in the ward, this was the first election that has witnessed large turnout of voter "This is the highest success INEC has recorded as various units were broken down and people are voting on point," Arhiavbere said.

(PDP), Saturday, alerted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) of plots by agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to replace election results of places the PDP was leading, particularly in Edo North.

In a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, said, "While we charge our members to remain vigilant and follow their results “bumper to bumper� to all the collation centers, we however caution the security agencies against being used to replace results that have already been declared at the respective polling units.

"Already, we are aware that results are being manufactured in Kogi State to be used as replacements for already declared results, particularly in Edo North," the PDP reiterated.

"We draw the attention of INEC to such results being bandied by the APC, including the fake result claimed to have emanated from Etsako West, where a vote of 914 was allocated to the APC, as against the genuine declaration at the polling units," he said, noting that a cursory look at the results in circulation by the APC failed a litmus test of the identification numbers of INEC declaration of results.

"Whereas polling unit results are identified as Form EC8A, the results being paraded by the APC carry a fake identification number of Form EC60E. "Our party expresses concerns that this sinister adventure of the APC is being encouraged by the slow pace of uploading already declared results in INEC’s virtual portal," he said.

The party said it was standing with the people and called on the Inspector General of Police to protect innocent Nigerians from the electoral defeat response by the APC. "We charge the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to ensure that his officials are not compromised to replace results, as the people of Edo State have spoken loud and clear with their votes in their respective units, and they are already aware of the authentic results," the PDP stated.

PDP Alleges Moves Ex-APC Chair to Replace Results in Dissociates Self from Tweet on Wike Edo North The Peoples Democratic Party

A former Acting National

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Victor Giadom, has dissociated himself from a tweet on a twitter handle purportedly owned by him condemning the alleged police siege on the hotel, where Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and other PDP chieftains lodged.

Wike, who was in Edo State for the governorship election was allegedly prevented from moving out of his hotel.

However, Giadom was alleged to have tweeted from @_victorgiadom, saying, "stopping a sitting @GovWike that has immunity to move freely till at least 11:59pm yesterday should be seen as an infringement on the constitution and could be seen as a treasonable act. I am an @officialAPCNG chieftain and I won't be part of illegality."

But Gaidom, in yet another tweet from his verified handle, @victorTGiadom, urged politicians and their supporters to apply dignity in playing politics as maligning an individual could not be said to be part of good politics.

"My attention has been drawn to a tweet purportedly to have emanated from me.

Please note that this account is impersonating my person and all tweets from this account @_victorgiadom should be disregarded. This account and tweet is intended to cause mischief and should be disregarded by the public."

Pockets of Violence, But Generally Peaceful Staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and their ad hoc counterparts, had taken positions at their different stations as early as 7.45am, in readiness for the exercise, off-loading election materials to commence accreditation and voting by 8:30 am.

Although in and around many of the voting areas, policemen were on ground to enforce law and order, there were however pockets of violence in some areas especially, at Egor Local Government Area, where the wife of APC local government chairman was said to have been beaten and subsequently hospitalised, while resisting some thugs, who wanted to snatch election materials.

Also, voting at the different wards visited by THISDAY at Oredo, Egor and Ikpoba-Okha local government areas were characterised by massive vote

buying by all the contending political parties.

There was a shooting incident recorded in Orhionmwon Local Government Area in Edo south senatorial district.

INEC also confirmed the shooting incident, saying it was working with the police and other security agencies to ensure the peaceful conduct of the election.

The Commission noted that it was in receipt of images showing the alleged hijack of electoral materials in Ward 9, Unit 15 of Egor local government area, saying while it was working to salvage the situation, it might be forced to take decisive action against results generated from the affected unit.

The electoral body, which condemned reports of vote buying and selling, also frowned at the violation of Covid-19 safety protocols especially, with regards to the social distancing rule.

The commission added that in places where some Smart Card Readers malfunctioned, it had had to activate its backup system and had replaced all faulty card readers.

It added that the few ad hoc staff, who could not get their stipends the previous day had now been settled and were at their work stations, conducting the elections.

At Emokpae Model School, where the governor voted, there was a mild security breach but the local vigilante group averted crisis before the arrival of the Inspector General of Police Intelligent Response Team arrived the scene.

One street urchin wanted to take pictures with the governor, but the locals in the area prevented him. It was later learnt that his intention was to cause crisis and cause INEC to cancel the votes at the polling station.

Generally, voters arrived on time, queued and waited to cast their ballot at the Emokpae model primary schools, Mission road, Oredo, Benin city At the Edo Development Property Agency, which has five voting units with 632 registered voters, the environment was peaceful with the presence of security personnel Also at the Arinze Primary School in Ikpokpan unit 13 and 14, voting commenced on time and was peaceful.

It has 619 registered voters.

All places visited witnessed massive turnout with heavy security, although many

people had no facemasks and failed to maintain physical distancing. The weather was however good.

In Esan West Local Government Area of the state, voting was calm and peaceful and most of the voters arrived the various polling units before officials of INEC. There was reported sporadic gunshots at Uneme-Nekhua, ward 1, unit 9 in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, where the Deputy Majority Leader, House of Representatives, representing the constituency, Peter Akpatason, voted.

Akpatason blamed the ugly situation on the security personnel for not showing up on time, when they were needed most. He said the delay by security agents almost led them to resorting to self-help but he was able to calm his people down.

Akpatason, who is a member of the APC, said one of the known thugs hauled pebbles at voters with the intention to discourage them but that the pebbles eventually shattered the windscreen of his car.

"Well, I think the first thing we need to look out, is the level of political consciousness in the place, the turnout. Two, you can see that people are still voting.

We are a community that is highly politically conscious.�

"It is not unusual that sometimes, people disagree but it becomes worrisome, when it is obviously politically motivated with the view of discrediting, creating a ground for the cancellation of this genuine and legitimate results.

SGF Passes Edo Election as Satisfactory The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the governorship election in Edo State.

Mustapha, in a statement last night, said against the grain of popular predictions, the election was quite peaceful except for a few and isolated skirmishes.

"Nigeria has disappointed those who predicted massive disruption. The elections went well but for few hiccups," said Mustapha as he monitored early returns from the field.

He said the Independent National Electoral Commission did fairly well and could improve on its performance.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ˾ 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

SECURING THE NATION’S CAPITAL The security agencies must do more to secure the Federal Capital Territory

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side the brutal incursion of Boko Haram insurgents in 2012 and 2013, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been relatively insulated from the violent regime of crimes and criminality across the country. Not anymore. It started with occasional cases of opportunistic criminals robbing unsuspecting passengers inside commercial vehicles - an act dubbed as ‘one chance’. But the situation has since escalated. In recent times, Abuja has assumed the status of any other city in the country – threatened, harassed, brutalised and violated by bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, terrorists and killers.

Initially, the rising tide of insecurity was confined to the satellite communities which are home to low income earners.

Angry youths bereft of opportunities and others fleeing the war zone in the Northeast had been moving into communities like Kuje and Gwagwalada that are often under attack. Last November, some residents of Pegi in Kuje area council staged a peaceful protest to draw attention to frequent cases of kidnapping and killings in their domains. This followed the kidnapping by bandits of a traditional ruler in the Kuje area, who only secured his freedom after ransom was paid. But the insecurity has since spread from the fringes to the city centre with striking regularity. In one audacious attack, gunmen opened fire on a public transport vehicle and seized some passengers. Reports of kidnap are now almost a daily occurrence while the Abuja-Kaduna highway is still as risky as ever, despite all the noise to the contrary.

As we have repeatedly pointed out on this page, the general atmosphere of national insecurity points to poor use of pre-emptive intelligence and a lack of

coherent strategy by the relevant agencies.

That then explains why today, the nation quivers under threats of unknown colouration, with sundry mischief makers prancing forward to contribute whatever they can for reasons of their own. But the authorities should be worried by latest developments.

When residents of the capital city of a country not only move around with a sense of foreboding and fear but also feel uncertain about the capacity of the authorities to deal with the challenge, then there is a problem. It’s either the security agencies are not doing enough or their response to the challenge has been heavily compromised.

E

When residents of the capital city of a country not only move around with a sense of foreboding and fear but also feel uncertain about the capacity of the authorities to deal with the challenge, then there is a problem

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

arlier this month, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) alerted its staff and by extension, residents of the FCT and adjoining states of Boko Haram’s planned attacks on some selected targets. The identified enclaves, according to the NCS circular, include Kunyam Bush along airport road, Abuja, Robochi/Gwagwalada Forest, Kwaku Forest Kuje – and two other areas in nearby Nasarawa and Kogi States.

Some bandits partly made good the threats when they struck recently at Tunga Maje, in the Gwagwalada axis of the FCT and seized 20 persons, including women and children. This was despite the assurance by the Defence Headquarters that the general public should go about their lawful businesses undeterred.

Given that the alert emanated from NSC, the apprehension is that the security forces are not getting the right information concerning the security situation in Abuja. And where they are getting such information, they are not well processed. And even when they are, the courage to carry them through is grossly lacking. The spate of violence across the country has prompted several critical stakeholders to call for an urgent review of the national security architecture.

It ought to concern President Muhammadu Buhari that confidence in the security agencies is declining at a time when public confidence is rapidly shifting to sectional and regional security arrangements. The urgent imperative therefore is for the president to realise that a government that cannot guarantee the security of life and property for citizens and residents in a country has failed.

Meanwhile, as much as the security and safety of all the people in Nigeria should be the primary concern of the government, we must highlight the strategic importance of Abuja not only as the seat of power but also the home to all foreign embassies and international agencies. If Abuja is not safe, then Nigeria is not safe.

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’S COCKTAILS OF INEQUITY AND CONFUSION

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overty is a terror, in Nigeria as elsewhere.

In Nigeria, poverty, has reduced life to the bare bones of survival from which it continues to milk marrow. Soon, there may be no bones at all.

Nigeria is at a banquet: the table at the center is gold. Problem is that so few find seat and even fewer taste the ambrosia served.

In a country of bountiful blessings, every sharing formula till date has come up short. There is a Constitution which emphasizes federal character but suffers the handicap of a doctor prescribing a drug not in his pharmacy.

Nepotism rages like a wild fire, consuming all in its path. In burning away the last vestiges of meritocracy, it leaves only dust and ashes.

For Ndi Igbo, Biafra is still very much live. The good people of the Niger-Delta continue to lament their environment. The southwest is suspicious of Nigeria`s federalism and the north faces multiple terrors from rampaging marauders.

Nigeria is a big loaf torn between many jostling for a piece of it. Yet, obscurity is the lot of those for whom the loaf should be a lifeline.

Insecurity remains grave. Life and property are at the mercy of ruthless killers. The future has never been bleaker. The past lies naked beneath the gaze of those who want to change it.

In these days of rampant unemployment,774, 000 jobs are up for grabs between the National Assembly and the Ministry of Labour and Employment. True to form, the squabble has been atrocious. The members of the National Assembly,

exhibiting its entitlement syndrome, has laid claims to a larger number than the ministry is willing to give.

No a few of the slot should end up with the thugs who service their electoral violence. Nigeria is a banquet many have been invited to but so few are seated. The majority are caught in the mazes of the margins, macerated by the maces of those whose mascot is the ravening beast that injustice is.

In Nigeria, it is not ironical that the jobs meant to placate the plight of people hardest hit by the pandemic would become a problem to them.

Already, Nigerians formed an uncomfortable audience when one of the Ministers of Labour and Employment squared up with the National Assembly committee examining the project.

Many Nigerians are wondering

aloud about what is even in the jobs for them. In the current economic climate, N60,000 does not even begin to scratch the surface of what the average Nigerian needs in a month to survive, and not curse his citizenship of Nigeria. That it has become a source of so much controversy tells a noisy story.

In Nigeria, inequity is a rabid dog that barks and bites to spread its rabies. It is seen in the castration of the federal character principle in the constitution. It is seen in the allocation of resources, especially as it relates to the oil wealth flowing from the Niger-Delta. It is seen in appointments into public offices. It is seen in the citing of national infrastructure. It is even sighted in the distribution of the basics that Nigerians need to live and thrive.

So, iniquitously, the country is diseased by the terminal ailment that inequity is. The disease has spread fast, afflicting many, like a pandemic, yet hubris has precluded many from subjecting them-

selves to curative procedures. Perhaps, they fear the cynicism of the judiciary - that once hallowed temple of justice that has now become a venue where justice is subjected to the humiliating condescension of commerce.

Those who form poverty`s long queues of privations see their begging bowls spat into and their status reempasised while the do-nothings feed fat and curse those who have nothing.

Nigeria, long sat on the gunpowder of those turned away, is at the brink with the ticking thickening.

Things must change immediately. The alternative is to risk an actionable anger, one so bloated by many years of epic inequality.

The building of another Nigeria must immediately begin: a different Nigeria; a Nigeria where every Nigerian is invited to the banquet and given a seat of honour fitting for all citizens.

––Kene Obiezu, Abuja

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍşÍ¸Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸

THE PUBLIC SPHERE with Chido Nwakanma

@ChidoNigeria https://www.facebook.com/chido.nwakanma

Still Carving on Rotten Wood in Subsidy Communication

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ight years after the national uproar over hikes in the price of an essential item, Nigerians are back to the same spot and preparing to repeat. Citizens agitate over the double whammy of increases in the pump price of petroleum products and the electricity tariff. More significantly, there is a communication challenge.

As in eight years ago, the Federal Government, through its agencies, has released a tonne of information. Checking the feedback on various channels, it seems it will take a while for that message to become communication.

It is currently a tangled web. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!�. (Sir Walter Scott, 1808).

Many citizens are disbelieving of the numerous reasons that supposedly informed these actions. The government itself skirts around it.

The truth will bring clarity and make the messaging more credible. The fuel price increment is a tax! It was a tax in 2012 and led to the establishment of SURE-P. It was a tax in 2015 when the new Buhari government raised fuel prices. It took the admission of Lai Mohammed then that the government needed more money to douse the tension.

The energy tariff increments come five years late. The Federal Government is now under pressure from its poor handling of finances and external funders to do what both the Jonathan and Buhari governments failed to do since 2015. Why are they not admitting and saying so? The truth will set the nation free, cause some anger, but will change the narrative positively to a solution orientation.

DĂŠjĂ vu. The rest of this article recalls the scenario in January 2012 when I wrote on the matter. The title was “Carving on rotten wood in fuel subsidy communication.â€? “The uproar over the increase in fuel price imposed on Nigerian citizens by the Federal Government has raised questions about what communication took place or its effectiveness. While the Federal Government has released much information output, communication has yet to happen, hence the breakdown and descent into riots and strikes. Reform efforts come under change communication. The United Nations and its agencies call them development communication; they emphasise the integration of

strategic communication in development efforts. All communication seeks to influence the behaviour of target audiences, but it is even more imperative in communicating change or reform, such as the removal of fuel subsidy.

Because the goal in change communication is to achieve stakeholder buy-in through strategic engagement, experts assert that it is not enough to disseminate information, educate or raise awareness about an issue. It requires understanding the perceived or real barriers the people see to adopting the change, listening to their feedback and responding appropriately.

Managers of the communication effort on subsidy removal face many challenges in the message, the platforms for message delivery and the choice of delivery. These have been the areas where they have also made mistakes.

The message concerning the removal of subsidy is garbled.

Government officials speak of the removal of subsidy and deregulation in the same breath as if they are the same thing. There is also talk of increasing revenue for the government to enable the provision of infrastructure. There is yet another message about fighting corruption. What is the real message?

Beyond the content is the question of message delivery. This message has no owner. Sundry groups have taken over the newspapers and airwaves supposedly selling the message of removal of oil subsidy as part of the Jonathan Transformation Agenda. The President himself took responsibility for the message that forms a key plank of his reform only after it had generated negative responses. There is no central spokesperson for the government, and no central message, with up to five spokespersons: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Diezani Alison-Madueke, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and Labaran Maku. Atedo Peterside weighs in on behalf of a committee. Reuben Abati has advisedly stayed off messaging on the matter given his anti-removal advocacy on the issue in his earlier capacity as an ordinary citizen.

Then there is the matter of messaging platforms. Government and its agencies are losing out in the social media platform, and this has turned out to be one of the main playing fields for stakeholder engagement on the fuel subsidy matter. Active publics on the issue are utilising these platforms to devastating effect. Note also that the social media platform is a double-edged sword: in the absence of regulation, users deploy it to both

excellent and obnoxious ends, thus requiring active monitoring and engagement.

All of which leads to the matter of message credibility. Unfortunately for the government, what it did on January 1 reinforced the citizen’s scepticism about deregulation. History shows that deregulation for Nigerian governments has always meant only one thing: fuel price increase, with promises of delivery of benefits but no delivery of the promises. The Federal Government made no effort whatsoever to show any difference in its approach or objective, even when government officials admit the lack of credibility of the government. They followed the same script.

The government thus played into the existing mass sentiment or general social consensus that sees only price increase and hardship in deregulation.

The Christopher Kolade Committee, for instance, reprises the Petroleum Trust Fund, save that in the case of PTF General Sani Abacha admitted that the price increase was nothing but a fuel tax from which government would make additional income. In the period between broaching the issue of removal of subsidy and actual implementation, also, opponents have successfully cast doubt on the integrity of government’s claim as to the actual cost of Nigeria’s PMS and justification for an increase. No one has addressed those doubts at all!

Communication scholars identify various publics concerning any issue: non-publics, latent, aware and active publics.

Non-publics are those for whom the issue at hand has virtually no effect. Latent publics have no awareness of their connection; aware publics understand the importance of the issue to them but have not acted, while active publics are doing something about it.

The critical issue, therefore, is that communication of the subsidy removal lacks credibility with stakeholders other than the government. It has the challenge of ensuring that opponents of government do not convert all the other publics to active publics against the government’s stance on the issue.

Government’s communication managers need to go back to the drawing board to clarify the message, the messenger, the delivery mechanisms as well as the platforms. It is an incredibly tricky challenge because as the Chinese say, you cannot carve on rotten wood. The fuel subsidy matter in Nigeria has taken the form of rotten wood.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

OPINION

FUEL: THE DAY OF RECKONING IS HERE The removal of fuel subsidy has become inevitable, argues Louis Odion

I

t is a factual error to conflate the subsidy uprising of 2012 and the crisis of 2020. True, both speak to a national emergency, but the circumstances are starkly dissimilar. Nigerians that marched across the nation in the harmattan-scorched January of 2012 were actually protesting a touted rising economic tide that didn’t in any way raise their individual boats.

Rather, what they saw was an emergent tribe of freeloaders fattening on petrol subsidies. Then Senator Bukola Saraki had blown the whistle: billions of naira budgeted as petrol subsidy originally were ballooning into trillions. And the beneficiaries were mostly campaign donors to the ruling party in the 2011 polls in the most audacious sort of political incest.

Just a teaser of the profligacy and squander-mania that had seized the land then: the Excess Crude Account (ECA) with $22b bequeathed by Umar Yar’Adua in May 2012 had been decimated to $4b by the turn of 2010.

The people saw briefcase buccaneers without recognizable addresses receiving fat concessions to import fuel while established oil majors with known massive storage facilities got far less. Very little, if anything at all, was imported eventually.

While the nation’s treasury was being bled to death.

It is, therefore, a misreading to assume that what drove people to anger then should also be leading them to street protests today.

What then seems confounding to many naysayers gifted at imagining the worst possible scenario in the circumstance, is why Nigerians didn’t pour unto the streets in droves spontaneously in anger like 2012 immediately the fuel stations jerked up petrol’s price this time. Provocative enough, the hike came at the same time as the increase in electricity tariffs.

Painful as the twin-blows might feel, most Nigerians appear to have chosen not to live in denial. Those circumspect enough have surely realized we have arrived at a defining maelstrom - that point when a cataclysmic occurrence alters the course of history forever. One, it should be noted that President Buhari, by personal philosophy and instinct, will ordinarily side with the poor. For the ascetic from Katsina,

it is always a thing of pride to be labelled the champion of the poor and the vulnerable. But the dire economic reality of the moment obviously leaves him with little or no option.

Indeed, the world economy we once knew before March this year has been severely disrupted by Covid-19, displacing even the most affluent.

Almost all the big economies around the world have officially declared recession. Even a “nanny state” like oil-rich Saudi Arabia has since cut down sundry subsidies, doubled VAT and stopped monthly cash hand-outs to citizens, to stay afloat.

Elsewhere in the US, according to a CNN survey, no fewer than 40 million mortgage-owners in the acclaimed “God’s own country” were facing eviction by the end of August over back pay.

Now, back at home, our revenue and forex earnings fell by 60 per cent in the first half assessment of Year 2020 on account of Covid-19 pandemic. Contrary to even the modest growth earlier projected for Year 2020 barely a year after exiting the recession inflicted by the steep crash in commodity prices in 2014/2015, our economy has instead suffered a contraction of more than 6 per cent in the first half of the year on account of the total shutdown of the economy for four months, with expected foreign inflow shrinking by about 78 per cent.

True, disruption is a given in world economic climate almost every decade. For instance, the prime mortgage crisis birthed

Of course, the ultimate game-changer would be the Dangote Refinery currently at completion stage in Lekki, Lagos with a 650,000 bpd capacity.

It is estimated that when all these come on stream in no distant future the country would not only have been completely weaned off importation of refined products, but also become an exporter.

Only then will our economy be in a position to tap the full benefits of her God-given, but not inexhaustible oil resource

the tsunami of 2008/2009, with the attendant dislocation of big businesses and national economies across the universe.

If the impact was benign for us in Nigeria then, it was largely because of combined foreign reserves of over $60b.

Aside from the foreign reserve of $46b, there was ECA in excess of $20b. Of course, this offered a robust buffer for the government then to navigate the turbulence with little inconvenience.

In 2015, the ECA the Buhari administration inherited was $2b. Even at that, $1b had to be set aside to procure military hardware and software to strengthen the nation’s push against a decade-old insurgency in the north-east.

If the 2015 situation was lean, the condition of 2020 is, therefore, better imagined with practically nothing left in ECA to allow the administration any flexibility in responding to the Covid-19 emergency.

Against this backcloth, it is clear that the ordinarily populist advocacy for a policy option mindful of social protection is simply no longer feasible in the face of sparse reserve.

Whether we want to admit or not, the truth is that the day of reckoning is finally here for us to atone for past iniquities in a way that will reset the nation to a more sustainable path henceforth.

An account given at a town-hall meeting in Lagos in 2012 by then CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, perhaps sums up all that is wrong with our downstream sector and the subsidy regime: “Between January and November 2011, the total amount of foreign exchange we sold to petroleum marketers ... was in excess of $8b. Over the same period, the total amount of subsidy that was given to these same marketers was another $8b. That is $16b... Actually $16.2b, if you want to know the numbers. Now, do you know what?...

The total amount of money that came to us in the federation reserve from the entire oil sector in the same period was $200,000 less than that!”

–– Odion is the Senior Technical Assistant on Media to the President.

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

A Worthy Matriarch at 60 Mobolaji Sanusi pays tribute to Oluremi Tinubu, a woman of substance ‘Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.’—-Albert Einstein.

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e, as human beings, prefer to live. But not all lives are worth celebrating because not all lives qualify to be described as impactful even when accorded an opportunity to make it so.

However, it gives joy to state, with all sense of decorum, that on the 21st of September, Senator Oluremi Tinubu (SOT), the adorable wife of my political father and benefactor (omo olodo ide), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Akanbi Tinubu - The Jagaban of Borgu land falls into the category of those who deserve to be celebrated for her attaining an eventfully depth-filled three scores on mother earth. She is a savant in the public service of this country that is playing a momentous complimentary role in Asiwaju’s service to political development of the country and humanity as a whole. On SOT, l have an illuminating experience to share with readers. In my four years, three months in the public service of Lagos State, SOT made an indelible impression on me out of all the people that l was privileged to come across as the immediate past Managing Director/ CEO of Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency(LASAA).

In our clime where being close to a man of immense political power, not to talk of being the wife of such a man, carries a lot of awesome privileges, unnecessary hubris and undeniable authority.

SOT stands out for her humility, mental acuity, no nonsense disposition, humane outlook and unusual respect for those hovering round her powerful husband seeking one favor or the other or sometime coming around to pay obeisance to the man for past favors received, to curry anticipated assistance, or that daily throngs their residence to reaffirm their continuing loyalty to the man. Viewed from these prisms, one could, with all sincerity of purpose, tell the whole world that SOT is devoid of empty guile that is usually the hallmark of wives/children of powerful political figures. As a senator, she has been a pride to her constituents; as a wife, a devoted better half to her husband, committed mother to her kids, devoted Christian and a study in humility and firmness to the many that crossed her paths including someone like me in my brief encounters with her.

SOT, from personal study, is not fond of throwing her weight unnecessarily around. My first encounter with her was as interesting as it was intriguing. She had wanted a request for someone and she called me directly on my line unlike others in her shoes that would bark orders at you through a third party. I missed her

the laudable objective of the initiative to her constituents. calls, and more intriguing with that call was the fact that l did Without being immodest to others, even in lesser shoes to not have her number on my phone. Not minding my undue that of SOT, they’re known to bark orders at you through an ‘insolence’ of not picking her calls, she sent me a text message aide rather than ‘descend’ to the level of talking directly with introducing herself. When l saw the text and her missed calls, l a minion head of an agency. From personal experience, some immediately called her and apologized for missing her calls and spoilt brats will usually expect you to accede to their illegal only called back when l saw her text message. She was on the biding because of their false sense of importance, probably other end very calm and surprisingly respectful, addressing me working for your removal from office as if that is the end of the with the prefix ‘Mr’ and ending her statements with ‘sir’. To a minion like me in the political compound of her powerful hubby, world. SOT is not in this misguided class.

From my psychological dissection, as a journalist/lawyer it is unbelievably commendable. SOT did not end the call with an order but a plea to me to meet the person she’s interceding for and trained managerial psychologist, l could discern that she was just acting her real, humble, stern and firm self. Again, my and to consider her request if it is not inimical to the interest of the agency. I thanked her and later met the person before getting encounter with her after leaving LASAA affirmed her humanely humble disposition to be real, despite being highly placed back to her. This is a sharp contrast from many wives or spoilt and married to Jagaban. When l left LASAA in December 2019, brats of powerful men that erroneously believe that underserved three months after the expiration of my tenured appointment, respects must be accorded them even when they’re not known l decided to take a deserved rest for three months after serving to have successfully handled any known business or occupied without going on leave or traveling overseas for that long time. any noticeable office, other than using their patriarch’s influence Expectedly for a man like me that carried out my regulatory to wreak havoc on the system.

SOT does not belong in this category for she’s using her spou- duties with professional deftness devoid of currying undue favors/popularity from stakeholders/politicians, l had always sal relationship to further elevate the BAT brand, not to diminish known that l will be alone once l am out of the agency and it. SOT has character which has to do with how one treats those so it was. But by March of this year, l resumed at my rented who have nothing to offer. Another example was during last year’s election when l was still the head of the outdoor regulatory office somewhere in Ikeja from where l run my law firm and general business company. While seated at my new desk one agency, SOT stood out amongst the candidates of all the political day, my phone rang and the caller was unexpected. SOT was parties that contested in the state. It needs no repeat to state that shockingly the person calling me. I was deeply surprised that most politicians exhibit lawlessness when it comes to especially she could still call me and for goodness sake, what for? When the issue of deployments of outdoor advertising materials. The l picked the call, it was truly SOT in her humble but firm self, politicians, irrespective of position, education or class have no respect for the law but SOT, with all sincerity and sense of public asking after my wellbeing and what l currently do. I told her that l just resumed in my office that week. I told her about my duty, does not belong to that lawless class. On countless number law firm and general business company and she prayed for me of occasions, she either called me personally or through Honorthanking me for my regulatory guidance regarding her outdoor able Alawiye King, the then Director General of her campaign engagements during my tenure as the presiding helmsman office to ask for the position of the law or how best to go before embarking on any political campaign materials deployment. SOT of LASAA. I have gone this far to underscore the fact of SOT’s humanity as against the empty haughtiness that is known hates being identified with abuse of power or immoral flexing of to be the hallmark of wives and children of powerful men muscle. I say with all sense of responsibility that she’s one of the of power, in the corporate and especially the political worlds. very few candidates that paid outdoor advertising practitioners Several others that l selflessly assisted, both high and low, close for outdoor exposures, not waiting for freebies, and the only or far friends/relations, have not deemed it necessary to check political figure that made my job as a regulator easy, pre and on me not to talk of finding out whether l am faring well but post electioneering seasons. such is life.

My very last official encounter with her was when she sent a letter of request for the placement of some graduate interns in the agency - all expenses paid by her. Despite having sent the ––Sanusi, immediate past MD/CEO of LASAA, is a lawyer/journalist, and wrote from Lagos. agency a formal request, she, in her humble self, followed up with a personal call to me, taking her valuable time to explain, (See concluding part of the article on www.thisdaylive.com)

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

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LETTERS

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T HE R IDDLES I N S OYINKA’S E PISTLE

he epistle of Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, syndicated in most national dailies of Wednesday the 16th September 2020, wholly or summarised, is a must-read to whet the mind, if you will. Where did I read this smart aphorism, “Be Wise, Read Proust?” Was it in an issue of Time magazine (I am a Time, Newsweek, and Economist fan; I’d be pleased any day to read up years-old backlog copies of any of these international news magazines).

Well, Marcel Proust was a French novelist of high regard.

Over here in Nigeria, older ones like me would advise younger ones to seek to improve their grammar, their prose, and their verse constructions by reading the discourses of Wole Soyinka and the self-exiled Farooq Kperogi on nationaldiscourse themes. Until I patiently read the full text of Soyinka’s epistle on this Wednesday, I have always in private considered his writing style, “Very Formal, English-Style Construction” whilst

Soyinka that of Kperogi I have always labelled, “SemiFormal American-Style Construction” because of his penchant to throw American English informal speak-phrases into the progression of the body of his very formal and standard language constructions of dynamic, modern phrases.

Soyinka’s write-up was consciously devoid of any attempt to unnecessarily lionise the object being

referred to and the reader is presented with a maze of hints and inferences to discern what or who the Nobel Laureate was referring to; his style of capitalising a word for emphasis (this reminds me of the German language where the core object-noun reference item is usually capitalised) in the construction of a tense has led me to upgrade his writing style (according to the

impromptu designation protocol I developed on the whim), “Ultra Formal, English-Style Construction.” I hope Great Britain’s Academy of Arts will forgive the attempt to abrogate to myself the privilege to authoritise on such an intellectuallycentric matter.

Deciphering the inferences and allusions in Prof. Soyinka’s epistle would lead the reader to identify Garba Shehu as the entity being referred to by the use of the “garrulous” adjective and the capitalised “Garbled” term; that was smart word-play by Prof.

Soyinka. For Femi Ades ina, it was, “the other half of the presidential megaphone.”

There were oblique references to the “Amotekun” security outfit, the InspectorGeneral of Police’s desire to stifle “Amotekun” on the strength of a piece of argument by Garba Shehu, the death-row convict (Yahaya SharifAminu) in Kano State awaiting execution on account of “blasphemy,” Fulani terror hordes, without explicitly identifying these elements by name the way other

letter-writers on the state of the nation would have done. What the professor had in mind was that you have to be sharp and be informed on current situations to get the gist of his lines of argument.

However, other than Olusegun Obasanjo (who the professor was very careful not to “Africanise” as “High Chief” or “Chief Dr. Engr. Gen.”), the columnist Femi Abbas was identified by name as well as Obadiah Mailafia, another contributing columnist to a couple of national dailies and now a social activist who is presently undergoing mental torture by the federal secret police as part of its “investigations” of Mailafia’s exposé that made known that a serving governor of one of the Northern states is a commander of Boko Haram. Well, just as he is no fan of Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Wole Soyinka is also no fan of President Donald Trump of the US but it is good that the professor knows that even those you do not agree with have plus sides too.

Actually, it is the smartest one who learns from his enemies; this has

been one of America’s guiding principles. And? Who is that shadowy pro-Trump “quota columnist” in Prof. Soyinka’s mind? There aren’t that many Trump-hailers out here. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has ensured that America is secured in these last four years by his brash talk and blunt threats; these are working well for him because he has succeeded in bringing Serbia and Kosovo to the same table and he has also succeeded in bringing the duo of Bahrain and the UAE with Israel on the other side to the same table.

Interestingly, Serbia and Kosovo are moving their respective embassies to Jerusalem. Prof. Soyinka should just brace for Trump’s second term in office. I hope the professor didn’t really shred his US green card?

Life is hard in-country on the Nigerian scene.

Scores will be glad for the opportunities that Donald Trump’s America open to academics.

––Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State.

UNRAVELING THE EMBER MONTHS’ MYTH

W

illiam Bascom in his article, “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives”, defines myth as tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extrahuman, inhuman, or heroic characters”.

Mary Magoulick also sees myths as “symbolic tales of the distant past that concern cosmogony and cosmology, may be connected to belief systems or rituals, and may serve to direct social action and values”. Myth is derived from the Greek word mythos, which means story or word. For many people, myths remain value-laden discourse that explains much about human nature. In most cases, however, myth is always a far-cry from reality.

For instance, both myths and science put forward explanations to justify the existence of the universe. A major differentiation, nonetheless, is that explanations concerning the universe as offered in myths are not empirical, whereas that of science could be analyzed and subjected to continual empirical assessment.

In our clime, a myth has for long been woven around the so-called ‘ember’ months (September to December) as naturally tragic periods. This belief has been so entrenched in

the peoples’ consciousness that various religious groups and other institutions regularly organize special prayer sessions to ward-off ‘dangers’ associated with the months.

The reality, however, is that the so-called ‘ember’ months are not really spiritually jinxed. Tragedies occur during the period, just as it does in every other month of the year. Ascribing mythical undertones to the ‘ember’ months could just be our usual way of explaining things we do not understand.

Rather than clothing the ‘ember’ months in a garb of gratuitous mystery, the pragmatic way of explaining dreadful events during the months is more methodical than mythological.

The truth is that there is usually an increase in the tempo of public, private and corporate activities during this period. Many organisations are involved in the frenzy of the season, as they organize various end-ofthe-year events during the period. Therefore, for obvious reasons, the roads become busier and the tumultuous air of festivity usually compounds matter.

People are in so much haste to make things happen. Commercial drivers, who usually embark on five trips per day, capitalise on the aura of festivity to go for 10 or more. This, naturally, comes with its

fatal consequences. It is only logical that when there is a mass exodus of people from one place to the other, at a particular time, there is bound to be a measure of uncertainty and disorder.

The bottom line, therefore, is that tragic occurrences are likely to happen during the ‘ember’ season because of the intensity of human activities. In a bid to be part of the various endof-year activities slated for the period, a lot of people throw caution into the wind by disregarding critical safety issues.

Vehicles are driven irresponsibly. Alcoholic drinks are consumed with reckless abandon, while social outings are organized as if tomorrow will not come. The atmosphere, during the season, is often filled with unusual allure and jollity. It is in the midst of this hilarity that avoidable human blunders which often result into diverse kinds of misfortunes usually occur.

It is, thus, essential for everyone to, first and foremost, have a more pragmatic perception of the ‘ember’ months. Hence, conscious efforts must be made to disrobe the months of every garb of unfounded mysticism. It is only when we are convinced that the dangers associated with the period are human, rather than mythical, that we could really make

considerable progress in averting disasters during the months.

Therefore, enforcement of existing laws and attitudinal change is central to making any progress. Sadly, law enforcement agents are also usually involved in the mad ‘ember’ months’ rat-race, as some of them sometimes engage in treacherous compromise that enables law breakers go un-punished.

The result, of course, is the continuation of avoidable circle of pandemonium and sorrow.

Consequently, as the curtain draws on the year, we need to modify our views on the ‘ember’ months. We must not get involved in any pointless extra-ordinary last minute ‘rush’ that could endanger our lives and, indeed, those of others. Those who have to organize social events to correspond with this period should do so bearing all safety precautions in mind. Commercial drivers and other road users must respect the sanctity of the human life by observing required road safety measures.

Perhaps, more importantly, relevant government agencies must step up enlightenment campaigns as well as enforcement strategies to guarantee that ‘ember’ months’ related tragedies are reduced to the barest minimum. In this respect, the Federal

Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) the Lagos State Ministry of Information and strategy, the Lagos Traffic Radio and other such stakeholders should be commended for their various ‘ember’ month’s safety advocacy and strategies in Lagos and adjoining states.

However, there is a need to intensify more efforts in this direction while other appropriate government agencies and private concerns should also come on board the re-orientation and re-awareness train.

As usual, the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy is embarking on an ‘ember’ months’ responsiveness campaign across the state. The objective is

I

to change the attitude of the people towards these months and offer key safety tips.

As it has been previously affirmed, it is critical to re- affirm that tragic happenings during months are promoted by reckless human actions. It is only in living modestly and responsibly that we could avoid the dangers and hiccups that are generally associated with ember months. If only we could rid ourselves of our usual ‘ember months’ excesses, we would discover that nothing is actually wrong with the months.

Tayo Ogunbiyi, Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

Celebrate The Important Events

s the world getting crazier or is it just me that thinks so?

One of the fires in California is reported as having been started by fireworks at a gender reveal party. A gender reveal party seems a rather indulgent event, more for the parents than any children on the way. Perhaps we should celebrate the important events in life and not

every event - it's the birth of a healthy child that should be celebrated.

As to the damage done, did anyone think about the start of the word fireworks, - fire! Surely setting off explosives in the heat wasn't a great idea.

I am sure that common sense seems less common nowadays.

––Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

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SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 •T H I S D AY

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ¸Ëœ 2020

BUSINESS

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

Whither Nigeria’s Debt?

Nigeria seems to be headed for a debt trap as all key debt performance measuring indices have fallen below minimum global standards. The implication, according to pundits, is that the country may not be able to meet its debt service obligations nor meet its obligation to the citizenry through funding of its capital and recurrent expenditure before long. Bamidele Famoofo reports

A

s at end of June 2020, Nigeria’s ever rising debt portfolio has gone up to N31trillion. That amount is big enough to finance Nigeria’s revised N10.8trillion budget almost three times. But since it is not revenue, but liability, the country would have to sweat it out to pay back in the face of dwindling revenue.

According to the figures released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on the nation’s debt stock as at second quarter of 2020, debt increased by N2.38 trillion over a three months period. The composition of the debt portfolio showed that it was made up of $3.3 billion budget support loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cushion the effect of the pandemic on the economy and the rest represent planned borrowings from the African Development Bank, The Islamic Development Bank and the Sukuk promissory notes based borrowings.

But while debt rises on a consistent basis, revenue is moving southward. According to President Muhammadu Buhari, the revenue inflow into economy had been negatively impacted, standing at an estimated 60 per cent. Buhari made this known during a recent ministerial retreat in Abuja to undertake one year review of the performance of the economy under his second term administration.

Executive Vice Chairman, H. Pierson Associates Ltd, Eileen Shaiyen, is not comfortable with the country’s debt situation, which she said had become a major cause for concern locally and abroad.

Analysing the debt situation, Shaiyen noted that the declining trend is best appreciated against three key indices which are debt to GDP ratio, debt service to revenue ratio and debt to revenue ratio. According to Shaiyen, Nigeria’s debt status had failed to meet the minimum global standard in all parameters. “While the debt to GDP ratio has trended up from levels in 2016 at 23.41 percent, 2017 at 25.34 percent, 2018 at 27.26 percent and 2019 and 2020 estimates at 29.78 percent and 31.35 percent respectively against an international threshold of 30 percent, the other two ratios show even greater concern.

Debt service to revenue for instance has trended upwards from 2011 levels of 21.2 per cent, to 2015 at 51.9 per cent, 2016 at 86.6 percent, 2017 at 78.6 per cent, 2018 at 67.7 per cent and Q1 2020 at 99.0 per cent. This is against an international threshold of 20 per cent to 25 per cent. On debt to revenue, this major index also shows major deterioration from estimates of 348 per cent in 2019 to 538 per cent estimated for 2020. This also is against an international threshold of about 250 per cent.�

Her words: “This trend is very worrisome when considering the future of the country’s very youthful population in need of a major boost in economic growth through major fiscal interventions to stimulate education, health, infrastructure, etc., as against putting such expenditure into the service of debt that is perceived to be largely mis-applied.�

The implication of the burgeoning debt situation, according to Shaiyen, is an imminent debt trap, a situation in which the country will neither be able to meet its debt service obligations nor will it be able to meet its obligation to its 200 million

Ahmed

citizenry through funding of its capital and recurrent expenditure. “This comes with numerous other socio-economic consequences impacting on some of the key Sustainable Development Goals of poverty, hunger, health, education, as well as issues of social unrest, crime,� she lamented.

Looking Ahead While the nation’s debt situation as at half year remains scary, some analysts believes that the worse is yet to come. For instance, analysts at Cordros Research indicated that Nigeria’s public debt may continue on the upward as the government struggles with declining revenue amid bloated expenditures.

A report from company hinted that with the country expected to access more foreign loans from the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as well as continuing domestic issuances, public debt stocks may rise by 4.8 per cent to about N32.50 trillion by September ending. Other reports indicated that the loan portfolio may close around N34 trillion citing devaluation effect.

The loans during the third quarter include multilateral loans of $1.5 billion from the World Bank, $211.5 million from AfDB and $113 million from IDB. Domestic issuances, including the monthly Federal Government of Nigeria Savings Bond (FGNSB) are expected to top N588.9 billion while state governments may close the shelf with borrowings of about N200 billion.

In its report, analysts at Afrinvest Securities noted that the share of external debt in total debt for the Federal Government has now reached 38.9 per cent, nearing government’s target of 40.0 per cent.

According to analysts, the rise of external

Oniha

debts to almost 40 per cent should ordinarily prevent the issuance of further external loans given the strong chance of further currency adjustments, but there may be sustained rise in government’s external debts due to additional budget support of $2.1 billion yet to be disbursed by World Bank, AfDB and the IDB. “Looking forward, we expect more domestic debt issuances to bring down the share of external debt and lower devaluation risk.

On a brighter note, we believe the removal of energy subsidies-electricity and petrol, could herald a new fiscal era which would ease Federal Government’s expenditure burden, freeing up resources for investment in critical sectors,� Afrinvest Securities stated.

Solution Shaiyen is of the opinion that the managers of the nation’s economy have wasted numerous opportunities to proactively and decisively confront the issues responsible for this poor state of financial affairs. She, however, said there is now an urgent call to leadership at the Federal and State levels to embark on fundamental and structural changes to address this debt crisis. “A first good move is the plugging of all major revenue leakages and therefore reduces the governments’ dependence on debt financing. This makes the current decision to remove subsidies on electricity tariffs commendable if it can be committedly executed. The great double advantage here includes the increase in available government revenues from the subsidy removal, as well as the resulting attractiveness of the two sectors to much-needed foreign direct Investment. The long-term impact for the power sector is the increased availability

of power and the huge multiplier effect of that on the productive sector and overall GDP�, she posited.

Further on revenues, beyond plugging the leakages, ramping up revenues through initiatives that will attract private capital into optimising the natural resources in each of the 36 states, is fundamental, while the government mainly takes a regulatory role.

Each of the 36 states has massive natural resources that remain relatively docile.

The government must fast-track initiatives that will unlock the private-sector-driven potentials in this sector, provide enhanced tax revenues to government and drive up overall GDP. Shaiyen added that, “Very serious actions will need to be taken to shrink the key cost drivers in government. While there have been a few initiatives in this regard, the more fundamentally impactful decisions needed here will need to be taken sooner than later.

This involves a massive cut in the cost of governance across all arms and levels of government. While implementing deep cost and revenue initiatives, the country will also need to review its funding mix by taking less of commercial debt, increasing the use of public private partnerships and encouraging large capital inflows into power, oil and other natural resources as mentioned above. Any new debt where taken, should be kept at low interest cost levels. Finally is the need to work towards a blend of Debt Restructuring and Debt forgiveness.

These options should be secondary, as we must first put our house in order through commitment to the key cost and revenue reforms above thereby showing the world that we are serious about true change.�

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BUSINESS /ECONOMY

Zainab Ahmed

Muhammadu Buhari

Clem Agba

The Quest for Implementable Development Framework The federal government must ensure that the implementation of the proposed new successor development plans, Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP 2021-2025 and 2026-2030), as well as Nigeria Agenda 2050, is not politicised and abandoned if the country must realise its development objectives. James Emejo writes

T

he country is on the march again for a successor blueprint that would guide its path to sustainable socioeconomic development in the next three decades.

The existing development frameworks popularly known as the Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020) will both terminate in December going by their timelines.

Launched in December 2010, the Vision 20:2020 sought to among other things, place the country in league of the world’s 20 leading economies by year 2020.

On the other hand, the ERGP emerged in February 2017 to restore sustained economic growth, promote social inclusion as well as lay the foundations for long-term structural change following the global financial crisis that led the country to an economic recession in 2016.

It is, however, obvious that both the Vision 20:2020 and ERGP had failed to achieve the majority of their targets as contained in the documents.

The federal government, though admitted the shortfalls, however insisted that the existing plans as well as previous development plans had actually contributed to the current level of the country’s development so far.

But it is evident that the inability of successive governments to diversify the economy appeared to be the greatest undoing that had negatively impacted its growth prospects coupled with the threats posed by both oil price fluctuations and the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, realising that the need to produce yet another development framework for the country and achieve a seamless transition to the implementation of development objectives, the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, had recently inaugurated the various Technical Working Groups (TWGs) for the development of the Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP 2021-2025 and 2026-2030) as well as the Nigeria Agenda 2050 which are to replace existing designs.

According to him, the initiatives were designed to succeed the Vision 20:2020 and ERGP and aimed to address developmental challenges in all aspects of the country’s national life within the agreed timeframe.

Hesaidtheinaugurationofthegroups,whichweremostconducted via web conference because of the need to observe safety protocols amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, became imperative given the fact that the existing development plans are expected to lapse in December 2020 while the 2021 budget is to be guided by the plan.

Noting that there was limited time to deliver on the task at hand, Agba said the team of experts and consultants had been selected based on their wealth of experience, expertise and dedication to national assignment over the years to assist in putting together implementable successor plans.

Agba further hinted that the MTNDP 2021-2025, will be launched

by President Muhammadu Buhari in December while MTNDP

(2026 – 2030) report is due in February 2021 as well as the Nigeria Agenda 2050 which is expected to be ready in July next year.

According to him, the proposed plans that are currently being drafted by relevant stakeholders, was being fast-tracked to ensure that annual budgets, particularly 2021 appropriation is derived from the medium-term plans.

The minister also pointed out that the N2.3 trillion Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) which was recently unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the health and economic emergencies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to hedge the economy from sliding into deep and prolonged recession had already been integrated into the MTNDP. The drafting of the proposed plans are particularly anchored in Buhari’s avowed determination to “lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years, particularly given the World Bank’s projection that Nigeria will become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with over 400 million people.�

Speaking while he inaugurated the National Steering Committee (NSC) for the development of the successor plans, which was jointly chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. ZainabAhmed, and the Founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Mr. Atedo Peterside, the president tasked the committee to “oversee the execution of key deliverables, including recommending measures to ensure the continuous implementation of the plans even after the expiration of the tenure of successive administrations – including legislation, if required.�

He said: “Such legislation may introduce much-needed rigour and discipline to the nation’s development planning as well as institutionalise planned outcomes for the future. I trust that our partners in the National Assembly will support us in exploring these reforms.�

Buhari further enjoined NSC not to lose sight of the important role Nigeria plays on the continent as well as in the global community and urged them to develop frameworks to sustain national development, as well as support regional and global strategic interests, as outlined in theAfrican UnionAgenda 2063, the ECOWAS IntegrationAgenda 2050 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Having received the marching orders from Buhari to design appropriate development blueprint which will take care of future challenges and opportunities, the NSC at its inaugural meeting held recentlyoutlinedtheshapeofwhattheproposedplanswouldlooklike.

Ahmed, in her preliminary remarks, identified the goals of the country’s proposed development plans particularly in infrastructure development and supporting the reduction of cost of production of goods and services, among others.

Ahmed said the plans, which she described as fully national given the participation of stakeholders from all strata of the economy in its formulation, were critical for diversifying the economy and revenue base, poverty reduction and job creation adding that it would focus on addressing constraints that hampered industrialisation and transformation of the economy.

The minister, however, stated that the lofty goals of Vision 2020 had been truncated partly by crude oil price crash due to shocks in the international market in 2016, a situation that led the economy into a recession with negative GDP growth.

But she noted that the implementation of previous and existing development plans, including the StructuralAdjustment Programme (SAP) 1986-1980 and the three-year rolling plans, National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS), National Vision 20: 2020, Seven-PointAgenda, TransformationAgenda (2011 -2015), and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) by various administrations had contributed to Nigeria’s development.

Specifically, she said though the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) agreement, which is expected to come into force in January 2021 had opened competition among African countries, as the continent gradually becomes borderless, only countries with actionable development plans would make the greatest impact on the new dispensation.

She, therefore, charged the steering committee to ensure that the new plans facilitate improvement in product complexity and mapping in order to acquire greater market share of the product complexity space to diversify revenue base.

The minister however, she said the country was confronted with another opportunity to develop new plans to drive government policies in the next decade.

Ahmed said: “Clearly and from all indications, the objective of the plans had not changed from the previous plans. It is all about diversifying the economy and revenue base, reducing poverty, wealth and job creation among others. “To achieve these objectives and also play significant roles in the global markets, the plans must pay serious attention to the development of infrastructure and reducing cost of production of goods and services.�

In the same vein, Agba pointed out that some remarkable feats had been recorded though the country was yet to attain the 20th position in the world economy while it had failed to also grow at double-digit as envisaged by current plans.

He said: “It is, however, safe to state that the implementation of ERGPpulled the economy out of recession unto the path of economic growth as the economy experienced eleven quarters of consecutive GDP growth since exiting recession. The GDP grew from 1.91 per cent in 2018 to 2.27 per cent in 2019 but declined to 1.87 per cent and 6.10 per cent in the first and second quarter of 2020 respectively due to the impact of COVID-19.�

However, there had been concerns that the so-called “Nigerian factor� could further endanger the implementation of the development plans currently being worked upon and as a result limit positive delivery.

It is particularly so given that previous administrations were notorious for policy somersaults, prompting the NationalAssembly to mull a bill on project continuity by successive administrations going forward.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ¸Ëœ 2020

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BUSINESS INTERVIEW ATIKU BAGUDU

To Curtail Flooding, Nigeria Needs National Drainage Architecture Kebbi State is one of the poorest state in Nigeria; it is an agrarian and civil service state, with a paltry N81 billion as its annual budget. With over 500,000 children in its primary schools and the World Bank recommendation of $700 for the most basic primary education per child annually, the state requires N120 billion to achieve that. The state was recently devastated by massive flooding that affected 15 of the 21 LGAs in the state. The state governor, Sen. Atiku Bagudu, in a chat with Eromosele Abiodun says, only a national drainage architecture can solve flooding problem in Nigeria. He expresses the need for Nigeria to deemphasise corruption and focus on how to generate revenue to increase its budget to $200 billion annually. Bagudu, who also speaks the controversial water resource bill and a master plan being worked on by the federal government to solve flooding problem permanently, says flooding should be taken seriously as a national problem that requires partnership

Y

our state has been ravaged by massive ooding with people left without homes and means of livelihood. What, in your opinion, is responsible for this disaster?

Flooding is an international issue, and indeed it is. One of the sources of this flooding is the River Niger, which we share with four countries, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.

Nigeria, starting from Kebbi, Niger, Kogi, Anambra, Edo, Rivers, all share the challenge of water coming downstream from as far as Guinea. So, describing it as an international issue is quite understanding, and it’s really necessary for us to understand.

Secondly, in Kebbi, we also have water coming from the North, Goroyu dam in Sokoto, and a little bit further, Bakalori dam in Zamfara, where it comes to Kebbi that has a flood plain of about 300 kilometers, which is the River Rima flood plain, which is the rice producing plane. And we have River Zamfara also pumping water from other parts of the state. So first is to establish that, flooding is not a state problem. It can affect state, but all of us in Nigeria should realise that we are dealing with a national challenge affecting many states, and certainly affecting everyone.

In Kebbi, because of the length of the FADAMA plain, the rice producing belt, which like I said, the River Rima, the north to south, where the River Rima joins river Niger is about 312km, and on both sides of it are rice with other crops, and all of it is flooded.

In then, the River Niger we have flood plains also from Dolekaina where the river starts in Kebbi to Kainji Lake, is over 250km. Again both sides have rivers, and other places that are not on this river banks like Jega and Aliero that are taking water from River Zamfara are also affected. Crops, animal lives are lost, fishing grounds are destroyed, homes and infrastructure is damaged.

So in terms of food production, it’s significant. But like I said, it’s not only Kebbi, as it is now finishing Kebbi and going into Niger state. Niger state will be under water; it’s already under water. And then, when it finishes in Niger, it would move down to some parts of Kwara, Kogi, and it’s going to the Niger/Delta. So, this is a big one. This level of water has not been seen since 2012, which is what distinguishes it from 2018 flooding.

Fortunately again, flooding are things that we pray for sometimes because, about two months ago, we were in churches and mosques praying for rain. And now, rain has come, we can’t but thank God as a nation.

What is important is to mobilise, support

Atiku Bagudu

each other, whether in the communities, across states or whether as a nation. Just like we are trying to draw attention to it, so that we can deal with it. But to even know that there is this scale of challenge, so that we support in different ways.

It’s a human story. You will see people by the roadside determining what, in their households, they need to save. Is it my har-

vest? Is it my children? Is it my poultry?

It’s an emotional story and it’s happening across the country.

What are the immediate needs of the affected communities and the long-term solutions to ooding in Kebbi State?

The immediate need is collective appreciation. I can as well sit here and just talk on

behalf of Kebbi, but let our humanity come into play. Challenge is happening across Nigeria. There are people across Nigeria today where fresh water is the biggest commodity you can give them.

Because what happens always with flood is that, there are dead bodies, carcasses of animals, toilets are all washed into the floodwater. So sometimes, heating the

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Nigeria Requires $200bn Budget to be Like Malaysia water does not majorly work. So the first thing in flood support is that there has to be drinking water from day one, we have to be there within the minute, state emergency services, philanthropic organisations, all of us and individuals should be there as first responders.

Then secondly, when somebody loses his home to flood, you know that there is no cooking facility. So even if you give him dry food, there is no place to cook it. So again, I think we need to understand as a nation that food support particularly for nearby communities. Let every organisation that supports and all of us provide food that can be eaten, cooked food to the victims.

Then shelter. Luckily we shelters like in primary schools, secondary schools, churches and mosques, but the immediate issue in moving people there is to ensure that there are toilet facilities. Because, sometimes we just felt moving to a primary or secondary schools without assessing the hygiene of the place.

Because, these are the things that will compound the challenge, because people will fall Ill and sick, and then, the day after you begin to plan for how to assess whether some of the flooded areas can be returned to, or you need to relocate people on the permanent basis. All these things has to be hand in hand.

In terms of what do we need to do if a long-term, flooding happens everywhere?

Place like Netherland would have been flooded into extinction, but even very rich countries like the United States, Pakistan etc, it’s also a challenge, and we need vast amount of money as a country to solve it. It’s not a localised issue. You can’t solve flooding in Kebbi alone. So as a nation, you have to think about National Drainage Architecture, because we have the Lake Chad region, we have the Sokoto Basin, we have the Atlantic East and Atlantic West.

So, these are all drainage systems that we need a national plan, and it costs a lot of money. Water is needed somewhere, we are not very rich in water in Nigeria. Particularly when you look at the cost.

Looking at it systematically and comprehensively, though expensive, will enable us put a national plan in place that would begin to get implemented. That might involve dredging, that might involve creation of more artificial storage, and it might involve diverting the water to other places Lake Chad that is losing its water.

It’s going to cost billions of dollars, and we have to be patient, work together, and appreciate that water is one of the biggest human endowment and blessings, that management, organising it and taking advantage of it by reducing the consequence of its activity cost a lot of money, and it’s money well spent.

Why isn’t there much of international presence in these communities to assist with their immediate needs and what is the state doing in this regard? Also, in what way will this affect your agric policy against the backdrop of climate change?

I think we have to all appreciate that whatever human endeavour we are into, a season can disappoint, something can happen.

Some places in the country are witnessing drought, regrettably, we are witnessing an abundance of water.

Its effect on our agric policy is to appreciate that farming just as a company can come under challenge, animal husbandry or fishing can come under challenge temporarily; there can be a temporary setback like drought, so we need to work with our farmers, and those in the animal husbandry and fishing as if they are running companies.

Once a season disappoints, we help them.

We encourage them to insure first, where it overwhelms insurance, we all come and support them. For example, most of the farmers today, what they need solely in addition to the immediate water and food to eat, is seedlings and fertilisers, so that they can plan with the dry season. Nigeria is a blessed nation that across the country, dry season farming can take place.

So, as devastating as it is, the resilience of our people must be appreciated. I am sure, when you go around, what is amazing is that, you would see people handling disasters with smile in their face. You would see people holding their chickens in their hands but are

is what do we do, rather than lamenting the losses. The question now should be how do we ensure that we don’t miss the planting season, how do we start keeping various animals, how do we help fishing grounds that are lost. These are all important. These are all elements of our agriculture. Recognition is important, dealing with it is important.

We have some experience. It’s not novel to us. Even in 2018, there was flooding that affected 14 states, the federal government intervened with N23 billion, seedlings and fertilisers input. Certainly, this scale is going to be bigger, but I believe with the right sensitisation many of us can support each other to ensure that its effect is minimal.

Atiku Bagudu

not complaining, but appreciative.

So we owe it to them to help them grow again, those in the animal husbandry, who lost their properties we have to support them, those who lost their fishing grounds, those whose life is otherwise disrupted; somebody who has borrowed money to buy a boat, to move people, today his life is disrupted. But, we understand that, yes this is a setback, but we should help them to bounce back.

And like you said, it is linked to climate change, it can happen again, but just like companies go down and they are supported, economic activity in agriculture value chain can also be faced with systematic risk or unforeseen disaster, but we also need to, as a populace, work with them, and it’s a necessary ingredient of our agricultural policies.

It happens elsewhere, and those are the mechanisms that are used to compensate them. In terms of international support, we welcome international support, but more than international support is what we can do for ourselves. Wherever I go, I tell the young boys in that community, even Okada riders, he can help in helping another person in that community, he can help in taking a child to the hospital. Many people can spare N200 to buy water and take to them.

Before we get international support, which we wish can get, it’s even important for ourselves, because it is easier for us. We are optimistic people with sympathy for each other. That is what motivates others. Beyond that, if something overwhelms us, we can demonstrate that togetherness.

But we have had support in some few international communities. Let’s also remember, this flooding, why it’s worse for us, it’s coming at a time when we are within the times of the Corona virus pandemic. People do not move easily, countries are overwhelmed with one challenge of the other. But I believe that in our capacity, we can help each other, and I have seen it in display. I am sure we would show it. That is what I’ll continue to urge. Many people are living in urban centres today; they don’t know that they can help. Many people have spare clothing in their house for their small children who have outgrown the cloths. So many of us can send in N20,000, N10,000, N5,000 to a fund. There are so many people who can even go on and visit. One of the things I enjoyed most with my children

is taking them to see human needs like this.

It is an opportunity. Some of us, we have children at home with video games, yet bored. But if you take them to these places, it will change their lives. They would now find out that they can help, and they wish to.

So if you don’t teach them and expose them they would not know. That is what we need to do more, so that they can as always, be their brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

We will like to know more about the River Rima and FADAMA project in details‌ Birnin-Tudu is the first town in Kebbi from Sokoto, so that’s where our border is. That is the beginning of River Rima in Kebbi. From there to reach Tuba where River Rima joins River Niger, is about 350 to 312 kilometres. Sometimes you have seen points of it at Argungu, at Birnin-Kebbi. So it’s not a uniform width. Sometimes it’s as wide as 15kilometre, but all across the plain is rice, wheat, and other crop production.

Then you have the River Niger that crosses from Dolakaina, and our brothers in Benin Republic, and Niger Republic, to Kainji Lake.

Many people do not even know that the bulk of Kainji Lake is in Kebbi. So because Kainji dam is not receiving water, then you have huge water coming, the dam is closed, hence it backflows.

What impact will this have on the country especially as it affects rice production in the state?

Tragedies are parts of life, especially when nature is at work, which occasionally it does.

But it’s more of how you respond to it that is important. No doubt about the devastating loss of crops, but the dry season starts in a month, so to mobilise, to work, and ensure that all those areas are planted again is what we are looking for support from everyone, to ensure that we are able to do it.

And not just in Kebbi like I said. Tomorrow, it could be Niger state, it could be Anambra, Imo, Edo, Rivers, Delta, and these are all along River Niger. And then, we have the River Benue; it could be Adamawa, Benue, Kogi, and others that are not along these major rivers. Jigawa is already on that water, parts of Borno, Osun, and Ondo. But, what should be a deliberate and conscious efforts

Are you aware of an organisation called Feed the Vulnerable Foundation, set up last week and claims to be giving aid to affected people? It has also set up a campaign to raise $17,000. Is there a concerted, statewide effort to organise fundraising so that this tragedy would not be exploited by fraudulent people?

There are many viewers in our system. The person who is there in his village now with his bicycle, or motorcycle, or truck, moving people to safety is as good as you who sent a million dollars.

When I move around, those are the people I energise. Not because we don’t welcome support. Many people would have told you, maybe in this flooding season alone, there are two times I have driven myself out of government house. Without any driver, drove out myself.

There is something you do, not for publicity; publicity is just necessary to draw attention to the people. On the other hand there are people, who are supporting with billions, but they don’t go to media castigating others, because the scale of the challenge is huge.

You can give money, but money hasn’t even reached somewhere. But how will you, out of self-glorification to criticise somebody?

We are dealing with a disaster, and many people are out there helping and every help is important.

I don’t know who they are, you said they came into being last week, but like I said, for decades, some foundations, some philanthropist, some community leaders, some religious leaders, have been responding and helping, and you would not even hear their voices.

They are not doing it for media; they have never been in the press. And that is what we should always put our energy, so that that kicks in. I don’t want to say we have spent this or that amount of money on this disaster, it doesn’t matter. I want to talk about those people whom we can’t see, who do not have a voice, who are there doing it. And I am sure you have come across some of them doing it.

About the dam, first, there was no proposal to do Zauro dam, there is nothing like Zauro dam. When the River basin, Sokoto, River Wima Basin authority was designed, it was designed to have what we know as fixed holders not dams, six holders. So when the construction of the six holders initially took place, the one at Zauro and the one before it, there was supposed to be four additional holders, before the river joins into River Niger. Holders are elevated water storage facilities, but because of resource constraints, and prioritisation, those holders have not been constructed by the federal government.

There was a proposal a few years ago; that we should contribute money and do it, but it has not yet been done.

There are some certain issues in our dams.

Remember during the Petroleum Trust Fund days that President Buhari actually wanted to dredge the River Niger and Benue, but unfortunately then, changes in government and resource constraint didn’t allow. Same President Jonathan. I hesitate from really pushing blame, but more importantly, to draw attention to the problem. Like I said, we need a national drainage system. Even if you solve the Kebbi problem, I don’t want just Kebbi to be solved. Regrettably, that is one of the things we need to understand with our water resources. It is a blessing, if every community appreciates its role in managing it and its impact on other communities, so that’s a valuable consideration.

So the minister of water resources told us that they are working on a master plan. I am sure they would come up with a solution, because only that can solve the problem.

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How Flooding is Devastating Nigeria’s Economy Some state roads and bridges have been affected by the ooding. Will you be seeking the help of the federal government to rebuild it, or whose responsibility is it to do so? Also, if you were to put a ďŹ gure to what has been destroyed in worth of naira and Kobo, what would that be?

Sometimes, many people close to me and some that are not often wonder whether I am being shy in talking about my circumstance, because the first responsibility of a leader is more to give hope than lament.

Sometimes, I shy away from talking about scale of disaster because it’s like you are competing for resources. We are not competing for resources; we want these disasters to be understood for what they are. It is not about Kebbi, we are really dealing with disaster.

Valuation is always a funny subjective term.

If I am to value a loss, should I compute the value of seed the farmer plant or the output that is expected from that crop? We are not drawing attention to what we have lost and we are competing with other states in terms of seeking support, but I am mentioning that we are seeking partnership that can help us compensate for the loss.

If I am to put numbers, it is certainly going to be a huge number, and it will be demoralising.

We are not exaggerating when we said we are dealing with at least 600km of crops plains that has been washed. There is no one stretch left. It’s not that there were stretches that were not planted. Along all those riverbanks, there are villages, communities, today; all of them are leaving those communities.

And it’s the same thing with damage to infrastructures. We have significant damage to infrastructure, but we are cognisant of the challenge facing our nation. We are not putting it on anybody. Hence, what do we do; first, let’s see how much we can mobilise; secondly, maybe we can even challenge our assumption about our economy. Nigeria’s economy is small, and a small economy will disappoint everyone. We are country of about 200 million people. Our general budget is under $30 billion. The highest it has been is, may be, $33 billion under Jonathan in 2013.

And the budget performance that year is less than 50 per cent.

Brazil, another country of 200 million has a budget of $659 billion, with budget performance in excess of 90 per cent. So obviously, the Nigerian President, no matter how kind or nationalistic he is, is constrained by the resources. What do we do in this circumstance?

Maybe that is why we should examine our notions about us not imputing enough of the resource limitations. We just assume that resources are been wasted, rather than its non-availability.

We don’t want to borrow; we are almost socialistic about it. We think we are over borrowing, which I don’t believe we are. Do we have confidence in the future? Because if you have confidence in the future, then you can borrow to invest today, but if you have no confidence in the future, then you cannot.

So these are the fundamental issues disasters like this brings. Why are we having the lowest debt to GDP ratio, relative to other countries? Why will Japan be having a debt to GDP ratio of over 229 per cent, and we at less than 30 per cent.

If you give me $1 billion loan, I know what to do with it in Kebbi. It would probably mitigate flooding, and that means I can pay in long term. I might lose some of it, but that’s life, but I will pay just like other countries have done it. So I think that is where we really need to focus on more than the short-term failing. This thing requires massive resources; our riverine areas have been dealing with this for a long time in different ways.

Can the National Drainage Architecture you spoke about play into the water resources bill if it is signed?

I hate to even mention the water resources bill because sometimes, we like sensationalisation. Water is a resource that is endowed by nature, a common heritage that wherever it is found must not be localised. Yes, management can be local, but water in your community, maybe going elsewhere.

If you dam it without regards there will be problem. For instance, if Nigeria makes the assumption that the River Niger belongs to us, it is a tragedy. When Kainji dam was being constructed, we sort permission of

affects how long you can navigate the river, whether between Anambra state, Kogi or anywhere in the country.

So these are some holistic issues that we need to understand, and in order to unlock the benefits, you must appreciate the need, whether at community, state, or local government level, to understand the common heritage and relate with it as such.

Natural resources can be a burden, if people do not appreciate the common interest. Today, we are dealing with water crises in different places, “oh it’s our water, it’s our land, it’s our river�, and it won’t go away. We are not there yet with water resources, but there is need for a lot of investment, which we should all make the argument for, and it is not enough for us to solve the problem, it can only lead a problem to a problem somewhere.

As an economist, I will like you to tell our readers about resource availability and corruption because often time people think Nigeria has so much money and it is been stolen.

We must be mindful as a nation whether we have fallen into an imperialist argument.

We should have laws as we do have to punish criminality, every society should have, but we should not be hoodwinked into thinking we are sufficient as a nation. Please, please, please we should not and Nigeria is not.

Do the numbers, I, as Governor of Kebbi state, the most money I have ever had as governor in a month is N7 billion. Is N7 billion big? We are not even there yet.

Atiku Bagudu

Niger Republic, which is why we are giving them some of the electricity.

If Niger decides to dam Kainji dam tomorrow, we are out of it. If Mali decides to dam, we are out of it, If Guinea where it comes from decides to dam, we are out of it. So if on Nigeria’s end, I think, River Niger portion of Kebbi belongs to Kebbi, and that of Delta belongs to Delta, that is a tragic way to think.

The well in your house is been fed by a water source that you are not seeing. For example in Kebbi, whenever people fish in the River Rima during the fishing, 30km down the road in places like, Aliero, Jega, when they take water from their well, they would have the smell of fish, this proves that their well is been fed by the river. This is God’s gift to mankind. Our responsibility is to take care of it, nurture it and see how everyone can benefit from it.

Lake Rice has practically disappeared in Lagos, what is happening with the MoU that you signed with the Lagos state government? What is the state government currently doing to alleviate the suffering of road users on Koko Bese area of the state?

When I learnt about what is happening on that road, I said, “we are suffering as always in Nigeria the consequence of intolerance and orderliness.� No matter how effective government is, there are situations in which you have to police yourself. People choose not to be respectful to the collective good.

We are just experiencing the consequence of illogical thinking.

From Birnin-Kebbi to Yauri is less than 300km, but from Birnin-Kebbi to Yauri today could take five to six hours journey. Now, only a small portion of the road is bad. The construction company is there, mobilising, just for them to finish. All motorists need do is understand that there is that bad portion and that we need to help ourselves.

On the Lake rice, we have always said, when we entered into partnership with Lagos, we did not intend the two states to be selling rice, we did it do demonstrate that Nigerians produce good rice. To provide a platform where people would move it to the highest standard, so Nigerians would recognise the potentials we have, and have a great mindset about made in Nigeria rice.

We have achieved that objective, now across the nation, there is belief and confidence in Nigerian rice, whether it is from Abakaliki, Ogoni, Kebbi, Jigawa, Taraba, and across the country. That’s our first objective in that MoU. But it hasn’t disappeared; it’s just that we haven’t grown it to replace the market.

But there is place that has been constructed at Imota, courtesy of the Lake rice partnership, that is supposed to continue to support believe in the ‘Nigeria Can Do It Project’, because essentially, that is what the partnership is about.

Sir, regarding the national drainage system you talked about, in your own view as a leader, what form do you think it would take?

Hydrologically we have almost four distinct river systems in Nigeria. We have Sokoto River Basin System, We have the Lake Chad, and then we have the Atlantic East and Atlantic west-Osun and Ondo inclusive. All these river systems have connection with each other locally and with the national drainage system.

So, for us to enhance it, and find a way of utilising it in a common way so that we deal with the climate change issues that impact on them, we deal with the utilisation issue that impact on them, today, maybe a lot of our water bodies are clocked by sanitation.

Sanitation affects how long our water remains after the remaining season, it affects how long you can find peace to stay in that area, it

It is very easy for you to know and don’t even use the N7 billion ask yourself, ‘do we have any globally accepted index for example, for what it takes in four or ďŹ ve years to train a primary school child?’ If we do, how much can Kebbi state Governor spend? Will that N7 billion cater for that?

Is there a global index for primary health care?

There is! In OECD countries for example, it cost $5,400 to train a primary student through school. In China and other middle-income countries, it cost about $1,400. Because of that, the World Bank recommended $700 for the most basic primary education per child, per person annually. So if I have half a million children, do the arithmetic: 500,000 multiplied by $700, that is $350 million in naira that is N120 billion, what is Kebbi state budget, N81 billion.

Forget about primary health centres, forget about security, forget about infrastructure, even if I am to deploy all the money on education, it will not be enough and somebody will argue this still doesn’t matter. We have been hoodwinked to think all the money is been stolen. The problem is rooted in our educational system, media society, we are accustomed to sidestepping, because you need principle to make the logical arguments which are necessary to move the nation forward.

You can cost it, what is the minimum budget Nigeria need to have in other to be like Malaysia? It is not rocket science let us start that discourse.

What can be done to boost our revenue generation and educate Nigerians that the country is not rich?

If you ask me, and I have said it on numerous occasions, first we need to understand is that we are a very, very tiny economy. And tiny economy would continue to disappoint all of us. We would not have enough money for security services; we would not have enough money to include everyone. Go to any farm settlement in Nigeria, who in his right senses, would want his four-year-old child to follow an animal for 11km daily. Is it their choice? The Ijaw man, whose river has been overtaken by water hyacinth, pollution, and you are not thinking about how to train him to farm shrimp or something and you think we can ignore that? How much does it cost for us to include everyone? Because without inclusion, tragedies would continue to happen and there is a number to do that.

Certainly, it is not the $30 billion budget of today; maybe we should be talking about $200 billion. We should start to deemphasise corruption; corruption is not Nigeria’s problem. When you have corruption case and it is proven, punish it, don’t squeeze the economy and say, “until we solve it we will do nothing more.�

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BUSINESS/PERSPECTIVE

113& DQG 5HĂ€QHULHV 5HKDELOLWDWLRQ Benjamin Isani

I

’m, sadly, aware that you have read something like this before! It has become trite to read news about rehabilitation or turnaround maintenance of Nigeria’s refineries. For decades we have been told that the four refineries, which have been in epileptic conditions for so long, would soon start producing at optimum capacities. Huge sums had been mentioned as resources for the turn-around. But year in and year out, the story has remained the same and Nigeria has continued to depend on fuel import to meet domestic energy demand.

As of June, 2020, Nigeria’s total domestic fuel consumption was 409,000 bpd. If performing at installed capacities, Nigeria’s four refineries would process slightly above 441,000 bpd, with the Port Harcourt Refinery alone capable of producing 210, 000 bpd of crude oil. That would have been more than enough to take care of domestic fuel need and spare the country the stress of fuel scarcity and the subsidy monster.

It is a shame that Africa’s largest and the sixth largest crude oil producer in the world cannot process its own crude and has to depend on refineries located in other countries. That has, expectedly, created its own problems and stunted growth in the industry.

The country has been held down by dependence on fuel imports because the Federal Government has to subsidize the cost of importing refined petroleum products to make them available to end users at affordable price. This has inevitably encouraged corruption as privileged Nigerians capitalized to milk the country. In 2019 alone, the FG spent a humongous N1.5trn on fuel subsidy payment. That same year, the Ministry of Works and Housing, which got the highest budgetary allocation, received only N262 billion!

It is anyone’s guess what could have been if the subsidy budget was given to the ministry of works and housing.

But the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has courageously decided to take another road to meeting the fuel needs of Nigerians. Instead of throwing trillions of Naira into the pockets of some cartel, the government has seen the urgent need to extricate the country from dependence on oil cartels who could decide to hold the nation by the jugular anytime it catches their fancy.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been quietly working on how best to proceed with the rehabilitation of the refineries so as to get them working again at full capacity. And if everything continues according to their timeline, Nigerians would soon begin to experience a new lease of life when the country achieves self-sufficiency in fuel production.

According to a timeline for the overhaul of the four refineries, the Port Harcourt Refinery would be recommissioned for production by 2023.

The NNPC had already carried out a detailed scoping of Port Harcourt and Warri refineries since last year to determine what needed to be done in each of the assets. Detailed Technical Inspection, carried out by Technimont SpA (the representative of the Original Refinery Builder), was completed in October 2019. Technimont SpA is an international leader in the field of plant engineering with indelible global technology footprints.

The reconstruction is being supervised by NNPC’s engineering subsidiary- the National Engineering and Technical Company, NETCO. The NETCO and KBR were appointed as

Mele Kyari

Owners Engineer (OE) and Project Management Consultants for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries since May 2020 while NNPC had also issued Invitation to tender for the repair of the refineries.

Importantly, the NNPC had signed a $1.5 billion prepayment deal that will see it selling crude to some oil trading companies in exchange for prepaid money for the overhaul. The financing package, called Project Eagle, was backed by the African Export Import Bank.

Detailed scoping has also been concluded for the Warri and Kaduna refineries and Owners Engineers selected for KBR and NETCO. The financing of Warri and Kaduna has advanced to term sheet level with Luke Oil and other commercial banks.

This process will lead to issuance of tenders for EPC contract to list EPC contractors that have been cleared by Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

Shortlist of Bidders for the EPC project was approved in June 2020 while financing approval has progressed substantially with Afrexim Bank raising $1bn by NNPC Bond in July 2020.Prequalification of Bidders was in August 2020 while Certificate of No Objection from BPP for the provision of EPC services to progress to the next phase obtained same month.

Issuance of Invitation to Tender to Bidders was scheduled for 14th September 2020 and award of EPC to best globally reputable EPC Contractor would be in December 2020. By first quarter of 2021, contractors would mobilize to site and it is expected that the refinery would be pre-commissioned for operations in the first quarter of 2023.

The work is not only on-going to achieve self-sufficiency in petroleum products manufacturing, efforts are also afoot to boost domestic gas production and further expand the industry. The NNPC has signed the

engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to boost the country’s liquefied natural gas output by more than 30 per cent. Construction activities are set to begin by 1st quarter 2021.

President Buhari on July 5 flagged off construction work on the 614-kilometre Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project designed to deliver 2.2 billion cubic feet per day of gas to the domestic market.

In addition, Public tenders have been done to partners on build, operate and transfer basis for the construction of associated pipelines for crude and produce transportation.

The NNPC has set a target of 2023 for completion.

FG’s plan to achieve total deregulation of the oil sector is what will encourage quicker turn-around of the refineries and by implication, the oil and gas industry in the country. The financing model chosen to deliver the reconstruction of the refineries and boost gas production would ensure the projects are sustainable.

The GMD of NNPC, Mele Kyari, had explained recently that efforts were ongoing to implement an operating model which allows the government-owned Corporation to be a minority shareholder in the refineries as the Government does not have the resources to fund the rehabilitation 100 per cent .It therefore plans to offer majority stakes of its four refineries to private investors. “Government does not have the resources to fund 100 per cent of the Refineries. We are resorting to private capital, this will free NNPC from direct responsibility of running the Refineries, support the processes and we will have a more efficient way of running it,� Kyari had stated.

Industry stakeholders believe this is the way to go in order to create a competitive market that will lead to efficiency in the running of the

refineries. But the government must ensure total deregulation of the industry to promote a competitive market in the sector to curb cases of monopoly.

Experts believe the privatisation of the refineries and the deregulation of the oil industry would free the NNPC to properly oversight the industry. As the regulatory and monitoring organ of the government in the sector, the Corporation’s role is hugely critical to efficient operation of the sector.

This is why the steps taken by the NNPC to revive the nation’s refineries must be commended.

Since taking over as the GMD of the Corporation in June last year, Kyari has injected the oil and gas industry with strong doses of vitality, honesty, transparency and a goal-driven energy that had not been seen in a long time. He has provided leadership with integrity and promoted synergy in the industry.

His hands-on approach to governance, complimented by his in-depth knowledge of the industry has engendered stability in the sector. Nigeria is lucky that the men currently at the helm of the oil and gas sector are acknowledged technocrats who share similar vision of the industry. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and Kyari are two of a kind and have worked together with dogged determination to meet the expectations of Nigerians and President Buhari.

The two have spent less than two years in office but have already made significant impact in the industry and in the country. Even if their tenures were to end this year, both would leave with a report card that carries a number of performance distinctions. But they will only win the gold if they deliver on the refineries as scheduled. t *TBOJ XSJUFT GSPN 6NVBIJB

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

20.09.2020

TOKUNBO ABIRU Vanessa Obioha writes that the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) candidate for the upcoming by-election of the Lagos East Senatorial District, Tokunbo Abiru, is a man of different layers with family values having the highest premium ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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COVER

TOKUNBO ABIRU

I’m a Man of The People, I Love The People

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owards the end of last year, Tokunbo Abiru took some moments to reflect on his life and career. He has spent close to three decades in the banking sector, starting as one of the second batch of employees that started the new generation bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, in 1991.

He garnered his first banking experience during his 10-year tenure in the bank. He later moved to National Bank, spent three months before proceeding to First Atlantic Bank. He spent six months there. Both banks are now defunct.

Determined to build a solid career in the finance sector, Abiru joined First Bank of Nigeria in 2002. It was in that financial institution that he climbed the rungs of the ladder, assuming the position of deputy general manager. In 2011, he ventured into politics.

Under the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration in Lagos State, Abiru served as the commissioner for finance. But it was just a two-year stint as he resigned from the post to take on a coveted leadership of First Bank in 2013. He was offered the executive director role which he occupied until he left the bank in 2016.

His next mission was to rebuild the collapsing status of Skye Bank now known as Polaris Bank Limited.

He was appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for that mission. Under his leadership as the group managing director, Abiru steered the bank into relevance and increased its profitability.

Abiru felt he had fulfilled the mandate given to him as the thoughts swirled on his mind that fateful day. More so, he believed he had achieved an enviable reputation in his career at that stage. The more he reviewed his experience, the more convinced he was that he needed to make a change. One thing was certain though, he was going to retire from the banking industry.

Having reached that conclusion, he called his family to tell them about his decision. “We are a very close-knit family. We like to plan ahead so the idea of my retirement was never a secret. I told them that I was ready to be on my own,� he said. He was in the company of his wife Feyisola (who sat in during an interview with Abiru) whom he described as his rock. “But I have got to start thinking of what to do next. The form of what to do was still unclear.�

Many options were offered in that family discussion. Return to the classroom? Take a vacation? Maybe dedicate himself to public service?

The idea of going into public service was not entirely new to the Abirus. According to the graduate of Economics, his family has always been concerned about the welfare of the people. “People talk about how I affected 8,000 lives in this community (Ikorodu) during the peak of the pandemic but the truth is that it was a family contribution. My wife, my children, everyone contributed to that charity.�

While they were still deliberating his next course, the opportunity to represent the Lagos East Constituency in the Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) arrived.

Again, he sought the family’s approval. “I can’t describe how I felt when he told me he was going to contest for the senate position,� said his wife, sighing deeply. “But when he said it, we all submitted to his decision.� “It has always been an ongoing conversation but we were unsure of what form it will take,� added Abiru. “I told them to look at my involvement in politics as public service. Of course, we prayed about it. But we had a clear understanding that we cannot all be pulling back, we have to compliment those who are also leading.�

He continued: “But I also told them to watch my back. If they think I’m derailing from my set objectives in any way, they should be able to draw my attention and caution me. That’s how we are.�

Since his emergence as the preferred candidate to represent the senatorial district in the upcoming by-election, not a few have cast doubts on his candidacy. They questioned his competence in the political landscape, expressing scepticism that he would aptly represent the constituency in the Senate.

For such critics, Abiru readily rolled out his involvement in his local community. “There is hardly any religious celebration (he is a Muslim) that is not spent in Ikorodu.

Tokunbo Abiru and his wife, Feyisola

I’m a member of the foremost club in Ikorodu, Oriwu and my father established the first club in this community known as The Exclusives. My wife is a manufacturer and deals in furniture.

The factory that makes the furniture is down Ibeshe Road. So I’m not really a stranger in this community,� he explained.

With an impressive banking career experience, and now a shot at the Senate, it is easy to assume that Abiru’s life has been very rosy. But he sees his life with a different lens. “From the outside, they think it’s a bed of roses but it has been an interesting and challenging career. Yes, I was opportune to work in the new generation banks in the early 90s but it was also very competitive because you are in the midst of young and ambitious people. That spirit of competition, fair play, and discipline to comport yourself is a part of the values or traits that continue to shape you. “Also, I left the new generation bank to join

the oldest bank in the country. You can imagine a young officer working with mature people, it’s not easy. You have to learn to understand the culture and work within the confines of that culture which is quite different from where you are coming from. So there are bound to be ups and downs.�

Indeed, the discipline he imbibed during that period is reflected in his family. His wife readily attested to his leadership role in the family. “My husband has been someone who’s led by example. He is the natural head of the family and has been a role model to me and the children. He has very clear and strong values that I share with him. So raising our children has not been that difficult because we all know what we stand for.�

Abiru’s family values can be traced to his late father, Mudashiru who was a respected lawyer, jurist, and was a senator in the Second Republic.

The chartered accountant recalled growing up in

a neighbourhood in Surulere in the late 60s. “It was a close of eight houses and a friendly neighbourhood. There were no fences but hedges you could roll your tyres across.

We knew each other. Even when we lived in Gbagada, it was a quiet neighbourhood in the 70s,� he recollected, describing Lagos as a friendly and less aggressive neighbourhood.

However, he described the late Abiru as a disciplinarian with strong family values. “He was an accomplished professional, a family man, a disciplined man, and a religious man. There is a lot I learned from him. And in all of this, the main burden I see that I have to carry is his legacy. To make sure I do not derail from the family values he instilled in me,� he acknowledged.

But with his loving wife beside him, who is determined to support him in his new adventure, Abiru may have nothing to fear after all.

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GLITZ FEATURE

Phenomenal Femi Otedola as a Billionaire And Quintessential Father Femi Otedola has built a titanic enterprise and an enviable dynasty to match. He is the shine in his daughters’ eyes and the icon in his son’s mirror. He fed their hearts compassion and taught their souls to harden with sustenance like metal against all odds. Many dads could learn a thing or two from the billionaire chairman of Geregu Power Plants, about parenting and raising smart, powerful, compassionate children who could make the world a better place, writes LANRE ALFRED

I

t is often said the worst fortune that could befall an ordinary child is to have an extraordinary father - he or she would always walk in the father’s shadow and waddle through life as the inconsequential scion.

For Tolani, Florence (DJ Cuppy), Temi, and Fewa Otedola, however, everyday unfurls with a rare boon because they have Femi Otedola as their father. Perhaps because they are prodigious children of an exceptional father: Tolani is a diva and songwriter; Florence is a maverick disc jockey (DJ); Temi just stepped in bloom as a promising actress, and Fewa, the only son, is being raised to surpass the attainment of their magnate father. Their apples surely didn’t fall too far from the filial tree.

The Otedola wards are indeed a lucky bunch.

Unlike too many of their peers, they do not suffer the misfortune of watching their father fail and see his failures multiply like an explosion of virulent cells - failure to amass a fortune and the failure to keep it; failure to speak clearly; failure to attain repute; failure to develop the money habit; failure in attitude; failure in ambition and ability; failure indeed in everything.

Otedola spares no expenses at pampering his children even as he sets out to raise them right.

The endearing traits of a real man are personified in how he extends and redefines the yards of fatherhood’s goals.

Many have persistently wondered how he managed to raise such fine wards; if you ask him, he would tell you that its because he taught their souls to harden with sustenance like metal in the face of challenges. He taught them it’s alright to bleed red with a cut but never to cow in pain or get daunted in the thick of odds.

Otedola pampers his wards but he doesn’t raise them to be hopeless. He taught them never to dip in the last trickle of champagne lest they get smudged in name and repute, in the yellow pages of sensational print.

Through his ministrations of tough love, Otedola passionately fulfills his role as a doting father.

Recently, the billionaire magnate bought a Ferrari Portofino for each of his daughters: DJ Cuppy, Temi, and Tolani. DJ Cuppy shared photos of the Italian luxury sports cars with customised plate numbers on social media on Wednesday enthusing, “Papa took us shopping and bought one of each!�

Temi, who recently made her Nollywood debut in Kunle Afolayan’s latest movie, ‘Citation’, also shared videos and photos of the new cars on Instagram.

And despite his hectic business schedules, with the attendant global junkets and commitments, the great man of means makes out time for his children. He is one of those rare men who believe that fathers bear a fundamental obligation to do right by their children, and they need to be involved in their lives, not just when it’s convenient or easy— but when it’s difficult and thankless, and they’re struggling.

Otedola is supportive of all their endeavours, including cooking, dancing, and gardening and everything in between. Recently, this hands-on, child-centric parent was a viral sensation when he was videoed in the kitchen helping his son with his cooking.

When ‘Citation,’ the seventh movie of filmmaker par excellence, Afolayan, is released in cinemas across the world later in the year, one of the new faces that would wow audiences is that of Temi, the winsome fashion and arts-loving daughter of Otedola.

Temi stars in the movie alongside tested thespians like Haitian-born Hollywood actor, Jimmy Jean Louis, Sadiq Daba, and Gabriel Afolayan among others. Otedola was one of the first to post the trailer of the movie a few weeks back. His caption was, ‘Citation! My daughter, Temiloluwa, starring as Moremi Oluwa in ‘Citation’ (about sexual harassment) – Kunle

Above Otedola with his three daughters, below are the three Ferrari cars he bought for them

Afolayan’s upcoming feature film. This movie is sure to be the best ever that has come out of Nigeria.�

During filming in Ife, Osun State, especially, Otedola visited the cast and crew. An impeccable source disclosed that to make her movie debut interesting and stress-free, daddy dearest booked a whole hotel in the ancient city where the billionaire heiress was the only guest with her security guards and domestic aides.

All through the month-long shooting, she was heavily guarded round the clock. A University College, London, graduate of History of Arts, Temi, 23, is a fashion and travel blogger and owns JTO Fashion, a multimedia platform from which she expresses her adventures through the arenas of fashion, beauty, art, and travel. With over a million followers on Instagram, Otedola has just seven followers and Temi’s boyfriend, the superstar singer, Mr Eazi, is one of them.

But it is not only Temi that has the backing of her dad, her two older sisters – Tolani and Cuppy enjoy the same fervent support. He is a major force behind their blooming careers in entertainment.

Tolani, the dark-hued singer-songwriter took the Nigerian music industry by storm in 2019 with her hit single, Ba Mi Lo, featuring Reekado Banks.

When she released her newest single, Badman, the billionaire posted the teaser on his social media pages, saying, “My daughter, Tolani, beautifully sung and cleverly written latest single is out. Link in my bio.� Tolani holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Psychology from the prestigious St. Andrews University, Scotland; the same university attended by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.

It must, however, be DJ Cuppy that has enjoyed her father’s support the most, perhaps because she was the first to go into entertainment. Starting out as a deejay, a female in a male-dominated industry

where talents abound and the competition is cutthroat.

DJ Cuppy has proven that the sun does not have to go down for her moon to shine. While her stock keeps rising at home, Cuppy has been flown to every part of the world to perform. Those who have seen the business and economics graduate of Kings College, London, at work, say her strength lies in her clinical understanding of her crowd and ability to play the music that suits them at every point in time. One of the first things Otedola did when Cuppy decided to be a DJ was to have her intern at Roc Nation, the foremost American music label owned by billionaire rap royalty, Jay Z. In 2015, Cuppy set off on her first DJ tour to eight African cities themed, ‘Cuppy Takes Africa.’ The tour, supported by GTBank and the Dangote Foundation, took her and her team to Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa.

Otedola is always eager to connect with his family. He never misses any of their milestones.

Wherever in the world he is, he makes out time to be with them which was why a simple and spontaneous light-hearted father-daughter banter between him and Cuppy spun a social movement, an urban refrain and a song that became a mainstream hit.

While on holiday in July 2019, Otedola and daughters stopped by in Italy for some gelato, the video of which DJ Cuppy excitedly posted online and bang! it went viral, spinning countless rehashes, memes, and skits by established stars and social media influencers and users. Even his billionaire friends like Aliko Dangote, Wale Tinubu, Herbert Wigwe, and Donald Duke among others all had their gelato video remakes.

The viral reviews of gelato made DJ Cuppy to later team up with the rave-of-the-moment streethop star, Zlatan, of the Zanku fame, on a new

song fittingly titled, ‘Gelato.’ Gelato became a bona fide fans’ favourite while enjoying intense streaming and downloads on musicstreaming websites like Spotify, Tidal, Boomplay, Soundcloud, and MTN Music, among others. It also went on to become a daily trending topic on social media with many users commending the young lady for constantly re-inventing herself and proving to critics that there is more to her and her artistry than her father’s fortunes.

With a slew of hits in her growing repertoire already, especially the monstrous hit, ‘Green Light,’ featuring Tekno, ‘Gelato’ threw Cuppy into the cultural conversation and further earmarked her as one of the new generation singers whose songs always find their ways to the top of the chart without an aggressive push, a fairly rare accomplishment in a constantly evolving industry.

Last November, Otedola stunned the world when he donated N5 billion to DJ Cuppy Foundation and Save the Children’s, which president is Princess Anne, the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At a gala to launch the foundation in aid of Save the Children’s work in Abuja, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as the special guest of honour, Otedola donated what is now regarded as one of the largest individual donations to a philanthropic cause in Africa.

Otedola treasures his children and never shirks from supporting or showing them how much he does. Few days ago, he further established the depth of his love for his daughters by gifting each a Ferrari Portofino.

The cars also came with bespoke number plates, which don’t come cheap in London. The blogosphere is still heaving and gasping at the news.

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

GLITZ PERSONALITY

DR. CHIMAOBI ANYASO MY PASSION FOR PEOPLE AND DESIRE FOR DEVELOPMENT At forty, his life isn’t fortuitous but with fortitude and foresight, he’s built a business empire adored by many yet craved for by many more. His grace, grit and gumption illustrates his industry as an indefatigable entrepreneur. A champ in entrepreneurship, his conglomerate straddles the oil and gas, financial, real estate, health care and the hospitality sectors. His swag underscores his class yet Dr. Chimaobi Desmond Anyaso, President of Oil Rigs Resources Limited and the chairman of Caades Group, possesses the conviviality and camaraderie often absent in Nigeria’s billionaires, writes Bayo Akinloye ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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GLITZ PERSONALITY

My Wife’s My Biggest Achievement

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s the women -40 of them -sing in unison, with their dainty feets delicately stirring the dust of the earth. The ululation of their mellifluous voices rend the air. Other women in the village can’t help but join in the excitement. As they dance, tears roll down their cheeks. Tears of joy and as if choreographed, they bring out white handkerchiefs to damp their faces. “Why aren’t we going to dance? We’ll dance until the break of dawn,� the women chorus like canaries.

At forty, his life isn’t fortuitous but with fortitude and foresight, he’s built a business empire adored by many yet craved for by many more. His grace, grit and gumption illustrates his industry as an indefatigable entrepreneur. A champ in entrepreneurship, his conglomerate straddles the oil and gas, financial, real estate, health care and the hospitality sectors.

His swag underscores his class yet Dr. Chimaobi Desmond Anyaso, President of Oil Rigs Resources Limited and the chairman of Caades Group, possesses the conviviality and camaraderie often absent in Nigeria’s billionaires Watching those women dance, it’s easy to understand why billionaire Anyaso is loved, honoured and well-known by Abia people.

Back in Lagos, the tall, handsome, fashionable business tycoon lounges in his living room, his adorable and delectable wife (Adanna) beside him while their children are in play mode. Confident, convivial and conscientious, Anyaso exudes a camaraderie rare among wealthy individuals. There’s no nouveau-riche air around him.

Born September 16, 1980, Anyaso has grown to become an enduring entrepreneur in world’s most populous black nation, Nigeria.

His vantage point is balanced on virtues and values; people-centric. “I’ve always had passion for people. It’s always my passion to excel, to make things better. It’s always my passion to bring about development,� he admits in his characteristic calm voice.

A native of Igbere in Bendel Local Government Area in Abia State, Anyaso’s illustrious life and extraordinary achievements illustrated by his childhood. “I’m from a polygamous home,� he reveals sotto voce. “My childhood memory is filled with harmony and happiness in the home. It’s one big united family. We cared for one another and it didn’t matter we were not all born by the same mother. It was, and still is, a closely-knitted family.�

As a young child, life was blissful for billionaire Anyaso as he was nurtured by loving parents. Nevertheless, as a child, he had his eyes set on something. He left nobody in doubt as a kid about his entrepreneurial ingenuity. “Even though I lacked nothing as a child, I bought things for myself to sell back home whenever I accompanied my father to the market. It came naturally to me. Well, my dad and mom were shrewd traders too and were successful in their own right,� explains Anyaso. “I’ve always been independent-minded.�

Yet, what he’s achieved so far in business dwarfs all the successes of his parents and how he makes extraordinary things look ordinary. “I drew inspiration from my parents. It’s also interesting that when started out, I worked for a young man who already owned a business.

I’ve always loved to venture into business,� he points.

It was little wonder that he started working right before he went for the one-year compulsory national youth service programme. “In fact, I registered my own company while I was still working for someone. I knew it was just a matter of time for me to start my own business,� a confident but unassuming Anyaso reveals.

Sitting atop the board of many companies, Anyaso, a seasoned professional marketing expert with years of experience in the oil and gas industry, is also a member of Ikoyi Club, chairman, Board of Trustees of Miles Club, and the vice president of Umuaba Connect Association of Nigeria, Anyaso has always wanted to be independent.

A birthday boy last Wednesday, Anyaso celebrated his 40th year on earth. With a smile on his face, he recollects something about his childhood: it was grit and gumption. Having completed his primary and secondary school education, Anyaso was determined to live the South-East having spent all his life there. His efforts to gain admission into the University of Lagos fell through because he didn’t have all the required O’Level results. “I was determined not to waste a moment at home. Incidentally, Ebonyi State University

was newly established during that period. I was willing and ready to study any course. In the end, I studied English and Literature,� he recalls. “I have always wanted to be a businessman.

For me, it didn’t matter what course I eventually studied. I knew where my passion lay and I was convinced I would excel in business.�

He soon graduated with a BA in English and Literature. Shortly after, he obtained a Master’s degree in Management at the University of Lagos; Petroleum Marketing Management from Atlas University, Philadelphia; a certification in Executive Management Development from the Peter J. Tobin College of Business at the St. John’s University, Manhattan, New York in the United States.

He is a recipient of the Forbes African Achievers Award for community development and was awarded ‘Democracy Youth Icon of the year 2017’ just as he was selected by Vanguard and Champion newspapers as one of the ‘Top 20 Business Professionals’ in Nigeria. For his contribution to Nigeria’s development and integrity, he was honoured with a honorary doctoral degree by the European America University (Commonwealth of Dominica).

Talking about his work experience, Anyaso says, “After graduation, I worked at places like Elmline Nig Ltd., South Globe Ltd., Traqui Ltd., and Geo Bureau de Change picking up useful lessons along the line.

Similarly, he worked with Aquitane Oil and Gas Ltd which apparently served as a launchpad for him to venture into the oil and gas sector.

When Anyaso floated his first company, Caades Oil and Gas Ltd., not a few people considered it ambitious and risky. In reality, though, that kind of move was what he had prepared himself for even as a child right into his adulthood. With his characteristic astuteness and acuity, Caades soon led to the formation of Ceecon Energy Oil and Gas Ltd, a firm that has since generated a turnover in excess of $1 billion consulting for international companies like Addax and Vitol.

His entrepreneurial gumption has led Anyaso into dealing in the financial, real estate and health care sectors, founding the SC & C Bureau de Change Ltd (an elite ‘Class A’ bureau de change granted licenses by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009), Chimbaland Properties & Investment Co Ltd, among others.

The billionaire entrepreneur’s biggest achievement isn’t farfetched. “My greatest achievement is my wife,�

Anyaso enthuses in a simplicity that’s unique.

He smiles and says, “Yes, my wife,� when the question was repeated what his greatest achievement is. “My wife has been what I need to have a happy life and successful career,� he emphasises as his kids giggle, playing around in their home. “My wife means a lot to me. A happy home is more than anything else.�

Always dressed to the nines, Anyaso isn’t hesitant to describe himself as being fashionable. “I’m a fashionista,� he acknowledges. Even without saying, the billionaire entrepreneur exudes class and swag whether he’s donning a native, foreign, formal or casual attire.

But Anyaso isn’t satisfied with what he’s achieved in life. “It’s my dream to serve my people to the best of my ability,� he asserts. Yes, there’s so much more he can in a country plagued with abject poverty. In the 2019 parliamentary election, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, Anyaso contested to represent Bende Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

Though unsuccessful, he hasn’t given up.

For him, Nigerian youths have a big role to play in Nigeria’s politics and governance. “This isn’t about personal aggrandisement. It’s about giving better representation for the people. It’s about standing up and representing the youth. It’s about passion to improve how things are done and better the lot of the people,� he explains.

Will he try again? Anyaso doesn’t give up in doing what’s for the good of the people.

As a passionate philanthropist, during his 40th birthday, he empowered various women with machinery and cash as illustrated at the outset. He looks the grassroots as a down-toearth personality.

Not given to blowing his own trumpet, Anyaso’s generosity and developmental drive are clearly seen in his establishing tuitionfree schools for indigent children through Ahuoma Anyaso Education Foundation.

In addition to that, his Chima Anyaso Foundation runs free medical outreach across Bende Federal Constituency. In the last one year, the foundation has provided free medical care to over 6,000 Nigerians across

“My wife has been what I need to have a happy life and successful career,� he emphasises as his kids giggle, playing around in their home.“My wife means a lot to me. A happy home is more than anything else.�

Anyaso

the 10 autonomous communities that make up his constituency.

While the country was on lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, Anyaso’s benevolence shone through as he single-handedly provided trailer-loads of palliatives (foodstuffs and health care materials including santizers and cash).

At 40, life is opening new vistas for Anyaso.

He’s grateful for what he has as he seeks new challenges and better ways to make his society a better place. “Here’s my philosophy: politics and governance should be about passion for leadership. It’s about passion to support people.

It’s about passion to bring about positive change.

It’s about desire for development,� he points out.

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

High Life Inside Late Abiola Ajimobi’s Expensive Mausoleum

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onour, regard and memory—these are the qualities that are reported to be behind the mausoleum erected in the name of former Oyo State Governor, the late Abiola Ajimobi.

Furnished with cool air, bright lights and soft chairs, the graveside of the late political chieftain looks a lot more like a final resting place than anything else.

A video recently cropped up on social media showing the mausoleum designed for the late Abiola Ajimobi. Between the many voices simultaneously supporting and spurning the gesture, it is obvious that Ajimobi’s family is intent on showing him the same honour and respect as when he was alive.

The luxury mausoleum is unique, with an interior decoration that is both sparse and sparkly. The room itself is fitted with a super airconditioning system, running on uninterrupted power supply, and regulated based on living conditions.

In addition, there are well-placed chairs that are comfy and worth every note spent on them. Then the colours—a fine mixture of gold and milk-brown, white and beige.

All in all, a fine place to visit and reminisce.

Recall that Abiola Ajimobi passed away on June 25, 2020, as a result of complications following Covid-19 infection. In conformity with Islamic rites, he was buried at his Oluyole country home in Ibadan.

While it was as well attended as the regulations against the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic would allow, the family of the late patriarch made sure to celebrate his legacy and accomplishments. Apparently, the mausoleum is an extension of that gesture and a symbol of their love for him.

Expectedly, folks have chipped in one thing after another in response to the gesture. On one end are those who sympathise with the family and state that the mausoleum is as resplendent as Ajimobi’s political career and leadership. While the other extreme are those who have stated that the luxury goes against the simplicity that is traditionally associated with Islam, or that the resources expended to set up an expensive graveyard could have been employed to build up the life of someone else. And more and more.

Ajimobi

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

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

Seyi Makinde’s Quest for United PDP in South-west, a Pipe Dream?

As the year runs towards a determinate end and political ambitions run as dendritic as dying tree roots, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State continues to push his vision of a united Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Unfortunately, with every whack upon this lofty objective, the possibilities of final actualisation are looking dimmer and dimmer every day.

In recent days, Governor Seyi Makinde has borne the brunt of the accusations of ill will, inexperience and incompetence. Their accusations have come from individuals and personalities within his party and without, within his state and without, as well as within his geopolitical zone and without. All of these have made Makinde’s dream of—and efforts towards—a unified South-west a considerably tumultuous pursuit.

Citing his leadership capacity and style, Makinde has even been accused of being a pokenoser, a loudmouth puppet whose true intention is to subtly assimilate other regions and use this influence for nefarious purposes. If

the parties throwing words over his head were united in their avocation, perhaps Makinde might have stood a chance—all he’d need to do is settle them in one go. Unfortunately, there are those who appear to support his vision, but are not making any significant contribution, other than fling insults against his more vocal detractors.

The greatest impediments to Makinde’s vision of a united PDP in the South-west are as present now as they were when he climbed into Oyo State governorship in 2019. Of the six (6) regions in the Southwest (Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Oyo), only Oyo State might be classified as being firmly in his belt.

With the rest, not so.

While Seyi Makinde has been celebrated as one of the youngest, forward-thinking, and most progressive leaders in the country, several political principalities in the Southwest do not share this view. Former Governor Ayo Fayose “loves him very much”, but doesn’t want him within 50 feet of Ekiti. Former PDP zonal Chairman Eddy Olafeso isn’t his best pal or

Makinde

fan. Neither the Adelekes in Osun, nor the Adebutus in Ogun take his opinions into serious consideration. And Lagos State has too many Goliaths to care.

Apparently, Governor Seyi Makinde’s quest of being the grandmaster that brings all factions of PDP in the Southwest under a single umbrella is losing colour and appearing to be nothing more than a dream.

Chima Ayanso Celebrates 40th in Style

Ayanso

Until the world ends, greatness and excellence will always be celebrated. For every stride that proponents of these qualities take, there’ll always be folks who are willing to publish their names. This is how Chimaobi Desmond Anyaso came to be recognised for his contributions in business, politics and philanthropy. At 40, Chima Ayanso is the envy of many.

The 40th Birthday celebration of Chima Ayanso was more of a family gathering than anything else. Considering the state of things in the country, no thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Birthday event that might have been attended by hundreds of well-wishers was changed into a special prayer breakfast on September 15. While it was something of a quiet meeting, Ayanso was given his due place as a man who has accomplished much in a few decades.

His foremost identity is that of a politician and entrepreneur, and the hotelier who took a deep dive into unfamiliar waters of the downstream

Chioma Uzodinma: The Paragon with a Momentum Like a rock rolling down a mountain with nothing to obstruct its path, the First Lady of Imo State has taken the first step towards her well-known goal—the justification of the might of women and the ultimate campaign to have the womenfolk level that might in their super significant contribution to society.

Laying out the specifics of her grand design, Barrister Chioma Uzodinma essentially routed a cocktail of suppressed ambitions and guided them towards the apex of personal, social and national development.

First Lady Chioma Uzodinma lit the sparks of strength and determination in the womenfolk during the 2020 edition of Imo women August (IWAM). This is an annual event designed to draw out the matriarchal might of Imo Women and have them inspire, motivate and transform themselves, regardless of their ages, professional qualifications or standing. This time, IWAM was held at the Heroes Square, Owerri of Imo State.

Several notable dignitaries were present, including Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, his Deputy, Prof.

Placid Njoku, Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, and several others. These were entertained to activities such as marching parade, cultural dance exhibition and competition, food

Uzudinma

competition, and the presentation of gift prizes for winners.

The pinnacle of the event, however, was Medayese the speech delivered by Imo State First Lady, Barrister Chioma Uzodinma.

In her rousing remarks, Barrister Chioma Uzodinma reminisced on the fact that women are the foundation upon which all progressive societies are built and invited the

oil and gas sector. For these identities, Ayanso has won several awards and plaques of recognition, some of which have even merited international mention.

Chima Ayanso is one of a handful of young and influential individuals who have employed their influence in the most admirable ways. With Ayanso, this influence evolved from his nomination to represent the people of Bende Federal constituency in Abia under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP. In a similar vein, his Chima Anyaso Foundation has garnered the interest of the public.

In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Chima Ayanso Foundation was one of the first to take measures against the debilitating effects the virus had on the people and economy. Ayanso’s patriotic gesture was evidenced by his donation of relief materials, food, as well as emergency services vehicles for his Bende Constituency.

At 40, Chima Ayanso is already on his way to erecting the legacy of a lifetime.

womenfolk to embrace that truth and take active steps towards manifesting it.

Borrowing momentum from the obvious evidence of her husband’s accomplishments, Barrister Uzodinma called upon her audience to direct their support, strength and service towards perfecting the development process that was already underway for the various components of Imo State: security, healthcare, civil service reform, road and drainage construction, youths and women empowerment, and several others.

All in all, the First Lady hit the ground running, projecting a course of limitless possibilities and accomplishments unto the gathering of women. She challenged them to do more and be more, and push their efforts towards achieving the goal of the 2020 episode of IWAM— suppressing the miasma of human rights violations, and clearing the debris that exists by reason of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Riding on the course projected by Barrister Uzodinma, the Commissioner for Gender and Vulnerable Group, Lady Nkechinyere Ugwu affirmed and praised the intentions and actions of the First Lady. She also called attention to the various empowerment packages that Barrister Uzodinma had distributed to the women, and acknowledged the support of Imo Women for Governor Hope Uzodinma and his administration.

Thus began the movement of the womenfolk in Imo State, spearheaded by none other than their First Lady, Barrister Chioma Uzodinma.

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Tunde Folawiyo, AigImoukhuede’s Untold Charities In a world where success involves ‘hustling hard’ and broadcasting every philanthropic gesture in order to earn bragging rights, it is refreshing to observe there are some individuals who prefer working towards solving societal challenges.

Among these few are Tijjani Babatunde Folawiyo and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.

Since their paths crossed while they were on the foundation board of Nigeria’s Tier 1 bank, Access Bank Plc., they have stayed connected ever since and share almost similar beliefs including charity.

It was gathered that these billionaires are putting their efforts together towards a common goal of solving the problem of poverty of their people through Global Citizen Nigeria, a global movement for citizen-led actions to eradicate poverty and improve human living conditions, with Folawiyo serving as chairman and AigImoukhuede as vice chairman. In line with the United Nations’ agenda to end extreme poverty by year 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals, Global Citizen is working with the Nigerian private sector to harness resources to achieve the objective of ending poverty and offers intervention on the healthcare delivery system.

At a policy forum last year, Global Citizen Nigeria committed to build a world-class primary healthcare centre in each of the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria. According to the billionaires, universal healthcare cannot be achieved without a robust primary healthcare system as the bedrock.

As a result, they are committing billions into achieving this lofty project across the country. Also, just as many nations are preparing for the post-COVID-19 challenges, including the expected mental health and wellbeing of the survivors and others, these two wealthy philanthropists are leading the charge here to raise funds to deal with the mental health challenge in post-pandemic Nigeria.

Since they announced their plans, many have been upbeat, knowing full well that they are quiet achievers who allow their deeds to speak for themselves. For Folawiyo, who has left his footprints on the sand of time as a billionaire tycoon with interests cutting across various sectors including oil and gas, telecoms and banking, his charity empire has committed billions of naira to philanthropic projects designed to address social problems, with a special focus on solutions driven by science, research and education.

Again, Billionaire Businessman, Tony Elumelu, Expands His Coast

Elumelu

You must think long-term so that shortterm failure doesn’t hold you down. No doubt, this is the abiding philosophy of respected banker and businessman, Tony Elumelu.

As an entrepreneur who made it to the top despite all odds, the Group Chairman of United Bank for Africa, UBA always thinks long-term. Besides, Elumelu knows how rewarding taking a bold risk can be.

In 1997, the Delta State-born

Temilola Hamzat, CEO, Zatem Home Interior, is unarguably blessed with exceptional intellect.

Indeed, her success story, as a businesswoman, is attributed to her brilliance and savvy.

The woman described as true definition of beauty with brain who is also the CEO, Zatem Wood Manufacturer, seems to have endeared herself to the hearts of many for her tremendous compassion and empathy, believing that God has been most merciful to her.

In fact, she also seems to have entered a covenant of some sort with her Creator to dedicate the rest of life to the service of humanity, having risen above her own personal challenges in life. For

entrepreneur had led a small group of investors to take over a small, distressed commercial bank. A few years after, the bank became one of the top five banks in Nigeria, metamorphosing into UBA. As of now, UBA has subsidiaries in 20 African countries, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Ten years ago, he established the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), and four years into his philanthropy adventure, Elumelu used his earnings to make a bold pledge to

commit $100 million to 10,000 African entrepreneurs in 10 years through the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, a Pan-African entrepreneur mentorship and training programme. Today, the foundation has empowered over 9,000 people across Africa.

Not yet sated, the 57-year-old chairman of Heirs Holdings, in spite of the COVID-19 crisis changing the economic and business landscape, and wreaking economic disruptions across the globe, is pitching investors to put their bets on Africa’s economy.

In other words, Elumelu is advocating maximum use of the period to think outside the box - a message he has been telling the nearly 9,000 African entrepreneurs in his entrepreneurship programme.

“Necessity is the mother of invention. We need to innovate. We need to keep thinking,” Elumelu says.

While some see investing during the crisis as a gamble, Elumelu, who loves to lead by example knows how taking a bold risk can be rewarding.

Biased by this, Elumelu’s Heirs Holdings recently applied to the insurance industry regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to register two companies: Heirs Life Assurance Limited and Heirs Insurance Limited, respectively.

The applications, we gathered, had been treated based on the statutory provisions of the law for the registration and licensing of insurance companies, and have received necessary approval from NAICOM. Those who are aware are already welcoming Elumelu’s entrance into the insurance market, knowing that anything he touches turns into gold.

Temilola Hamzat’s Heart of Gold

Hamzat

her, there is no going back on her resolve to continue to support the hoi polloi in the society.

Therefore, in line with her wonted fellow-feeling and abiding commitment to giving back to the society, the shrewd businessman is set to launch a foundation to take care of the widows around her. It was gathered that the lightcomplexioned businesswoman would be giving out the sum of N100,000 to a number of women each as start-up capital.

The gesture, as gathered, will kick off soon and is expected to be a continuous exercise across the state.

Oba Fredrick Akinruntan Revamps Business By providence, Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, wears two caps so fittingly: he is a monarch and a businessman.

Luckily, he is acknowledged to be doing so well in both.

Many years before he ascended the throne as the Olugbo of Ugboland, the stylish monarch had successfully made a name for himself as a businessman. And even now, he remains one for the few businessmen whose shrewdness in business is simply out of this world.

Aside from oil and gas business, Oba Akinruntan is also into real estate: he has choice buildings in London and across Nigeria, including the prestigious Febson Hotels and Mall in the Central Business District Folawiyo

of Abuja. As proof of his successful business exploits, he was ranked by Forbes magazine as the second-richest King in Africa and the richest in Nigeria in 2014.

Interestingly, Oba Akinruntan, it was gathered, has been busy repackaging Obat Oil so as to continue to enjoy its competitive edge in the industry - this includes changing its logo, many years after it was incorporated.

The billionaire traditional ruler, who sits atop a business conglomerate with interests in petroleum, shipping, construction, fishery, tourism and hospitality, consultancy services and water purification and production, owns one of the most expensive yachts in the country and a custom-built 2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II.

Oba Olaniyan

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu – It’s Time to Retire Let me first give one gist. On Sunday, I was hungry, so I went to Hub Mart, one big Supermarket like that in Ikeja complete with my mask. That is how one ‘yellow ’man accosted me. He shouted, The Duke. I look am, I shock, I say how you recognise me and he said, we know you. I work at the Villa and we know you. I say thank you but fear dey catch me. He say don’t be afraid, we know you. You are ok, you are not a threat, just don’t insult anybody. You are doing well.

We read you. I say thank you. I buy my stuff and refuse to enter my car again. I say, Duchess you drive towards Ketu.

Let me take Keke Marwa towards Ipaja from there I enter Ota and trek towards Badagry border and then enter bus to Oyingbo before I enter Shomolu.

You see, it is because of what I want to write now that this gist come my mind.

You know I can look for small trouble, I will be saying what is on the mind of

everybody including even some big APC people because I have two heads abi?

It is not that I have mind o, it is just that at times some of these things especially this one just have to be said. My lord, please it is not by way of insult, in fact this my advice is borne from a deepseated love for you, what you stand for and your legacy. As I was watching that video, the one that you did on Edo State election, complete with pure water in a glass and big bush behind you, all that was just coming to my head was fear. Fear that make you no go fall down o. It has been a long, very colourful career. A career that so many people will never have. A very powerful and influential odyssey that saw you rise from the oil industry to take on the fiercest dictatorship that we have seen and from there earn an exile and upon your return see you emerge as the most prominent and powerful politician of

modern-day Nigeria. Nothing beats this story.

It’s time to rest. Let us end the party politics and move up to a well-deserved position as the true father of modern-day Nigeria. The Presidency is too small, let them Fashola and Fayemi be struggling for that one. We need to come sit at your feet and be receiving history lessons and advice. Please stop that kind video, it will lead to too many people who no reach you to be talking to you anyhow.

It’s time for you to emerge to your real position which is father of the nation.

I tell you, it’s the best thing to do. I am on standby to write your story and put on stage a major historical journey depicting you as the true architect of Nigeria, not Lord Lugard. Let’s retire, it’s the best thing to do. Please, if this advice does not sit well with you, don’t vex o. Don’t mind me, I can be stupid like that. Thank you.

DESMOND ELLIOT – LISTEN TO HOME TRUTH When Erelu died, Desmond was among the early callers. I was surprised he even had my number because when I was looking for sponsorship for my play, Isale Eko, I really looked for him. Everybody said Desmond was the man but the man no pick my call for the over 100 times I call am. So you can imagine my surprise when he first sent a text and then called to commiserate. I thanked him and wished him well. I can now safely say he is my friend.

But then again let me yab him small.

He has been reported to have said that he is a product of godfatherism and that there is nothing wrong with the system.

Of course there is nothing wrong with having a godfather. A godfather is supposed to mentor you, guide and hold your hand as you progress in life. The only problem here is that the kind godfather wey we dey see no be that one at all. The kind of system we have on the ground is not the one described in the New English Oxford dictionary. We have redefined it and have given it our own Owambe definition. This is why when that statement was credited to my brother, he received a lot of backlash.

Me, I will not yab him too much only to tell him that there are some things that are deeper than his ability to comprehend. He should just concentrate on his Afro and the buckets of water he has been laying on the streets of Surulere as his own constituency projects and leave some things to those who ‘know’. My brother, how you dey? Your godson is greeting you.

MAILAFIA – LET’S MOVE ON Mbok, can someone tell the DSS people in Plateau to move on? This story has gone stale and there are better things to do than to be chasing a man who has been said to have confessed that he was trading on beer parlour gist. This is a classic case of your mouth putting you in trouble. In the wake of the matter, the man was posing like a Mandela but as the things wore on, he began to weak. This is not a person of any serious consequence and the system should not waste valuable time and resources inviting him for anything.

He is just but a mild distraction that was mostly just trying to pose for his wife.

You know how men will sit in their parlour, tie wrapper and at that age since he most likely does not have power to do anything in the other room again, will now be running his mouth to impress his wife. I will go to the station and call that Buhari a ‘goat’. His wife head will now be swelling. Kai, this my husband is brave o. My father used to do it.

When we were young, he will be abusing Obasanjo, when he was a military head of state. He will be saying, that one no get sense. But my father had more sense than this Mailafia man, because all his abuse of Obasanjo na for him sitting room.

This one carry the thing go radio, now they want his withered testicles.

Please, na beg, make una just leave am alone. No be him be our problem, na wetin my friend Ebiere dey call, mild irritant.

and I like it. A politician, brilliant media strategist and consummate businessman, is on the platform of his Yeji Foundation putting finishing touches to plans to disrupt the Primary Healthcare structure in all 774 Local Governments of the nation.

Already in advanced talks with some serious corporate players and international donor agencies, Mr Okpara plans to drop worldclass primary healthcare facilities nationwide. His plan is very simple, two plots in each location, a world-class structure complete with right staffing and resources to meet the basic health care needs of the people. No godfather for this one.

He says, the COVID-19 pandemic further opened up the underbelly of healthcare delivery especially at the primary level and this has more than ever before driven the very strong need to deliver on this promise. I know he can do it. Well done, sir.

Elliot

Tinubu

in this matter, I will be representing Nigeria. What I saw of this lady in that trailer made me sit up and take notice.

The camera simply loves her. Her positioning, chemistry with the camera and posturing all made for a very strong urge to see the movie.

Don’t let me talk too much; let’s wait for the movie first and then we will now come and give a very comprehensive review. But for now, judging by that trailer I can say that Mr. Afolayan just may be holding an era-redefining movie in his hands. Well done.

ROBERT OKPARA’S YEJI FOUNDATION DISRUPTS HEALTHCARE This my brother is dreaming big

TEMI OTEDOLA SIZZLES IN CITATION I have never met Temi Otedola, the ever so beautiful daughter of my lord, Femi Otedola, and in fact, it is her other sister that I once professed love for on this page – that was how some small boys went on Pulse TV to be yabbing me. That one is gist for another day, I never get them time. Anyways, I stumbled on the trailer of Kunle Afolayan’s soon-tobe released movie, Citation, recently.

I even wrote about it last week when I was commending Mrs. Ibukun Awosika for accepting to play a role in the movie. My brother, you know I know these things. I am a confirmed movie critic. If there was an Olympic

PORN AT THE SHRINE? Some people have no fear o. Of all the places to go and act porn movie, it is the shrine at Osogbo they chose as location. They did not fear that thunder could strike their craw-craw infested bum and also fry their testicles.

Unfortunately, for them, they got arrested and have been arraigned in court. These our youths ehn, they will not kill someone o. These are the ones they say are leaders of tomorrow. Na wa. Shooting porn movie of all places inside shrine?

Anyways, let me appeal that the court should temper justice with mercy, they are small children who lacked the requisite access to a godfather who would have counselled them wisely. Please let’s just warn them and release them.

Meanwhile, did they finish shooting the movie, can someone send it to me if they did?

Before you people start laughing, I just want to see the technical quality of the production as a known movie critic. That is all o.

Mailafia

Otedola

Okpara’s

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

20.09.2020

FOR OLU AMODA,

BETTER EXPRESSIONS COME IN BIGGER SIZES Wind Energy- Windy Embrace (details)

Cover continued on Page 58

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 ˾ SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

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ARTS & REVIEW\\LEGENDS

F O R O L U A M O DA , BETTER EXPRESSIONS COME IN BIGGER SIZES Nigeria’s metal sculpture maestro Olu Amoda remains a reference point among his peers, says Okechukwu Uwaezuoke, who revisits his early landmark feats as well as his large-sized sculptures’ raison d'être

C

hances are that none among the elite Nigeria’s metal sculptors can hold a candle to Olu Amoda. Of course, while due recognition may be accorded to their individual accomplishments with the medium, the 61-year-old former Yaba College of Technology lecturer is still clearly in a different league. Put this down to his lustrous credentials in both the local and international art scenes and his prodigious transformation of discarded metal pieces into intriguingly stylised sculptural works.

Growing up in the Delta State community of Okere, Warri, Amoda recalls always having had the predilection for designs. Back then, he used to carve masks and construct cardboard cars as well as miniature buildings. “My earliest encounter with three-dimensional works,” he prefers to label these modest efforts, which he quickly adds were not associated with sculptures per se.

Skip to his first year in the experimental art school of Auchi Polytechnic in 1979. His intention to study graphics – and not even paintings – was a nod to his early exposure to design. But then, his early art teachers were not grounded enough in art to have imparted the requisite skills to him. Indeed, driven by this passion, he first got an admission to study architecture at the Enugu Campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, but had to give it up because he did not have his West African School Certificate Examination result.

Olu Amoda At the Auchi Polytechnic, he had found more freedom of expression in sculpture than in graphics and paintings or in textile and ceramics. “I needed freedom,” he muses. “I felt liberated in my first sculpture class, in which my very first sculpture was to revisit my childhood cardboard sculpture constructions.”

Talking about that first sculpture, it was a cardboard construction of a bird, which was adorned with leaves. In it were infused elements of graphics and paintings. His learning, he says, was under some of the great minds, to whom he remained in close liaison till date. Their instructions and materials from the institution’s library helped his odyssey in sculpture to take off on a promising note. “It was an easy odyssey, because of those in whose company I travelled. At the very beginning, my instructors were upfront. They said it would be bumpy, but always self-fulfilling. Regrets were deemed opportunities, so long as one was not seeking answers, but raising issues...”

Several years later... Amoda, then a lecturer at the Yaba College of Technology, was living in a modest bungalow along Majaro Street, which was within shouting distance to the University of Lagos campus in Akoka.

His “Doors of Paradise” series was at that time stirring up interest among aficionados in the local art circles. Its relevance – both aesthetic and functional – had engraved his name in the industry’s consciousness as a master of his medium. Yet, the series was, for him, only a reaction to the Lagosians’ obsession with security! Back then in the 1980s, the current trend of erecting high walls and gates was already in vogue. Doors and gates were not only designed to protect homes from potential burglars or intruders, they also proclaimed the social status of the owners.

For the Delta State-born artist, living in the University of Lagos staff quarters, where flower-hedges – rather than walls – demarcated every compound, was but a subtle initiation into the Lagos scenario. Then, with the increasing cases of burglary – usually by the domestic staff – some professors started to erect welded wire mesh fences with gates around their residences. Among these professors were some who appeared more materially successful with their fleets of cars.

Outside the campus, the obsession for security seemed much worse. Affluent homes were concealed behind very high

walls, on top of which were razorsharp barbwires. These walls, sometimes, were connected with electrical currents to ward off potential intruders. And there were even cases where the holes in fancy block walls were sealed up.

This was the Lagos that first sought to intimidate Amoda, a much bigger city than Warri.

He realised that on account of its size, there is a stark contrast between it and the more laidback Warri, where he came from.

This was also the time when his metal artworks were posing challenges, on account of their large sizes and weights, to the galleries. Because they wouldn’t display these works in their right context, he became notorious for pulling out of ongoing shows.

Meanwhile, art for security’s sake had begun to interest him.

And it helped that he was at that time imparting drawing and construction skills to his Yaba College of Technology students.

These students, it occurred to him, needed to be prepared for self-employment after their graduation. So, it made sense that they explored making doors, window screens and gates as sculptures. To match his words with action, he had embarked on the production of 100 door designs for a book publication, which gave birth to the concepts of his fortified metal gates as well as the “Doors of Paradise” and “Windows of Dreams”. An immediate fallout of this was the opportunity to make large-sized functional sculptures.

“It was very lucrative,” Amoda reminisces. “Anything that brought money was an easy-sell.”

A ripple effect of this was that it soon became a la mode for virtually every artist in the scene to seek ways of translating their drawings into large sculptures. Those, who could not weld created new job lines for welders. “I employed welders and made them work creatively,” he says. “The pay was good.

So was the trickle-down effect since the social and aesthetic level was upgraded. I saw my gates, doors, and window as art, and this I factored into the cost. On the part of the welders, they also started to think like artists.”

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

TRIBUTE

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, Black Panther, Who Connects Us to Africa Ebele Oseye

The Black Panther has made a final leap, from Time to Eternity.

Chadwick Boseman’s transition Friday, August 28, struck us as sudden, shocking. We cried out. Many wept for hours. Many would not sleep Friday night. Chadwick Boseman had given so much to the world: an abundance of strength, an abundance of beauty. He was the embodiment of ancestral Power and Truth.

When I saw him in “Black Panther” I saw the authoritative and confident grace of a Baba, a powerful Nigerian man. He empowered inspired young African American men, bringing them to know themselves. There was nothing superficial in his avocation for human rights. He stood and moved with the power, grace and beauty of the Panther, his authentic masculinity in sharp contrast to any superficial cinematic posture. Author, actor and activist, he inspired us all to continue the struggle for human rights.

And now it seems he has gone away.

Marcus Garvey said, “I will teach the black man to see beauty in himself.” Chadwick Boseman, regal and gracious made conspicuous the indisputable beauty and power of African men.

Chadwick Boseman had not only begun to learn the Yoruba language, but also encouraged the cast to be meticulous in learning and speaking the South African Xhosa which we hear early in the film. The book, Black Panther the Official Movie Special, is a wonderful gift to give in this time of deep remembering.

As we experience continuing contemporary racial brutalities this portrait of a black man in harmony with nature, immersed

in deep Ancestral energies, powerful in imagination, brilliant, compassionate agile and strong highlights the enormity of racial injustice which wantonly destroys a beautiful life.

Boseman’s death on the 57th Anniversary of the March on Washington and the brutal murder of Emmitt Till, further reminds us that, as Angela Davis says, “Freedom is a constant struggle.”

Racial hatred, a deadly pandemic, must be uprooted. Africans born on the continent, Africans born in the Caribbean and in America as powerful collaborators in “Black Panther” provide a timely reminder that we must keep hope alive. Unity is essential in matters of life and death.

During World War II, the all Black US Army 761st Tank Battalion was dubbed, “The Black Panthers.” In 1966 Jack Kirby took that name for his Marvel hero which Chadwick Boseman very much enjoyed reading about in his young years. But with research, travel and collaboration, the original image was greatly expanded to the grand and powerful panther Goddess of ancient Kemet (Egypt), Bast, who is evoked early in the film.

When we hear Chadwick Boseman’s voice delivering the commencement address at Howard University in 2018, he is so present, so alive. His voice is comforting as he thanks the university for preparing him to effectively deliver the roles of Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall, James Brown and Black Panther. He would accurately inhabit the spirit and essential energies of each role and this extraordinary capacity could be compared to the Yoruba Orisha, described in Zora Neale Hurston’s, Tell My Horse.

The author of Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates, was one of Chadwick Boseman’s many appreciative classmates at Howard University paying tribute to the actor, author and activist

Boseman who, despite superlative health challenges, lived his final years with grace and power.

Chadwick Boseman, our Black Panther who recalled so many ancient Truths and who gave so much to the World, has made his transition. May the Ancestors be pleased. May the Ancestors welcome him. He lives forever.

––––Ebele Oseye teaches African Literature at Pace

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

CICERO

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

IN THE ARENA

Katsina: Standing Strong Against Banditry Efforts by the Katsina State Police Command in tackling the wave of banditry, kidnapping and rape in the state are beginning to pay off, writes Francis Sardauna

O

n assumption of office as the 22nd Commissioner of Police, Katsina State Police Command, on February 6th, 2019, Sanusi Buba, had vowed to flush out the marauding bandits and kidnappers terrorising villages and communities in the state.

In his maiden press conference, Buba made it clear that his mission was to provide a safer and better secured state that would guarantee the socio-economic wellbeing of the people and enhance their quality of life.

He also pledged to adopt evolving security strategies that would close the gaps between the police and the people, foster cordial relationship and enhance effective partnerships, aimed at ensuring sufficient and sustained police operations across the flashpoints in the state.

Despite the hazardous and inherent challenges in policing a metropolitan state like Katsina, often referred to as the “home of bandits and kidnappers”, Buba is determined not to let that deter him from his ongoing war against banditry and other nefarious activities bedeviling the state.

His visibility, policing and prompt response to distress call, intelligence-led policing approach and unbiased investigation of criminal cases had made him record tremendous successes against the hoodlums.

The revolving security strategies he put in placed are already yielding positive results as evidenced by the arrests made in the last few months in the various sting operations by his men and officers.

Giving a breakdown of some of his achievements while parading some notorious bandits, Buba said the command had killed 15 bandits and arrested 50 others, including kidnappers and cattle rustlers in the state.

He explained that the command had also recovered 10 AK-47 rifles, 20 locally made guns, 20 motorcycles, 220 rustled cattle from the hoodlums and rescued 20 captives in the ongoing onslaughts against the miscreants in frontline local government areas of the state.

The commissioner added that the command had further apprehended 140 suspected rapists in 87 reported cases and subsequently charged to court for prosecution after preliminary investigation.

“Recently, the command has arrested over 50 suspected bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and armed robbers. We recovered 10 AK47 riffles, 20 locally made guns, 20 motorcycles and 220 rustled cattle.

“The command also killed 15 bandits and rescued 20 kidnapped victims in the ongoing war against all forms of crime and criminality in the state.

“On the fight against the menace of rape bedeviling the state, a total of 140 suspected rapists were arrested in 87 reported cases and all were charged to court for prosecution,” he said.

The State police chief claimed that on August 20th, 2020 the command arrested notorious bandit, Abdullahi Sani of Dungu-Yankara village in Faskari Local Government Area of the state.

Sani, whose leader Adamu Aleiro Na-Yankuzu has been declared wanted by the police in the state,

Arms recovered from some of the arrested bandits until his arrest launched onslaughts on Kadisau and Yardoka villages in Faskari and Dandume Local Government Areas, where he robbed, Killed, Kidnapped and rustled domestic animals of innocent citizens.

However, on September 1st, 2020 at about 13:00hrs, based on credible intelligence, the Command carried out a sting operation at various locations in Safana Local Government and smashed another notorious bandits’ camp.

During the raid, one Tukur Adamu, alias “JAMAI TIGER”, aged 48yrs of Illella Forest, including his biological son and others that he recruited into banditry and kidnapping were apprehended.

In the course of investigation, Buba said the suspects confessed to have masterminded several attacks on villages in Safana, Batsari, Danmusa and Dutsinma Local Government Areas.

According to him, “The suspects confessed to be in possession of dangerous weapons including AK 47 rifles. They also confessed to have killed several people during their attacks.

“Similarly, the command succeeded in arresting another bandits’ gang leader, Rabe Abdullahi, alias ‘DOGO RABE’, aged 30yrs of Kanbiri village in Safana Local Government Area.”

He said the line-up of Musa Isah, Hamisu Sani, Sada Zubairu, Abubakar Halilu, Haruna Ibrahim, Bello Tambai, Abubakar, Idris Abdulrahaman, Saidu Ado and Lawal Ismaila were amongst Abdullahi’s cohorts arrested during the operation.

On August 23, 2020, officers and men of the command acting on credible intelligence also busted the duo of Nasiru Yahaya, alias Buzu and Shehu Adamu, alias Juli, all in the deadly Illelah forest in Safana Local Government Area of the state.

In the course of investigation, the suspects confessed to belong to the camp of one Sale Turwa, a kingpin of notorious bandits, armed robbers, kidnappers and cattle rustlers terrorising Safana and Batsari local governments.

The suspects equally confessed to have in their possession, three AK47 rifles, which Buba said investigation was ongoing with a view to recovering the weapons and other incriminating exhibits.

In another development, on September 8, 2020 at about 17:50hrs, the command nabbed another member of a notorious bandits syndicate, Abubakar Ibrahim of Rugu forest in Safana local government.

According to the command, the suspect had on September 3 and 7, 2020, led other members of his syndicate on motorbikes, all armed with AK 47 rifles, invaded Dagarawa and Kudewa villages of Safana and Kurfi local governments.

The hoodlums in a commando-style operation invaded the villages, kidnapped Ashiru Ibrahim, male, aged 32yrs; Duduwa Audu, female, aged 50yrs and Asiya Saleh, female, aged 45yrs and took them into the Rugu forest. But on September 10, 2020, at about 0930hrs, the command rescued the victims and reunited them with their families after being treated at the Kurfi General Hospital.

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

The Reward for Hard Work Is...

B

SGF Boss Mustapha

eyond the fact that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Gida Mustapha, is generally known as ‘the stabiliser’ in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, it would also not be out of place to describe him as one of the intellectual bulwarks of the government.

Perhaps, not many reckoned his incalculable role in the government before his appointment as the Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Covid-19. Although that too came with a lot of opposition and criticisms from those who thought they were better qualified for the job, it only took a few weeks into the assignment before the reasonable lot admitted he was truly a man of substance.

It was not surprising, therefore, when weeks ago, the president extended the time-frame of his committee work till December,

when it is hoped that all the threats constituted by the ravaging coronavirus must have been significantly contained and a new course, charted.

Nothing, however, says more about his place and role in the body polity than the letter written days ago by President Buhari commending him for organising a successful Ministers’ Retreat between September 7 and 8, 2020.

The President, in the letter personally signed, said he was ‘’very impressed’’ with the SGF’s performance at the retreat, hailing his organisational competence and comprehensive speech delivered on the start of the second day of the retreat.

Well, it is often said that the reward for hard work and works well done is more work. That’s a notice served to the SGF that more works might be coming his way as he continues to do his work well. But one thing is clear though; his efforts are not taken for granted.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

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BRIEFINGNOTES

When the Generals Square Off The perception of criticisms of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency as existential regime threat deserving of emotive, incendiary pushbacks will stunt transformative governance, writes Louis Achi

O

n the cusp of the diamond anniversary of the nation’s independence from Britain, the prevailing mood today is not celebratory. Former US President Barrack Obama succinctly captures why: “Nigeria is critical to the rest of the continent and if Nigeria has not got it right, Africa will really not make progress.”

Going forward, does the providential Muhammadu Buhari presidency need to do some fundamental governance course correction to genuinely reposition Nigeria as the continent’s pathfinder and leader? Beyond shrill opposition flak, the welter of weighty criticisms from elder statesmen and important national stakeholders strongly suggest so. Unfortunately, the management of providential favours by humans appears to be an art in its infancy.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is certainly not a saint but indisputably a statesman of considerable stature in the global big picture. Whether he should be accommodated within the mould of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela or India’s Mahatma Gandhi, who seized their milieux by the scruff of the neck and altered them for good is debatable. But clearly, Obasanjo had similar historical and political challenges as this venerable trio and delivered his best with his focused brand of inclusive, pan-Nigerian leadership.

Against the backdrop of his uncommon statesman’s heft and given a life intimately intertwined with Nigeria’s tumultuous history, Obasanjo’s observations and positions on the state of the nation certainly deserve more than Obasanjo and Buhari a passing interest as against the incendiary flak from the presidency. disintegration and separation and accompanying choruses It’s worth recalling that Obasanjo, a former General and being heard loud and clear almost everywhere.” military head of state, had written series of letters previously Further, according to a deeply worried Obasanjo, “It would criticizing Buhari’s mode of governance. Each has been appear that anybody not dancing to the drumbeats nor largely met by the presidency with high-octane counter attack joining in chorus singing would be earmarked as ethnically bereft of unemotional analysis of the essence of the message unpatriotic or enemy of its tribe or geographical area. In short, but rather savaging the messenger. the country is fast moving to the precipice… And those who Penultimate Thursday, when Obasanjo again expressed prevent justice to be done invite violence to reign.” a very weighty position on the state of national affairs, this At the core of Obasanjo’s bold accusations was that the curious knee-jerk reaction from Aso Rock was no different. open manifestations of national danger stem from mismanWhile delivering a speech titled: “Moving Nigeria away agement of diversity and socio-economic development of the from tipping over,” at a consultative dialogue with some country currently. socio-cultural groups in Abuja, the former president said he Strangely, Obasanjo’s position found a soul mate in the had never seen Nigeria so divided, adding that many of the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who nevertheless made it clear problems plaguing the country today were due to the recent he was no fan of the former president. mismanagement of Nigeria’s diversity.

According to Soyinka: “I am notoriously no fan of In his words, the gruff ex-General had noted that, “Today, Olusegun Obasanjo, General, twice former president and coNigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state, architect with other past leaders of the crumbling edifice that economically our country is becoming a basket case and is still generously called Nigeria. I have no reasons to change poverty capital of the world, and socially, we are firming up as my stance on his record. an unwholesome and insecure country.

“Nonetheless, I embrace the responsibility of calling “And these manifestations are the products of recent attention to any accurate reading of this nation from whatever mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic developsource, as a contraption teetering on the very edge of total ment of our country. Old fault lines that were disappearing collapse. We are close to extinction as a viable comity of have opened up in greater fissures and with drums of hatred, peoples, supposedly bound together under an equitable set of

protocols of co-habitation, capable of producing its own means of existence, and devoid of a culture of sectarian privilege and will to dominate.”

But in a quick-fire riposte to Soyika and Obasanjo, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, stated that Buhari inherited a terribly divided country from his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, in 2015 and that Nigeria had always been divided.

In this light, he summarily dismissed the positions of the two venerable citizens – Soyinka and Obasanjo.

Not an institution to permit grass grow under its nimble feet, the presidency, deploying choice expletives attacked both the messenger and his message. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu would later describe Obasanjo as “Divider-in-Chief.”

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who led the charge reminded Nigerians that Buhari took office at a time some parts of the country’s territory were under occupation and many cities, including the capital city of Abuja, were a playground for Boko Haram insurgents.

His words: “Nigeria today is not a failed state, but a nation that is courageously tackling its challenges and building a solid infrastructure that will serve as the basis for socio-economic development, a nation that is unrelenting in battling insecurity and working hard to ensure the greatest prosperity for the greatest number of people.

“Nigeria today faces a lot of challenges. But whatever situation the country has found itself in, things would have been much worse but for the deft management of resources, unprecedented fight against corruption, determined battle against insurgency and banditry as well as the abiding courage of Mr. President in piloting the ship of state.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) soon joined the fray.

Speaking through its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yekini Nabena, the party claimed it was ironic that political actors, who midwifed and institutionalised corruption, impunity and eroded the country’s value systems are the same characters posing as voices on the way forward. So much fog, so little light. In his sage counsel to statesmen and world leaders, former French president, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing’s held that: “There can be no response to history without effort.”

D’Estaing’s counsel was clearly inspired by the environment of the human crisis that defined his era. He was born during the First World War and fought in the second bloody, global conflagration. He could as well have been speaking to the two Nigerian ex-Generals – Buhari and Obasanjo.

To appropriately respond to the peculiar history of the Nigerian state certainly requires restoration of the legitimate dream of Nigerians and the re-invention of a social contract now in tatters. This will ease Nigeria from being the divisive, stunted, transitional democracy it currently is, to a stable, just, productive and progressive democratic force on the African continent.

NOTES FOR FILE

This Anniversary Logo Is Nigeria’s…QED!

60th Independence Anniversary Logo Quite often, the penchant by some Nigerians to rush to run their country down always seems to becloud their sense of reasoning. Although, sadly, such a mindset is also often informed by their disdain or resentment for the leadership of the day, not necessarily because they detest their own country, the mix up is however a staggering disappointment.

Whoever instigated the debate on Nigeria’s 60th anniversary logo as being plagiarised, clearly did so from a place of hate

and not necessarily an effort to save the country from any embarrassment otherwise the individual would have done a thorough check and ascertain what really was amiss, if any at all.

First, there’s a tendency to mistake plagiarism for copyright and vice versa. They are not the same. This mindset, however, does not accord open-source images their place in the debate.

But the truth is, there are no rights over open-source images.

While some are free online, some are paid for. Thus, when an image is used in a design from that standpoint, it no longer fits the category of a plagiarised work.

Therefore, critics must understand that the diamond image in the 60th anniversary design is not the logo, but one of the many parts of the whole herein referred to as the logo.

It is worthy of mention that a combination of patriotic communications outfits – Chain Reactions Nigeria, The Temple Management and TBWA Africa – had put a lot of work into the design that some desperately try to put down. Needless to say the team had envisaged the nature of Nigeria’s diversity, when it themed the Diamond Anniversary, TOGETHER, indicating

all about how the Nigerian people had stayed together despite their diversity and differences.

It’s okay to contend that the diamond looks similar to the one found on the internet, but to disingenuously alleged that Nigeria plagiarised her 60th Anniversary logo, is beyond the convenience of the narrative. Rather, a disservice to the country.

Just like the professionals had argued, there are thousands of diamonds with crystals that look alike, only with a quick search. But the 60th anniversary logo, designed pro-bono out of sheer zeal and patriotism for the country by a consortium of Nigerian marketing communications and talent management companies, shouldn’t have been put down this maliciously.

The controversy, therefore, remains a great disservice to the Nigerian professionals, who had invested their time and resources into giving the country a beautiful identity in commemoration of her 60thanniversary. To that extent, this debate is better off in the trash can, because the logo is Nigeria’s and the celebration, hers. Nothing should be greater than the country, even in the face of adversities.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

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CICERO/TRIBUTE

Osoba: More than a Prince of the Pendom Oyeyinka Oludayisi Fabowale reviews the ‘Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics’ – a dedication to the years of Chief Olusegin Osoba, a former governor of Ogun State, in journalism

REVIEW

I

f you never believed there’s a strong spiritual link between man and his name, you are bound to reappraise or jettison your doubt after reading Chief Olusegun Osoba’s autobiography, Battlelines. From higher spiritual knowledge, it is known that the name is more than a label but encapsulates the innate gifts, qualities, abilities the bearer brings upon incarnating and often presages his path of destiny in life. A person is, therefore, what his name says.

As a child, Osoba, may not have been aware of the significance and potency of his name, Olusegun (which means God triumphs or simply Victor). Neither, perhaps, did his parents, even if they had a vague sensing of it, realised why the child’s maternal uncle the famous and redoubtable Evangelist and faith healer, Apostle Ayo Babalola, charged that he be addressed solely by this particular appellation of the many beautiful ones he took at his christening.

But the import of the prophet’s admonition was to unravel later in the life of the lad, in the many battles he had to fight as an iconic newsman, politician and former governor of Ogun State in effort to distinguish himself and help foster a better society, first, as a career reporter, media manager, boardroom player, and then in politics and ultimately governance!

Battlelines is the story of the transit of an exceptionally brilliant, vibrant, albeit naive young man and his fortuitous immersion into the socio-political dynamics and machinery that determine the affairs of the Nigerian nation for almost all of its 60 years, but essentially during critical phases and potentially disruptive junctures of national history.

It is the tale of a battle of passion, of patriotism and treachery, selflessness and betrayal, of service, wins and setbacks at the end of which, despite the travails, emerges the portrait of an apparently misunderstood patriot!

Although autobiographies are most often nothing but revisionist exercises at image laundering and/or distorting historical facts, the Osoba in this account does not fall too far away from the image of him in the public domain, or that one has a fair personal knowledge of.

Neither is there any significant departure from the integrity of the truth with respect to his own side and views on controversies in which he was embroiled, some of which, in fact, are in the public domain. Far from being a vainglorious and extenuating run, Battlelines is a moving story presented in a classic, credible journalistic reporting traditions that does Osoba great credit as an accomplished professional.

The narrative evidences adherence, as much as possible, to ethical rules of objectivity, balance and fairness as the author gives equal or more generous vent to criticisms and opposing views only contesting or countering them and advancing the frontiers of the arguments by divulging fresh, illuminating facts including documentary proofs.

Although he was vindicated in the end despite his trials, Osoba’s narrative is, remarkably, devoid of any strain of gloating!

Told in three parts and spread over 19 chapters, the first section of the book captures the preparation of the renowned journalist -turned politician for the campaigns ahead of him – from Osogbo, where he was born and nurtured in Yoruba and Christian values to Abeokuta and Lagos, where he grew into an intrepid, adventurous, sporty and street-wise adolescent.

His being a school prefect, academic brilliance, sporting prowess, activism in the Boys’ Scout Movement at the Methodist Boys High School (MBHS), one of the prestigious secondary schools in Lagos then, combined with the circle of peers and some of Nigeria’s noble and influential families among whom he grew up as well as vast network of eminent friends and contacts in commanding heights of different spheres of national life he later cultivated, laid the foundation for his success in his later forays and intervention in journalism and politics.

This section also reported his stellar career rise and invaluable contributions to journalism beginning from Daily Times, where he cut his professional teeth and became one of Nigerian journalism’s finest and reporting legends, editor and later Managing Director and Chief Executive of the newspaper conglomerate; to his stint, after being head-hunted, at the Kwara State Government-owned Herald newspapers; and the crusading journalism era at the Ibadan-based Sketch newspapers, where he was General Manager before returning to the Daily Times for a second sojourn.

The reader is awed at how, despite perceived profes-

sional envy, intrigues and persecution, Osoba, with some of the best education received from ivy league journalism institutions across the world including the University of Lagos; Fleet Street, England and Harvard University, Boston USA, tenaciously fought his way up to the peak of the career ladder, using the press to promote social justice, fairness, good governance and public good.

In the process of course, he inevitably acquired the tag of being controversial. The book highlights and addresses some of the incidents that led to this. Notable among them were his alleged role in the sacking of Chief Areoye Oyebola whom he succeeded as Editor of Daily Times in the aftermath of the Murtala/Obasanjo coup d’etat in 1975; purported partisan use of the press to advance the political cause of the progressives and late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, on account of his friendship with the nationalist and elder statesman; his alleged dubious claim of Kwara indigeneship to clinch the Herald top job; as well as plots to rob him of his appointment as General Manager, Sketch, after a competitive board interview, and another later to unceremoniously ease him off the Daily Times MD seat during the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s military era.

Also documented later in the book were his alleged betrayal of Frank Kokori, the NUPENG Secretary General, who was the linchpin of the labour strike and resistance to Gen. Sani Abacha’s dictatorship, his perceived treachery in the Afenifere fold that purportedly led to the 2003 massive electoral defeat of the Alliance for Democracy in the Southwest and more.

The author reveals his side of the story corroborating it with compelling and incontestable facts from confidential and official memos, press reports and other archival documents, while also citing living witnesses to exonerate himself of any wrongdoing and set the record straight.

This section also details the era in which Osoba devoted his vocation to fighting for social justice and promoting progressive politics. Two incidents come to mind – the illegal deportation of Alhaji Abdulrahman Shugaba and impeachment/removal from office of the then Kaduna State

radical governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

Part two of the book chronicles the author’s friendship with and political tutelage under Chief Awolowo as well as his eventual plunge into partisan politics. Here, the reader comes to see how the late elder statesman’s lifestyle and political ideology won Osoba as a disciple and influenced his politics and stint in government.

We are also introduced to how he became friends with the late Chief MKO Abiola, although a kinsman but hitherto a sworn foe, whose battle to become the President of Nigeria he was to champion even at the risk of his own life before and during the Abacha’s bloody dictatorship!

This section also records his role and life as a fugitive under the repressive regime of the late tyrant and usurper, while fighting as a National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftain for the validation the June 12, 1993 presidential electoral victory of Chief Abiola.

In between these sections, is an intermission wherein the author recalls how he met his wife “Bere Derinola”, to whom he pays so much tribute for his numerous successes and escape from several assassination attempts by Abacha’s goons!

Part 3 captures Osoba’s rule and legacies as governor of Ogun State, which, however, he suggests his successor and opponents tried to obliterate, deny him due credit and persecute him for. This concluding part of the riveting story sheds light on the rift in Afenifere, his rumoured sell-out of the Awolowo disciples to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and controversial role in his party, Alliance for Democracy’s (AD) monumental loss in the 2003 general election in the Southwest.

It winds up with an account of the formation and ascendancy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to power in 2015. The narrative, however, drips with Osoba’s regrets of unfulfilled vision and promises that the reign of the party since its ascendancy to power has been, which he blames on subversion of the ruling party’s ideals and misdirection of its noble goals.

Traveling through the book, one cannot but acknowledge Chief Osoba as a master prose stylist and journalistic craftsman. Apart from putting to effective use the flashback technique, opening the story from the midriff only to plunge into the beginning and relaunching into a chronological build-up, occasionally and ingeniously disrupted by anecdotal switches across epochs, not enough could be said of the author’s racy and breezy narrative style which makes the book unputdownable!

But most importantly, perhaps, is his professional adroitness in avoiding the pitfall of prejudice, bias and self-adulation common to many self-narrated accounts. In Battlelines, there is hardly any perceptible self-extenuation, or attempt by the author to deodorise or paint himself as a saint. Rather, Osoba readily and candidly admits to his humanness and fallibility. To critics’ attacks, scurrilous tales and gossips, he offers explanations and counter arguments with an uncanny force of logic and corroborative factual evidence.

In the end, Osoba emerges a man of rare professional talent, a conscientious leader, consumate patriot and champion, who although badly bruised, certainly ran away with the diadem as one who came, saw and conquered!

It is good that Chief Osoba thought of gifting the world with this book. With its literary appeal, scholarly depth and profound insights especially into the undercurrents of landmark events in the life of the nation post-independence, it’s an invaluable reference resource not only for historians and students and practitioners of politics and journalism, but also for the general reader interested in issues of nation-building and development.

–––Fabowale is the Editor of Newspeak magazine

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ¸Ëœ 2020

GAVEL

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

Akpabio’s Curious Visit to National Assembly Minister of Niger DeltaAffairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, last week, paid an unscheduled visit to the National Assembly during which he met with the new management of the legislature as well as the House Committee on NDDC. But his visit has begin to generate speculations, report Adedayo Akinwale and Udora Orizu

I

n July, both Chambers of the National Assembly, as part of their constitutional mandate, commenced the probe into alleged misappropriation of N40 billion by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). It was as a result of the probe that the level of rot in the agency was uncovered.

Before the legislative arm resolved to embark on the probe, members of the National Assembly had in May passed a resolution to investigate allegation of N40billion fraud against the IMC of the NDDC. While the Senate raised a seven-member ad-hoc committee to look into the allegation, the House summoned the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the IMC to explain to the House the plan of the commission to ameliorate the effect of the present economic situation on the region.

Senate’s Probe of NDDC President of the Senate, Dr.Ahmad Lawan, at the public hearing said allegations of financial recklessness and misappropriation of funds leveled against the Interim Management Committee of NDDC were unacceptable hence the decision by the Senate to investigate the activities of the Commission.

Lawan said it was unacceptable to hear about inappropriate use of resources, or outright financial recklessness in NDDC, an important statutory agency that is supposed to improve the lot of the Niger Delta people.

According to him, the weighty allegations of misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N80 billion by the IMC prompted the upper chamber to investigate the Commission.

When theActing Executive Director (Project) of NDDC,Dr.CairoOjougboh, appeared before the Senate Probe panel, he made allegations of financial meddlesomeness, contracts grabbing and splitting against the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi and his counterpart in the House, Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. He said the move by the federal legislators to probe the agency was simply designed to scuttle the Forensic Audit currently going on at the NDDC, which was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari, following alleged corruption by the interim management. Ojougboh also accused the Senators and members of the House of being behind the fraud in NDDC. How House Probed NDDC Much of the fireworks were witnessed in the House, when the probe commenced. It was the immediate past acting Managing Director of NDDC, Ms Joi Nunieh, that first belled the cat, even though the police, acting on an order from Abuja, had tried to arrest her on July 16 to prevent her from testifying before the House Committee on NDDC in Abuja, but was rescued by Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

While giving her testimony the following day via zoom, the former NDDC Managing Director, said everyone in Nigeria had been deceived by the Minister that the forensic audit was going on, but noted that the forensic auditors had not even been procured.

Nunieh said: “On the case of the forensic auditor, I do not know if they have ever carried out a forensic audit. Can I now stand before this committee to say the lead consultant has been procured, my answer will be no. Remember, you cannot give any approval or procure any consultant without the appropriation made by the National Assembly. The 2020 budget hasn’t even been considered or discussed not to mention being passed. “I want to say here that if Nigerians find out that the forensic audit is going on, every testimony and allegations that I have made should be canceled and disregarded, there’s no forensic audit going on. Secondly, can I say

Lawan and Akpabio

that the forensic auditors have been procured?

My answer is no.�

However, her testimony forced the House committeetosummonAkpabioandtheNDDC Managing Director to appear before it.

Akpabio, while being grilled by the committee, accused members of the NationalAssembly of being the greatest beneficiaries of a majority of the contracts awarded by NDDC. Asked to explain what he meant, he stated: “Just look at your Chairman, I have records to show that most of the NDDC contracts were given out to the NationalAssembly members.

The two Chairmen of both committees can explain to you. Who are even the greatest beneficiaries of the contracts? It’s you people at the National Assembly.�

The Minister’s response, however, infuriated one of the lawmakers, who interrupted by asking Akapbio about what the National Assembly is benefiting from NDDC? The minister responded: “I just told you that we have records to show that most of the contracts in NDDC are given out to members of the NationalAssembly, but you don’t know about it, the two Chairmen can explain to you.

I was a member of the NDDC committee, so, I know about it.�

Akpabio’s allegation took the lawmakers off balance, rattled the National Assembly and the case of the hunter being hunted was witnessed. Both the Senate and the House challenged Akpabio to prove his allegation.

In a letter dated July 24 to the House, which gave him a 48-hour ultimatum to publish the names of the contractor-lawmakers, Akpabio said the reference he made to 60 per cent during his presentation before the House NDDC Committee was in response to a question by a member of the committee.

He said: “The investigating committee refused or neglected to give me the opportunity to explain the reference to ‘most NDDC contracts awarded since 2001 from the records allegedly to members of the National Assembly was done without the knowledge of the alleged beneficiaries. However, the two Chairmen of the committees in both chambers have adequate knowledge. “I never referred to members of the ninth National Assembly as beneficiaries of NDDC contracts as NDDC is yet to fully implement any budget since the commencement of the ninth National Assembly. In fact, the 2019

budget passed in February and harmonised on the 5th of March 2020, was received by the commission in the middle of April 2020, when the same was designated to expire on May 31, 2020. �It has always been known that the two Chairmen of the committees on NDDC in both chambers exhibit unusual influence to the exclusion of committee members and even the management of the NDDC appropriate funds projects after passing of line items at plenary.�

Akpabio, however, made a U-turn on July 27, when he decided to name lawmakers, who got contracts from the NDDC. The Minister, in a document attached to his response to the threat by the House to sue him over the allegations that federal lawmakers were the major contractors of NDDC, listed four senators as receiving 74 contracts from the commission from 2017 to date.

He also accused the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, Hon. Olubunmi TunjiOjo, of inserting 19 contracts worth N9 billion into 2019 NDDC budget.

It was learnt that Akpabio’s annexure to the letter included a list detailing the names and NDDC jobs given to the lawmakers. From the list, Nwaoboshi, allegedly executed 53 NDDC projects from 2017 to date.

Akpabio also accused three other Senators, namely: Matthew Urhoghide, James Manager and Sam Anyanwu of executing a total of 21 NDDC contracts during the period under review. He also fingered Tunji-Ojo in inserting 19 contracts worth N9 billion into the 2019 NDDC budget.

The contracts listed against Nwaoboshi’s name were Emergency Repairs of Asue Street, Owa Phase 2; Emergency Repairs of ldumuogbe Road via Ojemaye; Emergency Repairs of Otolokpo College Road, Otolokpo; and Emergency Repairs of Police lshu Ani Ukwu Road, Issele Uku in Delta State.

Others included Emergency Repairs of old Sapele Agbor Road, Obiaruku; Emergency Repairs of Ehwerhe Obada Road Agbarho Road; Emergency Repairs of Hon. Ifeanyi Eboigbe Street, Boji Boji Owa/Goodwill Street, Owa Alero; and Emergency Repairs of Ahiama Okwu to Obuocha Okwu among others – all in Delta State.

Other lawmakers thatAkpabio listed projects against were Senator Mathew Urhoghide (six

projects), Senator James Manager (six projects); former Senator, Sam Anyanwu (19 projects), and others simply identified as Ondo and Edo representatives, even though the minister did not provide the cost of the project.

Akpabio also listed one Mutu’s name against 74 projects, which included various emergency road projects in Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, and Rivers States. But the allegation made

by Akpabio against the federal legislators led to the sudden death of the probe, which lasted for one month both in the Senate and the House.

However, about two months after the face-off between the Minister and the federal lawmakers, Akpabio, last week made a surprise visit to the National Assembly and met with the acting Clerk of the NationalAssembly (CNA), Amos Ojo and some members of the House to resolve the disagreement between them.

Explaining the reason for the surprise visit, Akpabio said: “I am here to congratulate the Acting CNA for his elevation and of course to solicit the continuous cooperation of the NationalAssembly towards the development of the Niger Delta region. “In any case, I am a Senator, so seeing me in the National Assembly should not be a surprise; as a former Minority Leader of the Senate and a distinguished Senator, I believe I am a Senator for life. Nobody will refer to me as Governor Akpabio, they will always refer to me as Senator Akpabio. So, this is home coming for me. “The National Assembly is supposed to resume today but it had been postponed and I had intended that as soon as the resumption takes place, I will be here as part of my effort to support the President’s decision that there must be a much more cordial relationship between the Executive and the Legislature.�

After leaving the Senate building, the Minister went into a close-door meeting with Tunji-Ojo, the Clerk, Ojo and the spokesman of the House, Benjamin Kalu for over two hours.

Though the outcome of the meeting was not disclosed, it may not be unrelated to the National Assembly’s investigation of the NDDC. The Senate and House Committees on NDDC are expected to submit their report and recommendations on the probe, when the National Assembly resumes plenary on Tuesday, September 29th.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˞ Ͱ͎˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

FOCUS

DEBO ABODUNRIN

From The Boardroom To Farm House He was once an oil and gas executive with a stint in telecoms consultancy where he recorded successes. But he has since moved from the boardroom to the farmhouse. Today, he is a promoter of healthy diets through herbs and spices. The CEO of TruvisAgro Services Limited, Debo Abodunrin, has turned a passion into a portfolio, writes Funke Olaode

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he spicy tinge of ginger lingers in his throat.

Wafting through his nostrils is the fresh scent of cinnamon. He touches the soil and feels the tenderness of the earth beneath his feet as he walks through the maze of spices and herbs. The CEO of TruvisAgro Services Limited, Debo Abodunrin’s life revolves around farming. Abodunrin promotes healthy living through herbs and spices which has gained followership across the nation.

In many aroma-filled kitchens, food preparation is usually incomplete without spices. Ginger, garlic, and turmeric are some of the best-selling spices that Debo Abodunrin has cultivated for years.

What he now runs as a lucrative portfolio started as a passion; a hobby, you may call it. Almost everyone has a favourite spice and for Abodunrin, it is cumin. At 20, he saw his father’s farm for the first time and fell in love with soil.

His agribusiness, TRUVAGRO, was established as a solution to the disconnect between farm produce and industrial input with a model that ensures farm produce gain easy access to industrial markets thereby deepening the value chain and enhancing sustainability for large and small-scale farmers.

Abodunrin’s products are gaining ground, worming its hearts into many homes as the demand for healthy diets has heightened the interest in assortments of spices owing to its acclaimed benefits.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, culinary ad medicinal patronage for spices has soared. It’s no surprise that the former oil and gas executive and financial consultant ventured into farming specializing in herbs and spices farming on a commercial scale to keep up with demand.

Having co-founded the first telecoms consultancy firm which metamorphosed into the first family-centric Mobile Virtual Network Operator, he ventured into agro-business after conducting extensive research. Initially, Abodunrin and his team wanted fast-growing crops and then, these must be in high demand with quick turnover.

Abodunrin

“We further realized that there were not many serious enterprise farmers in the sector which meant there was little competition. Research showed that the herbs and spices industry is a $32bn-industry with the projections to grow at 6% CAGR for the next 7 years. “Secondly, we discovered that majority of herbs and spices are between 90-120days gestation. Next, we found out that the majority of the industrial users import almost all their input. And finally, but most importantly we found a company that was prepared to take our products if we could grow to their specifications and signed an off-take agreement with us. As soon as all

these were established, we knew we had a good business on our hands and swung into action,’’ he revealed.

During the lockdown, it was difficult to transport crops from one state to another due to the interstate travel ban. Aside from the travel restrictions, Abodunrin just didn’t want to expose his farmers to COVID-19. His fears were allayed when the government deemed the agriculture sector as an essential service and free movement was granted.

Still, he began to rethink the farm operations to minimize movement. A few lifestyle

changes took place. Farmsteads were built for the workers and more storage facilities were constructed. “We adopted new health and safety measures as well as Covid-19 protocols on our farms. All the above measures helped to stabilize our operations and we are grateful to God that none of our team was infected and our operations went on smoothly throughout the period.

The biggest effect of the lockdown on our business was mainly the general economic slowdown which reduced demand for our products and some bottlenecks we faced in managing the logistics of finished products,’’ he explained.

What started as a retirement plan has transformed to big farmlands in Epe and Ayetoro. His education serves as an added advantage as he revolutionized the practice of agriculture using technology. With drones, he could sit in the comfort of his living room and monitor his farms on his handheld device. “At TruvisAgro Services Limited, technology has become a critical factor for our success.

We have invested massively in irrigation which enables us to farm all year round. But more important, we have adopted UAV (drones) assisted ‘precision farming’. This has been the most significant game-changer in terms of our bottom line. By using drones to monitor our farms, we are able to improve crop yield by almost 40%, save time, and reduce overall costs by 30%. The drone technology not only allows us to assess soil quality; it also helps us in mapping,’’ he added.

Young children are taught in school that earthworm is the farmer’s friend. Yet good weather, access to processing plants, and favourable laws can also bring delight to a farmer. However, it can be depressing for a farmer if the crops are rejected due to contamination. “Product contamination with aflatoxins and other micro toxins are among the main reasons why spices and herbs are rejected at European borders and this is another area that could do with government participation. The first critical step in value addition is investing in the food safety and quality of your product end to end,’’ he said.

Many of the spices he grows contain antioxidants which help to slow down the ageing process, reduce stress, rid the body of toxins, and boost immunity.

For him, spices are the surest way to healthy diets. While many spices could not survive in West Africa, Abodunrin and his team are gradually changing the narrative through technology and a passion to make a difference. As his desire to become a household name grows in Nigeria and Africa through its specialized farming of herbs and spices, Abodunrin won’t rest on his laurels. “I am happy that we are breaking even,� Abodunrin admitted.

He added, “One of the most outstanding outcomes of the technology is our ability to successfully grow crops like fennel and sesame in the South West for the first time in history.’’

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H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˞ Ͱ͎˜ Ͱ͎Ͱ͎

AUWAL MUSA RAFSANJANI

One Man’s Mission for a Better Nigeria

The socio-economic development of any nation is primarily determined by the efficiency of its public finance management systems, which involves raising revenue, managing expenditure, and debt portfolio while effective public finance management systems promote good governance, human development, and poverty reduction. Against this backdrop, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), with support from OXFAM Nigeria held a one-day dialogue in Lagos on policy gaps and alternative in fiscal transparency. The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, fielded questions from Funke Olaode mobilize revenue to fulfill the robust goals of the ESP and the country’s budget. It is to this end that the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the national chapter of Transparency International (TINigeria), took the initiative with support from OXFAM under the Strategic PartnershipFinancing for Development project, to develop a Public Finance Management Roadmap report in Nigeria to help articulate the ideal public finance model that is workable in Nigeria, acceptable and beneficial to Nigerian citizens. While acknowledging the auspicious timing of this fiscal roadmap, it represents a complementary contribution to the Federal Government’s efforts within the Economic sustainability plan and satisfactory budget implementation.

Rafsanjani

What motivated the recent dialogue on ďŹ scal transparency and good governance by CISLAC? he Nigerian economy like the rest of the world has been faced with disruptions to its supply chain and productivity from the need to comply with lockdown guidelines following the COVID-19 pandemic. With the resultant crash in oil prices which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and capital flight which threaten to push the economy into recession, the government, agencies, and market regulators have adopted measures to cushion the impact of the crisis as well as stabilise markets and the economy. With the

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severe impact of COVID-19 on the private sector, the government mobilized support for small and medium-scale businesses through fiscal measures and the development of an Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP). The ESP which incorporates the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP); the report of the Economic Crisis Committee; the Finance Act 2019; and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention, is to be funded from Special FGN Accounts, the CBN in the form of structured lending, external bilateral/multilateral sources and to the least extent from other funding sources. It is however imperative to strike a delicate balance between the fiscal measures for supporting and sustaining small businesses and the economy, and a means to

In the face of unstable economic situation and inadequate funds, what feasible options are available for Nigeria?

Many options are available if we can tap into them. There are unremitted and uncollected taxable funds. The government should expedite actions in collecting those funds. Oil companies are there and many mega-companies are not paying taxes. And then we can also block leakages and increase taxation in some areas because there are viable sectors where the government is not paying much attention such as the maritime sector, in the extractive sector and so many areas that Nigeria has neglected.

In my own view, instead of borrowing money, agencies saddled with revenue collection should wake up to their responsibilities.

Again, what of the looted funds that have been repatriated back into the country? What has the government done with it? Everyone knows that oil In Nigeria is becoming unreliable, the NEITI Reports had clearly brought out so many companies both in public and private sectors that are supposed to remit money to the Nigerian government and they have refused to do that over the years. Also, we have witnessed so many companies dubiously coming to seek for tax holiday or tax waiver and there was no concrete system in place to ensure that they are actually in distress. And after the tax holiday or waiver elapses the same people will come back disguise under a new name. That is why as a group we have been clamouring for Beneficial Ownership Register so that we can identify the people behind these companies.

Ineffectiveness has been identiďŹ ed as one of the factors militating against public ďŹ nance in Nigeria. How do you think this problem can be tackled for the country to be able to meet its development agenda?

These factors are everyday occurrences such as poor domestic resource mobilization, obsolete laws, and regulations, weak public institutions, low tax revenue, corruption and leakages in the public procurement process, over-dependence on oil revenue with a high level of market volatility. I can go on. Everybody knows that many

developed countries rely on tax to drive their economies. But here, there is a gap in Nigeria’s tax projection with only six percent of Nigerians paying. Ghana has an 18 per cent ratio. It means many Nigerians don’t pay while those who volunteer to pay cannot see how the money is being spent. The problem is not reflected in the developmental projects as often find their ways into private pockets.

The government should embark on critical reforms of the Nigerian tax system, strengthen tax administration, and ensure progressive tax structure with the view to expanding the tax base of the country and scope to bring more taxable people and business into the tax net.

How do you think government through its agencies can increase its tax revenue?

It is simple. The government should implement progressive taxation and ensuring that rich persons and companies pay these taxes, expand the tax base by bringing more taxable Nigerians into the tax net through effective reforms, increase tax compliance by rich individuals and companies such as payment on offshore hidden properties and lastly by strengthening anti-tax evasions and avoidance policies, transfer pricing legislation and measures against tax havens.

Reshaping public expenditure is key to meet the development agenda of any nation.

How do you think the government can achieve this?

Well, there is a need for the government to adopt participatory budgeting systems that allow for the needs and aspirations of the citizens to be capture in the budgeting process because active citizens’ participation at all stages of budgeting ensures open budgeting and allows for effective budget implementation. Also, setting realistic budget goals is key. And lastly, it is advisable for any government to prioritizing capital spending because, with improved revenue, there is a need to improve capital spending to drive real economic growth. I believe any government that wants to achieve real economic and developmental growth as a matter of policy will concentrate and increase public spending to develop infrastructure in education, health, and other critical sectors.

Various recommendations have been made on how improved ďŹ nance management can help develop Nigeria.

In your own view, what do you think can work best?

Well, our recommendations or roadmap at the recently held dialogue on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, centered around three things. We believed for effective financial management, an inclusive public finance framework is very key which means the government at all levels should develop an inclusive public finance framework with a clear resource mobilization plan that looks beyond oil revenue. The framework should make provision for the diversification of oil revenue beyond sales of crude oil and other accruable rent. More importantly, there is a need for Nigeria crude products to be refined locally, and that entails ensuring holistic overhaul of the nation’s four refineries to function in full capacity and possible building of new ones.

This will prevent the loss of huge resources due to crude oil swapping. Also, the FG should ensure the efficient management of the extractive sector by ensuring the passage, assent, and functioning of the Petroleum Industry Government Bill as well as the other components, particularly the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill. This will bring an end to the porous resource mobilization and management regime that dominate the oil industry. Due to obsolete laws and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Nigeria had not been able to harness the potential of its oil tax revenue. There is a need to review all the MoU governing Nigeria oil sector relationships and tax agreement. And as mentioned earlier, the overhauling of the Nigerian tax system for efficiency is also important Lastly, a lot of economic revitalizations need to happen which can also be achieved if a focused economic management team is put in place.

This team will be able to galvanize the economy, energize the economy to create jobs, be able to provide the right policy that can drive the economy. As it is now, a lot of factories and companies are closing down because the electricity is failing, the corruption in the system is becoming overwhelming for them to bear. They cannot meet their targets because of extortion, poor infrastructure, and energy to be able to carry out factory activities.

For me, government at all levels should wake up to their responsibilities by focusing on governance, this is the only way Nigeria can move forward.

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SE ÍşÍ¸Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

PERSPECTIVE Access to Justice: Plight of Women & Girls in South-East Alliance for Africa

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ccording to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), access to justice is the ability of people from disadvantaged groups to prevent and overcome human poverty by seeking and obtaining a remedy, through the justice system, for grievances in accordance with human rights principles and standards.

Also, Section 17(2) (e) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, provides for the independence, impartiality and integrity of courts of law and for easy accessibility to be secured and maintained.

Needless to say, access to justice is itself a human right and a denial of this is a denial of the basic tenets of human rights principles.

Access to justice requires the following: i. A proper adjudicatory mechanism-it is a necessity to have a strong and proper adjudicatory mechanism, be it a court, tribunal, commission, etc where aggrieved citizens can seek redress and justice for a wrong done to them or any violation of their fundamental rights. ii. Such adjudicatory mechanisms should be accessible to all citizens. iii. The process of getting justice must equally be affordable- if such adjudicatory mechanisms are expensive so much so that indigent citizens cannot afford the payments, then the purpose of attaining justice is defeated. iv. Speedy process- Access to justice as a constitutional value will be a mere illusion if justice is not speedy. Justice delayed, as famously said is justice denied. For women, the four conditions stated above do not guarantee access to justice. They face more challenges and have to scale more hurdles before they can access justice. Some of the factors making it difficult for women and girls to access justice are discussed below.

Challenges

To say that access to justice remains a mirage for most Nigerians is an understatement. According to Laura Turquet, this is particularly true for women, who often face unique social and institutional barriers to accessing justice and finding suitable solutions to their legal problems due to gender discrimination, social stigmas, lack of knowledge of their rights, as well as economic and educational disadvantages.

In the southeastern part of Nigeria, the challenges for women and girls to access justice is no less challenging. Already overburdened with discriminatory cultural practices, women and girls in South East Nigeria face greater challenges in accessing justice. Be it civil or criminal justice, getting justice remains a herculean task for women and girls.

When they eventually get it, the kind of justice they get is a gendered justice.

Among others, here are some factors that make access to justice difficult for women and girls.

1. Prejudicial Cultural Practices There are customary practices which discriminate against women and girls. These practices makeIheoma Obibi of Alliance for Africa it harder for them to access justice.

For instance, in South Eastern Nigeria, and elsewhere the next challenge. in the country, there are preferences for male children. It is 3.Poverty. customary for females to be disinherited.

Poverty limits women and girls’ ability to access justice. In On April 14, 2014, the Supreme Court in a unanimous Nigeria most people cannot afford to hire a lawyer to argue judgment upheld female child right to inheritance in South their cases and fight for their rights. Women and girls are East Nigeria. more likely than men not to have the means to litigate their Before the judgment, Igbo customary law of succession cases. Even when they have legal issues that affect their excluded female offspring from eligibility to inherit their rights, they are not able to retain the service of legal practifathers’ property. Other discriminatory practices remain. tioners to take the case to court for adjudication.

2. Apart from prejudicial cultural practices, institutional 4. Lack of Institutional Support. discrimination against women and girls affect their chances Women and girls don’t often get support from the of accessing justice. government to fight their cases. Although, the constitution Section 42(1) and (2) of the Constitution guarantees every places an obligation on states to make provision for free Nigerian the right not to be discriminated against, but this legal services, that is Legal Aid for underprivileged citizens provision is however, observed in the breach. In reality, the to have full access to courts and have their matters heard Nigerian society continues to discriminate against women without money, lack of resources does not allow this to and girls. happen. Even when legislation is passed to make it easier for When girls are raped, the society, because it is controlled women and girls to access justice, implementation is usually largely by men, tends to blame girls. Police often ask the lacking. rape victims such embarrassing questions that will make getting justice for them very difficult. This partly explains Recommendations why many rape victims do not report the offence to law Policy Intervention enforcement agencies. When rape is not reported, there will To make sure women and girls have access to quality be no justice. Those who are bold enough to report don’t justice, governments at both the federal and state levels will often get justice. The odds are fully stacked against them. have to put policies in place, remove institutional barriers In the labour market, women are not being given the against women and punish those who violate the rights of opportunities like their male counterparts. This leads us to women.

Need for Legislation to Advance the Rights of Women.

It will be difficult to enhance women and girls’ access to justice without eradicating discriminatory practices against them.

Therefore, states in the South East have to put in place laws that will reduce cases of violence and discrimination against women. The Ekiti State law is recommended as a model. The law recognizes that gender-based violence includes economic abuse, which it defines as the denial of funds, refusal to contribute financially to family upkeep, denial of food and basic needs, among others.

Ekiti State law also establishes a Gender-Based Violence Fund to provide, among others, basic material support for victims of gender-based violence. Such victims and their dependents may receive free shelters and vocational training.

Implementation of existing laws

It is not enough to put new laws in place, they must be implemented.

The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015, a federal law which prohibits female genital mutilation, harmful widowhood practices, harmful traditional practices and all forms of violence against persons in both private and public life should be implemented faithfully.

This research work is supported by African Women Development Funds.

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SEPTEMBER 20, ͰͮͰͮ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

THEALTERNATIVE

with RenoOmokri

Between Obasanjo and Buhari: Who is the Uniter and Divider?

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must say that I was shocked by the statement released

by Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, accusing former President Olusegun Obasanjo of being Nigeria’s Divider-in-Chief.

In the statement, released on Sunday, September 13, 2020, Shehu said: “The difference is clear. From the lofty heights of Commander-in-Chief, General Obasanjo has descended to the lowly level of Divider-in-Chief (to adapt the coinage of Time).”

After reading Garba Shehu’s statement, I decided to make a comparison between Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and President Muhammadu Buhari so that the facts could speak for themselves to my readers.

Perhaps the major difference between the two men is that Muhammadu Buhari is a coupist, who overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari, which ignited a chain reaction of 16 years of brutal military dictatorships. Whereas Chief Obasanjo has never participated in a coup, though he benefited from one, and more importantly is the first African military ruler to have voluntarily handed over power to a democratically elected government on October 1, 1979.

It is left for my readers to decide which action is more conducive to unity and which is more in keeping with division.

One other major difference between the two is that Olusegun Obasanjo has written ten books, including My Command (1980), Nzeogwu (1987), Not My Will (1990), This Animal Called Man (1998), amongst others, while Buhari has not written a single book. Not even one. It is even doubtful if he reads books. Or if he even reads for that matter, because as Rotimi Amaechi said in my now infamous Amaechi Tapes, “Does the President read”.

So, when Garba makes the sort of sycophantic comparison he made between Obasanjo and Buhari, I wonder if he took the facts into account, or if he only considered the farce.

Every Nigerian leader before General Obasanjo was either killed or violently overthrown. Tafawa Balewa was murdered, as was his successor, Ironsi. Yakubu Gowon was overthrown, while Murtala Mohammed was shot on the streets of Lagos.

Olusegun Obasanjo was the first Nigerian leader to have a planned tenure that was not interrupted by coups or death.

It says something about his leadership abilities.

Until Obasanjo re-emerged on the scene in 1999, every Nigerian leader between when he handed over on October 1, 1979, and when he was sworn in on May 29, 1999, either had their tenure cut short, or left in a hurry.

Buhari

Obasanjo

President Shagari was overthrown. His successor, General Buhari was easily overthrown. General Babangida stepped aside, while his successor, Chief Shonekan resigned, reportedly at gunpoint. The bloodthirsty buffoon called Abacha died disgracefully, and General Abdulsalami left abruptly after nine months.

Additionally, Obasanjo is the first and ONLY Nigerian President since 1999 to have stayed eight years in office. Buhari has not endured that long, though he has the potential. Did Garba Shehu consider these before insulting Obasanjo, under whose Peoples Democratic Party administration he served as a media aide?

Now, let us go granular. Throughout both his time as military and civilian leader, Chief Obasanjo had four chiefs of Army Staff, and none of them was from his ethnic nationality, the Yoruba (whose real name is Edekiri). Three were Northerners, and one was from the Niger Delta. He also had two ministers of defence, and both of them were from the North. Finally, Chief Obasanjo appointed four chiefs of defence staff of which three were from the North, and one was from the Niger Delta.

This is even as Obasanjo maintained balance in the three arms of government, with him as a Christian Southerner as head of the Executive, a Muslim Northerner as Chief Justice, and a Christian Southerner as Senate President.

Compare that with Muhammadu Buhari who has never had

a non-Muslim, non-Northern chief of army staff, whether as a military Head of State or civilian President.

Under Buhari, the heads of the Executive, Judiciary, Legislature, Ministry of Defence, Army, Airforce, Police, DMI, DSS, EFCC, NIA and 90% of the headship of Nigeria’s security agencies are all Northern Muslim Males.

Is it that Garba Shehu is not aware of this? President Buhari is a stark, raving tribalist and ideologue who on August 26, 2001 said, “I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria.” This is a tribally and religiously demented fellow, who went to the US on July 25, 2015 and said, “constituencies, for example, that gave me 97% cannot, in all honesty, be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5%.”

And this is the man Garba Shehu called Uniter-in-Chief?

There is sycophancy, and there is dishonesty. Those two words combine to describe Garba Shehu’s statement.

Nigerians have a short memory, so let me remind them and Garba Shehu, what Buhari said to the President of the World Bank. On October 13, 2017, the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, said: “You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and we’ve done that. Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult.”

Never in the history of Nigeria has any leader or ruler (Buhari and Abacha are/were not leaders) been so bold in his Northernisation agenda. And this is the man Garba Shehu tagged Uniter-In-Chief.

And even on the economic front, there is no basis to compare the lacklustre Buhari to chief Obasanjo.

When President Obasanjo celebrated his last Independence Day in office on October 1, 2006, Nigeria’s foreign debt was almost $0, because he paid it off just months before that celebration. Today, Nigeria owes a total debt of nearly $100 billion, due to Buhari’s profligate borrowing. Is your Garba Shehu not ashamed of such a record?

In addition, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 6% under Obasanjo.

On the contrary, Nigeria has faced four recessions in the last 40 years. And Buhari was either military head of state or civilian President for 3 out of those four times. It is obvious. If Aisha Buhari should have a new baby, Buhari should name the child recession!

Had we ever heard of a quit notice given to the Igbo by the North before Buhari? No. The last time such scenarios played out was during the civil war.

Read the concluding article online www.thisdaylive.com

POLITY

Dear Femi: The Facts Speak for Themselves Reno Omokri

I

as a Northern Muslim Chief of Air Staff and Inspector General of Police, with a Southern Muslim head of the Navy.

However, Under General Buhari, the heads of the Executive, Judiciary, Legislature, as well as the Ministry of Defence, Army, Airforce, Police, DMI, DSS, EFCC, NIA and 90% of the headship of Nigeria’s security agencies are all Northern Muslim Males.

watched, with considerable amusement, Femi Adesina’s interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, September 17, 2020, wherein Femi said that his boss, General Muhammadu Buhari, inherited a badly divided nation from former President Goodluck Jonathan, and has been working to unite her.

Mr Adesina said: “As of 2015, when President Buhari came, Nigeria was terribly, terribly divided; divided along religious lines, divided along ethnic lines; divided along language, divided hopelessly, terribly and that is the division that the President had been working at.”

Well, it is true that there are some fault lines in Nigeria, as there are in many other nations, however, it is false to say that Nigeria was badly divided under Jonathan and that General Buhari has been trying to repair that division. In proof of this, I call Nigerians to mind that, to cement Nigeria’s unity, then President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated a national conference on Monday, 17 March 2014, with terms of reference, which included coming up with recommendations that would help unite Nigeria. Then President Jonathan insisted that resolutions of the national conference be reached by either a consensus or a 75% majority threshold (3/4 majority). Many people scoffed and said that it was not possible to achieve that type of consensus. But President Jonathan achieved it by managing our diversity.

Over 600 resolutions were reached, by each and every ethnic nationality in Nigeria, by consensus. That this was possible is a testament to how Jonathan built the kind of unity that no other President had built before him. Speaking during the submission of the Conference resolutions to him on Thursday, August 21, 2014, then President Jonathan said: “When I was inaugurating the Presidential Advisory Committee in December last year, I made it very clear to the committee that it was a sincere and fundamental undertaking, aimed at realistically examining and genuinely resolving, longstanding impediments to our cohesion and harmonious development as a truly united nation.

At the inauguration of the National Conference in March, I told you the Delegates our expectations. I did say that I expected participants to patriotically articulate and synthesize our people’s thoughts, views and recommendations for a stronger, more united, peaceful and politically stable Nigeria.”

Adesina In the light of the achievements of that conference, it does appear to be an attempt to revise history for Femi Adesina to say his boss inherited a very badly divided Nigeria from former President Jonathan, especially as General Buhari has refused to implement the resolutions of the conference. Something he would have done if unity was truly his goal.

The fact that Nigeria is now more divided, under Muhammadu Buhari than at any time in her history, stems from the words and actions of Buhari himself.

Fresh from winning the April 16, 2011, presidential election, former President Jonathan reassured those who did not vote for him by saying: “I have no enemies to fight.” He repeated those exact words just before the 2015 election, on Thursday, January 8, 2015.

However, when placed in a similar situation, after emerging victorious in the 2015 election, General Buhari, at an event at the United States Institute for Peace, said on July 25, 2015, as follows: “Constituents, for example, that gave me 97% cannot, in all honesty, be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5%.”

Those words greatly set the tone for the divisions that have been the hallmark of the Buhari years. Under former President Jonathan, there was balance in the government. The Executive was headed by a Christian Southerner, while the Judiciary was headed by a Muslim Northerner, even as the Legislature was headed by a Christian Northerner. The armed forces were also headed by a Northern Muslim minister of defence, a Southern Christian Chief of Army Staff, a Northern Muslim National Security Adviser, as well

Where is the balance?

During Jonathan’s tenure, there was never anything like quit notice given by one region, to members of another region. Yet, on June 6, 2017, egged on by General Buhari’s nepotism, Northern youths issued a quit notice to all people of Southeastern Igbo origin to leave the Northern regions.

Former President Jonathan, though from Southern Nigeria, built 165 almajiri schools and 9 out of 12 new universities in Northern Nigeria. He also constructed the single largest infrastructural project under Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, the Abuja-Kaduna railways. Dr Jonathan focused his developmental strides in Northern Nigeria.

However, what did General Buhari do when the table turned?

When fate placed him in the same position, General Buhari told the President of the World Bank to focus exclusively on the North to the detriment of the South.

On October 13, 2017, the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, said: “You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and we’ve done that. Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult.”

So, flowing from the above facts, I would strongly urge Femi Adesina to have a rethink. It is quite possible that Nigeria is so divided under Buhari because people like Femi, in a bid to paint a rosy picture, fail to tell their boss the truth. This may be why the Middle Belt region recently broke away from the North politically and formed its own union. The truth is that Nigeria, as of Friday, May 29, 2015, was a very united nation, which was why no dog or baboon was soaked in blood after the 2015 election.

But, we have seen how elections have been held since then. There has been so much violence and bloodshed, to the extent that even the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, on Monday, September 14, 2020, took the unprecedented step of placing a visa ban on serving Nigerian officials.

Dear Femi, the facts speak for themselves. You do not have to speak for them.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ EPTEMBER 20, 2020

INTERNATIONAL International Law and the Making of a Yoruba Nation: Likely Scenarios of FG’s Actions and Reactions

T

he making of a new Yoruba nation can be dated back to the time of the late Chief Adedeji Hubert Ogunde, Dean of African Theatre, great dramatist, philosopher and a Yoruba patriot, who called on all Yoruba-speaking people to sit down and reflect on their plight. In a musical recording, entitled, ‘Yoruba Ronu,’ Hubert Ogunde called on the Yoruba people to look backward and note their greatness. Unfortunately, the Yoruba people never took Ogunde’s call much seriously. They didn’t look back and seek understanding of his message. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, another Ijebu national like Hubert Ogunde, told the Yoruba people and other peoples of Nigeria that the time when the Yoruba people would be fed up and would seek self-liberation and put an end to their enslavement, would surely come.

And true enough, the situational reality of political governance in Nigeria of today is such that the Yoruba people have not only acknowledged that they are being killed without provocation, on their land, by Fulani herdsmen, but also that their ancestral land is being taken forcefully. Their women are kidnapped and recklessly raped. Armed with AK-47 rifles, there is nothing the herdsmen have not done and still cannot do, to humiliate the Yoruba people.

It is thanks to this threat that there is now a change from Yoruba Ronu to what we can rightly describe as ‘Yoruba Rori.’

Yoruba Ronu, can have negative (psychological challenge) and positive (invitation to think or to reflect) connotations. When Chief Hubert Ogunde came up with Yoruba Ronu, the meaning was an invitation to stop self-bastardisation and loss of self-esteem.

Many took it more as a negative connotation. Today, the recidivist attacks on the Yoruba nation has shifted the paradigm from Yoruba Ronu (mere philosophy) to Yoruba Rori (strategic thinking). It is now a direct call on the Yoruba to reflect and engage in legitimate self-defence.

The need for legitimate self-defence is the first and main rationale for the establishment of Operation Àmòtékùn. It is also the main rationale for the quest of the Yoruba people to join the Unprotected Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) in the strong belief in the principle of self-determination in International Law. In this regard, the Yoruba people feel that they are marginalised, that their progress is unnecessarily and consciously being stalled in a federal system of government in which all strategic powers are concentrated in the centre to the detriment of the federating units.

In the quest for self-survival, efforts are being made to build a new Yoruba nation, within the current constitutional framework of Nigeria. The challenges are herculean: how is the Federal Government likely to react? How will the Yoruba people also react to the Federal Government’s own reaction? Will the making of a Yoruba nation engender the dismantlement of Nigeria? Is the prediction by some Americans that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2014 now coming to be proved correct? What are the basic issues at stake and what really is the position of International Law on them?

And more interestingly, what are the likely scenarios and challenges for the whole people of Nigeria in the foreseeable future?

Self-determination versus State Terrorism The making of the Yoruba Nation in the present day Nigeria has the great potential to engender a very serious unrest, no matter how peacefully organised. It will warrant more than international interferences and interventions because two issues are involved: self-determination and state terror. Both are legally tenable internationally. Self-determination is very lawful after having been adopted as part of international customary law. Use of State terror is only lawful to the extent of application of the rule of sovereignty and collective legitimate self-defence for the purposes of maintenance of national security and orderliness.

In the case of Nigeria, the making of the Yoruba nation is being done on the basis of non-use of force, which is quite commendable. This approach has the potential to become violent because the Federal Government is most likely to descend very heavily on the Yoruba people as the quest for self-determination will be interpreted as a treason or as an act of terrorism. Consideration of a peaceful self-determination effort as terrorism will strengthen the unity of Yoruba people at home and abroad. This is how Nigeria’s second civil war may begin, in which case the new war alliances will be quite different from the 1967-1970 pattern. To be sure, it is

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Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Akeredolu, Chairman of Operation Amotekun not going to be all of Nigerian alliance against the Biafrans. There will not be any Northern and South West alliance fighting on the same side. Igbo people may be divided on their support for the Yoruba agenda, but the likelihood is still a North-South war.

In all cases, to borrow from the titles of Chinua Achebe’s works, when ‘the arrow of God’ falls, ‘there is a trouble with Nigeria,’ in which ‘things fall apart,’ and there is ‘no longer at ease,’ and after which it may be a new story of ‘there was a country,’ like Nigeria.

Let us explain this likely trouble and its uneasiness from the perspective of international law.

Three main issues are involved at the level of international law: sovereignty of the Nigerian State, the exercise of the right of any Nigerian people to self-determination, and the use of state terror to counter lawful exercise of the principle of self-determination.

As regards the issue of sovereignty, the evolution of the concept is noteworthy. Etymologically, the notion of sovereignty meant absolute power under monarchical regimes. There was no one considered to be above the king. The kings were believed to be direct agents of God and to whom they are only responsible. In other words, sovereignty was essentially that of the monarchs, who could do and undo.

But following the end of the 30-year old war in Europe, which culminated in the signing of the Westphalia Treaty in 1648, the notion of a modern state also came into being. Not only was a modern State defined in terms of union of a people, territory and government, the notion of sovereignty was also reviewed.

Sovereignty was defined to belong to the people and no more to the monarchs. The new era of sovereign nation began. The main thrust was that sovereignty can only be derived from the people, meaning that when people are elected by the people, the elected people cannot be more than representatives, and therefore, can only have delegated sovereignty. This is one of the main foundations of state sovereignty Again, the notion of sovereignty has been limited following new arguments by many international publicists that people’s sovereignty cannot exist in a vacuum and not be regulated. If every nation-state is considered sovereign, what happens in the

The Yoruba Nation builders are likely to insist on their legal right to self-determination. PMB is likely to react illegally, not as a politician or soldier, but under the pretext of national unity, using excessive force to attack any self-determinists. By virtue of membership of the UNPO, the Yoruba will enjoy international support. Countries that wanted divided Nigeria in 1967-1970 will be ready to aid and abet theYoruba agenda. Political intrigues cannot be ruled out. In the manner the United States simultaneously gave active support to both Augustinho Neto and Jonas Savimbi in Angola to sustain their fight, many countries and international mercenaries will do same to assist in mutual killings.Influx of terrorists will abound and violations of human rights and humanitarian law will also thrive.PMB,who rejected the 2014 National Conference Reports that offered possible solutions,the IPOB and MASSOB is not the one that will now readily acceptYoruba self-determination preserve national unity.This is the epicentre of all the likely scenarios.True, theYoruba people have the right to self-determination, because it is a human right and because it is for all peoples and not simply for minorities. Consequently, PMB needs to engage in détente before it is too late.

event of conflict of interests? It is at this level that International Law is considered required to mediate and regulate the exercise of sovereignty for purposes of orderliness. The import of the foregoing is that, even though Nigeria does not belong the Monist school of thought, but to the Dualist school, International Law takes the issue of sovereignty as relative. Government has sovereignty which cannot be detrimental to the people’s interest and survival.

In the same vein, where the sovereignty of one nation stops, that of another State begins, hence the rule of sovereign equality. This is why sovereignty under International Law is considered relative.

Concerning self-determination, the Yoruba people are re-uniting themselves worldwide on the basis of Yoruba Rori: the Yoruba World Congress (YWC) has set aside a Yoruba Day to be celebrated from 23rd through 30th September, 2020. As announced by the YWC Council, the one week-long global events begin on Wednesday, 23rd September 2020, an important date in Yoruba history to which the YWC organisers want to begin to draw public attention for reasons of posterity, and especially that little or no emphasis is now given to the study of history in Nigerian schools.

September 23rd as commencement date is purposely chosen to mark the end of the Kiriji War and to declare the YWC Manifesto for a Yoruba Nation. The Yoruba Day Celebration will be hosted by YWC Chapters in Nigeria, South Africa, USA, England, Brazil and Cuba.’ This cannot but be a good manifestation of a non-forceful self-determination agenda. The celebrations include Yoruba Global Library Project in the USA, Yoruba Elders and Leaders Lunch, Yoruba Youths Summit, Yoruba Community Development and Empowerment in South Africa, as well as Safety and Security in Yoruba land which is to be hosted by Àmòtékùn Ni Gbogbo Wa, meaning ‘we are all Amotekun (leopards)’.

Without any jot of doubt, there is nothing done so far by the Yoruba that is in conflict with International Law. Self-determination, originally began with how to determine statehood in the colonial era. People who were dependent on their colonial masters were given right, internationally, to determine their future. It was then generally argued and believed that every people has the right to self-determination within their countries. Self-determination was not conceived to imply secession from a dependent territory, but a secession from foreign, colonial rule. It was on this basis that the colonial masters were compelled to consider granting independence under force and international pressure to their dependencies. The pressure brought to bear by the United States on the colonialists is quite interesting (vide Roger Louis’ book, Imperialism at Bay: the United States and the decolonisation of the British Empire, 1941-1945, OUP, 1977).

In the post-colonial era, self-determination is given greater emphasis, because it is no longer about de-colonisation but the right to determine how to live within an existing independent and sovereign State, such as Nigeria, where there is conflict of laws guiding political governance. In the Northern parts of Nigeria, it is Sharia law but not so in the South. If the rule of Sharia is admitted in the North as a principle of federalism, then self-determination by another people or region must also be tenable as a rule of federalism.

More interestingly, the origin of the rule of self-determination is traceable to the US Declaration of Independence of the United States of America of 4 July 1776 according to which governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and that ‘whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.’ This suggests that sovereignty and self-determination constitute both sides of the same coin and are both derived from the consent of the people.

Speaking secundum norman legis, that is, according to the rule of law, self-determination is nothing more than the right of any given nation, a sociological nation, that is any culturally homogenous people, to constitute themselves into an independent State. Public International Law guarantees it both in the colonial era and thereafter. For instance, Article 1(1) of the 1966 International Covenant Economic and Socio-cultural Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is very clear on this point: ‘all peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.’ Consequently, self-determination is now a principle of International Law and has gone beyond being a political concept.

As at today, there is no disputing the fact that the conception of the principle of self-determination covers all populations in any given sovereign State, in any dependent territories and all peoples still under foreign military occupation. And more importantly, whether or not the rationale for seeking self-determination is as a result of injustice or marginalisation, every people has the right to self-determination, including the right to secession. This is the resultant effect of both the remedial right school of thought which argues that every given population has a general right to secede, subject to having suffered injustices and for which secession remains the only remedy. On the contrary, self-determination is also a resultant from the primary right school, which believes that every group of people in a State has a general right to secede, even in the absence of injustice. What is therefore noteworthy in both cases is that the making of the Yoruba Nation is legal, even though its application in legal practice can be violent. This brings us to the issue of terrorism.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

NEWS

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

UN: COVID-19 Forces 150m Children into Poverty Tobi Soniyi The novelcoronaviruspandemic has pushed 150 million children into multidimensional poverty, a report by the United Nations (UN), has said.

The study published on the UN’s website said these children havebeendeprivedofeducation,

health,housing,nutrition,sanitation or water.

Thereportfoundthatthenumber of children living in poverty increased tonearly1.2billion,a15 percentjumpsincethepandemic hit earlier this year, according to a technical note on impact of COVID-19 on child poverty, issued on Thursday by the UN

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the NGO, Save the Children.

As if the situation is not bad enough, UNICEF warns the situation will likely worsen in the months to come.

“COVID-19andthelockdown measures imposed to prevent its spread have pushed millions of children deeper into poverty,”

said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s executive director.

According to her, families on thecuspofescapingpovertyhave been pulled back in, while others are experiencing levels of deprivation they have never seen before.

“Most concerningly, we are closer to the beginning of this

crisis than its end”, she added.

She therefore called for a rapid expansion of social protection systems including cash transfers and child benefits, remote learning opportunities, healthcare services and school feeding.

“Making these critical investments now can help countries to prepare for future shocks”,

BOOST FOR ABIRU’S ASPIRATION...

Women groups campaigning for the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Lagos East senatorial bye-election, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru in Kosofe…

Friday

she added.

The report stated that around 45 per cent of children were “severely deprived” of at least one of the critical needs in the countries analyzed before the pandemic.

The study is based on data on access to education, healthcare, housing, nutrition, sanitation and water from more than 70 countries.

Itsaidchildpovertywasmuch morethanamonetaryvalue,and whilemeasuresofmonetarypoverty such as household income were important, they provided only a partial view of the plight of children living in poverty.

The Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Inger Ashing, notes that the pandemic had already caused the biggest global education emergency in history.

She warned that an increase in poverty would make it very hard for the most vulnerable children and their families to make up for the loss.

“Children who lose out on education are more likely to be forced into child labour or early marriage and be trapped in a cycle of poverty for years to come. We cannot afford to let a whole generation of children become victims of this pandemic. National governments and the international community must step up to soften the blow.”

Hamzat at 56, Canvasses Policy to Lift More People out of Poverty Tobi Soniyi Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat has expressed concern at the growing rate of poverty in the country.

Speaking at a media parley to markhis56thbirthdayonFriday, Hamzat said that when he was younger, he did not see many people begging.

According to him, for some reasons, poverty is growing in the society.

He said poverty “is a big challenge that many people have been forced to beg to survive even as he wondered what the

country had done wrong that forced many people to take to begging as a means of survival.”

He noted that some of the people begging “are decent people who are not even lazy but who have been forced into begging by circumstance beyond their control.

He said: “The challenge for me is how do we increase that basket and make sure we lift more people out of poverty.

How do we improve the way we all live as a people. It does not matter how successful you are if hundreds of people around you are unsuccessful.

“The challenge is how do we lift up our society a bit more. It is not just about Nigeria, but majority of Africa. how do we lift people out of poverty? That questionmustshapeyourthinking, your policy and whatever you plan to do, how does it affect the larger society.”

He challenged the youth to embracehardworkandhonesty both virtues he said had helped him to achieve success.

He said he had no plan to join politics until he met a former governorofLagosState,Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

HamzatwasbornonSeptem-

COVID-19 Complicated Borno Flooding, Says NEMA Michael Olugbode inMaiduguri The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday disclosed that COVID-19 was responsible for the higher instances of flooding across the country this year.

NEMA’sDirector-General,Air ViceMarshalMuhammaduMuhammed made the disclosure during flood advocacy visit to BornoStatebyadelegationfrom the federal government.

Muhammed explained that strategies to control flooding could not be put in place at the appropriate time because of COVID-19whichkepteveryone indoor.

The director-general, who was represented at the visit by top official in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,Dr.SuleimanAbubakar said the visit to Borno was to checkmate flooding.

He said it was never too late to tackle the menace of flooding as many more heavy rains are expected before the end of the years. He said: “We could have gone on the advocacy visits and undertake needed strategies against flooding before now, but the COVID-19 hampered movement but we are still here and going around to mitigate flooding.”

He said: “We are here on an advocacy visit on the 2020 flood.

Your Excellency Borno State is known to be one of the food producers in the country with the citizens largely engaged in farming activities.

“However, the annual occurrences of flood have continued to threaten this potential. Flood has become a recurring experienceinNigeria.” Hesaidthough climatechange“hasbeenlargely blamed for this increasing phenomenon, it is our responsibility as government and people to evolve strategies to minimize losses through adherence to warningalerts,earlypreparation and proper response.

ber19,1964inLagos,Nigeriainto the family of Late Oba Mufutau OlatunjiHamzatandLateAlhaja Kehinde Hamzat who is from Iga Egbe, Lagos State.

His father, late Oba Hamzat served as a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and as a Commissioner for Transportation in the state (1979 – 1983) before becoming the Vice-Chairman South West of then Alliance for Democracy (AD).

The late monarch became the leader of Lagos West Senatorial District of the defunct Action

Congress (AC) and a crowned king through his maternal royal lineage.

But the deputy had his primary education at Odu-Abore Memorial Primary School, Mushin, Lagos State, and his secondary education at Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo State.

He graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1986 with a degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1986 and a master’s in Agricultural Engineering in 1988. In 1992, he had his PhD in System Process Engineering at Cranfield University, England.

Hamzat

Anambra 2021: PDP Promises Credible Process David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State has assured members of the party that it will conduct a free and fair primary for the 2021 governorship election even as it admonished aspirants not to malign each other.

The chairman of the party in the state, Mr Ndubuisi Nwobu made the promise yesterday, at a meeting of members of the state working committee, while playing host to a governorship aspirant, Mr Johnny Maduafokwa.

Nwobusaid,“Weshallensure that the processes leading to the primary election are fair, transparent and free. We are doing this because we know that if the primary election is transparent, aspirants who did not win will

support the winner.

“We are urging all aspirants not to malign each other. Look at other governorship aspirants as your brothers and sisters and lookforawaytoliaisewiththem.

If the process is transparent, we know that we can get the losers to join hands in marketing the winner of the party’s ticket for the election.

“You must not malign each other, because the same aspirant youmalign today, youmayneed to sell him to the people tomorrow for the sake of the party. On ourpart,wewillensurethatonly someone of character will be the candidate of the party.”

To underscore the transparency of the executive in the forthcoming governorship primary election, Nwobu promised to make available

the list of statutory delegates to the primary election to Maduafokwa, enjoining him to woo party stakeholders, instead of dissipating energy maligning others aspirants.

Maduafokwa, a director at TeconOilServices,andgovernorship aspirant of PDP in the state said he would support the party andhelpitwinthegovernorship electioninAnambraifapopular and credible candidate emerges.

He said, “We are here to determine the future of Anambra State. There have been movements of people from one party to the other, and people have moved in and out of PDP, but I tellyou,Iwillremainintheparty.

Anambra has been worse off in the past five years, and we are here to restore hope, and we will help PDP to salvage her.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍşÍ¸Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸

69

NEWSXTRA Ondo Deputy Gov Promises 200% Reduction in University Tuition Fees t Kicks off guber election campaign t Mimiko urges people to resist rigging James Sowole inAkure The candidate of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for the October 10 governorship election, Mr Agboola Ajayi yesterday promised to reduce tuition fees for students in the universityfromN150,000toN50, 000, representing a proposed reduction of 200 percent.

Ajayi, also the Deputy Governor of the state, promised that if elected on October 10, he would bring back the government of the people with free maternal healthcare,affordabletuitionfees

at alllevels andfree shuttlebuses for students, among others.

Hemadethesepromisesatthe inaugurationofhisgovernorship election campaign held at Ore, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Government, Ondo State, yesterday.

He kicked off the campaign alongside the ZLP National Leader, Dr Olusegun Mimiko; ZLPNationalChairman,MrDan Iwuanyawu;ChairmanofOndo ZLP, Chief Joseph Akinlaja.

Thestategovernor,Mr.Rotimi Akeredoluhadincreasedtuition fees of the Adekunle Ajasin

University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA) from N30,000 per session to N150,000 per session on the average.

Consequently, the increase stoked public outcries and protracted protest among students, subsequently leading to the closure of the university for several weeks.

With his shrinking support base statewide, however, Akeredolu fortnight ago partly upturned his decision by reducing tuitionfeesforreturningstudents from N100, 000 to N80, 000 only.

By implication, all fresh students of the university would pay the increase of about 500 percent, a reason the majority

of parents and students in the tertiary institutions believed Akeredolu reduced the tuition fees for political reasons.

But at his campaign flag-off yesterday, the deputy governor promised to reduce tuition fees inthestateuniversityfromN150, 000 to N50, 000 per session.

Ajayi said: “We forced them

to talk about reduction of school fees last week. What they have done was not reduction. What have they been doing since all thesedaysthatpeoplehavebeen begging for reduction in tuition? “Theynowsaidtheyreduced, it is nothing but deceit. Don’t believe them. They only want to deceive you and get to their position again. We will reduce the fee to N50, 000.

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi The federal government has partnered with the Bauchi State Government to construct four thousand housing units in the state to ease the housing deficit.

The Managing Director, Family Homes Fund, Mr Femi Adewole revealed this plan at a meeting between the state government, Family Homes Fund and organized labour held at theMiniChamber,Government House Bauchi yesterday.

Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Adewole said the new housing project would be constructed under the federal government’s social housing programme as part of thegovernment’splantoprovide people of low incomes with affordable accommodations.

He said the social housing programme “is an initiative of the federal government worth N200 billion designed to construct three hundred thousand housing units in the selected states of the federation tobefundedbytheCentralBank

of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Finance.�

On the completion of the housing project, the managing directorexplainedthatbeneficiaries would be assisted to access mortgage for repayment period of about 25 years.

Hesaid:“Itismypleasuretobe in Bauchi again to introduce the social housing programme and to outline the roles of organised labourinensuringthatresidents of Bauchi State, especially those who are on low income, have access to the programme. “The programme is an opportunity for Nigerians to access affordable houses, create job opportunities for people on low income, revive industries through using their materials fortheconstructionoftheproject and improve the general wellbeing of vulnerable groups.�

He noted that the family homes fund was established by the administration of President MuhammaduBuhariasasocial financing institution to mobilise financing specifically for homes at affordable rates.

Nonagenarian Leads Protest to Obiano over Trouble in Anambra Community David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka A 91 years old man, Elder Obiorah Ekegha has led a protest of over 500 persons, including youths and women from Ifitedunu community in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State to the government house in Awka.

Ekegha who is the chairman of Ojiana cult, a powerful group that prides itself as the custodian ofthecultureandtraditionofthe peopleofthecommunitysaidhe was inspired to lead the protest because some individuals in the community wanted to cause division.

AddressingtheSecretarytothe StateGovernment(SSG),ProfSolo Chukwulobeluduringtheprotest at the government house at the weekend,Ekeghasaidtherehad been trouble in the community since December last year when town union election was held. “Uche Nwoye who is now the President General of the community won the election

which was held on 28th and 30th December 2019, alongside his executives. “But some people who contested the election but were rejected by the community have been trying to make the community ungovernable for him (Nwoye). We are here to tell GovernorObianothatthereisno trouble in our community, the only trouble we have are those who lost elections. We are here becauseweheardthattheycame here to lie against the leadership of the community, but all they said is untrue,� he said.

The SSG, Prof Chukwulobelu while addressing the protesters admitted that there was a letter of complaint from some members of the community to government, but said that government, through the commissionerforLocalGovernment and Chieftaincy Matters would look into the letter and also that of the protesters and ensure that peace exists in the community.

NONAGENARIAN LEADS PROTEST...

The Chairman of Ojiana Cult in IďŹ tedunu, Pa Obiorah Ekegha, addressing the Secretary to State Government, Prof Solo Chukwulobelu during a protest by the IďŹ tedunu people to the Anambra Government House, Akwa‌ yesterday

Shinkafi Asks Buhari to Stop APC Members from Unleashing Violence in Zamfara Tobi Soniyi As tension continues to engulf the country the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD) has calledonPresidentMuhammadu Buharitoordersecurityagencies toarrest,investigateandpossibly prosecute members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) beating the drums of war in Zamfara State.

InastatementissuedinAbujaat theweekendsignedbytheChairman of the non-governmental organization Alhaji (Dr) Sani Abdulahi Shinkafi said that

the call had become necessary following the unguarded and provocative statements being madebyfactionalmembersofthe APCloyaltoaformergovernorof the state, Abdulazeez Yari.

He drew the attention of the president and the world to ‘a disaster waiting to happen in Zamfara State which has hithertobeenthehotbedofarmed banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustlinguntiltheinaugurationof MohammedBelloMatawalleas governor.

Theletterread;“Itisonrecord thatattheinceptionofthepresent administrationofGovernorMa-

tawalle,hedeclaredaceasefireand an amnesty to all armed bandits andcattlerustlersinZamfaraState whichhadbroughtrelativepeace to the otherwise restive state. “In the last few weeks Intelligencereportsavailabletoushave uncoveredplotsbysomefactional membersoftheAPCinZamfara Stateto breachtheexistingpeace thegoodpeopleofZamfaraState are enjoying presently. “There is an evil plan to disrupt the peace restored by the administration of Matawalle, that initiated peace and alternative dispute resolution with the deadlyarmedbanditsinthestate

for the past one year.�

Shinkafi alleges that some membersoftheAPCwerecaught on tape threatening to take the laws into their own hands and incitingpeopleagainstthegovernment of the day in the state.

He explained that as a result of the peace initiative of the present administration in Zamfara, bloodletting,killings,kidnapping, armed robbery, displacements and wanton destruction and dislocation of people from their country homes, cattle rustling had been reduced to the barest minimum in all the nooks and crannies of Zamfara State.

Ganduje: We Defeated COVID-19 with Prayers Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje at the weekend disclosed that the state was able to defeat COVID-19 with daily prayers and supplications.

He said this at the annual Zikir and prayers for national unityorganisedbytheMajalisul Shura Litaraqa Al-Tijjaniyya at the palace of the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado-Bayero on Friday.

Ganduje,whowasrepresented by his deputy, Mallam Yusuf Gawuna, admitted that there “arealotofissuesbedevillingthe country,especiallytheprevailing case of coronavirus.�

However, according to him, there is less record of the infections in Kano compared to other states, courtesy of the daily prayers and Zikr offered by the good people of the state.

Thegovernor,therefore,called on Muslims “to pray for peace and stability in Kano and the nation in general. It is only through prayersandsubmittingourselves to the Almighty Allah that the situation we are in today can be addressed.�

He, also, urged the youth “to rise up and acquire Islamic knowledge. Not only acquiring the knowledge, but putting it to practice,whatthereligionteaches

also serves as solutions to some societal problems facing the Muslims.�

Ganduje noted that the Zikr, an annual programme, played a vital role in bringing peace and stability, as well as seeking Allah’sinterventioninaddressing problemsfacingthestateandthe nation in general.

He described Tijjaniyya sect followers as peace loving people who made sacrifices in acquiring knowledge and promoting teaching of the Prophet and his companions as guided by Sheik Ahmad Tijjani.

While acknowledging the contributionsmadebytheleaders

ofTijjaniyyamovementtowards IslamicpropagationinAfricaand the world at large, Ganduje implored the followers to continue topray forthestateandloveeach other as Muslim brothers In his speech, Ado-Bayero said annual Zikir and prayers were organised to draw all the Tijjaniyya followers closer and pray for the nation’s unity and stability.

Theemirsaidtheprogramme reminded all the followers of the good works of their leaders like Sheikh Usman Danfodio, who spent their lives towards propagating the movement not only in Africa but in the whole world.

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 Ëž T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

NEWSXTRA Autocrash: 14 Bodies Recovered Ebonyi River, 13 Still Missing Not less than 14 bodies have beenrecoveredfromtheAkaezeUkwu River in Ebonyi State, site of the fatal accident, which occurred on Friday night.

The Chairman of Ikwo Local Government Area, Mr. Onyebuchi Ogbadu disclosed the incident yesterday. The accident took place within the local government.

Ogbadu said they are still searching for the remaining passengers aboard the bus.

The bodies were recovered after the bus was located by diversbroughtintothestatefrom neighbouring states to aid in the search and rescue of the victims.

The coaster bus with Reg no.

UKP 78 XA, carrying over 30 passengers plunged into the river along the Akaeze-Ishiagu expressway, Ikwo local government of the state.

Five of the passengers, who were returning from a burial, were rescued and taken to hospital on Friday.

However, one of them died at the hospital while the others were said to be unconscious.

Ogbadu, confirmed the recovery of the 14 dead bodies on Saturday.

According to him, the state government had to bring in divers from Rivers and Cross River states to help in the search of the bus.

Hesaid:“Thediverswereable tolocatethebusandpusheditup to enable the crane to pull it out. “The driver said he was carrying 32 persons on the bus so we are still looking for about 13 or more persons.�

According to him, the driver was able to dive out of the bus as it was plunging into the river and was one of those rescued on Friday. The driver, Nwaonu

Chinedu, is a native of the local government. The police spokesperson,LovethOdah,saidseven of the bodies recovered were male while seven were female She said the victim who died Friday was a female who is yet to be identified. “The female victim was confirmeddeadbyamedicaldoctor on arrival at Dennis Hospital Akaeke in the Area.

“The driver narrated that he conveyed 32 members of the Christ Peculiar Church of Nigeria Enugu State branch to attend a burial ceremony at Nguzu Edda in Afikpo South LGA of the State. “14 corpses have been recovered (seven female and seven male) together with the 608 vehicle. The corpses have been deposited at Martha Memorial

hospital mortuary AFIKPO preservation,� she said.

Odah said among those in the vehicle who are still being searched for is a retired superintendent of police, Livinus Mbah.

Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi visited the scene of the incident together with the Commissioner of Police Ebonyi State who described the incident as a very unfortunate one.

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Ekiti State Government at the weekend said its people no longer had business with poverty, citing different policies and programmes already initiated to create wealth among them.

The Commissioner for Trade and Industries in Ekiti State, Mr. MuyiwaOlumiluasaidthisatthe weekendduring astakeholders’ forum on banana development for export held in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.

At the forum, Olumilua disclosed that the state government hadenteredintoagreementwith the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to facilitate banana exportation to boost the state’s internally generated revenues.

He said: “With the measures put in place by the state government, Ekiti has no business with poverty anymore. It is a known fact the state is landlocked, and has virtually no prospect in oil production. “Thestate,however,fromtime immemorial, has always been very rich in agriculture, and the intention of the government to makepovertyhistoryinthestate has become more emboldened

with the massive opportunities dottingthelandscapebecoming clearer. The current partnership would,infact,furtherdevelopthe economy of the state.�

Olumilua said the state was ready to partner with the federal governmentinitseffortsatboosting the economy and turning it into a destination of choice for doing business.

Olumilua listed some of the administration’s projects to include the establishment of a cargo airport to ease transportationofgoodstoandfromthestate, clearing of 5,000 hectares of land forfarmingandthefacilitationof the establishment of the NEPC office in the state to eliminate the stress of going to Akure before exporters can assess the support of the council.

Hesaid:“Varioustaxincentives, as well as provision of proactive securityarchitecturetoguarantee safety of lives and property. “The one-state-one-product (OSOP) initiative is an essential part of the zero oil plan, where all states of the federation are to identifyatleastonestrategicexport productanditsalternateproduct, basedontheircomparativeadvantage,fromwhichthecountrycan earn foreign exchange.�

FG Pledges to Fight Land Degradation Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The federal government yesterday said it would sustain the fight against the menace of desertification, land degradation, drought and climate change in the country.

TheMinisterofEnvironment, Alhaji Mahmoud Abubakar made the disclosure at a training programme for 90 women and youths in Kano and Jigawa States During the programme, the minister said environmental hazard “is real and if left unchecked can render all land in the country useless. It also has a tendency of wiping out habitats, escalating conflicts, sparking migration and threatening the very fabric of our livelihood. “Since the process of land

degradation is driven largely byhumanmisuseofland,plants and water and people through changes in behaviour and actions can also revert it.�

He said the ministry had conceived the plan to construct five skill acquisition centres located in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina Sokoto,andYobestatesbeingthe frontline states of the National Agency for Great Green Wall operational areas.

According to him, the training is a means of transforming unskilled hands into skilful, productive and efficient hands that have the mastery of certain vocations. He said the training inskillacquisition“iscentraland critical to realising the objective of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in our dry land communities.�

FOR BETTER SERVICE...

L-R: Executive Director, Commercial, BEDC Electricity Plc, (middle) Mr. Abu Ejoor anked (from right) by Chief State Head, Edo State, Mr. Abel Enechaziam and Head, PPM, Mr. Manish Kumar during the media engagement session for on-air-personalities, online and newspaper journalists across BEDC franchise states on the new service-based tari (SBT) for electricity supply industry held in Benin...recently

Six Years After, Synagogue Denies Complicity in Collapsed Building Francis Sardauna inKatsina Exactly six years after the collapse of a six-storey building belonging to Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), killing more than a hundred people, its founder and General Overseer, Temitope Joshua, has continued to claim his innocence and that of the church.

On Thursday, the adoption and final written addresses in the trial of two engineers who built the collapsed six-storey building will hold at a Lagos High court sitting in Igbosere. “I was on the mountain

in the morning. I received a phone call immediately when I got here. There was a jet moving around that spot.

It was mentioned to me over the telephone. “I told them I was in the church. Before I knew it there was a jet here at the same church,� Joshua said in a documentary by Emmanuel TV. The church has repeatedly attributed the tragic collapse of the building which killed at least 116 people to an aeroplane hovering around the building while the Lagos State Government believed

it was due to failure to observe necessary building protocols.

The view that an aircraft was caused by the collapse was reinforced in an article published by the International Journal Of Scientific Engineering And Research (IJSER) which questioned the verdict of a Lagos State coroner’s verdict that collapse was due to a structural failure.

The article, ‘Elimination Of Structural Failure And The Placement Of Chemical Explosives For The Infrasonic Weapon As The Cause Of The SCOAN Building Collapse,’ written by a weapons expert,

Paul Iguniwei, claimed that the way the building came crashing down was like a controlled demolition. “As it is, it can be concluded scientifically that there were no explosivesinthebuildingwhen it collapsed upon the post-blast analysis done. It can also be true to safely say the said building didn’t come down as a result of structural failure.

Because its collapse was not consistent with known cases of building collapsing structurally.

Coupled with the fact that the foundational pillars showed no sign of stress so far,� Iguniwei argued in the article.

Borno,WHOAdminister MalariaPreventionDrugon2.1mChildren Michael Olugbode inMaiduguri No fewer than two million children have been benefitted from the malaria prevention drug programme of the World Health Organisation and Borno State Government.

WHO National Coordinator MalariaEmergenciesinNigeria, Dr.IniabasiNglasgavethefigure during a four round Malaria Chemoprevention Campaigns (MPCs) in 25 of the 27 local government areas of Borno State, During the advocacy, Nglas said the IDP camps “are given special attention for there is high

threat of malaria infection due to the environment. Record has shown that the treatment has reduced malaria morbidity in the state.�

She revealed that during the first cycle, 1.9 million children were targeted but due to high reception 2.1 million children wereadministeredwiththedrug.

She said: “In these part of the country,peakrainfalllastthreeto fourmonthsandseasonalmalaria Chemoprevention campaign which was flagged last month is toprotecttheSahelareas.Within thesethreetofourmonthswhen there is peak malaria incidences

and prevalence.� “Theprogrammeisscheduled to happen during the peak rainfall to protect children between the age of 3 months to 59 months from malaria sickness.

Theprogrammeisnotonlydone here, but in other eight states in the country. “Borno happened to be one of the states. But in Borno, WHO is taking the lead working with Borno state government with support from Global Fund. “We are going to do this programme for five days, but eachchildwillgetadrugthefirst day, after that, the second and

the third day doses are handed over to caregivers or parents and guided on what to do.�

Also,theCoordinatorofBorno State Malaria Elimination Programme, Mala Waziri said the parents brought their children out in large number to take the drugsastheyidentifiedthethreat of malaria.

He however said there was no harm in the drug, stressing that it was never dangerous to child’s health.

He advised parents to discard the information on social media thatthedrugwilladverselyaffect their children.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ¸Ëœ 2020

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SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by: Demola Ojo email:Demola.ojo@thisdaylive.com

Chelsea Host Liverpool in EarlyTest of Credentials

C

helsea’s significant summer spending spree has resulted in some people tipping them to challenge for Liverpool’s crown this season, and today’s match against the champions at Stamford Bridge will be an early opportunity to show if they’re up for a title challenfe.

Many of Chelsea’s new arrivals did not feature against Brighton and will not be ready again in time for this contest, with German internationals Timo Werner and Kai Havertz the only players to be handed their debuts.

Frank Lampard will be confident that the duo could wreak havoc if Liverpool allow them as much space as they allowed Leeds, and it was less than two months ago that Chelsea visited Anfield and scored three times before heavily bolstering their attacking ranks.

Of course, the problem in that most recent meeting between the two sides was that they conceded five times, and defence remains the great concern for the Blues going into the new season.

The imminent arrival of Edouard Mendy could help in that respect, with Kepa Arrizabalaga again not covering himself in glory for Brighton’s equalising goal at the Amex.

Had Lewis Dunk’s goalscoring radar also been working then Monday’s contest could have easily ended differently for Chelsea, and Lampard will warn his side that Liverpool will not be so merciful in front of goal.

However, victory over the champions would be an early statement of intent for their season and, having become only the third club to pass the 2,000-point mark in the Premier League on Monday night, they will fancy their chances of adding to that tally in upcoming games against West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace and Southampton too.

Having watched the early game-of-the-season contender at Anfield on the opening weekend, Lampard will at least be confident of creating chances against a Liverpool defence which, although the best in the league last term, has looked far less impenetrable recently.

Since ending their 30-year wait for the title back in June, the Reds have shipped 15 goals in their

Chelsea players celebrate after an opening day

eight Premier League games - as many as they had conceded in their previous 23 prior to that.

Some of that can perhaps be attributed to taking their foot off the pedal having won the title with seven games to spare, but the new season has hinted at those same problems - they surrendered the lead on three separate occasions

Zaha Shines as Crystal Palace Inict Home Defeat on Man United Wilfried Zaha scored twice against his former club as Crystal Palace condemned Manchester United to a miserable start to their Premier League campaign with victory at Old Trafford.

After Andros Townsend squeezed a seventh-minute shot into the far corner from Jeffrey Schlupp’s cross, the hosts struggled badly but the game slipped away from them thanks to Zaha’s controversial 74th-minute penalty.

Referee Martin Atkinson used the VAR TV monitor to decide Victor Lindelof had handled inside his own box. But, after David de Gea saved Jordan Ayew’s spotkick, Atkinson ordered a retake because the Spain international had moved off his line. Zaha took responsibility for the second attempt and made no mistake.

On his debut, Donny van de Beek pulled one back 10 minutes from time but Zaha struck again against his former club to secure a deserved victory for Palace.

It was Manchester Palace’s biggest ever win at Old Trafford, the ďŹ rst time they have beaten United away from home

RESULTS & FIXTURES Everton

5–2

West Brom

Leeds

4–3

Fulham

Man United

1–3

Crystal Palace

Arsenal

2–1

West Ham

Southampton

v

Tottenham

Newcastle

v

Brighton

12pm 2pm

Chelsea

v

Liverpool

4:30pm

in successive seasons and means Palace have won their opening two games of a top ight season for the ďŹ rst time in their history.

For United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was a horrible day. Too many of his players were off the pace, including Paul Pogba, who was replaced by Van de Beek midway through the second half.

Palace’s 73-year-old boss Roy Hodgson is just ďŹ ve years younger than Sir Alex Ferguson, who watched this game from the directors’ box.

Ferguson must have been impressed with the youthful exuberance of the Palace side. Despite conceding possession, they were by far the most inventive and gave central defensive pair Harry Maguire and Lindelof a torrid time.

Lindelof was shrugged away far too easily by Schlupp in the build-up to Townsend’s goal and Ayew would have had a second for Palace before the break had it not been for De Gea’s brilliant one-handed save.

That it should be Zaha whose contribution eventually proved decisive was a further painful memory for United.

Zaha was Ferguson’s last signing as United boss. But the Ivory Coast international never settled at Old Trafford and was sold back to Palace in 2015.

After ending last season with a whimper, Palace could not have done better over the past fortnight and face an intriguing meeting with Everton, who have also won their opening two games, at Selhurst Park next weekend.

against Leeds, while even in pre-season they fell 2-0 down to both Red Bull Salzburg and Blackpool due to a disorganised backline.

Liverpool will know better than anyone what damage Werner could do if that is the case again, having scouted him intensively before ultimately deciding against a move due to the financial

implications of lockdown. he arrival of Thiago Alcantara will sate the Liverpool fans’ desire for a big-name signing, though, and even without the treble-winning Spain international the Reds would still have fancied their chances of outscoring most teams as they did against Leeds.

Tottenham Sign Bale from Madrid on Loan Tottenham have re-signed Wales forward Gareth Bale from Spanish champions Real Madrid on a season-long loan. Bale, 31, left Spurs for a then world record ÂŁ85m in 2013 and went on to score more than 100 goals and win four Champions Leagues with Real. “It’s nice to be back. It’s such a special club to me. It’s where I made my name,â€?said Bale. “Hopefully, now I can get some match ďŹ tness, get under way and really help the team and, hopefully, win trophies.â€?

Spurs said Bale has signed for them with a knee injury sustained playing for Wales earlier this month and they“anticipate that he will be match ďŹ t after October’s international breakâ€?.

That would mean the forward missing their next ďŹ ve games, with the club’s ďŹ rst outing following the international break at home to West Ham on 17 October.

Bale originally joinedTottenham as a 17-year-old from Southampton in 2007 for an initial payment of ÂŁ5m.“I always thought when I did leave that I would love to come back,â€?he added. “I feel like it is a good ďŹ t. It’s a good time for me.

I’m hungry and motivated. I want to do well for the team and can’t wait to get started.�

At Real, Bale has also won two La Liga titles, one Copa del Rey, three Uefa Super Cups and three Club World Cups. “I think by going to Madrid, winning trophies and going far with the national team I feel like I have that kind of winning mentality, how to win trophies,â€?he said. “You don’t realise it until you’re there and in those situations, in ďŹ nals, how to kind of deal with the situation, the nerves, the pressure, and I think that all goes with experience. “Hopefully I can bring that to the dressing room, bring a bit more belief to everybody that we can win a trophy, and the target is to do that this season, to be ďŹ ghting on every front possible. I want to bring that mentality here, back to Tottenham.â€?

Bale

Bale remains the most expensive British player in history, as well as the top-scoring British player in La Liga - with 80 goals and 40 assists in 171 league appearances, averaging a goal or assist every 104 minutes.

However, a run of injuries, indifferent form and a deteriorating relationship with manager Zinedine Zidane had seen Bale become a marginal ďŹ gure.

Real eclipsed the ÂŁ80m they paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 to take Bale to the Bernabeu, with the forward signing an initial ÂŁ300,000-a-week, six-year contract.

He extended his stay with a new six-year deal in 2016, reported to be worth ÂŁ600,000 a week - and ÂŁ150m over its duration - in salaries and bonuses.

The Welshman was hugely successful in his ďŹ rst few seasons at Real, scoring in the 2014 and 2018 Champions League ďŹ nals, as well as the 2014 Copa del Rey ďŹ nal.

Sunday September 20, 2020

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Price: N400

MISSILE

Odinkalu on Election Militarisation “The problem with elections in #Nigeria isn’t the voting; it no longer even the counting. It’s about announcement of “results” & what happens thereafter. Ruling parties militarise the process so they can get away with announcing outcomes unrelated to what happened in the voting” – A former chairman of the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Chidi Odinkalu on militarisation of the electoral process.

CHIDIAMUTA Factions and the Endangered State ENGAGEMENTS

e-mail:chidiamuta@gmail.com

N

igeria is currently like a small hamlet invaded by a thousand witches, each bearing a sack full of assorted plagues and poxes. The trouble is in not knowing which affliction ails us most or which is likely to deal the ultimate fatal blow. Of late, sensitive elders, faction leaders and honest citizens have put a name to our key affliction: the nation is badly divided and the structure of state is tethering towards cataclysmic failure. To sound this alarm, to my mind, is not a mortal sin but the height of patriotic duty. Those who fear that the nation may implode under the weight of its novel divisions are by no means less patriotic than those paid to comfortably preside over this dreadful gala. We have come to the Nigerian ship by different boats but our fate is now tied in a common ship caught in perilous waters.

Feuding over whether the Nigerian nation today is more divided than it has ever been is fruitless. Similarly, disputation as to which past leader steered the state to produce the most divided nation is equally pointless. Happily however, from the raging dispute between Mr. Buhari’s presidency and its traducers a curious consensus has emerged. Both sides now agree that ours is today a sadly divided nation. It is only on the matter of the health status of the state apparatus that insults are still being hurled in all directions. That is understandably a political stratagem. While the presidency could , with a bit of justification, claim that it inherited a national legacy of inherent divisions, it cannot disown the very state over which it totally presides.

It seems to me that both the cow horn blowers of Aso Rock Villa and their troublesome traducers are mixing nation and state as categories in this very Nigerian exchange. While the presidency is instead shopping around for whom to blame for the divisions which it has graciously acknowledged exist, it has proceeded therefrom to insist that the state could not possibly be failing since Mr. Buhari is squarely in office and his administration is busy awarding contracts, implementing programmes and projects, ordering the military and police around and blaring sirens all over the place.

Those opposed to this stance are saying that the increasing misery index in the land, the failing security system and the rising crescendo of separatist rhetoric and sentiments are indications that the state has fatally mismanaged the nation as a perpetual trust and patrimony. While the best nation can be ruined by a disastrous sovereign (Mr. Trump, are you there?), a gifted statesman and exemplary leader can salvage a tottering nation and make it whole again(Hello Rwand!; Are you there Ethiopia?). Of course, appointees of the incumbent state are paid to defend their political principals while opinion leaders and ordinary citizens have an inalienable right to reflect the mood and state of the nation. It is precisely the manner of the management of the state and the deployment of presidential power that determines the state of a nation at any given time. This linkage is critical if the present debate is to lead anywhere.

The beginnings of the present anomie are not far. After a remarkable peaceful handover of power from president Jonathan to Buhari in 2015, the triumphant All Progressive Congress (APC) went on a rampage of partisan political genocide. It sought legitimacy by waging a relentless war on the reputation of the party it had just defeated. A sort of Animal Farm type regime ensued in which all things associated with the defeated party were thrashed and cast away only to be replaced with nothing in particular.

It was a ‘four legs good, two legs bad’ kind of

Buhari situation. Corruption was narrowly defined as all things PDP. But given the 16 -year rule of the PDP, the new government’s policy of blaming everything on its opponent party was bound to divide the nation’s political landscape into two sharp poles. The necessity for strengthening democracy through the benefits of a bipartisan accord was squandered on the altar of empty grand standing and self righteous drama.

This is not of course to vindicate the more crude extremes of some PDP chieftains on matters of corruption. The untidy book keeping, senseless debauchery, reckless exhibitionism, outright thievery and mindless looting cannot be excused. Even then, the bulk of APC chieftains were persons who decamped from the ill fated PDP. Yet the sins committed by some party leaders while in power could have been handled more maturely through studied investigation and rigorous judicial processes than the Gestapo tactics and televised drama in the early days of triumphalist reverie.

This original political divisiveness translated into a badly divided National Assembly that was literally perennially at war with itself and with the executive for the whole of the first four years of the Buhari tenure.

In the process of governance itself, Mr. Buhari’s conception of Nigeria seems to have been in concentric circles spanning outwards from his native Daura through Katsina state and on to the larger geographical North. This president has concentrated appointments to commanding positions in strategic institutions of national power in the hands of what many Nigerians see as his geo-political kinsmen. In Nigeria, the North-South geo-political divide is not just about directions on the compass. It is about power domination and subordination. It is therefore first and foremost a political divide. Consequentially, it is a powerful religious and socio -cultural divide. Therefore, a skeptical Nigerian public has interpreted Buhari’s geo-political lopsidedness in strategic appointments as a willful strategy of regional hegemony and political domination in every sense. This index of division is hard to wish away.

In the midst of it all, a gale of violence and unparalleled insecurity gripped the nation from an unfamiliar quarter. Migrant Fulani herdsmen who have historically traversed the length and breadth of the country for decades escorting cattle suddenly turned into mindless killers, armed robbers and transactional kidnappers. A militia of murky origins and unclear motives was born.

Violent confrontations between armed herdsmen and settled farming communities have assumed epidemic dimensions under Mr. Buhari’s watch.

The concentration of these violent encounters in the strategic mid section of the national divide can only reinforce dastardly conspiracies calculations.

Law enforcement has been relatively effete and lax in controlling the criminal acts of these herdsmen. Instead, the state has since empowered and emboldened unlicensed devious groups like the Miyetti Allah to graduate into political interest groups. Similarly, the proliferation of military grade weapons among the herdsmen and sundry killer groups of undefined nationality and murky intent has added to the conspiracy theory that these groups may be enjoying official protection and cover towards undefined ends. To date, there is nothing in the official narrative or law enforcement record of the Buhari administration to defend the administration on charges of complicity in the scourge of insecurity.

A dangerous off shoot of the deterioration in national security has been the sporadic targeting of religious places of worship by bandits in parts of the country. Religion is a most sensitive matter in our nation. A conspiracy theory has grown to the effect that there may be an Islamization plot on the cards. We have no way of legislating on what people choose to believe. This conspiracy theory has taken root in the minds of a significant section of the citizenry as well as of some major international partners of Nigeria. We cannot wish it away except by decisively acting in transparent contrary ways.

The conspiracy theories would have been easier to manage if this government was innocent of deliberate innocuous executive acts that fuel them. Not long ago, the government was in the process of smuggling into being a nebulous nationwide ranching programme that sought to establish the controversial RUGA cattle and migrant Fulani settlements in every state. It took nationwide outrage and shouting to dissuade the measure. Even now, the National Assembly is being blackmailed into passing a controversial Water Resources Bill that is likely to achieve the aims of the failed RUGA project through the backdoor. An administration that is serially conspiratorial in divisive directions cannot easily exonerate itself from responsibility for the current nationwide epidemic of division and divisive thinking.

In this atmosphere, all manner of primordial self protection myths have come back alive.

Regional and ethnic champions have dusted their costumes. The pro-Biafra movements and Ohaneze, Afenifere, Northern Elders Forum, the Middle Best Forum, the Niger Delta (PANDEF) have all been further activated in response to the unclear political and economic agenda of the incumbent state. There is perhaps no greater open indication of the division in the soul of the nation than the recent outing and open declaration of concern by these ethno regional groups at the herald of Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, former president and relentless political gadfly of uncoordinated causes.

Obasanjo’s recent declaration is merely a summation of feelings and perceptions that have since been gathering in the public square. It has little to do with Mr. Obasanjo’s own highly contentious records in office as an elected president not long ago. But the issues on hand are beyond Obasanjo.

Calling him names will achieve no useful purpose.

Of course Obasanjo and the various geo ethnic overlords he addressed have a crippling political limitation. They are not elected representatives of the people, going by the basics of partisan democracy. They are not a political party and cannot therefore canvass for votes or contest the political supremacy of an elected president. To that extent, they technically have no constituency.

But the regional leaders have a fundamental

appeal at a level that matters most. Obasanjo and the geo ethnic leaders do represent a political force that cannot easily be under estimated. In a divided polity that is still moored to primordial roots, the ethnic root remains the readiest resort in times of national uncertainty. Nigeria is still fundamentally a nation of tribal factions irrespective of the fancy lexicon we deploy to dress up our democracy and nation statehood.

On the economic front, the most recent measures of the government are likely to push the envelope of division to a dangerous territory.

The presidency has itself acknowledged that a population of close to 100 million Nigerians are abjectly poor. If pushed to the wall, this republic of the poor can keep us all awake for quite some time. Yet, the government has recently introduced a rash of taxes, charges and tariffs that are likely to further impoverish the most vulnerable segments. President Buhari is in the process of widening the existing inequality gap to incredible levels with the attendant upheaval and insecurity.

Just when we were beginning to exit the disruptions of the covorna virus pandemic, Nigeria has quickly scored an unusual first as the first government in the world to welcome its people from a six -month economic and social quarantine with a gamut of taxes, tariffs and elevated charges. A 2.5% hike in Value Added Tax became effective while Covid-19 raging.

Government has slammed an increase in electricity tariffs. It has also readily allowed gasoline prices to sky rocket from a manageable N127 per liter to a suffocating N162 per liter with a small print that indicated that henceforth, government will no longer wait at the gas station to manipulate pump prices. This means that petrol importers and marketers are now literally free to charge whatever pump prices their cartel decides is profitable.

Meanwhile the National Bureau of Statistics has reluctantly agreed that inflation is now at 13,3 % and still heading north. But the presidency insists that food prices have in fact dropped courtesy of Mr. Buhari’s ingenuity in agriculture. The trouble is that a few days later, the Minister of Finance, confessed that food prices have indeed gone up as a result of disturbances in the economy.

Nigerians will now have to decide which food market to visit to stay alive. At least there is a choice between Ministry of Finance rice and the Aso Rock garri markets!

An imminent grave inequality confrontation looms. In the horizon, those who are about to die of hunger and grinding poverty are up in angry salute to the genius of the best president ever.

Students are mobilizing for nationwide protests.

Medical workers are already on strike. ASUU, itself perennially on strike, insists they are not going back to the classrooms. Government is preparing to discuss with organized labour to avert a nationwide shutdown. These are days of turmoil and upheaval. These cannot be the signals from a state that is up and running.

All this has come at a time when nearly every responsible government in the world has tasked their best economists to find unusual ways of protecting their most vulnerable populations from the adverse effects of a global pandemic that no one envisaged. Even in the United States, the epicenter of global capitalism, the adversities of the corona virus disruption are so massive that Americans who can no longer afford to pay their rents are being helped by their government which has already dispensed a whopping $5 trillion in palliatives and bailouts.

NOTE: This piece continues in the online edition on www.thisdayliive.com

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