SUNDAY 26TH FEBRUARY 2023

In Post-election Interview with Candidates, Tinubu Says He’s Waiting to Rework Nigeria Obi expresses worry over missing LP’s logo on ballot papers Kwankwaso decries BVAS failure, absence of party’s name on ballot Dike Onwuamaeze and Sunday Ehigiator The presidential candidate of the

All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, yesterday declared that he was waiting to be declared the winner of

the presidential election to start reworking the country in line with his vision.

In a series of post-election

interviews with all leading candidates, Tinubu's counterpart in the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, expressed worry that the logo

of his party was missing from some ballot papers used in the elections in several parts of the country.

This is coming as the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Continued on page 5

Pockets of Violence Rock Lagos, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi, Others… Page 5 Sunday 26 February, 2023 Vol 28. No 10182

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Atiku, Tinubu, Obi, Kwankwaso Optimistic as INEC Collates Final Poll Results Labour Party supporters shock Lagosians with impressive early results Polls witness good turnout, late arrival of materials Buhari votes for Tinubu, displays his ballot paper

Atiku

Tinubu

Obi

See story on page 5

Kwankwaso

See eCopy of THISDAY Style on www.thisdaylive.com

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FEBRUARY 26, 2023 • T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

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Pockets of Violence Rock Lagos, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi, Others Politicians using violence to win elections are armed robbers, conmen, says Jonathan Chiemelie Ezeobi, Rebecca Ejifoma, Sunday Ehigiator in Lagos and Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City Despite the assurances from the Nigeria Police Force and the military, pockets of violence rocked some parts of Lagos, Imo, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi, and other states in yesterday’s elections.

This is coming as former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned politicians against using violent methods to win elections, saying it would portray them as armed robbers and con artists.

In Lagos, areas such as Mafoluku, Amuwo Odofin, Oshodi, Surulere, Ijaiye, Ijaniki, LASU Iba, Iyana Shashi, Ikorodu, Fadeyi, Ojota, Ogombo, Badagry, Sangotedo, and Lekki

witnessed violence.

At Ijaiye, four polling units were affected Branco (two), Agboola (one), and Obisanya (one).

The polling units affected in Surulere include Adedeji, Owoseni, Dipo Olubi, Itire, and Aguda.

THISDAY gathered that voting was disrupted in polling units around Surulere, Ikate, and Ajah after thugs attacked the area and warned the voters who were not willing to vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu to vacate the polling units while policemen looked away.

In Ikate, a popular Nigerian Rapper, Falz, had his phone snatched from him by thugs in the presence of police officers, while the thugs also scattered the ballot boxes and dumped them in the gutter.

At Ogombo Primary School, in the Lekki area of the state, thugs chased away voters and locked the gates while police officers stood still, smiling at them.

The situation was not different at Ojota Senior Secondary School.

In most cases, it took the intervention of the military personnel, who were also overstretched, to restore peace and orderliness in some of the affected polling units.

Hours before the elections kicked off, some residents at Ago Palace Way, Okota, discovered thousands of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) abandoned in a popular hotel.

Most of the owners, who found their PVCs when it was already late, lamented that they had visited the INEC office at Oshodi Isolo LGA on several occasions but did not find it,

only to end up being disenfranchised.

Police Confirm Violence, Say Many Suspects Arrested

However, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Idowu Owohunwa, who flew over Lagos with a helicopter, confirmed the pockets of violence while adding that several suspects were arrested over election-related offences and exhibits recovered from them.

He said he visited Maryland, Mafoluku in Oshodi, and Surulere, where armed thugs disrupted voting exercises and snatched and burnt ballot boxes.

According to CP Idowu, the exercise was very peaceful and organised in the Epe axis, adding that “we visited about five polling

units in Epe, and there was this family way of approaching the process.

“I interacted with them, and they insisted that Epe was calm. They are a peaceful family, so regardless of the political divide, they remain one family and work to ensure peace.

“What we are dealing with here has to do with human conduct. It could be unpredictable or driven by passion, emotion, or criminal intent.

We recorded specific instances of thuggery and violence.

“These things will always happen, and when they do, we will implement a response plan to be able to respond to most of those incidents. We have made arrests and recoveries,” he said.

One Killed in Kogi By

Thugs

In Kogi State, a young man identified as Akayama was gunned down at Anyigba, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, by thugs who invaded the town to cart away electoral materials The thugs took over the town, shooting sporadically and carting away electoral materials from different polling units.

The deceased, who the locals claimed to be a graduate of Economics from the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, was shot dead at a polling unit in Iji-Anyigba.

Thugs chased away voters from polling units at Dekina, Agbeji, Ajiolo, Abejukolo, and Ejule communities.

In Akwa Ibom State, hoodlums Continued on page 10

ATIKU, TINUBU, OBI, KWANKWASO OPTIMISTIC AS INEC COLLATES FINAL POLL RESULTS Our Correspondents As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collates the final results of yesterday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu; the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and their counterparts in the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso, respectively, have expressed confidence that they would emerge victorious in the presidential poll.

Nigerians went to the polls yesterday to elect a new president and federal lawmakers.

The elections saw a good voter turnout, late arrival of materials, and alleged disenfranchisement of voters by thugs in several polling units, particularly in Lagos State President Muhammadu Buhari voted in his country home of Daura, Katsina State, and displayed his ballot paper with a thumbprint for the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, saying that after campaigning for the political leader in many parts of the country, he has reaffirmed his preferred successor.

The Labour Party has, however, raised the alarm over reports of alleged irregularities and widespread thuggery in some key states across the country and threatened that it might not accept the outcome of the elections if the INEC failed to address some of the issues to give room for free and fair elections.

This is coming as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Yiaga Africa have alleged that violence marred yesterday’s polls in several polling units across the country.

President Buhari, who voted alongside his wife, Mrs Aisha Buhari, and other family members, at Ward A, Sarkin Yara Polling Unit, 003, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, promised that he had always supported the candidature of Tinubu and that the display of his ballot paper to the media and the public further shows his commitment to the party and its presidential candidate.

“I am very impressed because I have seen how the people turned up. I am very impressed and very happy. Well, the candidate I voted for I have already mentioned in many states in Nasarawa, Katsina, and Sokoto.

“All over the place, I mentioned my favourite candidate, Asiwaju Tinubu, and I believe my constituency will elect him 100 per cent,” Buhari explained.

President Buhari advised Nigerians to ensure their voting rights were always respected.

“Nigerians should make sure that they are respected; that means

that the candidate they want to vote for, they are allowed to vote for him,” he added.

President Buhari expressed concern and pity that only one female emerged as the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Aisha Ahmed Binani, urging support for the candidate.

“It is a pity there is only one female candidate from Adamawa State, so the electorate should kindly follow our party,” Buhari said.

Asked how he felt it was the first time since 2003 that he was not on the ballot paper, the president said: “It is very exciting. I look at those competing, and some are so agitated that they didn’t know that I tried three times and ended up in the Supreme Court three times.

“The fourth time I said ‘God dey,’ and God sent technology, Permanent Voters Card, so no fraudulent person can claim anything,’’ he stated.

According to the president, “APC will win, from Daura to Lagos.’’

The president’s family members and staff also voted at the polling unit.

Atiku, Tinubu, Obi, Kwankwaso, Optimistic of Victory Meanwhile, the four leading presidential candidates – Atiku, Tinubu, Obi, and Kwankwaso have expressed confidence that they would emerge victorious at yesterday’s polls.

Atiku, who voted in his Ajiya ward in Yola North Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State, commended the orderly conduct of the exercise.

He also commended the INEC and the security agencies.

On his part, Tinubu, who voted alongside his wife, Remi, and other party chieftains, at his polling unit at Alausa, Ikeja, expressed optimism that he would win the poll.

Addressing reporters, he said “democracy is here to stay” in Nigeria and that he is “too confident of victory.”

He said the voting process is “going smoothly” and “going well.”

The APC candidate said on the turnout of voters: “This is expected, we need a good turnout, and that is the adoption, and the commitment to democracy and the democratic process must take place.”

Asked how certain of victory he was, Tinubu said: “I’m too certain.”

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Obi, also voted at his Amatutu ward two, polling unit 019, Agulu community in Anaocha LGA of Anambra State.

He told journalists that he was satisfied with the conduct of the INEC so far in the election

and hoped that the same was happening in other places across the country.

“This election is very important to Nigeria, and I am confident about victory.

“I have the mental capacity, energy and drive to lead this country. We need to get things right in Nigeria,” the LP presidential candidate said.

Obi and his wife Margaret cast their vote around 11:45 am.

Addressing reporters after he voted, Obi said the process was “seamless,” adding that he was confident of victory.

Meanwhile, Kwankwaso has also declared that he was confident of victory at yesterday’s poll.

He said the huge turnout of his home supporters without much presence of security at his Tandu 1 Polling Unit was an indication that Kano people are lovers of peace.

He cast his vote at a polling unit in the Kwankwaso town of the Madobi Local Government Area of Kano State.

Labour Raises the Alarm over Widespread Thuggery Meanwhile, the LP yesterday raised the alarm over reports of alleged irregularities and widespread thuggery in key states nationwide. It threatened that it might not accept the outcome of the elections.

Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, stated this at a press briefing in Abuja, saying that there were disturbing reports of organised violence, voting, election irregularities, and malpractices well as systemic disenfranchisement of voters.

He said these developments were obviously “causing disruptions and truncations, and intensely threatening the credibility of this much-awaited elections.

Osuntokun lamented that the party was yet to understand why “the omission of Labour Party logos from the ballot papers and by implication, the omission of validly registered Labour Party candidates, in many states, but especially in Lagos, Ondo, Enugu, Bayelsa, among other locations across the country.

He said: “Verified reports of very serious and widespread violence from organised thuggery and intimidation, at many locations across the country, particularly in Lagos and Rivers State, unleashed on polling stations across the country, including the snatching of BVAS machines, snatching of ballot boxes, destruction of voting materials, and the infliction of serious injuries, on voters and officials.

“We have various video reports available, and reported in the media, where thugs of opponents’ political parties have

directly entered the polling unit and threatened voters, on the basis of ethnicity and political affiliation, to comply with their choice, or leave the polling station or otherwise be harmed,” he explained.

He also cited the non-arrival of election materials and officials, late arrival of election materials, and incomplete supply of election materials, in locations around the country, especially in Labour Party strongholds.

He said the acceptability of the outcome of polls would depend on how INEC addressed the issues raised.

Obi Raises the Alarm over INEC’s Alleged Refusal to Upload Results Also, the Obi-Datti Media Office has raised the alarm over what it alleged is an underhand move to manipulate the Presidential Election results across the country following the refusal of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission to upload much of the presidential election results to the INEC server at the polling stations.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Head, Obi-Datti Media Office, Diran Onifade, in Abuja, yesterday.

He said: “It is curious,

unacceptable, and smacks of fraud that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) device could nobly transmit the Senate and House of Representatives results, but cannot do that of the Presidential election.

“The Obi-Datti Media Office finds it curious that the BVAS would choose which results to upload and which not to upload.

Certainly, this smacks of a serious fraud aimed to torpedo the wishes of the Nigerian electorate who have already decided that things can no longer continue to go wrong in Nigeria, using the ballot box to do so.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should be held responsible for this flagrant anomaly that defies logic, as the Obi-Datti Media Office finds what is developing as a recipe to manipulate the process and truncate the electoral wishes of the Nigerian masses.

“We also find unbecoming, the reported interference of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

We call on all relevant bodies to do the needful and prevent the Governor from meddling in the electoral process.

“We wish to state categorically that the Obi-Datti Media Office will not accept any presidential election result that is not in tandem with the results issued at the polling units,

copies of which we already have.

NLC, Yiaga Africa Allege Violence, Disenfranchisement of Voters Meanwhile, the NLC and Yiaga Africa have alleged that violence marred yesterday’s elections in several polling units nationwide.

On its part, NLC said it would hold the INEC directly responsible for all the anomalies associated with the elections, insisting that all eligible voters must be allowed to exercise their democratic rights to vote for the candidates of their choice.

“Anything short of this will be unacceptable to Nigerian workers,” it said.

A statement issued by NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said: “The NLC had hoped that the ills of electioneering in Nigeria would have been largely dealt with and corrected in this year’s election so that we can have a more credible and valid election.

“The report reaching us thus far from around the country is contrary to the high hopes we have earlier had for today’s exercise.”

On its part, Yiaga Africa said the elections were marred by the late arrival of INEC officials in 1 507 polling centres monitored by its 3,836 observers.

IN POST-ELECTION INTERVIEW WITH CANDIDATES, TINUBU SAYS HE’S WAITING TO REWORK NIGERIA Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has decried the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used at his polling unit immediately after he had voted and the absence of his party’s name on the ballot paper.

Tinubu, who made this known yesterday in his first-ever exclusive interview with ARISE News Channel, restated his confidence that he would win the election.

He declared he is better than any other presidential candidate vying for the number one political office in capacity, ability, and track record.

He said: “I am saying categorically that I am better than others. I am exposed. I am from a private sector background.

I have demonstrated that capacity, ability and vision in Lagos State.

I believe I am better than any other candidate in this election.

I am confident I will win.”

The APC presidential candidate, a two-term governor of Lagos State, said that his unique vision on how to salvage the country could be glimpsed from the impressions he left behind in Lagos State and his ability to earn the collaboration of players in the private sector to deliver public good.

He said: “I mean that my vision is different. You could see Lagos State. You could see the

infrastructural improvement. You could see the taming of the Atlantic Ocean. Go there now and see.

“If we do not bring and convince the private sector of the need to collaborate and work together to promote the country’s interest, we cannot make progress. That is my way.

I have articulated my agenda. I have set the priorities.”

Tinubu, who had been hailed as the national leader of the APC for nearly nine years, surprisingly debunked that perception, insisting that only a victory at the presidential election could make him the party leader.

He said: “I am a member of the APC. I’m not the APC. I am striving to become the leader of the APC. If I become the leader of the APC through this election, you don’t know what I will do whether I will change the APC’s philosophy. I am not ready to tell you that. I’m waiting for the result of the election. It is then that I can rework the country.”

On the other hand, the APC presidential candidate acknowledged that President Muhammadu Buhari is a sincere and committed leader who is confronted by nearly intractable economic challenges.

He maintained that these challenges required a strong footing in economics to be

effectively tackled and that Nigeria needed a working partnership between the public and private sectors to recover as a thriving economy.

“The challenge we faced in 2019 was different. We have a dedicated and sincerely committed leader in Buhari. But he is not an economist. He has to face a very, very challenging situation. He has to face population growth and graduate unemployment - too many of them that we must be creative enough to accommodate to get the economy going.

“But, I say the partnership between the private sector and the public sector has to be harmonised and encouraged to actualise the dreams of Nigerians. That is important to me,” Tinubu said

Obi Expresses Worry over Missing Labour Party’s Logo on Ballot Papers Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Obi, has expressed worry that the logo of his party was missing in some ballot papers that were used in the conduct of the elections in several parts of the country.

Obi expressed this view Continued on page 6

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I HAVE DONE BEST...

President Muhammadu Buhari casting his vote during the presidential and National Assembly elections in Daura, Katsina State…yesterday

Buhari, Atiku, Tinubu, Obi Win Their Polling Units LP wins all polling units in Presidential Villa, floors APC in Adamu’s polling unit

Deji Elumoye in Abuja, George Okoh in Makurdi, Hammed Shittu in Ilorin and Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi President Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and their counterparts in the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, yesterday delivered their polling units.

The APC presidential candidate scored 523 in Buhari’s Sarkin Yara Polling Unit in Daura, Katsina State, while Atiku and Obi scored three and zero, respectively.

Atiku also won the election in his polling unit 12 in Ajiya, Gwadabawa Ward in Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State, While Atiku secured 282 votes, Tinubu came a distant second with 57 votes.

Obi and Kwankwaso scored six and one vote, respectively.

Tinubu won his polling unit at Alausa, Ikeja in Lagos State, having polled 33 votes to beat his closest rival, Obi, who scored eight, while Atiku got one.

The total number of accredited voters was 43, while the polling unit had 324 registered voters.

Obi Wins Polling Units in Presidential Villa, Loses Others

Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has won all nine polling units at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Obi won the polling units, Senator Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC came second, and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) came third.

The Polling Units (PU) where Obi won included: PU 121, 131, 021, 130, 126, 128, 122, 06 and 123 The results are as follows: PU 121: APC – 31; PDP – 32; NNPP – 1 LP – 58; AA – 1; PU 131: APC – 6; PDP – 3; NNPP – 1; LP – 17. PU 021: LP – 58; APC – 31; PDP – 32 and PU 130: APC – 26; PDP – 24; LP – 113.

Others are PU 126: LP – 42; APC – 11; PDP – 12. PU 128: LP – 12; APC – 1; PDP – 0. PU 122: LP – 105; PDP – 16; APC – 29.

PU 06: LP – 8; APC – 5; PDP – 2; and PU 123: LP – 86; APC – 44 and PDP – 21.

In Gombe State, Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya could not deliver his polling unit as the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, polled 215 against Bola Tinubu’s 186 votes.

The two polling units that make up the Government House in Makurdi, namely Government House Protocol Polling unit 022 and Government House Arts Theater 011, were won by Obi. Labour Party candidate Obi scored 42 and 139, respectively, just as Tinubu scored 16 and 59, respectively.

In former Governor Jonah Jang’s polling unit in Plateau State, Obi scored 239 votes to beat Atiku, who polled 29 votes. Tinubu scored only one vote.

While voting, Jang called on the people to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Meanwhile, Governor Inuwa Yahaya, the North-east Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima National Campaign Council of the APC, could not deliver his polling unit as the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku, defeated Tinubu.

Governor Yayaha, however, urged

INEC to innovate other means of making the process much easier.

In Ondo State, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has won his Ward 5, Unit 6 Ijebu-Owo, in Owo Local Government Area by a wide margin.

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Mr. Adewole Adebayo, was defeated in his polling unit at Unit 19, Ward 10 barracks road, Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.

The final presidential results at Akeredolu’s polling unit showed that APC scored 269, followed by PDP, which had 11 votes. Also, ZLP scored two votes, ADC had three, and LP scored 22 votes

Also, Kwara State Governor Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, won their polling units for the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu.

AbdulRazaq voted at Idigba Polling Unit 004 of Adewole in Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state, where Tinubu polled 201 votes in the presidential ballot. In comparison, Atiku came a distant second with 42 votes.

On his part, Gambari won his polling unit 05 Open Space Fate Roundabout, Ilorin South Local Government.

In the presidential results obtained

by THISDAY, APC scored 101, LP 95, while polled PDP 33.

Kwara Gov, Gambari Win Polling Units in Kwara for Tinubu

LP Floors APC in Adamu’s Polling Unit

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, has lost his polling unit to Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi. The APC national chairman cast his vote at Angwarimi Ward, GRA A1, LERCEST Office in Keffi, Nasarawa State.

Announcing the presidential poll result, the LP presidential candidate polled 132 votes while the APC came second with 85 votes.

Saraki Delivers Ward for Atiku in Kwara as Lai Mohammed Wins Polling Unit for Tinubu

Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday delivered his Ajikobi Ward 005, Ilorin in Ilorin West Local Government Area of

Kwara State for Atiku and other party's candidates during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

In the results obtained by THISDAY last night in Ilorin, in the presidential results, PDP polled 225 votes to defeat APC with just 75 votes.

Also yesterday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, delivered his polling unit 006 Oro Ward 2, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state for Tinubu.

In the results announced by INEC returning officer in the ward, APC scored 148 votes while Labour Party came second with 38 votes.

The Social Democratic Party polled 30 votes, while the main opposition PDP came a distant fourth with 19 votes.

IN POST-ELECTION INTERVIEW WITH CANDIDATES, TINUBU SAYS HE’S WAITING TO REWORK NIGERIA yesterday in an exclusive interview with the ARISE NEWS Channel.

He said: “Well, we expected the ballot paper to show the logo clearly, but the Labour Party’s sign is not there. And someone has told me that the logo is completely missing in some states. But I am worried. I do not know why it should be so.

“I think now we should have been going the way other nations in Africa are doing, like Ghana, where they do not only have the names of the contestants, they have the candidates’ pictures and their parties’ logo boldly on the ballot.

“Out of the number of people contesting in the election, only 18 of us. They should have had our pictures, but I am not complaining.

It is a process.”

In a related development, the candidate of the NNPP,

Kwankwaso, has lamented the failure of the BVAS used at his polling unit immediately after he had voted and the absence of his party’s name on the ballot paper.

He made this complaint yesterday during a live interview with ARISE NEWS Channel at his Kano home immediately after casting his vote.

He also complained about the late arrival of the INEC officials and the impact of the failed BVAS on the voters.

He said, “I am one of the few very likable politicians. I contested an election in my ward 30 years ago to be a member of the House of Representatives, and the turnout was like this, and it keeps increasing.

“You see, many prophets and leaders are not very popular in their homes, but by the grace of

God, I am, not only in this ward but in Kano. And no matter what happens, I always win here. And with how we operate, the people still support us.

“It is the same case in the local government, central, and Kano; we are extremely strong because when you see our figures not as big as the central, it is because that is where the criminals are going to rig elections. We are so happy that they are supporting us.

“My only worry in this election was that the election here started after 11 am, and it was rightly pointed out that we have thousands of people there.

“And not only that, immediately I finished voting, the machine went bad, and now they are struggling to repair it.

Only God knows when it will be repaired.

“And even if it is repaired, because of the time it takes for one person to vote from my personal experience, it will take a lot of time to conclude voting here.

“I hope INEC staff will be patient enough to ensure everybody votes in that place.

And maybe this is not an isolated case. Maybe it is a similar thing elsewhere.

“Another problem we had was that NNPP was not written on the ballot paper. It was only the logo. And the logo was not looking good; you could not understand anything. That is why in some places, especially in Kano, when they vote, they ask them to ask for the Kwankwaso party or NNPP party logo.

“PDP was written boldly, APC too, but our party name was not written,” he explained.

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STILL HOPEFUL… Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, casting his vote during the presidential and National Assembly elections in Yola, Adamawa State... yesterday

Malami: Buhari Fulfilling His Promise of Credible Elections 2023 general election one of the best so far, says IG

Kingsley Nwezeh and Alex Enumah in Abuja The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday stated that President Muhammadu Buhari's promise to conduct a free, credible, transparent and peaceful general election devoid of extraneous influences was coming to pass.

This is coming as the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Baba Alkali has described the conduct of the 2023 general election as one of the best so far.

Malami made this known, while addressing journalists at Shiryar Fada, Garkar Na Gambo Polling Unit of Nassarawa 1 Ward in Birnin-Kebbi after casting his vote.

In a statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Malami described the elections as part of the concluding processes associated with the 2023 elections for democratic transition processes.

The AGF expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the elections, saying that it was manifest that all things needed to be done in terms of ensuring free, fair and credible elections devoid of extraneous influences had been put in place.

"We are happy that INEC is doing a wonderful job by ensuring that fairness associated with equity, and indeed transparency and visibility of transparency of the

process is kept by INEC. "We are happy with what is unfolding in terms of ensuring free and fair elections. As you can see the election is visibly peaceful. People are casting their votes without any extraneous influences," he said.

"I think the process is indeed establishing the point that what has been made by way of a promise

by President Muhammadu Buhari on this day being the 25th day of February 25, 2023 is indeed re-enacted as the date of election," he said.

Malami said the election was going on peacefully and in line with the dictates and guidelines put in place by INEC and in conformity with the provisions of the Electoral Acts, the constitution and international best practices associated with the election.

Meanwhile, the IG, Usman Baba, has described the ongoing 2023 general election as one of the best so far.

Baba, who stated this after monitoring elections at some polling units in Abuja yesterday, noted that the elections have been generally peaceful despite some pockets of attacks.

The IG also acknowledged pockets of challenges in some states, saying that there was a suspected explosion in Borno State, where he said five people were injured.

He, however, expressed joy that despite the challenges in the South-east, the elections still held there and they were largely peaceful.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), CP Sadiq Abubakar, has said the elections at the FCT villages were more organised and problem-free than the city centre, where pockets of

incidents were reported.

The commissioner, who spoke after visiting some polling units in AMAC and Bwari Area Councils in FCT, said there have been reports of missing electoral materials and some not working properly in the

city centres but the villages were not having those issues.

He, however, said he has spoken to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), who assured him that INEC has mobilised staff to move around with materials and

replace the non-functioning ones.

The commissioner also stated that generally, the elections have been peaceful and commended the residents of the FCT for maintaining orderliness during the exercise.

FG Targets Production of 681,000bpd of Crude Oil from New Fields

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government targets to produce about 681,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 1.52 billion standard cubic feet of gas daily from new oilfields.

This is contained in a new document put together by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) titled “Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Sector: Value Optimisation, Energy Transition and Regulatory Perspectives.”

According to the document, the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, explained that incremental volumes of crude were expected from new wells and well re-entry.

“We have also completed the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round and issued 50 Petroleum Prospecting Licenses to deserving awardees. It is expected that with the existing discoveries in the awarded fields, an early Field Development Plan would be pursued by the awardees leading to incremental oil and gas

production.

“The commission is facilitating timely approvals for expedited re-entry and early production.

The estimated incremental production from the awarded fields is approximately 58,000bpd and 87mmscf/d.

“In the short/medium term, we expect an estimated incremental volume of 461,000bpd and 565mmscf/d from new wells and well re-entry. In the long term, we expect an estimated incremental volume of 162,000bpd and 868mmscf/d from FDPs, which have been approved and are at various stages of execution.”

Komolafe further noted that the implementation of Host Community Provisions under Section 235 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 saddled the commission with the responsibility of ensuring conducive and peaceful relationships among stakeholders within the host communities.

This, he said, would be done through the implementation of the Host Communities Development

Trust.

“The commission, in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, has developed templates and gazetted regulations, which include that of the Host Community Development Trust.

“The essence of the HCDT is to integrate oil-bearing communities into the value chain and effectively cater for the development needs of impacted communities, thus positively curbing restiveness in such communities and offering an enabling environment for operators to thrive.

“This is expected to guarantee seamless operation, boost investor confidence, and provide an enabling environment for sustainable development of the country’s hydrocarbon resources,” Komolafe stated.

He added that the NUPRC was happy to disclose that over 60 Host Community Development Trusts had been approved by the commission.

“This is indeed a milestone in the implementation of the PIA,

2021,” he stated.

The federal government and its agencies have been making efforts to grow the country’s crude oil output in a bid to meet the 1.8 million barrels per day quota approved for Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had said the country’s oil production had increased to 1.6 million barrels per day, a few million short of the 1.8mbpd quota allocated to Nigeria

by OPEC. NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, who revealed this at a meeting of industry stakeholders in Abuja, also stated that the rectangular security approach ensured the recovery of production from what it was in July 2022 to the current 1.67 million barrels per day.

Kyari, who was represented by the Head of Upstream Investment, NNPC, Bala Wunti, at the event, said the implementation of the Detect, Deter, Destroy and Recover policy had paid off.

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GUNNING FOR VICTOR… Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu, and his, Oluremi has arriving to cast his vote his polling unit during the presidential and National Assembly elections at Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos State…yesterday

EFCC Arrests Lecturer with N306,700, Woman with 18 PVCs Deploys operatives in 36 states to arrest vote buyers Storms Tinubu, Obi’s polling units

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja and Segun James in Lagos A lecturer with the Sarwuan Tarka University (formerly known as the University of Agriculture), Makurdi, Benue State, Dr. Cletus Tyokyaa was yesterday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged vote-buying.

He was arrested at the RCM Polling Unit in Daudu, Guma Local Government Area of the state with the sum of N306,700 in various denominations stashed in his car.

The EFCC in a statement on its Facebook handle said luck ran out on Tarka when “he drove to the voting centre which was different from his polling unit and tried to run upon sighting operatives of the commission.”

This is coming as the

commission said it sent operatives to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to catch politicians using cash and other items to buy vote.

Similarly, the commission arrested a man (name not disclosed) for alleged vote buying with N194,000 at the Gidan Zakka polling unit, Goron Dutse area of Kano Municipal Local Government, Kano State.

EFCC also said: “A party agent buying votes through bank transfers was also arrested in Abaji in the Federal Capital Territory, while two persons, Stanley Nsemo and Eno Amponsah were arrested in Calabar, Cross River State with the sum of $450 and N156, 800 on suspicion of alleged votes buying.”

Speaking further, the commission said it arrested a woman, Maryam Mamman Alhaji, with 18 voter cards in the Badarwa

area of Kaduna, Kaduna State.

“She was nabbed after undercover operatives pretended they had voter cards and were desperate to sell them.

She is currently being grilled by operatives of the Kaduna Zonal Command of the EFCC, with a view to unravelling other members of her syndicate whom she claimed are also collecting voters’ cards and paying monies through PoS or direct bank transfers.

Meanwhile, the operatives of the commission yesterday stormed the polling units of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu; his running mate, Kashim Shettima and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi. The team who arrived Tinubu’s unit at PU 085, Ward 3, Sunday Adigun, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State, were seen parading the

polling centre.

However, they did not disclose what prompted the visit to journalists.

The officials visited the home of the former Anambra State governor in an unmarked white Toyota Hiace bus but the candidate was absent. They proceeded to Amatutu Ward 2, Polling Unit 019 at exactly 10:25 a.m.

They, however, did not grant interviews to journalists and no reason has been ascertained for the purpose of the visit.

The leader of the EFCC team was seen having a chat with the members of INEC in the unit, urging them to call the commission’s helpline if they needed help.

Meanwhile, the EFCC said yesterday that it sent operatives to all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to catch politicians using cash and other items to buy votes.

EFCC Chairman, Mr.

Abdulrasheed Bawa, disclosed this while speaking in a webinar organised by a women’s group, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC).

Bawa admitted that though some politicians were caught with cash in local and foreign currencies before election day, the agency was not seeing incidents of outright cash for votes on voting day.

However, the chairman stated that there had been cases of politicians sharing food, clothing, and gift cards with potential voters to avoid being charged for vote buying. The commission would monitor each case as it developed.

Bawa said: “So far, so good; we are not seeing outright vote buying on election day. The incident actually took place before the election day, but we ask Nigerians to avail us of any information that may lead to the arrest of the elements engaged in the illicit act.

“We want all Nigerians to

understand the importance of ensuring that no politician uses the money to compromise the electoral process as such elements would seek to recoup their money rather than provide good governance once they get into office,” Bawa said.

The EFCC chairman also spoke on the ongoing attempt by an unnamed governor to instigate some elements to protest against him, pointing out that the said governor and some of his officials are being investigated for money laundering running into billions of Naira.

The chairman said when it became clear to the governor that the protests were not working, he procured a high court in his state, which has no jurisdiction in the matter already being heard by a Federal High Court in Abuja, to slam him with a contempt charge and bench warrant, which the commission has appealed against.

suspected to be political party supporters inflicted machete cuts on two voters before carting away with one Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for polling units 11 and 12 at Oniong West Ward one in Onna Local Government Area of the state.

Thugs also attacked two different polling areas in Katsina and Delta states, stealing at least eight BVAS machines, according to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

According to Yakubu, bandits attacked INEC personnel, stealing six BVAS machines in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.

A separate attack occurred in the Oshimili area of Delta State leading to the loss of two BVAS machines, Yakubu said while briefing journalists in Abuja.

In Shiroro LGA of Niger State, he said voting commenced late due to an earlier bandit attack, which he said, was not necessarily on INEC officials.

In Ogun State, gunmen invaded a polling unit in Ayegbami, in the Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State, destroyed a ballot box, and disrupted the electoral process in the area.

THISDAY, gathered that Ayegbami is a street in Iperu, Ikenne LGA, the hometown of the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

of the political party.

The presidential and National Assembly elections suffered a huge setback within the Benin metropolis as people suspected to be political thugs invaded voting centres and disrupted the process Earlier in the day at Oredo Local Government Area Ward 4, the thugs stormed the voting unit 42, shooting into the air and taking away the ballot boxes at the unit.

Thugs also distorted electoral activities at the Kayarda Primary School polling Centre of Kuje Area Council, Abuja.

During the attack at about 4:15 pm, the thugs numbering nine, wielded sticks, broke ballot boxes, and tore ballot papers.

In Rivers State, there were protests in most of the polling units in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor following the difficulties in uploading the results as registered in the BIVAS machines.

Voters stopped the INEC ad-hoc staff from going, insisting that the machine must upload the results before they would be allowed to leave the premises.

Despite Hitches, Omo-Agege Boasts He’s Confident of Tinubu, APC Victory POCKETS OF VIOLENCE ROCK LAGOS, BAYELSA, EDO, KOGI, OTHERS Sylvester Idowu in Warri Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, yesterday said that he was confident that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and other APC candidates would win the presidential and National Assembly elections despite hitches recorded in parts of the state.

Speaking to a team of journalists last night at Orogun, he scored the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) high on deploying BIVAS machines, which he said have boosted Nigerians’ confidence in the electoral process.

Omo-Agege, who voted at 11.11 am at Unit 19, Ward 2 in Orogun, Ughelli North Local Government Area, said though there were pockets of security threats, the election was generally peaceful from the feelers he got from other parts of the state.

The Delta APC governorship candidate accused the PDP of deploying thugs to disrupt the

election in some areas where they were unpopular due to impending defeat.

“The process, I will say, was going well from the outset; we knew that the PDP knew full well that they have no voters on the ground, and their plans to disrupt the electoral process by thugs sending in and that has been ongoing almost everywhere and of course, this is my community, they are not here. And they will desist from coming here; they know the consequences of trying that.

“But we are very confident that we will prevail at the end of the day. Ahmed Tinubu will be elected President. He will be elected President here in Delta, and then we are confident that we will win most of the National Assembly seats.

“As far as the governorship is concerned, we are very confident that we will win it. I think it is the expectation of everyone in the state that come March 11th, we will emerge. Our challenge was electing the President, which I believe will happen today.

As far as the governorship is concerned, there’s a consensus in the state that there’s a need for change and that they are tired of Okowa and everything Okowa represents.

“So, my message for Nigerians is that today is a very beautiful day, a day that will determine what kind of Nigeria we will have in the next eight years, and we had the opportunity to make that decision, and it is my hope and expectation that we did the right thing,” he said.

On the performance of INEC, the Deputy Senate President said: “I don’t think the challenge we’ve had is from INEC. INEC, so far, has done an excellent job. But the challenge we had and we’ve expected of is security. We don’t have enough security manning most of the places.

He also accused the Delta State Governor and the PDP vice presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, of allegedly recruiting men he clothed in military uniform who are disrupting the election in some parts of the state.

Elections Postponed in Bayelsa, Edo

Meanwhile, INEC has postponed elections in some parts of Bayelsa and Edo states.

INEC Chairman, Yakubu, disclosed this when he addressed a press conference in Abuja.

He said the election was postponed in four wards with 141 Polling Units in Bayelsa, adding that voting will continue today (Sunday).

In Yenagoa, the state capital, Yakubu said voting was disrupted, and the commission mobilised security officials to escort the ad hoc staff to continue voting.

According to him, the NYSC ad hoc staff were scared to go back, prompting the commission to postpone voting in the areas.

In Edo State, the Federal Constituency election in Esan North, Esan South, and Igueben was postponed due to the omission of a political party’s logo on the ballot. He did not state the name

Continued online

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RESPECTED STATESMAN… Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, casting his vote at Unit 39, Ward 13 during the presidential and National Assembly elections in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State…yesterday

UK, US Envoys, IRI Adjudge Elections Peaceful, Orderly in Abuja EU Observer Mission acknowledges large turnout at some polling units Michael Olugbode in Abuja The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, and the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, have expressed confidence in the electoral process, noting that voting was peaceful and orderly in some of the polling units visited in Abuja yesterday.

Leonard made the remarks in an interview with reporters when she visited the Tudun Wada Secondary School polling units in Zone 4 Abuja, where there was a large turnout of voters.

She said: "It is a beautiful sunny day, and the voters have come out; they are quite cheerful, and everybody is happy to be here and casting their votes. It is wonderful to see such joy and calm in the election place, and this is what we hope for across Nigeria today."

She said further that the US would comment after the elections, adding that the world is watching the Nigerian elections because of their importance.

"This election has captured the world's attention and fascination.

Elections in Nigeria matter. A free and fair election in Nigeria means a freer and fairer world.

So, it is a great day for Nigeria," she said.

Also speaking to journalists, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Laing, said she has so far witnessed a pretty orderly and secure process, adding that many people seemed pretty happy with how the elections were being conducted.

She said: "I have spoken to party agents who have confidence as well as the EFCC, and so far, so good."

She noted the UK team on the ground had reports of concerns about how early polling units' materials arrived in some places. Still, the message is orderly elections were conducted peacefully, with people feeling they could exercise their democratic rights, which is a piece of excellent news.

"From the atmosphere today, there has been a huge sense of excitement; nevertheless, it is a very early election, and we still have many hours to go. So, my message to voters and political parties is to continue to operate peacefully and be patient. It is taking a bit of time for registration to take place.

But if you are concerned in any way, make sure to take through the legal process and don't resort to violence, the peace accord has been signed, and everyone must show commitment to the peace

accord," she said.

Regarding vote buying, the British envoy noted no incidents of vote buying in the polling units her team visited. She, therefore, urged Nigerians to vote for anyone they wanted without being intimidated.

Also reacting to the ongoing elections, President of the International Republican Institute (IRI), Daniel Twining, said although his organisation has covered elections in Nigeria since 1999, the 2023 elections appear pretty different because of the unpredictable nature.

He said: "We have covered every Nigerian national election since 1999. There is so much more technology now, and Nigeria is obviously a much bigger and younger country. We know this is an important election without an incumbent running, with three major party candidates instead of two, and the outcome is not known in advance, which is good. So, we are all ready to be surprised."

Similarly, the EU Observer Mission to the 2023 general election has acknowledged the large turnout of voters in some polling units in Abuja.

EU Chief Observer, Barry Andrews, speaking at the Government Secondary School Zone 4 in Abuja, which has three

polling units where the polls opened pretty on time, said the election day marks an important milestone in the democratic life of a country.

He told journalists: Today is crucial not just for Nigeria, but for the region and the continent more generally. Our mission has been deployed here since early January. So today is important, but it's also a step in the process we've been examining over the last two months. And we will stay here until early April to complete our assessment of the overall election process here in Nigeria.

"We have observers across the country, more than 100 observers across the country. Our long-term observers have been deployed since late January, and short-term observers during this week are at polling units throughout the country. And we work with the other election observation missions from the African Union from ECOWAS and the Commonwealth Foundation.

"And on Monday, we will publish a preliminary statement containing our initial assessment of the election process regarding all of the issues that have arisen.

We will produce a final report containing our conclusions and recommendations within three

months after the election.

"So we're here for the long term.

And our main goal today is to ensure that there is a peaceful election here that people have access to and can exercise their vote.

"We have taken note of the high attendance here this morning. We will, of course, gather information from across the country. So we don't make observations until Monday.

"But we will gather all that information and try to see if there are patterns if certain things happen that are merely isolated and therefore draw conclusions

in due course. We do this against a methodology we have used for many years in many countries."

He added that the EU Mission is dedicated to non-interference in the political process to complete independence and impartiality, adding that this has served the mission well and deepened people's trust in this mission.

He said: "We're here to examine the election based on the criteria that Nigeria has set. And so we hope that that has created a bond of trust and ensured that the report we finally produced will be of some value to the people dedicated to deepening democracy in Nigeria."

Labour Party Loses Obasanjo's Polling Unit to APC James Sowole in Abeokuta Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has failed to deliver his polling unit for his preferred presidential candidate, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).

After counting the valid votes in the Ward 11, Unit 22, Abeokuta North Local Government where Obasanjo voted, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, defeated Obi with 56 votes, while

the LP candidate had only nine votes.

Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored only seven votes, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored eight votes. A total of 10 votes were voided in the unit.

In a twist to the results at the polling unit, the PDP scored 31 votes, while the APC scored 37 votes for the Senate.

Obi's Labour Party only scored one vote for the Senate.

IPI Condemns Attack on Radio, TV Stations in Rivers Fake DSS Officials Arrested in Osun

The International Peace Institute (IPI) Nigeria has condemned the attack on a broadcast outfit in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-south, Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement by IPI’s Secretary, Ahmed Shekarau on Thursday.

The statement said the President of the organisation, Musikilu Mojeed, has called on the federal government to fish out perpetrators of the attack and prosecute them to serve as a deterrent to others.

The statement said: “We call on the Nigerian authority to provide

security for media houses and ensure the security of journalists.

“Rather than resort to self-help, anyone aggrieved by reports published or aired by any media houses should approach the court to seek redress.

“Indiscriminate attacks on media houses will lead to anarchy. This is the more reason that attacks on the radio and television stations in Port Harcourt should promptly be investigated.

The IPI further urged Governor Nyesom Wike to ensure the safety of journalists and media

organisations in his state.

“We further appeal to journalists to observe all professional ethics in carrying out their duties”, the statement said. The Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) has also condemned the attack describing it as “barbaric, callous and highly uncivilised.”

In a statement by its Executive Secretary, Yemisi Bamgbose, BON said: “Any attack on any media organisation is an attack on the entire citizens which should not be allowed to happen.

“We call on the State Security Services to swing into action

to fish out the masterminds of the dastardly act,” executive secretary said.

The attack occurred on Tuesday evening. The police in Rivers State said they received information that hoodlums threw an explosive device into the premises of the broadcast station, causing damage to a power generating set, a 500KVA transformer, transformer feeder panel, and electronic appliances in the radio station (Wish FM 99.5) and its sister television station (Atlantic Television Network).

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Two fake operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) were yesterday arrested in Ila-Orangun, Osun State before the commencement of the elections.

THISDAY gathered that the two fake DSS operatives approached the police to solicit them to work together during the election duties.

According to a video obtained

by THISDAY, which showed the moments when they were arrested, the two fake operatives said they were working with a

private guard security company.

They confirmed that their boss, identified as General Gerard Olatunbosun, deployed them to the community for election duties.

They identified themselves as Olarewaju Faniran and Sodiq Olayemi.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, said: “Two fake DSS operatives were arrested before the commencement of election on Saturday. They are in the custody of DSS.”

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BUSINESS

Editor: Festus Akanbi 08038588469 Email:festus.akanbi@thisdaylive.com

As Cashless Policy, Naira Redesign Turn Potent Monetary Policy Tools In this piece, James Emejo writes that the cashless policy and naira redesign have become yet another unorthodox intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which has emerged as SUDFWLFDO WRROV IRU UHVROYLQJ VRPH RI WKH FRXQWU\·V PDFURHFRQRPLF FKDOOHQJHV DQG ÀJKWLQJ endemic corruption.

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, 0U *RGZLQ (PHÀHOH is not new to criticisms concerning his choice of unorthodox measures in addressing monetary policy issues – and he stands tall over this approach.

(PHÀHOH KDG RIWHQ WROG KLV FULWLFV QRW WR judge his tactics but evaluate the positive results produced by such unconventional interventions.

'XULQJ WKH UHFHQW JOREDO ÀQDQFLDO FULVLV and the recession, unorthodox monetary policy interventions helped salvage the economy where conventional practices have failed.

5HFHQWO\ WKH FHQWUDO EDQN·V HͿRUWV DW FXUWDLOLQJ ULVLQJ LQÁDWLRQ KDG SURYHG nearly fruitless amidst growing food and commodity prices.

In the same vein, attempts to stabilise the naira against the US dollar had been GL΀FXOW SDUWO\ GXH WR VSHFXODWLYH DFWLYLWLHV and other challenges.

Naira Redesign and Cashless Policy However, the recent engagement between the CBN governor and the diplomatic community exposes the primary intent of the bank’s cashless and naira redesign programmes. ,I DQ\WKLQJ LW VKRZHG WKH EHQHÀWV RI WKH cashless policy, whose implementation began in 2012; and that the currency redesign programme was initially underestimated.

(PHÀHOH·V LQWHUDFWLRQ ZLWK WKH GLSORPDWLF community was particularly critical to shed more light on the policies and disabuse their minds of wrong perceptions following some antagonism by some political class members.

According to the central bank governor, the main objectives of the cashless policy and currency redesign were to make PRQHWDU\ SROLF\ GHFLVLRQV PRUH HͿHFWLYH GHHSHQ ÀQDQFLDO LQFOXVLRQ LQ WKH FRXQWU\ FXUE WHUURU ÀQDQFLQJ DQG EDQGLWU\ DQG discourage vote-buying by politicians and money laundering, among others. Politicians were stocking money for election activities, according to the CBN governor.

6SHFLÀFDOO\ (PHÀHOH SRLQWHG RXW WKDW WKH CBN intended to make Nigeria operate a cashless economy as obtained in developed countries, where as a result, issues of money laundering are promptly tackled.

In a country where politicians have a penchant for siphoning and laundering public funds in foreign countries, the cashless policy remains a game-changer – no wonder the mounting opposition to the guidelines is enormous.

Unacceptable Level of Cash-carrying Addressing the diplomatic audience, (PHÀHOH VDLG ´<RX DUH DOO IRUHLJQ GLJQLWDUies representing your countries in Nigeria, and you know, and you would agree that the level at which people carry cash in Nigeria is unacceptable. ´,Q \RXU FRXQWULHV \RX GR QRW FDUU\ FDVK DQ\KRZ <RX DUH FRQWLQXRXVO\ TXHVWLRQHG DQG SURÀOHG LI \RX FDUU\ FDVK DQG DUH VHHQ µ +H DGGHG ´:H ZDQW WR ORRN DW \RXU country, and that is why we are saying that Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa and

Redesigned Naira notes with the largest population, really must go cashless. And we are delighted at the CBN that with the support of President Muhammadu Buhari, we will achieve this. ´:H NQRZ WKDW DW WKHVH LQLWLDO VWDJHV Nigerians will go through temporary pains, and we call it transient because there would be normal pains that would come with those kinds of shocks; indeed, I must describe WKLV VKRFN DV XQSUHFHGHQWHG µ Foreign Support is Inevitable for Successes Knowing fully the damage that misinformation could cause for the country, HVSHFLDOO\ E\ IRUHLJQ QDWLRQDOV (PHÀHOH had made it a duty to explain the cashless and policy redesign initiatives for their buy-in. +H WROG WKH JDWKHULQJ ´$QG WKDW LV ZK\ I would continue to appeal to everybody – Nigerians and those of you who constitute our diplomatic community to give us all the needed support to achieve this objective. :H ZDQW RXU FRXQWU\ WR ORRN OLNH \RXUV and will continue to seek your support IRU XV WR EH OLNH \RX µ The central bank governor further stressed that the cashless and currency redesign progamme sought to support efforts of the security agencies in combating banditry and ransom-taking in Nigeria, DGGLQJ ´FDQ VHH WKDW WKH PLOLWDU\ LV PDNLQJ JRRG SURJUHVV LQ WKLV LPSRUWDQW WDVN µ Policies Yielding Fruits $FFRUGLQJ WR (PHÀHOH WKH QDLUD UHGHVLJQ SROLF\ LV H[SHFWHG WR FXUE WKH LQÁDWLRQ LQ the market as less cash holding reduces currency outside banks and retard money circulation, stressing that the accompanying decline in the money supply would slow WKH SDFH RI LQÁDWLRQ 6SHFLÀFDOO\ WKH &%1 JRYHUQRU VDLG ´:H KDYH VWDUWHG WR VHH LQÁDWLRQ WUHQGLQJ

downwards following general price stability in almost all market genres, LQFOXGLQJ IRU JRRGV DQG ÀQDQFLDO SURGXFWV µ $FFRUGLQJ WR KLP WKH HͿHFWLYH implementation of the policy could VFUDS IRXU SHUFHQWDJH SRLQWV RͿ WKH FXUUHQW OHYHO RI LQÁDWLRQ ZKLFK VWRRG at 21.34 per cent - as it steadily slows WKH LQÁDWLRQ UDWH WR DERXW SHU cent by mid-2023. +H VDLG ´7KLV LV TXLWH DFKLHYDEOH as data from our market sources indicate that the prices of grains and key staples, around Suleja and Lambata markets, for instance, have generally been on a downward trend since the beginning of the policy. The price for soya beans has dropped from N30,000 to N22,000. Maize from 1 WR 1 7KH SULFH RI D bull fell from N400,000 to N330,000 DQG UDP IURP 1 WR 1 µ The central bank governor also noted that the policy had brought stability to the exchange rate regime.

He explained that before the announcement of the procedure, the huge cash haul outside the bankLQJ V\VWHP KDG H[HUWHG VLJQLÀFDQW pressures on the exchange rate at all windows, but more so at the parallel market as it engendered asset substitution by speculators and rent-seekers. +H VDLG ´:KLOH WKH SROLF\ ZDV initially estimated to lead to more speculations due to panic moves as most people try to understand the policy action, it is expected to reduce speculation in the medium- to long-run. ´7RGD\ WKH OLPLWHG FLUFXODWLRQ RI the new Naira notes has forced the

hands of speculators, and we are beginning to witness some stability. The initial pressure is projected to further moderate as the implementation of the policy takes RͿ DQG D ZLGHU XQGHUVWDQGLQJ SHUYDGHV WKH V\VWHP µ Temporary Discomfort for Nigerians The CBN boss said the central bank was mindful of some citizens’ challenges and is currently addressing them. +H QRWHG ´7KHUH KDYH EHHQ UHSRUWV RI occasional failures in e-channel platforms.

Our monitoring suggests that despite an expected surge in electronic transactions, these have not risen to unprecedented levHOV 7KH SD\PHQW V\VWHP LV ZHOO HTXLSSHG to handle even higher transaction volumes. ´:KLOH WUDQVDFWLRQ IDLOXUHV DUH ERXQG WR occur occasionally, the public is encouraged WR KDYH IXOO FRQÀGHQFH LQ 1LJHULD·V JOREDOO\ recognised payment system infrastructure.

Banks have also been instructed to ensure 24/7 service availability and promptly address any customer refunds arising IURP VXFK VHUYLFH IDLOXUHV µ (PHÀHOH IXUWKHU DFNQRZOHGJHV WKH widespread inconveniences due to the policy. +H VDLG ´:H KDYH REVHUYHG SHUYDVLYH incidences of hoarding and predatory activities of some vendors and unscrupulous Nigerians. Following the redesign policy, hoarding is the principal cause of hardship for the citizens. ´:H KDYH QRWLFHG WKDW VRPH PHPEHUV of the public are hoarding the new notes, WKHUHE\ UHVWULFWLQJ WKHLU ÁRZ WKURXJK the economy. Cash kept at home will not circulate but may fuel a perception of scarcity which leads to higher demand for the currency, signalling to those who don’t have an urgent or immediate need to store cash.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

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Transforming Nigerian Economy with Deep Seaports :LWK WKH LQDXJXUDWLRQ RI /HNNL 'HHS 6HDSRUW UHFHQWO\ DQG ZLWK ÀYH RWKHU deep seaport projects lined up, Nigeria stands as the hub of maritime DFWLYLWLHV LQ WKH :HVW DQG &HQWUDO $IULFDQ UHJLRQ ZLWK KXJH HFRQRPLF EHQHÀWV ZULWHV Francis Ugwoke

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17

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

PERSPECTIVE

PDP Gambles with Another Emergency Candidate in Abia Godwin Okerie

T

he sudden and painful death of the former Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Prof. Uche Ikonne, a few weeks to the general election did not only distabilise the ruling party but created more worries for a party that was already in tatters, like an old, worn out and dismembered umbrella, being its symbol.

The party began to court crisis for itself, when its leadership resolved to zone its governorship slot to Abia Central and Abia North against the popular demand and agitation for power shift to Abia North, since the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu from Abia South took over from Abia Central after Senator Theodore Orji’s eight years administration as governor.

Since power had sequentially gone round, in what is popularly termed Okezue Abia, it was only logical and ideal that it should return to Abia North for orderliness in a cyclical rotational sequence.

Unfortunately, those who canvassed that it should be thrown open to Abia Central and Abia North received the governor’s backing in sympathy for his Ngwa kith and kin domiciled in Abia Central.

It was obvious that Ikpeazu’s discreet support, which has today proved to be counter-productive for the party, was largely instrumental for the emergence of late Ikonne.

Again, this was in line with the resolution of the Ukwa-la-Ngwa elders that power could only rotate between Old Bende and Old Aba Division rather than on the basis of senatorial districts.

On that premise, they further resolved to equalise the 16 years that Old Bende had been in power, beginning with Senator Orji Kalu, from 1999 to 2007, and Senator Theodore Orji, from 2007 to 2015.

But as the popular saying goes, man proposes but God disposes.

No doubt, the singular resolve by the party to keep power in Abia Central and indeed Ngwa extraction, for possibly the next eight years, denying Abia North what was considered their turn, created a huge crack in the party.

It also set party members from Abia North at daggers drawn with their counterparts from Abia Central, with each side dangerously plotting to outsmart the other to clinch the ticket by hook or crook.

The crack got wider and more pronounced with the defection of critical stakeholders of the party, including three major pillars upon which the party derived its dominance of the Abia’s political space.

These pillars, who also indicated their aspirations for the party’s governorship ticket, included Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Prof. Gregory Ibe and Mr. Nana Nwafor.

These aggrieved PDP chieftains dumped the party along with their teeming supporters and while Enyinnaya Abaribe and Gregory Ibe birthed at the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Nana Nwafor anchored at the Young Peoples Party.

And, beyond the foregoing, another founding member of the party and governorship aspirant, Dr Samson Orji, popularly known as SCUORJI, dragged the party to court to challenge the outcome of the party’s controversial governorship primary, which literally ratified the choice of Ikonne.

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However, a former chairman of the party, Chief Emma Nwaka, and Deputy Governor Ude Oko-Chukwu, who were tactically schemed out of the race for the governorship ticket, stoically suppressed their ruptured emotions, disappointment and frustration from their purported loss at the primary election.

The post-primary election developments in the ruling party obviously threw it in disarray with all the aggrieved members working at cross purposes with the Chief Alwell Asiforo-led State Working Committee.

This was the self-inflicted dilemma the party plunged itself into and was still grappling with the repercussion when the worst happened with Ikonne’s unexpected demise.

Following Ikonne’s death and in the build up to the election of a successor, both senatorial districts of Abia Central and Abia North resumed their horsetrading to win the sympathy of the almost 600 delegates for the re-run primary election.

So, the squabbles in the party became messier again with the micro-zoning of the governorship ticket to Isialangwa North, a decision taken by the party caucus, considered politically correct to compensate the area over the death of their son, Ikonne.

To demonstrate their dissension to the micro-zoning arrangement, three aspirants from Abia North, namely Ude Oko-Chukwu, Sampson Orji and Emma Nwaka, in addition to Chief Lucky Igbokwe, popularly called Don Lulu, from Abia Central, returned to the race for the ticket.

A conspiracy among the three other aspirants from Nwga axis of Abia Central saw Mrs Ezenwanyi Jonah, Mr Eric Opah and Bob Chiedozie Ogu, step down for their brother, Chief Okey Ahiwe, who was the governor’s Chief of Staff and anointed one.

At the end of the exercise at the Umuahia Township Stadium, Okey Ahiwe, an unprepared aspirant, emerged the party’s emergency governorship candidate, replacing the late Professor of Optometry.

But if the choice of Ahiwe by the governor over and above those who had over the years demonstrated the

Ikpeazu

preparedness, competence and capacity to take up the huge task of governance brought PDP to ridicule, the decision to dispense with late Ikonne’s running mate, Chief Okey Igwe, on the flimsy allegation that he had dual citizenship, appears to have further exposed PDP to greater trouble and political brouhaha than it can easily handle before the March 11 governorship poll.

The choice of a University of Nigeria, Nsukka lecturer, Dr Jasper Uche, another unprepared candidate, over Okey Igwe, who had criss-crossed the entire length and breadth of the state canvassing for votes for the party, while Ikonne was in his sick bed, certainly portrayed PDP as an insensitive and callous political entity.

Nevertheless, Abia indigenes who believe in the power of prayers for divine intervention in the affairs of the state have, however, reasoned that the recent unusual happenings in PDP were orchestrated by Act of Providence.

Meaning that as good Christians would always say, the spiritual controls the physical.

So, that being the case, it means that there is a divine manipulation of the entire episodes in PDP to pave the way for the eventual emancipation of Abia, God’s own state, and its people from the stranglehold of its oppressors.

It is unfortunate to say at this juncture, that one political party that has monopolised power in the state since the return of democratic governance in 1999 eventually acquired absolute power, became absolutely corrupted and transformed itself into a political vampire, sucking and living on the blood of Abia and its innocent citizens for the past 24 years.

Under the same period, Abia’s socio-economic development had regrettably remained on a downward trajectory, even with its enormous human and material endowment for sustainable growth in all spheres of life.

Unfortunately, today, the state remains a laughing stock in the comity of states of the federation, having been overtaken by its contemporaries and much younger sister-state, Ebonyi, which was carved out from Abia on Oct. 1, 1996.

This is why the upcoming governorship election is considered a golden opportunity to the Abia electorate to reject PDP’s evil machinations to impose yet another emergency governor, like the outgoing Governor Ikpeazu.

Recall that Ikpeazu emerged out of the blue as the party’s candidate in 2014, after the powers-that-be had dispensed with much reliable, focussed and prepared governorship aspirants, namely Dr Sampson Uche Ogah and Chief FN Nwosu, who had both spent fortunes in search of the elusive ticket.

Indeed, Abia and its citizenry, who have been scammed by successive governments, cannot afford another gamble with a governor whose integrity remains shady and questionable and whose source of wealth cannot be verified.

It is high time we thoroughly scrutinised the present and past records of all those who have jumped into the fray from different political platforms, yet sprouting from one root with a common agenda to continue to loot and plunder our common patrimony as their predecessorgodfathers did.

Of course, the time to sound the death knell for a party that encourages godfatherism and continued exploitation and impoverishment of the state and the citizenry is now.

With barely few weeks to go to the poll to chose our governor for the next four and perhaps eight years, it is imperative that we pause and examine the record of the political gladiators across the frontline political parties, in terms of their character, capacity, competence, consistency, integrity, work history and general social background.

On that score and without mincing words, the Labour Party governorship candidate, Dr. Alex Otti, shines like a bright morning star and stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Suffice it to recall that Abia residents voted massively and handed an overwhelming victory to him in 2015 but the then Pharaoh of Abia conspired with his other principalities and forces of evil and refused to let God’s own people go.

This is another opportunity to reenact the 2015 feat.

With the innovations introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS), it is obvious that the traditional practice of manufacturing non-existent votes through the incident forms no longer has any place in the current electoral process.

This is why every eligible voter should rise and seize the opportunity to vote and vote wisely for the most qualified and trusted candidate, believing that God has clipped the wings of election riggers in the state.

It is imperative therefore to appeal to well-meaning Abia men, women and youths to troop out en mass to vote for the future of their children and the state on March 11.

It is obvious that any vote cast for Alex Otti guarantees a transparent, accountable, visionary, focused, development and people-oriented leadership for the next four or more years.

Vote for the party with a logo that bears Papa, mama and pikin for a great and prosperous Abia.

Okorie is an Aba-based historian.

18

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • FEBRUARY 26, 2023

SOFT FINANCE with AYO AROWOLO The only column you may need to read on everything personal finance, money, investing -and other life matters

EMAIL: AYO.AROWOLO@THISDAYLIVE.COM PHONE: 08086447494( SMS ONLY)

Yemisi Shyllon: My Thoughts on Real Wealth and Meaningful Living What does it mean to be truly wealthy? Having a fat bank account? Riding the best cars ? In this piece, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, a philanthropist and knowledge based investor, shares his thoughts on what he has described as real wealth and meaningful living. Please enjoy STARTER Let me start by sharing with you the last words of Steve Jobs on his death bed: “I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.

At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I now realize that all the recognition and wealth, at which I took so much pride, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.

In darkness, I look at the green lights from life supporting machines and hear humming mechanical sounds, and I can feel the breath of the god of death drawing closer…….Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth…….

The wealth that I have won in my life, I cannot now take with me. What I can take are only the memories precipitated by love…….

Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading –the Book of Healthy Life……”

MY DISCOVERY Here is what I have discovered in the process of building wealth: when you break this thing called “Life”, you would discover that happiness should be the central goal of all men. Our living is best enriched through the pursuit of happiness, we live and lead quality lives when we are happy. We would see the beauty of the stars and not worry about the hustle of the next day. Happiness is gold. Building wealth can only be meaningful if such wealth gives happiness to others. True wealth is measured by how much impact it makes.

Indeed, happiness is the central ingredient to meaningful living by man. True happiness, from utilising the principles of positive psychology, for life’s fulfilment, is the very foundation of that special area of psychology.

Happiness helps humans to lead a useful life.

This issue of studying how to remain happy began with early humanist thinkers like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. However, the father of modern positive psychology is Martin Seligman. Martin Seligman espouses that happiness is best obtained by giving unto others, as different from receiving. Hence, the essence of acquiring wealth, includes very importantly, looking and closely exploring, what makes life really meaningful”.

Meaningful living has been found by Martin Seligman, to be central to making human living more purposeful and useful to oneself, others, one’s society and nation. Seligman’s thesis is this: The essence of acquiring wealth is not being limited to building wealth for wealth sake alone, but about using the wealth built and the process of building the wealth for the pursuit of happiness for one’s self, family, non-family members, one’s society, and one’s nation. Even employees at senior positions should make it a duty to expose and develop their subordinates to the knowledge of building wealth, provide opportunities for subordinates to grow, while such bosses continue to pursue the building of their own wealth.

This is what is gives happiness to living. Life is not just about surviving. Life is not just about living, but making impactful contributions to the lives of others in need, one’s society and nation, in line with the philosophy of positive psychology. It is about deriving authentic

Shyllon

happiness from giving inspiration to subordinates, giving them happiness, and letting subordinates love to work for their bosses. This is the very essence of positive and meaningful living.”

I submit that the essence of building wealth is more with deriving happiness in habitually giving unto the needy others, from the wealth possessed and not in holding wealth, solely for oneself and family. From experience, the philosophy behind such habitual benevolence, as in the school of positive psychology, has personally been found to give me incredible happiness, deep satisfaction, inspires me to continue to do more.

Again, my observation of the successes of others through my inspiration has been an incredible source of happiness for me. Over the years, I have come to realise that, whatever you give out to needy others, you will always eventually get rewarded in multiple folds.

WE WON’T TAKE ANYTHING WITH US FROM HERE Everything we own here on earth is only on a lease to us; it would pass on to others when we die. The best decision that the wealthy should make, is to remain detached away from the glamour and ego of their wealth and create happiness for themselves, through habitually giving and giving to society’s needy.

Man was not created to own anything.

As mere trustees, everything owned by man does not belong to man. We need to learn from Alexandra the Great, who was the ruler of Persia but died at thirty-three years of age.

Alexandra the Great was quoted to have asked

his pallbearers to ensure that medical doctors line up the route to his grave and that both his hands must extend outside his coffin throughout the procession to his grave. When asked why this was his request, he informed them, “I want the world to see that even as great as I was, before my death, no doctor could save me from dying”. Again, when asked, why he wanted his two hands extended outside his coffin, he said “I want the world to see that even though, I owned so much of the world, I took nothing away. By so doing, my two hands would be seen by all, to be empty to my grave”.

I have lived by that rule since I was 32. My knowledge of positive psychology and theology has guided me in being aware and conscious that, I am a mere TRUSTEE with all that I may possess, in life. Indeed, we humans own nothing here on earth”. “We came to this world with nothing and we shall leave with nothing. We are mere trustees of God almighty. As provided by the Bible in the book of Genesis, God is known to have created everything and decided on the sixth day to create man by saying, “let us create man in our own image”, to manage all I have created. Hence, we are merely only managing whatever wealth we own, while living, and at death, whatever we own surely belongs to God. This should always be our guiding principle in the pursuit of building wealth. We should realise that we have primarily only come into this world to live and survive. There are three classes of wealth builders; some of us are positive wealth builders; some others are neutral wealth builders, and some others are negative wealth builders”.

The neutral wealth-builders are those who live to build wealth solely for the benefit of themselves and their immediate families. The negative wealth-builders are those who build wealth through any means and who, in the process create turmoil, pain, and hardships for others for their sole benefit. These class of wealth builders are conscienceless, selfish, self-conceited, evil, greedy, wicked and pursue wealth, no matter who or what gets destroyed in the process.

To this class of wealth builders; any means always justify the end. Such people, only build wealth for their perceived pleasure, without giving happiness, to others, except to themselves. Indeed, negative wealth builders can be found at times, to build wealth without spreading happiness even to their immediate families. Their immediate families may be suffering pain, hardship, without an iota of care by them.

Positive wealth-builders are those who live their lives meaningfully, in line with Professor Seligman’s school of positive psychology. Positive wealth-builders, habitually give more than receive.

They spread out happiness, love, and joy to others while building and holding on to wealth.

Positive wealth-builders make it their philosophy to develop others, make others happy, develop their society, develop their nation and make a significant difference in the life of many others in the world. Anyone who has been able to create a business, which employs other individuals, put food on their table and even go beyond that to give out part of their wealth to the society, has grown beyond being just a tree branch but into being a huge tree. By so doing, they contribute to society’s wealth distribution system. We thus

We must all realise that we came to this world with nothing and we will leave it with nothing. We must make arrangements for the little we have acquired through building wealth, so that we do not get caught suddenly, in the way some people have been caught leaving humongous wealth behind, without making arrangements with how that wealth should be wisely distributed

need to celebrate a few of them here.

The pursuit of building wealth is a lifetime process. You do not build wealth and stop, you continue to build wealth all your life. However, as you build wealth you use wealth to make others happy and not only one’s self. Positive wealth-builders, build wealth and pursue such building of wealth, as a lifestyle, but still make it a duty all their lives, to give and give to society and others, to spread happiness, love and joy to others. So, holding onto wealth is not evil. You hold onto wealth to use it as working capital, in building more wealth. However, part of the wealth built should be used for others, to spread happiness, joy, give inspiration and build others into wealth builders.

Interestingly, you would notice that those who embrace God’s way of distributing resources always end up having more? Warren Buffet has given over 90% of his money to charity and has also instructed that 20 years after his death nothing should be found in his bank accounts. He has successfully recruited other kind-hearted givers to embrace that lifestyle.

And you know the interesting thing? He has continued to feature on the list of the world’s richest persons. They understand the way God’s kingdom economy functions and God sees to it that they never lack.

WE ARE ALL ENDOWED BY GOD People generally underestimate their potential of ignorance. God has given us a brain so that we can reason with him but unfortunately, most people suspend and abandon their critical thinking ability. This situation is largely found in Nigeria, where problems are commonly referred to God for solution. We all employ artisans, who on being confronted with challenges, would rather leave the solutions to God rather than put their thinking cap on, and do some critical thinking to find solutions to the challenges confronting them. We must realise that God has endowed man with everything he needs, to face the challenges of life, through thinking, reasoning, and finding answers to daily problems with requiring only the blessing of God after efforts have been made by man, for solutions to the problems and challenges faced.

People therefore generally underestimate the gift God has planted in man to critically think, reason and work hard to find solutions to their daily challenges, rather than solely waiting for God to solve virtually every problem of theirs without work.

WE CAN WAKE UP THE GIANT To awaken the giants in us requires the acquisition of knowledge and continuous learning. Knowledge acquisition and learning, are very vital in awaking the giant in us. We need to extensively learn, read, interact with each other, relate with mentors and ensure that reading and knowledge acquisition is a lifetime goal. The more exposed one is to knowledge, the more we awaken the giants in us.

SUMMING IT ALL We must all realise that we came to this world with nothing and we will leave it with nothing. We must make arrangements for the little we have acquired through building wealth, so that we do not get caught suddenly, in the way some people have been caught leaving humongous wealth behind, without making arrangements with how that wealth should be wisely distributed. Such negligence is not good for society, it is not good for one’s family, and it is not good for the world. Efforts should be made at every stage of our consciousness, that we shall not live forever.

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OPI NION

127

T H I S D AY MONDAYSunday MARCH 2022 2023 26 14, February, Vol 27. No 10142

opinion@thisdaylive.com

www.thisdaylive.com

RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR: ONE YEAR ON There is still no clear path to peace, reckons OLALEKAN A. BABATUNDE

SIMBO OLORUNFEMI urges Nigerians to be prepared for all possible outcomes

WHAT IF YOUR CANDIDATE DOES NOT WIN? “Political tribalism is about identities and thus is rooted deeply in emotions. This is why political arguments these days often degenerate into outrage and animosity: people feel as if their identities are under attack when their politics are attacked.”

- Shiao Chong

See Page 28

THE NATURE OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA

ABIODUN KOMOLAFE argues that democracy means different things to different people

See Page 28

EDITORIAL IS HARMATTAN BACK? NOT EXACTLY!

See Page 29

E

ven though this was written a few more suspense-filled days before the election, by the time you are reading, the election might already be over. Nigerians should have been done at the polls carrying out the highly important civic duty of electing the next President along with members of the National Assembly for the 2023-2027 session. All things being equal, results might even be largely in.

For reasons I cannot immediately place my finger on, there is something markedly different about the air in the build-up to this crucial election. Perhaps it is just me. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that for this election, one is more of an Observer than a Participant-Observer as one was in the last two elections. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that we could not have a ‘proper debate’ as we should have had, as part of the build-up. Even with some measured excitement out there, there was something just off, perhaps drab about it. Rather than a climax at the last leg of the campaign, it would appear that the level of enthusiasm actually waned.

There appeared to have been a dampening of spirit on the part of many of those who had been overly optimistic only a few months back. Even the most vociferous ones who had magisterially declared who would be President months ago finally backed down a bit. The rollback in enthusiasm was more evident on the part of some of the supporters of the party in government.

In place of enthusiasm, we began to see more of restiveness and combativeness towards the President, who they had always supported, and whoever they assume to not be on the same page with them, with the Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele being the major culprit.

Some could barely restrain themselves, with their frustration and pent-up anger nudging above boiling point.

It is what it is. That is to be expected. From all indications, we are getting to be firmly entrenched in the age of Political Tribalism. The ‘Us versus Them’ tree has matured over time that all it takes is to be right, is to simply be on the right side of the tribe.All it takes to be wrong is to be on the opposite side. Our man can do no wrong, their man can do no wrong. Political Tribalism, according to Shiao Chong, “is where loyalty to the political tribe is more important than loyalty to anything else. It means that tribe members will go to any length to defend their tribe’s leader...from any criticisms or wrongdoings, regardless of facts. Tribalism means the tribe never concedes an inch to other tribes. It is an “us versus them” mentality, where “them” are seen as morally suspect and morally dangerous while “us” are saints by comparison.”

With the Presidential election only a matter of hours away, the different sides doubled

down on their expectations, seeing victory as the only possible outcome from the election.

Some argued that the only possible outcome is a victory for their candidate. Yet, we have cautioned about moderating expectations, knowing that every election does come with the possibility of more than one outcome. It is good to be optimistic and affirmative. But if you look at it with a bit of caution, one might wonder if that is not a tricky position to take, given that speaking with such a finality is akin to playing God. Whereas some of these expectations might be founded on knowledge that is exclusive to them. However, there is nothing wrong with being a bit circumspect in making public proclamations that summarily rule out the possibility of any other outcome.

Perhaps it is because some of us are trained to also always keep an eye on the margin of error, no matter what the data is saying to us.

As we have always cautioned, it is important to moderate expectations and avoid over-thetop proclamations. After all, it is politics, and it doesn’t take so much for things to turn on its head. It is understandable that with the high emotional investment in the election on the part of some, foreclosing any other outcome than that which they have projected or invested in, is an opium. Yet, as we have always counselled, in a contest of this nature, one must always prepare oneself for any possible outcome, while being mindful that there will always be a tomorrow, no matter what.

Where many (analysts and supporters) often miss is that they see elections as a singlefactor affair. They erroneously see the election as monochrome. Many cite the James Carville phrase ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ to explain the pervasive influence of the state of the economy on outcome of elections. However, they often miss the fact that neither the Clinton victory, nor the subsequent elections can be explained as exclusively determined by the state of the economy. Were that to be so, more red states would have gone blue. The margin of victory would have been higher. The switch from one end of the spectrum to the other would have even been more drastic were that to be the case.

That other factors are always at play, even in America, explains the hold that a candidate like Trump had over his base, despite everything

else. It was a case of other factors, especially that of political tribalism trumping the factor that was played up more by the media.

As it is in America, so is it in Nigeria. The state of the economy is even less of a factor in Nigeria. The electorate in Nigeria is not generally seen as sophisticated. It is said that people vote simply based on ethnicity, UHOLJLRXV DIÀOLDWLRQ RU ÀQDQFLDO LQGXFHPHQW While that might be the case for some, what I have found from years of study is that voting decisions are often more sophisticated than many assume and that the role of these factors are often overplayed.

Take the North, for instance. The first erroneous assumption often made about the North is that it is a monolith, a single voting bloc. Yet, the North has never voted as one. It always voted across many party lines. NPC might have been dominant in the First Republic, but there was NEPU and other parties in NorthCentral. In the second republic, GNPP, NPP and even UPN had presence in the North. The same Northern electorate massively voted for MKO Abiola in opposition to Bashir Tofa from Kano. They voted for Dr Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the South and kept faith with President Muhammadu Buhari over many elections, largely based on admiration for his spartan outlook to life, self-discipline and approximation of him as a friend of the Talakawa.

The point I restate here is that voting decisions are often more sophisticated than generally assumed. The people at the bottom might not consider what the elite will rather have them consider or be motivated by what motivates the elite, but in their own way, they have a way of placing all the issues on the table and taking a decision based on what best resonates with them, AT THAT TIME, on that occasion. It is not a guarantee that they will vote the same way on another occasion, even if the circumstances were the same. That speaks to some level of sophistication.

OLORUNFEMi works for Hoofbeatdotcom, a Nigerian Communications Consultancy and publisher of Africa Enterprise

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T H I S D AY SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2023

RUSSIA - UKRAINE WAR: ONE YEAR ON There is still no clear path to peace, reckons OLALEKAN A. BABATUNDE

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters one year on February 24, it is clear from all indications that the conflict will not end soon. This does not augur well considering the enormous loss of lives, destructions of property and infrastructure on both sides, displacement of Ukrainians majorly across Europe, and of course, the disruption and heavy toll in which the war has caused and will still cause the rest of the world.

As the war enters another year, it offers a fresh look. High cost of energy, food and disruptions to supply chains are a few examples. Besides contributing to high cost of food and fertilizers here in Nigeria, our students studying in Ukraine have had their education interrupted and forced to continue or restart their studies elsewhere in Nigeria and Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. What was initially thought to be a quick war that would end in few hours, even as President Vladimir Putin, the initiator of the conflict, had planned has dragged on for a year and will still continue.

The unflinching support of the NATO led by the United States and the unusual display of courage and determination will not allow the war be concluded in the short term.

Military, diplomatic, media and think tanks experts are buttressing the inevitability of a prolong conflict. For instance, Major General (rtd) James ‘Spider’ Marks of the US Army alluded to this position while speaking on the CNN on Monday February 20. 2023. Also, according to Peter Zeihan on Geopolitics (Feb 9 2023), “The war is just getting started… perhaps the scariest takeaway from the Ukraine War is that it’s just beginning.” President Putin had in some few weeks back indicated on the long prospect of the war before a local audience.

Diplomatic efforts under the auspices of Turkey, India, China and the United Nations (UN) at the early stage of the crisis did not yield peaceful result. Instead, the parties to the conflict are fueling it. Unfortunately, both sides are no more showing any signs to dialogue and negotiate. The events happening as the war clocks a year are turning us to the beginning of another phase of the war, and these are worth examining.

One, to re-strategize for a long conflict, Russia has recruited and mobilized several hundreds of thousands of young men, including the prisoners, its mercenary units, the Wagner Group and the Chechnya leader (Ramzan Kadyrov) have deployed to the battlefields. Iran, North Korea, and Belarus are alleged to be supporting Russia with arms and logistics.

Two, the defiant and more combative speeches made by President Putin and President Joe Biden last week of the anniversary indicate an unrelenting conflict.

Both are divergent in views and substances.

Putin who controls the Russian military, politics, media and economy while speaking at an annual national day suspended the nuclear arms race treaty it has with the US. While firing up the Russian psyche in the speech, he accused the west of a plan to “strategically defeat” Russia. The west

quickly dismissed the remark. This means that no more cooperation on preventing the use of nuclear weapons and therefore, Russia is deploying the nuclear arsenal in its war with Ukraine in an apparent display of defiance in the face of Biden’s support and surprise visit to Ukraine and Poland last week.

The third reason is the surprise visit by President Biden to Kyiv on Monday February 20, four days to the anniversary, which many have seen as a symbolism of support and a clear message to Moscow. During the visit, Biden was quoted on CNN as saying, “We now know that the first phase of the war has ended really with a Russian defeat.” Also while in Warsaw, Poland, Biden was quoted as saying, “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia”.

Four, the magnitude of defence, security, intelligence and humanitarian support Ukraine is receiving from allies shows no endgame in sight. US, NATO, UK, EU, Australia, South Korea, and other western allies are supporting Ukraine to prosecute the war. Biden disclosed in Kyiv that 50 countries are providing economic and military support to Ukraine. Besides, its initial $600m commitment, Japan is pledging $5.5bn in aid to Ukraine to mark the anniversary. Israeli Knesset members have also arrived in Kyiv to reinstate support. The backing will drive the war as consultations and dialogues these allies ought to be engaging to resolve the largest war in Europe since the World War II are discarded.

Five, the show of unlimited support the NATO and western powers made to Ukraine, and what the war has revolutionized would not make it to end soon. According to Biden, the US would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and praised their “heroic” fighting. The US wants to finish the war with Ukrainian victory, as it cannot be a frozen conflict but a victory for Ukraine. He announced another $500m in aid to Kyiv. The morale such gesture would give to Ukrainian troops will prolong the war as no mediator might be willing to commit to the conflict’s quick resolution. The German defence SROLF\ WKH ERRVWHG (8 XQLW\ VROLGLÀHG NATO powers, revived United States commitment to the transatlantic alliance DUH VRPH RI WKH UHDVRQV ZK\ WKH FRQÁLFW will persist. The question that seems to be in the western mind now is, when will we defeat Putin and not when will the war end.

Six, what transpired at the just concluded World Leaders and Security Conference at Munich in Germany shows that peace plan is beyond the horizon of the superpowers.

Today, only China is known to be initiating a peace plan through its head of delegation, Wang Yi. Though the same China is being feared by the US Foreign Secretary, Antony Blinken to be considering “lethal support” for Russia, a claim denied by China.

BABATUNDE, PHD, is a fellow and peacebuilding strategist at the Nigeria’s Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Abuja; writes via austinebabatunde@yahoo.com.

THE NATURE OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA ABIODUN KOMOLAFE argues that democracy means different things to different people

Talking seriously, Democracy as a concept was alien to Africa, and by implication, Nigeria.

Largely, right from inception, democratic norms and values were never assimilated and LQWHUQDOLVHG E\ $IULFDQV $W EHVW LWV GHÀQLWLRQ and perception were conveniently based on assumptions. So, it meant different things to different people who thought differently.

Needless to repeat that there was no conscious effort on the part of the elite leadership – partially or deliberately – to teach the people its real meaning because it was antithetical to the process of maladministration that had gained currency in the land.

We need not forget that, where democracy thrives, Colonialism cannot stand. In other words, it wouldn’t have been in the best interest of the political leadership at the time to dig its own grave! So, the few people who were educated, but who might not have studied Political Science, only had a vague understanding of what the concept was; and the best interpretation they gave to it was that it’s the ‘rule of the mob’; that it allowed for ‘everybody to come in.’ Unfortunately, the basic principles of democracy having respect for the Rule of Law, for example, was missing.

So, it’s because education as a vital component of democratic practice was missing when the concept was introduced that it has been giving Nigerians a bloody nose. That’s why, XS WLOO WRPRUURZ HYHQ ZKHQ 1LJHULDQV GHÀQH Democracy correctly, they practise it wrongly!

The other aspect is the intermingling of the interpretation of Politics with Democracy. For all we care, they are two different concepts.

Whereas Politics stands apart, Democracy is a political paradigm. That’s why other paradigms like Theocracy, Autocracy and Dictatorship exist. So, irrespective of the modalities, the content analysis of Democracy stands out. In Politics, anything goes! In a Democracy, there’s nothing like that! Whereas godfatherism thrives in Politics, there’s nothing like that in a Democracy. It has to be the rule of the majority; and it has to be processed!

Whereas there can be an alliance, or a reDOOLDQFH HYHQ WKH PDQDJHPHQW RI FRQÁLFWV in Politics, in a Democracy, issues are sorted, formally, through the rule of the majority; and, once the majority uphold or take a stand on an issue, other sides of the ballot will have to kowtow, because that’s the rule! They can only wait for the next opportunity to push their agenda. The interesting part of Democracy is that one can continue to push one’s agenda 50 times without success, until one has the majority by one’s side. Still, one must be law-abiding!

Sad that all these are not applicable in Nigeria!

In our fated clime, people make attempts to change the rules, even the Constitution overnight. So, how can that be a Democracy?

As things stand in Nigeria, Democracy does not mean the same thing between the North and the South. In the North, it is seen as being opposed to the survival of Feudalism.

So, the Sultanate and the Emirates still frown at people revolting and ensure that their people are kept in perpetual order, even if they are suffering. In the Southern part of the country, education has played a very big role in ensuring that the people know their rights.

They are also exposed to how they can challenge the authorities, or seek redress in a court of competent jurisdiction whenever their rights are infringed upon; and they are encouraged to do so! In Lagos State, IRU H[DPSOH WKHUH LV 2IÀFH RI WKH 3XEOLF Defender (OPD), established on June 24, 2000, where those who cannot afford the services of lawyers can go at no cost; which makes it dangerous for anybody to infringe on the law with impunity. Of a fact, that has not only deepened Democracy but also encouraged true mass participation. After all, true participation is when, indeed, one can effectively participate, not just by

words of mouth!

The nature of democracy is also a function of its birth, or introduction into the Nigerian society. In other words, it is the society that creates the operational modalities for any paradigm. In the Greek city states where it was invented, it was the love for the masses to have a say in how they were (being) governed that led to democracy! As a matter of fact, it was a rebellious paradigm; rebellious because it came to correct, checkmate and free the people from dictatorship, monarchy and allied concepts. That’s why the ‘Rule of the Majority’ has continued to have many enemies. Even the Church, as it stands today, cannot compel its faithful to vote for XYZ candidates, simply because they (the faithful) have their distinct individual PLQGV DQG DELOLWLHV WR WDNH VSHFLÀF decisions.

Let’s talk about Nigeria where the son of a farmer - a man from nowhere but with brilliant ideas – is aspiring to become, say, a Senator. For God’s sake, how will he go about it? For such a person to pursue KLV OLIH DPELWLRQ KH PXVW ÀUVW KDYH WR JR and steal some money and make sure that he belongs to certain socially-recognised groups or a specialised class of people.

Otherwise, he had better stay in his father’s hut and be planting yam and cassava for local consumption. If he is fortunate enough to come across grasscutters, let him learn their language with a view to sharing his ‘brilliant ideas’ with them and never dare enter Nigeria’s dirty political waters.

Democracy is also infused with our sociocultural beliefs. For instance, a man who doesn’t have a wife is deemed to be an irresponsible person. As such, he cannot be ‘a responsible statesman.’ Likewise, a woman who doesn’t have a husband is considered a loose woman. In the eye of our sociocultural values, anybody can come in and sleep with her whenever her body craves sexual satisfaction. In our fated democracy, such a person, FRQVLGHUHG GHÀFLHQW LQ WKH PDQDJHPHQW of her home, will not only be seen as very bad for the society but also repudiate some of the cultural norms of that society. Again, consider a governor who hides under simplistic excuses to deny a certain class of public servants their legitimate salaries!

Isn’t he overreaching in abuse of power? By so doing, isn’t he creating a pool of potential public servant thieves in government whenever the opportunity beckons?

The nature of democracy in Nigeria is mix-multitude. It is also multidimensional DQG VRPHWLPHV LVVXH VSHFLÀF ,Q RWKHU words, democracy in our clime does not have standardised applications.

Otherwise, what’s democratic in Oyo will be an expression of democratic practice in Sokoto; and democracy in Borno State will also take the shape and size of the democratic practice in Osun.

KOMOLAFE writes from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State

29 T H I S D AY SUNDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2023

EDITORIAL

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

IS HARMATTAN BACK? NOT EXACTLY! Air pollution has become a major health hazard across Nigeria. Regulators must wake up to their responsibility

C

ontrary to what most Nigerians may think, the chill in the air across the country is not a return of the Harmattan.

The Air Quality Index is 401 and rated ‘hazardous’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO). While we await response from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT) on this new chill and possible high rate of air pollution, there is an urgent need for Nigerians to take necessary precaution and keep themselves safe.

The quality of air is so bad that WHO experts have recommended people to wear pollution masks, and XVH DLU SXULÀHUV LI SRVVLEOH 7KH\ DUH DOVR DGYLVHG to close windows, do with indoor ventilation, and avoid needless outdoor activities.

Air pollution, which is the presence of one or more contaminants in the atmosphere, such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odour, smoke, or vapour, in quantities and duration, can be injurious to human health. Breathing in these pollutants, according WR :+2 OHDGV WR LQÁDPPDWLRQ R[LGDWLYH VWUHVV immunosuppression, and mutagenicity in cells throughout our body, impacting the lungs, heart, brain, among other organs and ultimately leading to disease. From smog hanging over cities to smoke inside the home, air pollution poses a major threat to health and climate across the globe. Our main concern is about Nigeria.

Only recently, a report by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), an international resource watchdog group, says Nigeria has some of the worst air pollution in the world, with dense clouds of choking soot hanging over gridlocked cities, leading to a rise in serious health conditions.

7KH XQVRSKLVWLFDWHG UHÀQLQJ SURFHVV DGRSWHG LQ WKH creeks is a case in point. This sends up impurities into the atmosphere, leading to the kind of problem that has been witnessed in recent years. Cities that the SDN report listed as most affected by this challenge are Port Harcourt, Aba, Onitsha, and Kaduna where poor air quality has reached crisis levels of pollution in recent years. There is irrefutable evidence of cause to effect, considering the rising cases of asthma, and

respiratory diseases in the country.

It is noteworthy that the bad quality of fuel imported and used in the country has been a source of concern. Besides, in most Nigerian cities, vehicles with unacceptable emission standards clog the streets, oozing impurities unchecked. Majority of these are used vehicles that are close to end-of-life, meaning they are forbidden in the streets of the European and American cities from where they were exported to Nigeria. More of these vehicles are expected on the shores of the nation in the years ahead, as the developed world increases its VZLWFK WR HOHFWULF YHKLFOHV WKDW DUH PRUH ÀWWLQJ IRU the global quest for a reduction of emissions of CO2 that is implicated in global warming which triggers catastrophic weather events that destroy lives and property.

In 17 countries across Africa, air pollution contributes to more than 50 per cent of pneumonia deaths. Most of these deaths are among children.

In November 2021, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that many children EHORZ ÀYH \HDUV ROG LQ 1LJHULD GLH RI RXWGRRU air pollution-related pneumonia and of household air pollution-related pneumonia. UNICEF’s VWDJJHULQJ ÀJXUHV SXW 1LJHULD DV KDYLQJ WKH highest number of air pollution-related child pneumonia deaths in the world. According to UN agency, “almost 185 children under the age of five die every day from pneumonia due to air pollution in Nigeria – the majority of them from air pollution in the household, including that from cooking over open fires or cookstoves in the home.”

Nigeria’s air quality is expected to be governed by the National Environmental (Air Quality Control) Regulations, 2014. The purpose of these regulations, according to the government is to provide for improved control of the nation’s air quality to such an extent that would enhance the protection of ÁRUD DQG IDXQD KXPDQ KHDOWK DQG RWKHU UHVRXUFHV affected by air quality deteriorations. But there is a seeming lack of the political will to implement the regulations.

UNICEF’s staggering figures put Nigeria as having the highest number of air pollutionrelated child pneumonia deaths in the world

Letters to the Editor

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

LETTERS

OBOSI: IN FIRM GRIP OF CULTIC KILLINGS

Who doesn’t know the town called Obosi? It is an ancient town in Anambra State, the origin of which dates back to hundreds of years ago. It boasts of individuals who reached the acme of their careers and achieved global recognitions in their respective endeavours.

In this regard, my mind readily thinks of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth; Chief Dan Chuke, a former federal minister, and Chief Mike Ajegbo, a one-time senator in Nigeria. The late Chief Chimezie Ikeazor, a legal luminary, and founder of the free legal aid, hailed from Obosi; and Chief Osita Chidoka of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) fame. Chief Chidoka would later become the Minister of Aviation.

But, lately, Obosi town, which used to be a haven of cultural festivals and oasis of peace, has morphed to a killing field. It is an incontrovertible fact that the erosion of family values among Nigerians is the reason we have youths, who have become cultists. And,

sadly, they have turned the town of Obosi to a hotbed of cultic activities. Now, many Obosi youths wield guns and romanticize violence instead of embracing education, and clutching books. Their membership of deadly cult groups boost their egos. And the trademark of those cult groups is engaging in violent acts and the shedding of people’s blood. The battle for supremacy among the cult groups has caused the deaths of innumerable young people in Obosi town. The anarchic situation, which reigns in Obosi, Anambra State, is symptomatic of Nigeria’s malaise, and represents our country’s descent into a banana and/or failed state. Obosi town is now sucked into a maelstrom of cult killings. And the control of a large swathe of Obosi land by marauding cultists highlights the ineffectiveness of the security agents to secure human lives in Obosi.

Last year, a great number of Obosi young men were shot dead during rival cult fights. Those who died in the cult wars were young men in the prime of their lives. To stem the tide of the

cult killings and restore normalcy to the town, the President General of Obosi Development Union (ODU), Mr. Ikechukwu Okolo, waded into the matter. He was earnest in his quest to find a lasting solution to the cult menace in Obosi.

A meeting was convened for the discussion of the vexed matter. During the meeting, tension arose among the participants, and their tempers flared. So, the president general of ODU, the late Mr. Ikechukwu Okolo, left the venue of the meeting, angrily. While driving back to his office, he was ambushed by gunmen and shot dead.

His body which was mauled and riddled with bullets slumped on the seat of his car. His death sent shockwaves across the town and roused the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka 111 to action. His death, no doubt, was one death too many. Igwe Iweka, who claimed to know the killers of Mr. Ikechukwu Okolo, has forwarded the names of the alleged killers of Mr. Ikechukwu Okolo to the state governor, Prof.

Chukwuma Soludo. In his response, Professor

Soludo expressed his resolve to extirpate cult killings in Obosi and bring the killers of the ODU president, Mr. Okolo, to justice.

But with the passage of time, it has dawned on us that governor Chukwuma Soludo has, apparently, reneged on his promise to rid Obosi of cult killings.

The spate of cult killings has intensified rather than abated in Obosi. No day passes without some suspected cultists being killed in the town in rival cult wars. So death of young people by gunshot has become a daily occurrence in Obosi.As a result, many young ladies, who are in their twenties, have become widows, prematurely.

To make matters worse, a murderous cult leader, who is not a native of Obosi, has written a letter to the Obosi people, threatening to invade the town and kill males whose ages are between 15 years and 50 years. The notorious cultist whose sanguinary proclivity is insatiable wants to avenge the death of an Obosi-born cultist who belonged to the same cult group as he belongs.

Harris Nnamdi, Obosi, Anambra State

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V4texx: Painting Dubai Nights Red What happens when a Dubai-based hotel, Palazzo Versace, seeks to build a themed performance around a famous global icon in music? The result is V4texx Band, scouted by the ace music producer, Quincy Jones and the music band, which is led by the famous percussionist, Kennedy Dante, has three Nigerian instrumentalists. The combined energy of Jones and Dante, is one of the smartest moves yet by the management of the hotel, who has created a specialised entertainment package that is unrivalled anywhere in the world, writes Vanessa Obioha

Dante Kennedy

V4texx band

“W

here have you been all my life?”

That’s one of the likely reactions after being entertained by the V4texx Band. Given the fact that it is a fourpiece aggregation of accomplished multiinstrumentalists, it could easily be mistaken for a full orchestra, owing mainly to the power of its

delivery and the demonstration of great skill by the band members. Experiencing the band is such an impactful feeling that endures and longs for an encore.

The powerful quartet which has become talk of the town (and beyond) has raised the bar of entertainment, particularly for nightlife in Dubai. V4texx Band is made up of accomplished instrumentalists who churn out masterly pieces that keep its audience asking for more. The Dubai-based band has a unique and interesting

history. It was formed out of the quest by the management of the Palazzo Versace Hotel in the United Arab Emirates to build a themed performance around a famous global icon in music. Not many would fault its choice of Quincy Jones, the ace music producer who made a name for himself and Michael Jackson, the late King of Pop. His assignment was to create a self-styled bar and lounge within the hotel. Jones went to work immediately by identifying a talent who understood what was required of him. That man is the immensely gifted Dante Kennedy, who has a diverse background cutting across music, marketing and sales.

Kennedy, CEO of V4texx Music Group LLC also doubles as the Entertainment and Music Director for the Palazzo Versace Hotel, Dubai. For Jones to trust him with that demanding responsibility says a lot about his lofty heights in entertainment. It is common knowledge that it is not easy to earn the respect of Jones. The ace producer’s trust in Dante is very revealing of his immense talent, and so far he has lived up to his rating. Completely at peace with himself and what was required of him, Dante formed the V4texx Band.

The name of the band is pronounced “Vortex.” The keyboardist, Emmanuel is from Nigeria. Mr. Segs plays the saxophone. He is also from Nigeria. The guitarist, Ajayi can play a couple of other instruments, as well. He is another Nigerian. Dante plays the drums and other percussion instruments. He completes this dynamic quartet that is changing the nightlife of Dubai. Dante said that being surrounded by Nigerians in his workspace “was not planned.”

“Having these musicians from the same nationality was not planned. Before Ajayi, the newest member of the band joined us, we had a Kenyan and before him, a Cuban, playing the guitar,” Dante said.

To be sure, there are a couple of platforms through which Nigerian entertainers are showcased in Dubai. The Expo 2020 Dubai, which ran on the theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,’ is one such event. Held every five years, the World Expo welcomed over 24 million visitors from 192 participating countries to Dubai. On Nigeria’s Day at the Expo 2020 Dubai, ARISE Fashion Week reminded the world why Nigeria is a land of endless opportunities and outstanding talents. With a stunning runway and riveting music performances. There is also One Africa Music Festival which is held in Dubai and promoted by Paul Okoye.

Information sourced from Dubai Tourism Statistics puts total international visitors from November 2022 to January 16, 2023 at 12.82 million, out of which, inbound tourism data for Dubai, estimates that hundreds of thousands of Nigerians visit the emirate every year, marking a year-on-year rise of 33%. The result makes Nigeria Dubai’s fastest-growing visitor source market. Apart from those who come and go for business or leisure, dependable sources state that around 50,000 to 100,000 Nigerians live in the UAE. About two years ago, the release of a new labour policy, prohibited Nigerian diaspora living and working in the UAE from being provided with a work permit. This led to the mass deportation of Nigerians from the Gulf nation.

For most Nigerians who can afford a taste of luxury, Dubai is their first choice, as visitors are only required to get a visa on arrival into the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Despite the suspension of visas to Nigerians of certain age categories, Dubai still holds a strong attraction to Nigerians. Being a serious professional to the core, the nationality of members of the band wasn’t something that bothered him. His pressing concern is to do whatever it takes to keep his audience happy.

Last January, the leader of the band, Dante Kennedy recorded his 400th performance in the Middle East country.

He captures the changing scenario

of the entertainment scene in Dubai. “The entertainment scene in the UAE is very good.

There is growth because of individuality and what we can collectively do in the entertainment sector within the country. The people in the entertainment business have come together to create a good foundation.”

The capabilities of his team have never failed, said Dante. “What we do every night is determined by our perception of the kind of people sitting around the table in the room.

We celebrate the evening based on the kind of people sitting in the crowd. If they want to dance, we have to play something danceable or they just want to sit down and listen with their glasses of wine, we are capable of doing that as well. The band is so versatile in its delivery.”

Working in a region of the Middle East that keeps breaking its own record for the spectacular, V4texx comes highly recommended to the stream of tourists pouring into Dubai.

The band is inspired by Jones, a living legend in music production, whose name provides a kind of talisman that draws a crowd to hear and watch the band perform inside one of the most wonderful hospitality establishments in the world.

In a part of the world that is used to having everything described in fitting superlatives, it is extremely challenging to come up with something that finds a space among the spectacular. The strategic harnessing of the combined energies from Palazzo Versace, Jones and Kennedy is one of the smartest moves yet by the management of the hotel, who have created a specialised entertainment package that is unrivaled anywhere in the world.

While it is common to write about things and events in Dubai in magniloquent words, since almost everything is purposely created as phenomenal, V4texx without doubt, has earned its place among the stars.

By choosing Dante, Jones was putting his good name and everything he has achieved on the line. If it failed, it could put a question mark on some of the things he had done in the past.

Thankfully, he has not regretted that decision for close to two years now; night after night, as satisfied audiences keep coming back for more entertainment. It proves that Jones still has the magic as a talent scout and the almost clairvoyant ability to breathe new life into an existing product as he did with Chaz Jankel’s song, ‘Ai No Corrida.’ Jones took the song in 1981 and transformed it to win the Grammy in 1982 for himself in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals category.

Versatility is a common trait of V4texx as the band rises to the challenge of diverse tastes for music from audience members at every performance.

Dante has found more than one opportunity in Dubai, while the band is performing, he is also filling a void in the administrative and business side of music.

“So many people are coming to Dubai to perform but they are missing that other portion like licensing, contracts and different things. You are not going to give away your hard-earned material that you recorded in the studio for free to companies that are earning revenue off your hard work. So, I am trying to make some awareness and business out of that.”

At the end of the day (more like the end of the night), all Dante wants to do is just paint the nightlife of Dubai red “by doing whatever it takes to make sure that everyone is happy.”

Credited with designing a sneaker brand called Taek, this famous drummer who has shared the stage and worked in the studio with many leading American musicians considers his time in Dubai as a very important assignment to try and change how music from the West can be marketed to a conservative society like the UAE. For Dante, whose other interests include fashion and marketing, one of the challenges of taking up residency at the Palazzo Versace is the distance it creates between him and his family.

It makes him feel like he is “home alone,” most times but his wife understands that he is at work for the good of the family.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

INTERNATIONAL Renewing the Golden Years of Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry: The ARCAN and Environmental Conditionality

O

ne critical issue raised at the Family Reunion LuncheonandCocktailorganisedbytheAssociation of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria (ARCAN), Lagos Chapter, was the‘GoldenYears’ of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).The issue was raised by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCVO, CFR, CON, the third Commonwealth Secretary General (1990-2000) during his opening remarks as Chairman of the event. As he explained it, the golden years of the MFA coincided with the time it was located at 23 Marina, Lagos. The Ministry, which was created in 1961, was moved to Abuja in 1992 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Thus, 1961-1992 were the‘Golden Years’of the MFA. Similarly, Professor Akinjide Osuntokun, OON, FNAL, an academic diplomatist, noted in the Academy of International Affairs’WhatsApp platform that the‘GoldenYears’of Nigeria’s Foreign Policy dates back to 2007. As he put it,‘we should not forget that what our colleagues are saying may be right up to the end of Obasanjo regime up to 2007.

After that time the‘‘golden era’of Nigeria’s foreign policy collapsed.’’

True, Nigeria had a foreign policy in the period 1960-2007.Thereafter, foreign policy focus was not clear, not programmatic and not forwardlooking. From 2007, it was more of reactive foreign policy.

Explicated differently, Nigeria first made Africa the cornerstone of Nigeria’s foreign policy in 1960 and then the centrepiece in 1976 under General Olusegun Obasanjo following the recommendation of the ProfessorAdebayoAdedejicommittee.In1963,Nigeriaformulatedtwo exceptions to the principle of non-interference and non-intervention as contained in Article 2(7) of the United Nations Charter: Nigeria could not remain indifferent to the killing of Sylvanus Olympio in Togo, a very friendly person to Nigeria and Nigeria could not but have the responsibility to intervene to protect her national interest.

The second exception was apartheid which Nigeria considered must not be considered as an internal affair of South Africa. Consequently, Nigeria formulated the policy of‘No Compromise with Apartheid.

Additionally, during the post-civil war era, the Commissioner for ExternalAffairsunderGeneralYakubuGowon,Dr.OkoiArikpo,similarly came up with the policy decision of under no circumstance would Nigeria accept the use of Africa solely as a source of raw materials for the development of Europe. General Obasanjo’s nationalisation of the Barclays Bank and British Petroleum were further illustrations of Nigeria’s foreign policy golden years.

In this regard, were the golden years of Nigeria’s foreign policy the same as the golden years of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Let us first deal with the character of the ARCAN luncheon.

The Luncheon-Cocktail The luncheon-cocktail was held at the residence of Ambassador Omotayo Ogunsulire, a nonagenarian, and one of the originalTwelve DiplomaticApostlesofNigeria,onSunday,February19,2023onVictoria Island, Lagos.The luncheon was significant because it was a platform for dousing tension. It was also quite interesting because of its purpose, which is first to share ideas on why all those who have patriotically and loyally served the Nigerian nation-state are not always given their due respect; Secondly to create an opportunity to commiserate with the family of, and give honour to, the veteran diplomats that had served Nigeria well and passed on; to reflect on the foreign policy challenges with the Government of Nigeria is currently faced; and thirdly to show solidarity with one another, especially in light of the many controversies surrounding the status of ambassadors in Nigeria and international relations.

It should be noted that membership of the ARCAN, at least from the name, is only open to ambassadors that were careerists before their retirement. Ambassadors who were accredited to foreign countries on the basis of political consideration cannot be accommodated as members of the ARCAN.This is one reason for the quest by political ambassadors to establish an association of non-career ambassadors. In fact, the initial name of the ARCAN was Association of Retired Ambassadors of Nigeria (ARAN). It was partly because of this non-careerist question that led to the inclusion of ‘career’ into the name. Retired Ambassadors-in-situ are legitimately qualified to join the ARCAN as diplomatic careerists before the issuance of their Letters of Commission.

with

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

L-R: Ambassador Omotayo Ogunsulire, Ambassador Olusegun Akinsanya, and Chief Emeka Anyaoku Noteworthy in this case is the comparative attitudinal disposition of a career ambassador and a political ambassador.’Career ambassadors have a diplomatic culture and discipline which political ambassadors much often do not have. The culture of civil and public servants in Nigeria is necessarily Nigerian in character, while that of career ambassadors extends beyond the shores of Nigeria. Their culture is internationally defined and regulated. This is the first fundamental difference. Secondly, political ambassadors often attempt to bypass the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, preferring to deal directly with the presidency. Probably this partly explains why the more powerful ambassadors of the great powers also seek to relate directly with the Presidency, not going through the Foreign Ministry as required.This unconventional style undoubtedly undermines the Foreign Ministry and also belittles the established diplomatic processes.This behaviour of the political ambassadors is partly explained by their first line of interestwhichisthatoftheirpoliticalpartyandnotthenationalinterest.

Thirdly, political ambassadors often ignore protocolar rules and often behave arrogantly because of their belief in political connections.

Although many political ambassadors are as much disciplined like the career ambassadors, the truth remains that every career ambassador has‘yours obediently’as his operational watchwords. Political ambassadors are obediently disobedient.

Organisationally, the luncheon reflected diplomacy in practice.

For instance, on arrival at the venue of event, invited guests first took a‘diplomatic selfie photograph,’backing a good, shining, colourful and cultural background before going round to greet the elders and sitting down. Although tables and seats were not numbered, and no table name cards were provided, all invited guests knew where to sit in the way water always finds its own level. Diplomatic seniority and camaraderie played a major factor in finding where to find a seat. More importantly, room was never given to gate-crashing and security was water-tight. The luncheon took place in an open oxygenated air. All the guests were dressed in Nigerian attires and national dresses.The

Finally, under normal circumstance, a methodological framework for translating the character of extraordinary and plenipotentiary of any retired ambassador of Nigeria in the preparation for a new era of golden foreign policy and Ministry of foreign Affairs is what we can call triangnosis, rather than diagnosis which can be carried out by one person or more, but basically by two people because of ‘dia’. Triangnosis is more appropriate in the context of the global challenges with which the Nigerian foreign policy process is currently faced.

The first angle of the triangnosis is a priori comprised of the Federal Government at the level of which the final decision is taken. The second angle should be occupied by the ARCAN which, by necessity, has the unique role of offering suggestions to Government based on their past empirical knowledge, while the NIIA which has to occupy the third angle should be charged with the responsibility of special further research on the feasibility of suggested policy attitudes, as well as carry out investigation on the foreign policy attitudes of foreign countries toward Nigeria. Triangnosis as an analytical method can then be articulated from time to time. It is by so doing that any effort at restoration of the old Golden Years can come to be. In this regard, what led to the collapse of the previous golden years must first be meaningfully addressed

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VIE INTERNATIONALE

women dressed more gorgeously than their men. Speeches delivered followed the rule of KISS (Keeping It Short and Simple).

Additionally,thefoundationdiplomatsandthediplomaticeggheads sat in the innermost part of the event venue, which was considered as the head-table. The approach to the table arrangement was à la Chinoise, that is, the tables were neither square nor quadrilateral, meaning that there was no room for a head of table.The Anglo-Saxons have tables in quadrilateral or square shape and often have a head at one edge. However, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a veteran diplomatist, who did not serve as an ambassador before his appointment as the Commonwealth Secretary General and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, served as the Chairman of the cocktail-luncheon and his table was round. Seated with him at his table were the sagacious Super Permanent Secretary, Chief Phillip Asiodu and his wife, and Ambassador Abdullahi Attah and his wife. The light complexioned Henry Odein Ajumogobia, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, with his wife, Awuneba, sat next to the Anyaoku table.

While Chief Asiodu, Chief Anyaoku, and the Ajumogobias sat at angle 90 degrees to the left of the venue, the wives of former Foreign Ministers, seasoned ambassadors and Foreign Service Officers sat at the other angle 90 degrees to the right. Her Excellency, Mrs Kehinde Ashiru; Her Excellency, Mrs Bunmi Adeniji; Her Excellency, Mrs.Yinka Fowora; Mrs. Yemisi Olukanni, Mrs Abolurin, wife of the Secretary to the ARCAN, were in thisangle 90 degrees to the right. Etc. Perhaps more interestingly, three people could not sit: Ambassadors Segun Akinsanya, the ARCAN President, Lagos chapter; and Ambassador Wole Coker, because they were coordinating receptions and food diplomacy.The third person, while Ambassador Ayo Olukanni served as Master of Ceremony, coordinating the speeches.

And perhaps most importantly, what can be described as an extraordinary seat without a table, backing the food service centre, was occupied by Mrs. Soba Ogunsulire, who was visibly wrapped up in the glory of her beauty at old age, physiognomically quiet, cool, calm, and collected, and looking at all guests coming in and sitting down.

Whatcouldhavebeenmoreinterestingthanhavingaverysumptuous luncheon provided by the V. GINIS caterers who provided assorted food à la Nigériana and Chinoise. was provided. Food was unlimited and bar was inexhaustible!The environment was serene, quite oxygenated. No music.The various drivers and support staff who came with the invited guests, were all seated outside along the Macadamised Akin Adesola way. Inside and outside, everyone was itching to eat, wine and‘cool temper.’The environment was made natural. And true enough, Ambassador Segun Akinsanya, could not have been much happier. So were Ambassadors Ani and his wife, Ganiyu Akanbi, Korede Willoughby, Layi Laseinde, Wole Coker who took advantage of the occasion to engage in discussions on foreign policy challenges.

Perhaps most interestingly were the various developments of the week, anxiety of the February 25 presidential elections, and the reflexion of Chief Emeka Anyaoku on the golden years of Nigeria’s foreign policy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which prompted the journey down the memory lane by many guests. In this regard, can there be any golden age of the foreign Ministry again in light of the deepening diplomatic challenges and complexities?

New Golden Years and Challenges It is useful to begin the analysis of the new golden years by first reconciling whether Nigeria’s foreign policy is different from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.This is a desideratum in finally determining the beginning and end of the golden years of Nigeria’s foreign policy and of the Ministry of Foreign Ministry.True, at one level, the Foreign Ministry formulates and implements foreign policy, meaning that the two cannot be considered to be synonymous.The Ministry is a subject while foreign policy is an object that the subject is acting upon.

And yet, both foreign policy and Foreign Ministry constitute two sides of the same coin, and therefore inseparable. It is like the relationship between a pestle and a mortar in pounding functions.

Considered as such, the golden years of Nigeria’s foreign policy and those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are largely a resultant from the personality of all the actors, and particularly the ambassadors who are involved in formulation and implementation of foreign policy as careerists. He serves as the nexus between foreign policy and the Ministry. It is actually the ambassadors that define the goldenness of any of the years.

Put differently, can the goldenness years of foreign policy be different from the goldenness of the Foreign Ministry? The answer can be yes and no, depending on the extent of quality of decision processes, success or failure of policy in question, and overall self-satisfaction. In this regard, if we admit that the golden years of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ended at the point of movement of the Ministry from Lagos to Abuja, how do we explain the discontinuity of the goldenness? Were the environmental conditionings inclement? Did the Ministry relocate without its staff? If the relocation also included the staff, how do we explain the change of attitude of the same staff to the extent that the staff could no longer perform the way they had been doing well before relocation to Abuja? Could the factor of non-goldenness be traced to no foreign policy focus? De-apartheidisation was a major dynamic of the golden years. If the Foreign Ministry was moved in 1992 to Abuja after the carving out of the Federal CapitalTerritory in December 1991 and Apartheid South Africa was only liberated in 1994, lack of foreign policy focus can be a tenable excuse understandably for two reasons.

Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

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E K E O M A E D I T H A KW U - U D E

AN EX-BEAUTY QUEEN CHARTING A NEW COURSE Her beauty goes beyond a beautiful face to her brain. No beauty queen has ever enmeshed herself in the classrooms like Ekeoma Edith Akwu-Ude, former Miss Taraba, who participated in the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant in 2009. Once a federal government scholar, Akwu-Ude is also an author, with several degrees both home and abroad. In recent times, she yielded to her inner voice by re-awakening her childhood dreams by releasing an album titled: ‘Be Glorified’ on YouTube. This entrepreneur from Ebonyi State tells Funke Olaode why she is charting a new course in music in the midst of academic pursuits.

keoma Edith AkwuUde has the looks of ‘slay queens’ - a glamorous appearance- traceable to her background as an ex-queen. But beneath her outer outlooks lies an intellectual whose academic pursuits can make even an academic green with envy.

Her love for academics began several years ago at Challawa Schools, Kaduna when she received a federal government scholarship as one of outstanding students. Spurred by this national recognition, Edith vowed to conquer the academic terrains.

Shortly after receiving the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate in 1999, she proceeded to University of Uyo where she earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Food Engineering (1999-2002). She was at the Ebonyi State University for a Diploma in Law 2003-2005, Dominion Leadership Institute of Basic and Advanced Courses 2005 and 2006, University of Nigeria where she bagged a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, 2008- 2012.

She visited the university five years later to collect a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).

Between 2019-2022, she bagged a Masters of Divinity West Africa Theological Seminary and capped it with a Master of Science in Finance and Accounting, University of Westminster London, 2022-2023.

In the midst of her ‘riotous’ academic pursuits, Edith has done this and that. Between May 2017 and May 2018, she served as Technical Assistant to the Governor of Ebonyi State on Food Security and Nutrition, providing dietary intervention for communities across 13 local government areas of the state. She also wrote a book titled “The Word with Edith.”

How come you love books?

Don’t you get tired? I posed the question to her. ‘Yeah! I love books.

For me, I believe as long as you still have the drive to make an impact and live a significant life, you will always have something come up.

So, I think I am just one of those people who will keep on studying,” she said.

One would think the academic pursuit would wear her out in time but she insisted that she never got tired of writing exams.

“I like to get knowledge. I am never tired of seeking out knowledge. I do a lot of informal reading but sometimes, there are things you want to do and they will expect you to have a degree

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/victoria.olaode@thisdaylive.com.

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With My Perpetual Presence in the Classrooms, I May End up Becoming a Lecturer in it so that they will see you as an authority in that area. So, you have to do it. Like I said, as long as there is still one more person to impact, or one more thing to do to be significant, it keeps me there, it keeps pushing me forward.”

Edith may have won her academic recognition as a teenager in 1996, she still doesn’t consider herself as a gifted child, but a child of grace. “I don’t know about being gifted but I was surprised when they called my name, I was really surprised. I have a quick mind by God’s grace and I retain whatever I learn.”

A widely travelled individual, Edith has represented Nigerian youths at different fora across Africa, Europe and America. Her beauty earned her a crown at the state level when in 2009, she was crowned the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria for Taraba State. But her new chart tilting towards entertainment caught everyone off guard. Why a foray into music this time?

“Life is evolving and so are talents,” she responded. “I love singing, I love music, and music is healing to the soul and spirit.

And as a devout Christian, it also has its place in Christian settings.

So, I have been in the choir since I was a child even though I had not really given it a lot of attention.

People always tell me to sing or release an album. But I have never really thought about it. In fact, I never believed I was finally going to get around to doing this.

But I like it, it is good for people to harness whatever talent they have. God will expect us to give account of all He has given to us.

Some of us have multiple talents and God expects us to harness each. Some people have been given just one talent, use what you have been given and use it well.”

The title of her album is “Be Glorified” is released under the name Edith Ekeoma and it is already out (released early December 2022) on YouTube.

The song audio is now on digital platforms such as Spotify, apple music, etc people can download it.

“It is gospel. I am a born-again Christian. I have been saved for 23 years. However, recently, I discovered a passion for God more than I used to before. I lost a friend who was close to me. I did not know how to deal with the loss so I threw myself into God’s hands to preserve my mental health. I even went to the seminary to study divinity. So, I have a stronger passion for God, and with that comes the desire to lead other people into God’s presence.

It made me value that gift I have always had which I have never really paid attention to. II want to be able to help people know God the way I am getting to know Him. Edith was inspired to release “Be Glorified’ “Because I want people to know God more, I want God to be glorified in our affairs. To be glorified in our lives especially in Nigeria and Africa. You know Nigeria is in a very difficult place,

Akwu-Ude

with the leadership and everything else. So our prayer is that God be lifted up and when He is lifted up, He also lifts people up. My desire is that He is glorified over and above all our circumstances. There are about 10 songs and one of the song’s titles is glorified.

And how has the reception been since it was posted on YouTube?

“I have not even sent the link to anybody, I just posted it and I have been busy, I have not had my mind on it. It is a new page which I only just created. I would however love for those in the choir in any church to subscribe to the page and as many people God is giving new sounds, to send me their songs, and I will share them on that page. We must partner God and with one another to establish His kingdom.”

Is Edith embracing music fully?

“Well, I don’t know how to separate the music from my relationship with God. It is like asking a Christian are you going to be a professor or you focus on serving God. You have to combine it. My identity is in Christ and my service to him. Whatever else I am doing it is always going to be there. I will keep sharing whatever songs God gives me.

In a saturated music market like Nigeria’s, Edith is assured that she would break even.

“Well, your music will express the kind of person you are. There would be music for different kinds of people from the different artists we have out there. Not everyone will connect with me just as much as not everyone connects to some of the biggest names out there.

For me, it’s to help those who can connect with me, encounter God.

There can never be too much of a good thing. It is not a competition.

For genuine Christians, our goal is to lead people to God. Jesus came for one person. If my music can reach one person and help them know God more intimately, my goal is accomplished. I can only do my part and let God do His. It is God who gives the increase. I’m eager to see what He does with this gift He has given me.”

For Edith, her childhood dreams are currently playing back judging by her mum’s conversation of her embracing God as a child even to the pastoral level.

“Funny enough I think early this year, I was discussing with my mum and she said guess what. And I said what? And she said do you know when you were a child you told me you wanted to go to bible school? I was like, are you serious?

She said I told her I wanted to go to bible school and that I wanted to be a pastor. She quickly shut me up and said my friend, you need to go to school, because I was very good with my academics. Maybe, she thought pastors were paupers; so she didn’t even want to nurse whatever I was saying. She did not encourage that at all. And maybe pastors then were not getting their degrees like that apart from certificates from bible school. They didn’t have degrees unlike the way it is now; you can be a minister and have a doctorate in it. And it happened unconsciously because I didn’t know I told her that.”

With arrays of degrees in her kitty, Edith is not far from considering a life in the classrooms.

“Yes, I love knowledge and I like to teach and I like to write books, so I think that I would impart knowledge to some extent. My late dad was a lecturer. He worked as an accountant in a corporate setting and later became a lecturer. I have followed in his footsteps so far. I could lecture at some point. I think that national transformation is my greatest passion right now and every interest I have had still comes down to it. I am passionate about Nigeria and Africa, and that is the truth. Even the music, I still link it to Nigeria, let God be glorified and help us out and let people know Him so that He can transform the place through us all. Even if I decide to become a professor, it would likely be in finance, since it is my major to help Nigeria and would like to impact knowledge. To the best of my knowledge, Nigeria needs to get her economy right because somehow even if we are able to get Nigeria out of where she is right now, tomorrow if we don’t train the younger generation well, they can still fall back into this pit and be in a worse situation than where we are now. It is good that we come out of it and we stay out of it.”

Edith’s hobbies include singing and travelling.

“I love to see places but I don’t like the process of getting there. I don’t like the journey but I love to see places. I think that’s why I love reading. It can take you places without having to actually go there. It is an escape and one can experience life through the eyes of others.”

For the ex-beauty queen, she has no regret about life and if there is a single lesson learnt, “I wish l knew God earlier,” she stated.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾FEBRUARY 26, 2023

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HighLife Tinubu Gets Full Family Support

Tinubu

Presidential campaigns show so much in such little ways that it is not always obvious to observers what they are seeing.

Take Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election for instance. Whatever your opinion of a candidate’s qualification for the seat, surely it is clear that some are more prepared than others. In the case of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, one can see different dimensions of his readiness to win. Among these dimensions, the presence of his family members stands at the top.

Since he declared his intention to be president of Nigeria, many critics have emerged to say that Tinubu is not qualified. Some point to reports that paint him as a criminal without a smidge of goodness in him. Others declare that he is mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually incapable of leading Nigeria out of the stupor that it is in. Okay. But what can one say about Tinubu’s family and their presence in his campaigns?

Without a doubt, the immediate family members of Tinubu have demonstrated absolute loyalty to his dream and ambition. His wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu continues to play the role of a stalwart pillar beside the presidential candidate, doing all she can to support him with the influence that she garnered over the years as a senator.

There is also Tinubu’s daughter, Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, the Iyaloja, who is pushing every button to assist her father. With her political affiliations with market women across Nigeria, especially in Lagos, Tinubu’s daughter represents the might and support of the everyday rural woman.

Then there is Seyi Tinubu, the most visible of them all. He has been running back and forth since the beginning and helped his father to garner the support of young people, especially those with visions for the country. On this front alone, Tinubu deserves the respect of all and sundry.

So, while many of Tinubu’s rivals have families that are waving at them virtually, with no single immediate family member in sight to say that this person is reliable, Tinubu suddenly comes off as a candidate worth considering.

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

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

Why Ladi Adebutu Needs to Respect Institutions Some people begin life on a high note and win the world’s admiration early enough.

Others start life in a valley and have to work themselves until they reach the zenith. The latter wins the admiration and approval of observers and keeps them for a long time. From his recent doings, Ladi Adebutu belongs to the earlier class and persistently demonstrates a need to be schooled in humility.

A video has been making the rounds in which Adebutu, the governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, criticised the council of monarchs in Ogun known as the Yewa Awori. Adebutu was responding to a recent report that the aforenamed council had unanimously and openly prayed for Senator Olamilekan Adeola (alias Yayi) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who is vying for the Ogun West senatorial seat.

According to Adebutu, the Yewa Awori monarchs were not fair. For one, Yayi is already representing the Lagos West senatorial district.

Secondly, Yayi belongs to APC while Adebutu is in the PDP. Thirdly, Adebutu believed that Yayi is not as true an indigene of Ogun as his preferred candidate, Ganiyu Dada, who is also contesting for the Ogun West senatorial position but as a PDP member. With these few points, Adebutu considered himself to be right in his assessment of the matter, going so far as to label the monarchs as partial.

In response, one of the monarchs, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, the Eselu of Iselu, Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun, lambasted Adebutu. Akinyemi referred to Adebutu as a serial loser who does not deserve the Ogun gubernatorial position. He said that Adebutu does not respect his seniors and that is the reason for his predictably

Adebutu

constant political miscarriages.

Indeed, Adebutu started strong on his political journey. Alas, he has fallen so far from grace that it is a wonder he is still spoken about sympathetically in some quarters.

Latest Rich Kid, Fejiro Agbodje’s Luxury Lifestyle and New Award

Agbodje

There are certain power figures in Nigeria whose radar of influence exceeds that of the ordinary politician. Call them transcendent politicians, but these are the people who are regarded as having the ability to call for rains and winds in their regions.

With Imo State and the majority of the South-east, Senator Rochas Okorocha is one such person. However, with the 2023 presidential elections in view, he appears to have disappeared.

What can one say about Okorocha?

How do you catch his trail and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Okorocha? It would be disrespectful to call him a flibbertigibbet because of his many roguish roles in radical incidents in Imo, especially, where he used to be governor. However, despite his many doings, good and bad, he remains someone that many people look up to and expect to unveil his preferred candidate for the mantle

Nigeria has amazing prospects for sustainable economic growth and development, at least enough to compete with some of the celebrated nations of the new world. With individuals like the CEO of Patricia Technologies Limited, Fejiro Agbodje, who are willing to showcase their gifts for the benefit of the country, it is only a matter of time before Nigeria climbs to newer heights. But who is this person?

Everybody wants to know.

Agbodje has become one of the most sought-after grandees in Nigeria.

The reason for this is simple: he is young, wealthy, brilliant, and leads a colourful lifestyle. Unlike many others who are buying expensive automobiles with mysterious or suspicious livelihoods, Agbodje’s affluence can be traced to the exercise of his brain. This was recently confirmed at the Soundcity MVP Awards where Agbodje earned himself the award of Innovation and Excellence in Entrepreneurship and Digital Influence.

Agbodje is only 25 years old and a native of Warri, Delta State. He graduated from the University of Port Harcourt with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics. However, his acumen for business has been flowering since his undergraduate days, especially when he managed a mini restaurant and sold all kinds of things including network airtime and popcorn to sharpen his business judgment.

Back in 2017, Agbodje proved himself to be a visionary beyond his age. He launched Patricia Technologies with the published intention of earning a little from this, and a bit from that. According to the story, his uncle who lived overseas sent him an iTunes gift card. As he did not own an iPhone then, he tried exchanging it for money and ended up being deceived.

Being an intelligent person, he realised that there was an opportunity here and so his company, Patricia Technologies, was born to help Africans trade unused gift cards, whether iTunes or Amazon or any other.

Where is Rochas Okorocha?

of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Of course, this is only the most positive outlook on the position of Okorocha. There are certainly people, big and small, that would rather he disappeared from politics altogether and probably appear in 2043 as a redeemed guru ready to preach peaceful solutions to the world’s problems. Such views have never really bothered the man, not with one court case or another hanging over his head almost perpetually.

The last court case — and therefore, genuine sighting — of Okorocha was after he was freed of the charges of fraud pressed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). As he always does, the former Imo governor emerged victorious and promptly disappeared almost immediately after. Still, this is a sensitive period, so he may soon emerge from the shadows with that confident, I-know-what-Iam-doing look.

Okorocha

Another Femi Otedola’s Massive Support for Education There are all kinds of people in this world.

There are people whose stinginess is enough to flip the earth over, 70×7 times.

And there are those whose hearts are so committed to helping others that their names will always be mentioned with respect and awe. Super philanthropist, businessman extraordinaire, and budding patron of education in Nigeria, Femi Otedola, has struck with his staff of altruism yet again. This time, the beneficiary of his largesse is none other than the tertiary institution over which he is the Vice-Chancellor, Augustine University, Ilara-Epe, Lagos.

Social media was agog as a result of the recent news of Otedola finalising the donation of an engineering faculty

building to the university. The building cost around N2 billion so far, leading many Nigerians to exclaim in pure awe.

It was initially reported that Otedola had finalized the completion of the faculty building. However, we can confirm that Otedola intends to do more for the institution, especially after the foundation-laying ceremony for an extension of the project that was held on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. With the Engineering students of the institution euphoric and considering themselves lucky to have Otedola as a patron, it is clear that the Chairman of Geregu Power PLC intends to throw his full financial might behind the universal pursuit of equitable education.

Otedola

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HIGHLIFE

New Lease of Life for Sally Mbanefo

Modupe Ozolua out of Her Anonymous Cocoon, Bags Presidential Lifetime Achievement Awards in the US These lifetime achievement awards, how do people come about them? Do they simply commit themselves to something meaningful and eventually win the trust of prestigious institutions? How committed does one have to be to be recognized by these institutions?

Well, even though there is no consensus on the answers to these questions, notable entrepreneur and philanthropist, Princess Modupe Ozolua, just received one such lifetime achievement award, necessitating her to break out of her anonymous cocoon.

Surely, she can provide answers as to how one can gain global recognition.

Social media is currently agog with the news that body enhancement genius, the beautiful Princess Ozolua, has earned the admiration and approval of the number one nation on the earth, the United States of America. Based on the reports, the Edo-born noble is likely to be highly sought after in the

days to come.

According to a post by Ozolua on her social media handle, she was honoured to have received the award in the presence of the US President, Joe Biden, and a lot of other dignitaries whom she has great regard for. Of course, many folks would not be too amazed by the news that Ozolua had been recognized with a lifetime achievement award. However, what may open the mouths of all and sundry, even those who have given themselves a mission of keeping an eye on the doings of Princess Ozolua is that the award did not come from a frivolous source. No, it came from the US government.

In truth, it has been a while since any news came about of the princess. Some thought that she had decided to hide away until something big happened to her. Others thought that she just wanted some peace, especially after all her philanthropic activities. The latter is likely more

Ozolua

true considering her personality.

So, great things brought Princess Ozolua out of her cocoon. Great things indeed.

Death of a Matriarch: Austyn Ogannah Loses Mother

Late Ogannah

Human life is fragile. This has been proved time and again by the fact that neither the young nor the old, the poor nor the wealthy, the clever or the slow-witted, can secure their lives against disease and death. And yet, therein is the miracle of life that we find pleasure in it nonetheless. Even knowing this, the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Will Newspaper, Prince Austyn Ogannah, is currently saddened by the loss of his mother, Princess Roseline Oganah.

The news of Oganah’s death broke the internet in the early hours of Tuesday, February 21, 2023. According to the report, she had passed on at the residence of the Oganah family which is located in Agbara, Onicha-Ugbo of Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. That was on Monday, February 20, 2023. And even though the news continues to trigger tears in some quarters, many well-

informed people are convinced that the late matriarch of the Oganah family lived a good life. And she passed on to glory at the ripe old age of 83.

Late Princess Oganah was a senior civil service official in Delta for many years.

Specifically, she was a Vice Principal in the Delta State Civil Service and proved the worth of her service to the state and Nigeria by nurturing children who have and are contributing to the progress of the country.

These include Austyn, Uche Maidoh, Prince Tony Oganah, Dr. Beatrice Oganah-Ikunjeyo, Dr. Pamela Irabor, and Prince Alfred Oganah.

According to the family, burial arrangements are still being made for the matriarch. Nevertheless, it is believed that many dignitaries in Nigeria will be available to bid the final farewell to a woman who has served her family well.

Temporary Reprieve as Appeal Court Restores Umo The Nigerian legal system is facing a lot of criticism at the moment. If the law, which is written down and available for all to see, is valid, why do courts in Nigeria always seem to give judgments that are contrary to one another? While this remains worrisome for every right-thinking Nigerian, it is good news for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno. The Court of Appeal in Abuja recently re-established Eno as the PDP governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom.

Going against the previous judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the Appeal Court concluded that Eno is the genuine PDP gubernatorial candidate.

The reason for the judgment, as reported by members of the Appeal Court panel, is that the decision of the Federal High Court was erroneous and based on the deceptive scheme of the person that got to benefit from

Eno’s previous sack from his desired position in the PDP, Michael Enyong.

Enyong was the individual who became the flagbearer for the PDP in Akwa Ibom after Eno’s victory at the primary was dismissed by the Federal High Court. A member of the House of Representatives standing for Uyo Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Enyong is reported to have conducted a different primary at his compound in which he emerged as the winner. As for the primary exercise conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Enyong and his people wooed the Federal Court into believing that the exercise was in vain with the one they conducted as real.

Now that the Appeal Court has reinstated Eno, things are looking up for him. The conclusion from many people is that the issue with the Federal High Court and Enyong was just a temporary setback. Things are back on track.

Umo

Why are Nigerian Elites Jetting out of the Country?

Adefarasin

Ahead of the 2023 presidential elections which were held yesterday, many Nigerians have decided to contribute to the polling

process from afar, preferably from outside the country. Furthermore, some of these Nigerians are well-known to have inspired great intent to see the election through, making it seem as if they have no intention of helping to decide who the next leader of Nigeria will be.

Many Nigerians have taken to social media to express their sore displeasure that their ‘senior brothers and sisters’ are doing their best to sneak out of the country days before the presidential election. These ‘seniors’ are individuals who are reputable for helping to inspire hope in the country, many of whom have even been labeled as garrulous because of their apparent vigilance over the state of things in Nigeria.

Depending on who you ask, this attitude of sneaking away started after the EndSars protest of 2020. Due to the wide coverage of the event and the many lives and reputations

that were at risk of being lost, many elites who were allegedly on the side of the oppressed left the country. However, seeing as some of them returned after the smoke of the protest cleared, but stacked their suitcases to leave once again days before the election, one must conclude that something else is up.

The perfect example is the Pastor and Founder of House on the Rock, Pastor Paul Adefarasin. It is reported that the well-spoken man has already completed his preparations and left Nigeria, especially after leaving behind a cryptic message about the circumstances surrounding the Biblical David and Saul. Of course, one must recall that he was the same person who advised Nigerians to have a Plan B because of his idea of the destination of Nigeria.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring? The answer is no one. Because we are limited in the particulars of the future, we can only relegate ourselves to influencing these particulars to the best of our abilities.

This is why it is not altogether surprising that Sally Mbanefo who used to be the face of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has obtained a new lease on life.

Even though the limelight on her is not as blazing as it used to be, the future in view is far more captivating than when she was at NTDC. It has been a while since Mbanefo was in the news. The charming lady has shown herself to be a formidable individual, a brilliant person, one that has no issues preparing for the best and the worst. On this front, Mbanefo has proved herself to be farsighted, especially after she chose to retire from the eye of the storm to a quiet life, albeit one filled with respect and a good dose of affluence.

Some people may remember the circumstances that surrounded Mbanefo’s exit from the NTDC. It was not very pleasant and demonstrated the elegant lady as someone who cannot be trusted or relied on for a government position. However, her life had shown this to be false, so her narrative took on a better tone after a while.

After her time at NTDC, Mbanefo went from being a stay-at-home government official to one that wanted to give all she had for her state. As a result, she was soon redrafted into government service, this time to serve as Anambra state’s Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Indigenous Artworks, Culture, and Tourism. Ever since then, she has doubled down on her decision to serve Anambra with every fiber of her being.

Thus, the new lease on life is especially fitted to her new disposition.

Mbanefo

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LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

The Need for True Peace Tinubu

Abubakar

Obi

Please, I am address this to the Big 5 Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Kwankwaso and Kola Abiola - on the matter of peace. Look guys, we don tire. The stress of this electioneering period all because of una ‘lifelong ambitions’ have really taken a toll on the whole nation.

Truth is that there is nothing different any of you guys will come and do. You are all five fingers of a leprous hand so make we hear word abeg. Once the results are announced, please spare us all that ‘I no go gree’ things that will extend our misery. Shebi you all have signed a peace accord and all that, let peace reign. Do not drag any matter, leave

the courts and for once, just acquiesce so we can rest.

These campaigns have really drained Nigerians. It has pushed us to the limit. The antics and tactics you guys have thrown into the basket have almost driven us crazy.

When one is ‘bula balluing’ all over the

place, the other cannot rein in the jesters around him with Dino falling all over the place in fake mockery of BAT, while Keyamo and the rest keep upping the ante with positions that begin to make people wonder if it was not even better that one did not go to school like his principal than going to school and spewing the kinds of things that we have heard him say: “great men don’t used to go to school.” What crap?

We as Nigerians are now immune to bad government. We have decided to behave like passengers’ in a plane going through turbulence – honker down and hope for the best. That is why no matter who wins, we really do not care.

My plea is for you guys to be bold enough to accept the result once and for all and spare us all that long drawn stress a battle in the courts or streets will cause us. We are tired.

May the better man win. Thank you.

Awolowo

Abiola

Osinbajo

Jakande

AWO, MKO, TINUBU: 30 YEARS A SLAVE Please o, before you people will say that I am calling Yoruba people slaves, the title is borrowed from a very powerful Hollywood Movie titled ‘12 years a Slave.’ Now the link between these two stories is what I don’t know, but at times it is usually good to be dramatic in titling so that it will catch your attention.

Ok, now the story is that there is a 30-year gap between each of these Yoruba ambitions for the Presidency. A lot of people have spoken about the 30-year gap between these three great Yoruba icons. So, it took MKO exactly 30 years to come out and another 30 years we now have ‘Emilokan’.

You know some tendencies have said that OBJ is from Onitsha so they are not counting him. Kai! Well anyways, they are praying that the jinx be broken this time. Remember the narrative is that these illustrious Yoruba sons always do so well at the elections but are usually denied. Awo was the best President Nigeria never had, MKO’s story is very obvious- he won the elections but was denied by a cabal led by his best friend and since then Nigeria has known no peace.

So now the Yorubas are hoping that BAT will break the jinx and emerge as the bona fide President of our country. Well, I really do wish them luck and would have stood by them if they had thrown in some selfless evaluation and holistic national concern in throwing up a candidate. Well, you cannot really choose for a people who their bridegroom would be, all you can say is to wish them well.

I really pray and hope for their own sake that they would break the 30-year jinx, less OBJ’s tenure this time so we can finally hear word.

Chai!

the APC presidential primaries and watched corruption dance all sorts of reggae around him. Na wa.

So, for Obi, his victory is sublime, it is heroic and cannot be measured in the way he or his many followers would want it to be.

He remains a hero and would be surely rewarded when the fruits of his huge labour begin to come forth. For now, let him just go home and rest. He has fought a good fight.

cite Fashola, Gbaja and the rest.

Now if you say Osinbajo was not made by the Asiwaju because he was already a Professor of Law long before Asiwaju even saw the gates of Chicago State University, then you will begin to understand why the Prof would be ambivalent towards his ambition especially with the way he was treated and derided during the primaries.

So where do I stand? Una know say me I no dey fear. I stand with those who say Osinbajo owes Asiwaju nothing and I will give an example. So I cannot act or direct a play to save my life. Then I get a director and fund him to do his work. He throws in his massive talent and delivers a stupendous production which after it all, I am called on stage to collect the accolade, does that mean I made him?

See, the fact that Asiwaju has shown a huge ability in identifying talent and giving them the space to perform excellently does not mean that he made them? In fact, they made him, because all the so-called accomplishments he is bandying about could not have been made possible if they didn’t perform.

So yes, he gave them the opportunities to shine and a platform to excel, they could have gone on there to turn to ‘mumu’ like some people we know but they went on to excel using their already inbred talent.

So, my people, if like Gbaja or Tunji Bello you decide to submit to eternal servitude because you were picked to serve, then it

PETER OBI IS THE REAL MEANING OF SUCCESS I do not think Mr. Obi will win this election.

There I have said it and will continue to stand by it but what he would have won would be something much more ephemeral and long standing than just winning this election.

His candidacy has for the very first time thrown up a third leg as a meaningful and respected push at mainstream power. His candidacy has thrown up the very real fact that Nigerians can run simply by conviction. It has also further entrenched the power of youth. Moving its voice from mere slogans to real power that if not engaged could be the Achilles’ heel of mainstream power.

Obi by this wonderful run would have succeeded beyond his own wildest imagination to enthrone and lay a very solid foundation to a very different kind of politics in our polity. The conviction that issues, facts and logic could be the main vehicles for a push at political power.

He had forced conversations along these lines, numbing the traditional evils that is tribalism and religion into the background of his campaigns. His push has put real teeth into the fight against corruption unlike that of Buhari’s pale engagement which saw corruption maul his administration beyond recognition.

I used to wonder what was going through Buhari’s mind as he sat on the podium during

FOR YEMI OSINBAJO, IT’S SILENCE OF A LAMB The jury is out on this. Apparently, the good Prof has not shown any keen interest in his principals’ campaign. Preferring to sit at home to watch wrestling or play scrabble with his staff, he has totally gone silent on the ‘emilokan’ mandate.

Now there are varying schools of thought on this. Some people like my retired general classmate believe that he is utterly ungrateful.

After all, ‘Asiwaju made him’. Others say that he remains perfectly right to stay clear if his principles do not agree with the mantra of the campaign, no matter who is leading it.

Well, at this point, the foundation of this argument either way is – who made Prof Osinbajo?. It is on this structure that either position sits on.

So who made Osinbajo? If you believe that Tinubu made Osinbajo, then you can be right to think that his present posturing is deeply unappreciative. They will count others like him that were manufactured and made who are still paying political dividends. They will

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is your own decision and it’s ok but when the other guy now decides to wake up and says, “look can I be my own man?” He should not then be vilified.

In conclusion, Prof Osinbajo’s silence remains golden. Mbok, wey all the people I have made ooo.

LATEEF KAYODE JAKANDE IS THE FATHER OF MODERN DAY LAGOS You see this campaign has thrown up so many issues. In fact it is billed in some quarters as the most colourful campaign since Awo went to the North in a helicopter. Things have been said and done that history has been re-written and where it cannot be re-written, it has been torn into shreds.

Today, the work of LKJ has been totally obliterated. Someone else is now the father of modern day Lagos simply because he moved IGR from N600million to N6billion or whatever figure they are bandying. And even benefited from it hugely.

The legacy of LKJ is being wiped clean. History is being retold, white-washed and repainted just so that one individual can fulfill a personal life-long ambition. This is sad, I am sad, I am not happy. This has to be redressed very quickly.

As the Executive Producer of ‘Baba Kekere’, the play I produced on LKJ, I know for a fact that as the very first civilian Governor of Lagos State, he laid a very solid foundation with which these people have attempted to build on. From education, to health, to infrastructure and all, LKJ built Lagos and positioned it for what it is today.

In fact, his inaugural address on the occasion of his second term is the real master plan that we have been hearing o. Everything is there.

I mean everything. Oh my God. What is happening?

To now shift the ‘modernity’ of Lagos from 1979 when its first ever civilian governor was elected and now say modern Lagos started from when we came back from Chicago is a definite slap on history.

The Jakande family are a humble lot like their father was. I have met all of them from Mummy to Seyi to Deji and they are a wonderful crew and will not have the energy or capacity to right this wrong but then again they don’t need to lift a finger because truth always emerges no matter how long.

Jakande and not Tinubu is the father of modern day Lagos. Take it or leave it. I don go chop, no vex.

NYESOM WIKE AS IDI AMIN OF OBIO AKPOR I just read a news report saying that Peter Obi of the Labour Party was denied security clearance to land in Port Harcourt. Don’t know if it is true sha. But it fits into the narrative that Mr. Wike has been throwing up since he lost the PDP presidential primaries.

Since that epoch, Nigeria has had no rest. We have all been commandeered to cry with him and go on hunger strike. He formed the G5 and they went about like semi-retired Mudi models in uniform outfits, causing trouble all over the place. Today, they have gone their separate ways choosing different candidates to back, not minding that they were weakening the structures that the party stands on.

All sorts of proclamations ascribed to him coming out comedic and dictatorial. I really do like him and really see him as one of the most outstanding leaders in modern day Nigeria, particularly these days that people are calling themselves father of modern day something, I think Wike can also be called father of something, whatever it is. He deserves it.

He should however calm down. This work no be your papa own. The tenor is almost over.

By this time, you should be a little bit more conciliatory and not go about commanding a whole state on who to vote for or not.

Instructing planes not to land, refusing stateowned facilities to be used by opposition, deriding traditional rulers and insulting their gods, na to flog a sitting senator wey insist on PDP for Port Harcourt remain o.

My brother, let’s calm down abeg, he no hard like that. Thank you.

Post script – there is one reader that used to send me text to be threatening me anytime I yab Wike. As I don yab this one now, I am sure he will write. Please, my brother, leave text, come meet me for Shomolu inside UNA primary school and let’s fight. Simple. Come Sunday, February 26, at 4pm and let’s take it as men. I don tire, every time once I mention Wike you will attack. Come and beat me if you can, msheew.

DAPO ABIODUN BEGGING ON THE STREETS He cut a very pitiable sight as he stood on top of his bus placating and begging angry people of his state. “Emiko,” he was saying in Yoruba.

“Ejo ma bi nu, emi ko, CBN lo se.”

As he was talking the people were abusing him and shouting at him and he kept begging.

How do you explain to people that you have impoverished and kept near illiterate that the CBN policy was what was keeping them from drinking ogi in the morning?

Mbok, the explanation is far above their pay grade. So, the only other option is to spread

Wike

Abiodun

If you beat me, I will give you Afang and Fufu for one week, but if I beat you, you will give me a new wife from Obio Akpor. Deal?

ORE SOFEKUN: A TALE OF BEAUTY AND BRAINS

Sofekun

Now Ore is brother Ibi’s younger sister.

Brother Ibi is Nigeria’s foremost boudoir photographer and my collaborator in my very exciting book ‘Anonymous Nipples’ which sold thousands during Covid.

Now Ore has a PhD and is a former President of Fund Managers Association of Nigeria.

She is on so many boards as corporations scramble to have her as a result of her brilliant engagements.

So, when I had the brain wave of putting 50 top CEOs in a room and having five legendary CEOs like Fola Adeola, Atedo Peterside, Gbenga Oyebode and Khalifa Sanusi engage them in a bid to strengthen our emerging corporate institutions, the need to have a sound technical team put all of this together arose.

It was to Ore Sofekun that I rushed to. This is her turf. She took to it like fish in water and working with a brilliant crew that included

such brilliant young leaders Bolaji Adewunmi, MD at Abbey Mortgage and Pai Gamde, Chief Talent Officer at Coronation and Gbubemi Atiomo, internationally regarded HR and talent manager, they came up with a curriculum that will make Harvard Business School cringe with envy.

The session will hold this June and already top CEOs like Gabriel Ogbechie of Rain Oil who today in some circles is being regarded as one of the most influential player in oil and gas, finance and social economy; Kola Adeshina, the super intelligent director at Sahara Power Group; and Laide Agboola whose Purple Group just concluded a never before seen N10 billion IPO have indicated interest in being part of this session.

Ore, my sister, well done and congratulations.

Nigeria needs you.

cash, which now backfired because the banks refused to collect so they went into a burning and looting spree.

If Abiodun is not careful, this may affect his reelection bid as he remains the face of this untold hardship to Ogun People. I pity him. I really do.

MAGODO RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION – FUNNY LITTLE POLITICS Magodo is an upscale residential estate in Lagos. Located on the left-hand side of the seat of the Lagos State Government, it prides itself as a super upper-class enclave where very important people live. Not everybody there is important there sha but once you can live there either as a tenant or landlord you deem yourself as important. Abi how do you explain the one where if you talk small for WhatsApp group, they will suspend you for months.

Anyways, election is coming up and election in MRA is usually a big thing o. Almost like national politics, posters, campaign office, concerts, endorsements and all the works.

People will be going door to door and then on the day of elections, they will close the gates and the multitude will come out to vote for their candidates.

You will see caps, t-shirts, everything o, even in some cases you will see our own MC Oluomo, our own FFK and our own Keyamo. We even have our own ‘emilokan’ and our own Peter Obi. Me, I like the very beautiful women who are contesting. Very refreshing.

But this time around, I noticed something.

I noticed what I want to term as ‘agbaya’ politicians. Politicians who from their profiles should be contesting national elections and aiming at providing Nigerians with credible leadership but instead limit themselves to communal politics with budgets much bigger than Sowore’s budget. Sad. If you see their profiles, you will think you are reading Awo’s profile. The huge achievements and the noble positioning and instead of going into the Senate or giving Sanwo-Olu a run for his money, they are coming into MRA to be ‘chancing’ us inside the estate.

I saw one poster; the man was coming out as Chairman of MRA and from the size of the head, you could see that the man can come out for the Presidency. The poster was beside Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu own, trying to leverage on those ones influence - you know that na those two control C of O for estate so they are mini-gods. So, Baba big head put poster beside them to show that if he lose, some people go be homeless quick.

Anyways, my advice to MRA and all these estates, is that we should allow millennials to run these estates as a first training on governance and public service. Estates and communities should be the first testing grounds and not a place for retired people who can only win these elections to stand at estate gates asking for estate dues and disturbing people’s wives.

Kai, this time not only suspension from WhatsApp group, na to tell my landlord to give me quit notice. Landlord, please don’t mind them o. Chai.

JOHNNIE WALKER, KEEP WALKING AWAY Please, what exactly is this brand doing under the Maryland bridge? To say it mildly, that thing is horrible. Total crap if you ask me. One was excited when that tunnel was named independence tunnel and they went ahead to put the pictures of our founding fathers and some very strong quotes exhorting Nigeria.

Now this alcoholic brand has gone to take the tunnel and in a drunken haze scatter the whole thing. I don’t even understand what they are trying to do there. First, that their Lord Lugard that is walking away should better be walking away o. No correlation with Awolowo who is beside him. The colouring has no coloration with our national colors and the graffiti is utterly meaningless.

Dem for kuku wipe out them Awo and Sardauna and Azikiwe, let’s kuku know that they have colonised the bridge but desecrating the image of our founding fathers in a drunken haze of amateurish artistic endeavour is to say the least terrible.

You know you are an alcoholic brand and as such must be very careful in your depictions, lest we start thinking that someone in your head office was drunk when approving this thing.

Please remove that crap and redesign something that celebrates our heritage and founding fathers in a more befitting way, otherwise, take a walk.

46

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Dikeh

Again, Estranged Couple, Churchill, Tonto Dikeh, Spew Venom “Hell, hath no fury like a woman scorned’’ so goes the popular axiom.

If you think the bitter war between ex-lovebirds, businessman and socialite, Olakunle Churchill and his ex-wife, Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh is over, you are dead wrong.

The estranged couple is still dragging each other in the mud even six years after their separation. Since 2017, they have continued to throw tantrums and shades at each other while they throw shame to the wind.

Just as many were beginning to believe that the mudslinging is getting to an end, the war once again rears its ugly head once again last week.

Trouble started after Churchill took to his Instagram page to urge the Rivers State-born Tonto to move on with her life after the movie star had called him a liar.

Churchill wrote; “If I have 10 wives, 10 children, I get money or I do not get, e no concern you. Deal with the past and move on and focus on your life. Forget history, it has been seven years. Please move on. It’s election period.”

However, in her reaction, Tonto Dikeh wrote; “Thinking I have not moved on is the worst mistake you can make.”

“I came out to make a point that you are a liar, and a deadbeat father, who neither pays fees nor child support to any of his kids.”

“This should sink in, learn to be a man from David. You have always been a big fan of his, adopt his fatherly nature at least to your daughters.”

“Cause like I said, my son will never need nothing from you, not even your God-called forsaken name.”

“I’m not going to be stuck with a man I dumped, who climbed seven mountains to try to get me back.”

For a long time, he was only pursuing his business and doing his things, without drawing unnecessary attention to himself, his source of wealth and personality remained shrouded in secrecy. He is naturally a quiet man and he does not brag about his achievements.

But that was until his romance with the top actress became public knowledge.

Indeed, all eyes were on the duo the moment they agreed to take their love story to the next level by walking down the aisle and exchanging nuptial vows at a well-attended wedding.

However, many began to see him in a bad light, particularly after his estranged wife accused him of domestic violence.

Aware of the negative effect on his image, the millionaire businessman immediately debunked all the allegations, which he said were directed at tarnishing his reputation.

Since then, he has refused to escape from the fury of the actress even after he married another woman, as she has continually spewed venom against the man she once vowed before the priest to love till death do them part.

The late Head of State, General Sani Abacha has remained one of the most controversial figures in Nigeria’s history. Despite having been out of power for 25 years following his sudden death, the dark-goggled general’s name has remained a recurring decimal in the country. His name, for good or for bad, still evokes as many column inches and mentions as he did when he was in power.

The Kano State-born former Head of State allegedly left billions of naira for his children and his money has refused to go into extinction since his death despite several confiscations by foreign governments of what has become known as ‘Abacha loot’. However, it seems the money has failed to secure one of his children, Mohammed Abacha, his most cherished ambition.

Society Watch gathered that the son of the former dictator is in serious pain and left in the cold following the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal in Kano which sacked him as the governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Kano State.

The court recognised his opponent in the party’s primary, Sadiq Wali, as the PDP’s candidate for the forthcoming general election.

Sadiq is the son of Aminu Wali, former Foreign Affairs minister in 2014 under Goodluck Jonathan and a brother-in-law to Mohammed Babangida.

The court set aside an earlier judgment of a high court that recognised the young Abacha as the candidate of the opposition party.

In the judgment, the Court of Appeal also ordered that Wali, who was earlier recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, remained the authentic governorship candidate of the party in the state. The latest judgment came barely a day after the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar declined to endorse any of the warring candidates during a campaign rally in Kano.

Since his emergence as the candidate of the party, the unspoken question in the minds of many is: How on earth does he think anyone will vote for him?

A source revealed to Society Watch that the young Abacha has been moving around, lavishing money on party leaders as well as those he believes can assist in the realisation of his ambition.

The source added that many,

Abacha

however, see his ambition as building a castle in the air. “Anyone who advises Mohammed to join the race is only fooling him. He is only building a castle in the air; he can’t go anywhere,” the source said.

When the World Celebrated Brilliant Lawyer, Eyimofe Atake at 65

Atake

It is well-known among legal luminaries that when a law firm commands not just the respect of its peers, but the kind of briefs that yield huge sums that make bankers drool in envy, such a firm has landed in the top-tier league.

While barristers earn their stripes by the number of cases won in court, solicitors only get to play in the big league based on the quality of legal advisory services, corporate and commercial transactions as well as impressive legal skills they wield in a wide range of practice areas.

Ask many lawyers that know their onions across the country about Eyimofe Atake, a corporate lawyer of high repute, and you will definitely receive a good story about this man whose contribution to Nigerian law and the judiciary is almost unmatched.

Many would surely have good testimonies about him. Atake knows law like the back of his hands and he has demonstrated so

much brilliance that many of his mates and counterparts consult him in knotty legal situations.

The Delta State-born lawyer is also a delight to watch in courtrooms; you could not but be enthralled by his articulation and aplomb. He was graceful in his fine grasp of legal intricacies and erudition of the law.

The brilliant lawyer and solicitor, who has many firsts in his kitty, by virtue of his rare accomplishments, is one of the few of Nigeria’s corporate lawyers who can rub shoulders with other top lawyers around the globe. Eyimofe has handled and argued contentious cases, especially in the field of maritime/admiralty law, constitutional, and commercial law at all levels of the courts, including contested appeals, both in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Some of those contested cases are landmark decisions.

Billionaire Businesswoman, Toyin Kolade, Honoured Iyalaje Oodua, Princess Dr. Toyin Kolade is a known thoroughbred businesswoman of high repute. The highly-influential woman is known for her Midas touch. By all standards, she is a successful businesswoman and socialite of note. She has her hands in many pies: oil and gas, interior decor, real estate, maritime and hospitality, among others.

A woman of means, she commands deep respect from young and old, especially in political, social and business circles. More importantly, she is also in tune with the modern trends in the fashion world. Call her a showstopper and you will only be stating the obvious.

Kolade, Managing Director, Fisolak Global Resources, Fisolak Royal Furniture and Arikay Oil and Gas, joined the millionaire club at a relatively young age of 21, having learnt the ABC of doing business from her mother, late Madam

Comfort Adejuyigbe, who was a renowned trader.

With so much confidence, hope and clear vision, she laid the foundation of her business empire some years back. Today, the dark-skinned billionaire is a success that has continued to inspire several others. The business she started with a shoe-string budget has grown bigger. She has metamorphosed into a business magnate with several awards to her credit, while her profile has continued to rise higher.

Last week Saturday, as a reward for her contribution to business success over the years, most especially in the year 2022, the mother of four was honoured by Daily Independent Newspaper as Independent Business Woman of the year 2022 at an award ceremony that was held at Eko Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Kolade

The woman is an inspiration to several other businesswomen. No doubt, it takes a woman of guts as Kolade to thrive in the everunpredictable business climate in Nigeria.

Fashion Entrepreneur, Titilayo Ajidagba, Rules her World

Ajidagba

If you ask Titilayo Ajidagba, a Lagos-based fashion designer, about her most passionate thing in life, she most likely will not think twice before she responds. And the answer will definitely be fashion.

All her life, she has eaten and drank fashion.

She was born and grew up in it. The beautiful woman is well-known for her innovative combination of patterns, colors and fabrics.

She grew up living both in Nigeria and London while immersing herself in multiple cultures.

Her love for fashion began at a very tender age. The love has remained steady and grown to give birth to Tffniez Couture, a fashion outfit through which she carved a niche for herself among fashion buffs.

The boss of Tffniez Couture set out as a fashion entrepreneur in 2009. Since then, she has continued to shine like a glittering star and has grown into a reputable empire of sorts, an achievement many have agreed is a result of her age-long passion for the profession.

The label, based in Magodo, Lagos, has become a global fashion brand with clients beyond the shores of Africa particularly the UK, the US and Dubai. She keeps expanding her clientele, which includes the high and mighty, private and public sectors, government officials, politicians as well as top diplomatic corps. Even in the face of stiff competition in the industry, she is still a leading outfit in the industry, thanks to her ingenuity.

She has swiftly climbed the ladder to become one of Nigeria’s favourite fashion labels. Her unique sense of creativity has earned her accolades from far and near, especially in the comity of fashionistas. A chip off the old block, her mother was a reputable fabric and accessories mogul, and her older sister was also a gifted designer.

Expectedly, her fashion background rubbed off on her, and while she was studying in London, her love for fashion further grew when she served as her sister’s model and retailer, where she helped put her designs in the global spotlight. After her successful educational pursuits, the Tffniez Couture boss tried her luck in the event management industry for a couple of years, before relocating to Nigeria. She had learned the ropes and her creative, lively and colourful designs with traditional West African fabrics, not only stand her out from the rest but have earned her a premium spot in the top rankings of foremost Nigerian fashion designers.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ JUNE 24 2012

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

26. 2. 2023

From Art Collection, Fasuyi Finds )XOÀOPHQW LQ *DOOHU\ 0DQDJHPHQW Despite a successful career in finance, Wale Fasuyi couldn't resist the pull of the visual arts, which influenced him since childhood. Yinka Olatunbosun reports

A

robust career in the banking sector may have prepared Wale Fasuyi for his current entrepreneurship but he never saw it coming when he left the financial sector in January 2020. Like everyone else, the year turned out to be unexpected. Shortly after his return from a reinvigorating holiday, the world embraced a total lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fast-forward to 2022, Fasuyi opened a new gallery in the heart of G.R.A, Ikeja christened Tim & Carol.

Named after his parents, the gallery takes a lead in the formal market structure for artworks in the capital of Lagos, Africa’s most populous city. A recent gallery tour brought to head the narrative behind the new gallery and how it is set to change the landscape for art patronage in Lagos mainland.

Born into a family of artists, Fasuyi could have been a visual artist himself but he initially felt more attached to the figures running on financial sheets than the ones decorating walls and spaces. With reference to his pedigree, Fasuyi revealed how the love of art trickled down his generation.

“My great-grandfather was a traditional wood carver for the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland,” he recalled.

“All the furniture pieces: pillars, door panels and everything were the things he used to do. My father is a renowned artist and the first graduate of painting in Nigeria.

Having gone to the Ahmadu Bello University and worked with international organisations like UNESCO, he always brought back something from his travels. I saw him collecting and organising things around the house.”

At the age of five or six, he considered some of the statues and masks at his father's home to be quite frightening. “I remember there were some statues and masks we had that I used to be afraid of. My father kept them deliberately so that we wouldn’t be naughty around the house.”

Also, the senior Fasuyi worked extensively in the studio. His son acted as his studio assistant while he painted, tidying up after him.

“But I never painted until I got to secondary school and then I enrolled for Fine Arts and got A2 in the WAEC exams. But I didn’t take it up from there. Initially, I wanted to study estate management because there is a relationship between those subjects and arts.”

Soon, his father’s habit of collecting

Fasuyi at his gallery

A painting in the gallery

art became infectious. So, by the time he finished his National Youth Service Corps programme and took up a full-time paying job, he was able to set aside part of his salary to buy artworks.

Fortunately for Fasuyi, his job allowed a great deal of globetrotting since his portfolio was

One of the sculptures in the gallery

spread across several African regions. “Anywhere I went, I collected art. Once I got to those places and finished my official assignments, I would go through their directories and look for top galleries in the area. Thirty-five percent of my collection comes from

outside Nigeria. Sometimes, out of passion, I could fly out of Lagos just to go sightseeing. I could go to Gambia or Senegal just to see art.”

His initial business plan was manufacturing of animal feeds but the cost of production was increasing, making the business less desirable.

Decidedly, he looked at his existing assets and began to rethink his business ideas.

“I looked into my storage one day and I saw the amount of work I had.

I saw that I have enough materials to start a gallery. I wanted to be on the island where most of the galleries are. I was driving past G.R.A one Saturday when it occurred to me that there isn’t any big art gallery in this side of town. G.R.A is one of the fastest growing in terms of commercial activities. We have three world-class hotels and other businesses. Some people have to travel to the island to pick good pieces.

We got this property and we opened officially around August last year.”

In the interim, the gallery has played host to a number of events, one of which being the group show honouring Bruce Onobrakpeya, who is now 90, that was put on by the Visual Printmakers Association of Nigeria. In order to keep gallery visitors engaged, the gallery also has a café. Then, a variety of artwork and crafts that could serve as mementos are available at the recently opened gift shop. “We have oil and other materials such as easels of small sizes.

Some people celebrate their birthdays with a Sip and Paint party. We have facilities to cater for that. We also have the kitchen. We want to go into art education. Our plan is to adopt schools: two of the elitist status and two of the non-elitist status. We want to look for the best students, give them a token and provide mentorship. At the end of the day, society is better for it because we are producing more artists and expanding the net for art appreciation.”

The gallery which is just a stone’s throw from Ouida House has contributed to making the art community a factor in Ikeja.

On his advice for collectors, he said it is good to have an endgame in view. “I realise that many art collectors, when they die, their works become so uncared for or causing controversy among family members.

For any investment you want to do, there must be an end game. The end game could be to leave it for your family as an estate. You must have children who must have passion for what you are doing. If your children do not have interest, you must put it under a trust.”

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

48

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY26, 2023

ARTS & REVIEW\\POT POURRI

%H\RQG WKH %RQGLQJ RI .LQGUHG 6RXOV Segun Ade-Martins

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etween January 30 and February 8, Professor Peju Layiwola of Nigeria and Ella Amitay Sadovsky of Israel were the focal points of an art workshop, tagged The Art of Friendship. The workshop, which was commissioned by Israeli Ambassador Michael Freeman and curated by Susa RodriguezGarrido, took place in Nigeria at the Orisun Art Gallery, tucked away in the heart of Abuja&#39;s business district, and produced a diptych titled &quot;Insight and Insite,&quot; to commemorate 30 years of diplomatic ties and friendship between Israel and Nigeria.

The organisers had intended that the artists made one piece each to be sold at an auction. The two artists, on the other hand, insisted on working on both pieces simultaneously in person. This method GHPRQVWUDWHV D JUHDW DFW RI VHOÁHVVness, an indivisible bond between the artists and, as the Israeli Embassy intends it, between the two countries. Professor Layiwola contributed metal work directly tooled, while Sadovsky painted fabric in various patterns. Both techniquesspanacrossthediptych.

For nine days the artists toiled away in the Orisun Art Gallery with the assistance of the gallery’s principal, Mrs Adebola Adetunmbi, its manager and curator, FemiCoker,andJonathanAdamu, respectively, who sourced materi-

Sadovsky and Layiwola

WORKSHOP als and made them as comfortable as possible. Remarkably, the general public was permitted to visit the studio during the workshops. The Israeli diplomats, local Abuja art enthusiasts, and secondaryschoolstudentstookadvantage of this opportunity to witness not only the renowned artists at work but also the labour of friendship. Sharing their process and ideas with visitors has undoubtedly enriched their work. It is wonderful to see such cultural collaboration and sharing. Hence, itwouldnotbeoutofplacetodeem the artists brave for stepping outside of their comfort zone, as well as for welcoming strangers to see their progress with the work.

Apart from a beautiful cultural exchange to strengthen bilateral national ties, the Israeli Ambassador intended that the auction of

the resultant diptych should bring EHQHÀW WR SHRSOH LQ QHHG ,Q WKLV case, the proceeds will go towards the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos and the education of vulnerable women in Israel.

Yet, for all the good that this workshop brings to the countries and all involved, one must not overlook the personal involvement of the artists.

BeginningwithSadovskywhoisa lecturer of textile arts at the Shenkar CollegeofEngineeringandDesign in Israel, the journey to art practice had been a long and rich one. Her worktakesonauniqueworldview, one that can be described as seeing deeper into the chemical bonds and quarks active in the physical world. Including but not limited to the layers of fabric that she glues down to paint. Her background as a scientist in physics and chemistry informs this unique view.

Also present in her work are the

traumatic memories of living in an underground bunker during wartime in Israel. She has ÀQDOO\ SXVKHG SDVW WKH WUDXPD RI only painting interiors to painting landscapes from an interior view and now to painting pure landscapes. In the case of this diptych, she paints the experience of Nigeria through her friends’ guidance.

Then Professor Layiwola, arguably one of the few art history professors in Nigeria with a vibrant studio practice, encoded within the diptych her rich experience withadearfriend,LeilaAlexander, who served as a mentor and onetime midwife to her second child.

7KH VLJQLÀFDQFH RI WKH ODWH 0UV Alexander goes beyond her aiding Professor Layiwola in childbirth but also shaped her worldview regarding charity as the two friends would visit charities together bearing gifts.

No small wonder that this may have helped inform Professor Layiwola’s Women and Youth (WY) Art Foundation where she empowers women through the arts in Lagos.

That brings us to the core message that lies in the work, an excerpt from the Torah’s book of Leviticus, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.” This is physically imprinted in the work and imprinted in the essence of the workshop as an exercise.

These words also need to be imprinted on the souls of every human.

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ow in LWV ÀIWK edition, N e x t Of Kin Project recently brought hope to a community of persons living with Down Syndrome at the Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Home in Akoka, Yaba, Lagos.

The project which is an initiative of Thought Pyramid Art Centre is designed to encourage the young talents to create their own artwork with art supplies.

It began with an interesting A physically-challenged participant at the workshop art workshop titled, “You Too Can Go Far,” culminating in submit three of their works a mural painting project outVISUAL ARTS for the coming side the school walls. Done in partnership with sponsors such ists, sculptors, photographers exhibition. At that exhibition, a as Trustbanc Financial Group, and other creatives,” he said. winner will also be announced.

Hyde Energy, Platform Capita, “Some of them are fresh out of “For the love of creatives, we Nigerian Machine Tools, and school and some of them have have decided to also reward the Lagos State Ministry of back stories. Our role is to get two runners-up. After winTourism, Arts and Culture, new artists and mentor them. ning, they would be involved the objective is to exhibit the “There is art and then there in workshop programmes ZRUNV RI WKH ÀQDOLVWV DW WKH is the business of art. A lot with the gallery. Last year we 2022/2023 Next of Kin Series of creatives don’t know the went on gallery tours and met RSHQLQJ DQG JUDQG ÀQDOH business side of the work. artists. where the winner would be Something as simple as taking We spoke to them and asked announced. a good picture of your work questions.

The Next of Kin is an annual goes a long way in selling it. “We didn’t just want to come to this school and drop food. juried art competition and exhi- What we bition which features emerging do is to get spaces where we We want to empower young visual artists in Nigeria. In an can train these young artists ones with skills and talents. interview with Michael Dubby, and guide them through the We selected this school- it is a school for persons living with the Project Manager for Next process.” of Kin, it was revealed that the After the call for entries, the down syndrome. They are all project runs deeper than just ÀUVW H[KLELWLRQ HQDEOHV WKH MXU\ medically challenged and any other outreach programme. to make a shortlist of 10 artists. would need extra care. They “This is what we do to encour- “Those artists who make the live here, school here. Their age the next generation of art- shortlist will be required to whole life is here, basically. But

then most people come here and give them food. But many of them have great potential in the arts. Some of them can sew. Some can paint with their legs.”

He observed that many of these young talents do not have the luxury of phone and internet access to post their work on Instagram. Dubby believes that when they have the right resources, the sky will only be their beginning. Citing his personal experience, he argued that a physical disability should not be a barrier to personal development.

“My right hand is weak as you can see. I grew up being pitied by people. I had a weak hand due to a doctor’s mistake. But I started working out as I grew up- building myself. I am a living proof that anything is possible. I run a company that sells art materials with delivery options for any location in Nigeria. I also run a printing business. , KDYH DQ DUFKLWHFWXUDO ÀUP because I am an architect by training and an artist by talent. I have always wanted to know how structures are built and so I studied architecture. I realised that we need creative solutions.”

One of the past students of the school, Toma Unu demonstrated a rare gift of painting with her foot with the support of a few of the Next of Kin members during the mural session. Passers-by were stunned by her sheer determination to contribute to the project.

EXHIBITION

Caption: (L-R) Kofo Majekodunmi, Desmond Majekodunmi and Dapo Majekodunmi at the official opening of the MMA Legacy exhibition

,QVLGH &KLHI 0DMHNRGXQPL /HJDF\ ([KLELWLRQ DW /DJRV 3ROR &OXE Yinka Olatunbosun

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rather quiet and sunny Sunday in Lagos became abuzz as guests arrived at the prestigious venue along Awolowo road, Ikoyi. Behind the scene of the galloping ponies, a mini-exhibition stand in honour of Late Chief Moses Majekodunmi came into view.

The walk-through exhibition which was held at the Lagos Polo Club on February 12 is an aperture to the Moses Majekodunmi Archive (MMA). The archive holds no fewer than 7,000 images and 11,000 documents chronicling the life and times of Chief. (Dr) M.A Majekodunmi. Curated by Oludamola Adebowale, the 13-piece exhibit tells the story of Chief Majekodunmi against the backdrop of history and his contributions to the development of the Lagos Polo Club.

“Today’s exhibition is a fraction of the treasure trove we have at the MMA Archive. The exhibition is about the history of the Lagos Polo Club and the journey of one man and his love for Polo which started in 1949, lasting till his death in 2012,” Adebowale revealed in the curatorial statement.

The exhibition itself was birthed alongside the idea of curating a digital archive in memory of Chief Majekodunmi. Expectedly, the archive contains original documents and other articles of history of the public and private life of the avid polo player, civil servant and astute businessman. The archive was created to serve pedagogical purpose for generations and to celebrate the golden days of the elite club.

Chief Majekodunmi was introduced to the club in 1949 by Sir Gerald Howe, who was then the Attorney- General of Nigeria. The relationship was further strengthened upon the arrival of a senior colleague, Dr. Robert Collis from Ireland in the early 50s. Dr. Collis was said to have helped to establish the paediatrics department at the University of Ibadan. Together, they enjoyed great companionship and bred the spirit of comradeship.

Hence, this walk-through archival exhibition was done in celebration of these fond memories at the Lagos Polo club.

“The family has continued his legacy of support for the club at the annual tournament and in this vein, thought it EHÀWWLQJ WR VKDUH GRFXPHQWV GDWLQJ EDFN WR UHODWLQJ WR WKH FOXE IURP KLV DUFKLYHV 7KLV LV WKH ÀUVW WLPH WKDW WKH\ will be shown or displayed for public viewing since his demise,” the Chairman, Moses Majekodunmi Foundation, 'U 'HVPRQG 0DMHNRGXQPL UHYHDOHG ZKLOH ÀHOGLQJ TXHVWLRQV from journalists.

He further stated how these articles of history had been preserved over the years even though the exhibition was freshly conceived.

“These historical articles through the years have been preserved through properly organised and catalogued storage in a designated room in Papa’s house; taking care to ward against heat and humidity for proper preservation. After his demise and in order to ensure that the documents were preserved for posterity, we took the decision to digitise the physical archives,’’ he added.

At the moment, the Moses Majekodunmi Foundation (MAMF) is focused on proper documentation and accounting of the digitised document.

Some of the materials at the exhibition include personal membership cards (1970s), Lagos Polo Club Constitution (1970s), three copies of the “CHUKKA” magazine of the Lagos Polo club dated January 1974-1975. Others are the Lagos Polo Club tournament brochure from February 1 to 5, 1967; a rare photo of the Majekodunmi Cup when it was donated in 1962 among others.

The exhibition which is an initiative of the Moses Majekodunmi Archive in collaboration with the Lagos Polo Club opened on February 8 and was viewed by many distinguished guests including the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu.

49

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

CICERO

Editor: Ejiofor Alike SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

IN THE ARENA

After the Polls, Let Peace Reign

On the heels of rancorous electioneering campaigns by Nigerian politicians jostling for the presidential and National Assembly seats, the security agencies should ensure that peace reigns after yesterday’s polls, writes Louis Achi

I

n a compelling journey of faith and hope to berth a new country, Nigerians trouped out to voting centres across the country yesterday to elect their president and members of the National Assembly in the 24-year old Fourth Republic.

“This election is probably the most important election in the world because of Nigeria’s pivotal position in Africa,” Nina Shea, a Senior Fellow at the Hudson institute, had told Channelnewsasia.

The immediate issue of legitimate concern to many Nigerians is that of post-election violence, which had smeared the reputation of effective security management of polls and post-elections and become an unflattering feature of democratic elections in Nigeria.

The emerging perception is that the politicians have scripted their own rules and are operating by a weird standard of justice and self-help.

According to Dede Laugesen, Executive Director of Save the Persecuted Christians, “This religiously and politically-divided, cash-poor, weary, and impoverished country is prime for post-election violence as has, unfortunately, been experienced many times before.”

Twenty-four hours earlier on Friday, two important bodies spoke on what many had viewed as Africa’s most consequential general elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told Nigerians that it was ready for a credible presidential and National Assembly elections and that the results of the elections would be announced swiftly.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, spoke while briefing journalists on the Commission’s preparations for the general election on Friday in Abuja.

“Voter enthusiasm is high and so too is our determination to conduct credible elections. We are glad about the progress we are making with the movement of materials to the various locations around the country.

“Having deployed these materials to the Local Government Areas, we are today devolving the deployment to the Registration Area Centres (RACs) so that early morning tomorrow the polls will open as planned,” Yakubu reportedly said.

Providing further clarity on likely challenges, especially on INEC ICT facilities, particularly internet services, and cyber-attack on its facilities, Yakubu said

Irabor

INEC anticipated two challenges, which he identified as technical and malicious acts.

“On technical terms we are working with a mobile telecommunications company to take care of such challenges. We have taken sufficient steps to fortify our portal and systems. We are aware of the anticipated challenges and we are up to the task,” he added.

On their path, the European Union Observation Mission (EU EOM) to the 2023 General Election had condemned the recent acts of violence preceding the poll in parts of the country.

In a statement in Abuja on Friday, the EU EOM singled out the recent politically-linked assassination of the Labour Party (LP) senatorial candidate for Enugu East Senatorial zone of Enugu State, Oyibo Chukwu.

The EU EOM Chief Observer, Barry Andrews, urged all electoral stakeholders to engage in a manner that reflects the spirit of the Peace Accord signed on February 22, 2023.

Andrews urged the candidates, political parties, their supporters and all Nigerians to act responsibly for peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible elections.

“The EU EOM condemns the recent acts of severe and coordinated incidents of violence, in particular

the recent assassination, and urges authorities to hold those responsible to account.

“The EU EOM urges all electoral stakeholders to engage in a manner that reflects the spirit of the Peace Accord signed on 22 February – on election day and in the days that follow as votes are counted and tabulated, and results are announced.

“Furthermore, we urge security agencies to fulfil their responsibilities and ensure an enabling environment for peaceful elections. The EU EOM will continue to observe the electoral process, including the transparency of the election administration, the impartiality of security agencies, and the independence of the judiciary.

“The EU Election Observation Mission has been deployed by the European Union upon an invitation from the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

Also speaking at the same occasion, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Baba, said that a total of 425,106 joint security operatives had been deployed for yesterday’s elections.

“In the police we have 310,973; NSCDC 51,000; FRSC 21,000; Nigerian Correctional Service 11,336; NDLEA 9,447; EFCC 350 and Nigeria Immigration Service 21,000.”

According to the police boss, the orderlies attached to the Very Important Personalities (VIPs), and some politicians would be withdrawn during the polls.

Meanwhile, the suspected politically motivated assassination of LP’s senatorial candidate, Chukwu elicited a swift reaction from INEC, which postponed the senatorial poll in Enugu East to March 11.

Meanwhile, the presidential and National Assembly elections witnessed large turnout across the country on Saturday.

Given the scope of the preparations by the security agencies, and Buhari’s unwavering resolve to leave a free, fair and secure electoral legacy, many doomsday predictions may not see the light of the day.

Largely, post-election peace depends on the readiness and sincerity of the security agencies, soldiers and policemen especially, to read the environment accurately and proactively respond to threats and similar untoward plots by unprincipled politicians to undermine the stability of society.

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

Orbih in Political Wilderness in Edo

Uzodimma Orbih

The woes of the loyalists of Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike in Edo State have deepened. Wike is backing the National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-south, Chief Dan Orbih, who has denied reports of his collaboration with the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in the state, describing it as mischievous.

A political storm was raised last Monday by some social media reports of a meeting between Orbih and APC leaders in the state.

The reports came on the heels of Orbih’s loud silence following the recent Supreme Court judgment that recognised the candidates’ list submitted by Governor Godwin Obaseki as against Orbih’s loyalists.

Responding to the reports of his alleged collaboration with the APC, Orbih in a statement said:

“Earlier this afternoon, my attention was drawn, by High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, to the above press statement circulating in the social media, regarding a purported meeting held in my residence. Ordinarily, I would not have reacted to such mischief, but this is just to assure all our supporters that history will always vindicate the just.

“This morning, a similar story was peddled against the former Minister of Works, Dr. Mike Onolemenmen, alleging that he hosted the Labour Party National Chairman and endorsed the Labour Party candidates.

“I would like to use this medium to request that political mischief makers should leave us alone and fret not over our dignified silence over the open provocative utterances of those who now claim to be the owners of PDP in the state. Personally, I have since relocated to

the comfort of my country home in Ogbona, to participate and perform my civic responsibility of voting in the upcoming elections.”

Since the Supreme Court judgment recognising the Obaseki’s candidates’ list, Orbih has been in a quagmire. He has also been so directionless that he does not know whether to join this archenemy, former Governor Adams Oshiohmole in the APC to deliver the party or run back to the PDP to help Governor Obaseki win elections against the wish of his good friend, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

This is usually the case when politicians, instead of always standing firm, allow themselves to be used as pawns in the hands of moneybags.

Today, he is neither supporting the APC like Wike nor recognised in the PDP.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

BRIEFINGNOTES APC, PDP as their Own Opposition Parties As each of the 18 political parties that participated in yesterday’s presidential and National Assembly elections is counting the losses inflicted by its rival parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party will also count self-inflicted losses, Ejiofor Alike reports

A

s the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collates the final results of the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections held yesterday, each of the 18 political parties that participated in the elections is counting its electoral losses. While the losses suffered by 16 of the political parties were largely inflicted by the rival parties, the losses recorded by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) partly arose from their failure to successfully manage their internal affairs.

PDP was nearly torn apart by the inordinate ambition of the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike.

On its part, the sustained plots within the APC to frustrate the presidential ambition of the former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu obviously caused self-inflicted damages on the ruling party.

The extent of the damages suffered by all the 18 political parties will be determined by the overall performance of the parties in yesterday’s elections.

Cracks had developed in the APC shortly after its formation following speculations that Tinubu was nursing a presidential ambition. When it became obvious that the former Lagos State governor would throw his hat in the presidential ring, his ally and former Governor of Edo State, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole was sacked from his position as the National Chairman of the party.

The emergence of his non-associates - Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni as the head of a national caretaker committee of the party and a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, as the consensus National Chairman of the party were also believed to be part of the plots to stop him.

All these intrigues widened the cracks in the ruling party.

Few days before the primary, the unending plots forced him to make what were considered as disparaging remarks against President Muhammadu Buhari in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where he claimed that he was instrumental to Buhari becoming Nigeria’s president.

His outburst further weakened the party’s fabrics and forced Adamu to issue a threat against him.

Even after he had emerged as the APC presidential candidate, the cold war between his core loyalists and other forces within the party raged on.

The mutual suspicion got to a peak when he alleged that the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the fuel scarcity in the country were contrived to sabotage his victory at yesterday’s election.

This outburst was also seen by many as another direct attack on Buhari’s APC-led administration.

Many of his loyalists, including governors Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, as well as former National Chairman of the party, Oshiomhole also unleashed a flurry of attacks against the policy.

El-Rufai, who did not hide his disdain for Tinubu’s style of politics, suddenly became his ally when he emerged as the party’s candidate.

While El-Rufai alleged that the CBN policy was a deliberate plot to disrupt the elections and form an Interim Government, Ganduje claimed that Buhari was planning to destroy the APC. Ganduje said despite the collective efforts made by the APC to ensure Buhari’s election victories in 2015 and 2019 after several losses, the president had resolved to pay the party and those that supported him back by destroying the party that brought him to power.

“Imagine someone has been contesting without winning elections until after a merger was formed.

He won the election and spent four years, and re-contested again and he won, now that he is about to go, he is doing nothing but to destroy the party that elected him,” Ganduje reportedly said.

To show Ganduje’s hypocrisy, the same governor had in October 2010 suspended his Special Adviser on Media, Salihu Yakasai, for criticising Buhari.

Yakasai had accused Buhari of not showing Nigerians empathy during the protests against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The internal crisis in the APC deepened when

three governors of the ruling party – El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State dragged the APC-led administration to the Supreme Court over the naira redesign, and were joined by many other governors of the party.

The apex court had fixed March 3 for ruling on the matter.

With APC fighting the APC, it was evident that the ruling party did not go to yesterday’s polls with a united house and this might have affected their electoral fortunes.

The self-inflicted losses will only be ascertained at the end of the collation exercise by the INEC. For the PDP, the Rivers State governor, Wike was determined to bring down the roof top when he lost the presidential ticket to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the vice presidential ticket to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa. Wike, who claimed to be fighting for justice and equity, could not make a case for the party to zone the presidential ticket to the South-east in the spirit of fairness and justice.

The governor had wanted to clinch the ticket despite the fact that his kinsman, former President Goodluck Jonathan handed power over to President Buhari. He was, however, rejected at the party’s presidential primary due to what his colleague-governors and other party leaders described as his “un-presidential public conduct.”

He had initially accepted the result of the election and pledged to work for Atiku. But

when he lost the vice presidential ticket to Okowa, he ran amok, vowing to stop the party from winning yesterday’s presidential poll. Wike, who obviously overrated his capacity in Nigerian politics, but could not make himself a presidential or vice presidential candidate despite his deep pocket, believed he could make or mar anyone’s presidential ambition.

The Rivers State governor also forgot that his efforts to make the Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal the presidential candidate of the party in 2019 failed woefully. He equally ignored the fact that former President Jonathan failed in his reelection bid despite his support.

Despite his serial failures, he was determined to claim glory in the event of Atiku losing the presidential poll due to his frustrations arising from his inability to be on the ballot in the 2023 elections.

He vowed to inflict maximum damage on the PDP. With his unlimited resources, he was able to recruit Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, to fight Atiku.

But his efforts to ensure that his G-5 governors adopted a presidential candidate also failed. While he pitched his tent with Tinubu, the other four governors abandoned him to work for their preferred candidates.

Whether Atiku won or lost yesterday’s poll, the PDP would count losses arising from the anti-party activities of Wike and his allies.

NOTES FOR FILE

Curbing the Excesses of Police Officers

Baba

The Special Investigation Panel (SIP) under the Monitoring and Mentoring Unit in the Office of the InspectorGeneralofPolice(IG),Usman AlkaliBabalast week commenced investigations into some weighty allegationslevelledagainstthreepoliceofficersserving at the Zone 13 Command, Ukpo-Dunukofia, and the Anambra State Command.

TheOfficer-in-ChargeoftheRapidResponseSquad (RRS),AnambraStateCommand,CSPPatrickAgbazue; the PPRO of Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo-Dunukofia, SP Nwode Nkeiruka; and Inspector Harrison Akama attached to the RRS were accused of kidnapping, torture and murder of innocent citizens.

An anonymous blog, Gistlover, which made the accusation with several photos and video evidence, had alleged that Agbazue and his team are worse than their

infamous predecessor, CSP James Nwafor (rtd), who wasaccusedofsimilarcrimesduringhistenureashead oftheSpecialAnti-RobberySquad(SARS)inAnambra State before the disbandment of SARS. DespitetheeffortsoftheauthoritiesoftheNigeria Policetoridtheforceofrogueelements,somenotoriouspoliceofficershavecontinuedtooccupysensitive positions in the Force. It is on record that the current IG, Baba, has made commendable efforts to reform the police in line with the international best practices.

The failure of the previous IGs to curb the excesses ofpoliceofficershadledtheNigerianyouthstotaketo the streets in October 2020 to demand the disbandment of the dreaded SARS. Before the #EndSARS protests, the atrocities committed by the SARS in Awkuzu under the command of CSP Nwafor had

topped the list of the atrocities committed by the dreaded outfit nationwide.

Unfortunately,thebadelementsintheformerSARS are still committing the same atrocities in their new areas of assignments.

TheformerAwkuzuSARS,whichisnowtheRRS,has allegedlyremainednotoriousforcausingpermanent disappearance of suspects in their custody, extrajudicial killings, kidnapping for ransom, and organ harvesting.Theyalsoallegedlyemptythebankaccounts ofinnocentNigerianstheyframeforvariousoffences.

TheForcePublicRelationsOfficer,CSPOlumuyiwa Adejobi, confirmed in a statement last week that the SIP,comprisingrespectedpoliceofficers,wouldreport directlytotheIG,andalsodischargetheirresponsibility professionally and ensure justice.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

CICERO/ISSUE

EFCC Alleges Sponsored Campaign against Bawa For the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the wave of protests from various groups against its Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, in recent times, is the handiwork of individuals smarting from their investigations for corruption, Kingsley Nweze writes

I

nthepastfewweeks,theChairmanoftheEconomic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, has been facing a wave of protests from various groups across the country.

Last week, youths who claimed to be the leaders of Arewa Transparency and Democratic Youths Initiatives (ATDYI), North-east Youths Assembly (NYA), Centre for Rights, Justice and Democratic Integrity (CRJD), Middle Belt Forum for Good Governance (MFG), South-eastCoalitionforLeadership(SCL),andSouth-west Alliance for Innovation and Good Governance (SAIG), in a statement issued in Abuja, gave Bawa a 24-hour ultimatum to resign or face a series of coordinated mass actions.

In their statement, the six regional leaders - Salisu Yusuf, Sidi Baba Ali, Nadabo Abdullahi Fargo, Yakubu Jonah Ambali, Okafor Oguchukwu, and Babalola Shodipe Abayomi,accusedtheEFCCbossofgrossincompetence and inability to deliver on his key mandate since he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021.

They stated that after watching what has been going on in the commission since his appointment, they felt sad that something sinister was wrong somewhere in the management of EFCC They alleged that Bawa’s inefficiency and incapacity havepreventedhimfromrunningtheagencyprofessionally.

The groups also accused Bawa of selective anticorruptioncrusade,addingthathislacklustreperformance in office would help to determine his place in Nigeria’s corruption battle.

“The selective anti-corruption crusader in Bawa and his lacklustre performance in office would help to determine his place in Nigeria’s corruption battle. He came, saw but failed to make a difference. His greatest odd is himself and posterity will judge him harshly for self-inflicted blunders and failures,” the statement read.

“His greatest undoing is his inability to resist the tendency for selective prosecution of accused persons, thepre-emptivetrialofsuspectsundergoinginvestigation and conferring above-the-law status on questionable individuals working within and outside the commission.

“We are therefore giving Bawa a 24-hour ultimatum to honourably resign from office or be ready to face mass action against his continued stay in office to be coordinated by the Coalition for Pro-democracy/ Human Rights groups and Coalition of Nigerians against corruption.

“We shall organise a protest march to the EFCC’s office and other select offices of the Commission and anti-graft agencies across Nigeria to register our disapproval with the grave disobedience to the judgment of the Federal High Court and other courts sentencing Mr Bawa for contempt.”

The protests were triggered by a recent judgment of the Kogi State High Court, Lokoja that jailed Bawa for contempt. His conviction, the second in four months, followed a request by a nephew of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Ali Bello, who accused the EFCC chair of violating a court judgment that declared his arrest and detention last year illegal.

Bello said EFCC arraigned him on December 15, 2022, in violation of the court’s judgment.

In her ruling, Justice Rukayat Ayoola ordered the Inspector-General of Police to arrest Bawa and put him in prison “until he purges himself of the contempt”.

Butundeterred,thecommissionwentaheadtoarraign Bello on another set of N3 billion money laundering charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Bawa was earlier accused of contempt by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja on October 28, 2022. The court jailed Bawa but the police which were ordered to enforce the imprisonment, did not take any action. However, the court on November 10, 2022, nullified its committal order following an application by the EFCC chair to reverse itself.

Ruling on the request, Justice Oji said she was satisfied that the EFCC Chairman did not disregard the court’s orders, asking him to release seized assets belonging to a former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Vice Marshal Rufus Ojuawo (rtd).

There is no doubt that Bawa since appointment has rejuvenated the EFCC. In his first year as chairman, the commission made a cash recovery of N152 billion

Bello

Bawa and $285 million; £1,182,519.75; €156,246.76; 1,723,310.00 Saudi Riyal; 1,900.00 South African Rand, and 1,400.00 Canadian dollars.

Bawa is the first head of the commission to continue the prosecution of high-profile corruption cases as a lead prosecution witness. Despite his crowded official engagements, he has been in and out of courts, testifying in two cases of oil subsidy fraud involving Abubakar Peters and his company, Nadabo Energy Limited, who were accused of allegedly obtaining money under false pretence, diversion of federal government funds and forgery to the tune of N761,628,993.84 before Justice S. S. Ogunsanya of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos. He also testifies in a 27-count charge before Justice C.A Balogun of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, where the accused allegedly used forged documents to obtain N1,464,961,978.24 from the federal government as an oil subsidy claim, after allegedly inflating the quantity of petrol purportedly imported and supplied by the company.

Despite the strong legal representation by the defence counsel in courts, the EFCC has continued to blaze the trail with big wins at the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and the High Courts across the country, securing 2,220 and 3,785 convictions in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Responding to the series of protests against Bawa, EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, urged the public to disregard them, alluding that they were sponsored by elements of the Kogi State Government. Uwujaren said it was corruption that was fighting back following the arrest and ongoing prosecution of relatives of the state governor, Yahaya Bello. He described the protesters as “rented crowds” and added that the commission would not be distracted by their demonstrations.

Detailing the tactics employed by the sponsored protesters, Uwujaren said their intention was to blackmail Bawa and force him to resign. He noted that the information available to the commission, “indicates that persons under investigation by the commission

sponsor the group.” He also said the persons “have been mobilised and mandated by their paymaster to embarrass the person of the chairman through choreographed street protests across the country until he is removed from office.”

He urged the public to disregard the campaign by these groups as they do not represent the genuine interest of millions of Nigerians who are desirous of seeing progress in the fight against corruption.

The statement read: “The EFCC wishes to raise the alarm about the activities of an amorphous group of so-called Civil Society Organisations who have recently embarked on a campaign to discredit the person of the Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa and incite the public against the commission.

“The group, through press conferences and staged street protests, has been calling for the sack of the EFCC Chairman for alleged disobedience of court orders. They claim they are motivated by the need to strengthen the fight against corruption. Contrary to these claims, the EFCC wishes to alert the public that this group has no interest in the fight against corruption and their allusion to disobedience of court orders by the EFCC chairman is an alibi to manipulate facts around judicial pronouncements and processes to pitch the public against the commission.

“Information available to the commission indicates that the group is sponsored by persons under investigation by the commission and have been mobilised and mandated by their paymaster to embarrass the person of the chairman through choreographed street protests across the country until he is removed from office “It is significant that this group found its voice after the EFCC launched an investigation into the mindless looting of the treasury of one of the states. This same group shouted that the commission lacked the power to investigate the theft of the state’s resources. Their latest dance in the market square came a few hours after family members of a sitting state governor were arraigned at an Abuja court for allegedly stealing the state’s funds.

“EFCC appeals to the public to disregard the campaign by this group as they do not represent the genuine interest of millions of Nigerians who are desirous of seeing progress in the fight against corruption. The spectre of rented crowds, rented CSOs, etc are blights in our social fabric and manifest demonstration of how deep-seated corruption has permeated every sector of our society.

We want to assure Nigerians that the EFCC will not be distracted by this campaign of calumny as we believe that this agenda will fail.

“It is also important to reassure Nigerians and all stakeholders that the commission has never, and will not take any steps to undermine the judiciary. As a law-abiding institution, EFCC has conducted all its activities within the ambit of the law. Where judicial decisions were made against it, it has never resorted to self-help but availed itself of remedies under the law as it did in the instant case of committal orders of court,” he said.

DespitetheprotestagainstBawa,inwhatmaylooklike ain’t seen nothing yet, the commission last Wednesday secured an interim forfeiture of 14 properties in Lagos, Abuja, United Arab Emirates linked to Governor Yayaha Bello at the Federal High Court in Lagos Justice Nicholas Oweibo granted the order following an ex parte motion filed and argued by EFCC counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN. Oyedepo informed the judge that the properties, including the one in the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, were reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity.

Oyedepo further told the court that the N400million linked to the state and recovered from one Aminu Falala was reasonably suspected to have been derived from unlawful activity “and intended to be used for the acquisition of Plot No. 1224 Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.”

Justice Oweibo authorised the EFCC to confiscate the sum of N400million. He also directed the (EFCC) to publish the order within 14 days for any interested party to show cause why the forfeiture order should not be made permanently.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

CICERO/ISSUE

In Anambra, Even Policemen Live in Fear David-Chyddy Eleke writes on the recent spate of attacks on policemen in Anambra State, stressing that only the joint efforts of the various security agencies will stem the tide and sustain the success recorded against the gunmen

I

t is no longer news that Anambra State has been one of the worst-hit states in the South-east in terms of attacks by non-state actors suspected to be members of a breakaway faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Even before Prof. Chukwuma Soludo emerged as the governor of the state, the state had witnessed killings, arsons, and car-snatching by some criminal elements masquerading as freedom fighters.

The tough stance of Soludo against these elements, after he had offered them an olive branch shortly after assuming office in March 2021, had made the residents of the state heave a sigh of relief. This is as the support given to the police and th military by the governor led to the killing of these gunmen and the destruction of their camps.

The military onslaught weakened the gunmen, who were already annexing a part of the state as their territory, to the extent of collecting local tax from residents in those areas.

But just as the people of the state were heaving a sigh of relief, and gearing up to participate in the 2023 general election, there seems to be a renewed spate of attacks on policemen and the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the gunmen.

In just one week, no fewer than five police facilities were attacked by the gunmen, while a training camp of the members of staff of INEC for the 2023 election was invaded and trainees dispersed by the gunmen, with many police operatives paying the supreme price.

The renewed spate of attacks started penultimate Friday, when gunmen operating around Ihiala in Anambra State killed three policemen from the Delta State Police Command. The incident happened while the operatives were said to be on their way to Abia State as an advance security team of the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.

The operatives had their vehicle were set ablaze at Ishieke road, Ihiala, and the bodies of the slain officers were recovered by police operatives in Anambra State. According to the state police command’s spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, “the officers came under attack and their vehicle was set ablaze by unidentified armed men. The men were identified as officers attached to Explosives Ordinance Department (EOD), Delta State Police Command and were headed to Abia State for official assignment.”

One of the officers in the vehicles was however said to have surprisingly escaped. His escape was aided by the fact that he didn’t wear his uniform during the period of attack. Some eyewitnesses said that the man was spared because the gunmen were doubtful of his identity.

Also, on the following day, February 13, Ogidi police station in Idemili North Local Government of the state was attacked. The gunmen were lucky as the police killed one of them during

Baba

the incident.

In a statement he issued after the attack, Ikenga said the police operatives foiled the attack, demobilised one of the armed men, and recovered many expended cartridges and 25 litres of petrol from them. He said the hoodlums who were suspected to be on a mission to set ablaze the police facility, had arrived at about 2am in large number, using an unmarked Toyota Hiace bus, a Toyota Hilux and three motorcycles.

A day later, precisely on Tuesday, February 14, gunmen also kidnapped 15 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the state. The corps members were abducted by the hoodlums at a filling station in Ihiala LGA. It was gathered that the corps members had just completed their three-week orientation programme in Imo State, and were travelling to Lagos when they were abducted.

A source privy to the incident said: “They hijacked their vehicle and diverted it to Isseke, Ihiala-Orlu expressway where the gunmen kept them hostage.”

They were however lucky as police operatives working in the area were able to rescue them unhurt.

The state police spokesman, Ikenga while reacting to the incident, had said that the corps members were released, through the efforts of police operatives.

He said the corps members were later debriefed by the police operatives and necessary arrangements perfected, while they were conveyed to their destinations.

Other attacks that occurred in the state within the period include the attack on the members of staff of INEC during their training in Ukpor, Nnewi South LGA; the attack on Ogidi Police Station in Idemili North Local Government Area; the attack on Nkwelle Ezunaka Police Station in Oyi LGA and the attack on the Awada Police Station, Obosi in Idemili North LGA. On the attack on the INEC’s Training Centre, which took place on Thursday, February 16, Ikenga, said in a statement that: “No life was lost, as joint security team successfully rescued and prevented the armed men from hurting the electoral officials on an assignment at Ukpor High School, Nnewi South Local Government Area.”

Also on Saturday, February 18, gunmen attacked a Police Station in Ogidi, killing three police officers. Ikenga in a statement had stated that the gunmen arrived in their number, and shot repeatedly,

gaining access into the police facility, while using improvised bombs to attack buildings.

“Unfortunately, the buildings in the police facility were affected. The command observed with grave concern the loss of life and valuables as a result of this attack,” he added.

The following day, precisely on February 19, the gunmen again struck again at Nkwelle Ezunaka.

Luck however ran out on the attackers as the police killed five of them. Ikenga, who confirmed the attack, stated that: “The combined security team, made up of the police and the military, today (Sunday) 19/2/2023 by 5:58 am, neutralised a gang of five armed men, recovered two AK47 rifles, one Toyota Sienna vehicle with Reg No Abuja ABC 848 EQ, charms and other incriminating items. This was in response to a distress call on an attack at 33 Police Divisional Headquarters, Nkwelle-Ezunaka, Oyi Local Government Area.

“During the gun duel, unfortunately, one police operative attached to the station was fatally wounded and an office in the facility was partially affected by the petrol bomb which the armed men threw inside the station. Also, one patrol vehicle parked in front of the station was set ablaze by the gunmen.”

Again, on Monday, February 20, at least seven people were killed in Awada, close to Obosi community during another attack by the gunmen. Those who lost their lives included the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Awada Police Division, three police operatives attached to the division and three of the gunmen.

The motive of the attackers was not yet clear but the leader of a breakaway faction of IPOB, one Simon Ekpa, who is based in Finland, had declared that no elections would be held in the South-east. The declaration is suspected to be a way of getting people in the South-east to boycott the coming election, just as Ekpa is suspected to be working for an unnamed presidential candidate.

IPOB has consistently clarified that Ekpa is no longer a member of the group but he has continued to claim that he is fighting for the release of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, while at the same time portraying the detained IPOB leader and his group as terrorists through his acts of violence in the South-east.

Though the Igbo leaders have urged the residents of the South-east to ignore his sit-at-home order, his threats have put apprehension among the people of the state.

While the state police command has consistently assured the residents of the state of its ability to secure the state and has also called on members of the public to go about their normal duty without fear of being molested, its personnel have however continued to live in fear.

To stem this ugly tide and sustain the success recorded in the battle to rid the state of these criminal elements, the combined efforts of the joint security agencies would be needed.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

ENGAGEMENTS

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

Buhari’s Lonely Days

I

nhisfinaldays,JosephStalinwasadjudged somewhat unhinged by the public and his close lieutenants. But he insisted that he was acting rationally and in the best interests of the nation. The periodic weekend garden party was part of his routine to which he usually invited his close lieutenants, friends and associates. On this occasion towards the end of his turbulent career, he noticed that the attendance was unusually scanty. His usual collection of friends and associates had thinned out to a mere handful.

When he made his usual grand entrance, he asked aloud: ‘Where have all my friends gone?’ An aide leaned over and whispered into his ears: ‘All gone,allpurged…’UnknowntoStalin,hissweeping purges of anti revolutionary elements had also wiped out majority of his friends and allies. Close to six million had perished on Stalin’s orders. They included party faithful, political allies, security king pins and many ordinary folk on whose behalf the revolution was ostensibly launched.

But for Stalin, mass murder and unparalleled human suffering among the masses meant little.

As he famously said: “The death of one man is a tragedy. But the death of many is statistics…”

The lesson? When a leader unleashes a wild change, it sometimes consumes unintended victims including his acolytes, power devotees and the crowd of hapless citizens. The leader’s curious reward as his career tapers off is usually loneliness, the loneliness of the change maker, the man at the top at the twilight hour between fading incumbency and the exit door of power.

The majority of men of power head towards the horizon of powerlessness as lonely miserable figures.

For Buhari and his Nigerian compatriots, the much anticipated 2023 presidential election has come and gone. As the nation anxiously awaits an outcome, Mr. Buhari must be trying to come to terms with his lonely trek back towards the dusty anonymity of Daura. It does not matter now which way the election turns out. It does not matter who wins or loses. One reality stares Mr. Buhari in the face. It is the imminence of his lonely stretch into the horizon. The preparation came in droves just before the presidential election.

Though imbued with the habitual quiescence of a Fulani chieftain, Buhari may not find words to describe the stampede among his devotees and party colleagues on the eve of the election.

In direct response to the Naira crisis that he deliberately initiated, the reality of political self -interest overwhelmed presidential supremacy.

A populace that was eagerly preparing for elections was also caught in the grips of a severe and unanticipated cash scarcity.

My friend and brother Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State fired the opening political salvo.

El-Rufai, long known to support the president in most situations, suggested that the resident powercabalinAsoVillahadtakenoverthemechanics of Buhari’s power transition. He alleged that the dark knights of the Villa were opposed to the emergence of Bola Tinubu as Buhari’s success.

Mrs. Aisha Buhari quickly endorsed El-Rufai’s contention through a social media share. The clear and unmistakable message was that Mr. Buhari had lost control not only of his presidency but also the choice of his successor. He had also effectivelylostcontrol ofhis rulingparty,the APC. Soon afterwards, a chaotic stampede over the raging Central Bank Naira re-coating exercise generated even more discordant voices within the President’s camp. By choosing to change the higher denominations of the Naira on the eve of yesterday’s presidential election, Buhari had scorched the political rattle snakes in his camp.

A cacophony of voices from inside his political household could be heard loudly.

El-Rufai has accused the Villa of using the Naira crisis to foment trouble in order to scuttle the election that just took place and pave the way for some interim government. Governor Ganduje of Kano joined that toxic narrative. El Rufai had all along been mistaken for an avid Buhari devotee.

But he was now an avid Tinubu supporter.

Overnight,the entire APC governors inone way or the other joined the legal rebellion against the FG and the CBN over the continuing legal tender of the old N500 and N1000 denominations. A few of the governors insisted publicly that the N500 and N1000 denominations withdrawn by the Central Bank on Presidential orders would remain legal tender in their states. Of course

Buhari wise people chose to mostly obey the supreme sovereign of the land.

Festus Keyamo, Buhari’s junior minister for labour insisted in several media interviews that Buhari was ill advised on his ban on the legal tender of the old N500 and N1000 Naira bills. Typically, Mr. Keyamo tried to spin the Naira controversy in Buhari’s favour while openly revealing that the APC presidential campaign had been injured by the new Naira policy. Hard as he tried, Keyamo ended up with a blistering critique of the president. A spokesman of a ruling party virtually ended up deepening the crisis within the party by dividing the party in power from its leader.

He did not stop there, he waded into the murky zone of the Supreme Court’s interim order on the Naira crisis by suggesting that the President may have disobeyed the apex court by exempting the N200 bill from the ban on old large denomination notes.

That contentious intervention attracted an equally weighty counter attack. Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Buhari’s Minister of Works and himself a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, disagreed with Keyamo. Fashola argued that the president did not necessarily undermine or disobeyed the Supreme Court. Two senior lawyers in the same cabinet, the same party, the same cabinet with diametrically opposed views.

But Mr. Keyamo had yanked his pound of flesh.

As the spokesperson of the Bola Tinubu campaign, Keyamo knows where the butter of his political future is buttered. He openly chose to defend the APC presidential candidate over the party and the lame duck president. Yet, he remains a minister in Buhari’s rump cabinet! In an earlier maneuver, he had preferred to don his lawyer’s Whig and Gown and rush to court to press charges against Mr. Atiku Abubakar over a purely political propaganda disagreement over political money movements.

Inasimilarvein,Buhari’sInformationCommissar, Lai Mohammed, deepened the confusion and pandemonium within the president’s political enclave.

He saw no reason why the president of a ruling party should initiate a hostile policy such as the Naira swap crisis on the eve of a general election.

Worse still, he saw no reason why Bola Tinubu as APC presidential candidate should be critical of Buhari since he is a candidate of the incumbent party presided over by Mr. Buhari.

For him, quite rightly, Mr. Tinubu ought to have been running on the performance record of the party under Buhari in the last eight years in power.

Lai Mohammed reminded Tinubu that he is not an independent candidate but a ruling party flag bearer.

Just before the presidential election, injured politicians and political court messengers were up inarms. Amajorpartyman,AdamsOshiomhole,did not want to be left out of the fray. Mr. Oshiomhole had been Edo State governor on an APC ticket and was later the party’s National chairman. But he is also a known Bola Tinubu acolyte. He added his voice to the political quarrels over the Naira crisis.

He sided with Mr. Tinubu and others in criticizing the president and the Central Bank for a policy which he saw as clearly targeted at Mr. Tinubu and money pot politics.

Regardforthepresident’sglorifiedtogaseemed to have evaporated matter little. Party loyalty and solidarity also counted for little. In any case, a ruling party not bound by any common belief is no better than a conclave of thieves. When the common bond of power incumbency becomes shaky, the party degenerates into a free for all.

Everyman to himself and the devil to us all! Inside the APC on the eve of the presidential election, supportforandoppositiontoTinubu’spresidential ambition seemed to have swamped devotion to the lame duck Buhari. Why? The flight of APC and other governors towards Tinubu is a natural political migration of convenience. The ongoing desertion of Buhari will accelerate. It is a consequence of his lack of his fading relevance as his tenure wanes. For the avoidance of doubt, Buhari has always been a political merchandise with an expiration date.

The date is on hand and is irreversible.

The political hawks used him and his mythology to come to federal power as APC. He has largely expired. His moment of supremacy is nearly over.

A party that stood for nothing tangible other than an evanescent Buhari myth cannot outlast the life span of that mascot. That hour has come. We can see the beginnings in the cacophony of voices among the APC governors.

The President’s northern solidarity and cult followership is also about to end as ordinary northerners come to terms with their massive deficits of the last eight years, Violence, massive school shut downs, banditry, deserted farms, unemployment, deepened poverty would seem to summarize the Buhari presidency. From the loud shouts of ‘Sai Baba!’, the youth are now hurling stones at him.

It has taken the Naira crisis just before the presidential election to bring Mr. Buhari face

to face with the clear and present danger of an unravelingparty.PerhapsheneededtheNairacrisis to come to a full realization of the true nature of political self-interest among Nigerian politicians.

It is for him a sneak preview of his own imminent loneliness in power.

Politicsandbigmoneytraveltogether.Takeaway money from political actors at election time and all hell is let loose. The fangs and red teeth of the political jackals is exposed. The Nigerian politician, starved of money to buy votes, bribe enablers and corrupt the political process, the red claws of the politician cones out.

Therefore, beneath the rage of leading political actors over the Naira crisis is the outrage of threatened political fortunes. State governors are destabilized that they cannot deploy their huge cash holdings to influence the outcome of the elections in their domains. Their anger with the Central Bank and the President is principally on this score. Of course, given the widespread hardship and economic dislocation that the Naira re-issue has created all over the country, it is convenient for infuriated state governors to override their own interests with the larger concern for the welfare of the populace. In the run up to a crucial election, the appeal to a ready popular outrage over scarcity of cash becomes a political weapon in the hands of a president that is seen as a serial traducer of the political class irrespective of partisan affiliation.

But the damage of the Naira crisis to the APC is by far the most consequential. President Buhari remains the major cohesive force that was instrumental to the formation of the APC. His leadership, effete as it has been, remained the cohesive force that held the coat of many colours together as a party in power. Power incumbency remained the lifeblood of the party for the last eight years.

With no substantial idea to hold on to, the APC couldonlysurviveasapartyforaslongasitremains in power. Once the president collaborated with the Central Bank of Nigeria to unleash the Naira ambush at a last critical moment before the election,thepresidenthadvicariouslypartedcompany politically with his party. The contraption was doomed to unravel unless it produces the next president. That hypothesis should be tested in the next couple of days or hours.

Yet the gravity of the immediate pre-election stampede in the APC will outlast this transition period. Since the results of the presidential election are still awaited, we can only hazard a guess as to the immensity of Buhari’s looming loneliness on his way home. If Mr. Bola Tinubu of the APC emerges the winner of this election, he would have scored that victory in spite of the clear financial obstacles placed in his way by an incumbent president of his own party. A victorious Tinubu is not likely to assume the most friendly stance towards Mr. Buhari after May 29th. But even at that, Buhari cannot expect to control the party once he is out of the Villa.

If, on the contrary, Mr. Tinubu loses the election to any of the other contestants, we may have seen the end of APC as a party. A Tinubu loss in this election will also be the end of APC. The factions in the party will seek to take control of whatever remainsoftheparty.Therewillbenothingseriously at stake to compel a survival of the party.

Mr. Tinubu will head home to lick his wounds after a predictable period of post election trouble making. The APC governors who survive politically either in enthroning their own successors or winning elections into the Senate are likely to fly the APC flag for as long as it takes for a new majority party to gain control of power at the center. The gale of decampment will follow as alignments and re-alignments among politicians take over the stage.

Mr. Buhari will go home into a deserved retirement and bear the burden of being the man who torpedoed his own party from power at the moment of succession. But privately, he will have had a definitive say on who ‘ does not succeed him”.

If it turns out that the election is adjudged free and fair by local and international observers and opinion drivers, then Mr. Buhari will have scored his definitive legacy. He will go down as the president whopresidedoverafreeandfairelectiontoensure a succession that did not necessarily sustain his party’sholdonpower.Privately,whateverpersonal grievance the president may have had against the conduct and outcome of the APC presidential primaries in May 2022 will have been assuaged.

T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • FEBRUARY 26, 2023

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B AC K PAG E C O N T I N UAT I O N COMMON ERRORS ABOUT NIGERIA (V) acquire private jets. That is their own part of the deal. The president is then mandated, in our logic, to unleash the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on them, to get them embarrassed, arrested and jailed in foreign lands. In other words, the leadership for anti-corruption war is on the shoulders of the president alone. Governors are not supposed to be anti-corruption champions in their own right.

Let us step back a bit again. Imagine a situation where the governor is leading by example, tough on corruption, and brutal on inflation of contracts and budget padding.

Imagine that the governor fires commissioners and agency heads for corruption and charges them to court immediately and the culprits are diligently prosecuted and jailed. Imagine that village associations and traditional rulers openly celebrate the governor for firing their “sons” and “daughters” who disgraced them in public office! Imagine the impact this will have on reducing corruption. The governor is the president of his state in this instance and is the one leading the campaign for transparency and the war against graft.

Because we are fully sold to the error that it is the responsibility of only the president to fight corruption, we have often missed the argument. At this point, I have a mini-confession to make. When Candidate Olusegun Obasanjo was bidding to be president of Nigeria in 1999, one of the reasons I supported him wholeheartedly was his promise to fight corruption. I still recollect the day he was sworn in at the Eagle Square, Abuja, on May 29, 1999. When it got to the part of his speech where he was saying “I will fight corruption” — which he repeated with emphasis — my head was

spinning. Finally, I said, we had a president who would deal a fatal blow on this endemic epidemic.

Although he set up the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and even though governors were arrested and most times illegally impeached, corruption still went on unperturbed. I gradually became despondent and disenchanted, especially as I discovered many things that were going on in Obasanjo’s government which directly contradicted his public posture of being an anti-corruption champion. I was attacking Obasanjo regularly in my column for not fighting corruption. I had been completely sucked in by his key campaign promise of fighting corruption and I was expecting an all-out war like under military rule.

After Obasanjo left office, I became sober.

Although Obasanjo tried to combat the plague in his way, and even though he had his own contradictions, the reality was that there was only a distance a president could go. Fighting corruption is a war that must be waged on all fronts and by all arms of government: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

If lawmakers are inflating budgets to get kickbacks, what can the president do? He cannot sack a legislator. He can sack the erring minister, which I think is the barest minimum. But what happens if the EFCC charges the sacked minister and the looting lawmaker to court and the judge takes bribes to pervert justice?

In the end, all that the president can do is fight what is within his ambit. He should appoint people of integrity into his government, keep them in check and wield the axe when necessary — at least to send

the right signals that this is not business as usual. He can embark on administrative and institutional reforms that will help track and tame leakages in the system. He can lead the way with the optics, with the right attitude, and with the right conduct. He can stamp his feet and stand his ground on matters of integrity and accountability.

He must not, by omission or commission, give the impression that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others”. Non-negotiable.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is basically all he can do. He does not make the laws.

Even though the anti-graft agencies report to him, he is not going to be the judge when the suspects are charged to court. He cannot be sitting in Aso Rock and watching over a desk officer asking for N100,000 to help you fix an appointment to “capture” at the passport office in Abeokuta. He cannot fire a state commissioner for corruption on behalf of the governor and charge him to court.

He cannot be at Seme border to prevent Customs officers from collecting bribes to aid smuggling. The president can make as many promises to “fight corruption” as he likes, but he is only as good as his field agents.

If we are ever going to make significant progress in the war against corruption, certain things must be in place. Experts have researched different countries and come to various reasoned conclusions. The “tone at the top” is critical, and this is where the president comes in — even though I would also say “tone at the top” applies to every governor, agency head and even unit head. There must also be sanctions, applied without fail. Again, it is not solely

the job of the president — I would say the judiciary is an important agency here.

There must also be preventative systems to curb corruption — procurement processes, open budgeting, freedom of information, asset declaration and such like.

Above all, and this is the one I believe is the most effective weapon: the society must buy into the war. We cannot wage an effective anti-corruption war if the society is pro-corruption. We do not want to go through due process; we would rather bribe our way. We feel entitled when we get into public office or when someone we know does. We would not engage a lawyer if we are in trouble with the police but would rather peddle influence by calling the DPO, commissioner or the IGP. We do not want accountability and transparency when it comes to public officers who share religious, ethnic, regional or political affinity with us, but we become vocal when someone else is the culprit.

This instalment is the final of my series on the “Common Errors about Nigeria”.

In all, I sought to dispel certain notions that we have accepted as absolute truths in Nigeria which evidence does not support. One, Nigeria is not as rich as we claim; we are only potentially rich.

Two, Nigeria’s underdevelopment is not solely the fault of the president. All tiers of government are culpable. Three, the 1999 Constitution is not responsible for our underdevelopment. Four, the impact of vote-buying on presidential elections is grossly exaggerated. Finally, no president can fight corruption single-handed: he can only lead a willing chain of segments and sections of the state and the society.

And Four Other Things…

SUPREME SACRIFICE On paper, whoever triumphs in the presidential election should be celebrated as having won the freest and fairest election in our history.

Why? INEC has been praised for cleaning up the system and leveraging on technology to transmit results and tackle overvoting. Also, the federal government has made the naira difficult to come back in order to curb “votebuying”, with hundreds of millions of Nigerians suffering untold hardship. Some have made the supreme sacrifice. Tertiary institutions were shut down to allow students go home to vote. You would therefore expect that there should be no dispute over the outcome. But this is Nigeria, where things are unpredictable.

Complicated.

CURFEW CULTURE Mr Usman Baba, the inspector-general of police (IGP), on Thursday ordered the restriction of vehicular movement across the country on the day of the presidential election.

This started from midnight of Friday and lasted till 6pm on Saturday. In nearby Ghana, elections are held on a weekday and there is no restriction of movement. Why are we so special in Nigeria? Curfew is one of the major features of a military regime that we inherited and we have continued with it without thinking twice or asking questions. Election periods always disrupt our lives and hurt economic activities and we have accepted that as God’s will. When are we going to have a normal society again? Twisted.

BUHARI’S BUDDIES Since President Buhari decided to change the colours of the national currencies under the naira redesign policy, I have noticed an unusual love for him by the PDP. In the suit filed against the president by his own party, APC, some PDP governors applied to join as defendants. The opposition figures not only praised Buhari, they said he should not move the deadline for the old notes. And then Timothy Osadolor, deputy national youth leader of the PDP, issued a statement warning APC leaders that nothing must happen to the president! The same PDP classified the same Buhari and his APC as failures during campaigns. If you live long enough, you’ll experience everything. Amazing.

PEACE, PLEASE! On Friday, an audio recording purportedly captured Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential candidate, planning to rig the election. The moment I heard the so-called Atiku refer to the governor of Sokoto state as “Tambuwal”, I smiled. He would normally call him “Aminu”. I laughed further when “Tambuwal” called him “Atiku Abubakar”. Poor job. This was deepfake technology at work. I have a strong suspicion that a body similar to Cambridge Analytica was involved in the propaganda around this election. Some preelection media spins appeared to have been orchestrated and co-ordinated. I just pray that desperate people won’t set this country on fire, post-election. Peace.

The state must regain the monopoly of legitimate violence.

Ultimately, we will need a comprehensive review and a reform of our security architecture. We need to retool, reposition and resource our security and armed forces for the challenges of the moment and those of the future. We need to make them fit-for-purpose.

The last bit of urgent work is about the imperative of national healing and inclusion.

At the moment, Nigeria is not working for

most Nigerians. One of the issues brought into sharp relief by recent developments, including the presidential election, is the growing sense of alienation in the country.

Beyond the regional and religious dimensions, there are expanding fissures along ethnic, gender and generational lines.

The fact that the election was fought along Nigerians old and new fault-lines and that a sizeable segment of the voters did not vote for the next president makes the task of national healing and greater inclusion more urgent. Apart from offering the usual reassurances, it will be important to proactively reach out to the alienated and the disaffected, to run and inclusive government, and to develop and implement a programme for a more inclusive society.

For now, Nigeria looks like a house divided against itself. And as the good book says, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

These are not the only things that the next president needs to focus on. But these are my three top and most urgent priorities.

I selected these issues based on my sense of what is needed to stabilise a country fast drifting to the edge. My considered view is that the next president needs to arrest the slide. He has no option but to hit the ground running. His transition committee should get to work quickly, and his cabinet list should be ready before inauguration on May 29th. In words and deeds, he needs to demonstrate that he is ready to tackle our critical challenges headlong from Day One.

A SHORT AGENDA FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT 2023 budget has provision for petrol subsidy only till June. But it is not as simple as that.

It is important to develop and aggressively sell a plan on what to do with some of the savings from petrol subsidy removal. There should be no illusion about this: removing petrol subsidy will disproportionately affect the poor, especially through immediate impact on transportation and food, two items that the poor spend most of their incomes on. Also, most Nigerians have a sense of entitlement on petrol subsidy.

There is thus the need for a frank and honest conversation on petrol subsidy and for reasonable and realistic ways to cushion the immediate impact of petrol subsidy removal and give something in return. Similar deliberation and action will be needed on the dysfunctional higher education subsidy and the imperative of expanding funding options and improving governance of public universities that account for more than 90% of undergraduate enrolments in Nigeria.

And of course, we need to generate at least three or four times more taxes than we do currently as well as trim excesses and wastes in revenue-generating agencies.

Trust building and thoughtful use of the honeymoon period will be key.

The second set of work will be in addressing growing insecurity in the country. Even with recent improvements, insecurity is still widespread. All the six geo-political zones are afflicted by one form of insecurity or the other, from kidnapping to terrorism. No major gains can be made on the economic or human

Atiku, Tinubu and Obi

development fronts without tackling our security challenges.

It will be important to understand the nature and drivers of insecurity in each of the six zones and realistically address both the underlying causes and the manifestations of insecurity. No option should be off the table, including the use of dialogue, technology, aggressive policing, and even mercenaries. The first order of business will be to aggressively push back the various enemies of the state and restoring order.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER FEBRUARY 26 , 2023

TRIBUTE

The Pius Adesanmi I Never Met Tunde Olusunle

I

had two spells as a student at the University of Ilorin, abbreviated by us as Unilorin. True, our university started as a college under the University of Ibadan (UI). We were in a hurry, however, to assert our independence and define our own corporate identity, soon after we were weaned off our mother’s breasts.

Unilorin has since imprinted itself in Nigerian and global consciousness. The sheer quality of human resources it has availed the world, its groundbreaking ventures in research, teaching and mentoring, the holistic gamut of knowledge production and dissemination, has since earned it a more fitting appellation. We call it the ‘Better By Far’ citadel. My primary excursion through my ‘alma mater,’ ran from 1982 to 1985.

The succeeding odyssey, straddled 1987 to 1989. I studied English on both occasions, with a dominant slant for literature which I explored for my long essays and thesis respectively.

Several years after my departure from Unilorin, the name “Pius Adesanmi” became recurring in the public and literary engagement circuits, in Nigeria and beyond. He was at once a poet, scholar, critic, satirist, columnist, author, maybe theorist as well.

Biographical information about him which I picked up in places, described him as a product of Unilorin and he was said to have studied French.

The English and French faculty subunits in my time, were subsumed under a single department, known as the Department of Modern European Languages, ‘MEL’ for short. Far into its teething years, the department was steered by the respected English scholar, literary critic, editor, David Cook, who helped to build the twin-arms of the department, into formidable, global reckoning. Cook earned a first class degree in English from the University of London in 1954, and a master’s degree in 1956. He taught at the University of Southampton, before relocating to Africa in 1962.

On your next outing, you may encounter: Charles Bodunde; Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju and his wife, Omotayo Oloruntoba-Oju; Sola Babatunde; Gbenga Ayeni; Tivlumun Nyitse; Sunnie Enessi Ododo; Wumi Raji; Sola Mike Olorunyomi; Tunde Akanni; Rasheed Na’Allah, Bayo Afolabi, and several others.

They are all distinguished professors, or professorial-cadre eggheads serving in universities and other institutions in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. They are all sterling products of the primordial MEL, Unilorin’s Department of Modern European Languages of yore. Pius Adesanmi followed the footsteps of these older and inspirational alumni of MEL, Unilorin.

Even while I was still foraging for information on Pius Adesanmi, I would yet get to know that he was my “younger brother.” Within the context of the family and community in many African cultures, English-style labels such as: cousin, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, are alien and rarely deployed in day-to-day interactions and conversations. In the Yoruba country for example, every other male or man, is as well your ‘Baba or Boda,’ every female or woman your ‘Mama’ or ‘Anti.’ ‘Egbon’ also suffices in referring to an older person, not as old as one’s parent, though, while ‘aburo’ is a younger relative or kinsmen.

Adesanmi actually hailed from the same hometown, Isanlu, headquarters of Yagba East Local Government Area like me. His family house, a whispering distance from ours. My family home is domiciled in ‘Omowa Mopo,’ district, while the Adesanmis are in ‘Itedo Ijowa,’ both in Isanlu. These were distances our people walked as leisure, before the advent of indulgent inventions.

I was born and raised out there in the old North-central and Midwestern states.

Adesanmi was sired and groomed at home in Isanlu. This, however, did not detract from the genius he blossomed into. His father, Baba Alfred Dare Adesanmi, was a diligent,

Adesanmi respected and inspirational educationist in contemporary Okun land in Kogi State.

He taught and headed prominent schools in the area including: St. Kizito’s College, Isanlu; St. Augustine’s College, Kabba, and Titcombe College, Egbe. With his equally committed wife, Mama Olufunke Lois Adesanmi, they ensured their son got the best of education and mentoring, available anywhere. Remarkably, the younger Adesanmi demonstrated early passion for French studies even in these hitherto semi-urban destinations. He would go on to obtain a first class degree honours in the course. And he did so at an impressively young age of 20, in 1992! The differences in our generations, obviously privileged me to have gone through the university, many years before him.

Pius Adesanmi should have marked his 51st birthday February 27, 2023. It would also be four years after his very painful demise in a plane crash involving flight ET 302 operated by Ethiopian Airlines, come March 10, 2023. The tragic incident occurred in an Ethiopian suburb called Bishoftu.

Jemilat Nasiru in a tribute in his memory, March 12, 2019, notes that: “If there is one name on the lips of many Nigerians, a name that weighs down the tongue with peculiar grief, a name that warms the heart with humour from memories past and pain of an unthinkable demise, a name that will only now encounter its embodiment in dreams and the world yonder, that name

will be Pius Adebola Adesanmi.”

This is therefore a fitting opportunity to remember this meteor who shot through and shone in the global firmament of creativity and intellection, during his abridged sojourn on this side. As a poet, Adesanmi released his maiden, and sadly, only volume of poetry, ‘The Wayfarer and Other Poems,’ in 2001. The book won the keenly contested Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA) poetry prize, in the same year. It has been described as “a literary response to the ambiguities of oppressive power during military rule in Nigeria.” It is consistent with the over-arching thematic focus of poets writing within that milieu, who attempted “the mobilisation of poetic imagination in the resistance of the dominant military culture of the 1990s.”

Adesanmi released his collection of satirical essays, ‘Naija No Dey Carry Last: Thoughts on a Nation in Progress’ in 2015.

Despite his place in diaspora in a career which privileged him an American green-card holder and Canadian citizenship, simultaneously, Adesanmi’s umbilical interconnectivity to his homeland and to Africa, was never in doubt. The book is an overflow of the author’s vocation in public intellection. It is

an aggregation of witty perspectives by the author about different sides and slides of Nigeria’s day-to-day experiences, even conversations.

Udo Okoronkwo-Chukwu in a 2016 study suggests that the book deploys “satire to create political awareness and national memory... and scrutinises the growth of Nigeria’s democracy and the commitment of successive leaders.” The book was listed by Channels Television* Book Club’s prestigious list of the “Best 15 Nigerian Books of 2015.”

His very seminal book, ‘You’re Not A Country, Africa: A Personal History Of The African Present,’ ( 2011), is a groundbreaking collection of essays. Adesanmi attempts to interrogate what it really is, that Africa means to him as an African. By extension, it equally tries to distil the perspectives of other Africans, about their continent.

An immensely prolific writer, he also authored ‘Who Owns the Problem? Africa and the Struggle for Agency,’ posthumously released in 2020, as well as ‘Africa Matters: Cultural politics, political economies and grammars of protest,’ (2019), co-edited by Blair Rutherford, and among others.

Adesanmi obtained a masters degree in French at ‘UI’ in 1998. He had engaged with some of Nigeria’s most revered scholars and literary creators, notably Olu Obafemi, Emeritus professor of English in Unilorin.

UI will further expose him to literary icons like Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan and Niyi Osundare. He pursued a doctorate in French Studies from the University of British Colombia, graduating in 2002. He was between 2002 and 2005, assistant professor of Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University, in the United States of America (USA).

He was engaged by the Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada in 2006, as professor of literature and African Studies. A prodigious global brand, Adesanmi harvested strings of honours and awards in his impactful career. He won the inaugural “Penguin Prize for African Writing” in the fiction category for his landmark work, ‘You’re Not a Country, Africa.’ He also won the 2017 edition of the “Canada Bureau of International Education Leadership Award.”

Pius Adesanmi is survived by his aged mother, Mama Olufunke Lois Adesanmi, his wife, Muyiwa, and two young daughters, Oluwatise and Oluwadamilare. Back home in Isanlu and the broader Yagba sub-country, Adesanmi continues to be missed. Tayo Akanbi, an engineer and civil servant, one of Adesanmi’s childhood friends, recalls with nostalgia that Adesanmi was in the process of having his own address in Isanlu, by way of building a small house in the community.

Ralph Omololu-Agbana, journalist and Adesanmi’s classmate at Titcombe College, Egbe, recalls his late friend’s consternation at the weaponisation of the 2019 elections, when they chatted before his departure.

Agbana recalls Adesanmi saying in Yagba: “This is unbelievable. You mean arms were brought into our pristine oasis of peace and serenity in Yagbaland? This is ominous and totally out of our DNA.” Nduka Otiono, also a Nigerian-Canadian like Adesanmi, who is associate professor at the Carleton University, collaborated with Uchechukwu Umezurike, to produce a memorial poetry collection in honour of Adesanmi. Titled ‘Wreaths for a Wayfarer,’ a pun on Adesanmi’s first and only poetry volume, the book was published in 2020. I have equally paid tribute to his memory in my newest volume of poetry, ‘A Medley of Echoes,’ (published in 2022), in a poem titled “A Bouquet for Bola.” Bola is abbreviated from Adesanmi’s middle name, Adebola which he rarely used. We all continue to savour the cologned memories of a brother and kindred spirit who was on this side, albeit for brief. One who nonetheless engraved his name indelibly, on the sands of time.

Olusunle, PhD, poet, journalist, scholar and author is a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE).

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Jonathan to Politicians “And I always tell politicians that Yes, you can win elections through unorthodox means, just like using violence to win elections or buying votes and so on. But when you do that, you are behaving like an armed robber or a con man. An armed robber makes money through robbery, but everybody knows that he’s an armed robber. A con man makes money through deceiving people, but everybody knows that he’s a con man”– Former President Jonathan comparing politicians who win elections by unorthodox means such as vote-buying and violence to armed robbers.

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SIMONKOLAWOLE Common Errors about Nigeria (V) SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

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igerians renewed their desire for a better country yesterday when they went to the polls to elect the next president, 108 senators (no election in Enugu East because of a candidate’s death) and 360 members of the house of reps. Two weeks from now, they will elect 28 governors and 993 state lawmakers. After inauguration, there will be new appointees: dozens of ministers, hundreds of commissioners, thousands of directors-general, executive secretaries, executive chairpersons, managing directors, and board members across Nigeria. We have 774 council chairpersons and thousands of councillors. We are blessed with thousands of judges presiding over the courts.

But you know what? Of the lot, the president is the only person expected by Nigerians “to fight corruption”. If corruption does not reduce in four or eight years, they will promptly place the blame squarely at the doorstep of whoever is president. But I have news for you: councillors, council chairpersons, state lawmakers, governors, ministers, federal legislators, heads of agencies, directors and judges are also all

Buhari

empowered to fight corruption. However, because of the way we are wired in Nigeria, we always think it is only the president that should or can fight corruption. This erroneous mindset has always made us fall for presidential candidates since 1999. They

play on our emotions.

First, a caveat: the president has a key role to play in the war against corruption.

He is the president, the No 1 citizen, the leader of the country. He has the duty to inspire us, to live above board, to deploy the force of personal example and engender a society where transparency, accountability and integrity are core values. There is a saying that the fish gets rotten from the head. If the president of a country is a buccaneer, why would you expect his ministers and other appointees not to be buccaneers too?

You cannot blame the rest of the society for taking their cue from him. That is why what is called “tone at the top” matters a lot: the president cannot dodge the responsibility.

But this cannot explain everything about our expectations of the Nigerian president.

If a local government official in Damaturu collects a bribe to issue a state of origin certificate, we think it is because the president, sitting in his office in Abuja, is not fighting corruption. If an official of LASTMA extorts a motorist in Alagbado, we blame it on the president. If a police officer collects a N500 bribe (either in new or old naira notes) from a complainant in Lampese, the president is definitely the one to take the blame, as far

as we are concerned. We have this weird mindset that the misdemeanours of the field agents of federal, state and local governments should be blamed on the president.

Let us now inverse this. Imagine that the DPO at the police station is a person of integrity, one who will not demand “returns” from those under his watch, one who will not make “returns” to his area commander, one who will not ask complainants to pay for “biro and paper” to write a statement.

How good and pleasant it would be before God and man! The job of fighting corruption becomes a shared responsibility between the president and the DPO. In this case, the DPO is the president of the police station. He is fighting corruption in his corner. You can apply this logic to all the extortionists in government agencies that interface with the public and make life difficult for them.

Whenever I hear some Nigerians argue about the fight against corruption, I often come away with the impression that the governors were elected to steal. So, the governors will loot the state funds, buy houses in Dubai and Dublin, buy hotels all over the world and Continued on page 54

WAZIRIADIO POSTSCRIPT

A Short Agenda for the Next President

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n a day or two, INEC will officially announce the winner of yesterday’s landmark presidential election. It was a gruelling campaign and a hard-fought election. Congratulations in advance to the winner.

Commiserations may be in order too. Beyond the poetry of campaigns and the euphoria of victory, the hardest part starts now for both the winner and the country. There is serious work to be done.

Lots of it.

The long electioneering period surfaced some of the key issues facing Nigeria at the moment. The work of the next president is thus well cut out. A perceptive headline recently put it this way: the in-coming president of Nigeria has a heavy in-tray.

The earlier the in-coming president started fleshing out the concrete steps for addressing our current pressing challenges, and started building public support for some of the necessary and painful trade-offs, the better for him and the rest of us. There is no time to waste.

The campaigns are over, and so are the understandable simplification and heady emotions that go with campaigns. It is

time for governance. And governance, as the famous line from Mario Cuomo reminds us, is not poetic. Governance is done in prose—in laborious, tortured and tortuous prose.

There would be temptations to blame the outgoing administration, and most of the blames will be well-earned. But the winner and his competitors asked for the job, and presumably they all knew what they were getting into. The winner triumphed because he convinced a sizeable segment of the voters that he is the best fit for the job. So, as tempting as the blame-game may be when the going gets tough (as it will), excuses won’t cut it. It is time to set to work. And promptly too.

Today, I will highlight some of the issues that I think need urgent and diligent attention.

The first set of issues is economic. Our finances and economy are in a shambles.

Debts are mounting. Debt servicing is currently the highest expenditure item in the budget and is projected by the World Bank to hit 160% of revenue by 2027, meaning we will need to borrow to pay interests on and repay our debts.

Petrol subsidy gulps more N500 billion monthly, and crowds out expenditures in areas critical to human and national development.

At a time of historically high oil prices, net oil revenue is now lower than in 2020 when global oil prices plummeted due to the worldwide lockdown induced by COVID-19. Nigeria is the only oil-producing country not benefitting from the ongoing oil boom in terms of improvements in revenue flows, savings, balance of payments, and foreign reserves. These are not just abstract numbers or developments. Nigerians are going through it at the moment, buffeted by fuel and Naira scarcity, soaring exchange rate, high inflation rate (especially food inflation), and growing poverty and unemployment.

These economic challenges will not disappear simply because a new sheriff is in the saddle. The challenges will also not be addressed through rhetoric or nifty charts. The next president will need to initiate swift, clear-headed, coordinated and sustained actions across fiscal, monetary, trade, industrial, and social development domains. There are low-hanging fruits in

eliminating the counterproductive multiple exchange rates and the ruinous petrol subsidy. There is the need to eliminate other areas of waste and massively boost revenue. And there is the imperative of scaling up investments in education and health and in tackling poverty and unemployment in a more thoughtful, coordinated and sustained manner.

It is important to realise that as desirable as they are, some of these interventions will be resisted or undermined. Removing petrol subsidy or increasing tax rate or improving efficiency of tax collection will not be met with drums and dances. For example, despite that it is well known that petrol subsidy is captured more by the rich at the expense of the poor and that it provides incentives for corruption and smuggling, removing it remains a contentious and politically explosive issue in Nigeria.

This is why the outgoing administration chose to kick the can down the line. This is the same reason why other administrations have struggled with it over time. Yes, the Continued on page 54

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