SUNDAY 14TH MAY 2023

In Building Bridges, Tinubu’s Loyalists Visit Bode George, Seek Support for President-elect

APC Begins Review of Zoning This Week, But Tinubu Stands in Queue With Akpabio

Moves to compensate North-central Abbas, Kalu urge Sanwo-Olu to reach out to govs, other aspirants

Yari writes senators-elect, insists on contesting for Senate presidency

Lagos

Following the protests over the zoning of the National Assembly leadership positions by the All Progressives Congress (APC), which ceded two slots to the North-west geopolitical zone and none to the North-central, the party may kick off the process of reviewing the zoning arrangements this week, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY gathered that while the President-elect, Bola Tinubu has stood in solidarity with the APC’s preferred choice of candidate for the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the ruli party is making moves to compensate the North-central geopolitical zone.

This is coming as the party’s anointed candidate for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and the preferred choice for Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, have urged the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to reach out to his colleagues and other aspirants to ensure the success of the party’s preferred candidates.

Also, despite the selection of the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Akpabio, as the party’s preferred candidate for Senate President, a former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari, has written to the Senators-elect on his ambition to contest the Senate Presidency.

APC BEGINS REVIEW OF ZONING THIS WEEK, BUT TINUBU STANDS IN QUEUE WITH AKPABIO

At a meeting with some of the aggrieved aspirants last Thursday, the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, admitted that the leadership of the party did not consult sufficiently before arriving at its position on zoning and promised that the party would reconsider its position.

It was gathered that under the planned review, which will be subject to the approval of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, the ruling party may reconsider the positions zoned to the North-west and the South-east geopolitical zones.

THISDAY’s investigation revealed that Adamu has started consultations with individual aspirants and critical stakeholders within the party to canvass their support for the proposed review of the zoning arrangements.

It was gathered that he had reached out to about six aspirants in both the red and green chambers with a firm assurance that a slight adjustment would be made to pacify the regions that felt short-changed in the process.

Some of the aspirants told THISDAY that Adamu assured them at separate meetings held with him that the process of reviewing the zoning arrangement would kick off this week.

A returning senator from the North-central geopolitical zone, who spoke to THISDAY yesterday on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Adamu gave him assurances that the proposed review would commence this week.

The ranking senator said: "Anybody that knows the National Chairman of our party would know that he is not a frivolous person.

"He says what he believes in and his position on the matter is in the best interest of the party.

"Many lawmakers are not happy that their geopolitical zones were not treated fairly in the zoning arrangements. The chairman is pushing for justice, equity, and fairness.

"He had assured us that something would be done on the matter this week."

An aspirant, who also craved anonymity, confirmed the latest development in a chat with THISDAY, explaining that two zones are being considered in the proposed review.

He said: "The chairman had assured us that there is no way the North-west would be allowed to produce two presiding officers.

"So, the leaders of the party are

looking into the position allocated to the South-east and the fact that the North-central was totally excluded.

"The problem was caused by the inordinate ambitions of some people who are desperately looking for presiding officers' positions at all costs. We have to apply caution in the whole thing," he added.

Further investigations by THISDAY revealed that opposition lawmakers held a series of meetings with the aggrieved aspirants in separate locations in the last 48 hours.

An opposition party’s Senatorelect from the South-west geopolitical zone, who spoke to THISDAY in confidence said he had held meetings with four different aspirants in the last two days.

He said: "I am not sure that the zoning arrangements announced by the APC are working. As opposition senators-elect, what we had agreed upon is that we would study their characters and qualifications before we cast our votes. APC cannot choose presiding officers for us," he added.

Another Senator-elect, however, told THISDAY that any planned review would be subject to Tinubu’s approval.

He argued that in the absence of the President-elect, who approved the current zoning formula as announced, Adamu does not have the final word on the matter.

According to him, the pronouncement made by Adamu on the matter was to douse tension.

“The NWC led by Adamu is just begging for time. There is nothing he can do or the party until Tinubu returns," the senator-elect from the North-central explained.

He asked: "What do you expect them to say? The mistake if we call it so, has been made. On our side, we know that it was done deliberately; we wait to see what will be done when the President-elect is back."

The crisis over the zoning arrangements got to a peak when the trio of Senators Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North); Sani Musa (Niger-east) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara-west) stormed the national secretariat of the APC and rejected the zoning arrangements.

The aggrieved aspirants told Adamu that the zoning arrangements were unacceptable to them and their constituents.

The APC had micro-zoned the position of the Senate President to Senator Godswill Akpabio (Southsouth); Jibrin Barau (North-west) as his deputy; Tajudeen Abass (North-west) as Speaker of the

House of Representatives, and Benjamin Kalu (South-east) as his deputy.

But Kalu, Musa, Yari, as well as aspirants for the position of the Speaker protested the zoning arrangements.

Abbas, Kalu Urge Sanwo-Olu to Reach out to Govs, Other Aspirants

Meanwhile, the anointed candidate for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, and APC’s preferred choice for Deputy Speaker, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, have urged the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to reach out to his colleagues and other aspirants to ensure the successful emergence of the party’s preferred candidates.

The duo made the request yesterday when the governor hosted them and the members of the Joint Task Team of the House in their maiden consultative engagement to seek bipartisan support from the governors

Abbas urged Sanwo-Olu to reach out to other governors and other aspirants for conversation that would make the election of presiding officers hitch-free.

He pledged that he would not fail the party and his predecessors.

On his part, Kalu promised that the Abbas-led leadership would project institutional trust in the 10th National Assembly, adding that the decision of the House would reflect the interests of Nigerians.

Also speaking, the Leader of the Joint Task, Hon. Bello Kumo, representing the Akko federal constituency of Gombe State, said the Abbas-led leadership would not compromise the independence of the House.

The lawmaker said the team was not interested in just winning the election, but also having a peaceful 10th National Assembly.

He urged Governor Sanwo-Olu to speak to his colleagues on the need to buy into the agenda.

Responding, Sanwo-Olu, suggested that the incoming leadership of the 10th National Assembly should reflect the diversity of the country, describing both National Assembly chambers as “people’s houses.”

Sanwo-Olu, who said the unity of the country was more important than the aspirants’ ambition, urged Abbas and Kalu not to take any member-elect for granted.

He said: “This race to elect

OFF ATTACKS, TINUBU’S LOYALISTS VISIT BODE GEORGE, SEEK SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT

“I have not changed my mind, if he (Tinubu) is the president I will go.

“If Tinubu wins, by that time I will be 80 years old. What am I doing here? I will wish you people well,” George had told ARISE NEWS Channel in November 2022.

Speaking after Tinubu was declared the winner of the February 25 presidential election, the PDP chieftain said although he was yet to decide on his destination, his self-imposed exile remains in the works.

George added that he plans to retire to “anywhere in any part of the world” because Tinubu’s victory “might be a hell of a problem.”

“That is still on my plan. If I decide on what to do, I wish you well. I’m not looking for a job, I have everything I want and how much can I eat? I also have my children and they are no longer kids,” he said.

“They are all mature so what am I looking for? My wife is there. She will take good care of me. I will stay in Nigeria depending on the outcome of this (post-election litigation) because I know there might be a hell of a problem.

“You know I am a military lord so I can go anywhere in any part of the world and I will be looking at you people.

“I have even decided that having

put 25 years each in the military and politics which is 50 years of my life in the public domain, I need rest so whatever I see at the end of this thing. I’m retiring from partisan politics and will be enjoying the rest of my life.”

But in an apparent move to ward off further criticism, Tinubu’s loyalists and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos yesterday met with George.

The delegation was led by the chairman of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the foremost political platform in the state, Prince Tajudeen Olusi.

The GAC is an influential group comprising critical stakeholders of the APC in Lagos State.

It determines who gets what in Lagos politics.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who was supposed to be part of the delegation could not make it for undisclosed reasons.

Also on the delegation is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs and former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Adoke Orelope-Adefulire.

Though the meeting was closed-door, THISDAY was reliably informed that the APC leaders were seeking George’s support for Tinubu as he assumes power on May 29.

leadership in the House of Representatives should reflect the true federal composition and political diversity of the country. Here today, I have seen diverse political parties and representatives from all regions coming together to work as a team in electing the Speaker. I urge you not to stop at this; you should further deepen your engagement and extend the hand of comradeship to every member.

“At the end of the day, your aspiration is not about you or your colleagues in the chamber, but about Nigerians. The objective must be about joining forces with the incoming administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make life better for the people, improve the economy and strengthen security. Greatest good must be achieved for the greatest number.”

Yari Writes Senators-elect,

Insists on Contesting for Senate Presidency

In a related development, a former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari, has written to the Senators-elect on his ambition to contest the Senate Presidency, despite the selection of the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio as the party’s preferred candidate for Senate President,

In a congratulatory message to the senators-elect yesterday, Yari advised them to avoid religious, tribal, and ethnic sentiments in electing the senate president.

“I congratulate you all on your well-deserved victory at the polls. It is a testament to your popularity among your people and the confidence they have in you to deliver democracy dividends to them,” Yari said.

“You must therefore not

disappoint them in any way because your actions, inactions, omissions, and commissions may affect them directly or indirectly.

“While in the senate, you should always be reminded that you are indebted to your constituencies and should work towards attracting development projects to your people.

“This, in the first instance, is the reason you are elected to serve, and this is why you need a senate president that is compassionate, honest, fair-minded, and result driven.

“This is the time to eschew religious, tribal, nepotic tendencies and ethnic sentiments in the choice of the president of the senate which is first among equals.

“As I continue to consult on my aspiration to serve you as your president of the senate, please accept the assurances of my highest esteem,” the governor explained

NNPC, SECURITY AGENCIES IMPOUND 1,000-TONNE BARGE IN FIGHT AGAINST OIL THEFT

Nigeria Limited (TUPNI), Mr. Victor Bandele, has expressed appreciation to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, over his intervention that unlocked 30,000 barrels per day of new oil from the Egina and Akpo fields expected before the end of 2023.

Executive Director, Operations and Technical, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Capt. Warredi Enisuoh, who took journalists to the location of the impounded vessel in the waterways of the Niger Delta yesterday, stated that some service providers were using their licences to perpetrate illegalities.

Warredi stated that after weeks of surveillance, Mawe Services Limited was found to be using its licence as a sludge lifter to ship illegal crude in the vessel identified as FP Amangwu.

He explained that although Mawe Services Limited has an approval from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to provide services within the confines of lifting sludge, it was allegedly involved in crude oil theft.

“However, on this fateful voyage, intelligence reports received two weeks ago by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd and Mason Engineering indicated that the location was being used for activities outside its approval limits.

that he has been transferring the contents of the barge into the tank that was filled.

“An inspection of the yard’s security logbook showed that the truck visited the location severally and the contents of the truck were well spelt out as crude oil,” he added.

During the operation, four of the six persons who were apprehended both on land and the waterways were paraded before journalists.

Enisuoh stated that hundreds of oil thieves had been arrested since the renewed efforts to rid the country of the menace.

THISDAY learnt that the latest set of suspects was arrested on Thursday night.

It was also learnt that the 1,000-tonne barge, which was later destroyed, was carrying 700 barrels of oil and had not been filled before the suspects were apprehended.

In October last year, the local security group apprehended the captain and seven other crew members of a syndicate who were pumping crude oil from an illegal facility connected to a Chevron pipeline around the Warri River.

In the same month, an illegal line connected to Forcados Terminal in Delta State was discovered.

The illegal pipeline was located in Okuntu Community which is a few metres away from the Forcados crude oil export terminal.

objective of guaranteeing shortterm success and long-term value is delivered to all stakeholders.

The NUIMS 2023 AVAR was geared towards consolidating gains for growth in the Production Industry Act era, with a laser focus on the ways NUIMS could better attract and manage capital for sustainable growth by emplacing plans to protect, preserve, and promote NNPC Limited's upstream business objectives. The outcomes of AVAR would also serve as relevant input to the ongoing efforts by NUIMS to be well-positioned to attract the required investments into the industry.

Speaking further, Bandele said arresting production decline has helped in generating more value for stakeholders, improve the capacity utilisation of the best-in-class Egina Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and ensure the attainment of the desired benefits from the attractive crude oil prices in the market.

Bandele lauded NUIMS for always being a step ahead while pledging the commitment of the OML 130 partners to complete the ongoing drilling campaign, close out the lease renewal discussions, and turn the focus to aggressively executing the Preowei and Egina West projects.

It was also gathered that the APC leaders were mounting pressure on George to cease further media attacks on Tinubu.

At the meeting, George said that he was happy that the delegation visited him and insisted that he had nothing personal against Tinubu.

Accompanied by former Deputy Governor, Mrs. Kofoworola AkereleBucknor, and Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd), among others, George, however, made it clear that because of his position and membership of an opposition party, he would not congratulate Tinubu until after litigations related to the election are concluded.

George who expressed appreciation to the delegation, admitted that “we had detailed discussions on the unity of this great state of Lagos. I must say we established the fact that the culture of Lagos is to accept and accommodate all kinds of people and tribes. And if you get to Lagos State, there is no known tribe in Nigeria that does not reside here. That's what makes Lagos the commercial nerve centre of the whole of West Africa.

“Secondly, on the details of us working together, because a divided house cannot stand, we will work together on this. And I've said I have absolutely nothing personal between me and Tinubu,” George added.

“Further intelligence also revealed that a 1,000-metric ton capacity barge was coming to berth alongside its jetty, loaded with illegal crude oil declared as sludge.

“The barge was towed by an unknown Tugboat into Mawe Services Limited’s Jetty and left. A team of Tantita Security Services operatives continued to monitor the Jetty for suspicious activities. It was observed that a sewage truck with Plate No. JR7750XA visited the Jetty twice,” he explained. According to the pipeline surveillance company, during its third visit on May 12, 2023, the truck was accosted by the Tantita Security personnel who were keeping a constant vigil on the area.

“Upon inspection, the substance found inside the tank was not sewage, rather it was crude oil. The driver was arrested and handed over to government security operatives,” Enisuoh said.

He explained that the driver later revealed the destination of the contents, which took its personnel to another yard inland, also operated by Mawe Services Limited.

“Within the Mawe Services Limited’s premises, there were two metallic cylindrical tanks of about 45,000 litres capacity, each. Both tanks were inspected and one was found to be filled up with crude oil. The driver of the truck confirmed

At the last count, Tantita Security Services has discovered over 60 illegal connections to the TransEscravos, Trans-Forcados, and other major trunk lines around Delta and Bayelsa states.

How Kyari’s Intervention Unlocked 30,000bpd of Crude from OML 130

Meanwhile, the Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater Asset, TUPNI, Mr. Victor Bandele, has expressed appreciation to the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Kyari, over his intervention that unlocked 30,000 barrels per day of new oil from the Egina and Akpo fields expected before the end of 2023.

Specifically, Bandele thanked Kyari for enabling the deepwater Production Sharing Contract (PSC) to engage the services of Gerry De Souza Drillship to commence the long-due drilling campaign of seven development wells and one exploratory well to arrest production decline on the asset and unlock up to 30,000 barrels.

Bandele said this as a guest at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) 2023 Annual Value Assurance Review (AVAR) held in Lagos.

The AVAR is a strategic forum where key issues that shape the oil and gas upstream business landscape are reviewed, and the direction is set with the sole

He reiterated his confidence in the leadership of NNPC Ltd and applauded the NUIMS under Mr. Bala Wunti, for always being a step ahead and setting the pace for innovation in the Nigerian upstream oil and gas industry.

The Deputy Managing Director also announced to the gathering that TUPNI has secured the alignment of all the partners on OML 130 to progress with the lease renewal with a target to close out before the end of May 2023.

The lease renewal would pave the way to firm up discussions on the Preowei and Egina West projects lined up by TUPNI and the OML 130 partners to introduce additional volumes to the Egina FPSO, he said.

TUPNI is also on course to hit the milestone of 1 billion barrels of Crude Oil production on the Akpo field within 15.5 years.

He attributed this success to excellent reservoir management and the instrumental role played by NUIMS and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in providing the necessary support.

Bandele, impressed by the objectives of the NUIMS Value Assurance Review, promised to replicate the same in his organisation, and in wrapping up his remarks, he briefly highlighted the remarkable achievement OML 130 has recorded in terms of gas production and monetisation from both the Akpo and Egina fields. Both fields have an outstanding record of zero gas flare.

TO WARD

REWARD FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE…

L-R: Publisher of Ovation International, Chief Dele Momodu; Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke; Lagos State Governor and Champion Newspapers 2022 Governor of the Year Award winner, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; and Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (rtd), during Champions Newspapers’ Annual Awards in Lagos…weekend

Nigeria Not Seeking Another $800m World Bank Loan, FG Clarifies

The federal government has clarified that it was not seeking another $800 million loan from the World Bank to cushion the impact of the impending removal of petroleum subsidy on vulnerable Nigerians.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed who gave the clarification in a statement yesterday, said her attention had been drawn to reports suggesting that the federal government was seeking new loans to cushion the effect of the pending fuel subsidy removal, describing the news reports as incorrect.

Last Thursday’s letter by President Muhammadu Buhari requesting

"the Senate to kindly approve an 'additional' loan facility to the tune of $8OO million to be secured from the World Bank for the National Social Safety Net Programme” had triggered outrage from many Nigerians who interpreted the request to mean a fresh $800 million, different from the one that had been reportedly secured by the administration.

The finance minister had at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on April 5, 2023, announced that Nigeria had already secured $800 million from the World Bank to help provide palliatives to about 50 million poor Nigerians in the aftermath of fuel subsidy removal.

However, in a statement captioned

IG Orders Arrest of Fela’s Son, Seun, for Assaulting Policeman

Kingsley Nweze in Abuja

The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Usman Baba, last night, ordered the arrest of Afrobeat Singer, Seun Kuti for assaulting a police officer.

A statement issued by the Force Headquarters said the musician was captured on video assaulting a police officer in uniform.

But in a social media post, the musician alleged that the police officer attempted to kill him and his family.

However, the statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the IG ordered the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, to arrest the Afrobeat singer.

The IG also ordered a speedy and full investigation into the remote and immediate cause of the assault and prosecution of the suspect accordingly.

The IG said acts of contempt and disdain for symbols of authority would not be tolerated while offenders of such hideous crimes would be surely brought to book.

The statement read: "The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command to arrest Afrobeat singer, Seun Kuti, who was captured on video assaulting a police officer in uniform.

"The IG has equally ordered a speedy and full investigation into the remote and immediate cause(s) of the assault and prosecution of the suspect, accordingly.

"IG Usman Alkali Baba assures Nigerians that acts of contempt/disdain for symbols of authority will not be tolerated while offenders of such hideous crimes will be surely brought to book," it said.

Meanwhile, in an Instagram post, Seun Kuti alleged that the police officer in question had apologised to him over an alleged attempt to kill him and his family.

“He tried to kill me and my family. I have the proof but I am not desperate.

“He has apologised and I have agreed not to press charges. Mind your business. Don't allow the poor guy to lose his job," he said.

"Nigeria Seeks No New World Bank Loan-Ahmed," and issued by her Special Adviser, Media, and Communications, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, the minister said the $800 million in question was the same one secured from the World Bank recently."

According to the statement, "The news story is not correct. This is the same loan that the Honourable Minister had explained on several occasions that the $800 million facility the country recently got from the World Bank

for post-petrol subsidy removal palliative was awaiting parliamentary approval for the federal government to commence disbursement.

"The government is therefore not seeking another loan for the pending fuel subsidy removal. It is the same.

"It will be recalled that the facility would be deployed to provide succor to 10 million households, who are expected to get N5,000 each for six months.

"The minister had explained that

the initial duration of the palliatives meant to cushion the effects of the planned subsidy removal on vulnerable Nigerians was for six months, but would be reviewed upon extensive consultation with stakeholders."

The statement further quoted the minister as having recently explained that “the $800 million has been negotiated and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and we now have a request before

the parliament for approval. And once the parliament approves it, the next administration can decide on the utilisation.

“We’ve also been doing preparatory work side by side along the approval process. This includes expanding the committee to include members of the transition team of the President-elect.

"The process will include the verification of the social register which will be used for electronic transfers of the funds."

Obasanjo: Nigerians of My Era Made Right Choices of Leaders

Segun James

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has compared the performances of Nigerian leaders before independence with what is currently obtainable and concluded that the Nigerian leaders of those days were much better. Speaking during the National Daily Awards in Lagos at the weekend, Obasanjo said though political activities were raging like fire in those days, the Nigerians were determined and ensured that they chose the right leaders who made the right decisions for the country.

“In fact, in making choices of

leaders, I will say Nigerians of post-independence make the right choices of leaders. We all know that if your choice is right, the performance and consequences will be right.”

Obasanjo, who was the keynote speaker at the occasion, recalled the opinion of world leaders about Nigeria immediately after independence.

He regretted that the country is not living up to that expectation.

“When the then Prime Minister went to the United Nations postindependence, the world referred to Nigeria as a giant in the sun, not even a giant of Africa.

“But the question is, have we

lived up to that? If we have not, the question is why? Are there certain qualities that leaders in the post-independence era had that are absent in leadership today? We talk about values, have our values changed? What is Nigeria today, and what is the Nigeria we want? How do we get the Nigeria we want?”

“Over a long period of my life in peacemaking and mediation, I have come to realise that peace, security, and stability are essential ingredients for the development and growth of any country. Without justice, equity, and fairness, no country can attain greatness.

“When you look at us

individually, there is something unique about Nigerians. Wherever they go, they excel individually. Today, when you look globally, Nigerians are doing great things individually. It’s time for us to unite and take the country to where it’s supposed to be.

“If we fail to do so, then our existence is useless. We need to make a difference so that we can leave behind a better society.”

The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babjide Sanwo-Olu, and the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba were among the eminent Nigerians who received awards for outstanding performances.

FRSC: Sharia Law Won’t Be Incorporated into Traffic Regulations

Recalls Bauchi sector commander

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that Sharia law will not be introduced in the enforcement of traffic regulations.

In a statement issued yesterday by the Corps Spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem, the FRSC also disclosed that its sector commander for Bauchi State, Yusuf Abdullahi has been recalled to Abuja.

Abdullahi had on Thursday called for the application of Sharia law to prosecute traffic offenders to stem road crashes in the country.

However, the corps explained that it is neither a religious nor

sectional organisation, but a federal Government agency established with a mandate that is guided by the provisions of an establishment Act.

The Corps Marshal, Dauda Biu, has recalled with immediate effect, the Sector Commander to the National Headquarters Abuja, for necessary administrative action for breaching the FRSC regulations and the Standard Operating Procedures.

Kazeem said, “It is key to inform the general public that the FRSC is a government agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration

in Nigeria and sensitive to the country’s multi-religious as well as heterogeneous ethnic composition.

“The corps was founded through Decree No. 45, as amended by Decree 35 of 1992 referred to in the statute books as the FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The Act was passed by the National Assembly as FRSC (Establishment) Act 2007.

“By this very fact, it is important to posit that the Corps is neither a religious nor sectional organisation, but a federal government agency established with a mandate that is guided by the provisions of

an establishment Act; and not a Sharia, Mosaic, customary, canon or any other law whatsoever that contradicts the provisions of its establishment Act, or the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Our lead agency role is shielded in our strict compliance with established regulations duly passed by the National Assembly. As such, the public is humbly called to disregard the entire content of the opinion as published because it is outrightly baseless, unfounded, and does not apply to our operations and service to the Nigerian people.”

He attempted to kill me and my family, alleges musician

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

OILY AFFAIR…

Another Batch of 125 Nigerians Arrive in Abuja, Number of Evacuees Hits 2,371 Universities pledge to absorb returnee students

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

A total of 125 Nigerians fleeing the war in Sudan have arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

This is coming as some universities have pledged to support Nigerian students evacuated from war-torn Sudan.

The evacuees arrived yesterday at 12.49 pm on a Tarco B737-300 aircraft from Port Sudan. The latest arrival brings the total number of evacuated Nigerians from Sudan to 2,371.

Upon arrival, the returnees were processed by immigration officials, National Emergency

Management Agency (NEMA), and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons.

On May 3, after nearly two weeks of assurances by the federal government, the first batch of Nigerians fleeing Sudan arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The Air Peace flight carrying over 270 Nigerian students from the Aswan Airport in Egypt first landed at the airport, with the NAF C-130H jet conveying about 80 persons following closely behind.

Two days later, the second batch arrived in Abuja around

3 pm on board a Tarco Airline aircraft carrying 130 passengers, including 128 females and two males.

The following day, federal government officials in Abuja received the third batch of evacuees arriving from Port Sudan at 1:45 pm. The returnees were said to have been made up of 131 people, mostly women and children.

Last Sunday, the fourth set of 422 returnees arrived in Abuja on two flights — 102 landed on a Tarco Airlines flight from Port Sudan and 322 onboard Azman Air from Aswan, Egypt.

The same day, 413 Nigerians

landed on a Max Air flight arriving in Abuja around 10:50 am.

One hundred and twentynine other Nigerians last Monday were repatriated to Abuja from Port Sudan on board a Tarco Airlines flight.

The jet transporting 124 adults and five infants arrived at 9:15 am.

On Tuesday, another batch made up of 136 stranded Nigerians arrived at 9:30 am on a Tarco aircraft from Port Sudan.

The evacuation was followed up by last Thursday’s arrival of 126 student evacuees on a

Presidential Candidate Seeks Cancellation of Tinubu's Inauguration

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Barely 16 days before the inauguration of the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu, the DA-Democratic Alternative Party has urged Nigerians to rise against the inauguration, alleging that the process that produced Tinubu was characterised by a lot of irregularities and fraud.

Presidential candidate of the DA-Democratic Alternative Party, Mr Victor Vishnay, who made the call in Abuja yesterday during a press briefing, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel the 2023 polls on grounds that it did not meet acceptable international standards.

"I enjoin Nigerians to call on the president to cancel the 2023 general election, especially the presidential election", because of corrupt practices.

"We need change, real change, the fight for a better Nigeria starts with the cancellation of the election. It was not free and fair."

According to him, Buhari by displaying his ballot paper shortly after casting his vote thereby showing that he voted for Tinubu, "single-handedly influenced the outcome of the February 25, presidential election".

"So, the only way out is for the president to cancel the election; he should give reasons for the cancellation and step aside. The Vice President can take over or he will set up a committee to manage the country after his exit".

Besides the cancellation of the election, the presidential candidate called for the investigation and subsequent prosecution of the Chairman of the Independent National

Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, for "sabotage".

He noted that Yakubu had no excuse whatsoever to fail, stating that Nigerians must begin to be responsive and ensure that people are punished for their alleged failings or offences.

Earlier, the National Chairman of the party, Prince Frank Ukonga, threatened to drag the electoral umpire to court for excluding the party from the 2023 polls.

He disclosed that DADemocratic Alternative Party was amongst the 74 political parties deregistered by INEC in 2020, which were later restored by the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

"Basking on this legal window in favour of DA to be relisted by INEC, DA applied to participate in the Enugu State Local Government

Election of February 23, 2022, and ENSIEC, granted DA the opportunity to participate in the election by obeying the court judgment of suit FHC/ABJ/ CS/456/2021 in favour of DA and 2 others", Ukonga said.

He, however, noted that INEC refused to include them in the 2023 polls despite "our letter of March 3, 2023, expressing our dissatisfaction in the exclusion of DA presidential candidate, Mr. Victor Vishnay; vice presidential candidate, Mrs. Hafsatu Abubakar and other candidates and DA logo from the 2023 general election."

The national chairman while calling on INEC to obey the judgment of the Supreme Court in INEC vs Youth Party to relist the 74 illegally deregistered political parties and allow multi-party democracy to flourish in Nigeria.

Tarco Aviation aircraft from Port Sudan, landing in Abuja at 12:25 pm.

Meanwhile, some universities have pledged to support Nigerian students evacuated from war-torn Sudan.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) disclosed that Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State; Summit University, Offa, Kwara State; and American University, The Gambia have shown interest in the absorption of Nigerian returnee students from Sudan.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has also promised to provide the necessary support to ensure that Nigerian students evacuated from Sudan are integrated into the nation’s universities.

NIDCOM’s Chairman/CEO, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa,

acknowledged the efforts of Igbinedion University when she received the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye in Abuja.

“We were with JAMB and JAMB has given conditions, processes, and guidelines to follow, which I am sure you are aware of, and the key thing is even if they have come to you and you have admitted them; we will need that letter from JAMB saying JAMB has given them admission letter; so, we avoid situations that after graduation they can’t go for youth service,” she said.

The commission also disclosed that the 15th batch of Evacuees, consisting of 125 Nationals who departed Port Sudan International Airport, landed at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport around 12-noon local time yesterday via Tarco Air.

Terrorists Abduct 50 in Niger Community

Dipo Laleye in Minna

Terrorists have abducted the village head of the Fugge community in the Rijau Local Government Area, Mallam Abdullahi Zaure, and 49 others.

The incident occurred at the weend when the terrorists invaded the village on several motorcycles, shooting into the air and causing panic among residents.

It was learnt majority of the abductees were women and children with few males while several cattle were rustled.

It was also gathered that fighter jets descended on the terrorists when they were moving with the abductees

which resulted in the death of several of the bandits and rustled cattle.

The residents claimed that the terrorists have gone into their den which is located in the forest bordering Niger State and Kebbi State.

The residents said that the terrorists have begun contacting the families of the abductees demanding fuel and motorcycles as ransom for their release.

Efforts to contact the Niger Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Abiodun Wasiu, and Commissioner for Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar proved abortive. Their lines didn’t connect when called.

L-R: EGM, Preowei Oil Field, Chinwendu Ememanka; Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater Asset, TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria Limited, Mr. Victor Bandele; and the Chief Upstream Investment Officer of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, Mr. Bala Wunti, during the 2023 Annual Value Assurance Review organised by NUIMS in Lagos…recently

PAYING LAST RESPECTS…

L-R: Founder, Rite Foods Limited, Sulaiman Adebola Adegunwa; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; and the eldest son of the deceased, Dr. Aderemi Adekoya, during the final burial rites of Dagburewe of Idowa, Oba Yinusa Adekoya, at Idowa in Odogbolu Local Government Area of the state…yesterday

Aregbesola: FG Spends Over N1million on Inmate Annually

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed that the federal government spends over N1million annually to feed each of the inmates kept in custodial facilities across the country.

Speaking at the inauguration of a 20-bed COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund Hospital and Equipment at the Maximum Security Custodial Centre Port Harcourt, Rivers State yesterday, Aregbesola lamented that the challenges of running correctional services were enormous, with huge demands for infrastructure, equipment and maintaining the welfare of inmates.

He, however, assured that the federal government has provided a long term solution to the challenge of running the centres, while revealing that the government at the centre spends N1,065,790 on maintaining each

inmate per annum.

The minister reiterated his earlier announcement that the government will stop feeding inmates who are state offenders by the end of the year. He restated the commitment of the federal government to the welfare of inmates and officers at the custodial facilities nationwide.

On the inaugurated project, Aregbesola said it will be an enduring legacy and a testimony of the utmost importance the federal government has taken for corrections and the welfare of inmates and the well-being of staff.

He stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has addressed the problem of inmates contracting diseases in custodial centres, as the inmates now have access to excellent medical care beyond the centres.

He said: "The custodial centres

Osinbajo: Nigerians Must Tell Their Own Stories

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that Nigerians must tell their own stories and “talk up” the country as part of their contributions to nation-building.

Osinbajo made the statement at the weekend during the launch of a book titled: “The Memory of Seasons,” written by Arakaino Umukoro, a Nigerian journalist, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, in Abuja.

While emphasising the importance of storytelling, the vice-president stated that stories told by others were often with agendas, and urged Nigerians not to speak ill of the country.

He added that every citizen belonged to “the Nigerian side,” and that Nigerians must tell stories of their dreams, aspirations, and hopes.

He said: “The stories of nations written by others focus on their own agendas. The negatives of course sell much faster. We must tell our own stories. I attend a lot of conferences and I have never seen a conference where anyone is speaking ill of their country

or running down their country.

“When we get home, we can criticise ourselves, but we must talk up our country. We belong to one side, and that side is the Nigerian side. We must make sure that in every way we can, we give the very best impression of our country.

“Our country is not its politicians, it’s not its religious leaders, it is you and I. Our country cannot be defined by any group of people or by any political party. Our stories must be stories of our aspirations, dreams, and hopes because we have the talents and resources and are already on that journey.”

Speaking during a panel session on the theme “Conversations on Nigeria’s Unity in diversity: Challenges, opportunities,” Special Assistant on Digital and New Media to the President, Tolu Ogunlesi, said there must be a focus on narratives being passed around regarding the country.

He added that these narratives must “show that the things that unite us are more than the things that divide us.”

were frighteningly centres for contracting diseases like scabies and tuberculosis, among others. Happily, this has been addressed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and is now a thing of the past. We

do not only have well-manned clinics and well stocked pharmacies, the inmates at the custodial centres now have access to excellent medical care beyond the centres.” He lamented the overcrowding

of custodial facilities across the country, he said: "This Maximum Security Custodial Centre in Port Harcourt, with a capacity for 1,800 inmates, presently houses about 3,067 inmates. This is just a reflection of the situation in

most urban Custodial Centres where we have congestion at the moment. The facilities and even the personnel are overstretched, but we are coping and providing long term solutions to this challenge.”

I Will Be President by God’s Grace, Obi Clarifies

Ejiofor Alikea

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last general election, Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday said he would be the president of Nigeria by the grace of God.

Obi made the clarification contrary to reports credited to him, which gave the impression that he must be Nigeria’s president now.

Speaking in Awka on Friday, during the third and final unveiling of a book written in his honour titled, ‘Peter Obi: Many Voices, One Perspective,’ Obi had stated that he was more concerned about the process that brought leaders to office, and not who the leader was.

In a clarification provided yesterday, Obi expressed optimism

that he would become the President of Nigeria by God's grace.

The former governor of Anambra State added that he is not struggling to free Nigeria from bad leadership for the elite alone, but for every Nigerian.

He said: “For three years, I was in court in Anambra to reclaim my mandate, just to challenge the process. Many people tried to discourage me, but I said even if the entire four-year tenure elapsed for us to prove a point and correct the process, I will be fulfilled.

“My argument is that, let’s do what is right. I always tell everyone that I will not give people money to do the wrong thing. I have been the chairman of a committee; TETFUND committee, and Prof.

Yakubu Mahmud was my member. We know one another, but when he became INEC chairman, I have never met him. I told him, you are an umpire, just do what is right.

“If you have the chance to do the right thing and you insist on perpetuating anarchy, then, it will consume everybody one day. I insist that we must do the right thing.

“I was at an event yesterday (Thursday) in Abuja, and it was for the World Food Organisation. I listened to a report that stated that Nigeria will face intense hunger in years to come. It is Nigeria that will face hunger, not Peter Obi.”

Obi also stated that Nigerians must cultivate a habit of doing the right thing, adding that if the people did not do the right thing, it would

consume everybody someday.

“Anyone who thinks I am on a transit is wasting his time. Let me tell you, I must be the president of this country. I am sure of that. If it is not today, it must be tomorrow.

“Other people who want to be (president) should come and tell us what they want to do, and how to do it. This is my country; I don’t have dual citizenship. If anyone thinks I am going to run away from Nigeria, they are lying.

“I have three engagements in Anambra and Lagos today. I will be speaking in Lagos tonight. We will not leave Nigeria. I am not in a hurry to become the president, but I know it must happen,” Obi added.

INEC Displays Names of Governorship Candidates, Running Mates in Kogi

Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja

Ahead of the Kogi State governorship election scheduled for November 11, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared a total of 18 candidates jostling to take over from the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello in January 2024.

The list of the candidates from the various political parties was contained in documents displayed by INEC at the state headquarters in Lokoja weekend for objections, claims, and counter-claims and to put the record straight where parallel congresses were conducted during the party primaries in the state.

Among those whose names were published by the INEC are the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Ododo Ahmed

Usman; Senator Dino Melaye of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Leke Abejide of African Democratic Congress (ADC); Olayinka Braimoh - Action Alliance and Okeme Adejoh of the Labour Party.

Also displayed along with the governorship candidate was the list of their running mates.

For the Accord party, the governorship candidate is Jimoh Francis Ayo, while his running mate is Ahmed Ibrahim. AA has Braimoh Olayinka Gideon as governorship candidate while Ogwu Simeon Ojone is his deputy.

AAC has Abel Yaba Emmanuel and Abu Moses Felix as the governorship candidate and deputy, respectively.

Sunday Frank Onoja will fly the APP flag while Kekere Rahamaat is his running mate.

For the ruling APC,

Ododo Ahmed Usman is the governorship candidate while Suleiman Abubarka will serve as his deputy.

APM has Dauda Utenwojo as its candidate while his deputy is Ologe John Kola.

APGA will field Arkigofa

Musa Abdulazeez and Nweke

Benjamin Ikechukwu as the governorship and deputy governorship candidates, respectively.

Julius Elupo and Mohammed

Yahaya will fly a joint ticket of the ADP.

ADC will field Leke

Joseph Abejide and Dauda

Usman, while Boot Party has Mohammed Kabir Umar and Eleojo Usman.

Labour Party’s governorship candidate is Okeme Adejoh while Ocheja Edegbo is his deputy.

NRM will field Sirius Bala

Abdulgafar and Onoja Ernest Braiwere.

PRP will also field Abdullahi Bayawo and Sunday Davis Ozomata.

YPP’s governorship candidate is Omale Samson Agada, while Suleiman Abubarka is his running mate.

For the ZLP, Suleiman Taiye Fatimah will fly its ticket jointly with Oluwole Mathew.

The list also shows that Musa Salihu Mubarak and Tanimu Idris will contest for NNPP while SPD will field Jimoh Sheik Ibrahim with Ajodo Damian Mondy as his deputy.

Senator Melaye Daniel Dino will run jointly with Mohammed Deen Habibaton on the platform of the PDP.

Sources however hinted that the list is tentative because it is subject to change and substitution before the end of June.

ENHANCING SAFE MIGRATION…

Only 10% of Primary Healthcare Centres in Nigeria Functional, Mamora Reveals

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Minister of Science and Technology, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, has said only 10 percent of 30,000 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) across the states of the federation are functional and operational.

Mamora, who is also a former Minister of State for Health, admitted that a lot of professionals were “no longer satisfied with socioeconomic and political situations in the country, hence forcing them to emigrate massively in search of golden fleeces.”

He gave these figures at a session with journalists in Lagos

recently, revealing that there were 30,000 primary healthcare centres across all the states of the federation.

With this figure, however, the minister further revealed that less than 10 per cent of the PHCs “are functional and operational due to multiple factors including dilapidated buildings and acute deficit of medical equipment.”

“When I was the Minister of State for Health, we could establish 30,000 primary healthcare centres through the last audit that we had across the federation. But less than 10 per cent of the primary healthcare centres are functional,” he stated.

“The centres are not functional, either the buildings have become dilapidated or they cannot be accessed. When we talk about functionality, it entails uninterrupted power supply, but it is not stable. It also entails constant water supply, but it is not available. It equally involves medical personnel, but

they are not adequate,” he added. “If primary healthcare centres do not have all these facilities, they cannot render any services. What are these services? It includes antenatal care. One of the reasons we had infant and maternal mortality is due to poor access to ante-natal care. Immunisation, especially for

vaccines preventing childhood diseases, is very fundamental.

“The diseases - vaccines preventing childhood diseases - are killing children below five. But they are vaccine preventable. If you do not have constant power supply, you cannot have the cold chains required to preserve the

efficacy of the vaccines. It has been established that a significant percentage, no less than 20 per cent of the measles, can be treated with good water supply.

“People are always infected with typhoid and cholera. These are diseases we can treat with what we call water hygiene sanitation.

Ugwumba Hails Establishment of Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences

A Canada-based Professor of Medicine and Family Health, Prof. Rukevwe Ugwumba has hailed the establishment of the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Kwale, in Ndokwa West Local Government Area, Delta State.

In a statement she issued yesterday, Ugwumba said DSP Omo-Agege had achieved so much as a Senator in the National Assembly”, saying that his success stories cut across the three senatorial districts of Delta State.

“I congratulate him for these laudable achievements, even as I use the opportunity to thank President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Education for the approval.

in the Senate. He did not improve on the sector or any other sector as Senator.

Yinka Olatunbosun

After days of speculations on the whereabouts of veteran actor, Saint Obi, it has now been confirmed by various sources that the actor is dead.

The actor reportedly died last Sunday at the home of one of his siblings. It is said that disagreement among his siblings affected the news being made public officially.

Various sources from Nollywood have, however, confirmed that both AGN and AMP are on top of the matter to get more

information to brief the public.

Saint Obi was very popular in the 90s and early 2000s as he featured in over 100 movies. The Nigerian Actor was popular for his role in action movies as well as the lover boy role he played in movies time of filing this report, there was no official statement on where and cause of the actor’s death.

The Actors Guild of Nigeria is yet to make a statement as the family reportedly have a little disagreement hence the delay to make a formal announcement.

Akinyemi Canvasses New World Founded on Equity

James Sowole in Abeokuta

Former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has charged members of the Rotary International to work towards the evolution of a more equitable and just world for the sake of humanity.

Akinyemi expressed this while delivering a lecture, at the 41st Annual District Conference of Rotary International, District 9110, held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The conference tagged “Imaginative DIsCon 2023”, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, had in attendance, Rotarians from Lagos

and Ogun states, with no fewer than 5,000 members.

Akinyemi, who spoke on “New World Order and Rotary,” said equity and justice do not mean an equal world in life, most especially in global affairs, characterised by power syndrome, adding that inequality just has to be accepted.

The former minister, who highlighted features of the old world order, dominated by the five super powers, who can veto any policy of the United Nations, that is not in their interest, stressed the need for a new world order, that would be characterised by equity.

Ugwumba, also a chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Delta State, appreciated the doggedness and resilience of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for achieving the feat for the people of Delta state, particularly those of Ndokwa ethnic extraction and Delta North as a whole.

Adibe

Emenyonu in Benin City

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, has congratulated His Royal Majesty, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, Oba of Benin on the return of stolen artefacts.

This was contained in a congratulatory message the minister addressed to the monarch on May 10.

The letter reads in part: “My family and I wish to felicitate His

“Health is wealth. Hence any effort in that regard must receive my accolades as a medical practitioner. My principal, DSP Omo-Agege is a record breaker. He has done it again, and this time to the joy of the people of Ndokwa nation, Delta North and the state in general”.

“Establishment of a Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences in Delta State is indeed a great feat considering the numerous bottlenecks in governance. DSP Omo-Agege has gotten it for the benefit of mankind and to the glory of God.

“He met one health facility and never added to it, whereas a state like Edo has a minimum of three in Uselu, Ugbowo and Irrua. Thank God for the visionary leadership we have in DSP Omo-Agege. We now have two health institutions through his efforts”.

Saint Obi, Veteran Nollywood Actor, Passes on Agba Congratulates Oba of Benin on Return of Stolen Artefacts

Royal Majesty, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, the Government of Edo State and the good people of Benin Kingdom on the historic formal decision of the federal government via an official gazette to domicile repatriated Benin artefacts at the royal palace of the great Benin Kingdom, thus affirming His Royal Majesty as the legitimate custodian of royal Benin arts.

“I am highly delighted to identify with the generous outpouring of joy and happiness by all true

“Which federal institutions has Okowa attracted to any part of Delta as Senator? Not even medical as Chairman Committee on Health

Ugwumba expressed optimism for better days ahead, saying challenges being experienced as a result of the outcome of the March 18 gubernatorial election was temporary as victory was sure at the tribunal.

Benin sons and daughters, both at home and in the Diaspora on this historic development. The wisdom, sincerity, and calmness of His Royal Majesty throughout the period leading to the final decision of the Federal government is unparalleled and unprecedented.

“The return of all the artefacts, when completed, will be a great balm and relief to everyone as historically, Benin had no formal system of writing other than the stories told in cast brass and carved ivory. Art was the

kingdom’s culture, its wealth, its literature, and its memory. When these artefacts were pillaged, it left behind only ashes where palaces and temples had stood for centuries.

“I am also elated that the returned artefacts will be domiciled in a new museum on the premises of the great Benin palace which will elevate Benin City into a global destination for art and culture, much as Frank Gehry’s spectacular museum helped revive the fading industrial city of Bilbao, Spain.

Bank Seeks Collaboration with Police in Debt Recovery

The Managing Director of LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc, Dr. Adekunle Adewole, has canvassed a synergistic relationship between banks and the police to ensure a more effective and less rancorous recovery of bad debts.

Adewole made the call during a courtesy visit to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG)

in charge of Zone ‘11’ Command, comprising Oyo and Osun State Commands, Mr. Akande Sikiru Kayode, at his office, in Osogbo.

According to a statement by the bank, on Friday, in Osogbo, Adewole, and the newly-deployed police boss also brainstormed on how the two entities can work together to

improve the security situation in the zone.

“Adewole and the AIG discussed possible areas of collaboration to improve the overall security situation in the zone. They also discussed how the police could assist banks with bad debts recovery given the complexity of Nigeria’s operating environment”,

the statement reads.

Adewole, according to the statement, pledged the bank’s support for the police in the Zone, especially in the execution of projects that will enhance the efficiency of their officers.

In appreciation, the AIG presented Adewole with a souvenir at the end of the visit.

L-R: Desk Officer, Migration, Nigeria Immigration Service, Deputy Comptroller Peter Monye; Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Isah Jere Idris; and Assistant Comptroller General in charge of Visa and Residency, Ijeoma Emenike, at the 2023 Nigeria-UK bilateral meeting on safe migration in Abuja…weekend

Battle of Billionaires as Otedola Accuses Elumelu of Backstabbing

Finally, the shit hit the fan last week when the squabbles for the control of Transnational Corporation Plc between two billionaire friends, Femi Otedola and Tony Elumelu boiled over into what promises to be a long-drawn battle with the former accusing the latter of a series of betrayal.

However, analysts feared the media dimenfortune of Transcorp Plc, as well as trigger other unforeseen developments as operators in the Nigerian investment climate begin to take sides and unearth other damaging information to overdo one another.

Interestingly, the controversy over the company is yet to fully manifest in the company shares although the share price fell from N1.79 kobo on Monday to N1.96 on Tuesday, a few hours after Otedola’s story came into the public domain.

Meanwhile, 32 million shares of the company exchanged hands at the Tuesday trading session on the Nigerian Exchange, with analysts saying the bickering may hit the company’s share in a matter of time.

Allegations

In a statement generously published by Nigeria’s leading news platforms, Otedola, a serial investor and chairman of Geregu Power Plc cried foul over how his bid to ramp up the market capitalisation of Transcorp the company led by its chairman, Elumelu, N250 billion and take the company’s market capitalisation to N2 trillion but that his bid wasAndrejected.

in what analysts see as a subtle dec- laration of war and a direct criticism of theman, Otedola alleged that most managers of business usually take advantage of other fringe stakeholders in terms of what accrues to them from the business, saying “Stakeholders are unfortunately always shortchanged by getting stipends while the owners and managers of the business live a jet-set lifestyle, which is detrimental to the stakeholders.”

Elumelu’s Recent Acquisition

A few weeks ago, Elumelu reportedly ac- quired fresh 9.7 billion shares of the company in separate deals. The businessman turned the tables on the conglomerate’s two previous biggest owners to take the prime spot.

Transcorp’s shares numbering 2.4 billion units exchanged hands in the open market in the period, implying most, if not all of market.

The move ramps up his combined stake in the group to 10.5 billion shares or 25.9 per cent. A breakdown revealed 273.1 million units were directly held, according to the held indirectly through Heirs Holdings. The rest were held through HH Capital.

“With this new acquisition, HH Capital Limited now holds a total of 9,991,173,177 units, representing 25.58% of the Company’s total shares,” Transcorp said in a statement.

Details of Otedola’s initial 5.5 per cent covert acquisition became public recently. He would later raise his stake to 6.3 per cent, placing him at that point in the second position behind

UBA Nominees, which holds 9.3 per cent.

UBA Nominees is the custodian business of the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Investments analysts said Elumelu’s new acquisition confers on him more than onequarter of Transcorp’s entire voting rights and also means those two will now take the back seat behind him among Transcorp’s top three shareholders.

Otedola’s Phenomenon

Analysts described the current scenario in the capital market as Otedola’s phenomenon, saying the move could cause more upsets on the boards of many quoted companies in Nigeria.

They recalled the speed at which the Group Managing Director of Access Holdings Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe had announced on the that he had mopped-up N11.35billion shares to become the highest direct and indirect institution few days after Otedola’s harvest of shares in Transcorp.

Wigwe bought 1,135,188,284 units of the share through his Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Tengen Holdings (Mauritius) Limited.

This is estimated at N11.35billion as Wigwe’s indirect investment to solidify his position.

The Boardroom War

The media got wind of the boardroom war a few weeks ago when Otedola reportedly acquired a 5.52 per cent stake in Transcorp Plc to become the second largest shareholder of the company but then sold out his entire holding to Elumelu, the chairman of the group.

Elumelu had said he welcomed Otedola’s investment in the company and looked forward to working with him, adding: “He’s my very good friend. In fact, I only follow two people on Instagram, my wife, and Femi Otedola… that shows the level of friendship we have.”

However, there was a twist to the story last Tuesday when Otedola decided to give a picture of what transpired between the two leading businessmen.

In what watchers of the unfolding drama described as a long protracted battle, Otedola indirectly blamed unhealthy rivalry for the events that compelled him to opt-out from Transcorp Plc.

Alleging that Elumelu’s resort to subterfuge

to edge him (Otedola) from Transcorp didn’t just start today, the Geregu Power chairman recalled that he had been betrayed on many occasions by Elumelu.

He recalled how he had bailed out Elemelu when the latter was on the verge of acquiring United Bank for Africa Plc in 2005 only to be outsmarted his large-heartedness.

In a tone that aroused pity, Otedola narrated how his bankruptcy in 2008 was capitalised upon by his business associate to acquire his stakes in UBA and Africa Finance Corporation in lieu of his (Otedola’s ) exposure to UBA.

“In 2005, while Tony was the Managing Director of Standard Trust Bank he approached me to get funds to acquire UBA. I enthusiastically gave him $20 million, which was N2 billion at that time to buy the necessary shares in UBA for the acquisition. After a short period, the share price increased, and I decided it was a good time to sell and get out of the bank. However, Tony appealed to me to hold on to the shares as he was convinced that there were future prospects – so I kept the shares,” Otedola said.

Continuing, he said, “I became Chairman of Transcorp Hotel in 2007 unknowingly Tony gradually started buying shares quietly.

“By the following year in 2008, I went bankrupt in Nigeria. Tony proceeded to take my shares in UBA to service the interest on my loans and he also took over my shares in Africa Finance Corporation, where I was the largest shareholder.

“Shortly after, Albert Okumagba wanted to acquire my shares in Transcorp, which I then agreed to sell. turned out to be Tony Elumelu. The revelation of this prompted me to resign as Chairman of the hotel.”

Otedola said his plans to acquire the Ughelli Power Plant were thwarted by

Elumelu, who allegedly overbid him as a result of prior information on Otedola’s plan to go for the power sector.

He explained that his bid to buy Transcorp Plc for N250 billion, which was rejected was informed by his decision to maximise the company’s potential as a Nigerian conglomer- ate with a market cap of at least N2 trillion instead of the current N40 billion, but it seems

“As a businessman, I believe in healthy competition and market dynamics. Two captains cannot man a ship, and I respect the majority shareholder’s decision to buy me out. This is the nature of the game.” intention to add value to the company, Otedola with the best intentions for Transcorp Plc and its shareholders. I saw an opportunity to unlock the company’s full potential and create value for everyone involved.

“My message to Transcorp Plc and its shareholders is this: I remain committed to the growth and success of Nigerian businesses, and I will always be looking for ways to create value for all stakeholders.”

Like Transcorp, Like Geregu Power

For whatever reason Otedola has sold 2.8 million units of his shares in the power generation company, Geregu Power Plc, where he the shares via two transactions executed on at N288.9 each on 8 May; the second 948,092 shares sold at N290.7 per unit on 9 May, acsummed up to N817.3 million.

A separate share dealing document at the Nigerian Exchange last Wednesday showed Paul Olurotimi Otedola, the sibling of the energy tycoon, procured 300,000 units of the company’s shares at N288.9 per unit on May 8. His interest in the company now totals 4 million shares, having acquired 3.7 million shares earlier this year at N809.2 million.

THISDAY could not immediately reach Elumelu for his reaction. Multiple telephone calls placed to the Head of External and Media Relations at UBA, Ramon Nasir, were not responded to.

Elumelu

In what promises to be a long-drawn media battle, serial billionaire investor, Femi Otedola, business partner and Chairman of Transcorp Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu, in a statement analysts believe would linger, writes Festus Akanbi

Otedola

Battle for the Soul of Seplat Energy Moves to Appeal Court

The ongoing legal battle for the soul of Seplat Energy Plc, an indigenous oil and gas company, has now shifted to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, where the company is praying the court to set aside the decisions of Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court Abuja, which granted an ex-parte interim order against the company andby disgruntled shareholders.

As a result of the ruling made on May 11, 2023, by Justice Ekwo, Seplat’s CEO, Mr. Roger Brown, and Board Chairman, Mr. Basil Omiyi, were suspended pend- ing the resolution of the motion. The judge went even further to order the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to immediately appoint suitable

Also suspended by the court were Seplat’s Independent Non-Executive Directors (INEDs): Ms. Emma Fitzger- ald, Dr. Charles Okeahialam, Professor Fabian Ajogwu, Mr. Rabiu Bello, and Mrs. Bashirat Odenewu, as well as the company’s Secretary, Mrs. Edith Onwuchekwa, and Chief Operating were listed as second to 10th defendants.

The orders followed a motion ex-parte dated May 8 and marked FHC/ABJ. CS/626/2023 moved by counsel to the by its lawyer, Mr. Matthew Burka, SAN, is praying the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to set aside the decision of Justice Ekwo and any other consequential orders as the court may

The appellant stated that it was within the knowledge of the trial judge of the lower court before whom suit No-FHC/ ABJ/PET/8/2023 is pending and by on May 10, 2023, in suit number FHC/ ABJ/CS/626/2023 the facts of suit number FHC/ABJ/PET/8/2023 had been brought to the attention of the court.

The appellant noted that in a motion on notice dated May 10, 2023, it challenged the jurisdiction of the court, and determine the motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court in one way or the other.

It stated that the lower court erred in law and occasioned grave injustice against it when it made an order on adversely despite the pendency of the challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

Seplat added that as of the date the said order was made, the appellant had not been served with the processes and indeed informed the court of that fact of lack of service, and submitted that the lower court had no jurisdiction to make orders against parties that were yet to be served with court processes.

But beyond the appeal Seplat Energy of the Federal High Court where it accused Justice Ekwo of bias and asked the Chief Judge to transfer all cases involvdefendant to another judge.

In the petition signed by its Chair- man, Board of Directors, Omiyi, the petitioner stated that it is unrealistic not limited to the Senior Independent Non-Executive Directors of the Company to obtain a fair and unbiased hearing before Justice Ekwo.

Omiyi added that the order of Justice Ekwo made on May 9, 2023, was a clear testimony that if the house of the petitioners/applicants was to be in order, the judge would most certainly have granted the far-reaching ex-parte orders without hearing from Seplat, its

brother judge made on April 12, 2023.

He added: ‘’Given the above, we hold the view that the Judge had manifested obvious bias against Seplat, its direc -

will obtain a fair hearing before the Hon. Justice Ekwo or that the judge will attend to the proceedings of the May 9 and all other pending petitions before the judge in which Seplat Energy mind expected of an unbiased judge. administration of justice is rooted in the the Judge before whom the litigants ap- pear will hold the scale of justice evenly among them. Once there is erosion or in the judge, the appropriate course of action is for the matter to be reassigned/ transferred to another judge.”

Some analysts believe that going by the order of Justice Ekwo, he would hardly divorce himself from bias in the case. They wonder if a court through an ex-parte motion, and without directing that the respondent be put on notice, suspend or sack the management of a company based on a frivolous suit? Who are the shareholders that are the

What is their equity in the company?

“How can a judge in his right senses suspend the management of the a company through an ex-parte? Where is the right of fair hearing?” asked a THISDAYlawyer.gathered that have about 161 shares (about million issued shares of the company. For instance, while Gbaka Ebere has 100 units of shares, Margaret Funmilayo has 31 units and Clement Akaeme has 30 units. Are the units of shares in any way enough to upset the apple cart?

Observers believe that the crisis rocking Seplat Energy was orchestrated by its former Chairman, Dr. ABC Orjiako.sate him after his tenure as chairman, the company signed a consultancy agreement, with where they outsourced some jobs to him. But following some breaches, the contract was terminated. Since then, there has not been peace in been put in place to bring down the company at all cost. Part of the plot was to remove the CEO, Brown and Board by any means possible.pany in a statement it released in March, announced that the consultancy agreement had been terminated. It added that it unanimously decided to terminate the consultancy

agreement on February 13, 2023, after several warnings of infractions includingmitments on Seplat’s letterhead without prior board authority or knowledge.”

The oil exploration company noted

stakeholder engagements after Orjiako exited its board last year according to details of the pact.

“This course of action was necessary to protect the company and its shareholdand increasing liability arising from the conduct of the consultants, Dr. Orjiako

Recently, the federal government through the Nigeria Immigration Service against the company. The charges were and are bent to bring its operations down. It was when this failed that they came up with an ex-parte motion.

recently vacated the ex-parte orders against it, its CEO, Brown, and Board Chairman, Omiyi. The court also vacated the order that restrained Brown from participating in the running of claimed to be minority shareholders ofAllSeplat.these are in the public domain, and Justice Ekwo cannot claim to be unaware of them. This is why many shareholders are disgusted with his last week’s orders which they say could discourage Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Nigeria.

“We are in deep trouble in Nigeria. I have never heard that a court sacked the management of a company before. -

cians? It would be very sad if the courts join those discouraging investments in Nigeria. The action of Justice Ekwo is enough to do that,” said a shareholder who pleaded anonymity.

Brown Omiyi

Seplat Energy, one of the indigenous energy companies, is no doubt facing internal crisis, and legal battle, involving some aggrieved parties, who may be working against the company to further personal agenda, writes Wale Igbintade

Surmounting Logistics Barriers to Regional Shipping

James Emejo writes on the need to hasten the commencement of the iconic Sealink project, which would among other things activate a competitive shipping regime in Africa and

Inomic Community of West African Private Sector agreed to a $61.5 mil lion deal to have a maritime shipping company that will connect the West African coastal ports to facilitate trade.

The project, seen as a watershed in regional shipping, would particularly connect parts of central Africa to the West African region, by international shipping companies.

The initiative was estimated to cost $60 million in equipment and working capital and $1.5 million for the operation of a Special the concept among member countries – and the funding would include 60 per cent equity participation by private investors while the remaining 40 per cent capital would be borne by institutional investors in the form of a loan.

Shortening Shipping Logistics

further seeks to build a legacy in the mari time industry and boost the country’s drive to diversify the economy and create jobs as well as modernise shipping and make it more the continent in general.

mandate and contribution towards meeting the objectives of the federal government under its growth plans.

And as part of the bank’s trade facilitation under the African Continental Free Trade

institution has continuously spearheaded the sealink initiative.

regional trade connectivity and facilitate inland waterways operations to support hinterland of solid minerals.

the unveiling of navigational charts for the

The survey comprised 12 paper and elec tronic charts to ensure navigational safety of hinterland and coastal trade.

institution, the bank embarked on the de liberate policy initiative to bridge maritime infrastructure gaps towards lowering logistics costs to foster trade with the promotion of the regional sealink project.

He noted that as a Special Purpose Vehicle framework, Sealink will essentially enable According to him, the cessation of the use of led to a considerable level of disuse of the river channel for mercantile trade, leading to the siltation of the channel over the years that resulted in navigational challenges.

This, therefore, informed the decision of

to implement government policy initiatives Sealink initiative.

trade, foster regional trade connectivity and facilitate inland waterways operations to sup port hinterland trade and bulk commodities

Addressing Logistic Barriers

If anything, the Sealink project remained a major step in deepening trade within the sea transportation system that would enable one member state to another as well as stop as provide jobs to the unemployed class in the region.

rationale for the project was to deepen trade

country could move goods by sea in view of the problem associated with land transporta tion particularly multiple checkpoints, and harassment by security agencies – and it was member states by trucking.

why we have to embark on this is that, if you have to move your goods from Lagos to Kema port or any city in Ghana, it would take you about three days; but if you have to move your goods from Apapa Ports to Tema Port, it’ll take you a minimum of 60 days and the simple fact either move to South Africa or they move to

“Under that kind of scenario, there is no

way you can deepen trade; there’s no way commission is trying to do.”

Missed Implementation Timelines has continued to drag on, despite its potential below 11 per cent at a time other countries are trading 40 per cent to 50 per cent with one another.

The project had been scheduled for launch by end of 2021.

The implementation date was later an 2022.

to the economy, no doubt, the operationalisa tion of the Sealink concept will curb rising prices of imported commodities from which

for weeks and sometimes months before the same cargo is brought back to Africa.”

Accordingly, the Sealink project was con ceived to also reduce the cost of shipment among African countries, pointing out that allowing goods meant for destinations within bring back home again.

was conceived, promoted as well as funded

with AYO AROWOLO

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

Unlocking The Hidden Wealth In Nigeria’s Archival Materials

How many Nigerians know that an old Northern Nigeria postage stamp sells for as much as $63,250.00 (about N47 million)? Or that there has been a hunt for a 1975 one kobo coin with the asking price of one million Naira in the coin market? How many people are aware that Nigeria’s rich history makes its archival materials one of the most hunted across the world; yet because we know little about our history, our treasures are taken away daily without us knowing their value?

In the last 10 years, the founder and Director-General of the Centre for Research, Information and Media Development (CRIMMD), has been running the first Private Archival/Museum of Nigerian History with over 45, 000 photos and many artefacts and memorabilia, including Nigerian currencies dating back to 1910, magazines from the 1920s; newspapers and books and classified documents and reports, Nigeria postage stamps from 1900, books on the Nigeria Civil war; biographies of Nigerians. Record LP of Nigeria Music, bottles of brands of drinks in Nigeria and many others.

In this piece, James submits that Nigeria’s archival materials are hidden treasures that should be mined.

The land that is geographically defined as Nigeria had existed long before 1900 when it became a colony of the British Empire. Before then, there were several ethnic nationalities and kingdoms some of which dated back to 800 BC and far before. Like the NOK people and their culture, the Nri kingdom, and the Benin kingdom. All these kingdoms are older than America and they were people of diverse ethnicity, each of them had their own history of migration and settlement. Unfortunately, the geographical area now known and addressed as Nigeria kept little or no record for proper identification. Interestingly, it is never too late, now is the time to start to document our history and tell our stories accurately for the younger ones coming after us.

In 1849, John Beecroft, the Governor of Fernando Po became the British consul agent for the Bights of Benin and Biafra. In 1890, he moved the headquarters of the British Agent for the Bights of Benin and Biafra from Fernando Po to Calabar. If you go online and even in some history books, the story is that Calabar was the first capital of Nigeria. This is not correct, since by 1890, there was no Nigeria. Nigeria came into existence, so to say, in 1914. It was even in 1900 that Britain took over the business empire of George Goldie.

Archiving Nigeria’s history with facts is a task that must be done and some of us have taken it as our responsibility, to protect and preserve records; legitimise and sanctify most of the historical documents while we provide access to the information for growth for the nation.

Last two years, the National Library in Enugu was broken into and all the old newspapers were stolen overnight, it was not in the news because we must have concluded they were just newspapers, but the truth is that millions must have been stolen without our knowledge.

Not only that, foreigners come to Nigeria and visit most of our shrines and loot the objects of worship there that they have made us feel are devilish and yet they take away and display them in their own museums abroad and make plenty of dollars. This has been a reoccurring act from back in the years. Recently, as we may recount, Germany agreed to return to Nigeria priceless artefacts that were stolen during the colonisation of Africa. British troops looted thousands of artworks known as the Benin Bronzes from the Kingdom of Benin, in 1897.

At the railway station at Yaba lies the remains of the train that Queen Elizabeth rode in, during her visit in Nigeria before independence. How many know that this train, if well refurbished and used as a tourist attraction, can make millions of Naira in return? And yet we place no value on it.

The statue of Bishop Ajayi Crowther in his home town was recently stolen, and the villagers woke up to discover that it was gone. In the same vein, the tree that the young Ajayi was tied to before he was sold into slavery is just there with no value and importance attached to it; meanwhile, it is meant to be a money-making tree.

The burial site of Queen Sheba, if properly harnessed and backed up with more historical facts can become another Jerusalem of Christian pilgrims from across the world, but it is just there in Ogun state almost in the midst of a forest.

If we know our history and value it, the incident

of ‘Ori Olokun’ - the Yoruba Culture Symbol, in Ile Ife would not have happened. The original ‘OriOlokun’ monument was discovered in the early 20th century by German explorer Leo Frobenius, who claimed then that Ori Olokun was a lost Atlantis of the Greeks and that Olokun, was the same god as the Greek Poseidon, Leo paid for it and took it away, though the report has it that he was forced to return it which he did and yet the original Olokun still went missing.

Marcus Garvey wrote that “A people without knowledge of their history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” and I add “a people without accurate knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without taproots”

As you read this write-up, wherever you are reading it from, I am sure you know your house address and will return home at the end of the day, if it so happens that you have memory loss and are unable to return to your house, that is the case of a man without history. Most of Nigeria’s challenges today are because we don’t have accurate knowledge of our history as such, we may not be able to return home from wherever we are.

Let me illustrate it thus. Our history teachers in primary and secondary schools told us that Mungo Park discovered the Niger River, but this is not the truth. Mungo Park never claimed that he discovered the Niger River. As far back as 1550 the Niger River was written about by an Italian Leo Africanus in his book ‘Della descrittione dell’Africa’. Mungo Park set out in June 1796, almost 246 years after Leo wrote about it. Park in his memo, wrote that he set out to discover the ‘source’ of the river Niger. The word ‘source’ is the major word, even with that, he died while trying to achieve that and the source was discovered by the Lander brothers, it took another 25 years, in 1830, when Richard Lander and his brother

“Last two years, the National Library in Enugu was broken into and all the old newspapers were stolen overnight, it was not in the news because we must have concluded they were just newspapers, but the truth is that millions must have been stolen without our knowledge.”

became the first Europeans to follow the course of the Niger to the ocean. Again in 1946, three Frenchmen, Jean Sauvy, Pierre Ponty and movie maker Jean Rouch, became the first to set out to travel the entire length of the river, from the beginning of the river near Kissidougou in Guinea to the ocean on March 25, 1947.

Another example is this very damaging one for Nigeria, in Ikot-Abasi, a town in Akwa-Ibom. There is a building that has been claimed to be the Amalgamation building of Nigeria. By virtue of the fact that we don’t keep records, we all accepted that fact without verifying it. Even a team of the Federal Government accepted it as Nigeria marked its first centenary anniversary in 2014. I became inquisitive to know how the amalgamation house is located in Ikot-Abasi when Lugard never lived there. He lived in Zungeru, Lokoja, Kaduna, and Lagos. How could it be that Lugard left his base for a town in the olden days part of Opobo, the same town whose leader, Jaja was sent to exile, to go and live there?

The question is at what point did Lugard live in either Calabar or Ikot-Abasi? Lugard lived in the North all through his stay, until he left in 1906. On May 9, 1912, he was recalled to Nigeria and was appointed Governor of Southern and Northern Nigeria. He did not resume in Nigeria, rather he resumed in the Colonial Office in London but visited and went back without staying for more than 30 days at any given time. He remained in London until May 9, 1913, one whole year to fine-tune the document of amalgamation and he submitted it to Hon. Lewis Harcourt Sec. to the Colony. After submission, he stayed in London waiting for approval until November 22, 1913, when it was approved and signed into law. So, the

amalgamation was signed to order on November 22 and was announced to us on January 1, 1914. There are photos in history books as well as online showing Nigeria’s amalgamation of 1914. These are not true for there was no ceremony yet documented and the photos you see are from the 1906 amalgamation of the Colony of Lagos and Southern Protectorate.

Yet another example. For lack of accurate information, most Nigerians claim that Taiwo Akinkumi, the man who designed the Nigeria flag, also designed the Coat of Arms, but when I interviewed him, he told me he had no hand in the coat of arms design. It baffled me that Nigeria as a nation had no record that was accessible to the public on who the designer was until when my Archival/Museum discovered it from London in September of 2020, 60 years after Nigeria’s independence – Messrs Beverly Pick and Associated of 118 Charing Cross Road, United Kingdom.

The spot the Nigerian flag was first hoisted, for the first time on October 1st, 1960, was a mystery until recently. The story behind the Aba Women Riot of 1929, was falsely presented to us.

How many Nigerians are aware of the fact that Senator Nwafor Orizu was acting President of Nigeria for 92 days, almost the same time as Chief Ernest Shonekan?

It is high time we started to keep records, we should stop throwing away books, magazines and old newspapers that have vital historical information that we may never find online. We should also start interviewing our elders while their memories are still sharp to help us document accurately. We can only tell the world who we are when we know ourselves better.

Remains of the train that Queen Elizabeth of England rode in when she visited Nigeria in 1956

James

SOLUDO AND ANAMBRA LG POLLS

NZOMIWU

THE 1OTH SENATE AND THE ABSURDITY OF A DÉJÀ VU

See Page 20

NIGERIA AND HOPE 2023

CHARLES IYORE

It is no more news that a couple of days ago, Mr. Felx Morka (no relationship with mouka foam!), the National Publicity Secretary of All Progressive Congress, held a press conference to announce, proudly that his party’s highest organ had taken a decision to dictate to the incoming 10th Senate who their leaders should be. Those were not his exact words, but that is the purport of the announcement he made to the Nigerian people. He was not just speaking to his party stalwarts. Recently, he was with Seun Okinbaloye of ChannelsTV who kept ‘putting it to him’ that that was the position his party has taken. Morka struggled to defend the indefensible but his affected Queen’s English (now King’s English!) merely turned a bad situation to an ugly one, to use a popular phrase from his neck of the political woods.

Déjà vu. Have we not seen an attempt like badly in 2015? That was what made Bukola Saraki to pull a fast and smart one that left APC gaping for breath. The man rode, disguised, on the back of a rickety Keke NAPEP to the National Assembly and got elected by the opposition while those who for the International Conference Centre. That was on 9th June, 2015. It was unsightly to see men in well -starched babanrigas back to the Three Arms Zone on hearing that Saraki and Ikweremadu had opened the stable doors and the horses had bolted. It took four years to undo that shit – pardon my American slang…

See Page 20

EDITORIAL 50 YEARS OF THE NYSC SCHEME

Well, the banning of the teaching of history by Morka’s associates has been very impactful. When you add that to our countrymen’s predilection for memory loss of the political variety, you would attempt’ to emasculate and dictate to the co-equal 10th Senate of the Federal Republic can be contemplated again. Some party potentates had scheduled a meeting with the elected senators at very time the National Assembly had their leaders after PMB’s proclamation.

See Page 21

The objective was to dictate to them who to vote for. It was speculated it was Ahmed Lawan for Senate President and Femi Gbajabiamila was their choice for Speaker of the house. While the PDP senators-elect moved to the National Assembly as planned, APC senators headed in the direction where they were invited by their powers that be, away from the National Assembly. The rest is history. It took a whole four years to get the rubber stamp and inkpad back to approve loans and more loans, including the last ones, on the eve of the departure of PMB’s government! Did oversight not become an underwhelming undersight?

It is either a sign of inability to read the political barometer or a feeling of entitlement based on a burgeoning impunity continuity. Or a feeling that many of the senators, old or new, are so entangled in political IOUs that they will dare not question why someone would want to take away their manhood! What does the law say with respect to the election of the leadership of the national assembly? It says it is the duty of the elected members to elect their leaders themselves after the proclamation by the President! Can someone really mistake proclamation for a right to dictate the leadership to the distinguished senators?

As is already playing out, a few APC senators with a spine in their backs have called out this absurdity and vowed to go against it. The opposition party elected senators have started to call themselves the silent majority though they are still outnumbered by the APC 50 to 59. There has been a massive change in Nigerian election outcomes from the virtual two-party system that held sway from 1999 till the current time. Then Obi happened! Now the party which INEC declared as winner of the Presidential elections and winner of the highest number of seats in the National Assembly has just found it that it has a slim majority. Any time a few of their senators are in agreement majority easily. Talk of a pyrrhic victory.

It should have dawned on the APC that the only chance to get things done, as the American would say, is to engage the opposition through negotiation and lobbying. Dictating to them who their leaders should be is neither of those and it is a strategy that is doomed to failure. Not even the deployment of ghanamust-go bags of dollars – as alleged by Senator Ndume during an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on ChannelsTV –will be enough to sway some senators and representatives this time. For a party that

marketed itself as an anti-corruption czar, it is shameful that outright bribery is being deployed to achieve this ignoble objective of dictating to our elected representatives who are to make laws for our good governance. By the way, is it part of the ethos of the ruling EFCC cases and other legal entanglements as a criterion for leadership nominations? Why will a London judge look kindly on any future allocutus from these shores when the next yonder?

Chances of the ‘real majority’ determining the outcome of the leadership elections in the 10th National Assembly is high indeed provided they organize properly and resist those tantalizing g-m-g’s being passed around. If poor voters could resist the money elections, it would be a shame indeed if any elected representative sells his constituency for a mess of pottage. Some are also wisely, if you ask me, hedging their bets on the possibility of an Obi or Atiku emergence from an emboldened judiciary bent on redeeming its image and re-asserting its independence. There is also the issue of avoiding toxic leaders who can sell their kin for a few dollars more. Integrity and capacity ought to decide leadership positions in an organ of government with a responsibility to make laws. Is it not funning that many of those have tainted names and soiled hands? Why will those with EFCC cases with multiple with leadership in a country that desires progress and respect among the comity of nations? Of one of such senators I had submitted on 22nd April 2023 as follows:

“What is more, for one who recently told the nation that it is not yet time for his people patently self-serving that he now suddenly claims it is HIS TURN to be Senate President! Meaning, it was because of his desire to get the senate president position for HIMSELF that he decided to rubbish his people and zone by painting the very best candidate to have sprung for his zone in colours he did not deserve. Like a dullard in class telling the Principal not to make the most outstanding all-round student Senior Prefect because he wants to be made a janitor! What he did not know, or perhaps is incapable of discerning, was the loud guffaws his attack on Obi caused in the polity.”

Let the algebra and abracadabra continue. We wait with baited breath. But it will not be long now. Let s enators and members of the house of representativeselect respect their constituencies, respect the Nigerian constitution, grow a backbone and do the right thing. Wishing Nigeria the very best.

The people should be empowered politically at the grassroots through the conduct of local government election, argues CHEKWUBE

Integrity and capacity should decide leadership positions in an organ of government with a responsibility to make laws, contends AUSTIN ISIKHUEMEN

writes that those in governance must advance the public good of the people

SOLUDO AND ANAMBRA LG POLLS

The people should be empowered politically at the grassroots through the conduct of local government election, argues CHEKWUBE NZOMIWU

The last time I commented on Anambra State in October last year, I passionately appealed to the Governor, Professor Charles Soludo to consider conducting local government elections in the state, latest by the second quarter of this year. I made this plea on the assumption that he would take advantage of the euphoria of the February/ March general elections to break the jinx of the prolonged non-conduct of local government elections in the State.

One month to the end of the timeline I suggested to the governor, there is no sign that Anambra State will witness local government election in the near future. Instead of elected council chairmen and councilors, as the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended) stipulates, handpicked officials continue to “illegally” run the 21 local government areas in the state under the bogus title of “Transitional Council”. Section 7 of the Constitution guarantees the system of local government by democratically elected officials.

The last local government election in Anambra State was conducted in November 2014, at the twilight of the administration of Governor Peter Obi. Obi conducted the election, following intense pressure mounted on him and other erring governors by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF). While Obi conducted only one local government election during his eight-year reign as Governor of Anambra State, his successor, Willie Obiano “shamelessly” did not hold any election in the eight years he governed Anambra State.

The coming of Soludo in March 2022 rekindled the hope of holding council polls in Anambra State. Many people thought that being an intellectual with vast public service experience, including five years of service as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he should know better than his predecessors, the importance of grassroots governance. This is turning out not to be the case. Fifteen months after Soludo’s assumption of office, the jinx of non-conduct of council polls in Anambra remains unbroken.

So far, his administration has not deemed it fit to reconstitute the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), the body saddled with the responsibility of conducting local government elections in Anambra State. Unless something is done very quickly, Anambra State will soon break the record of Borno State as the only state in Nigeria that did not conduct local government elections in 10 years. The Boko Haram insurgency deprived Borno State of the opportunity of holding council election from 2007 - 2020 (a period of 13 years).

While it is true that Soludo met the menace of “unknown gunmen” in Anambra State on his assumption of office and has not shied away from confronting them, it is not enough excuse to continue prolonging the conduct of local government election in Anambra State. Neighbouring states like Enugu and Ebonyi, facing the same security challenge, have elected local government chairmen and councilors. Enugu held local government election in February 2022, one month before Soludo came into office while precisely in August 2022.

The outgoing Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu conducted local government election twice in his eight-year tenure and wanted to hold another one 10 days before High Court in Arochukwu stopped the exercise. If governors who are not professors conducted local government election, a governor who is a professor should do better.

NIGERIA AND HOPE 2023

John Oakenfold described Nigeria to me in 1983, as a sleeping giant, saying she has all it takes to be great, but will not wake up to action. Waking up, is a simple action of living organisms and opens up the opportunities of a new day. In short, that waking up, renews the hope of the day. Every day you do not rise, is a wasted day.

Those who do not rise early, or are groggy when they do, may have been sedated. What then has sedated Nigeria over 62 years and made her unable to rise and shine?

Again is it also possible, that Africa remains sedated because the cock (Nigeria) has not crowed, to set the dawn?

My take is that our sedation are the many control freaks who refuse to allow the very well designed administrative structures to optimize in performance. With all unit leaders trying to carve out fiefdoms, movement as a nation, has become difficult if not impossible.

That desire for control, reached new heights under the military leadership, which the new crop of civilian leaders is in no hurry to be weaned-off. Quite frankly, therein lies the rub of our pathetic situation.

government elections last year. In spite of the menace of killer herdsmen, Benue State held council elections last year. Adamawa held. Edo and Ondo fixed theirs for September and December this year. Oyo fixed its own for April 2024.

Kwara State Governor, Abdurahman Abdurasak recently inaugurated the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC). In Anambra, Soludo keeps on offering assurances anytime confronted on radio programmes, without taking concrete steps to match his words with action. In one of his radio outings widely reported by print and online media, he said that certain things ought to be worked out and modalities put in place before the conduct of local government election, as doing so will imply the autonomy of the local governments in the state. According to him, some structures also need to be put in place, both with respect to administration, execution of government policies and programmes as well as payment of local government staff (both retired and active), among other things that need to be planned, defined or worked out before conducting local government election. Ironically, Prof. did not tell us how long it is going to take to put these modalities in place. I really do not know how local government administration in Anambra State became rocket science. Anambra State is one of the states with the highest potential of operating a functional local government system if the councils are disentangled from the apron strings of the state government.

The constitutional functions of the councils include collection of rates, building and management of markets, construction and maintenance of rural roads, naming of streets, numbering of houses, registration of births, deaths and marriages, and administration and funding of basic education and primary healthcare. I can say without any fear of contradiction that Anambra is the state with the largest concentration of markets in the South-East. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from Onitsha market alone sustained the government of the Old Anambra State, comprising of today’s Anambra, Enugu and parts of Ebonyi State. Nnewi boasts of the biggest motor parts market, while markets are scattered in Awka, Ogbunike, Nkpor, Obosi, Nnobi and Ekwulobia.

A person as educated as Soludo, needs no education on the benefits of grassroots democracy. In its true meaning, democracy is synonymous with grassroots democracy. The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos” meaning people and “kratos” meaning power. Where else are the people found if not at the grassroots? The local government is the tier of government closest to the people.

Northern states like Katsina, Kebbi and Niger, facing banditry menace, held local Nzomiwu writes from Awka, Anambra

This then brings to mind why the United States of America describes political leadership tenures as administrations. Their governance battles are between those who allow the administrative structures to work and those who want to control everything, as in the nanny state. That difference in approach to governance has continued to narrow, with every cycle of leadership. The same is the case with the United Kingdom, where Margaret Thatcher, tore down the divides of ideological differences and promoted “Opportunity Britain” with a well thought through privatization programme, that has put national fiscal consolidation, over the old tax rate wars.

The sedation of control freaks on nations, comes out of their leaders’ preoccupation with funny notions of loyalty, a preoccupation that soon takes them hostage as they become insular to the yearnings of the commoners. The court of carpet baggers (rent seekers) that emerge, really owe their loyalty to no one, but their pockets.

So I ask as we set forth, will the governors allow the local governments to mature? Will the president not hold back the allocations of governors? Will the representatives at all levels, councilors, State Assembly members, National Assembly representatives and Senators, think opportunities for their constituencies?

Our privatization programme was bedeviled by the rush for cheap national assets, just like that of the oligarchs in Russia, with no gains in efficiency or price advantages to consumers. The bragging rights of the new ownership, who know they lack the funds to run the utilities, continue to stall national economic production, even as pension funds struggle to find expression for their growing collections. That says a lot for the advisory of the National Council on Privatization (NCP), over time.

When you add to that, our inability to use the windfall of mobile telephony to our collective development advantage, then the level of the isomorphic mimicry, becomes even clearer.

At about this time in 2015, I published an article “Hope is alive again” in the firm belief that the ascetic general would deliver a quick reset, with a military line control, of the economy, before settling it into a stable, accountable, and open, federal system.

In a strange coincidence the line “you should become the change you desire” found prominence in the government propaganda, without the pre-condition of a clear understanding of the concept of money and the place of markets that work for all, in the mix.

The general did it his own way and the jury is still out.

Leadership is not just about the President and the Presidency, but the very many units and all who hold reporting accounting powers, on behalf of the sovereign. It is they who must now reverse their “control freak” tendencies and allow the giant to rise and shine.

The tone however, still needs to be set at the centre. Pressing the reset button will mean going back to the parishes or wards, to ensure that the

level of civic engagement is strong and that local responsibility with the faith groups, charities, and activists, are neatly tied to the local needs. This engagement will throw up local leaders and will establish usages (traditions). It is those traditions that will evolve into edicts and rules and become established as laws in our statute books. So when we talk about the rule of law, it must be in compliance to those laws, that have come out of our lifestyles and not from reviews of remote jurisdictions around the world. Any other route for making laws be alien to the people and not establish order.

This must now be followed by challenging those who hold the mandates of the people through elections to setting opportunity objectives. Arun through the 136 adjustments as analyzed by AOS (African Operating Systems) and applied as relevant to the local conditions may help produce a playbook.

For the records. In a continental system analysis carried out by the African Operating Systems (AOS) - a UK based think-tank. There are about 136 critical adjustments, needed in the various administrative flowdiagrams on the continent, to optimize their outputs.

At the heart of the distortions created by bucking the system, is that by far too many on the continent, wake up every morning to no purposeful engagement, even when in paid employment. This must be quite frustrating as they are consigned to lives of import consumption and very little else. The elite happy to benefit from all kinds of importing.

The pursuit of happiness against that background is difficult and many have easily become pawns in the many mindless wars and conflicts on the continent. – African Operating Systems 2021.

The continental profile we want to progressively alter, is of the aged, ignored and uncared for, of able bodied men not equipped for a world of increasing specialization, and of a procreation rate, turning out a teeming population of children, not under appropriate instruction.

We are all confronted daily by these failing structural profiles in our families and in close friendship circles, but we are often in denial of them. That denial is not out of wickedness, but borne out of the fear of being overwhelmed, should we attempt to correct the differences alone.

Overcoming that individual fear which is natural, is the reason for government as a bureaucracy, for a problem shared is a problem halved and halved many times over, the individual proportions becomes bearable and almost insignificant.

Governance therefore is the ability to deal with the doubts and fears of citizens and for them (citizens) to be convinced that they are better-off, taking a merchant collective approach to problem solving, rather than a fragmented retail one, that can only lead to disorder.

Those in governance in whatever capacity therefore, must advance that merchant perspective (common good) in their trust positions, otherwise their conduct would be anti-trust.

CHARLES IYORE writes that those in governance must advance the public good of the people

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

EDITORIAL

50 YEARS OF THE NYSC SCHEME

Despite the challenges, the scheme has been remarkable

Established in May 1973 by then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon as a vehicle for national integration at the end of the civil war, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) celebrates its 50year anniversary this week. We commend its staff and management as well as all Nigerians who have participated in the one-year mandatory programme for graduates of tertiary institutions. As one of the few national institutions that has struggled to abide by its original objective, the scheme has served as a veritable agency of national integration in

By availing less privileged states of quality contributions to the development of our country. From using corps members for enumeration work during the national population during the conduct of national elections and deployment for routine immunisation, the NYSC has partnered with other organisations for the good of the country. In the health sector, the scheme has helped to reverse the menace of HIV/ AIDS pandemic, Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic through awareness campaigns and sensitisation of the public on prevention and care. The scheme has also impacted such areas as education, legal aid services, crusade against corruption, road safety awareness, campaign against drug abuse and

However, we must also admit that the scheme has in recent years been bedeviled by challenges that grossly limit its impact, reduce its appeal, and undercut the ennobling idea of national service. Besides, that only about 5.7 million Nigerians have been mobilised for the scheme in 50 years points to the fact of many evaders in a country where hundreds of thousands graduate from tertiary institutions every year. It is therefore little surprise that not a few Nigerians continue to question why the scheme should remain. Two years ago, a bill to scrap the scheme passed a second reading at the House of Representatives.

We subscribe to the ideals of the NYSC. But we also agree that time has come to reform the scheme so it

can provide value aligned with the current needs of the country and its participants. Such reform package funding, branding, content, and structure. It could also involve the reform of the current approach of the major but compromised milestones in the life of corps members—from mobilisation, through orientation, primary assignment, community development to passing out.

out is in deployment. Posting corps members to areas of urgent national needs will offer the country multiple dividends. One, it will allow for better and even deployment of manpower and ensure focus and greater contribution to national development. Two, by ending the spectre of rejected and under-utilised corps members, it will improve the self-esteem of participants and ensure that corps members serve their country with dignity. And three, it will restore the spirit of national service to the scheme.

There is also a conversation that the NYSC should form the basis of a compulsory military service scheme, as it is done in some countries. The proposition is for corps members to serve in the military for graduation. Those who opt to make careers in the armed forces could be used to progressively raise the standard of the police to replace the present predominance of illiterates that have complicated the work of internal security. The prospect of such an elite force should interest those concerned with our resent disorderly state of internal security.

On the 50th anniversary, we must remember the or got disabled during the one-year mandatory national service. Despite the challenges of the past 50 years, the NYSC can be described a establish a trust fund has been passed by both the senate and the House of Representatives. Its the efforts of government and other stakeholders, especially in empowering the youths.

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 to the Editor LETTERS

LESSONS FROM VICTOR OSIMHEN’S SUCCESS STORY

His most inspiring zero-to-hero life trajectory reminds one of the wise words by Garth Stein, the best-selling author of ‘The Art of Racing in the not whether he can triumph but whether he can overcome obstacles”. Talking about obstacles, John Harold Johnson, (of blessed memory) the then publisher of the soar away ‘Ebony obstacles we overcome, the greater the glory we achieve”.

Indeed, to succeed along the twisted and thorny paths that eventually lead to glory, one has to lift himself up, high enough to turn the stumbling blocks into stepping stones. So it was well stated by the Kung Fu legend, Bruce Lee. Incidentally, that is precisely what our own Victor Osimhen has done; to make not only members of his family but his legions of fans across the globe, immensely proud of him.

Just at the age of 24 years he has literally hit the bull’s eye. The energetic, ever focused, lanky lad recently achieved the fantastic feat for his team Napoli to win their first Italian League title in 33

years! His lone but epic-making goal from the penalty spot granted SSC Napoli their first win since 1990. It set not only the stadium in frenetic frenzy but got the football world celebrating one of the world’s greatest emerging soccer icons.

the managing editor at Soccernet Nigeria, told Al Jazeera. On his part, Mario Balotelli, on his some friends from Napoli, it is crazy. Trust me, you did something incredible. In 10 years’ time, you’ll understand what you’ve done’. But while we wait for events to unfold, let the records be put in their proper perspective.

For instance, Osimhen has become the highest African goal scorer in Italy in a single season. Furthermore, he has beaten the only African player to win Ballo n d’Or, George Weah, to become the African player with the most goals in Serie A history. He scored 47 goals in 79 games, compared to George Weah’s 46 goals in 114 games. But that is not all.

For instance, Victor Osimhen‘s 21 league goals helped him break the record for the most goals

scored by a Nigerian in a single Serie A season, previously held by Simy Nwankwo (20). And the 21 goals also equaled Samuel Eto’o’s record for the most goals scored by an African footballer in a single Serie A season. This was one record that stood since the 2010/11 season.

Osimhen, who bagged Serie A’s Player of the Month of March, 2023 has also become the first Nigerian to achieve double figures in two consecutive Serie A seasons. It is little of a surprise therefore, that he has become the costliest player in Italy; the costliest African player in Italy, the most valuable player at Napoli and the Serie A highest goals scorer! But it has not always been that rosy. That reminds us of the prayer of the unforgettable patriot, Tai Solarin, (of blessed rough!” Osimhen lost his mother at a young age of 13. His father lost his job three months after he lost his wife!

Challenging circumstances compelled them to move from a two-bedroom flat to a oneroom stifling abode. Though they lived, as severally reported, close to one of Lagos State’s

biggest refuse dump sites in Olusosun, that sordid situation spurred him on to have the larger picture. To survive, he, along with his newspapers along Ojota road, in Lagos.

However, as the avatar, Nelson Mandela not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Despite the fact that his father wanted him to become a medical doctor he chose instead to pursue his career in the soccer world. As fate would have it, he was one of the thousands of ambitious youngsters given only 15 minutes to prove their mettle at the 2014 Nigeria Under-17 team screening held in Abuja by coach Amuneke. Within that short period he scored two goals! Yet, that feat was not enough to convince the coach, Amuneke who was reportedly stressed out. With a wave of hand, he sent Osimhen and the others away. But God’s plans for our lives, once we keep struggling against daunting odds will always pave the way forward.

Ayo Baje, Lagos

Time has come to reform the scheme so it can provide value aligned with the current needs of the country and its participants

Russo-Ukrainian and Russo-American Nuclear War: The Scenarios of an International Insurrection

The on-going war between Russia and Ukraine has the potential to generate an international insurrection in the event of use of nuclear weapons as a last resort. International insurrection cutting across several countries can then be the unwanted lot of the international community. Put differently, the use of nuclear arms by Russia is most likely. It cannot be ruled out because of the mounting pressure on Russia by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and European Union (EU) countries all of which are strongly sustaining Ukrainian resistance. In this regard, the NATO-EU’s apparent strategy is to prolong the war, and by so doing, weaken Russia and possibly renew the idea of perestroïka and glasnost (Opening and Restructuring), and make Russia irrelevant in the conduct and management of global affairs. The ultimate objective is to underscore the supremacy of Western civilisation. Russia seriously contests the supremacy of Western civilisation in various ramifications. Russia has always differentiated between elite oligarchy and the people of the West and has always drawn global attention to the Russian position that Russia is not at war with any people of the world, but with the elite oligarchy in the United States, Europe, and particularly in Ukraine. And true enough, many international stakeholders now appear to be subscribing to the Russian school of thought. Many countries are also fighting the NATO-EU by using soft power, which similarly also has the potential to threaten international peace and security.

For instance, some countries are currently using the Chinese Yuan in their financial transactions. The use of the Yuan is deemphasising the importance of the dollar as an international currency. In fact, the Yuan has become a major challenger to the dominance of the US dollar with countries like Russia, Iran, Brazil, Argentina and Bangladesh using the Yuan for trade as a backup currency for trade finance, international payments, foreign exchange transactions and central bank reserve assets. In Africa, Zimbabwe has joined the users of Yuan. As such, efforts are consciously being made to de-dollarise international financial transactions. In particular, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is currently leading in the consideration of an alternative to the US dollar.

Likelihood of Use of Nuclear Weapons

Opinion is mixed on the likelihood of the use of nuclear weapons in the on-going Russo-Ukrainian war. One school of thought argues that a nuclear war, no matter how limited, is mutual suicide and that President Putin cannot afford the luxury to first launch a nuclear attack, especially that Russians do not want to die recklessly. Explained differently, is Russo-Ukraine and Russo-American nuclear war confrontation possible?

If we consider that there is a deepening military lull that has come to characterise the prosecution of the war as at today, the use of nuclear weapons may not be ruled out as there is nothing to suggest that the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, is much aware of the likely use of nuclear arms against the territory of Ukraine and that Ukraine is also being used by both Russia and the United States for the destruction of the people of Ukraine. As it is today, Ukraine can be completely neutralised as the war in Ukraine, in truth, is more than just a war between Russia and Ukraine. The war is a cold war between the US-led NATO and Russia.

In other words, it is a hot war between Russia and Ukraine and a cold war between the United States and Russia. At the level of Russia and Ukraine, Russia never liked the idea of opening and restructuring of the former Soviet Union which led to the collapse of the Union. By implication, Russia does not believe in the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. In terms of strategic foreign policy calculations, Russia believes that Ukraine should be part of a greater Russia. While Ukraine is still enjoying its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the anger of Russia’s Putin is necessarily exacerbated by Ukraine’s hobnobbing with the US-led NATO to expand its politico-military influence to the international borders of Russia. This development has also raised the blood pressure of President Putin who sees the nearness of NATO to its borders as most unacceptable.

Putin

In this regard, Russia has made some demands over which Russia does not intend to accept compromise for reasons of national defence and security: non-acceptance of Ukraine’s membership of the NATO; withdrawal of NATO from Eastern Europe and retain its pre-1997 structure; freezing the NATO Alliance the way the Warsaw Pact had been done as jointly agreed to; no NATO military drills in Ukraine unless with the consent of Russia; etc. Expectedly, the United States and the NATO do not accept the demands. While Russia has the agenda to reconstitute the former Soviet Empire, the United States wants to prevent the renewal of any powerful rival. The United States wants to ensure the continued vibrancy of Western civilisation and hegemony. Thus, there is the NATO order versus the Russian counter-order, prompting the disorder currently in Ukraine.

This is why Ukraine has become a battle field and a victim of a proxy war. And perhaps more disturbingly, Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, has always asked for more military assistance from Europe to enable the defeat of Russia this coming summer. In the strong belief that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Europe has not hesitated in quickly providing such assistance to Ukraine, but not reckoning with the increasing number of casualties.

In response to the request of Volodymyr, the UK Secretary of Defence, Ben Wallace, told the British Parliament that long-range Storm Shadow missiles had been sent to Ukraine in support of its struggle against Russia. The Storm Shadow missiles, each of which costs more than £2m can strike targets in the Russian occupied Crimea. In the words of Ben Wallace, the decision was ‘a calibrated and proportionate response’ to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More important, Mr Wallace said Russia had

made ‘788 attacks on health facilities, hospitals, clinics, medical centres… The use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory. Russia must recognise that their actions alone have led to such systems being provided.’

In reaction to Mr Wallace, President Putin has said that Russia would respond appropriately. But what is the nature of the appropriate response? Is this not a deepening tension that is pointing to the likely use of Weapons of Mass Destruction? The United States and the EU allies have initially considered the non-deployment of long range missiles to Ukraine to avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia. However, the sending of long-rage Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine has now thrown into the dustbin of history the non-deployment policy. The policy response of President Putin to this development is quite thought-provoking.

On the occasion of the celebration of Russia’s Victory Day on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, President Putin said that ‘today, civilisation is again at a decisive turning point. A real war has been unleashed against our motherland but we have fought back against international terrorism. We will also protect the people of Donbars and ensure our own security. For us, for Russia, there are no unfriendly, hostile nations either in the West or in the East. Like the vast majority of people on the planet, we want to see a peaceful, free and stable future.’

This statement is noteworthy because Russia says a real war has been unleashed on her, thus raising who kick-started the war in Ukraine. Is it the NATO’s disregard for agreements done with Russia and to which Russia has to militarily respond that explains the commencement of the war? Is the Russian Special Military Intervention that began on February 24, 2022 in Ukraine not the beginning of the war and for which Russia should be internationally held responsible? Whatever is the case, what is undeniable is that the US-led NATO is largely responsible for the commencement of the Cold War while Russia started the hot war, the future of which is still difficult to predict.

As further explained by President Putin on the Victory Day, ‘we are proud of the participants in the present military operations, of all those who are fighting on the frontline, who provide support under fire, who rescue the wounded, there is nothing more important now than your combat effort. The security of the country rests on you today, the future of our statehood and our people depend on you. You are fulfilling your military duty with honour. You are fighting for Russia.’ Without doubt, this is not only a commendation for the Russian forces but a further encouragement and request to fight harder the more, meaning that there is no immediate end to the war.

And more importantly, President Putin has it that ‘what we want for the future is a future of peace, a future of stability, not a future of blood. But the elite in the West, they keep talking of their exceptionalism (sic), of how they are different, and they are the ones creating a sense of disruption between our people. They are the one destroying family values, traditional values that make everyone on this planet human. They are forcing their will on other nations, forcing their rules on others. But it would appear that they have forgotten what Nazism was all about…’

From this statement, there is no disputing the fact that the Cold War between Russia and the United States is about Western civilisation, the supremacy of which Russia is not prepared to accept. Russia is essentially saying here that what the West is preaching or claiming, the same West has been acting contrarily to it. In other words, the West is preaching its exceptional character, but destroying family and traditional values. The implication of the foregoing conflict of interests is that the end to the imbroglio cannot be for now. More important, in the event the war is prolonged to the extent that Russia will be left to use nuclear arms to save face, the whole world may have to suffer greatly for it, especially in terms of how to cope with possible cases of international insurrection.

Scenarios of International Insurrection

Insurrection, which is synonymous with mutiny, uprising, rebellion, revolution, is generally considered as an organised violent revolt against a civil or political authority or established government. The US legal definition has it that insurrection is‘the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government’ or ‘the crime of inciting or engaging in such a revolt (whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or against the authority of the United States.’

If insurrection is defined from a municipal or national perspective, especially in terms of a rebellion at the level of the people against an established authority, who are those people expected to revolt at the level of international insurrection? In other words, which world government are the peoples of the world to revolt against? Is it the United Nations? Will the Member States of the United Nations revolt against itself? These questions are raised in order to underscore the new trend in international relations and global governance: increasing people’s revolt against their legitimate governments. Civil society organisations can protest against the United Nations but not probably revolt in the mania of a revolution. This does not mean that there cannot be a serious revolt at the UN headquarters.

In ‘The Women in the Mirror,’ It’s Fear vs Society

Stories by Vanessa Obioha

The parenting style of three generations of women comes into sharp focus in the new book ‘The Women in the Mirror’ by Achalugo Chioma Ilozumba. The playwright in her book examines the blurred lines between societal expectations, traditions and personal fears that shape parenting choices. At the stage reading of the play directed by Jude Idada at Goethe-Institut, ‘The Women in the Mirror,’ unravels to an audience which included Prof. Wole Soyinka.

Nnenne Nwigwe is the daughter of Celine and the granddaughter of Agatha. She is the contemporary woman who endured an abusive marriage all in the name of keeping up with society’s standards. Having finally embraced freedom by divorcing her husband, she questions the parenting style of her mother Celine who in her defence was only following the template society has set up.

Agatha who is supposed to be the originator of the so-called parenting model becomes the mediator, trying to understand the tension between her daughter and

granddaughter over the rights and wrongs of parenting.

Ilozumba uses provoking dialogues to pass across her message of parenting and the place of women in society while tying it to marital abuse. Each line gives a sharp revelation of the characters. When Nnenne talks about the lack of support from her mother when she reported her husband to the police for abuse, her pain becomes visceral with each word. It’s the same when she boldly declares her freedom from her husband which society has tagged shameful.

The tense relationship between Nnenne and Celine escalates as they confront each other with hurtful words.

As the women navigate a reconciliatory path, it becomes apparent that the line between traditions and personal fears is blurry. While the general notion is that we raised a child based on traditions and societal expectations, our ultimate decisions often stem from a place of fear.

‘The Women in the Mirror’ calls for introspection into the way we raise female children, the abuse we allow in the name of society and the consequences of our actions. Perhaps, one day, we will get to understand that we build the society we want.

AMVCA Weekend Begins

By this time next week, the winners of the ninth edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) would have been revealed and social media gushing over the fashion on the red carpet.

The three-day event will officially kick off on Thursday, May 18, with the Opening/Cultural Night, which promises to be an exciting showcase of Africa’s rich cultural heritage. Friday, May 19, will feature MTF Day and Digital Content Creators Day, providing an excellent platform for industry professionals to share their knowledge and expertise with aspiring creatives. Later that day, the Nominee Gala/Runway show will take place, featuring some of Africa’s most prominent fashion designers. Finally, on Saturday, May 20, the grand finale of the AMVCA will take place, where the continent’s most exceptional talents will be recognized and celebrated.

Media personality IK Osakioduwa returns this year as host and will be joined by South African model and Miss Universe 2019, Zozibini Tunzi. A model, actor and social media personality, Tunzi is a versatile host who made her acting debut with “The Woman King” in 2022 and has hosted several prolific events, including Miss South Africa.

“We are excited to have IK and Zozibini as the hosts of the 9th edition of the AMVCA,” said Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels, MultiChoice Nigeria, Busola Tejumola.

“They are both professionals in their craft, and we trust they will bring in the super energy and professionalism and keep the continent entertained as we celebrate our African stars.”

Additionally, media personalities Toke Makinwa, Uti Nwachukwu, Sika Osei and VJ Adams will be bringing their unique style and energy to the event as hosts of the red carpet.

This Africa Month, will Netflix Have a Double Celebration?

As it has been its tradition, Netflix is marking the month of May — internationally known as Africa Month and dedicated to celebrating Africa and its rich cultures — with a variety of new and iconic African titles that showcase and celebrate the diversity of African storytelling to its platform.

In recent times, Netflix’s relationship with the Nigerian film industry has deepened. With many filmmakers securing deals and licensing their works to the streamer, more and more Nollywood content is finding lofty spaces in Netflix’s rich vault.

By providing a platform for African voices to be heard and celebrated, Netflix is helping to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about Africa and its people and to showcase the diversity and richness of African cultures and experiences.

The Africa Month lineup features titles from Nigeria to South Africa, including

Inspired by 2Baba, Nigerian Afropop Star, A4 Baba, Rises

By Iyke Bede

Nigerian Afropop singer Leonard Adinya, popularly known as A4 Baba credits legendary musician 2Baba for inspiring his music career.

Growing up in Ogoja, A4 Baba’s passion for music blossomed during his time in the church choir. Influenced by 2Baba’s captivating melodies, he found his artistic voice and now stands on the cusp of his musical destiny.

“I have listened to him from a tender age and he gives me a lot of inspiration and I’ve grown with that over the years, moulding my artistry and honing my skills,” the singer revealed. “2Baba was one of those we looked up to and he gave us good music for our soul.”

With a Masters in Business Administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology, U.S., he stated that his music, over the years, has been targeted towards inspiring people and uplifting souls using his God-given talent. This is fully reflected in his latest track ‘Rain of Blessings’, an upbeat track with gospel/rock elements.

Shedding light on his latest projects, Adinya disclosed that he is working closely with Gen Zs to ensure that the younger generation is set on the right path, just as 2Baba’s music did for him.

“I’m working on my EP and it’s going to have about five songs, it is something simple. It’s a reincarnation, as I’ve been away for a while. I’m reincarnating and I’m coming up with something new that is in line with this new generation. The Gen Zs are the people taking over the music space in terms of consumption and production, so they are a part of the people working with me on my new project,” A4 Baba concluded.

the second season of ‘Young, Famous and African,’— a reality TV series that features a star-studded pan-African cast like Khanyi Mbau and Annie Macaulay-Idibia — ‘Ile Owo,’ and the recentlylaunched pan-African short film series, ‘African Folktales, Reimagined.’ This series features stories from six African countries including Uganda, Tanzania, Mauritania, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya.

However, Africa Month may bring a double celebration to the streamer’s platform. Netflix’s original film ‘Aníkúlápó’ and Netflix’s production ‘Shanty Town’ received the highest nominations of the awards with 16 and 11 nominations respectively.

In its long history with awards internationally, Netflix is known for scooping the highest number of nominations but this does not always guarantee wins. For instance, it dominated the 2021 Oscars with 36

Annie Idibia and Khanyi Mbau in Netflix YFA nominations but only won seven. This year, it received 16 nominations and recorded only six wins.

Of these nominations, Netflix is yet to win a Best Picture at the Oscars. Its biggest wins have been in the Best Director category. Will the tide change in the Nigerian film scene? As the AMVCA is regarded as Nigeria’s own Oscars, a win for Netflix at this prestigious event would be significant for the Nigerian film industry and a big win

for the streaming giant. The AMVCA, which stands for Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, is an annual awards ceremony that celebrates excellence in African film and television. Established in 2013, the awards have become one of the most prestigious and highly anticipated events in the African entertainment industry, with nominees and winners selected by a panel of industry experts and the public.

A4 Baba

Cover page of the book “The Women in the Mirror”

.Hosts of AMVCA9: IK and Tunzi

Pheelz: Still Feels Like a Dream

For more than a decade, he’s been crafting chart-topping hits for the hottest stars in Afrobeats, while also pushing his music career. But in 2022, the Afrobeats sensation Pheelz had the spotlight fixed firmly on him with the catchy song ‘Finesse’ featuring BNXN. From there, his career skyrocketed, signing with Warner Records, embarking on tours, and collaborating with global heavyweights like American R&B musician Usher, rapper Diddy and music producer Dr. Dre. Pheelz opens up to Vanessa Obioha about his rise to fame, the growing cultural dominance of Afrobeats and how everything still feels like a dream

I’m Telling a Story about our Culture, People and Land

Pheelz

It was a momentous morning for Pheelz, the day of his first headline concert in New York. He was already pumped up and ready to take on the world. A mini studio has been set up in his room, with instruments and equipment scattered all around. Pheelz has been in his element all morning, ready to unleash his creativity and imagination onto his Tribe (the name of his fanbase) when he performed later that night. He worked tirelessly to perfect his setlist. With a mix of recreated songs and fresh additions, he prepared about nine songs in total for his performance. Most of them were from his latest EP ‘Pheelz Good’ released in February. Despite the early hour, Pheelz’s voice was strong and steady as we chatted via Zoom.

Philip Kayode Moses, the producer and recording artist behind the persona Pheelz, can hardly believe that everything that’s happening is real. He was in New York for his first headline concert and would tour other American cities. That was not all. He’s signed with one of the leading music labels, Warner Records, and has had studio sessions with bigwigs in the U.S. music industry like American R&B musician Usher, rapper Diddy and music producer Dr. Dre. Indeed, the lines have fallen in pleasant places for him, and the artist feels like he’s living in a dream.

“From the rooms that I’ve been in, to the people that I’ve met, to the stages that I’ve been on. I actually have a loyal fan base,” he said, in a voice tinged with disbelief.

“People love my sound and are listening to what I have. All that still feels like a dream to me because coming from the producer brand where I’m always in the studio, being behind the scenes to now being at the forefront, in all these lights. It’s a blessing that I don’t take for

granted at all. It still feels like a dream.”

Standing at six foot six inches, Pheelz, a native of Ogun State, cut the image of a basketball player but the closest he ever did in sports was soccer. His interests have always been in the creative arts. He evinced an unwavering passion for music at an early age that was impossible to ignore. By age six, he was writing songs — for himself, his family or for church programmes. By the time he reached 10, he was honing his poetic skills by crafting lyrical masterpieces.

As he grew older, his creative talents improved and he became more forwardthinking. At just 13 years old, Pheelz tapped into his entrepreneurial spirit and started exploring new avenues for success.

“I started writing for business when I turned 13. I would write poems and love letters for my seniors in school and they would pay me for that.”

Describing himself as a shy kid, Pheelz found solace in the world of words and art. He would spend hours drawing and painting, creating and editing videos and pictures in Photoshop. It was a way for him to express himself when words failed him. As he grew older, this artistic side of him flourished, culminating in the creation of Rii Collective, a creative solution company that showcased his visual arts.

“I make all my lyric videos myself. You can see this with the Rii Masks which I used in my lyric videos. The masks started from childhood. I would draw figures and put masks on them. The masks showed how I truly felt when I drew those pictures.”

Despite his love for art, Pheelz first gained recognition as a producer, creating awardwinning beats for the likes of Olamide and

Tiwa Savage.

“The reason why I actually started producing was so I could make beats for the songs that I’ve written as an artist during my childhood days. But the world just caught on to the production first, and I paid more attention to that.”

He described his creative process as organised chaos because inspiration can hit him at any time. Sometimes it starts with a melody and other times, the lyrics lead the way. He knows that perfection is just an illusion and has perfected the art of not falling down the rabbit hole of endless tweaking. “Nothing is really perfect,” he declared.

Over the years, he honed his instincts and trained his ears to know when a piece of music feels right.

While Pheelz recorded a few successes as a producer, he was unprepared for the blessings that came with his 2022 hit single ‘Finesse’ featuring BNXN.

It all started with a guitar loop from his new producer Michael that caught his attention. He left Michael to cook up the beat and was thrilled with what he heard. As he began to play with melodies, the mumblings gradually transformed into lyrics, and voila! ‘Finesse’ was born.

Curious to see how his fans would react, he shared a clip of the audio on TikTok, and the rest, as they say, is history. ‘Finesse’ became a breakout hit, catapulting the 28-year-old musician onto popular music charts like Billboard. It was just the beginning for him. The song’s explosion caught the attention of executives at Warner Records, leading to high-level meetings with industry titans in the U.S. A collaboration with Usher is in the

works and is expected to grace the airwaves soon. For him, the success of ‘Finesse’ was the highlight of 2022, and he knows that the future is full of endless possibilities.

“The whole blessing that ‘Finesse’ brought is just mind-blowing and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it even till now. Big thanks to God and I’m really grateful for being here, where life has placed me this time around.”

Even now, Pheelz is at a loss for words whenever he attempts to describe the immense success of his hit single.

“It’s God to be very honest. I’m not going to sit here and act like I had everything in control or I had all this planned out or this was my turn.”

And just like that, the young man who grew up in the Ajangbadi area of Lagos State has the spotlight firmly fixed on him. It’s hard to talk about the top Afrobeats stars in the country without mentioning the young man. His ‘Pheelz Good’ EP is still captivating hearts with its catchy hits such as ‘Electricity’ featuring Davido, and ‘Pheelz Like Summer’ among others.

In retrospect, it seems that Pheelz’s success was predestined, as he revealed in the song ‘Pablo Escobar.’

“The inspiration for ‘Pablo Escobar’ came from my dad,” he explained. “He has a gift of seeing visions and dreaming dreams. One dream he had always stood out to me. In the dream, while others were riding different animals like horses, donkeys, lions, and cheetahs, he saw me riding on an elephant.”

According to his father, this vision held two meanings. First, it meant that Pheelz’s journey would take longer than others because he was huge, and he would have to take one giant step after another. Second, when he finally arrived, the world would shake.

“So that’s where the inspiration for ‘Pablo Escobar’ came from,” Pheelz stated. “When the elephant steps in, it’s over.”

As Pheelz continues to climb the ladder of fame, he remains grounded and focused on his mission to promote Afrobeats globally. To him, being part of the movement is not just a privilege, but a responsibility.

“It’s insane to witness how Afrobeats is taking over the world,” he expressed. “After spending over a decade in the industry, I’m amazed at how far we’ve come and how much more we can achieve. The boundaries have been shattered, and anything is possible. It’s a blessing that I don’t take for granted to be among the people who are pushing this culture forward.”

Pheelz believes that it is the responsibility of every African creative and artist to educate the world about their roots and the spiritual essence of Afrobeats. As he shared, “We have to make sure that we educate the world about who we really are and what our culture represents. We cannot just leave it to chance. We have to do it intentionally, just like Fela tried to do. This can be powerful and can change the mindsets of people and the narrative of Africa.”

Despite performing at various venues around the world, nothing feels like home to Pheelz. He was recently honoured at Industry Nite in Lagos, where his fans paid tribute to him for his contribution to the Afrobeats movement. Such gestures mean the world to Pheelz, who is not only aiming for a Grammy but also striving to see Afrobeats dominate the world and change the narrative of Africa.

From the rooms that I’ve been in, to the people that I’ve met, to the stages that I’ve been on, I actually have a loyal fan base

HighLife

Matriarch of the Akinruntan at 70

Long life and prosperity remain one of the foremost prayers of man. The pair must go together or the beneficiary might feel as though a great big joke has been played on them. The way things are going for the wife of Oba Fredrick Akinruntan, the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom in Ondo State, Olori Yetunde, it is clear that this prayer has been answered. Upon clocking 70, the matriarch of the Akinruntan royal household can mark herself as having arrived at the threshold signalling a long life.

The queen observed her new age with deluge after deluge of praise and accolades coming from everywhere. From this event alone, Olori Yetunde displayed the truth in the maxim that kings are only ever deserving of fear, whereas queens were made to be loved and appreciated.

Although the maxim is a bit of a stretch considering the depth and heights of obeisance that the people of Ugbo Kingdom pay to Oba Akinruntan, it fits the occasion. Moreover, the fact that Olori Yetunde has proven herself time and again with a grasp of motherhood and royalty allows her to remain at the peak of her people’s affection.

Many people will remember that Olori Yetunde does not like an excessive extravagance, choosing instead to live life in a manner that impacts other people. However, her 60th birthday saw her relatives force her into a different look, capturing her as both the delight of the lowly and ordinary and the pride of the high and mighty. It was not altogether different this year, except that the queen looked even better with wisdom flowing around her eyes and on her tongue.

At 70, Olori Yetunde remains fresh, polished by the warmth of love from her husband, sisterwives, children, and the people of Ugbo Kingdom.

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

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

End of an Era as Aisha Buhari Takes Remi Tinubu on Tour

Politics is another area in which men and women differ. The average man going out of an office would want to bump shoulders even a little bit with his successor, stiffing himself up to be a strong future adviser for the latter. But women do things differently. The support is provided once it is clear that succession is in order. Thus, it was with delight that the outgoing First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, had the incoming First Lady of Nigeria, Remi Tinubu, go on a tour of the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

Aisha is ever the visionary. She has shown times without count that her eyes are up there in the clouds and see things while they are still far away. It would be remembered that even before the presidential elections of February, Aisha had already started to draw Senator Remi close to herself. Now that everything is almost neatly tied up, Aisha is taking even bolder steps to show her successor the ropes. During the tour, Aisha introduced Remi to some of the most engaging locations, explaining what they were all meant for and giving accompanying historical evidence of their value. Even

the paparazzi that accompanied them to some of these locations were awed at the First Lady’s knowledge and insight.

Although Aisha received Remi at the Glass House, she did not hesitate to take her from that transitory area of accommodation to all the other strategic parts. Clearly, her time as First Lady

not spent moving from pillar to post, shopping, and enjoying the wooden praises of the people around her. Aisha’s gesture has been interpreted by onlookers as the best evidence that a new era is coming, with Remi’s husband, President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the new captain of Nigeria.

Babatunde Okewale: Impressive Story of the Man with 3000 Babies

Okewale is a hero to so many, especially women and families that have had a hard time conceiving.

When women say that they are having problems conceiving in Nigeria, the achievements of Okewale come to mind. A recognised professional in the field of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Okewale has shown more proficiency in bringing hope to households than simply writing the name and dosage of medications in that abstruse script that doctors use.

undergone Okewale’s IVF procedure and delivered her very first child at the age of 67 in 2018. Many other miracle stories have been associated with Okewale, with the number of children from these miraculous births reaching up to 2,000.

Okewale

There are many ways to make a name in the current era, with most of these methods being illicit or unpopular with common sense. Babatunde Okewale, the most notable medical mind in St. Ives Hospital Group, has built himself a name. However, despite going through a route that many others would not have considered,

It is on record that Okewale has helped women thought to be barren, offering them enough psychological and physiological help to overturn their situation. With his admirable grasp of the dynamics of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), Okewale has proved time and again that women long past the traditional age of pregnancy can still conceive.

The perfect example of Okewale’s genius and prestige is Mrs. Ajibola Otubusin, a woman who had

Without question, Okewale remains one of the leading authorities in IVF and women’s infertility in Nigeria. However, the man does not limit himself to these areas alone. He is even more interested in the welfare of the womenfolk and families, which is the primary reason for his founding WFM 91.7, the first radio station for women and families in Nigeria. It is also because of his passion for women and families that he published the book, The Art of Making Babies, a book that has helped many people across the world.

Ultimately, Okewale deserves at least 2,000 accolades, one for every miraculous childbirth he helped to make happen.

Tokunbo Wahab’s Matchless Exploits in Lagos Education at 51

Politics is a place where people can generally make a difference. Even though the occupation is widely laughed at these days, it remains a fact that it is one of the most critical professions in the world—being a politician. Thankfully, despite the blemishes on the fabric of the profession, there are a few people who are good examples of what positive difference politicians can make. One such person is Tokunbo Wahab, the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Education. He is about to clock 51 and there are already dossiers of testimonies about his doings compiled for him.

Wahab is the typical Nigerian based on background. Like everybody else, he had a dream to change the world from an early age. However, he also understood how much of a price he would have to pay to make that dream come true. Thus, he struggled and struggled, pulling himself along the broken

paths of success until he arrived at the threshold of acclaim based on good works. Crossing that threshold has come at no price at all owing to his diligence and dedication. It is no wonder his birthdays have always been such happy sights.

It was a big deal on May 17, 2022, when it was announced on social media that Wahab clocked 50. Deluge after deluge of accolades was sent to him from people from all walks of life. Even the actual celebration that took place at his Banana Island home in Lagos was a blast, culminating in the halos of Governor Sanwo-Olu, King Sunny Ade, Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, and many others congregating in one place. One wonders how it is going to be this year. For Wahab, clocking 51 in a matter of days will bring him much recognition. In many ways, he is what a public officer is, a dedicated and diligent person braving the difficulties of public life for the common people. Wahab

Olori Akinruntan.

Outgoing and incoming First Ladies, Aisha Buhari and Remi Tinubu was

60 is the Charm as Odu’a Investment Chairman, Bimbo Ashiru Throws Birthday for Wife,

Kemi

Being good at one thing is typically good enough for people of the present generation. For the Board Chairman of Odu’a Group, Bimbo Ashiru, such standards are too low. Therefore, in addition to being one of the most committed and decorated civil servants of all time, he is also one of the most brilliant corporate managers. But, even more important to the Ashiru family, the Odu’a boss is also one of the most reliable love partners of all time, as his wife, Madam Kemi, would tell you. Last week, Ashiru threw a party to celebrate Kemi’s 60th birthday, and they were the same happy people during the party as they were 32 years ago.

Yes, Ashiru and Kemi have been together for 32 years. Looking fresher than her peers, Kemi took the limelight in the Ashiru household. Of course, with her dear husband in the background to manage things, the high-octane party saw her shine bright like a diamond.

Without question, those who were at the party had much gist to deliver once they returned to their homes, gists of how lovey-dovey the Ashirus remain after 32 years of marriage. These would include guests like former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun, former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Johnson

Fasawe, and Olusegun Awolowo. Indeed, the Ashirus embodies a strong love that others continue to search for.

But Ashiru must be praised for organising such a colourful event that elapsed its original four-hour plan.

From Oil to Aviation... How Auwalu Rano Invested Billions of Naira in Airline Business

Business diversification is one of the buzzwords financial analysts throw around these days. The word itself means a lot but it is not something that many corporate organisations have been able to implement since it requires a lot of money and a lot of courage. Auwalu Rano (popularly known as AA Rano) is a businessman with a lot of money and courage. Therefore, in diversifying his businesses, he has only established himself as someone with strong interests in multiple industries.

Rano Air is the latest big deal in the aviation sector. On Sunday, May 7, 2023, the new airline made its first landing. The Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja, Lagos, was the first point of contact for the Nigerianowned airline, and there were many positive reviews about the flight. Indeed, it was a glorious testament to the business acumen of Rano.

Clearly, guests were more than willing to stay back and continue to enjoy the warm atmosphere. Such is the kind of hospitality that is characteristic of the Ashirus, which is another reason they have so many good friends.

The Power Woman at Dangote Group

Men and women are undoubtedly different. Contrary to the prevailing notions of forced equality in the West regarding the roles and powers of men and women, Africans recognize that each sex has its own strengths. Even so, a few women are so capable that they can straddle power and retain their identities as women.

Adenike Fajemirokun is a woman like that, and her work at Dangote Group marks her as one of the most powerful individuals in the country.

Fajemirokun is certainly a different flavour compared to her peers in the corporate industry. The majority of them take pride in being their own bosses, easily forgetting that if every worker believed such a notion, nobody would serve another. But Fajemirokun is the proud subordinate of Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, one that is irreplaceable based on merit.

along, diversifying the company’s investment portfolio, and helping it to make the right decisions that promote returns and reduce risk.

A civil engineer by training, Fajemirokun has had more than 18 years to prove herself in the financial sector, especially in the implementation of strategic risk management models. So effective is she in this field and so potent her presence in past places of employment that she has a self-designed risk framework that disrupted the normal operations of shopping malls in the UK in the past, gaining her initial recognition in the financial sector.

According to the professionals that accessed the aircraft, an Embraer E145, the new plane is certainly going to garner a lot of praise in the coming days. Moreover, with its 50-seater capacity and the flight timetable programmed for movement across Lagos and Abuja, Kano, Maiduguri, and Sokoto, it is certainly going to demonstrate how much of a planner Rano is. At the moment, the airline has 35 first-time passengers who were flown from Kano State to Lagos and who would be willing to bet their best that Rano Air is the real deal.

It is not surprising that Rano’s airline was such a huge hit the very first time it touched base. After all, the man behind it is the same person behind A.A. Rano Nigeria Limited, the well-known oil corporation doing magic among its counterparts. Rano’s brilliance and bravery will win the heart of the cruellest socialist, showing how deliberately designed capitalism can distinguish people.

For Rano, moving from oil and gas to aviation has been a good move.

Olalekan Adebiyi: The Road Master on the Move

Fajemirokun

Though rarely seen, the landmark real estate projects executed by billionaire Sir Olu Okeowo’s Gibraltar Construction Company Limited make him a force of nature in the built industry. It, therefore, beggared no surprise or shock when his professional association, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) decided to honour him with a special recognition award for his distinguished services and professionalism in the industry. The glamorous awards ceremony held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. And the usually reclusive Sir Okeowo was there in all his glory.

The honour comes at a time when Gibraltar Construction Company Limited was widely misrepresented as the owner of the luxury building that collapsed in Banana Island, Lagos, recently. Investigations would later reveal that the property is owned by another firm entirely with no link to him.

Sir Okeowo was presented the award by the president, NIESV, Johnbull Amayaevbo, who lauded him for his longevity and professionalism in the industry. Amayaevbo said that through the awards ceremony, the association seeks to recognise and celebrate individuals, government parastatals, and corporate organisations whose contributions to the development of the Estate Surveyors and Valuers sector have been immense.

Also on the long list of recipients of awards for special recognition are prominent Nigerians such as President Muhammadu

Fajemirokun is the Group Executive Director, Special Duties, and Chief Risk Officer of the Dangote Group. Since she came into this position, she has proven herself to be a true asset to Dangote Group, helping to move things

Billionaire Property Magnate, Olu Okeowo, Gets Highest Honour from Estate Surveyors

At Dangote Group, Fajemirokun has and continues to show herself to be an asset the likes of which the multinational has never seen. In fact, she has become one of the core pillars of the conglomerate, supporting Dangote’s accomplishments with steady and reliable risk management and decisionmaking strategies.

Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, (Obi of Onitsha); His Royal Majesty, Oba Kehinde Gbadewole Olugbenle, (Olu of Ilaro); Mrs. Folorunso Alakija, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Alhaji Mustapha Njie, and Mrs. Mojisola Abdul among others.

Sir Okeowo’s Gibraltar Construction Company Ltd, which started operations in 1990, primarily engages in the construction and civil engineering service businesses in Nigeria. It is also involved in the construction of residential and commercial property and the provision of civil engineering construction services such as sewerage, road, bridge, highway, subway, and other civil engineering and electric facility services.

Over the years, the company has built up an ever-increasing experience in most areas of the construction industry by collaborating with world-renowned designers, engineers, and clients to deliver technically-sophisticated and exciting building projects to cities and communities around the country. Gibraltar Construction Company Limited has completed more than 1200 extraordinary projects across 12 states in Nigeria.

According to Sir Okeowo, “Our company and our culture are built on years of leadership and a relentless adherence to our values, the core of which are safety, quality, ethics, and integrity. These values are what we believe, what we expect, what we deliver, and what we live.”

There are many noisemakers in the Nigerian corporate block. Some of these have not been able to accomplish anything praiseworthy outside of consistently bragging about great works even when there is nothing to see. But there are those, like Olalekan Adebiyi, who have taken to living the alternative—which is doing great things that all can see and keeping quiet about it. As 2023 kicks off with a bang, one is reminded of Adebiyi’s enduring legacy of mastery at road construction and the silence that he prefers over rowdiness.

When it comes to road construction in Nigeria, Adebiyi’s LaraLek Ultimate Construction has to be one of the most accomplished. Even though the company has done some of its finest work in the Southwestern part of the country, it sits uncontested as a supreme among other similar high-flying construction companies. However, the leading reason for LaraLek’s domination is that the company’s founder and CEO is Adebiyi, a genius among geniuses.

It should be noted that Adebiyi’s model for good work actually does not ride on what is typically considered genius. In fact, the hallmark of the man’s road construction work is endurance rather than radical design. Therefore, when it is time to list the names of the most reliable indigenous road construction contractors in Nigeria, Adebiyi’s name almost always tops the list.

But what makes Adebiyi really different from every other road master in the country is his humility. The man can construct a road on the moon and not say a word about it to anybody who does not need to know. Thus, it is said that Adebiyi will still go on to accomplish great and glorious things in Nigeria, especially since 2023 will undoubtedly be a year of many changes.

Bimbo Ashiru and wife, Kemi

Okeowo

Buhari, Gen. Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (rtd.), Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, Alhaji Olufemi Okunnu, SAN, CON; Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero (Emir of Kano); His Majesty,

Afe Babalola: I am Not a Fool

Shebi I went to look for trouble and tore into the immortal Chief Afe Babalola on the back of his recent donations to a UK University. Daddy did not take it kindly and showed it very powerfully. I had to go and beg o. So I carried my big head and went to Ekiti with my brother Niran Olatana, the Executive Chairman of the Ekiti State Internal Revenue Service.

As I walked in, I went straight on the floor, in complete reverence to a man that has been everything to Nigerian education and more. Chief Babalola is a god and I for one should know that. My apology is stemming from my use of language and not really on the position that I took on the matter. Notwithstanding, I had to show complete obeisance to a great Nigerian.

“I am not a fool”, he kept saying. “I know why I did what I did, the school that made me what I am; education made me who I am; I only went to primary school; the rest was through correspondence and you say, I am a fool for supporting the same process that made me? I am not a fool o. I am not a fool o.”

By this time, I was still on the floor, my belly rubbing the beautiful marble floor of his expansive office. “Daddy, I am sorry o, it was the devil, daddy please I am your great

grandson o, don’t curse me o.” Kai! He now looked across the table and said in a non-threatening way, “why are you wearing earrings to my office and what kind of hair is this? Common go and check into my Guest House, relax, eat and drink anything you want and come back by 9pm. without the earring and with your ‘dada’ cut and then we can talk seriously”, he added, as I scurried away. “Take a tour of the school, go to the Industrial Park and see that we have built the best school in the country.”

It’s true o, my people. That Afe Babalola University is something else, from the facility, the huge campus, the well-situated students with their beautiful uniforms – yes uniforms in university. The medical students with their red and black uniforms really caught my attention and boy, the girls in that school are beautiful o. I said to Niran, please let me chase one and Niran, a pastor, screamed, “Baba has not forgiven you and you want to enter another one, count me out o.”

By 9 p.m., Baba was waiting for us. I had removed the earrings but no time to cut the hair, so I borrowed Niran’s driver’s cap and we entered.

Immediately we were ushered in, I took my

position on the floor – tummy flat on the floor, chin brushing the ground and hands stretched in front of me- and baba started talking.

“The Nigerian Constitution is defective, even Angel Gabriel will fail with that constitution… Obasanjo is my friend and I have known him since the Shagari era when I subpoenaed him to testify during the probe of the missing oil money… Obasanjo is a great Nigerian, education is very key to our national development and that is why I have put so much into it…”

Finally, he said the words I wanted to hear, “Mr. Duke, I have forgiven you, you are my son….” And I stood up from the floor and said to the greatest educational icon of our time – “Daddy thank you so much for forgiving me, I really remain humbled at your kind reception and I promise that I will never yab you again, it was the devil and I was hungry…”

As we took our exit, I sighted a small plane on the left-hand corner of his huge office complex and wondered how at 93 years of age, Baba still carried the glow of an enduring vision, building and maintaining an enterprise that was self-sufficient,

impactful and institutionalised all in a lifetime. As I walked towards the Presidential Suite Baba had given me, I saw the most beautiful medical student in the land, I looked at Niran and... Kai!

PROSTATE CANCER: FEAR DON FINISH ME

They won’t let you hear word.

Everywhere you turn you hear, “go for prostate screening. Every man above 40 should screen. Catch it early.” All sorts of talk.

My people, fear don kill me for where I dey o. I have not gone for the screening. The mere thought of it drives me into a state of inertia.

I will be fearing, and my hands will be shaking, and I will be sweating.

I spoke to my doctor this morning. I remember one time my BP was flaring, and he was insistent that I come for the drugs and did a full test.

I refused o. He dragged me into his office and put me under one machine. I cried o. The result came out perfect, but he still put me on the BP drugs.

When I woke up one morning and didn’t feel my ‘thing,’ I screamed. I went to a porn site, to jump start the thing but nothing, I screamed more o. I now resorted to all my usual tricks, perfected over a 20-year career in self pleasure and indulgence, still nothing. Reached out to my favourites - Nyaomi Banxx, NollyPorn, nothing.

I called the doctor and said: “What kind of life will I be living with no erection? Mbok, I’m not taking the pills again o.

I started the exercise regimen and started eating watermelon and drank friska tea and all that and now I have conquered

that one. My BP is like that of Buhari after May 29.

This prostate one don enter my head. Each time I am pissing, I will be looking at the thing. Is it gushing? Is it trickling? Is it dribbling?

Ohhh, my God. It’s just a two-minute test o. The last time I did anything near that test was like eight years ago when one beautiful doctor who, just as I was about to take her to heaven said: “Let me do a prostate scan on you as you hit me.” She put her hand inside my bum. I didn’t like the feeling. I felt violated and told her to stop. But she continued and later said I was ok. Now I don’t know if that result can withstand the rigours of a scientific test.

I know it’s a stupid fear. I know I have to brave it and do it because prevention is better than cure, but the deep hole of a hypochondriac fear is too tedious to climb out.

They say we should ejaculate at least 21 times a month to prevent it. I am doing much more and as such I should be ok abi? Kai. Fear is killing me o.

IKE NWACHUKWU: AN OFFICER AND A REAL GENTLEMAN

They don’t come this fine. Fine in every sense of the word o; physical, in comportment and outlook. The other day, me and my sister, Ore Sofekun, found ourselves in front of the well-respected

General. He was in the middle of writing his memoirs which I must say looked very plentiful. I said, “Lord, this book is big o,” and he laughed and said, “I have been in service since the civil war so there is a lot to be said.”

General Nwachukwu is a Real Nigerian – his mother was Hausa/Fulani, his father Igbo and his wife Yoruba. Born and bred in Lagos and grew up in the Yaba area, he fought on the side of Nigeria during the Biafra war because, “I believe that the place of the Igbo man is firmly in Nigeria.”

As he spoke, his enduring good looks captured me. How can a man at 83 fine pass me, I mused. His tall gait, silver grey hair, mannerisms and most importantly diction almost killed me there. This was a fine specimen, this is what a Nigerian should look like, this is what a leader is. “The military I served was driven by merit,” he told us. “It is a great disservice to me to say that I succeeded because of my maternal heritage… I passed all the courses, was diligent and disciplined and this was what stood me out in my career,’ he enthused.

He was a military governor in Imo state during Buhari’s first misadventure and from there parlayed an enviable career that saw him being our Minister of Foreign Affairs. His policy of economic diplomacy went a long way in situating the need for us to push the economy

in our relations with foreign powers instead of the ego driven oil diplomacy which saw us burning our fingers because we wanted to be seen as the giant of Africa. He later went into politics and became a senator, I think. Today, as he sits in well-deserved retirement, rehashing his life, a life well lived, it is no wonder that over 50 CEOs have chosen him to be the guest speaker at their upcoming session.

For me, Gen. Nwachukwu is everything I believe a true Nigerian leader should be. We sef try in this country, producing people like him. I sincerely hope that you would allow me to review your book when it comes out sir

ADEMOLA ADELEKE: NO SHAME IN THE DANCE

Immediately after the Supreme Court declared him the substantive winner of the Osun State election that made him governor, His Excellency went straight on TV to declare that now people will be taking him seriously. He opined that because of his love for dancing, he was not given the exact type of respect he should be having. That dancing was his hobby and the fact that he jumps up and shakes his big tummy at the slightest opportunity does not mean that he doesn’t know what he is doing.

Buhari Obi

Adeleke

Babalola

Nwachukwu

Egbon, me I have never doubted your ability in any way, despite your ‘shakabula’ dancing skills. I have always seen you as a happy-go-lucky man, who would dance away his sorrows. For me, this was and remains inspirational. Even when you lost the elections, that didn’t stop you from dancing, you danced your way back to victory. Then the enemies tried at the lower courts and you still danced your way to victory. There is nothing like happiness. Even in the midst of the deepest darkness, dancing will lift your spirits and give you a platform to rise above and regain lost grounds.

Your Excellency, please do not apologise for being who you are. God gave you the dance skills and the tenacity to push and be very successful. You do not owe anyone an apology for that. You remain an inspiration to me and millions as we watch you dance your way to greatness. The only problem I have is that when you are in the spirit, and you twirl, don’t hold your belle, ignore it, move your head to the left and slide to the right and end the move with the split. Just jump in the sky, open your legs and land with the legs spread apart. Small advice, make sure you wear boxers just in case the pants tear so we don’t see gubernatorial something. Kai!

MUHAMMADU BUHARI: THANKS BUT NO

THANKS

Please, did I just see a report that says that our ‘almost gone’ President is seeking the senate’s approval to borrow another $800 million that according to him will serve as palliative for Nigerians as we move to remove the fuel subsidy? He said the money will be sent to the National Social Safety something so that those ones will now come and be disbursing N5,000 to 10 million homes for only six months. The fact that our total borrowings from the World Bank has crossed the $14 billion mark is not deterring him from seeking this latest one which in my head is totally unnecessary.

You say you want to remove the subsidy – which I totally support, and projections show that this might jack up the price of fuel by almost 500% in the short term and it is N5,000 per month for six months that will act as support for that?

This na why at times, we will be looking at this democracy thing with one eye abi how do you explain soldier, farmer and herder on this mantle? Some of these positions just beggar belief. You leave gaping loopholes where monies are being stolen, you leave more sustainable areas of serious revenue generation and you always sha go the shortcut: borrow. It is no wonder them put you for ‘regular’ seat during coronation. Abi where will they put ‘borrow borrow’ president.

For me, the problem na this World Bank people sef. It’s looking like they know something we don’t know, otherwise, why would you still be lending to Nigeria. Nigeria that has not paid back any loan since Obasanjo? Nigeria that is riddled with profligacy, lack of transparency and wastage and yet each time we come, you quickly lend to us?

E be like it’s juju. Whoever did that juju should please come and give me o, let me take it to Harry Ebohon. I have been owing him money for years now and na that kind juju I need to get the Bini man give me debt holiday and borrow me more. Na wa.

PETER OBI: WELL DONE ON SOYINKA

Let me say a massive well done to my presidential candidate. I didn’t vote for you o. But for his recent peace moves, I doff my hat. Prof Wole Soyinka is another god. This Baba suffered for the cause of the Igbo in this country and went to jail for it. This Baba has been our conscience, fighting successful military regimes even at the risk of his own life.

We all remember when he went with Chinua Achebe and other such prominent writers to beg IBB for Vatsa only for those ones to kill Vatsa before Baba even reached the tollgate.

It is that same Baba that these ‘ObIdients’ or whatever they call themselves were

FEMI OTEDOLA AND THE DAWN OF ACTIVIST INVESTOR

“Stakeholders are unfortunately always shortchanged by getting stipends while the owners and managers of the business live a jet set lifestyle, which is detrimental to the stakeholders. Thank you for the opportunity to engage in this exciting chapter of Transcorp’s history.”

My people, it is the last part of this Femi’s statement that killed me. I have been long shouting that the markets and indeed the economy have been seized by oligarchs worse than their Russian counterparts. They run public companies with a strong personality cult without adherence to the rules and with gross disregard of shareholders.

They bend the rules, make billions for themselves and their cronies, while leaving critical stakeholders like employees and other shareholders with the short end of the stick. It is for this sole reason that I am supporting what Mr. Otedola is doing in the markets. From his foray into First Bank, Nigeria’s oldest bank, where one man had held it down for many years - using it as a conduit to feather his wicked nest, to what he has done by listing his power asset Geregu from where he has paid a massive dividend running into

billions and now his push into the ailing Transcorp which saw the share price move by over 400% in weeks, you will begin to understand why I am routing and screaming Otedola’s name in my bedroom.

It appears that Otedola sensing the lethargy that has come over the regulatory environment, has taken it upon himself to cleanse the whole place up. With the kind of liquidity, he is boasting of, he sure can do it. I have heard that he offered to buy Transcorp for N250 billion and move itsº≠≠≠valuation from N40 billion to N2 trillion. Instead, they bought him out at about quadruple of his entry price as reported, so that they can continue to wear Tom Ford Suits and be shouting “Africa is in your hands.”

For me, Otedola should immediately be appointed Chairman of SEC. Yes, in serious climes, notable businessmen with strong ethical considerations run SEC not like this one that we will be carrying primary six people who do not even know the difference between equity and debt or even know the meaning of par value to be overbearing one of the most important markets in Africa. Mr. Otedola, Africa is now in your hands …… Abeg make laugh no kill me this morning.

rubbishing and abusing all over social media because of a position that he took. The position was even in their favour as an elder will not always talk with all of his mouth open, but did the young and very naïve people who cluster Peter Obi’s Federal Republic of social media understand that?

Of course, not. They went into a frenzied attack of an icon, leaving no stone upturned in their pursuit of the venerable Nobel Laureate. I reminded some of them that while their fathers were in the bush running from the onslaught of war, Soyinka was there trying to bring peace and they turned at me and were abusing me. Me I gave them back o, as they abused my father, I abused their father too. Me, I am not an elder statesman o, me sef na agbero, let’s go there.

But Mr. Obi has done noble. He has gone on a peace mission, offering apologies and admonishing his people not to be abusing venerable Nigerians like Pastor Adeboye.

This is why Peter Obi is who or what he is in today’s Nigeria. With these kinds of moves, he will continue to remain the single most relevant Nigerian today. Except there is no tomorrow and except I was not born by a woman that justice will not prevail in this Obi’s case. God is on the throne.

FUNSHO DOHERTY: A BRILLIANT TURN

Please, if you went to evening school, do not even bother to read Mr. Doherty’s letter to the Lagos State government office on public and private something. The brother took the partnership between Oando and Lagos State government on the electronic bus matter to the cleaners.

You see why I didn’t support this bobo during elections. I believed more in him than that other one who had nothing but place of birth and mother of birth to sell.

You see the governorship of Lagos is very critical for the economic survival of the country and it is not something that someone will come and be governor and his mother will be directing affairs or someone like Doherty with all his brain power will come and be learning on the job.

He has to play opposition for the next four years, understand the terrain, critically assess the government, its policy, its thrust in a bid to better engage and then after being in that school for four years come back. Then he will be ready.

For me, I still say that Governor Sanwo-Olu remains the best of the three although he seems to be a bit muted, maybe because of his work as Chief domestic aide of the President-elect. He still stands the best chance of leading Lagos to where it should be for the next four years.

Mr. Doherty well-done for that letter, kindly also look at other areas and make your positions very clear and less of emotions and theatrics and you will begin to get the respect of not only us but even the incumbent and don’t be surprised, even he may secretly be looking at you as possible successor.

Well done.

SOLAPE AKINPELU: VALUE UP!!!

Solape is a serious entrepreneur, promoting the financial health of women through her out of this world Fintech, Hervest. Solape, a very beautiful investment banker who has worked in some of the very super distinguished investment houses like Meristem, set up Hervest to, among others, support female farmers.

Hervest immediately hit its stride by registering over 20,000 subscribers, mostly female. Her impact is felt more powerfully in distress areas where she supports female farmers in providing outlets for their produce among others.

As a continuation of Hervest proven mission of empowering their gender, they are organising the Value Up session which will take place this may at the MUSON. According to Solape, “our goal with this event is to provide a platform for women to gain access to the necessary resources and knowledge to become more financially empowered.”

Well-done my sister, mbok value up. Thanks.

Otedola

When the World Stood Still for Mike Adenuga @ 70

If billionaire mogul, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr. were a business stock to be traded on the floor of a global Stock Exchange, it will definitely cost a fortune to acquire even a single share.

In other words, if he was a book he would have been a mine of knowledge where many would have benefitted from.

Such is the massive value of the Chairman of Globacom, Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator with a huge presence in Ghana and Benin.

Little wonder power brokers, captains of industry, friends and associates got together recently to celebrate the man fondly called ‘The Bull’ as he clocked 70, April 29, 2023. On this day, the whole world literarily stood still for the man who has touched the lives of many in several ways. He received barrage of goodwill, adoration and encomium.

Barely a handful of businessmen can lay claim to the rare distinction of rising to the top of their careers in a lifetime. But Adenuga has a very strong claim to this special class of businessmen by standing heads and shoulders above most of his peers.

It is not for fun that he is described as a visionary leader, an exemplary entrepreneur and an outstanding manager of men and resources. Much as he is admired by all, what is not in doubt is that he never entombs his dream in the face of challenges . Here was a man who, despite the misfortune he suffered with his ICL in the early days of the telecoms industry, remained unshaken.

Adenuga’s entry into the telecoms industry literally provided Nigerians unrestricted access to what was then viewed as a ‘ big man’s’ tool when Glo crashed the price of SIM cards thus making telephone accessible to millions of Nigerians.

Adenuga did what was said to be impossible in 2003 when Glo became the first company to launch operations on Per Second Billing. The action truly revolutionized the telecom industry in Nigeria because it came at a period when older networks said it was impossible. Adenuga became a household name among Nigerians. He became the hero of millions of Nigerians who paid just for actual time spent on the phone.

With the sterling badges of honour already acquired, the legacy of Mike Adenuga Jnr. is almost complete.

Glo has emerged in its almost 19 years of existence as a keen patron and promoter of arts and culture but the oft ignored fact is that the company’s corporate social responsibility interventions have never been tokenistic.

Globacom’s enormous revolutionary investments in the Glo1 cable has today earned the company the endearing sobriquet; Grandmaster of Data.

Truth be told, Adenuga’s success also put truth to the logic that businessmen are prophets of enterprise. They are the illustrious popes of commerce, robed and mitered in the resonance of their exploits. More often than not, they rise through the fog and the fire of enterprise to tower in dominion astride chains of businesses and industry.

With stakes in the Equitorial Trust Bank and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company), many may be tempted to quickly run to the conclusion that the business turf was laid for him by a benevolent god. But the Nigerian magnate started out as a champion of trade, constantly battling the odds to protect the image he has created for himself. Adenuga grew through the years to become the giant and authority in his fields today.

Sad Ending to a Beautiful Beginning for Ekweremadu

Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, remained one of the most experienced lawmakers in Nigeria’s political history, particularly in the Fourth Republic.

The Enugu State-born politician has climbed every rung of the ladder and built himself an intimidating political profile that ultimately made him one of the political gladiators that the country can boast of, and expectedly, to the chagrin of many.

Without a doubt, providence has literally lavished its favour on him, though his enviable status in Nigeria was not thrust on his laps. Rather, he has worked tirelessly to attain his current height.

It is also an incontestable fact that since Ekweremadu joined active politics in 1997, he has not looked back. He has showcased his resilience and self-will; all of which have combined to help him to stay in the political arena for long.

But the political trajectory of the man who once held an exalted and enviable position in Nigeria’s political climate and who many look up to as a role model has suddenly crashed to ground zero while his integrity built over the years was shattered to pieces right before him inside a courtroom in the

United Kingdom. Ekweremadu, alongside his wife, Beatrice, in what seemed a desperate bid of a parent, literally poked the law in the face in the UK when they allegedly took one David Ukpo, a 21-year-old Lagos hawker from Nigeria to have a kidney transplant in June 2022.

But after they were pronounced guilty of the offences preferred against them, the former Deputy Senate President, his wife, and their doctor, Obinna Obeta, were recently in a UK court sentenced under Section 2, Sub-section (1), of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. They were found guilty of attempting to illegally harvest a kidney to give to their ailing daughter.

It would be begging the question to say this has finally nailed the political coffin of the once powerful parliamentarian in the Nigerian red chamber. It can be simply concluded that his political light has gone into total eclipse.

Depending on which side of the divide you belong to, this matter has continued to make the once respected lawmaker a butt of criticism by many in and outside the country.

Between Oba Akiolu and Ambode

ears for so many things like every other political leader in the country.

Life could not have been any better. But the Epe, Lagos State-born technocrat turned politician allegedly stepped on some powerful toes that vowed with everything never to forgive him and they never did.He failed to secure the ticket of his political party, the All Progressives Party (APC), to return for a second term. Babajide Sanwo-Olu was elected in his stead in 2019. But like a wounded lion, Ambode refused to go under without a fight. The fight ultimately turned dirty at a stage with name callings and allegations. His action further infuriated some of his party chieftains who vowed to end his political career, a vow they fulfilled with relish.

bid to govern the state forced him out of the ornate Lagos State Government House, unceremoniously.

Sadly, a few days after he handed over power to Sanwo-Olu, he tasted the cold side of powerlessness. The attention he used to get and commanded unsolicitedly dropped by more than half. Many of those that claimed to love him while he was in power left him. He was left alone in the middle of the mighty ocean to paddle his own canoe.

Right before our eyes, providence transported Akinwunmi Ambode, a seeming political neophyte, from relative obscurity to prominence and he became the governor of Lagos State.

Between May 29, 2015, and May 29, 2019, the Chartered Accountant ruled the state. While he held the position, many sought his listening

Without a doubt, the former governor did not bargain for what life thrusted on his laps. In the aftermath of the circumstances leading to his leaving office, the number of his friends and hangers-on has dramatically dropped, while he is hardly seen in political circles in the state.

This was no more but a killjoy of sorts for him. His failure to secure his second term

However, like the popular Yoruba proverb - “No matter how bad a man falls into hard times, not all old friends will desert him.” If there is one man that still cherishes and loves the former governor, it is none other but the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu.

Rewind the tape to the build-up to the 2015 general elections. For his unquantified love for Ambode, the Oba of Lagos, allegedly threatened to drown in the Lagos lagoon anyone who opposed the emergence of Ambode, the then candidate of the APC.

Ooni Proud of Polygamous Lifestyle

Unarguably, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, since he ascended the throne of his ancestors has continued to be in the news for different reasons, both negative and positive. And at different times, he has set tongues wagging over his actions and inactions, particularly about his marriages.

But the highly revered monarch seems not to give a hoot about this. The dark-skinned monarch last year literally set the internet on fire when he went on a marriage spree which ended with him taking six beautiful brides with enviable status each in quick succession within one month.

When in September 2022 he married three beautiful damsels, starting with Ebira-born Mariam Anako, not many foresaw that he would bring home several others until he married Dr. Elizabeth Akinmuda and Tobi Phillips all in one month. Can you beat that?

While the news was still making the rounds, the king, again, increased the list in October of that

year with yet another Olori, Ronke Ademiluyi, with whom he had been linked from his younger years in London. The same month, he brought to the palace Princess Temitope Adesegun, a niece to the former Works Commissioner and Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Prince Segun Adesegun.

Expectedly, the king and his queens became a major topic of discussion across the country, especially on the internet. In fact, it was one of the most trending discussions among the poor and the rich, going side by side with the political discussion in the country.

He was called several names. Some even insinuated that he was trying to toe the steps of the Biblical King Solomon. Did the handsome and well-revered monarch lose any sleep over this? Not at all! A source hinted that the Ooni was not bothered over such an issue; he simply regarded it as mere frivolity. Rather he is actually proud of his long list of women. Oba Ogunwusi

Zainab Marwa to Host Nigeria’s Heavyweights at Book Launch

Billionaire businessmen, Aliko Dangote and Mr. Femi Otedola top the list of private sector leaders who are expected to join state governors, ministers and other eminent personalities at the public presentation of a book ‘101 Nigerian Women of Impact,’ authored by a member of the Presidential Transition Committee, Zainab Marwa, who is the daughter of former Lagos Military Administrator and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd).

The book presentation scheduled for Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, will be chaired by Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum while the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar will attend as royal fathers of the day.

According to the author, the book “documents the achievements of Nigerian women who have excelled in their diversified

career paths so as to serve as an inspiration to more women to keep the pursuit of their aspirations alive.”

The global unveiling of the book was earlier hosted by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York, USA on March 8, 2023, in commemoration of International Women’s Day. Special guests who spoke at the US event included Ambassador George Edokpa, Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN; Bisi Fayemi, former Chairperson of Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum; and Ambassador Lot Egopija, Consul General of Nigeria in New York.

Also expected at the event are wives of state governors, top female politicians and members of the diplomatic corps and heads of foreign missions in Nigeria including United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Matthias Schmale and UNODC Country Representative, Mr. Oliver Stolpe.

L-R: Ambode and Oba Akiolu.

Adenuga

Ekweremadu

ARTS & REVIEW ARTS & REVIEW

The Legacy and the Man

Two recent publications commemorating Dr. Bukar Usman’s literary milestones attest to his sheer devotion and unwavering commitment to polishing his writing talents, which garnered him accolades and name recognition in literary circles.

Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

On turning 70 exactly a decade ago, Dr. Bukar Usman told an interviewer that he didn’t celebrate birthdays. That, he explained, was because he “came from a background where birthdays are never celebrated.” Despite this, the retired public servant still published two large books to commemorate his 80th birthday: the 1126-page My Literary Works (Reviews and Reports) and the 928-page Conversation with Bukar Usman.

These books, for which many researchers—even generations yet unborn—may still thank him, are invaluable collections of his reviews and interventions, as well as those that have so far been written on his works, his person, and conversations with him. Indeed, it will be hard, even after a casual perusal of these compendiums, one of which was published by Klamidas Communications Ltd. and the other by Kano-based Whetstone Publishers, for a reader not to discern the name recognition of Dr. Usman, the warm literati, and the good will he enjoys among them. Does this not somewhat explain why is divided into four parts, features a collation of 93 reviews of his writings by over 23 reviewers as well as his own reviews of the works of others? This is in addition to a section in the book featuring a compilation of an outpouring of reader feedback.

Also, his many awards and recognitions, which include the Council of the Pan African Writers’ Association’s Noble Patron of the Arts Award and the Linguistic Association of Nigeria’s meritorious award, among others, as well as his leadership of the Nigerian Folklore Society as its president, further burnished his credentials in the literary community.

Since the kick-starting of his literary career in 1992 with the writing of his autobiography, Hatching Hopes, which he eventually completed in 2006, his predilection for writing has become more and more evident.

In a moving tribute published from pages 616 to 619 of My Literary Works, albeit originally published in key national daily newspapers, Khalid Imam aptly describes Dr. Usman as “a silent achiever and generous

for many academic scholars, researchers, undergraduate students, critics, and young writers writing or conducting research in the indigenous languages, especially in the

Of course, Dr. Usman’s route to literary prominence was paved not just by his generosity, but also by his remarkable persistence in turning out book after book. Despite his publication of over 20 books, he once modestly published in The Nigerian Pilot in 2013 and reproduced on pages 99 to 102 of one of the two recently released books, Conversations with Bukar Usman, commenting that “at seventy, some people regard me as a writer, but I do not feel I am there yet.”

That he is a man who refuses to be dressed

in the proverbial borrowed robes is evident in his subsequent awakening to the merits of creative writing soon after the compilation of his previous writings into the book Voices in a Choir: Issues in Democratisation and National Security in Nigeria, which was published in 1999, seven years before his autobiography. “My communicative voice changed after Voices…,” he discloses in the early pages of his book, My Literary Journey, adding that “this change is evident in my newspaper articles published after 1999.

writing. They were simple, more personal, and approached issues from a human-interest angle.”

According to him, while his speeches back then addressed his audience, his autobiography and subsequent writings (especially in the newspapers) talked to them. “And the responses I got since the shift to plain talk show that generally the audience prefers to be talked to rather than …addressed.”

Looking up to the likes of the Kenyanborn Ngugi wa Thiong’O (whose novel The

River Between he deems “lucid, yet very forceful”) among a few others, he continued to recalibrate his writing skills. It might not be inaccurate to assert that his time spent penning short stories, which took centre stage along the way, provided his readers with a taste of his creative writing ability. His short story collections were of which, a collection of 10 stories published in 2005, was titled The Bride Without Scars and Other Stories. As for the two subsequent collections, containing eight stories each, they are titled The Stick of Fortune and Girls in Search of Husbands. Even when these stories were taken from local traditions, Dr. Usman added more details to the plots, characterisations and dialogues.

As for his publication in Hausa, which technically is not his mother tongue since he hails from the Borno State town of Biu, it came in two six books (Marainya da WasuLabarai,

JaruminSarki, Yarima da Labbi, Tsurondi, Sandar Arziki, and Dankuntungayya), was released in 2005. The second batch, which contained eight books (Gwaidayara, Dan Agwai da Kura, Tsohuwa da ‘Yan Mata Uku, Dankucaka, Al’ajabi, ‘Yargata, Duguli Dan Bajinta, and Muguwar Kishiya), was released in 2009.

Beyond the publications in Hausa, on account of which he bagged an award by the Ranar Mawakan Hausa Foundation for his uplifting Hausa literature and promoting Hausa music in Nigeria and Africa, he also serves on the board of trustees of the Cibiyar Raya Harshen Hausa da Al’ adunsa (Centre for the Preservation and Promotion of Hausa Language and Culture).

There is no doubt about the fact that Dr. Usman’s retirement from the federal civil service (where he rose to the post of a permanent secretary in the presidency) in 1999—30 years after his graduation from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with a degree in public administration and international his energies to creative writing.

Usman

An Expression of Mind-body Dualism

Segun Ade-Martins

In Abuja, aesthetic art rules the day. This art is created with the intention of providing beauty to its environment. What then happens when an artist exhibits art that carries more ideas than are readily apparent?

On March 30, Matrix Gallery of Contemporary Art opened its doors to an exhibition titled Remember This Feeling by Susa Rodriguez-Garrido. ASpanishknown mostly as a curator and publisher for exhibitions with the collective Elbow Room, among others.

Garrido presented the Abuja art community with her personal work, an installation that opened in a large hall divided into two clear spaces with panel walls. In the main space as you enter, photographs were widely spaced on the facing and ad-

hung in an array in between four of the sculptures, with atmospheric music playing and a video projecting on the back wall of the gallery, all echoing angles in a similar arrangement.

Rodriguez-Garrido’s intent was to express an intellectual concept as well as invoke her spiritual understanding. Essentially, the artist intended around art in the Abuja Art Community as well as share her ideas of life.

Although many art viewers were supportive and genuinely fascinated by the installation, one viewer shared the same fascination but felt the items were misplaced in the layout.

EXHIBITION

The viewer felt that the sculptures should have had a more prominent place in the exhibition than the photographs.

Another viewer complained that the anthropomorphic proportions of the sculptures were not accurate enough, while another expressed bewilderment with the entire installation and resigned themselves to the wine.

There were positive views as well; many people repeatarrangement hanging in the middle of the “sculpture circle.”

One person said that they felt like they were interrupting a sacred gathering; they said “it was like walking into someone’s subconscious.”

Looking at the general feedback, one can surmise that this exhibition has little importance. However, with an impressive turnout that overwhelmed Rodriguez-Garrido, we can say that it has the minimum requirement for tremendous impact. Additionally, the viewers lingered to observe the

sculptures and discuss them passionately for several hours, showing that they enjoyed the atmosphere in the gallery.

Rodriguez-Garrido will bestallation could attract mixed reactions, as the concept of Plato’s dualism is a challenging topic for most. She has been fascinated with Plato’s ideas of dualism through her formasketchbooks of research for this exhibition, which consumed her thoughts for over six years. In her personal journey, she intends to have more exhibitions that delve deeper into the parts of Plato’s philosophy that resonate with her. She reckonstions in this series. However, they could happen in either the United Kingdom, Spain, or India.

So, what is the true intent of the artist with this body of work? Rodriguez-Garrido says, “I want to inspire curiosity in people.” She believes that humans are “more spiritual and less material” and that to transcendent discovery.

EXHIBITION

the installation deliver on the intent of Rodriguez-Garrido?

From the sampled reactions of the viewers, the answer would be no. However, this is the hallmark of evocative work;

does not reveal itself. Funnily enough, this is the artist’s tenet: to meditate and delve into herself, eschewing the “exterior” and the “noise” in the world. This multimedia installationmensions. One is that it presents an intellectual and conceptual approach to art practise that is not the norm in the Abuja art scene. Two, de-emphasizing commercial viability as it relates to aesthetic appeal. This realm of art practise may be uncomfortable for Abuja artists and art enthusiasts. It requires the average viewer to alter their approach to seeing art. However, there can be rewards to experiencing this type of art by looking inward All in all, Rodriguez-Garrido might have achieved her goal with this exhibition despite the hectic setup and planning, despite confusion from some audience members, despite no sales, and despite eschewing materialism. The viewers would have left with their various emotions, either adoration for the intrepid nature of the artist, baring her psyche, or frustration with the presentation of the work. These lingering feelings tend to evoke inward, even though they may not understand what they feel yet. That is the transformative importance of an installation exhibition like Remember this Feeling. Only time will reveal the true impact of this potential

Town Meets Gown at NGA-UNIBEN Exhibition

Oji Onoko

t’s an autobiographical work that refers to her as Acada (an over studious person). That was her nick name when she was growing up. She used to read a lot.” Prof. Peju Layiwola, daughter of Princess Elizabeth Olowu who represented the exhibiting artist at the event was, of course, referring to the iconic sculptural piece of same title, Acada (Cement) on display.An accomplished sculptor and scholar herself (a case of like mother like daughter?), it was an emotionallyintensemomentasshe gazed at the work. “That work, I actually posed for her at the age of 10.” Explaining the context, she continued: “I used to come with her to pose for her when she does her sculptures and so, that work represent her as much as it represents me. So, it is one work that depicts everybody.”

In contrast, Ellis Erimona’s Agbada series is a commentary on a contemporary issue: power even though, nuanced. In the series, the artist focuses on the second republic where the Agbada represented power in all grandeur. It is a satire on power brokers imitating the dress code of then President Shehu Shagari

Indeed, these intricately executed works among many others showcased, are testament to the abounding skills, sophistication, originalityandmasteryofformand material by the exhibiting artists in the exhibition put together by National Gallery of Art (NGA) in collaboration with the Department of Fine and Applied Arts, Univer-

“Iwhich opened on May 2, and runs till May 16, 2023. Titled, “The Exhibition of the Sculptures of Princess Elizabeth Olowu and Chief Ellis Temille Erimona” the exhibition featuredabout40sculpturalpieces mainly copies except a few of the miniature sculptures by Erimona. On what informed the choice of the artists for the exhibition, the Curator and Director, Curatorial Services department, NGA, Dr. Simon Ikpakronyi said: “Princess Elizabeth Olowu and Chief Ellis Temile Erimona are renowned sculptors. They were selected by virtue of their contributions visual arts within the country and internationally.

Interestingly, the artists blazed art works not only celebrate the have streaks that endear them to other cultures within and outside the country. They are indeed true ambas-

Unsurprisingly, Efemena Ononeme, professor of Sculpture and Art History, at the Department of Fine andAppliedArts, University exhibiting artists: “I will say the works are very impressive, very good and they are stimulus to the students who are here now learning the steps of becoming sculptors in their own right as well. These sculptors that are being exhibited, stand the test of time.

THISDAY,isDeputyDirector InformationsServicesDepartment,NationalGalleryofArt.

Ceramic-centred

Show, Beyond Limit Returns with Second Edition

Yinka Olatunbosun

eyond Limit, a group exhibition showcasing a wide array of ceramic works -

cently at the Quintessence Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos. The show, curated by Mathew Oyedele, features works across diverse themes and subjects by Adéòtí Azeez Afeez, Àkànní Kehinde, Asuni Wasiu, Ato Arinze, Chris Ekuafeh, Djakou Kassi Nathalie, Idemudia Mercy Itohan, Olubunmi Atere and Samuel Abidemi. The second of its kind, stereotypical content of art shows in Lagos, presenting ceramic works as authentic art forms and not just articles of ornamental expressions. Initiated in 2022, the show beams light on ceramic works which are largely underrepresented. At the show, Adéòtí Azeez Afeez presents a vase with mother. Whilst exploring clay to connect subject and

One of the works at the exhibition

EXHIBITION

medium, he sought to posi- tion women and earth as sources of life. Movement, nostalgia and memories are central to Olúbùnmi Atéré's work. Using patterns

commentaries on societal values and memories as collective consciousness.

Àkànní Kehinde's pieces are inundated with motifs and patterns from Yorùbá culture. His work seeks to elicit social consciousness with Yorùbá values, ethics and morals.

On his part, Samuel Abidemi's focus is on the human capacity to create wealth, independence and adventures. In Chris Ekuafeh's works, survival and comfort are subject matters. His use of engraved abstract faces on his pieces heightens his human centered narratives. Asuni Wasiu's delicate engraving and scribbles are combined with bronze in his commentary on competition, rescue mission and wealth.

Idemudia Mercy Itohan combines process with subject as she emphasizes on the conscious patience needed to create ceramic pieces in her work. Her Edo background also provides a useful framework to her subjects. With closed

eyes and a colourful glaze, Djakou Kassi Nathalie's piece invites the viewer into an introspective mode while Ato Arinze's Untitled (2022) piece shows his exploration of glazes as against his signaturenique.

According to Tobenna Okwuosa, an Associate Professor, Niger Delta University, Ato Arinze’s piece is “a glazed ceramic work that expresses brutality and abuse through its carelessly shades of brown, blue and green. The lacerations and bullet holes on the body of the ware reinforce the concepts of brutality and abuse."

show which runs till May 20, the curator says: “From the established artists to the emerging artists, these pieces have been carefully selected to present ceramics as a genre that is not only without limits but theories that strengthen their value.”

Yvonne Ebbi, author

Etiquettehasrevealed plans to distribute about one million of her books to both public primary and secondary schools in Lagos State starting from May.

Aside from donating books to the schools, she would engage the students through a series of seminars where they would be taught good manners. The focus of this book tour and donation is to build the culture of courtesy, the culture of civility in schools, churches and mosques.

“We will have seminars with the children on manners, we will make it very child-friendly,’’ she began.

“Some of them don’t have any idea ofwhatmannersentails,butwewill bring them to the known so that we can have a civil society. Some of the youths misbehaving today are from homes, if the homes had insisted on manners and cultures wewouldn'tbewherewearetoday.

“I am not saying we should throw away our Africanism. I am saying we have what is called decency. We don’t want to just let the young people just do what they want to do, we want to be able to guide them with principles, rules, and policies. We will go to other states eventually but we will start from

Lagos state.”

Colourful and children-friendly, the 47-page book harped on good manners and etiquettes that fosters the trueAfrican cultures and values which the author said are fast erodingespeciallyamongyoungpeople.

Ebbi who also runs an advocacy group on social civility, ‘IFitness’ explained that the planned project on Social Etiquettes in Lagos Schools was to instill a culture of civility and decorum in both the teachers and students.

Shemaintainedthatyoungpeople have failed to imbibe the rich African culture of respect, civility and other moral standards hence the need to reinforce the value system back in the society.

“With IFiness project, the whole idea is to rebuild the value system. Looking at the way our girls carry about in prostitution, I realised I have a lot to do in teaching our youths the value of contentment. Wewanttorevivethevaluesystem.

“We want to donate the books as our own corporate social responsibility. We will train the teachers so that they will be able to reinforce the value system. We want practical ways to help our children to be better behaved in hygiene, culture in social etiquettes, associations. We want them to know that moral values are part of life,” Ebbi stated.

Viewers at the exhibition

Yinka Olatunbosun BOOKS

Ekweremadu’s Trial: A Lesson for Nigerian Judiciary

judiciary, which operates an administration of criminal justice system skewed towards protecting the high and mighty, and punishing the poor, Alex Enumah writes

The swift conviction of the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; his wife, Beatrice and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, by a United Kingdom court, less than one year after they were arrested in London for attempting to harvest a human organ has exposed the mischief of the Nigerian judiciary in the administration of criminal justice system.

On June 2022 Ekweremadu and his wife, alongside the doctor were arrested by the UK Metropolitan Police for attempting to convince doctors at the Royal Free Hospital to perform an £80,000 transplant on a 21-year-old street trader, David Nwamini, who was presented as the cousin of Ekweremadu’s daughter, Sonia. Despite their social status, Ekweremadu and his wife were promptly remanded in custody after they were arraigned and denied bail by Uxbridge Magistrate Court, which adjourned the matter till July 7, 2022, for hearing.

Barely eleven months later, the court sentenced the former Deputy Senate President to a total of nine years and eight months imprisonment, while his wife, Beatrice, was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment. The third accomplice, a medical doctor, Obeta, was jailed for 10 years.

Their earlier conviction in March 2023 was the first verdict of its kind under the Modern Slavery Act in the UK.

The court heard that the young man was said to have been offered an illegal reward of £7,000 to become a donor for Sonia after a kidney disease forced her to drop out of a Master’s degree in Film at Newcastle University.

Ekweremadu had denied offering money to the prospective kidney donor to save his sick daughter. His wife also denied involvement in the search for an organ donor for their ailing daughter.

The sentencing came after pleas from multiple prominent personalities and institutions, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The transparency, smoothness and speed with which the UK authorities conducted the trial showed the effectiveness of their administration of the criminal justice system. In convicting Ekweremadu, Justice Johnson did not consider how high his status was in Nigeria.

Not even the intervention of eminent persons

and groups could save him.

To many Nigerians, there are a lot of lessons to be learnt in the conviction of the embattled deputy senate president, his wife and Obeta. In their views, the same offence for which they were convicted in the UK is a regular occurrence in Nigeria.

They said that if the same offence was committed in Nigeria, not only would the trial drag at snail speed for 10 years or more until Nigerians forget about it, there is a possibility that nothing would have happened to them.

In Nigeria, when suspects, especially the rich and mighty are arrested and arraigned, not only will the case drag on for years until it is forgotten in courts, but it would be struck out for lack of diligent prosecution which is deliberately caused by compromised prosecutors.

What it takes for the rich and powerful to evade justice in Nigeria is to hire good senior lawyers who know how to use ‘smart’ arguments and objections to deliberately waste the time of the courts and frustrate the judges.

Some of these senior lawyers are also notorious for bribing corrupt judges to circumvent justice.

Though there is no dearth of laws in the country,

what many believe are also lacking are diligent prosecution and the political will to move against the powerful and influential people who contravene the law.

While in most developed countries, the high and mighty are prosecuted and appropriately convicted and sentenced to prison, the same cannot be said of Nigeria where the rich and famous frequently compromise the law enforcement officers and the judiciary to evade arrest, prosecution and conviction.

Though Ekweremadu and his wife were denied bail in the UK, influential people like them who commit more heinous crimes in Nigeria, including murder, manslaughter and those who stole public funds, or commit other financial crimes are granted bail and allowed to walk the streets freely when they are supposed to be behind bars.

Many Nigerians are aware that it was in order to enhance the justice sector delivery system to impact the quality of justice and avoid delays in the adjudicatory process in the country that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act was signed into law in 2015.

But eight years after, there has not been any

POLITICAL NOTES

improvement in the country’s criminal justice system, especially when the rich is involved.

While the poor languish in prison without trial for minor offences, the rich who commit grievous crimes were either given a slap on the wrist or granted bail to enjoy their freedom.

It is only Nigeria that the court will put the rich behind bars, and a superior court will grant him bail or acquit him totally.

This is why many feel that if Ekweremadu’s case had taken place in the country, the case would have remained in court indefinitely, without any conviction of the accused persons.

This calls to question the faulty administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria by dubious law enforcement officers, corrupt senior lawyers and compromised judges.

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana had since identified this flaw, when he raised the alarm that Nigeria operates a double criminal justice system - one for the rich and one for the poor.

In a paper titled: ‘The Danger of Unequal Criminal Justice System in Nigeria,’ which he presented recently at the Law Week of the Epe Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos, Falana argued that apart from two former governors namely, Messrs Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, the list of persons convicted for corruption was made of lowly placed individuals in the society, adding that owing to abuse of court process, rich defendants have continued to frustrate their prosecution with the connivance of some senior lawyers.

According to Falana, “By virtue of section 17 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), every citizen shall have equality of rights, obligations and opportunities before the law.

“But in practice, the rich and poor defendants are not treated equally by Nigerian courts. Apart from the fact that rich litigants have the means to hire the services of the best lawyers in any area of the law, the courts are manned by judges who are not neutral in the class struggle being waged daily by the Nigerian people.”

The world will continue to mock the Nigerian judiciary and their compromised judgments until judges start delivering, fair, just and transparent judgments speedily and treat all Nigerians equally, irrespective of class.

Tinubu and His Baggage of Failed Governors

UnlikePresidentMuhammaduBuhariwhoappointedthe bestamongtheformerGovernorsoftheAllProgressives Congress (APC) as members of his cabinet in 2015, the incomingPresident,BolaTinubumaybetemptedtoflood hiscabinetwithfailedgovernorswhoseonlyachievements were their contributions to his victory.

AmongthosewhomadePresidentBuhari’slistofministersin2015weretheformerGovernorofLagosState, Mr.BabatundeFashola,andhiscounterpartinEkitiState, Dr.KayodeFayemi.Theywereamongthebest-performing governors in the country during their eight-year tenure.

While Fayemi was appointed to head the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development, Fashola was the Minister of Power,Works and Housing.

However,itisdoubtfulifAPCstillhasthelikesofFashola and Fayemi among the governors who would complete their eight-year tenure on May 29.

The likes of Fashola and Fayemi such as Governor BabaganaZulumofBornoStateandfewothersstillhave one term of four years to complete their tenure.

Most of the outgoing governors of the APC who are Tinubu’s hangers-on are those who were alleged to have plundered their states’ resources without any visible infrastructuretoshowforeightyearsorthosewhoturned their states to killing fields.

While some of these outgoing governors allegedly elevatedcorruptiontoanartintheirstates,othersallowed bandits to ravage their states.

Some of these governors who deliberately played religious and ethnic politics in their states, turned a blind eye when indigenous communities in their states were being wiped out by invaders who were believed to have an expansionist agenda. Governors under this category alsopromoteddivisivepoliciesthatencouragedreligious

intolerance and ethnic supremacy in their states.

Unfortunately,thesefailedgovernorsarestrategically positioningthemselvestofillthevacanciesinthefederal cabinet when President Buhari hands over toTinubu. While Buhari could boast of Fashola and Fayemi who provided good governance and basic infrastructures during their eight-year tenures,Tinubu can only boast of former governors whose only achievements were their contributions to his victory.

Some of these failed governors will not only enmesh Tinubu’s administration in corruption but also serve as divisive factors with their actions and utterances in a country he is seeking to unite.

To avoid flooding his cabinet with failed politicians who will end up as a liability to his administration,Tinubu shouldworkoutarewardsystemforfailedgovernorswho contributed hugely to his success.

Tinubu

Ekweremadu

The transparency and speed with which the United Kingdom court tried and convicted the former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, alongside his wife, Beatrice, and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta, is a lesson for the Nigerian

BRIEFING NOTES

Can Akpabio Weather the Storm?

The recent unveiling of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the potential Senate President by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State may have rocked the boat for the immediate past Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs. Ejiofor Alike reports that with the selection of Akpabio apparently by external forces outside the Senate, he is facing stiff opposition, which may expose him to the proverbial Banana peels

Many incoming members of the 10th Senate were shocked recently when the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, publicly announced during a meeting in Calabar with the Cross River State Governor, Prof Ben Ayade, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, that the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio would be the next President of the Senate.

Giving an indication that Akpabio’s emergence was a fait accompli, Ganduje, who is not a member of the federal parliament, declared with an air of finality that nothing would change the plan.

Ganduje said: “The Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will come from the South-south and it is no other person than the former governor of Akwa Ibom State.

“The uncommon governor, the uncommon minister, who is going to be the uncommon President of the Senate. So, we have resolved that. I am giving you assurances; we are waiting for the D-Day that he will be the Senate President of Nigeria.”

The APC governors under the umbrella of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) had earlier recommended that the Senate President should be zoned to either South-east or South-south regions.

The announcement by Ganduje, who is neither an outgoing senator nor a senator-elect, confirmed the impression that Akpabio was the choice of external forces outside the 109-member Senate.

The outgoing governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, who was an aspirant for the Senate presidential position had apparently let the cat out of the bag when he unwittingly revealed the level of involvement of forces outside the Senate in the selection of Akpabio.

Umahi had publicly declared that he dropped his ambition because the President-elect, Bola Tinubu invited him and pleaded with him to pull out from the race for the immediate past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs to emerge.

The governor made the disclosure while addressing journalists shortly after he had a meeting with Akpabio.

“My brother came on consultation with me. By yesterday, I saw the president-elect on his invitation and he told me that he is already committed and he said ‘please don’t run’ and I accepted and I stepped down for my brother, Senator Akpabio,” Umahi reportedly said.

The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume (APC, Borno), who was present, had also unwittingly confirmed that Akpabio was not necessarily the choice of the federal lawmakers but the preferred choice of the “president”.

“As you can see, I am leading the campaign for Akpabio because he is the president’s preferred candidate and we have to push for the country and the party above any other interest,” Ndume said.

Many analysts have argued that there is nothing wrong in Tinubu or the governors showing interest on who becomes the head of the National Assembly.

The refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to show interest on who emerged as the presiding officers of the eighthth National Assembly was believed to have led to the frosty relationship between his administration and the federal lawmakers.

However, many Senators-elect have argued that the way and manner Tinubu and the governors went about selecting Akpabio as if they were nominating a member of Tinubu’s cabinet undermines the independence of the legislature as an arm of the government and also makes mockery of separation of powers.

Many of the serving and the incoming senators have vowed to stop Akpabio.

In an apparent move to scuttle Akpabio’s bid, the outgoing Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, had ordered a probe into how a whopping N1.4 trillion was allegedly spent by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) without ap-

propriation, on Akpabio’s watch as the supervising minister.

Lawan had allegedly protested against his emergence, citing his alleged dishonourable treatment of the federal lawmakers probing the NDDC when he was Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs.

But the most formidable opposition to APC’s zoning came from the North-central senators-elect who had written an open letter to the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, rejecting the zoning arrangements because it excluded their region.

The elected federal lawmakers said only the North-central geopolitical zone did not produce any presiding officer.

The letter by the lawmakers-elect was signed by 18 senators-elect, including, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (Niger East), Senator Ashiru Oyelola Yisa (Kwara South), Senator Sadiq Umar Suleiman (Kwara North), Senator-elect Mustapha

NOTES FOR FILE

Saliu (Kwara Central) and Senator Isah Jibrin (Kogi East).

Others were Senator Abba Moro (Benue South); Senator Godiya Akwashiki (Nassarawa North), Senator-elect Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (Nassarawa West), Senator-elect Ireti Kingibe (FCT), Senator-elect Sunday Karimi Steve (Kogi West), Senator-elect Ohere Sadiku Abubakar (Kogi Central) and Senator-elect Peter Ndalikali Jiya (Niger South).

The rest include: Senator-elect Napoleon Binkap Bali (Plateau South), Senator-elect Mwadkion Simon Davou (Plateau North), Senator-elect Diket Plang (Plateau Central),Senator-elect Mohammed O. Onawo (Nassarawa South), Senator-elect Emmanuel M. Udende (Benue East) and Senator-elect Titus Tartenger Zam (Benue West).

Even the Chairman of the South-west Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu had condemned the zoning arrangement, describing it as skewed.

Akeredolu, in a press statement he personally signed last Wednesday, said the purported arrangement stood logic on its head as one geo-political zone, North-west, would be favoured with two presiding officers out of four while the North-central, despite its loyalty to the party, won’t have any.

Also, after a meeting held at the Maitama residence of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (Young Progressibes Party, Anambra South), the senators-elect from the South-east across party lines had in a communique vehemently kicked against the zoning by the APC.

Aside from Senator Ubah who read the communique, others present at the meeting were Senators Orji Kalu, (APC, Abia North); Enyinnaya Abaribe, (APGA, Abia South); Victor Umeh (Labour Party, Anambra Central) and Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West).

Others are: Senators Ezenwa Oyewuchi (LP, Imo East); Tony Nwoye, (LP, Anambra North) Patrick Ndubueze, (APC, Imo North); Okey Ezea, ( LP, Enugu North); Kelvin Chukwu (LP, Enugu East); and Osita Ngwu ( PDP, Enugu East).

Also, the Senator-elect for Zamfara West, and Senate presidential aspirant, Abdul’Aziz Abubakar Yari, had also rejected the adoption of Akpabio, insisting that the contest would be based on constitutional provisions and not instructions by anyone.

The Senator representing Borno South, Ndume, who apparently saw the danger ahead, had attempted to clarify that the former governor was not the “anointed” candidate but a preferred candidate.

Speaking on ARISE News Channel, Ndume had argued that describing Akpabio as the anointed candidate would connote a “fait accompli,” which he said does not represent the situation.

At no time since 1999 did the members of the Senate publicly denounce the choice of their presiding officers as they rejected the choice of Akpabio.

With pressure being mounted against him, many are wondering if he can weather the storm without stepping on the proverbial banana peels.

For Umahi and Kalu, South-east is Still Building Bridges

OutgoingGovernorofEbonyiState,Mr.DaveUmahi and former Abia State governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu might have forgotten that the South-east is still building bridges as they claimed when they indicated interest for the Senate Presidency.

The duo had thrown their hats in the ring for the Senate Presidency without waiting for the zone to build strong bridges that would enable it to occupy top political positions, including the President of Nigeria.

Unfortunately for them, the All Progressives Congress (APC) shunned them and endorsed Senator Godswill Akpabio from the South-south for the Senate president’s seat.

WhileUmahihadpulledoutfromtheraceunceremoniously, Kalu is still ganging up South-east senators and whipping South-east sentiments, the same zone

he had insisted that the time was not ripe for it to occupy the topmost political position in the country.

Expectedly, many Nigerians, particularly the members of the OBIdients movement have set the social media on fire, mocking them and reminding them in their own words that the zone didn’t need that position because “we are still building bridges across Niger, Benue and even across deserts and forests before it will be our turn.”

Umahi and Kalu, had vehemently stood against the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and all his supporters from the South-east.They argued that the zone should support the candidate of their party, APC, and also build political bridges before aspiring for the position of President.

In his reaction to Kalu and Umahi’s Senate presiden-

tial bids, the Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Sam Amadi had mockingly stated that the South-east was satisfied with the list of endorsed principal officers of the National Assembly by the APC.

Amadi claimed that people of the South-east were happy, saying, “We don’t want a distraction. We are building bridges.”

“People in South-east seem to like the APC list of endorsed principal officers of NASS. They are saying ‘we don’t want distraction. We are building bridges,” Amadi wrote on his twitter handle. The lesson for Umahi and Kalu is that while they can receive a thunderous ovation for selling their people for a pot of porridge, they should not expect respect from the buyers.

Kalu and Umahi

Akpabio

Rumpus over APC’s Zoning Arrangement

After weeks of horse-trading, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Monday released the zoning arrangement for the 10th National Assembly.

The leadership of the party reached the resolution following the meeting of the NWC held at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja.

However, in a carefully worded statement read to the media, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, said the NWC noted with respect the outcome of the meetings held between the President-elect, Senator Bola Tinubu and the leadership of the NWC and called for further consultations with stakeholders to ensure the support of the aspirants to the National Assembly leadership positions and members of the party nationwide.

He said: “The zoning arrangement reported to the NWC is as follows: Senate President –Senator Godswill Akpabio (South-south, Akwa Ibom); Deputy Senate President - (Senator Barau Jubrin (North-west, Kano); Speaker, House of Representatives - Hon. Abbas Tajudeen (North-west, Kaduna); and Deputy Speaker- Hon. Ben Kalu (South-east, Abia).”

A cursory look at the statement issued by the leadership of the party indicated that the leadership of the party was not on the same page with the president-elect on the zoning.

For instance, the North-central, which contributed immensely to the emergence of Tinubu was conspicuously missing in the zoning arrangement released by the party.

Many analysts had argued that the zone should have been given either the Deputy Senate President or the Speaker, which were both zoned to the North-west, which also produced outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari.

It was against this background that a group of protesters under the umbrella of APC North-central stakeholders stormed the national secretariat of the party, where they accused the ruling party of marginalising the North-central in the zoning of National Assembly leadership positions.

The leader of the group, Salihu Ibrahim, said the North-central has contributed largely to the success of the party and wondered why the region was left out in the scheme of things.

His words: “The party has not taken the North-Central into consideration and it is outrageous. We, the North-central, have contributed largely to the development of APC and up till date we are still on it.

“Why is it that the National Assembly Speaker is something that elected president of the Asiwaju under the watch of Abdullahi Adamu, who is even from the North-central will not wholeheartedly say the North Central should take. The party should zone it to us.”

Expectedly, the zoning arrangement is already creating disaffection within the party as contestants have continued with their campaigns despite the zoning arrangement released by the party.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Idris Wase and the Majority Leader, Hon. Alhasan Doguwa had rejected the consensus arrangement announced by the party.

Wase and Doguwa, while addressing a press conference in Abuja, said they would not allow the 10th National Assembly to be “hijacked”, and therefore vowed to

proceed with their separate bids for the speakership position.

Wase kicked against the party’s nomination, saying they were not consulted before the decision was taken.

He insisted that the parliament must be independent and free from an imposition of any kind.

He said: “We will work as a team. We will not allow this parliament to be hijacked. We will not allow this parliament to be made a lame duck. I believe we are loyal to our country first, loyal to our party and loyal to our people. When you have a consensus candidate, the language for consensus is that there have been mass consultations — people go to the table for discussion. There is agreement.

“In this case, we just saw and are hearing rumours, and speculations that some people have been made consensus candidates. I don’t know whether that is the meaning of consensus. This place (parliament) is very sacred. We must be honourable in our action in defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

On his part, Doguwa said the “business” of electing principal officers is solely that of the lawmakers. He said Parliament is one institution that must always be allowed to choose its leaders.

Similarly, in defiance of the APC’s zoning arrangement, Hon. Aliyu Betara had declared his intention to occupy the exalted seat in the lower legislative chamber.

Betara, who is under pressure to drop his bid for the Speakership, insisted that he remains the most experienced and prepared to lead the House. The lawmaker declared his bid for the seat shortly after APC unveiled its preferred aspirants.

As if these were not enough, last Wednesday, the aspirants kicking against the adoption of Abass and Kalu as favoured candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House, stormed the APC national secretariat to register their dissatisfaction.

The aggrieved aspirants tagged the G-6 were led by incumbent Deputy Speaker, House, Wase.

With him were Betara, Jaji, Gadyi, Sada Soli and Mariam Onuoha. The Leader of the House, Doguwa was absent.

When all the five aspirants were given the opportunity to speak, they expressed

disappointment over the consensus deal which was sealed by the APC National Caucus and ratified by the NWC without consultations with other aspirants.

Piqued by the APC’s decision to anoint Abbas as the Speaker, the Minority Caucus of the House had also vowed to render the decision an exercise in futility.

The caucus, led by Nicholas Mutu, argued that they have the “Greater Majority,” with a combined memberselect tally of 183, as against the APC’s total of 177, to pick from among themselves the next Speaker of the House.

The caucus contended that its position was further buoyed by their dominant numerical strength, which by parliamentary ethos, precedent and the 1999 Constitution, as amended, allows them to contest the presiding officers’ positions.

To achieve their objective, the caucus has put together an 11-man committee, charged with the task of shortlisting, screening and making eventual recommendations for the Speakership and Deputy Speakership’s positions.

Also, some Senators-elect had expressed divergent views on the decision of the party to anoint some members for National Assembly leadership positions.

For instance, the Senator representing Borno south district, Ali Ndume, was of the view that Akpabio was not the “anointed” candidate of the party.

Ndume who spoke on ARISE News Channel said Akpabio was only a preferred choice of the party.

To him, describing Akpabio as the anointed candidate would connote a “fait accompli”, adding that the label does not represent the situation.

“I don’t think anointed is the right word to use. The APC has Akpabio as its preferred candidate, that would be a better word. Not anointed but preferred candidate. Because if it is anointed then it is fait accompli, which is not the case. We have to go into the chamber and vote, and

it can go anywhere.

“Akpabio is going to be first among the equals as president of the senate. It is going to take the remaining 108 of us to restore integrity to the senate,” Ndume added.

In the same vein, a Senate Presidential aspirant, Sani Musa, said his colleagues would decide his fate notwithstanding the decision of APC to settle for Akpabio and Jibrin.

He said, “I am a senator and we have 109 senators. Whatever decision any other organ will give is going to be advisory. And once you give us an advisory note, we will look at it, consider it and we will act in the best interest of Nigeria. Everywhere around the world where there are true democracies, parties make inputs but decisions are left with those elected. I am not aware of that yet. Until when it is officially put before us, then I will comment.”

On his part, Senator Abdulraham Samaila (NNPP Kano) said they would follow the constitution in electing the leadership of the National Assembly.

He explained that there is a clear and express provision in the Constitution, which allows members of the National Assembly to choose their presiding officers among themselves, irrespective of party affiliation, religious or ethnic considerations.

“We are practicing constitutional democracy and the presidential system of government, which provides for the National Assembly, executive and judiciary. The parliament is an independent arm of government. The executive is detached from the parliament and judiciary. Therefore, we are canvassing a situation where we will have true separation of power. Let the executive led by Mr. President, exercise its power to balance its positions,” he posited.

In his intervention, Senator Osita Izunaso pointed out that the most natural thing for the APC to do is to zone the office of the Senate President to the South-east, because it was long due.

He said: “If you are ever contemplating zoning to the South, it is a natural thing that it should go to the South-east. The zone has been part of the process. South–east voted for the APC. If you tell me that the South-east did not vote for the APC, I will tell you that you are not telling the truth. Despite the pressure on the South-east regarding Peter Obi’s candidature, we were able to deliver six Senate seats and two governors.”

The zoning arrangement has also attracted the reaction from Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State who faulted it, describing it as a “skewed arrangement that reinforces injustice”.

The governor in a statement, rejected the zoning formula of this party, saying, “This is an unworkable arrangement that reinforces injustice and enhances inequity.”

As it stands, the aspirants are not ready to quit the race, while other lawmakers-elect are not prepared to back down as they are bent on frustrating the consensus and the zoning arrangement by the ruling party.

With the rejection of APC’s zoning of National Assembly leadership positions, the party might be heading for a repeat of 2015 scenario as aggrieved aspirants are threatening to work against the party’s choice

The days ahead would reveal what would play out on June 6 when the National Assembly would be inaugurated.

The zoning arrangement for the leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly released last Monday by the ruling All Progressives Congress has created disaffection within the party, Adedayo Akinwale reports

Tinubu Adamu

Democracy’s Untidy Offspring

The politics of democratic transition is hardly ever a beauty pageant. Oftentimes, the dazzling brilliance of campaign media displays conceal an underlying ugliness in the substance of what is on offer. It is all an ancient marketing gimmick in which the public is sold the new messiah as the product of an immaculate conception. The woman or woman to save society is packaged as a new brand of detergent, toot paste or antacid to ease our current discomfort.

Ultimately, when the campaign is over and the frenzy of marketing ends, the elegant Photo Shopped images of the contestants on campaign billboards and Instagram posts end up in the trash. The ‘’fine boys” and “sharp girls” that street people would have liked to see as winners end up being scrubbed off the walls of public places. More often than not, the most morally attractive and physically appealing people hardly win democratic elections. Morally ugly and physically unkempt people emerge from behind the screen of marketing and campaign make-up.

In parts of the Third World especially Africa, elections into high political office are mostly a contest among the rough hewn and jagged operators of the power system. It is often the jugglers of multi- dimensional crookedness or at best the princes of the hegemonic deep state that get rewarded with the prime seat at the high table of power. Other power aspirants merely crawl around the high table in concentric circles of relative power access dictated by proximity to the master. African democracy is mostly a referendum to choose the most decorated fox.

So, as tribunals and sundry courts deliberate on an avalanche of petitions arising from Nigeria’s last general elections, public response to the outcome of the elections has shifted to matters of the morality of those who won. Some people are lamenting the emergence of persons of doubtful integrity as the imminent leaders. Others are regretting the emergence of persons of less than papal purity as leaders of the next government. That is not totally true. After all, in Benue, the long suffering citizens have elected a serving Reverend gentleman as the next governor. Nonetheless, there is now a residual excessive moral emphasis on the imminent leadership of our republic.

The social media is perhaps the prime purveyor of the emergent moral crusade. All available platforms are awash with moral valuations of the major figures that the elections have produced especially at the presidential level. I personally do not like the unprintable things that people have been posting in the social media about the major figures of the incoming administration.

Mr. Dino Melaye as spokesperson of the campaign organization of Mr. Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) literally set the tone in the immediate aftermath of the elections. He was bitter, sounding more like a nattering co-wife. He called the President-elect all manner of uncomplimentary names that have to do with the assumed murky origins of the man’s humongous wealth and fortune. Similarly, he characterized the Vice President- elect, Mr Kassim Shettima, in unedifying epithets that make him look like a world famous Al Queda villain. In fairness to his myriad critics, Mr. Shettima did not quite help himself when he went to represent Mr. Tinubu wearing that over-sized musty grey suit complete with a knee length tie and a bad pair of workout shoes! The comic essence of his outfit on that occasion was probably lost on his bespoke audience!

In more recent times, the power game has shifted to the leadership of the incoming National Assembly. There again, the front runners Mr. Akpabio and Orji Kalu, both senators, have been cast in not very attractive moral portraits. Some social media cranks have argued that when coupled with the incoming first two citizens, the three foremost citizens would look like a triumvirate assembled from Columbia, Afghanistan and clans of old Sicily. The social media and widespread Pentecostalism are largely to blame for the confusion of values. Judgments and value assessments

about people thrust onto high places are being made by both street urchins on social media and all manner of religious zealots. The other powerful set of moral arbiters of the new power people are the new crop of religious fanatics being spewed by the thriving national industry of Pentecostal pastors and congregants of sundry churches. Along with them are sundry free lance moral crusaders in mosques whose targets are everything secular. Consequently, conversations about the appropriateness of our democratic choices of personnel are failing to address the pragmatic political and governance challenges that now face us. I would contend that the excessive emphasis on the moral credentials of our new leaders is fatally misplaced and wrong headed. People are mixing up things that do not work together or necessarily add up.

Politics and ethics do not work well together. It is often said that politics is an amoral undertaking. No one knows whether it is a profession, an occupation, a hobby, a game or a business. But one thing is clear: the normal parameters of any known professional ethics and moral code have no place in the political enterprise. The story is often told and re-told of the old Ibadan dark political genius who used to insist on a screening interview for apprentice politicians who sought his assistance or want to sign on to him for tutelage. The first entry qualification interview used to consist of a set of related questions: “ Can you tell lies without batting an eye lid?” “Can you see what everybody says is white and swear an oath before the most powerful gods that it is actually black?” “Can you kill your opponent to clear your way to power?” “Can you betray your mother if it becomes necessary?”

“Can you swear and stand by a lie on oath with any of the Holy books?” Applicants who score the highest affirmative marks at this screening interview sessions end up as the next set of successful politicians!

Secondly, power and morality are strange bedfellows. The old Machiavellian dictum is a classic of this school of power politics: the end justifies the meanness. On your way to power, it does not matter whose ox is butchered and converted into ‘suya’ to energize the race. The key objective is to get there. Power has its own driving morality. What is right is what takes the

power seeker to the place of power. All else is a distraction. The preachments of a thousand pastors and bishops amount to nothing. Power defines and decorates its own saints. It does not matter what you call a man of power on his way to the summit. When he gets there, he will re-christen himself in the most glowing and saintly epithets. He will pile up all the accolades that the best of men desire and dream about and heap them on himself. More importantly, the criteria for the selection of those who must contest elections to our highest political offices are guided by existing legislation and procedures. The current Electoral Law in its most current version reserves the screening of party candidates for elections for the political parties. Each candidate is deemed an ambassador of his/her party. Only the party can decide who to present to INEC as the candidate for an election. Once that decision is made, no other body can contest or invalidate the choice. Not the police even if the person has been arrested a thousand times for sundry crimes. Not the security services even if the candidate has endangered the state in words or deeds in the past without being convicted by a court of appropriate jurisdiction. Even the law courts have their hands tied because the Electoral Law happens to be the law that guides and guards all election matters. Therefore social morality as protected by law enforcement, the judiciary or state security have no meaning in matters of determining who seeks or ascends to power in our polity.

There is therefore a conspiracy of factors that insulate those who contest for and emerge from our elections from the normal run of moral and ethical scrutiny that would ordinarily bar common criminals and other miscreants from aspiring to high public office in other climes. In other places, even ordinary traffic infractions, drunk driving, an unwarranted wink at a damsel or falsification of a birth certificate can deny you clearance to run for a county election

let alone a presidential contest.

Even in situations where clearance for electoral contest follow reasonable scrutiny, democracies have a way of returning outcomes that may not showcase the best that a society has to offer. The offspring of even the best democracies can be decidedly ugly and unattractive. American democracy in the 20th and 21st centuries was believed to have graduated to an exceptional meritocracy in which only the best candidates in each party can hope to be cleared to contest for the presidency. Additional merits are accorded to moral credentials, quality of knowledge of national and world affairs as demonstratedinopenmediadebatesandspeaking engagements. Yet in the 2016 presidential contest, a nasty Donald defeated a relatively decent and brilliant Hillary Clinton to become president. Trump merely honed his ability to mouth gutter clichés, to abuse and mock opponents and to trivialize serious national and global issues. He abused and cursed his way into the White House and used the same antics to hang in there for four years.

This anomaly in democratic outcomes is worse in illiberal democracies. Check Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Syria and the Philippines under Duterte. The reality of the illogic of democracy is that the electoral outcome is the product of a popular mandate delivered at the ballot by an irrational mob. On election day, I step out to go and cast my vote just as my security guard, steward or janitor is on their way there as well. The egalitarian end of democracy overwhelms enlightened votes with irrational inputs.

More often than not, the outcomes that make the elite unhappy are the result of so many non -rational variables that may not have anything to do with common sense or enlightened moral considerations. It is very often dominated by simple bread and butter or pocket book issues. But at least a credible democratic system ought to emplace sufficient guardrails on the way to critical power contests to protect the society against the emergence of proven criminals.

But the bottom line remains that cannot limit individual access to power with rules outside what our enabling laws allow. To that extent, all those who have emerged as a result of the February and March presidential and governorship elections are qualified by law to wear their new toga. Roadside reservations about their moral credentials are neither here nor there. The challenge of ensuring an appropriate moral context for public office is to change the enabling law that determines who qualifies to run for crucial public office. Such a revised electoral law should have roles for the police and the national security apparatus.

In the aftermath of the 2023 elections therefore and as we await the swearing in of the new governments, what becomes of utmost importance is the performance of those elected to the various offices. Equally important is the moral conduct of those newly elected after being sworn in. Technical qualification to contest these elections does not however confer immunity from moral censure on the office holders once they are sworn in. Their present and past actions remain subject to scrutiny and investigation throughout their tenure in office and perhaps afterwards. It is only in their incumbent positions that they can be held accountable as moral examples for the society.

However, the imperative of maintaining the moral leadership is not diminished by the laxity in the electoral selection process. Big camels may slip through the needle’s eye of party qualification to contest. But once elected and sworn in, rulers are held morally accountable by the strength of the institutions of state. The police, the anti corruption agencies, national security agencies ,the judiciary and the mechanism of public book keeping must remain the gaurrails of accountability of the political leadership.

Whendemocracybirthsillegitimateoffspring, the same electorate that enthroned the ugliness waits to judge the moral compass and competence of the new power wielders. If the electorate fails to bring its will to bear on those who rule, the only recourse for society is the strength of the institutions of state. There lies the beauty and contradiction of the democratic state.

Yakubu

where you are automatically disadvantaged because you are a woman or because you are living with one disability or the other. It takes a conscious effort to build an all-inclusive society.

At the dawn of this democracy in 1999, we achieved political balancing almost flawlessly. President Olusegun Obasanjo was a Christian and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar a Muslim. That is religious balancing. Obasanjo was a southerner and Atiku a northerner. That was regional balancing. The No 1 position went to a Yoruba, No 2 to a Fulani and No 3 to an Igbo. That was the tripodal interest well satisfied. The No 4 position went to the north-west, meaning the biggest zone got a fair deal. The No 6 position — the deputy senate presidency — went to the north-central, but not to a Christian, as would be expected, since the senate president was a Christian too. Southern minorities got No 7.

This arrangement, which now looks like the golden era for political accommodation in Nigeria, lasted for eight years. Although it didn’t solve all our political problems, or end agitations, or turn Nigeria into a developed country, there was some emotional satisfaction that came with balancing the national power metrics. When you compare 1999-2007 with what we have today and what we are likely to have with the imminent inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it would appear we are now living in a different country entirely. Some of our political leaders have been carrying on as if the aspirations and expectations of some parts of the country should be brazenly discarded and ignored.

I admit that some of the developments that have upset the political arrangement were not pre-planned. It was inadvertent in 2007, for instance. Naturally, presidency would go

ABN REINCARNATED

When the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) went to court in 1993 to stop the June 12 presidential election, we laughed it off. It was an inconsequential association, we said, especially as the law under which the election was conducted ousted the jurisdiction of courts. We all know what happened next. Well, five people calling themselves “FCT residents” have gone to court to stop the inauguration of a new president. They are also asking for President Buhari’s tenure to be extended. The “25%” case is already before the election tribunal at a higher court and, ordinarily, no judge should entertain it. I smell a rat but I believe the process will ultimately take care of itself. Mischief.

HUMAN

to the north and vice-presidency to the south, which was what happened. However, a leg of the tripod was replaced with another, as the Igbo gave way to the south-south in the choice of vice-presidential candidate. The south-south had become a political force with the campaign for resource control by the Niger Delta militants. While one problem was solved, another was created. The Igbo lost their place in the top three — relegated, as it were, to No 6 for eight years before falling out completely since 2019.

From 2007 to 2010, under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the Christian north — a major bloc since Independence — claimed No 3. Yorubas settled for No 4, having been No 1 for eight years. South-east got No 6 (deputy senate president) while the north-east got No 7 (deputy speaker). Although Igbos would have preferred a higher position since Yorubas, their fierce rivals, had held the No 1 spot too, No 6 was still better than nothing. Yar’Adua’s death in 2010 disrupted the system and we are yet to recover from that. Dr Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy from the south-south, took over and sent the entire metrics into a spin. What appeared to be an emerging power arrangement was torpedoed.

But some of the disruptions were engineered as well. When Jonathan was elected in 2011, the zoning arrangement was recalibrated. The north, specifically the north-west, got the No 2 and the north-central retained No 3. Though an Ogbia minority from Bayelsa, Jonathan had played up his “Azikiwe” name and appointed an Igbo general as chief of army staff — the first since before the Civil War — as soon as he got power in 2010. The south-east embraced him. The core north rejected him because of the short span of Yar’Adua’s tenure. Jonathan had been

asked to not run so that the north could finish its eight years, although that was complicated because of a lack of legal guarantees.

The Jonathan era witnessed a bastardisation of the power arrangement. The speakership that was zoned to the south-west was usurped by Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who plotted a coup with PDP renegades and Tinubu’s Action Congress (now part of APC). Hon Emeka Ihedioha, from the south-east, became his deputy. The vice-president and the speaker, No 2 and No 4 respectively, were now both from the north-west. Effectively, the Yoruba were completely out of the topmost national power arrangement for four years. Jonathan and the PDP were accused of having marginalised the Yoruba even though it was clear to all that it was Tambuwal that was pursuing a selfish agenda.

The disruption continued under President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. The senate president came from the north-central and the speaker from north-east, meaning the No 1, No 3 and No 4 positions were all in the north. Ironically, this settled some questions. One, the senate president was a Muslim from the north-central. Even though he has Fulani roots, he was socialised as a Yoruba. The speaker was a Christian from the north-east. This went against the norm of picking Christians from the north-central and Muslims from the north-east for legislative positions. It gave the northern minorities a sense of belonging again as it was under Sir Ahmadu Bello, the former premier of the north.

Buhari’s second term witnessed another upset of the system. The senate president and speaker in his first term were not his choices in any case, and they were adequately curtailed and not allowed to retain their positions. We now had the No 1 and No 3 from the north and No

And Four Other Things…

GOING WELL

Ahead of the inauguration of a new administration, President Buhari and his wife have moved into the Glass House, a transitional home at the presidential villa for outgoing presidents and their spouses. I think we need to be thankful that democratic rule has endured in Nigeria despite all the challenges. At least, we are assured that presidents will come and go at predictable intervals after President Obasanjo failed to sneak third term into the constitution in 2007. In many African countries, they are stuck with one president for decades, mostly after the laws have been amended midway for selfish reasons. It took us long to get here but we are not doing badly. Progress.

PROGRESS, THE ENGINE AND THE DRIVER

long-term, strategic and development imperative. There was unanimity among the speakers that the next administration must be ready to take difficult and unpopular decisions from Day One to steer Nigeria away from the cliff it is hurtling towards. The consensus: petrol subsidies and other wasteful expenditures need to go as early as yesterday. Khalifa Sanusi spoke about the need to separate economics from populism and to stop the naked hedge of petrol subsidy that sucks scarce resources away from critical sectors like education, health and infrastructure. Dr. Fayemi expressed the need to balance competence with courage, and avoid Robert Kaplan’s ‘The Coming Anarchy.’ Mallam El-Rufai warned that the dreaded IMF programme would be inevitable if difficult decisions are not taken early and swiftly by the next government.

These are points that have been well made in well-researched and well-considered policy papers published by Agora Policy, with the support of MacArthur Foundation. The latest was a policy memo which was also distributed at the Tuesday event, entitled “Urgent Actions on Fiscal, Monetary and Trade Fronts.” The memo built on an earlier full-length report entitled “Options for Revamping Nigeria’s Economy,” also produced with the kind support of MacArthur Foundation. Petrol and foreign exchange subsidies constrict the fiscal space for the government and create distortions in the system. What needs to be done and how have been well laid out. The ball is in the court of the next administration.

The third point I want to highlight from the conversation is that there was an agreement that Nigeria can learn a lot not only from comparator countries but also from itself. Dr. Usman argued in her book and her presentation that Nigeria is neither a failed state nor a developmental state but a state capable of episodic reforms as periods of its economic history has shown. She rejects

the tags of resource curse and patrimonialism as valid explanations for Nigeria’s economic underperformance. After Peter Evans, she describes Nigeria as an intermediate state.

Governors Soludo and El-Rufai advocated for the need to prioritise the use of case studies to surface what worked and the reasons why they worked during periods when Nigeria’s economy posted decent and consistent growth rates and undertook some game-changing reforms. In addition, Chaudhuri recommended learning from how the elites of Indonesia and India used period of significant national traumas to put their countries on a more sustainable path: Indonesians agreeing

FINE LINE

On Wednesday, Justice James Omotosho of a federal high court sitting in Abuja restrained the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) from imposing fines on broadcast organisations. He also set aside the previous fines imposed on 45 stations by the NBC. The judge said the commission does not have “judicial powers” to impose fines, ruling that its action was “against the doctrine of separation of powers”. In its response, NBC hinted it would file an appeal after studying the judgment. If NBC appeals and the judgment is upheld, it would have far-reaching implications for other regulators and the power to impose fines. It would also be a major deviation from global practices. Remarkable.

to the need for proper macro fiscal management after the 1997 Asian financial crisis; and Indians in the early 1990s choosing to privilege the role of the private sector in poverty reduction and national development after earlier flirtation with leftist ideology.

I depart from the hopeful characterisation of the Nigerian state. I think the state remains predatory at its core and that the attitude of both the elite and the ruled to state resources remains prebendal. Also, in a socio-political context where power is seen a golden opportunity for those with power to help themselves and those proximate to them and where accountability mechanisms are thin, sudden commodity wealth predisposes those in government to certain choices that will necessarily lead to a collective gnashing of teeth in moments of predictable slump. Development is not only the space where politics and economics intersect, it also has a deep cultural underlay. We need to fix some broken values, pay attention to issues raised by Richard Joseph and Peter Ekeh in their seminal works, especially around how we relate to public office and public resources.

This is a good segue to what I consider the fourth important point: the need for consensus among the elite about certain core values, a vision of society, what cannot be politicised, and a pragmatic approach to development. The speakers framed it in different ways. Dr. Usman calls it political settlement and she advocates for the need to see structural transformation of the economy as a political project. Others label it political consensus or elite bargain. I think they all point at the imperative of a binding agreement among the elite about some broad rules of the road for social, political and economic development of the country. Chaudhuri submits that the elites need a consensus based on the enlightened position to that sees the needs to address both the tragedy of the commons and a commitment to growing a bigger pie to

2 and No 4 from the south-west. There was no room at the Inn for the south-east. Muslims headed both chambers of the National Assembly. In fact, the speaker and his deputy were both Muslims. This was in absolute contrast to where we started from in 1999. The APC under Buhari did not make any conscious effort to balance the power metrics in a way to assuage feelings of marginalisation and exclusion.

But if we think the Buhari era was a departure from the norm, it appears things may even go farther under Tinubu. With No 1 and No 2 Muslims, I would expect No 3 and No 4 to be Christians as we seek to heal national wounds so that we can focus on the serious tasks of national development ahead. But I was naïve. Senator Barau Jibrin, from the north-west, soon declared his intention to be senate president (he was later persuaded to settle for deputy). Hon Idris Wase (north-central) and Hon Ahmed Betera (north-east) also declared for speakership. That would have meant Muslims holding No 1, No 2, No 3 and No 4. And the No 5, the Chief of Justice of Nigeria, is also a Muslim.

While I agree that we have to outgrow regional and religious balancing at some point, I don’t think we have reached that stage yet -- after 24 years of democracy. More importantly, though, inclusion must not be limited to region and religion alone. We need to accommodate gender, age and disability considerations. Women are about half of the population but they occupy less than 5 percent of elected positions. Nigerians below 35 years constitute about 75 percent of the population. How much space do we give them in political offices? There are 30 million Nigerians living with disabilities. Do they matter in our political calculations? We have a very long way to go in diversity management.

NYSC AT 50

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was set up in 1973 as part of post-civil war efforts to foster national integration. Corps members are usually posted to parts of the country other than where they are come from. Many have questioned if the scheme has not outlived its usefulness. I would not say it has. But the time has come to take a comprehensive look at its enabling law so that we can finetune it in line with contemporary realities. There is a para military training whose value I honestly don’t know. I also don’t know if it must be headed by a military officer. For national service to be more productive and attractive, we need to make far-reaching modifications to the NYSC. Change.

make everyone better off. He thinks addressing the huge trust deficit among the Nigerian elite will be a sine qua non to creating such a Pareto optimal outcome. I am on the same page here. The question is how to broker and sustain such a consensus among actors used to preservation of self and group interests.

The last point I want to highlight is the eloquent case for the need to transfer responsibilities and resources from the federal government to the state governments. This is the argument for greater devolution or what some loosely call restructuring. Soludo, El-Rufai and Fayemi emphasised this point.

In fact, El-Rufai, who headed the ruling party’s committee on restructuring, argued for a return to the elite consensus agreed at the constitutional conference of 1953 and 1954. Soludo made a case for a structure that will enable the country to achieve both speed and sustainability.

It is difficult to argue against further decentralisation. However, it is important to remember that the promise of decentralisation has been delivered largely in the breach in Nigeria. The logic of decentralisation is anchored on the belief that the closer the government is to the people the more effective and efficient it is. Largely, that has not been our experience. This is not to say the status quo should remain unchanged. But the assumption that more responsibility and resources are magic bullets takes the existence of countervailing measures and capacity as a given. Our sad reality is that both factors diminish as we move farther from the centre. This returns us to the important parable of the engine and the driver. Part of the consensus that has to be forged is the need to build and sustain state capacity across the board.

As I mentioned at the very engaging event, the conversation should continue. But we don’t have the luxury of engaging in analysis paralysis. We need urgent actions on key areas.

Aig-Imoukhuede

WHO Laments Poor Remuneration for Health Workers in Nigeria

Sunday Ehigator

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has expressed concern about the substandard working conditions of health workers in Nigeria, particularly those employed at the primary healthcare centres, compared to some other African countries with less political, social, and economic stability.

WHO criticised the poor political will in budgeting and release of funds for health financing in Nigeria, calling on affluent individuals and corporate organisations in the country to invest more in the health sector to curb the outflow of health workers to foreign countries and enhance the quality of healthcare delivery.

The WHO South-East Zonal Coordinator in Nigeria, Dr. Igboekwu Chukwumuanya, voiced dissatisfaction with the state of health workers’ working conditions across

the country during a Stakeholders’ Engagement Workshop themed Cross Programmatic Efficiency Analysis (CPEA) held in Anambra State capital.

He noted that Nigeria’s proposed target of allocating 15% of the total government budget to health was still a far cry from achievement, and the health sector was not adequately funded compared to other sectors like defence and the army.

Dr Chukwumuanya emphasised that health is a fundamental human right and not a luxury or consumable. He stated that wise decisions taken by the government would have a beneficial impact on citizens, and WHO would continue to advocate for better working conditions for health workers nationwide.

The workshop’s objectives included advocating for the full release of funds to the health sector

to political office holders, engaging partners in the development and review of annual operational plan activities, calling for one health system in Nigeria, and enhancing health systems by building capacity for data analysis and estimating health expenditure partners.

The WHO coordinator expressed gratitude to Governor Chukwuma Soludo for his support, stating, “We appreciate you most sincerely for

providing the enabling environment for WHO and other United Nations agencies in the state. This makes a very bold statement of your willingness to work with us towards a better health benefit to the people as well as the economy of the state.”

Dr Afam Ben Obidike, the State Commissioner for Health, praised WHO’s technical and significant financial support in

strengthening Anambra’s health system, stating, “I commend your efforts in our state in terms of prompt response to any outbreak and much other support we have enjoyed from you, we are grateful.”

The event was moderated by Dr. Francis Ukwuije, a WHO representative in Nigeria. The health sector’s inadequately funded state compared to other

sectors and the substandard working conditions of health workers in Nigeria have become a growing concern that calls for immediate attention.

The government and other stakeholders must take decisive steps to prioritise and invest in the health sector to enhance the well-being of the citizens and improve the country’s economic fortunes.

Breast Cancer No Longer Death Sentence, Akeredolu, Pogoson Declare

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

Despite an annual loss of over 12,000 to breast cancer in Nigeria alone, the First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu; Head, Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof. Irene Pogoson and Consultant Sur-

Prepare for Heavy Rains, Thunder Storm, FEMA Tells FCT Residents

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has called on the residents of Abuja and its environ to brace up for critical weather conditions.

The Director General of FEMA, Dr Abbas Idriss, issued the warning yesterday in the light of the forecast made by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) of likely thunderstorms and heavy rains in the coming days in the FCT and some northern states.

According to the early warning by NiMet , thunderstorm cells are currently observed over the northern parts of the country including Borno, Taraba, Gombe, Bauchi and Kano and are

expected to propagate westward and result in thunderstorms accompanied with squall to cities in Plateau, FCT, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Adamama, Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina state in the next few hours.

The NiMet predicted that for areas where thunderstorms are expected, strong winds are likely to precede the rains and as such, trees, electric poles, unsecured objects and weak buildings may be felled

It advised the public to be cautious and stay in- doors especially during heavy rainfall to avoid being struck by lightning.

In the light of this advisory FEMA warns all business operators

in the FCT to avail themselves of weather reports periodically for effective planning in their operations.

It added that moderate to heavy rainfall could lead to flash floods, which usually affects the residents of the FCT.

Idriss also charged the Search and Rescue Team to take proactive measures to avert any loss of lives and property during this period.

He appealed to FCT residents to heed the early warnings and avoid anything that could lead to loss of lives or destruction of properties.

In addition they should also avoid indiscriminate dumping of refuse as well as anything that could block the water ways.

Soludo Begs Church Not to Mount Financial Pressure on Public Officials

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has cautioned the church and society at large against mounting unnecessary pressure on public office holders, particularly in terms of financial commitments.

He said the fight against corruption would be easier to win if the church and society lessen financial pressures on government officials.

Soludo spoke yesterday at the first Session Of 13th Synod of Anglican Diocese of Awka at

Saint Peter’s Anglican Church Agulu, Anaocha Council Area of the state themed, “Running the Christian Race: Implications For The Family In Perilous Times” attended by over 30 Archbishop and Bishops.

He said part of his administration’s code of conduct included banning public donations by government functionaries.

“You can imagine someone whose salary is #300,000, making a pledge of N2 million to the church because he wants to please the crowd, where do

you want him to get it from?

Of course he must have to steal to pay.

“That’s one of the things we’re trying to address by entrenching as part of our code of conduct not making public our donation. You can’t say you were pressured by the priest.”

Describing the church as a critical partner and most important civil society group, the Governor commended the church for her support to his government, calling for its sustenance.

Gulmarg to Host G-20 Summit

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Gulmarg of Baramulla is all set to welcome delegates from the G-20 nations in the last week of May 2023.

In order to give the delegates a master reception, the district administration of Baramulla is finalising all the related arrangements, and the district is undergoing a major makeover amid a stringent security plan for the high-profile event.

All the developmental and beautification works are being supervised by the District Development Commissioner (DDC) Baramulla, Syed Sehrish Asgar. She said the stage is set and all the preparations are in the final stage.

Sehrish exhorted the departments to push for a double shift of working in all the existing works in a time-bound manner.

She emphasised greater coordination and synergy among

geon, Department of Surgery, UI College of Medicine, Dr. Omobolaji Ayandipo at the weekend dismissed a general notion that the disease is not a death sentence.

They unanimously canvassed regular breast examination, early diagnosis of the disease and prompt medical treatment as key steps every breast cancer patient, indeed all women, should regularly take to survive the health condition.

They made the remarks at a sensitisation programme on breast cancer awareness held at Lady Bank Anthony Hall, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan on Friday under the theme, “Basic Overview on Breast Cancer.”

Spiced with demonstration of breast self-examination and presentation of BRECAN’s field report, Pogoson convened

the sensitisation programme to change a myth that breast cancer is synonymous to death and create more awareness among members of the academic community.

In Nigeria, breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women, accounting for 22.7 percent of all new cancer cases. With 12,000 deaths in 2018, the disease has the highest breast cancer mortality rate of all nations.

Speaking on the myths and facts of breast cancer, Ayandipo observed that breast cancer “is not a death sentence” contrary to a general notion among most Nigerians that the disease cannot be treated.

Ayandipo, the guest speaker at the programme, also observed that it was illogical to describe it as a

spiritual attack, warning that the disease “is one of the realities of the 21st century that must be confronted.”

“Breast cancer is not a death sentence as it is treatable. Early detection through breast examination regularly and prompt medical attention are very important to reduce the rate of mortality.”

Akeredolu, a survivor of breast cancer herself, urged members of the academic community to support the war against breast cancer, which according to her, would bridge the gap between the town and the gown.

Akeredolu, founder of Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), noted that it was imperative for every stratum of the society and government to get involved in order to stop the stigmatisation of breast cancer patients.

line departments for the timely completion of developmental activities in Baramulla.

Moreover, the DDC had issued instructions to concerned authorities for grass cutting along roads, routes, and footpaths, closing manholes with lids, colour iron grills, making water fountains functional, smooth operation of streets lights, removing debris and construction material from roads so that the establishments get charmed and to boost aesthetics.

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

Nduka AssistantsUgbade,Sacked

The failure of the Golden Eaglets to qualify for this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup has effectively terminated the contracts of coach Nduka Ugbade and his assistants, officials told SCORENigeria

“The appointment of Nduka (Ugbade) and his assistants was clearly tied to the progress of the team at major competitions,” explained a top NFF official.

“They held on to their positions after they qualified the team to the U17 AFCON last year.

“But now that the team failed to qualify for the World Cup, their appointments are terminated.”

Ugbade’s assistants include Ahmadu Dankoli and Yemi Olanrewaju ‘Yema’.

The sacked coaches will submit a technical report to the NFF technical department, which will subsequently forward this with recommendations to the NFF technical committee that has yet to be constituted.

On Thursday, the Eaglets failed to pick a ticket to the U17 World Cup when they fell 2-1 to Burkina Faso in the quarterfinal of the U17 AFCON in Algeria.

Incidentally, Nigeria stopped the Junior Etalons from Burkina Faso 2-1 to win the WAFU B qualifiers in June in Ghana.

For Ugbade, who made history when he lifted the inaugural FIFA U17 World Cup trophy in 1985 in China, his first attempt to lead the Golden Eaglets has ended prematurely.

The former Super Eagles fullback was second assistant when Nigeria won a fourth U17 World Cup in 2013.

He was thereafter first assistant coach to Manu Garba when the team failed to make progress at international level. No NFF official could be reached last night to throw light on the sacked coaches.

Taiwo Awoniyi (right) scored Taiwo Awoniyi scored another brace yesterday as another brace as Chelsea were forced to a 2-2 were to a draw at Stamford Bridge draw at Stamford

Awoniyi Fires Another Brace Awoniyi Fires Another Brace as Forest Hold Chelsea as Forest

Onuachu, Aribo relegated with Saints to Championships Onuachu Aribo with Saints to

Duro Ikhazuagbe

NUGA

Concludes World University Games Trials in Benin

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

For the second straight week, Taiwo Awoniyi, continued his drive to ferry Nottingham Forest away from the murky waters of relegation as he scored another brace in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea yesterday. He scored two goals last Monday as Nottingham Forest defeated Southampton 4-3

The Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) trials for the upcoming World University Games in Chengdu, China, have been successfully concluded.

The three-day intense competition from May 8th to May 11th, 2023, saw Nigerian undergraduates competed for places in athletics, badminton, judo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and tennis as Nigeria prepare for the world stage in the Far East.

The athletics and judo events were held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, while badminton, taekwondo, and table tennis took place at the indoor sports hall at the University of Benin.

One of the highlights of the trials was the women’s 100m race, where Asemota Marvelous of Benson Idahosa University finished first in a time of 11.4, while Victory Owhovoriole of the University of Port Harcourt came in second in 11.5.

The men’s final was also highly competitive, with Musa Kola-Nurain of the University of Ilorin finishing in first place with a time of 10.1, closely followed

City

by Paul Destiny Obumwo of the

In other sports, Vivian Oku of the University of Calabar won the women’s single table tennis event, while Akinduro Gabriel took the men’s single event.

Amadu Bello University Zaria’s Mustapha Muhammed dominated the men’s singles in badminton, while Sofiat Onisola of the University of Ilorin took the women’s competition.

The President of NUGA, Mr. Emeka Ogbu, expressed satisfaction with the level of competition and congratulated the winners.

According to him, “The NUGA World University Games trials have been a resounding success, and we are proud of the talents that have emerged from this competition. We are confident that they will represent Nigeria well at the World University Games in Chengdu.”

Ogbu added that the list of athletes who will represent Nigeria at the World University Games will be released to the press soon.

“NUGA will like to thank the government of Edo State and the management of the University of Benin for providing the association with the best facilities to conduct its trials. We will also like to thank all the athletes, coaches, and officials who participated in the trials, as well as the fans who came out to support the young athletes. The trials were a great success, and NUGA looks forward to more successful events in the future,” Ogbu declared.

For the second straight week, Taiwo Awoniyi, continued his drive to ferry Nottingham Forest away from the murky waters of relegation as he scored another brace in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea yesterday. He scored two goals last Monday as Nottingham Forest defeated Southampton 4-3 Awoniyi, the first Forest player to score two goals in consecutive Premier League games since Bryan Roy in 1995, maintains there is still work to be done.

“We came here with spirit and togetherness and had a plan that worked. When they score two quick goals you feel bad, but we believed in ourselves and got the point,” said the 25-year-old.

“We now have two finals to go, the next one is Arsenal and from there we will see what happens.”

Forest, who had taken just six away points from a possible 51 this

season before the Chelsea game, face the title-chasing Gunners at home next Saturday before travelling to Crystal Palace on the final day.

The valuable one point earned in the draw has ensured that Forest are comfortably seated at 16th spot on the Premier League table, three places away from the drop zone.

The Nigerian striker has now scored eight goals in his debut Premier League season. He opened scoring after 13 minutes and then salvaged a vital point on the road on 62 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately, while Awoniyi is leading the battle for Forest to retain their Premier League status, two other Super Eagles players, Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo were officially relegated with Southampton to the Championships yesterday.

With miserable 24 Points from 36 games and sitting at the bottom of the 20-team table, Southampton officially lost their status with

another 0-2 loss at Fulham the weekend.

Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi are in the relegation zone battling to escape the drop. They have their week 36 fixture against Liverpool who are struggling to make the Top Four on Monday at Anfield.

Back to Stamford Bridge, Raheem Sterling rediscovered his scoring touch as he netted both of Chelsea’s goals in the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.

Home fans had booed the Blues off at the break, trailing to a Game Awoniyi goal for Steve Cooper’s side and looking no nearer in the first half to finding a solution to the lack of firepower that has derailed their season.

Then, in the space of seven second-half minutes, Sterling transformed the match. First a deflected shot bounced up into the corner after he was set up by Trevoh Chalobah, then he let rip with a brilliant solo goal that

evoked the England forward at his electric best.

Yet instead of pressing on, Chelsea folded. Non-existent marking left Awoniyi free to head home and extinguish the lead four minutes later.

At St. Mary’s Southampton were officially relegated to the Championship after 10 years in the Premier League following a 2-0 loss to Fulham.

Onuachu, who made his 11th league appearance without a goal, was in action before going off for Black Stars’ Kamaldeen Sulemana. His Nigerian teammate Aribo was an unused substitute for the Saints.

In other results, Eberechi Eze scored two goals, Michael Olise had an assist in Crystal Palace’s 2-0 win against Bournemouth, Aston Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, Manchester United overcame Wolves 2-0 and Newcastle United held Leeds to a 2-2 draw away.

The Malik Siblings Dominate 2023 Lagos Squash Classics

Aderonke Ojediran

Curtis Malik defeated his younger brother, Perry, to advance to the final of the 2023 Lagos International Squash Classics on Friday in Lagos. He eventually defeated winning 3-0 against Martin Svec of Czech Republic 3-0 on Saturday to emerge champion at the Sir Omolade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

Torrie, the third of the Malik troika, made it to the final in the women’s category beating Fathy Malik of Egypt 3-0.

But it wasn’t a coincidence that the siblings, who were born in Sussex, England, are professional squash players; they were coached and mentored by their father, Cameron.

Curtis told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that defeating his brother 3-1 in the semi-final was tough because they practically played the same style.

“Playing with my brother in the semi-final was a really special moment, coming out to Nigeria, we had a good

match today,” said Perry.

He said losing to his older brother Curtis in the semi-final was a sad one, because he had hoped that he’d make it to the final.

“It’s sad that I lost to him at the semis, perhaps if we never met I’d have a shot at making it to the final. I didn’t give away the match, I wanted to win.

“I played quite well at the start but he started playing better, but I’m happy for him,” he said.

NAN reports that all the members of the family of seven play squash, with Cameron, their father, a retired player now their coach, the Malik dynasty reigns in squash circuit.

Torrie said, “I’m the only girl, I have five brothers. Our dad was a player and now a coach, so we got on quite on time and we are better for it.

“I’m glad I made it to the final although I feel I didn’t play well enough,” she said.

When asked about their toughest encounter in the tournament, Torrie said her 3-0 match against Busayo Olatunji

in the semi-final was her toughest, while Perry said his match against Kehinde Samuel in the quarter-final was his toughest.

Curtis described his quarter-final clash with the number one ranked player in Nigeria, Onaopemipo Adegoke, as his toughest.

On their perception of Nigeria since their arrival, the Malik trio told NAN that Nigerians were warm and hospitable people and they hoped to return to participate in future tournaments.

“For me the people here are so nice, super friendly, you can speak with anyone, I feel so welcome here,” Curtis said.

Curtis told NAN he hoped to have a family and have children that would love to play squash like him.

Curtis joined the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour and reached his first final in 2022.

At the start of 2022 he had reached the world’s top 100 players and won the Holmes Naden Prestbury Squash Open, the Commercial Water Solutions

Grange Challenger and the Colin Payne Kent Open.

Curtis is a three-time National Junior Champion, U-19 European Team Champion, U-19 Dutch Junior Open Champion, No.1 in England throughout all junior age groups from U-13 to U-19.

Sometime in April 2023, he hit a career best world ranking (at the time) of 53. He was a member of the England team that won the 2023 European professional squash tournament.

Perry has made the top five rank in every junior age group, U-11 to U- 19, South East Regional Champion, six times County Champion and a National College Champion, 2019.

Torrie is a six-time British Junior Champion, European Team Champion U-15, No.1 in England throughout all junior age groups, U11-U19, British Junior Open Champion, 2022.

As of November 2022, Torrie was ranked number 83 in the world, she won the 2022 Czech Open, while Perry made it to the semi-final at the Boston Open in 2022. (NAN).

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education.

Ugbade

Orji to Ikpeazu

“If for any reason they couldn’t or were unwilling to offset, why did they allow it to skyrocket to between 35 and 40 months? Why are they also owed core civil servants? So basically, I am not the problem. They should carry their cross” – Former Governor of Abia State, Senator Theodore Orji, asking his successor and the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to stop blaming him for his failure to pay the salary arrears owed workers in the state.

SIMON KOLAWOLE

SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

Diversity, Zoning and the Complications

Is Nigerian politics getting better? Are Nigerian politicians getting more mature and politically savvy as we move from one phase to the other in democratisation and nation-building? From my balcony, I have been observing quietly the mini-crisis that has broken out in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the sharing of positions in the 10th National Assembly. With the offices of president and vice-president already settled via the ballot in the general election, we are left with the parliamentary leadership positions which are not usually as simple as the presidency because of the complicated factors that are always at play. Still, I am left to wonder how tone-deaf many of our politicians can be.

I agreed that Nigeria, being multi-religious and multi-ethnic, will often be caught in a web of intrigues on how to share political offices in such a way that will accommodate as many interests as possible, particularly the major ones. There will always be multiple and conflicting interests at play and we cannot avoid the fierce contestation for now. There is the regional interest: northern and southern. There is the religious one: Muslim and Christian. There is the ethnic: the Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba being the ones on which the “tripod” of Nigeria was founded. Then, there are the ethnic and religious minorities across regions and geo-political zones, some of which are fluid or subsumed.

Tinubu

But as atomisation goes, the more you divide, the more you magnify the latent differences. If you divide the north, you will see the Muslim majority and the Christian minorities. If you divide further, you will see north-west, north-east and north-central. Because religion is the biggest

WAZIRI ADIO POSTSCRIPT

identifier in the north, it really does not matter if you are a Muslim Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, or of any other ethnic group when it comes to sharing national positions. It begins to matter only if the competition for the national position is internal. You will then start hearing about what

northern geo-political zone should get it. The northern Christian minorities are, understandably, a distinct group as well.

In the south, ethnicity — and not religion — is the major marker. The tussle is traditionally between the Igbo and the Yoruba, the two biggest ethnic groups. When Yorubas get something at the national level, it is most likely at the expense of Igbos, except it is shared on the basis of geo-political zones. It also means when Igbos get it, Yoruba will be left out. But over the years, the southern minorities have also asserted themselves on the account of the oil wealth which is produced in their land. If you divide the south-west, where the Yoruba are in the majority, you will find religious interests somewhere, notably in the last few decades. It never used to be so but things have changed.

By and large, it is practically impossible to please every interest at the same time. Some will have to settle for the short end of the stick per time. If you achieve religious balancing, you may upset regional setup. If you please regional interests, you may be unable to sort out zonal complications. All these are political interests — and as political beings, we will always discover that something has to give at every point. Meanwhile, we are not even discussing gender interests or social inclusion in a society

Continued on page 37

Human Progress, the Engine and the Driver

It is one of those simple but profound frames. In a racing competition, the capacity of the engine of a race car matters a lot but not more than the quality of the driver. Except in autonomous vehicles, the skills and the experience of the driver and his support team determine how competitive even the fastest car can be. This is a pretty obvious point in its original context. But it is not a point often used as a mental model for discussing economic growth, human development and the role of critical actors. Yet it is a powerful analogy.

Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the Chairman of Coronation Capital and the co-founder of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, deployed this simple but apt analogy on Tuesday when he spoke at a policy conversation in Abuja. I don’t think he invented the analogy. I doubt if he was using it for the first time. It doesn’t matter. But as great and memorable parallels go, it did its job. The analogy helped to unify the points made by many other contributors at the frank, engaging and cerebral conversation and, beyond the event, it assisted in situating the critical task for Nigeria at a most critical period.

Aig-Imoukhuede spoke at a high-level policy event jointly organised by the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, one of oldest and most respected think tanks in the world, and

Agora Policy, an Abuja-based policy think tank which I founded. The theme of the event was: “How Nigeria Can Build a Post-Oil Economic Future.” The dialogue was held against the backdrop of the global conversation about the transition away from oil and other fossil fuels, the glaring failure of Nigeria’s commodity-centred approach to development, Nigeria’s historical economic underperformance and current fiscal challenges, and the opportunity embedded in the transition to a new administration.

The former GMD of Access Bank joined other eminent speakers such as the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and current governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo; the former director-general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the governor of Kaduna, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; former economics professor at Columbia University and the World Bank Country Director in Nigeria, Dr. Shubham Chaudhuri; and the Director of the Carnegie Africa Programme, Dr. Zainab Usman.

The event also featured special interventions by the following: Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II, economist and former governor CBN; Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former governor of Ekiti State and former chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum; Mrs. Maryam Uwais, Special Adviser to the President on Social Interventions; and Professor

Ode Ojowu, former Chief Economic Adviser to the President. Dr. Usman also presented highlights of her latest book, entitled “Economic Diversification in Nigeria: The Politics of Building a Post-Oil Economy.” The well-received book was voted as one of the Best Books of 2022 on economics by the Financial Times.

The event was an intellectual feast, offering both deep diagnoses of the Nigerian condition and practical prescriptions for bringing to good economic health Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy. In this piece, I will attempt, beyond the nuts and bolts issues already reported in the press, a broad-brush highlight of five key points made by the various speakers and intersperse these important points with my comments and observations.

Aig-Imoukhuede provided the car engine and the driver analogy in the context of the roles of the private and the public sectors in development. He acknowledged that the private sector is the engine of Nigeria’s competitiveness. This is expected of a private sector chieftain. But he added a twist when he invited the audience to think of Nigeria as a vehicle in competition with other countries that are also vehicles. “A vehicle doesn’t move unless it is started,” he said. “A vehicle goes in the direction that the driver takes it. All vehicles are driven by government. So, however powerful

that engine is, even if it is one billion horsepower, [it is] the capacity of the driver that will dictate how far it can move.”

Other speakers touched on this point in various ways. Professor Soludo maintained that the difference between Nigeria’s moments of economic “surge and decline” is a function of the quality of the leadership and the stock and content of human capital in government at those points in time. Mallam El-Rufai insisted that having a competent core team is a critical success factor. Khalifa Sanusi spoke about the necessity of not just assembling a competent team but of matching them to their areas of competence.

My take-away from this important point made in different ways is that state capacity is critical to development. It doesn’t matter whether we subscribe to a lean or a big state. We need a state that is efficient and effective for it to be able to drive growth and development. However, state capacity is disturbingly thin at the moment—and we hardly speak enough about this. The challenge will not be resolved by just drafting in a few technocrats of “incredible capacities”. At best, that can only be a stop-gap measure. Building or rebuilding state capacity has to be taken as a

Continued on page 37