SUNDAY 19TH MAY 2024

To Avert Fresh Crisis, Tinubu Accedes to ASUU's Demand, Appoints Governing Board Members for 111 Tertiary Institutions

Yuguda, Yayale, Abacha, Jega, Olanipekun, Udoma make list

In a bid to avert fresh industrial action by the Academic Staff

Union of Universities (ASUU), President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointments of 55 people to the governing boards

of federal universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education

The academic union, last Tuesday, threatened to embark

on another nationwide industrial action to protest the absence of governing councils in all federal universities across the

country, among other issues the government was yet to address.

Among those appointed are the former Secretary to the

Government of the Federation (SGF),

Amendment Process Continues, Afenifere Tells Tinubu

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Apparently worried by what it described as the worsening insecurity in the country, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday urged President Bola Tinubu to invoke an Executive Order for the establishment of state and local government police, while the process of amending the 1999 Nigerian Constitution continues.

While urging President Tinubu to be more decisive in tackling the worsening insecurity, Afenifere, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, also called for the erection of close-circuit television sets and deployment of drones and modern technology for security purposes in strategic locations to end insecurity.

Afenifere noted that there

were indications that Tinubu was desirous of putting an end to this deleterious menace.

The group recalled that towards the end of January this year, Tinubu approved the procurement of digital tracking tools to enhance the apprehension of bandits, terrorists and armed robbers.

“On Monday, April 22, this year, he used the occasion of addressing participants at the African CounterTerrorism Summit which opened on that day in Abuja to assure everyone of his government’s readiness to ensure greater security. Unfortunately, recent happenings have not shown that the President’s desire in this respect is being worked upon.

“President Tinubu should get state and local government police off the ground immediately

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Yayale Ahmed; former

Oba of Benin Celebrates Surprise Return of Benin Artefacts from Germany by FG

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-City

The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II has expressed delight over the return of two artefacts by the German government through the Director General, National Commission for Museum and

Monument, Olugbile Holloway, yesterday.

Oba Ewuare II thanked Holloway for the gesture, saying: “You don’t know what you have done but I am really grateful for this gesture.”

The Oba gave the DG a large

chunk of white chalk to further show appreciation to Holloway.

The German government yesterday returned two artefacts to the palace of the Oba of Benin.

The artefacts, wooden and bronze stools were brought to the palace by Holloway.

The artefacts had been with the federal government since 2022 and were handed over to the Oba yesterday.

Holloway, who said he was at the palace to introduce himself to the Oba, having assumed office recently, told the Oba that he was

also at the palace with a surprise for the monarch.

Holloway then opened the box to reveal the two stools to the amazement of the Oba who broke into a dance and was joined by other subjects in the palace.

Holloway said: “I have come

to the palace to introduce myself and my team to the Oba and to let the Oba know that we are ready to work with the kingdom.

“Apart from this, I also have a surprise for the Oba and hopefully this will be the beginning of better things to come,” he added.

FG: $2.5bn to Be Saved Yearly from Every One Million CNG-powered Vehicles

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The federal government at the weekend said about $2.5 billion would be saved yearly from every one million vehicles powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

The Programme Director of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas, Michael Oluwagbemi, disclosed this during the SouthSouth/South-East Stakeholders’ Engagement Meeting on Presidential Initiative on CNG held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Oluwagbemi explained that the initiative can reduce the current inflation bedevilling the nation’s economy.

He stated that the federal government's drive for CNG is critical to the nation's economic progress as well as the end of an era of pollution and environmental deterioration.

He noted that CNG is cleaner, cheaper and would reduce the cost of transportation.

Oluwagbemi stated: “The initiative of the government is critical to our

national development and to the well-being of the people. Rivers State is the heart of the oil and gas region. Over the last five to six decades, these resources have continued to waste.

“Nigeria records the second-largest wastage of oil and gas. We exploit it and waste it then continue to suffer poverty. The president has set the nation on the path of growth. The use of gas ensures we have energy savings; mind you the price of natural gas is controlled by the government.

“What the president is asking us is to do more with the blessings God has given us. If we are able to move three million vehicles in the next three years, we are going to end the era of environmental degradation.”

Oluwagbemi averred that the nation stands to benefit much from the energy transition, insisting that CNG is more reliable for the transportation sector of the country.

“Nigeria stands to gain a lot from the energy transition in the transportation sector. First and foremost, CNG is our own resource.

TO AVERT FRESH CRISIS, TINUBU ACCEDES TO ASUU'S DEMAND, APPOINTS GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS FOR 111 TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda; son of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Mohammed; and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega and 551 others.

Also appointed are Senator Udo Udoma as Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira; Mr. Wole Olanipekun (SAN), as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos; former governor of Bauchi State as the Pro-Chancellor of University of Calabar; and Chief Joe Kyari Gadzama is the Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of University of Uyo.

The appointments followed Tinubu’s approval of a list of nominees selected by the Ministry of Education.

In an advertorial by the Federal Ministry of Education, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack said the 555 persons will serve as Pro-Chancellors/Chairmen and members of Governing Boards of 111 federal universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education.

The advertorial revealed the appointment of a chairperson and four members for each of the institutions.

According to the advertisement, the governing councils' inauguration and retreat will be held on May 30 and 31 at the National Universities Commission's (NUC) headquarters.

President Tinubu in June last year dissolved the councils and transferred the power to supervise the institutions to the Federal Ministry of Education and the NUC.

The absence of governing councils had caused worry in several institutions since it had

hampered the nomination of vice-chancellors, the recruitment of important officials, and the promotion of personnel.

ASUU had asked Nigerians to hold the government responsible for any decision it would take to protest the government’s refusal to appoint the governing councils.

President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja, said the union rejected all the “ongoing illegalities and flagrant violation of university autonomy in public universities as a result of non-reinstatement/reconstitution of governing councils.”

Osodeke also insisted that Nigerians must hold the federal and state governments responsible if the matter of governing councils was allowed to degenerate into an avoidable industrial crisis.

“The NEC observed with dismay the continued erosion of autonomy of public universities, contrary to the provisions of the Universities Miscellaneous Act (1993, 2012).”

He added: “The illegal dissolution of Governing Councils by the Tinubu government and many state governments has paved the way for all manner of illegalities in the Nigerian university system.

“University administrations now place advertisements for the appointment of Vice-Chancellor without authorisation from the appropriate quarters – the governing councils.

“Outgoing vice-chancellors, working in cahoots with the federal and state ministries of education, are illegally running the universities daily.

“They routinely usurp the powers of governing councils to recruit and discipline staff as well as manage university finances in manners bereft of transparency and accountability,” he reportedly added.

Natural gas is everywhere in Nigeria. It is a much more reliable source of fuel in the transportation sector. No longer will there be crises outside of Nigeria impacting the economic livelihood of the country.

“It has the capacity of reducing inflation. It is cheaper. You can

realise between 40 per cent to 50 per cent savings from patrol. This is good for Nigeria and it is safer. It is 18 times safer than petrol and diesel. It is cleaner and safer for the environment,” he added.

The programme director further said: “We will stop subsidising

poverty, importing unemployment and exporting jobs. We will be using our own natural gas to drive our transportation sector. To a common man, this translates to a reduction in the cost of transportation. Our job is to give incentives to CNG vehicles. To ensure we close the

financing gap that exists.

“There is enough demand for natural gas; all we need to do now is to open stations, pipelines and conversation centres. When we convert our vehicles, 1,000,000 vehicles will convert; it saves the country about $2.5 billion a year.

ISSUE EXECUTIVE ORDER FOR STATE POLICE AS CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT PROCESS CONTINUES, AFENIFERE TELLS TINUBU

through the invocation of an Executive Order while the process of amending the Constitution continues.

“Close circuit television sets, deployment of modern technology for security purposes including drones must be effected immediately,” the group said.

Afenifere explained that its position was motivated by the recent reports of banditry and kidnapping in Ogun, Edo, Ekiti, Oyo, Kogi, Zamfara and Niger States, respectively, which made a research organisation declare Nigeria as one of the top nations where kidnap ranks highest globally.

Afenifere noted that Fulani herders and farmers’ clashes kept occurring in Osun, Ondo and Oyo states, adding that Otu, Igbeti and Alaga in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State were the latest victims.

The socio-political group also said: “In order to end insecurity, enhance people’s welfare and ensure the sustenance of Nigeria as one of the top investment destinations in Africa as desired by the government, there is the urgent need by the federal government and security agencies to be more

entire African continent.

The Africa’s richest man who vowed to make Africa self-sufficient in fertiliser production within a maximum of four years, added that the continent will also not need to import potash, phosphate, and urea in the next 20 months.

Arise Television quoted Dangote as saying these as a panelist, while expressing optimism in the transformation of Africa’s energy landscape, at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali on Friday.

“Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline (petrol) and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre,” he declared.

While enumerating the company's successes in ensuring that Africa becomes self-sufficient in the energy sector, Dangote explained: “We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa, diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa. We have enough aviation fuel to give to the entire continent and also export some to Brazil and Mexico.

“Today, our polypropylene and our polyethene will meet the entire demand of Africa and we are doing base oil, which is like engine oil, we are doing

innovative and decisive.”

It lamented that banditry, including armed robbery, kidnapping was still occurring on South-west roads such as Lagos-Ibadan, Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode; Akure-Ilesa-Ibadan; Ore-Ijebu Ode-Lagos, Ikirun-Osogbo-Ilesa; Lokoja-Abuja, Owo-Benin and Ibadan-Iseyin-Saki.

“Latest reports have it that on Monday, May 13, eight cocoa farmers were kidnapped at Marindoti Cocoa Farmers’ settlement in Ovia South-west Local Government Area of Edo State. Three students of Millicent Secondary School in the same area on their way to write their Senior Secondary School Examination, were also kidnapped at the same time.

“A sum of N31 million was reportedly paid to ransom three people who were kidnapped at Longe village on Ibadan-IjebuOde Road last week Sunday. On Thursday, May 16, one Seliat Adeniji (nee Raji) was kidnapped in her Ebedi home in Iseyin, Oyo State. Her guard was killed in the process.

“Hon Bello Hassan representing Zurmi/Shinkafi Federal Constituency in the House of

linear benzyl, which is raw material to produce detergent. We have 1.4 billion people in the population, nobody is producing that in Africa.

“So, all the raw materials for our detergents are imported. We are producing that raw material to make Africa self-sufficient.

“As I said, give us three or a maximum of four years and Africa will not, I repeat, not import any more fertiliser from anywhere. We will make Africa self-sufficient in potash, phosphate, and urea, we are at three million tonnes and in the next 20 months, we will be at six million tonnes of urea which is the entire capacity of Egypt. We are getting there.”

Dangote recalled how his dream for further investment in Africa as well as ending fuel importation in Africa has culminated in what is now one of the biggest refineries in the world.

“For some of us, despite the boom of the capital market of the US, you know, Google, Microsoft and the rest, we didn’t participate, we took all our money and invested in Africa.

“We had this dream, just about five years ago and we said we want to move from five billion (dollars) revenue to thirty billion revenue and we made it happen. It is possible and now we have made it happen

Representatives last Tuesday claimed that terrorists have sacked about 50 communities and abducted over 500 people in his area of Zamfara State as bandits overran Zurmi, the second most populous town in the state killing palace officers as well as policemen,” the group added.

Afenifere said that there was an urgent need to dig deep into the roots of the menace and to be decisive in applying the necessary measures

“The starting point is to probe into the motivation for kidnapping and related banditry. Three identified motives are economic, ideology and politics. Each of these has sub-strata and sometimes intertwine.

“For instance, the economic factor of banditry could have territorial claims as an underpinning. It can also be as a result of some interests wanting to assert political superiority. These are relatively easier to deal with if the authorities and the people in the given area are committed to dealing with it.

“The other aspect is one based on ideology. Most of the time such an ideology is religious or

and now we have finished our refinery.

“Our refinery is quite big; it is something that we believe that Africa needs. If you look at the whole continent, there are only two countries that don’t import petroleum products, which is a tragedy. They are only Algeria and Libya. The rest are all importers. So, we need to change and make sure that we don’t just go and produce raw materials, we should also produce finished products and create jobs.

Speaking further, the African richest man said, “One of the things we also need to know as Africans is that we produce raw materials and export them when you export raw materials and somebody now keeps importing things into your continent and dumping goods. What you are importing is poverty and exporting jobs. So, we have to change that narrative.”

“We just commissioned in February and now we are producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel and by next month, we will be producing gasoline. What that would do is that we would be taking most of the African crude that is being produced and also be able to supply not only Nigeria, because our capacity is too big for Nigeria, but it would also supply West Africa, Central

faith-based. In a situation where a given people are brainwashed to believe that only those who share the same ideology with them are qualified to live freely, the authorities and the society have a lot of work to do.

“As stated inter alia, sometimes the line between economic, ideological and political reasons for terrorism or kidnapping got blurred. While the reason may sometimes not be so clear-cut, the means of subduing the menace can be handy if the authorities are desirous of putting an end to the menace.

“The starting point is within and around the communities where the menace is rampant. As we stated in our earlier submissions on this issue, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, cultism etc. kept occurring because people are aiding and abetting the perpetrators wittingly and unwittingly. As such, it is imperative to induce, if not impose, town-hall meetings in which residents in specific places would be compelled to talk to themselves, identify themselves and be made to enter into covenants of peaceful co-existence with one another,” Afenifere explained.

Africa and also South Africa.

“We have 650,000 barrels per day, 1 million tonnes of polypropylene, we have 590,000 carbon black, that is the raw materials ink, dyes and co. We are expanding more. This is the first phase and we are going out to the next phase which will start early next year.”

Dangote noted that there was pushback, adding however that failure was not an option.

“The pushback was very impactful because there are people who have actually been used to just making money trading without refinery and you know, to get people who are committed to Africa has to be people that believe in investing in Africa because the companies that are operating today are actually not investing, and some of the issues of stopping that investment is going to impact us, not today but in the future, which means our oil production will continue to go down because in oil unless you keep investing, the production is going to go down.

“So, that is the issue. The major burden on us was that there is no room for failure because we were the EPC contractors and 90 per cent of people never believed that we were going to deliver but we have been able to deliver now,” he explained.

STRATEGIC CONSULTATION…

L-R: First Lady of Edo State, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki; governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Mr. Asue Ighodalo; his running mate,

during a meeting with the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Benin-City…yesterday

Ogie;

Fubara: My One Year Achievements Beat Previous Eight-year Record

Says governance began only three months ago due to crisis

Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that the achievements of his administration within the past one year exceeded the performance of the previous administration in eight years.

Fubara however lamented that his administration only settled down to work three months ago due to the political crisis rocking the state.

The governor spoke at Ngo Town during the official inauguration of the Andoni section of the Ogoni-AndoniOpobo Unity Road project, in Andoni Local Government Area of the state

yesterday.

The governor insisted that the accomplishments were secured within three months that his administration had actually settled down to work, given the festering political crisis.

Revealing what would be done soon in the health sector, Fubara said it was appalling that recent statistics classified the state as below the set benchmark in terms of enrollments and health facility availability.

The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Nelson Chukwudi, assured that in the next six months, the people of the state should expect to see evidence of significant

investment that his administration had made to change the narrative.

He said: “I was at the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) meeting on Wednesday, and we were given an update from the chart on the medical position of all the states. It was in zones.

“You won’t believe that in that chart, everything that has to do with enrollment, even the level of facilities that is on ground in that assessment, Rivers State was classified as below benchmark. It is a pity.

“It is not something that just happened in a day. It is not something that just happened within my time

in government. No, no. It is statistics collated over a period of time. So, it means when we tell you that our target is education, healthcare and agriculture, we didn’t make any mistake.

“We might have done other things, but those key areas have not been adequately attended to. And we promise our people this afternoon that by the special grace of God, in the next six months, there will be a total change in the health sector of Rivers State.”

Fubara applauded the initiator of the project and former governor Peter Odili and successive administrations

NSIB Links Dana Air Incident to Failed Landing Gear

Chinedu Eze

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has linked the skidding of the runway by a Dana Air aircraft with registration no: 5N-BKI, to failed Nose Landing Gear, according to its preliminary report on the incident, which was obtained by journalists yesterday.

The Dana aircraft skidded off the Lagos airport runway on April 23, 2024, resulting in the immediate suspension of the airline from air operation by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

In its report, NSIB revealed how severe vibration accompanied by a loud noise from the Nose Landing Gear area of the aircraft was noticed “and on reaching 80

knots, the captain of the aircraft also observed the collapse of the NLG, followed by a loss of directional control.”

The report further added the loss of directional control made the aircraft veer off to the left and exit the runway.

The report showed that the aircraft was in contact with the control tower of the airport and sought clearance to land before it started its move of touching the ground of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

The report reads:

“According to the captain, the landing was soft. During the Landing Roll, the Captain deployed Speed Brakes, after which Thrust Reversers were deployed, and the nose of

the aircraft was lowered.

“At this point, the crew stated that severe vibration was accompanied by a loud noise from the NLG area. On reaching 80 knots, the captain noticed the collapse of the NLG, followed by a loss of directional control.

“The aircraft then veered off to the left and exited the runway at about 2,094 m from the threshold. It continued on the grass verge, crossed the paved Link 6, and stopped at about 2,343 m from the threshold, about 36 m from the runway centreline.

“Upon the final stop of the aircraft, the captain shut down the engines and commanded evacuation through the Forward Service Door due to safety concerns on the Main

Entry Door side. The Cabin Crew opened the Forward Service Door, and the Escape Slide was deployed. All occupants evacuated without any injury. N – BKI 3,” the report explained.

In April, the management of Dana Air confirmed that one of its aircraft with registration number 5N BKI skidded off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

The management noted that the aircraft that flew from Abuja to Lagos skidded off the runway in an attempt to land.

It also stated that no casualty was recorded, adding that it had informed the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and NCAA of the incident.

FG to Overhaul School Infrastructure as Shettima Launches North-east Initiative

The federal government has launched an ambitious multi-year Accelerated Senior Secondary Education Programme (ASSEP) targeted at overhauling school infrastructure, modernising curricula and integrating virtual learning technologies.

The initiative is a major policy drive to bridge the gaping educational divide in the country, beginning from the North-east region.

Unveiling the initiative in Bauchi yesterday, Vice President Kashim Shettima said the comprehensive,

phased programme aims to rapidly upgrade secondary education across three core pillars, including enhancing access to tertiary institutions, imparting marketrelevant skills, and upskilling teachers to stay ahead of disruptive innovations like artificial intelligence.

Shettima, according to a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Stanley Nkwocha, emphasised that the initiative directly addresses President Bola Tinubu's vision to confront the North-east's multifaceted challenges - from the security crisis to stagnant human

capital outcomes. According to him, each person's current position was due to the privilege of education made possible by someone along the way who provided an environment for learning and incentives to continue, a tradition, he said, must not be broken.

In his address entitled, "Bridging the Gap: Transforming Education in the North-east, "the vice president declared that they had assembled to undertake the noble mission of safeguarding the educational opportunities that had empowered

successive generations to achieve their current standing.

He noted the vast disparity in quality of life between those who embrace education and those who do not serve as a glaring and lasting reminder of the profound benefits education provides.

Stating that surveys are needed to highlight this difference, as it is evident across all facets of society, Shettima pointed out that the North-east sub-region, in particular, had been a victim of the collective failure to implement uniform policies driving school enrolment.

that contributed their quota in realising the Unity Road, for the people.

Fubara said that his driving principle remained putting the people first and vowed not to renege on the promise of internal roads that he made to Andoni people during campaigns.

The governor directed the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works, to liaise with Monier Construction Company (MCC) to do scoping for commencement of reconstruction of Ngo internal roads and new contract for extension of the road to Oyorokoto Town.

He said: “But, I just want to say this: what is important today is the section of the Unity Road that connects Andoni to Ogoni and Opobo/Nkoro has come to reality. That is the important thing.

“We have to thank first, the initiator, Dr. Peter Odili. We have to thank other successive governments, which also contributed before we finally made this day to be.

“It is important we set this record

straight. The Permanent Secretary has mentioned the cost of the job and the review cost. The beauty of it is that we are not owing any dime on this particular project.” In his welcome address, the member representing Andoni-Opobo/ Nkoro Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, said the road is less than 30kilometers long but regrettably took three different contractors to deliver it after 24 years.

Abiante explained that this was the first time, since the dawn of the current democratic dispensation, that the Andoni people would gather for an inauguration of a development project within Ogbolo land. He expressed gratitude to Fubara for making it happen and said that more critical infrastructure projects were needed in the area to place the people in good position to be part of activities in the blue economy sector, whose potentials abound in the area.

CCECC Hands over Phase 1 of $50m UniversityTransportation in Daura to FG

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The China Civil Construction Company (CCECC) yesterday handed over the phase one of the $50 million Federal University of Transportation Daura, Katsina State to the federal government.

The Chairman of CCECC, Jason Zhang, hinted that the completion of the university marked a significant milestone in the realisation and dedication through the deliverance of the long-expected vision, noting that the existence of the university would strengthen the relationship between Nigeria and the Republic of China.

According to him, "Federal University of Transportation, Daura is an investment by CCECC with a total amount of $50 million as one of the ways to give back to Nigeria and to help in technical advancement."

During the handover in Abuja, Zhang explained that the implementation of the project has provided more than 600 jobs, while many technical exchange programmes were also conducted.

Responding, the Minister of Transportation, Seidu Ahmed Alkali, who hosted the handing-over

ceremony of the Federal University of Transportation, Nigeria (Phase 1), which was built by CCECC and donated to Nigeria, stated that the completion of the university was indeed a huge achievement and of significant value for economic growth and social well-being through societal development.

Building the university, he said, was part of the corporate social responsibility of the Chinese contracting firm, CCECC.

During his remarks, Alkali stated that in addition to the giant project, the CCECC had also built the Kajola Rail Wagon Assembly Plant in Oyo State. He disclosed further that the corporation sponsored about 200 Nigerian undergraduate students in various Chinese universities and supplied medical equipment worth millions of naira to Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of corporate social responsibility.

Describing the Federal University of Transportation, Alkali said: "It is unique in form, standard in structure and has satisfied the requirement of the National Universities Commission (NUC), which attracted the enactment of its establishment Act No. 34 of 2022."

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

Blessing

Osarodion

and Senior Pastor, Trinity House, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo,

LET THERE BE GAS…

L-R: Managing Director, Nigerian Gas Marketing Company, Mr. Justin Ezeala; Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari; and Imo State Commissioner for Petroleum and Natural Gas Development, Mr. Emeka Mgbudem, at the inauguration of the ANOH Gas facility by President Bola Tinubu in Ohaji Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State…recently

With Sudden Announcement of Subsidy Removal, Nigeria Collapsed Under Tinubu, Says Babachir Lawal

Insists CNG vehicles can’t work in Nigeria except FG provides the framework

Chuks Okocha in

Abuja

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal, has said the announcement of fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu on the day of his inauguration on May 29, 2023, led to the collapse of Nigeria.

This is just as he said that the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles will not work in Nigeria unless the federal government provides the framework for its functionality.

Lawal said the shocking announcement plunged the country into economic malady, noting that the policy was launched before the cabinet was assembled.

The former SGF said this while

discussing the state of the nation on an online television.

According to him, the announcement of the elimination of gasoline subsidies increased the cost of transportation, which is the primary source of income for both the rich and the poor in Nigeria.

Describing the action taken on May 29, Lawal said the nonexistence of the cabinet and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to address the consequences of such a harsh policy was the undoing of Tinubu’s administration, leading to a total collapse of the country.

“I can only repeat what I said before. I’ve spoken about this before. First of all, I did say one time you came into government on the day

Insecurity Forcing Manufacturers to Shut down Operations, MAN Cries out

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, has raised the alarm that insecurity has forced many of their members to shut down their operations.

Ajayi-Kadir who revealed this in a recent television interview, added that manufacturers are spending more to address security challenges than on taxes to government.

He also included multiple taxations and high energy cost among the major challenges manufacturers are facing in Nigeria.

Ajayi-Kadir urged the federal government to provide solutions to the unintended consequences of its reform policies in order to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s manufacturing sector.

He said: “Insecurity is a major challenge. I can tell you that we lost between 56 to 60 per cent of our members in the North-east to insecurity. They just stopped production.

“I can tell you that what some of us pay for security is more than the taxes that we pay to the government because it (security expense) has to be a continuous basis.

“Insecurity is a very serious challenge that we face. Insecurity is a disincentive to manufacturing just like any other business and so government needs to step up activities.

“There’s no doubt that this current administration is doing a lot. Some of

us are aware of what is being done but we need to do more and there’s a sense of urgency in this because we need all that we can muster to be able to get out of this process.”

Ajayi-Kadir stated that the Nigerian business environment is tough, adding that the reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration have thrown up issues that should be dealt with quickly to be able to get the economy back on track and ensure that these reforms would lead to gains that they were intended.

He said: “That is what is very important. There is no doubt that we needed to float the forex rate and remove subsidy. But how do we deal with the negative fallout? How do we ensure that businesses survive?

“That can only happen if you engage effectively, adequately and truthfully with those who operate in that sector for you to get the necessary feedback.

“You’ll achieve your objective faster with lesser pain and with less adjustment period because everybody needs an adjustment period, both government and the private sector.

“So, I think these are tough times. We need our thinking caps on and for all hands to be on deck, particularly government cooperating with the stakeholders so that we are able to go through the period that is obviously tough, not only for businesses but for individuals in the country,” he explained.

you were inaugurated,” he said.

“After swearing in you embark on the first major policies that are very impactful on the lives of the society. It is like a cowboy, or macho man removing subsidies. At that time, he didn’t have a minister of planning, who should plan the outcome, and the consequences to take care.

“You don’t have a minister of finance who will calculate the impact of this society. You did not even have the federal executive council that will approve that, you have nothing. As at that time, nobody to advise you, nobody to break out ‘what ifs’”.

Speaking further, he said, “So immediately after that inauguration, Nigeria collapsed. It is like a balloon. Nigeria fell down. It deflated completely. Immediately transportation (fare) tripled,” he insisted.

“That week! I used to buy animal feed for my cows from Zaria, I used to pay N270,000 per truck.

Immediately that week, I couldn’t buy anymore, because transportation alone was going to cost me N1 million,” he explained, citing his personal experience as a farmer.

“I couldn’t afford it because the cost of fuel just jumped up. Everything.

Last week I bought some equipment for my farm. I wanted to transport it from Kano, they were asking me to pay N3 million to transport three tractors and only to be put in a trailer. One trailer carrying three tractors! Everything has gone up. So that policy alone crashed everything.”

Meanwhile, Lawal has said that the use of CNG vehicles will not work in Nigeria except the federal government provides the framework for its functionality.

He said the government needs to put in place the necessary infrastructure that will lubricate the effectiveness of the CNG vehicles, or else it will be catastrophic.

Recall that President Tinubu had directed Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to start converting all petrol or diesel-powered vehicles or generators to CNG.

The president gave the new directive “in line with his commitment to ensure energy security, drive utility, and cut high fuel costs,” according to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale.

The government also stated that the CNG-powered buses would be displayed to the public

on May 29, 2024, when the current administration will complete one year.

But the former SGF said it is not sustainable, alleging that it is a means for the governors and other government officials to mismanage the nation’s resources.

He also said there have to be gas stations everywhere in the country on the highway so that one can go there to refill whenever the vehicles run out of gas.

He said: “They will display for who? The last time they gave money to the governors to buy buses, they called it palliatives, isn’t it?

“I’ve seen one bus in my state, in Adamawa. I’ve seen one bus plying my Mubi-Yola. I took note of the number. I saw one, I’ve not seen any other one. Sometimes, we go to provide solutions that don’t make sense.

“The other day, I was talking to one of the ministers and was complaining about the cost of diesel which is spent on tractors every week. I spent about 75 litres of diesel on my farm. And that’s a lot of money. Yesterday I bought two drums of diesel which were 50 litres. I bought it for N700,000, and it lasts for one week if I’m lucky.

“When I complained, he said ‘convert your tractors to CNG’. I’m an engineer, then I asked, where in Adamawa will I get the gas? Or where am I going to get it if I’m going to Abuja and run out of gas? Where will I get the gas from? So the infrastructure must be on the ground.”

Speaking further, Lawal said: “Typical government. They talk, they talk grammar, and they leave out the implementation which should have seen the filling stations first. Let’s see the filling stations first. Let them be all over the place.

“He (Tinubu) is putting the cart before the horse. Let’s see the infrastructure for refilling the gas. If I go buy a car or convert my car to CNG, and maybe run out of gas on my way, what do I do? Park the car and come back to Abuja with the cylinder on my head. So, there must be filling stations along the road.

“The argument is that it is cheaper and more efficient than… that is the argument. I’ve seen some vehicles that use gas, the Dangote trucks, they carry hefty cylinders, and even if it runs out of gas in Mubi, he runs to Yola. At least that’s how they do their own,” he added.

FG Warns against Recruitment of Unqualified Teachers as 12,539 Write Qualifying Exam

The federal government through the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has warned state government and owners of private institutions against the recruitment of individuals without the requisite TRCN certification and licensing to practice as teachers across primary to tertiary levels of education.

On yesterday, 12,539 candidates sat for the May Diet of the Teachers’ Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE) conducted by the TRCN across the country.

Director, Certification and Licensing, TRCN, Dr. Jacinta Ezeahurukwe, who spoke with newsmen yesterday during the monitoring of the conduct of the examination at SASCON International School, Abuja, insisted that the teachers’ qualifying examination introduced in 2017 has come to stay.

Benue State made a surprise quantum leap with 1,416 candidates, topping applicants from other States including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the highest number

of registered candidates for the examination.

She said the PQE, which was designed to test the professional knowledge of those in the teaching profession, was a prerequisite for licensing and certification of teachers before being allowed to teach in the classrooms in Nigeria.

Ezeahurukwe said: “At the stage we are at now, we are making sure that every state and any organisation that has to recruit any teacher from primary to tertiary must ensure that only qualified teachers are recruited, and for that person to be certified as a qualified teacher, you must go through these processes.’

“The Professional Qualifying Examination for teachers who are to be registered and licenced as professional teachers in Nigeria takes place two times every year, Batch ‘A’ and Batch ‘B’. We take Batch A in May–June and Batch B in November.

“So, this year, 2024, we are taking Batch A of the set that has registered for the examination in May. This

examination has started nationwide since Thursday. Some people took the examination in their states on Thursday, some others on Friday, and Saturday being the main day, the examination is going on in all the states of the Federation and FCT.”

While giving statistics on the registration of candidates for the examination, the director revealed that a total of 12,539 candidates registered to participate in the examination nationwide.

According to her, about 650 candidates registered for the examination in FCT, while the state that had the highest number of registered candidates happened to be Benue State, which used to have a very low number of registered candidates in the past.

He added: “Benue is just coming; before now, Benue had been somewhere down the ladder, but in recent times, the state has come up. Benue has the highest number this year, which is 1,416 candidates, and they started the examination yesterday. We make sure that we

do not have too many people by batching them so as to have a smooth and credible examination.

“Osun State followed Benue closely with 1,410. Osun used to be the first, most often. Two states have the lowest number of registered candidates: Cross River 59 and Ebony State 69.” She noted that the impact of the examination was being felt widely, which is why the coverage of the examination has been on the increase annually.

Ezeahurukwe observed that the total number of candidates who register for the examination has been on the decrease because the Council has been able to register and license quite a number of teachers, unlike when the PQE was introduced in 2017 and there was a surge in people who wanted to sit the examination.

She further explained that TRCN now conducts professional qualifying examinations and inductions for prospective teachers at the point of graduation from colleges of education and faculties of education in universities.

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

PROMOTING HOSPITALITY BUSINESS…

L-R: Independent Non-Executive Director, Capital Hotel Plc, owners of Abuja Continental Hotel, Nurudeen Abubakar; Managing Director, Ravi Bachu; Non-Executive Directors: Chuma

Abdulkadir Aminu; Paul Obi; and Company Secretary, Alex Ugwuanyi, during the 43rd Annual General Meeting held in Abuja…recently

In a 12-point Communique, North-east Governors Decry

Neglect of Region, Demand Allocation of Capital Projects

Lament poor state of Enugu – Maiduguri highway Accuse TCN of neglect of power facilities

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

Governors of the six North-east states have decried the neglect of the region and called on the federal government to address the issue of sidelining the zone in the allocation of capital projects.

The North-east, which comprises Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe states, is adjudged the least developed in the country, the situation is further compounded by the Boko Haram crisis, which has turned the area to seekers of humanitarian assistance.

Rising from the 10th meeting of the North-east Governors’ Forum (NEGF) on Friday in Bauchi, the six governors under the leadership of Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum issued a 12-point communique.

One of the major points of the communique is the forum’s concern “over the seeming

neglect of the Northeast in the allocation of federal government capital projects.”

It noted the state of infrastructure in the region, especially the poor road and railway infrastructure along the economic corridors that link the northeast sub-region to the rest of the country, which has been consistently echoed in all its communiques over the years.

The governors lamented that both the road and railway from Enugu to Maiduguri are in a deplorable state, noting that: “This is a major route for regional trade and is very important for integration, peace-building and improving national unity.”

The governors alleged that the North-east region is also not included in the National Infrastructure Plan for the transition from petrol to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

While calling on the federal government to consider the

reconstruction of these basic infrastructure along the EnuguMaiduguri Economic Corridor, the governors also demanded the inclusion of the North-east in all National Development Plans and initiatives.

The forum also noted with dismay the blackout experienced by the region over the last month and the nonchalant attitude exhibited by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in addressing this issue of national importance for the security and development of the country.

The forum noted that it is keenly watching the commitment made by TCN to restore power to all the states of the region by May 27, 2024.

It urged the federal government to direct TCN to take immediate action while noting that it plans to set up a solar power plant that can generate a minimum of 10 megawatts per state.

The forum also complained that the North-east is the only

region in Nigeria that has one transmission line supplying six states with a land mass of nearly 300,000 square kilometres and a population of over 35 million people.

According to the governor, this has made the region the most vulnerable and most disadvantaged for industrial development and economic growth, with over 70 per cent of its population below 35 years of age.

The governors called on the Minister of Power and indeed the federal government as a matter of urgency to implement the extension of the 330KV transmission line from Makurdi-Gassol–Jalingo linking to Adamawa-Gombe-Bauchi and the extension of the 330KV line from Kano-Bauchi-Yobe, linking to Borno.

The forum, however, resolved to maximise the existing hydropower generated in Kashimbilla and Dadin Kowa dam, which the region has not been benefiting from because

Women Stage Protest against Alleged Return of Armed Okuama Youths in Delta

Sylvester

The women of Okoloba community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State at the weekend protested against what they called the return of armed youths of Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area, who they alleged were threatening the peace of the riverine area.

The placard-carrying women, led by the chairlady of the Okoloba community, Mrs Timipakebi Goodwin, and secretary, Mrs. Mary Koibi, staged a peaceful protest along the coastal fringe of Okoloba community, chanting against violence and bloodbath, as well as sending an S.O.S. to the federal government to come to their aid.

Some inscriptions on the placards read: ‘We say No to violence’, ‘Enough of the killings

on our land’, ‘Armed Okuama youths returning in a commandostyle’, ‘We say No to the return of armed youths of Okuama’, ‘Resettle Okuama people among their Ewu brothers in Ughelli South LGA’, ‘We mourn the killing of the 17 soldiers,’ among others.

The chairlady of Okoloba, Mrs Goodwin, while speaking to journalists, noted that the latest killing by the youths of Okuama showed that they could kill human beings at the slightest provocation.

“First, we the women of the Okoloba community sympathise with the killing of 17 soldiers and officers of the Nigerian army on a peace and rescue mission to Okuama, following the kidnap of our son. We sincerely mourn their untimely death and pray for the repose of their souls. We also pray for their families.

“However, less than 24 hours

after the exit of the troops from Okuama, a fresh crisis erupted with another neighbouring community, culminating in the killing of one person while three other persons were seriously injured. The person who was killed and those sustaining machete wounds were alleged to have gone there to loot.

“The latest killing showed that the people of Okuama can kill a human being at the slightest provocation; the sanctity of human life means nothing to them. It also shows that neighbouring Ijaw communities like Okoloba are not safe.

“So, resettling the people of Okuama in their present location, which is in-between communities in Bomadi Local Government Area, is an attempt to encourage further communal clashes and bloodbath.

“Just last week, youths of Okuama community came out of the Mein-toruabubor creek, which leads to Ewu, on three speedboats and all of them in camouflage. They shot sporadically in the air before proceeding to Okuama. They moved to and fro the creek three times, and every time they shot their guns in the air at the entrance of the creek.

“We are calling on the federal government to come to our aid, and the panacea to these incessant clashes and killings is for the government to relocate Okuama to the Ewu clan in Ughelli South Local Government Area, where they truly and rightly belong.

“Resettling them among their own people in the Ewu clan of Urhobo land will foster mutual trust among themselves as they are of the same ancestry and speak the same dialect,” the women added.

the Ministry of Power has failed to extend the 330KV line of Makurdi-Gassol-Jalingo line.

It also noted that climate change and environmental degradation remain a reality

in the region.

The forum charged the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) to be consultative in its dealings, operation, and project prioritisation.

RUSAL Defies Supreme Court Judgment, Denies BFIG Group Access to ALSCON Plant in A'Ibom

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Russian company, RUSAL, has flouted the judgment of the Supreme Court and denied the representatives of the BFIG Corporation access to the Aluminum Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) plant located in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

The BFIG group led by its President, Reuben Jaja, and representatives of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) were denied access to the plant while on an official tour to evaluate the state of the plant since the Supreme Court judgment on January 26, 2024.

The apex court had ruled in favour of the BFIG group in the suit filed by the BPE, but the RUSAL, currently managing the smelters, insisted that it had secured a judgment from the London Court of Arbitration that ALSCON had been properly privatised.

The ALSCON gate was locked and mounted by the Nigerian Army when officials of the BFIG group arrived at the premises with hordes of its workers and supporters.

It took several hours of persuasion for officials of ALSCON to allow only two representatives of BFIG to go in and hold talks with the Russians while the rest waited in the scorching sun for more than four hours.

Fielding questions from journalists at the ALSCON gate, lead counsel to the BFIG group, Chief Patrick Ikwueto (SAN), said they were in ALSCON to begin the enforcement of the Supreme Court judgment of January 26, 2024.

"We are here because following the last Supreme Court judgment over the ALSCON matter, the one that was given on the 26th of January, 2024, we had a meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation and the BPE and we agreed on many things we have to do to fully enforce the

Supreme Court judgment given on ALSCON since 2012. Part of what we agreed on was that we should have a visit to the ALSCON facility here in Ikot Abasi," he explained. Ikwueto said the BFIG representatives had limited access to the premises.

ALSCON’s Managing Director, Dmitriy Zaviyalov, had told the media during interaction in Uyo that ALSCON had never been a party to the Supreme Court, adding that it had agreed with the Nigerian government that the last court of Arbitration would be the London Court of Arbitration.

"You should understand that ALSCON is not a party to these suits in question. The BPE approached the Supreme Court taking BFIG to court, BPE is a representative of the Nigerian government that holds a small stake in ALSCON.

"Equally, you should understand that in our agreement with the Nigerian government, it was agreed that the last court of Arbitration would be the London Court of Arbitration," he said

But reacting to ALSCON's claim, Ikwueto said the Supreme Court in its last judgment, underscored that the agreement was in itself a contempt of the court.

"While we were in court in 2004 and 2006, the Russians purportedly signed an agreement with BPE. That agreement was signed while the matter was still pending before the court.

"But the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2012 was specific that there was an order of injunction perpetually restraining the BPE from negotiating, attempting, selling or transferring ALSCON to anybody. So, the Arbitration that you are talking about was based on the SPA they claimed to have signed in 2006 while the matter was pending in court.

Idown in Warri

Anosike;

COMMITTEE OF FRIENDS…

L-R: Executive Director, Red Star Express, Chief Charles Ejekam; Chief Executive Officer, Aad Renovet Limited, Mr. Chimezie Agwu; Chief Executive Officer, Rodnic Associates, Chief Reginald Anunobi; and Managing Director, Fullpage Communications Limited, Chief Ingram Osigwe, at the wedding of Damilola and Sharon Onafuwa at Amore Gardens, Lekki, Lagos…recently

Pandemonium as Soldiers, Traders Fight Dirty over Sale of Phone

It was a free-for- all yesterday when some soldiers and traders exchanged blows at the popular Banex plaza, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.

THISDAY gathered the fight was over the sale of a mobile phone.

Banex plaza was thrown into confusion over the fight as shop owners were worried over the incident.

Passersby also ran for there dear life to avoid any breakdown of law and order in the area.

While explaining what hap-

Segun James

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have finalised plans to form a new confederation, the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), marking a geopolitical shift in the region.

This move showed their departure from their former colonial ruler, France, and a turn towards closer relations with Russia.

The announcement, according to AFP, was made following a meeting of the three nations’ foreign ministers in Niger’s capital, Niamey, on Friday.

Niger’s Foreign Minister, Bakary Sangare, confirmed the

pened, Ola said: “There’s a problem at Banex now. Some soldiers came to complain about a phone, and during an argument with the traders, a fight ensued.” A viral video seen by our correspondent on X on Saturday, showed civilians overpowering some soldiers during the fight at Banex.

FCT Police Command spokesman SP Josephine Adeh said the Commissioner of Police, Benett Igweh has

deployed officers of the FCT Intelligence Response Team to the scene of the incident.

“The CP has deployed the Intelligence Response Team to the scene,” Adeh confirmed. However, the Defence Head-

quarters and spokesperson for Army, Onyema Nwachukwu could not be reached for comments as of press time.

Other security operatives were also on ground to compliment the efforts of the police in maintaining

law and order.

Some shops were closed as a result of the fracas. Normalcy has returned to the area as of the time of filing this report.

A few hours later, armed soldiers invaded the market chasing

people in different directions. Many military vans were also stationed in different spots across the market while traders locked up their respective stores. It is unclear if arrests were made at the time of filing this report.

Troops Kill Eights Terrorists, Foil Kidnap Attempt on 28 Persons

A total of eight terrorists have been killed while troops of the Nigerian Army also thwarted multiple kidnap attempts of 28 persons in Zamfara, Imo, Borno, and Sokoto states at the weekend.

The statement said the troops overwhelmed the terrorists following a firefight and forced them to abandon 27 kidnap victims.

made contact with the terrorists.

The Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Col. Nurudeen Yusuf, has lost his father.

THISDAY checks revealed that the deceased was until his death, the Elemona of Ilemona in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Oba Yusuf Omokanye Oyekanmi.

Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has

finalisation of the draft text that outlines the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the AES.

“The objective was to finalise the draft text relating to the institutionalisation and operationalisation of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States,” Sangare said.

“We can consider very clearly, today, that the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States has been born,” declared Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.

The Heads of State of the three countries will formally adopt the text at an upcoming summit, although the exact date has not been specified.

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Form New Confederation after Exiting ECOWAS Tinubu’s ADC, Yusuf, Loses 95-year-old Father in Kwara

commiserated with the people of Ilemona over the passing of the age of 95-year-old monarch. He also sent his heartfelt condolences to the sons and daughters of Ilemona, especially members of his immediate family such as the member of the Kwara State House of Assembly representing Odo-Ogun State Constituency Hon. Toye Yusuf and as well as Col. Nurudeen Yusuf.

The Nigerian Army made the revelation on its official X handle (formerly Twitter), saying the troops in Zamfara State responding to a distress call about terrorists’ activities at Yar Sabiya Wuya District in the Aka local government area of the state engaged the terrorists in a fierce gun battle.

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State said his administration has reduced banditry by about 70 per cent in the last year.

The Army said one of the kidnap victims who sustained a gunshot wound was promptly evacuated to a nearby medical facility for treatment.

In the same Zamfara State, troops, following credible intelligence, carried out clearance operations in Gurusu, Kisema, and Gana Villages, Nasarawa District in Bukuyyum local government area where they

Following a firefight, troops killed two terrorists and recovered two motorcycles while others fled the scene. Similarly, in Imo State, troops on patrol around Umuaka in the Njaba local government area of the state foiled an attempted kidnap of Prince Chinonso Meremikwu.

During the operation, the troops neutralised one terrorist while two others escaped.

They also recovered one AK-47 rifle with two loaded magazines and one motorcycle from the

terrorists. In Borno State, troops conducting an offensive operation against terrorists’ enclave at Forfor Village in Damboa local government area, neutralised one terrorist and recovered one AK-47 rifle, seven rounds of 7.62 mm (Special) ammunition, and seven bicycles. Troops further explored Tuga, leading to a fierce encounter resulting in the killing of two terrorists and the recovery of another AK-47 rifle, 12 rounds of 7.62 mm (Special) ammunition, and eight bicycles.

Radda, who was on a working visit to Yola, Adamawa State, disclosed this in an interview with journalists yesterday.

He said: “It is high time to have state police included in the fight against insecurity in the country.

According to the governor, this was a sequel to the robust synergy between the local security outfits and the conventional security agencies across the state.

The Edo State chapters of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have endorsed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the September 21 governorship election, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, and his running mate, Mr. Osarodion Ogie.

The endorsement and prayer for their victory took place during the PFN’s 2024 Edo State School of Ministry at the PCU-PFN administrative headquarters by Egba Junction along the

“We have reduced the rate of banditry to about 60 to 70 per cent. What we are witnessing now is the crazy approach of the bandits going to hard-to-reach villages close to forests, burning houses, and killing people.

Benin-Auchi Road.

The event with the theme: “Walking in Dominion,” was attended by over 100 ministers from various ministries.

Edo PFN Chairman, Pastor M.O. Agbonifo, expressed the Christian body’s delight in having Ighodalo and his running mate present with them,.

She said: “We have no single doubt that they are the best pair for the top job in the state.”

She added a humorous note, recounting how another candidate had approached them

“We have developed strategies to fight it,” he said.

with a promise of a Coaster bus but delivered a Sienna, likening it to “a man promising to give a cow but delivered a goat” to which the gathering roared in laughter.

She wondered if a man who made a promise before God and failed would ever honour any promise he could have made to man.

Edo First Lady, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, who represented Governor Godwin Obaseki, expressed gratitude for the Church’s immense support

He urged governments at all levels to prioritise education for the development of the sector in Nigeria.

Radda said: “This will give opportunity to the less-privileged to access quality education at all levels.”

Radda further explained that most of the developing countries have state police that secure lives and properties.

for her husband in 2016 and 2020, and its extension to the PDP candidate.

“I correct the sacrilege committed by the other candidate by donating the Coaster bus, because we value the church and hold it in very high esteem,” she said.

Edo CAN Chairman, Apostle General, Dr. Irekpono Omoike, announced the endorsement and led the outpouring of prophetic prayers for the success and victory of Ighodalo and his running mate.

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

WEMA BANK

OFFICIALS…

FG Approves N110bn for Youth Empowerment

Juliet Akoje in Abuja

The federal government has approved N110 billion to revitalise the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) for youth empowerment in the country.

The Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio-Ibrahim, disclosed this during the closing ceremony of the ministry’s two-day management retreat on presidential priorities and deliverables with the theme: ‘Achieving the Eight Presidential Priorities and Deliverables,’ in Abuja during the weekend.

Bio-Ibrahim stated that the funds, that have been approved under the 2024 fiscal year, would serve as a cornerstone for youth empowerment.

She said the fund is not just a

financial reservoir but a catalyst for youth entrepreneurship and innovation aimed at bridging the gap between ambition and opportunity.

In a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by the Director of press and Public Relations of the ministry, Omolara Esan, the minister stated that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was committed to empowering every Nigerian youth through actionable policies and innovative programmes which align with the Renewed Hope Agenda.

The minister said: “We celebrate the rejuvenation of the National Youth Investment Fund, approved by the Federal Executive Council to restart with an allocation of N110 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. This fund

AEDC: New Presidential Metering Initiative to Unlock N1tn Revenue Tied

Abuja Distribution Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has highlighted some of the anticipated gains of the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), stating that the scheme will unlock about N1 trillion revenue currently tied up in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) due to large number of unmetered customers.

Managing Director of AEDC, Mr. Victor Ojelabi, disclosed this in Lagos during an exclusive chat with THISDAY on the sidelines of the West Africa Innovation Awards 2024, where Abuja Disco was awarded the Most Customer-focused Electricity Distribution Company of the Year.

Ojelabi said the federal government had looked at the meeting gap for all the distribution companies in Nigeria and discovered a gap of about six million that needed to be met with a total cost of about N900 billion.

He said the government is currently working out the

modalities for making the funds available to Discos to enable them to meter their customers.

Under the funding arrangement, he said the Discos would pay back the fund to the provider - the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), noting that President Bola Tinubu is particularly concerned about the success of the new meeting scheme.

He added that all the meters to be deployed under the PMI would be smart meters that would allow for remote monitoring right from the Discos to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and all the way to the generation companies (Gencos) for proper energy accounting.

Ojelabi explained: “They’ve looked at the various metering schemes that had been done in the past, Meter Asset Provider (MAP) and the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), the flaws and the shortcomings, but this new programme will address all the shortcomings.

will serve as a cornerstone for youth empowerment, bridging the gap between ambition and opportunity.

“The fund is not merely a financial reservoir but a catalyst for youth entrepreneurship and innovation. It represents our commitment to transforming the economic landscape by investing directly in the potential of our young people.

“The Federal Executive Council also approved the integration of Skills and Entrepreneurship Development into the NYIF programme; the immediate

transition of the NYIF Committee into an interim coordinating unit for project management office, pending the drafting and passing of an executive bill for the Establishment and the Institutionalisation of the National Youth Fund by the National Assembly.

“Also approved by the FEC is the investment of N5 Billion in the soon-to-be-established Youth Development Bank,” the minister added.

The minister explained that the Retail Development Financial Institution would be dedicated

to providing financial solutions tailored specifically for young entrepreneurs, youth-backed ventures, and youth-sector enterprises.

She noted that with an initial capitalisation of N10 billion, the bank was well-positioned to be a pillar of support for youth-led businesses, providing not only loans and equity but also growth, guidance, mentorship, and a network of resources.

She said: “National Youth Development Bank (NEXTGEN BANK), a pioneering effort in partnership with the Bank of

Industry, and their private sector partners, represents a ground-breaking stride towards economic independence for our youth. With an initial take-off shareholders fund of N10 billion, this institution will be instrumental in nurturing young entrepreneurs and innovators who are the bedrock of our nation’s future. The Retail Development Financial Institution will be dedicated to providing financial solutions tailored specifically for young entrepreneurs, youth-backed ventures and youth sector enterprises.

Soludo Tackles Ajaero, Denies Inciting Other Governors over N70,000 Minimum Wage

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has faulted the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, over his comments that the governor incited other state governors against the payment of the proposed N70,000 minimum wage.

Ajaero had, in an interview on national television and through a letter of notice of industrial action, accused Soludo of operating anti-worker policies and allegedly inciting other state

governors against the payment of the proposed N70,000 minimum wage by the NLC.

He further issued a week’s ultimatum and strike notice over the purported failure of the state government to pay the 2019 national minimum wage of N30,000, unresolved contributory pension deductions, and the cessation of an N12,000 special palliative allowance, among others.

But reacting to the development, Soludo, through his Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, in a press statement, issued at the weekend, faulted Ajaero’s

allegations, insisting that he has improved the welfare and working conditions of workers in the state since he assumed office in March 2022.

The statement read: “In fact, at no time did Soludo incite or influence other state governors against paying the proposed N70,000 minimum wage. Instead, he has always been sensitive to the welfare of workers. Even as the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, he was quite responsive to staff wellbeing.

“Meanwhile, some of his government’s labour-friendly poli-

cies and achievements over the past two years as state governor include the increase in salaries as he was the first governor in Nigeria to approve a 10 per cent increase in workers’ salaries in December 2022.

“Payment of pensions and gratuities, under Soludo’s administration, pensioners have been receiving their dues promptly. The state government has consistently paid arrears of pensions and gratuities of workers in the civil service, including paying gradually the backlog inherited from previous administrations

Proprietors Seek Review of 5% Levy on FCT Schools

The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools has written the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to reconsider the imposition of a five per cent annual tax, saying it may force parents to start withdrawing their children.

This was disclosed by the association’s Chairperson, Rukayat Agboola, at the launch of the compendium of FCT schools in Abuja on Saturday evening Agboola, who expressed

concern about the sudden imposition, said that they have no doubt an imminent hike in fees resulting from the five per cent levy could worsen the burden of parents, who may be left with no choice but to withdraw their kids from school.

The Department of Quality Assurance of FCT’s Education Secretariat announced the measure in January, compelling the association to plead with Wike to intervene by reversing the

policy.

In the new tax regime, each school would be charged according to the level of tuition fees paid by pupils and students as well as the number of children on its register.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, Agboola explained that they have been forced to write the minister again to intimate him about the likely consequence of such action.

She said, “The steps taken

include the letters to the DQA, as well as the Minister of the FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike, seeking his intervention. In the letters, we made it known to the minister that any increase in the operating charges or levies on the private schools at this moment would only lead to an increase in school fees burden on parents, and by extension cause a drastic increase in the number of the out of school children in the FCT.

L-R: Chief Compliance Officer, Wema Bank, Oluwatoyin Karieren; Chairman, Board of Directors, Dr Oluwayemisi Olorunshola; Managing Director/CEO, Moruf Oseni; Executive Director, North and East Directorate, Dr. Segun

Opeke and Divisional Head, Brands, People and Culture, Ololade Ogungbenro, at the bank’s Women Network Connect session in Lagos …recently… ETOP UKUTT

Peter Uzoho

Subtle Ways Meghan Markle Embraced Her Nigerian Heritage

Vanessa Obioha

The revelation that Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, discovered her 43 per cent Nigerian heritage through an ancestry test in 2022 was met with enthusiasm by many Nigerians, who eagerly welcomed her as one of their own.

Expectedly, when it became public that she was visiting the country for the first time with her husband, Prince Harry, the connection to her progenitors was more than just a revelation—it was a journey of discovery.

One of the notable discoveries she made during this suspicious return to Motherland was Nigerian fashion. So, when she joined discussants at the Women in Leadership event co-hosted by the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, she famously declared, “And I very quickly got the memo that I need to wear more colour, so I can fit in with all of you and your incredible fashion.”

family of honouring their host country by wearing a national brand but also demonstrates her eagerness to embrace her Nigerian heritage.

However, Nigerian fashion which she acknowledged as incredible goes beyond colours. Being a multiethnic nation, Nigerian fashion encompasses a rich lineage of traditions that reflect the diverse cultural landscape of the country. From the vibrant aso-oke textiles of the Yoruba to the regal Isi agu garments of the Igbo and the intricate turbans worn by the Hausa, each attire carries deep cultural significance. Take, for instance, the Isi agu attire worn by the Igbo people, reserved primarily for those who have recently received chieftaincy titles. Symbolizing power, pride, and authority, this fabric typically features a black background adorned with motifs of roaring lion heads. Often tailored into shirts, Isi agu garments are commonly donned during significant occasions like weddings and coronation ceremonies. Isi agu was in the news recently when Air Peace signposted one of its international routes by having its air hostesses adorn the regal outfit with the bold statement, “Something unique from Nigeria.”

Not a few anticipated what the royal socialite would turn up in. She came wearing a dress by the Lagos-based fashion brand Oríré. The outfit was a red strappy midi-length dress, crafted from heavyweight crepe featuring a ruffled structured bottom as described on the fashion brand’s website. She paired this with the Aquazzura ‘So Nude’ sandals and wore Kimai semi-hoop earrings, which she first wore during the Invictus Games in Germany, last year. She completed her look with a diamond tennis necklace and gold bracelets.

Markle’s selection of this dress not only pays homage to a tradition within the royal

While Markle’s memo contained limited information about Nigerian fashion, some of the outfits she wore bore subtle yet deep connections to the country’s fashion heritage. For instance, her selection of a blue aso-oke wrap skirt for the Giant of Africa Foundation event at Ilupeju Grammar School honoured the gift presented to her in Abuja and showcased her appreciation for Nigerian craftsmanship. Markle paired the skirt, designed by Funmi Ajila of RegaliabyFAL, with a white buttoned-down collared shirt.

At the reception hosted by Lagos State Governor Babajide SanwoOlu, Markle exuded elegance in a sleeveless yellow Carolina Herrera gown. Her ensemble was further elevated by an exquisite aso-oke scarf graciously presented to her by the governor’s wife.

Despite the daring nature of some of her attire, Markle maintained her signature elegance, while gracefully embracing Nigeria’s remarkable fashion heritage.

Meghan Markle in regalia by FAL

Meghan Markle draped in an aso-oke scarf

INTERNATIONAL

PRC at 75 and Taiwan as a Cerebral Thrombosis: The Challenge before the Chinese Lagos Forum

PRC is the acronym for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) which was founded on October 1, 1949. The PRC, which celebrates its Independence Day on October 1 like Nigeria, succeeded the Republic of China (ROC) in 1949 following an insurrection against the ROC that reigned for 37 years, from 1912 through 1949. It was this insurrection that prompted the succession of the PRC and that created the current Taiwan saga which has now moved beyond being a noisome problem to being like another cerebral thrombosis, a disease or a blockage of the veins that impedes the free flow of blood to the brain.

Politically, Taiwan is. Indeed, a major headache from the perspective of how to finally resolve its future: Should Taiwan be tolerated to become a sovereign State like the PRC? Should Mainland China continue to insist on ‘One China, Two systems?’ To what extent can the avoidance of use of force be possible in resolving the dispute? On the one hand, Beijing authorities are claiming de jure sovereignty over Taiwan. Taiwan, on the other hand, wants to be separated and sovereign, based on the international rule of self-determination.

In this regard, there are two competing truths and principles. First is the conflict between Mainland China’s right as a sovereign Member State of the United Nations to ensure its self-preservation, and by so doing, enforcing its territorial integrity. In fact, the United Nations discourages any attempt at disintegration in its Member States. This means that Chinese insistence on national unity, predicated on ‘One China, Two Systems,’ is very consistent with the UN tradition.

The second truth is the question of self-determination, which originated and applied to encouragement of decolonisation. It was a principle that was meant to end the exploitation of dependent territories on their colonial masters. Put differently, the principle was initially applicable in the context of decolonisation. Today, peoples having reasons of mistreatment, denial of justice, who can claim to be victims of various reasons of victimisation, genocide, etc. in their countries are also seeking an independent status. What is the leeway for both Mainland China and Taiwan?

Taiwan as a Cerebral Thrombosis

The Second Lagos Forum took place on Thursday, 16th May, 2024 at the Chinese Golden Gate Restaurant, 25B Golden Gate Complex, 1 Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. The First Lagos Forum was organised within a quadripartite collaboration: the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Chinese Consulate General in Lagos, Africa-China Economy Magazine, and Institute of African Studies, ZNU, China. It was held at the NIIA Conference Chamber on 21st March, 2024 and themed ‘The Chinese in the Nigerian Economy: Deepening Development Cooperation towards a Shared Future, A Better World.’ By so doing, the Forum laid the foundation for further discussions on how to strengthen Nigeria-China ties. It is against this background that the holding of a second forum last May 16 should also be understood.

True enough, there are several issues in the relationship between Nigeria and China: occasional kidnapping of Chinese working on contractual basis in Nigeria, hence the problem of how to secure them; allegations of mistreatment of and discriminations against Nigerians by some Chinese companies in Nigeria; sustainability of Sino-Nigerian friendship and entente at the level of the people-to-people, etc. People talk about the Chinese acquiring massive land in Nigeria and Africa, but talk less about the great impact that the Chinese are making in the various sectors of the national and African economy.

While these concerns attract the attention of the current Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Lagos, Ms Yan Yuqin, she still shows more preoccupation for the international politics of the status of Taiwan by inviting scholars, diplomats and Chinese businessmen in Nigeria to also engage in the re-evaluation of the place of Taiwan in Sino-Nigerian bilateral ties at various levels. For instance, has Nigeria’s policy support for ‘One China, Two Systems’ changed? Assuming that an UNGAvote were to be taken

today, what is the likely attitudinal disposition of Nigeria and African States? Can China continue to rely on Nigeria based on mutual respect and assistance? Can China support Nigeria’s interest in becoming a Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council with or without the right of veto? Will there be a conditionality for such a support?

Without jot of doubt, Nigeria is on record to have always supported China’s policy of ‘One China, Two System,’ and two reasons can be simply adduced for the position. First, Nigeria cannot but seek to learn lessons from its 1967-1970 civil war experiences. The Eastern Region, under the military governorship of Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, seceded from Nigeria by force while Colonel Yakubu Gowon similarly reciprocated by seeking to maintain national unity by use of military force. The military slogan by then was ‘to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.’ Colonel Ojukwu’s use of force and Colonel Gowon’s use of counter-force led to war that is yet to come to an end. The battles or hot wars were stopped but the underlying war without battlefields and the inherent cold war is still subsisting.

For examples, there are still some ethnic groups fighting for sovereign autonomy on the same basis of self-determination. The descendants of the Old Biafra, such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisa-

On the use of force to settle the dispute, if Taiwan engages in acts of horror as a result of international aiding and abetting in order to confront Mainland China, will it be wrong if Mainland China reciprocates with an error of terror?

Put differently, in the mania of the Israeli-Hamas war in which the October 7, 2023 attack by the Hamas on Israel ignited Israeli genocidal war on the people of Palestine, will the Chinese not behave the Israeli way, despite their declared policy of peaceful settlement of the dispute? Professor Alaba Ogundanwo once theorised that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Can this always be so or true? Beijing says Taiwan is its province. Taiwan responds that it is already an independent state and does not need any formal request or approval from anyone. Thus, there is conflict between the Chinese de jure sovereignty over Taiwan and Taiwanese claim of de facto self-sovereignty. The order of de jure sovereignty versus counter-order of de facto sovereignty not only constitutes a noisome thrombosis in the relationship, but also an expression of disorderly sovereignty, the future of which cannot but be a pointer to belligerency and a bleak future

tion of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are still dreaming of a Sovereign State of Biafra. There are also the Yoruba groups asking for the establishment of an Oduduwa Republic. In this type of situation, even though some controversial reports have it that China gave some support to the Biafran war effort, the Gowonian military administration did not bother much about it by particularly adopting the post-war policy of ‘No Victor, No Vanquished’ and by also establishing formal diplomatic relations at the end of the civil war with China on February 10, 1971. Consequently, Nigeria cannot afford the luxury of supporting disintegration abroad bearing in mind the implications for the separatist agitations and implications at the domestic level. Separatist agitations constitute a sort of cerebral thrombosis for any incumbent government threatened by insurrection and are therefore unacceptable. The Chinese-Taiwan case cannot be different.

And without any whiff of doubt, the misunderstanding between Mainland China and Taiwan is not stricto-sensu about ownership of or sovereignty over Taiwan, but Taiwanese decision to opt out of Mainland China by manu militari, which Beijing does not want to accept. Western countries, especially the United States, are on record to be aiding and abetting Taiwanese intransigence. This is the noisome aspect of the issue. Historical records and international agreements do support the fact that Taiwan was and still is a constitutive part of Mainland China as a people, as a territory, and as a country. Colonisation or decolonisation of Taiwan has very little or nothing to do with the unity of culture, territorial unity of a people in spite of centrifugal politics of governance put in place. In other words, we contend here that Taiwan and Mainland China have not been disunited.

Historically, following the 1894 Japanese war of aggression on China, the Qing government was compelled to surrender Taiwan and Penghu islands to Japan.Again, following the Chinese resistance against the Japanese in the period 1931 to 1945, the PRC asked for the recovery of Taiwan. In fact, the PRC declared war on Japan on December 9, 1941. Eventually, Japan was defeated and Japan had to return both Taiwan and Peghu islands to China. It was as a result of the 1949 war that not only led to the demise of the Kuomintang government but also to its movement from Mainland China to Taiwan, a considered province of China. This was the major point around which all discussions focused at the second Lagos Forum and the Consul General of the PRC, Ms Yan Yuqin, clearly set the tune for the debate.

In her keynote address to the forum, the Consul General underscored three main points: growth and development of the bilateral ties; consideration of the bilateral relations as a bridge; and commitment of both countries to the maintenance of global peace. As regards the growth and development of the relationship, Ms Yan had it that in 1971, ‘the annual bilateral trade volume was only a few million dollars and by 2006, the figure grew to 3.13 billion dollars, while by 2023 Nigeria has become China’s largest engineering contracting market in Africa, the second largest export market, the third largest trading partner, and a major investment destination country, with the bilateral trade volume reaching a remarkable level of 22.56 billion dollars.’

In considering the bilateral relationship as a bridge, the Consul General is simply and interpretatively saying that both countries are coming from somewhere and heading elsewhere but surely transiting through a bridge. But where or what is the destination?

As she put it, the purpose of the meeting is about ‘reviewing the practical cooperation and fruitful results achieved between China and Nigeria over the 53 years on the basis of the One China principle, as well as charting the way forward for the quality enhancement and upgrading of China-Nigeria strategic partnerships.’

On commitment to global peace, especially through promotion of culture, Ms Yan made it clear that ‘China and Nigeria have always been committed to building a world of lasting peace through dialogue and consultation, a world of common security for all through joint efforts, a world of common prosperity through win-win cooperation, an open and inclusive world through exchange and mutual learning, and making our world clean and beautiful by pursuing green and low-carbon development.’ The bridge was defined in terms of mutual trust and need to widen the Chinese-Nigeria Bridge with people-to-people exchange. As the Consul General pledged, ‘we will continue to support Chinese culture being brought into Nigeria and encourage Nigeria’s Afrobeat, the Yoruba-Igbo-Hausa three major ethnic dances, and Nigerian cuisines to be brought into China.’ These points actually set the tune for the inquiry into Taiwan’s future that followed.

What Future for Taiwan?

Views on what the future has for Taiwan were mixed for reasons of psychology of human differences. Associate Professor Efem Ubi of the NIIA rightly recalled that Taiwan was a Prefecture of China under Fujian Province in 1885 and later became a Province of China Qing Dynasty in the 20th Century. This point clearly underscores the fact that, in terms of indigeneity, Taiwan was Chinese and still is in light of the UNGA Resolution 2758 of 1971 which accepted the Government of Mainland China as the only representative of China. The UNGA rejected the notion of two Chinas.

Yan Yuan

Editor: Festus Akanbi

08038588469 Email:festus.akanbi@thisdaylive.com

Road Conditions Crippling Business, Inflating Food Costs

The urgency of road rehabilitation in Nigeria do not only lie in improving transportation infrastructure, but to enhance economic growth, mobility and safety for citizens, Festus Akanbi writes

Like every other region of the world, Nigeria is experiencing heavy rainfall in many parts of the country.

It is a season that farmers always look out for as the rainy season usually triggers a feverish planting exercise which also guarantees abundant food production.

In a country where unabating insecurity has chased away a high percentage of farmers from farmlands, analysts said the downpours being experienced in various parts of the country may not translate to a bumper harvest for farmers at the end of the day.

The state of Nigeria’s roads represents a critical bottleneck to the country’s economic development. The impact ripples through various and constraining growth opportunities.

Of all the critical roads in the country, only the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway can be said to be motorable. Others are deplorable.

The reality is with most potential farmers being chased away by insurgents and kidnappers, the the fruits of their hard work as the problem of bad roads is standing between them and the markets where customers are waiting. has worsened the case for farmers on the one hand, and Nigerian households who need farm produce for consumption, on the other, as the attendant higher transportation costs are placing these farm products above the reach of many people.

Harvests of Dilapidated Roads

From the north to the west, east, and south of the country, various horrible roads are wreaking havoc on enterprises, their managers, and the economic activity that roads were designed to support.

From whichever location one decides to assess the conditions of the Nigerian roads, the story is pathetic. From the bypass in Benin, Edo State connecting the Sapele Road to Upper Sokponba terminating at the Benin-Lagos Expressway, all within the south-south region of the country, it is a litany of woes.

with a section from the Urokuosa community near Benin City to Ewu, in Edo Central most hit. The Okpella to Okene route in Kogi State does not fare much better.

successive governments turning deaf ears to the cries of the people. Other parts of the state including the famous Sango-Ota area also apcondition of the road and the attendant setback to businesses.way, Lagos-Badagry-Seme Expressway, East-West

toration of the country’s outdated roads, another point of contention is the priority given to the

the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi advised the federal government to prioritise existcountry instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal

tears for the kind of pain our people are going

rible state of roads across the country include small, medium, and large organisations. These businesses include transporters, importers, exporters, manufacturers, haulage companies, marketers as well as farmers to mention a few.

saying that the deplorable state of the roads

leading to consumers’ apathy. Thus, we are not able to sell as we should. This is because when we put the cost on our end product, the price becomes higher.

about the ongoing challenges faced by businesses in Nigeria, particularly, those operating in the logistics and transportation sector. highlighted by transporters is the alarming delays experienced by their drivers on federal highways due to the dilapidation of the road

in addition to the impact of foreign exchange

to make possible intra and inter-trade in Nigeria, but these roads are in a state of disrepair.

Misplaced Priority

While Nigerians argue for the immediate res-

of coastal superhighway infrastructure, advised that the government prioritise the existing infranumerous uncompleted roads scattered across the country, many of which have become death traps and security risks.

Businesses Count Losses

remains that Nigerian roads are in a terrible state. captured the dreadful state of these roads after information about the state of federal roads. on certain roads, which have collapsed, I have to liken the situation to a man on life support. The man needs immediate attention. Where there is an emergency, the road is cut and the people emergency. So, we appeal for a contingency to

to him, it hampers the ability to connect one part of the country with another smoothly. trailers fall on the road with cost implications for both the transporters and owners of the goods. If there is anything this government

succeed in this, 80 per cent of our problems

Kadir, said that sometimes consignments are lost to accident on the way to being delivered to the wholesalers due to dilapidated roads. especially those being moved from remote some cases because of the breakdown of the raw materials, when the vehicle conveying them upturned.

Movement of Agricultural Products

highly dependent on available road networks. of access to good roads resulting in the inability of most farmers to transport their goods to available markets leading to loss of perishable farm produce. The industrial sector is not left behind as a bridge the gap between the place of production

One can only ask the federal, state, and local governments to prioritise road repair implemented can reach the most vulnerable. The importance of road repair in Nigeria rests in enhancing transportation infrastructure to safety.

Nigerians going through stress on the road

Lessons from Dana Air’s Travails

The ongoing audit of Dana Air by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the airline’s disengagement of most of its staff have fueled uncertainty about its future, casting light on the short life span of Nigerian carriers. Chinedu Eze writes that the government should review its policies on air transport and remove the hindrances to the growth of domestic airlines

PROPERTY

Understanding Property Titles and Documents in Nigeria

Dennis Isong

Being a property owner in Nigeria is a big accomplishment and a wise investment. However, managing the complexity of property ownership necessitates a thorough comprehension of papers and property titles. These records are vital for preserving of ownership. This article explores the several kinds of property titles and documents that are available in Nigeria, transactions.

document when it comes to land ownership in Nigeria. It is issued by the state government and serves as proof the applicant applying to the state government, which then conducts due diligence to verify the legitimacy the holder exclusive rights to use and develop the land.

A Deed of Assignment is a legal document that transfers ownership of property from one party to another. It typically outlines the details of the transfer, including the names of the parties involved, a description of the property, and any conditions or considerations attached to the transfer. This document is crucial for formalizing the sale or transfer of property rights and should be duly executed and registered with the appropriate government authority to ensure its validity.

Similar to a Deed of Assignment, a Deed of Conveyance is used to transfer ownership of property. However, unlike the Deed of Assignment, which is commonly used for the transfer of leasehold interests, the Deed of Conveyance is used for the transfer of freehold interests. It is typically executed between the seller (grantor) and the buyer (grantee) and includes details such as the purchase price, description of the property, and any covenants or warranties.

A Survey Plan is a document that shows the accurate boundaries and measurements of a piece of land. It is prepared by a licensed surveyor and is essential for veri- fying the exact location and dimensions of a property. A Survey Plan is often required during the process ofship to ensure that there are no boundary disputes or encroachments.

A Power of Attorney is a legal document that grants someone else the authority to act on behalf of the property owner. It is commonly used in situations where the property

absence, or other reasons. A Power of Attorney can be limited or general in scope, depending on the

Investment

Property titles serve as incontrovertible evidence of legal ownership. They establish the rightful owner of the property and delineate the boundaries of their ownership rights. Without a valid title, one cannot claim ownership of a property, leaving them vulnerable to disputes and challenges regarding ownership.

Property titles protect encroachments and unaushield against potential disputes, ensuring that the owner’s rights are recognized and respected by others. assert their ownership rights and defend against any attempts to infringe upon them.

Clear and valid property titles facilitate smooth or selling property, a clean title assures both parties that the transaction is legitimate and free from in buyers and lenders, making it easier to secure

Property titles provide legal certainty by establishing a chain of ownership that can be traced back through time. They document the history of the property, including previous transfers of ownership, mortgages, liens, and other encumbrances. This historical record ensures transparency and clarity regarding the property’s status, enabling informed decision-making by prospective buyers and lenders.

In the event of a dispute or legal challenge regarding property ownership, a valid title provides the basis for seeking legal remedies and resolution. Prop- erty owners with clear titles can avail themselves of legal avenues to defend their rights and rectify ownership. This access to legal recourse is essential for protecting investments and preserving property rights.

Perhaps most importantly, property titles offer peace of mind to owners, knowing that their investment is secure and their ownership rights are legally recognized. With a clear title in hand,

of homeownership, such as occupancy, development, and transferability, without fear of adverse claims or challenges. Implications of Not Acquiring Property Titles in Nigeria: Risks and Consequences

property titles is the lack of legal ownership. Without proper documentation, individuals cannot assert their ownership rights over the property, leaving them vulnerable to claims by other parties. This lack of legal ownership can lead to disputes, litigation, and the loss of investment in the property.

Property titles provide security of tenure, guaranteeing the owner’s right to occupy and use the property without fear of eviction or interference. Without proper titles, individuals face uncertainty regarding their tenure, making them susceptible to arbitrary eviction or displacement by third parties claiming ownership rights. This insecurity of tenure can disrupt lives, businesses, and communities, leading to social and economic instability.

Acquiring property titles is essential for facilitating real estate transactions, such as buying, selling, or leasing property. transacting, as potential buyers or lenders may be reluctant to engage in deals involving properties with uncertain ownership status. This can impede economic development and hinder investment in the real estate sector.

Property titles serve as collateral for obtaining loans and individuals have limited access to credit, as lenders are unwilling to accept properties with unclear ownership as collateral. This lack of access to credit hampers economic growth and development, as it constrains individuals’ ability to invest in property development and other productive ventures.

In the absence of property titles, individuals are vulnerable to fraud and exploitation by unscrupulous actors seeking to exploit their lack of legal protection. Fraudulent schemes such as land grabbing, forgery of documents, and illegal sales thrive in environments where property titles are not properly established. This exposes unsuspecting individuals

Failure to acquire property titles exposes individuals to legal and regulatory risks, as they may violate laws and regulations governing property ownership and transactions. Government authorities may take enforcement actions against individuals occupying or developing property demolition of structures.

An housing estate

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India is a big democracy with little debate, reckons RAJENDRA ANEJA

The Africa CEO Forum provides opportunity for African businesses to deploy the art of business diplomacy to their advantage, writes ETIM ETIM

DEMOCRACY, GOVERNANCE AND CREDIBLE ELECTIONS

ABIODUN KOMOLAFE argues that Nigeria cannot have functional democracy and credible elections without a sound educational system

See Page 21

INDIA’S TUMULTUOUS GENERAL ELECTIONS

The largest democracy in the world, is in throes of a general election, splurging through April and May. The winner of this gigantic battle, will reign over the destinies of 1.43 billion Indians till 2029.

It is widely expected that the ruling BJP will win. Narendra Modi will continue as Prime Minister. There are six reasons why the BJP may enjoy the cake.

First, the BJP is positioned as a Hindu party, in a country, with 80 percent Hindu population. Many Hindus recollect the anguish of the bloody violence of the 1947 partitioning of the country. Thus, Hindus, in various institutions and organisations, feel aligned with the BJP ideology. They support it, even if they are not in politics. The secular philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit years, is receding.

Second, the BJP has been transferring cash to the bank accounts of the poor, as welfare schemes. Further, the government has announced that 800 million Indians, i.e. 67 percent of the nation’s population, will

capita income is low, at USD 2,400 pa. About 80 million Indians subsist below the poverty line.

Duty, Not Charity. Half-way through the elections, the Congress party has promised to double the free food grains, for the next education and jobs to the people of any country, is the fundamental and sacred duty of any elected democratic government. It should not be an election promise or charity, in exchange for votes.

Third, every improvement in infrastructure, like a new bridge, a new train, is treated as a momentous triumph. There are speeches and a media blitz.

Fourth, Mr. Modi is the face of the BJP. There is one party, one leader. His photo is everywhere, at all functions and junctions. Even, on the bags of food grains, being distributed. So, every packet of wheat, every vaccine, every medical tablet is the bigheartedness of the BJP.

Fifth, the BJP is perpetually in election mode. It has smartly constructed a formidable The BJP’s reach, has percolated down to the villages, through its party cadres.

Every fortnight, there has been some event or promotion, to highlight the BJP’s achievement. A moon-landing, a G-20 meet, a foreign visit, even a cricket carnival, is blown to mesmerize people. A consumer products company has an annual brand plan, to undertake monthly promotions to dazzle the consumers. It could be a consumer offer, a trade offer or a contest. The BJP too, is on a ceaseless advertising drive.

Finally, the opposition parties have not galvanised to meet the BJP challenge. They lack a common ideology and working programme. They have no savvy leader. Thus, the BJP could romp to power, despite a decline in voter turnouts in the current

elections.

The opposition is concerned that the Constitution may be revamped, if the BJP for Hindus. Minorities like Muslims and Christians are nervous.

horrible tragedy that one of the largest and most vibrant democracies in the world, is bereft of a strong and credible opposition.

The opposition parties lack the requisite funds, ideas and tactics to battle the BJP. Even the Election Commission of India, seems to opposition. There are accusations of bias towards the ruling party. There are foreign observers from fragile countries like Bhutan, Mongolia, Namibia, etc. None of these are exemplary strongholds of democracy.

Opposition’s Failure. Though robust in some states, the opposition, has made meagre efforts to develop a national footprint. The opposition parties have forged an alliance to Everyone wants to be Prime Minister. Each party blows its own trumpet. A mutual goal to defeat the BJP, is inadequate. There has to be a credible development strategy.

Rahul Gandhi, hails from a family of Prime Ministers, like his great grandfather Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, his grandmother Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and his father Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. He was in a unique position to galvanise the opposition and the country. His party, Congress, has a national organisation. However, he fumbled. His senior party leaders were being enticed by the BJP; however, Rahul Gandhi was busy in a jeep -journey, rallies across the country. He should have been on the ground, to halt his deserting party leaders.

Modi has enthralled the country with his oratory and assiduous canvassing.

The BJP has deployed every possible communication medium, to showcase its plans and accomplishments adroitly. It has used the television, print and social media to broadcast its achievements. Cinema is a very powerful medium in a developing country.

Providing food, shelter, education and jobs to the people of any country, is the fundamental and sacred duty of any elected democratic government. It should not be an election promise or charity, in exchange for votes

Section 370, on Kashmir.

Growth and Poverty. Some international economists, question the GDP growth of eight percent. In the streets and villages, poverty abounds. Unemployment is a key concern. Hence, the beeline to seek livelihoods abroad. There are around 725,000 illegal immigrant Indians, in the USA, according to the Pew Research Centre.

The Government is busy debating how India will become a super developed economy by 2047. According to these debates, India will become a 35 trillion economy by 2047, from USD 3.7 trillion currently.

As a common citizen, I cannot see as far as and even lemons have increased by 15 to 20 percent, in recent years.

A lemon cost rupees two, some years ago. Now, it costs Rs. seven. Is there a plan to reduce prices of essentials and even lemons, so that life becomes liveable?

power, not a battle to improve the life of the common person. And, there is little debate. Lamentable.

Aneja, was the Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the author of books entitled, “Rural Marketing across Countries and “Business Express”. He is a Management Consultant.

The Africa CEO Forum provides opportunity for African businesses to deploy the art of business diplomacy to their advantage, writes ETIM ETIM

BUSINESS DIPLOMACY AND AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT

From May 16 to 17, over 2,000 of Africa’s business leaders, investors, policymakers and political leaders as well as their counterparts from around the world met in Kigali, Rwanda under the auspices of the Africa CEO Forum 2024 to discuss the continent’s development, opportunities and challenges. The Africa CEO Forum is the largest international meeting of the African private sector, and is typically two days of conferences, debates, panel discussions and high-level meetings dedicated to highlighting the driving role of the private sector in the development of the continent. Rwanda is hosting it for the second time since its maiden edition, held in Geneva, 10 years ago. Last year, it was held in Abidjan and next year, it is going to somewhere in North Africa. Nigeria has never hosted it, and that’s surprising. You can think of the Forum as our own equivalent of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which holds in Davos, Switzerland, every January. The 2024 CEO Forum in Kigali was the biggest since its inception, according to the Chief Executive of the Forum, Amir Ben Yahmed. The theme this year was ‘’At the Table or On the Menu? A Critical Moment to Shape a New Future for Africa.” President Paul Kagame and a few African Heads of States and Governments were there. In attendance were many notable Nigerian businesses and NGOs. Kagame gave a brief opening statement.

The phrase, ‘’At the Table or On the Menu’’ was popularised by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Munich Security Conference last November. Responding to the moderator’s question concerning tensions in the USChina relations, Blinken had said ‘’if you are not at the table at the international systems, you’re going to be on the menu’’. Blinken had also used the same phrase in 2022 to describe relations between the two superpowers. But he did not invent this coinage. As far back as 1993, this phrase was used in an article in an American Middle East Affairs journal, describing the situation in Lebanon at that time. At a time that our continent seems to be making little progress in the global stage, it was therefore apt that the Africa CEO Forum 2024 adopted this same phrase as its theme. It was also the central point of discussions among panel members on the opening day of the summit. The panelists were Group CEO of MTN, Ralph Mupita; Regional VP for Africa, IFC, Sergio Pimenta; Access Holdings Chairman, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; Rwanda Minister of State in charge of Public Investments and Resource Mobilization, Jeanine Munyeshuli, and President of Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Sidi Ould Tah. It was a very enriching and profound discussion on the experiences and future of our continent. Aig-Imoukhuede opened his contributions by acknowledging that the theme was quite poignant given that this year marks the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference. ‘’At the Berlin Conference, Africa was at the table, but that’s where they had us for breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he said, eliciting applause and laughter. “But Africa has come a long way since then. Today, there are many tables across the world in IMF/World (Trade), G20 (politics), etc., and it is important to note that Africans are CEOs of some international organisations in these areas,” he added. In as much as Africans are now at the table, he

however wondered whether we are sitting on the right seats or low stools, eliciting another round of laughter and applause. The Access Holdings chairman elucidated further that Africans should create their own tables just like the Asians have done.

‘’Our big population, common markets and youths should give us a table for the future’’ he said. He noted that Africans have made that foreign banks that have divested from the continent have been replaced by African banks.

He illustrated: ‘’If an African investor, for example, goes to the Eurobond market, he should be ready to be dictated to by the regulators and the operators in that market; and they necessarily don’t have your interest in mind. But if an African investor goes to an Afrobond market to raise capital, chances are that the market will be sympathetic to Africa’s needs and nuances, but the standards and regulations should not be lower than what you have in the Eurobonds markets.” He called for partnership between the public and private sectors in the continent and announced that Access Holdings and the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation are launching a Super NGO which will provide funding and talent for transformational government initiatives that delivers much needed value. The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and Access Bank Group have pledged $300 million over the next 20 years. Access Bank has committed $200 million and the AigInoukhuede Foundation committed $100 million.

The African-led Super NGO will be established in partnership with academics, experts and philanthropists across the globe who are committed to closing the gap between Africa and the rest of the world. The NGO will work with African governments to provide the funding, governance and talent. He invited other businesses to join him in promoting the initiatives. The commitments, spread over 20 years, will fund African governments’ initiatives with proven potentials to transform national economic performance.

Said Aig-Imoukhuede: “African leaders cannot sit back and watch the 4th Industrial Revolution transform the rest of the world while leaving Africa falling further behind. We have to create our own ‘table’ by using technology to unlock the power of our youth, giving Africa a greater voice in the world. It’s today’s leaders who will determine whether or not we grab this opportunity.” The Africa CEO Forum and similar platforms provide ample opportunity for African businesses in general and Nigeria’s companies in particular to deploy the art of business diplomacy to their advantage and to the

ABIODUN KOMOLAFE argues that Nigeria cannot have functional democracy and credible elections without a sound educational system

DEMOCRACY, GOVERNANCE AND CREDIBLE ELECTIONS

There is a problem about the institutional framework in which the Nigerian state as presently constituted is based. To have democracy, good governance and credible elections, there must be institutional reforms and great accountability in government. The three are interwoven, only that we tend to think that democracy is all about elections. In any case, the fact that those ingredients are currently missing is an indication that Nigeria still has a long way to go. After all, without democracy and governance, there can’t be credible elections.

To put it politely, Nigeria, even as we speak, has very weak institutions, and without a functional justice system, she can’t be said to have credible elections. For any democracy to stand and be as its definition, the power of credibility cannot be underestimated. However, the achievement of this ‘credibility’ is a huge task, because credibility means different things to different actors in democracy, more so as the definition hovers around the same center: the people. Notwithstanding, the issues of credibility in our elections requires a serious conference, taking into consideration the level of litigations that always go with elections in Nigeria. Take, for example, the United Kingdom where only one electoral dispute has ever gone to court over a long period of time. Of course, it is because she has a functional judiciary and nobody would want to waste his resources on frivolous litigations. The lawyer who handles such cases can even be disbarred. So, how come Nigeria remains a semi-democratic country 25 years into the Fourth Republic?

In any serious democracy, it is the government that sets the right template for an election to hold. Unlike countries like Spain, France, South Africa, even some other African countries, Nigeria needs a constitutional court so that her political practitioners can originate and conclude constitutional issues in record time. In a constitutional court for instance, the needless imbroglio currently troubling the peace of Rivers State won’t even take more than two to three weeks to resolve, instead of this long-winded abracadabra, which is no doubt affecting the perception of Nigeria as an unserious economy.

What we are saying is that governance and elections are intertwined and that a political economy that is lacking in internal security mechanisms, weaponizes and actually glorifies poverty is not one where credible elections can be held because it is based on state capture. In a country under the subordination of the state to powerful individuals and vested interests, the idea is to make the people very poor so that, on an election day, prospective voters can be induced. Even when there’s no election, the masses are induced with palliatives. The tragic truth is that political entrepreneurship has become the parameter for politicking and the determinant of victory. Otherwise, why should minimum wage even be a debate in Nigeria?

Again, that’s where the late ObafemiAwolowo excelled as a leader! But how come successive leaders have not been seeing the link between the minimum wage, the purchasing power parity and investments? Call it an election gimmick but that’s why Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State deserves a standing ovation. Well, it’s not that N70,000 as minimum wage for workers in the state is fair enough but then, the governor has demonstrated that a worthy credit analyst would prefer Benin City where the purchasing power parity is N50,000.00 to Gusau where the purchasing power parity is N31,000.00. In a way, Obaseki has shown that, for any economy to attain its potentials, it is better to have 15 million people who are on a living wage of N105,000.00 per month than to have 200 million people who are on a minimum wage of N30,000.00 per month.

infect an idle face. The notorious truth is that

we can’t have functional democracy, good governance and credible elections without a sound educational system. Had Nigeria also been blessed with a sensitive political class, Nigerians would have been benefiting from free and compulsory education as far back as 1974 or 1975. Of course, the difference would have been that Nigeria would not have been having all these problems because of a better educated population. Matter-of-factly, the better educated the people are, the better and the saner the choices. A better educated population is a better informed and more productive population. But when politics fails to deliver its goods to the people, waiting for much chemistry to work at the same pace for development to show up becomes the norm. Obviously, that’s what Awolowo got right and that’s why people like Joseph Stiglitz won the Nobel Prize for Economics. Secondly, compulsory education is the best form of population control. On the day of Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the United Kingdom as the parting colonial power had seven million more people than Nigeria. Whereas Nigeria’s population grew from 44,928,342 in 1960 to 229,152,217 in 2024, the British population has grown by only 15.34 million since 1960. The implementation of the Education Act of 1947, which made education free and compulsory up to the age of 18 in the UK led to the halving of her population within one generation. Why and how? Educated people “marry later” and have fewer children. What’s more? Educated populace is better skilled, has higher purchasing power parity and many other advantages. That’s why countries like Italy and Japan have declining population growth. They are actually begging and bribing their citizens to have more children. For Nigeria, the story is pathetically different! Forget the delusion of grandeur, unless some steps are taken in the right direction, Nigeria as a country may be fast sliding into irrelevance. For example, South Africa is currently the biggest economy in Africa, of course with the soundest fundamentals. She is followed by Egypt and Algeria and only God knows the true occupier of the 4th position between Nigeria and Morocco. South Africa has strong institutions of the state. As a matter of fact, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is already terrified of losing the forthcoming elections. Most importantly, she has basic industries like iron and steel and machine tools. So, she manufactures and exports cars to Europe. Unlike Nigeria, South Africa doesn’t assemble cars. As former President Donald Trump once said, “If you don’t have steel, you don’t have a country.” In terms of fundamentals therefore, how to arrest Nigeria’s descent into irrelevance should be the key question. But how did we get here? When Nigeria decided to throw away the Lyttleton’s, 1960 and 1963 Constitutions, it became obvious that the country was gone.

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

THE SCOURGE OF RURAL INSECURITY

The authorities should do more to secure the countryside

When the bandits arrived the residence of the Lado Mairua in Mai-Ruwa community, Katsina State, the family was having the Muslim Ramadan Tarawih prayers. But that did not deter the hoodlums who reportedly asked the head of the family to follow them. When he refused, they shot him dead, and abducted his wife and their 15-year-old daughter.

“This is the second time Lado’s wife is being kidnapped by bandits,” said the neighbour. Banditry has become a way of life in Katsina State, and indeed, in many parts of the country, particularly in the rural north.

The spate of attacks on rural communities across the country has gradually brought the average citizen to the Hobbesian state where life has become nasty, brutish, and short. That operatives of the various security agencies usually arrive scenes of attacks only after many people had been abducted or killed has only heightened the sense of foreboding.

“The Nigerian authorities have left rural communities at the mercy of rampaging gunmen”, stated an Amnesty International report published last year. It is therefore a solution to the growing lawlessness across the country, but most particularly in rural communities.

largely depends on imports - from petrol to fertilizers - the impact on the people, most of whom are unemployed, is hard. With rural dwellers denied access to schools, farms, and other sources of legitimate livelihood, it is little surprise that Nigerians are reeling from soaring food prices.

That terrorists and bandits are growing in numbers and challenging the authorities is rather troubling. They feel emboldened to embark on undertaking overpowered to pay taxes and levies. “It (banditry) has become a business venture,” acknowledged Katsina State governor Dikko Radda, who accused complicity.

The level of insecurity in many of these communities has made it practically difficult for farmers to continue to engage in agricultural production

The level of insecurity is such that the socio-economic activities and well-being of the rural inhabitants are severely threatened. People are being killed, kidnapped on the road, in business places, in farms, and in the comfort of their homes. Indeed, of all the 774 local government areas in the country, only 176 has not experienced serious security breaches, according Consulting. Even with all its strategic importance as the seat of power, Abuja is also getting more than a fair share of attacks and threat which are causing fear and apprehension among residents. Today, in Kwali, Abaji, Kuje and Kwali local governments of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), armed robbers have now been joined by kidnappers who abduct people in broad daylight.

The level of insecurity in many of these communities to engage in agricultural production. For an economy that

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With helpless and hopeless rural dwellers submitting to payment of taxes and levies just for their lives to be spared by non-state actors, the line between governance and anarchy becomes blurry. And as sundry criminal cartels mastermind destructions of lives and property in the rural parts of the country, the hope of victims in the government wanes. With vast ungoverned spaces especially in the Northwest, Northeast and North central, Nigeria is in dire need of security forces backed with technology. Besides, government should match security measures with severity of consequences. For instance, arrests and prosecutions should be matched with deterring punishments.

President Bola Tinubu should therefore be put on notice that insecurity is as big a challenge as the harsh economic downturn which incidentally is yet to respond to government efforts. It is also a disincentive to both local and foreign investment. There is currently an intensive military operation in the Northwest and the Northeast. But this is part of the problem. The military is being stretched over what ordinarily is not their constitutional duty. The president must work towards reforming and repositioning the police to deliver on their primary duties of maintaining law and order, especially in rural communities.

Fresh ideas are needed because the knee jerk ‘the president has directed’ orders of recent years has not led the security agencies should be given clear orders, incentives, and deadlines to produce results or face sanctions.

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

WHY NIGERIANS SHOULD SAY NO TO BULLYING

Break the silence, reclaim your power! Saying no to bullying transforms lives and creates healthier, safer environments.

I have been a victim of bullying back then in my primary school. If I decide to write about them, it will be a write-athon.

I laughed over it today because it doesn’t get to me any longer. Back then in primary school, I was the youngest and smallest girl in my class, so some of my classmates decided to call me a funny nickname as regards my body size.

Being a smart and intelligent girl, I suffered insults and name-calling anytime I scored higher than them and came top in class.

Once the proprietor suggested that anybody interested in being selected to be a school prefect should write a voluntary request letter and submit it to him; they

saw me writing mine and laughed out loud that who would respect my orders with my smallish body size. And many more. I was humiliated, and depressed and lost the desire to become a prefect after that. I tore the letter and moved on but that did not stop them from treating me badly.

Being an introvert, I was naive and afraid so I couldn’t report them to the school authority or my parents. I suffered those ill treatments alone until I graduated. But now, I know better and I want other students to be aware of it. It will interest you to know that bullying does not only happen in schools. It happens in other places like on social media platforms, social gatherings, workplaces, etc.

Bullying is an unacceptable issue that includes various forms of aggressive behavior, including physical, verbal, and on an individual perceived as vulnerable. Those who bully often seek power, control, or validation, sometimes due to personal insecurities or experiences. Targets of bullying who happen to be the victims, endure emotional distress, lowered self-esteem, and academic or social difficulties, leading to long-term consequences like anxiety and depression. To prevent bullying, Schools and social media platforms must prioritize education and intervention. Implementing comprehensive antibullying policies.

and promoting empathy and respect among students are crucial. empowers peers to speak out against bullying. This is very important. support services for both victims and perpetrators helps address underlying issues.

of community guidelines, proactive moderation, and promoting digital citizenship through awareness campaigns can create safer online environments. Ultimately, building a culture of kindness and inclusivity is essential for combating bullying in all its forms. I say no to bullying. What about you?

Grace Ehi Ekainu is an educator and creative writer from Kano State

AMVCA 10: Beyond Fashion, Celebrating African Cinema

Vanessa Obioha highlights how the 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) showcased not only bold and creative fashion statements but also celebrated the creative contributions of African filmmakers and industry professionals

Fashion is an integral part of most music and movie award ceremonies, and the 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) was no exception. Held over two days, the event dazzled with jawdropping fashion pieces that celebrated the beauty of African culture and the innovative creativity of its designers. From actress Osas Ighodaro’s stunning outfit, featuring high crown-like shoulders that paid homage to her Edo heritage, Ghanaian actress Nana Akua Addo’s breathtaking 3D fashion ensemble accentuated by a Heidi Lee endless echo hat, to media personality Toke Makinwa who added her signature sparkle in a sultry wearable art piece by Nigerian designer Veekee James (she also designed Ighodaro’s look), the event was a sartorial feast.

The men also made bold statements, with veteran actor Richard Mofe Damijo exuding royalty in a regal Agbada outfit by Deji and Kola, styled by Swanky Jerry. Best Lead Actor nominee Stan Nze stood out refreshingly in a P.Aries monochrome threepiece suit embellished with natural pearls. These designs, alongside other impressive displays, dominated the news surrounding the awards.

Yet, the AMVCA 10 was more than just a fashion parade. Beyond the dazzling outfits and glamorous appearances, the event celebrated the creative contributions of African filmmakers and industry professionals.

The first day of the event featured a Young Filmmakers Hub, a workshop facilitated by the academy arm of MultiChoice, MultiChoice Talent Factory. The Executive Secretary/CEO of Lagos Film and Video Censors Board, Bukola Agbaminoja and Co-founder and CEO of Filmmakers Mart, Eric Okyerefo served as facilitators. Also present was the president of the Directors Guild of Nigeria, Victor Okhai.

While Okyerefo educated the young filmmakers on how to get funding, the different types of funding, what angel investors and venture capitalists look for, and general tips to help them in their filmmaking journey, Agbaminoja discussed the importance of getting permits during shoots and other related matters.

In the evening, Eko Hotel Cultural Ground was transformed into a grand spectacle as the AMVCA Cultural Day celebration sponsored by Onga Seasoning showcased the finest of African culture.

The main award ceremony, hosted by its long-time host IK Osakioduwa, did not feature a cultural dance display or an impromptu music stunt by IK and members of the audience as in previous editions. However, it delivered an impressive show, particularly the music performances that took audiences down memory lane.

From Congolese singer Awilo Logomba’s evergreen makosa sounds to the surprise performances of ‘Love Me Jeje’ and ‘Money

Man,’ by actress Shaffy Bello and Seyi Sodimu.There were also performances from Adekunle Gold, KCee and Chike who paid tribute to the late singer and rapper, Mohbad. However, the most impressive part of the night was the winners. This year’s awards, vetted by a jury headed by ace filmmaker Femi Odugbemi, have been praised for the deserving winners. Notably, the “Breath of Life” crew’s outstanding win. The film won Best Overall Movie and also clinched awards for Best Director, Best Lead Actor, Best Support ing Actor, and Best Actress for BB Sasore, Wale Ojo, Demola Adedoyin, and Genoveva Umeh respectively.

It was also a second AMVCA win for Kehinde Bankole who won in the Best Lead Actress category for her captivating role in ‘Adire.’

Veteran actress Esther Idowu Philips shared the Industry Merit Award spotlight with RMD while Chimezie Imo took home the Trailblazer Award.

Indeed, AMVCA 10 was more than just a platform for showcasing stunning fashion; it was a celebration of African talent, creativity, and culture. While the bold and innovative fashion statements undeniably stole the spotlight, the event also highlighted the importance of nurturing young filmmakers, honouring industry veterans, and recognizing outstanding cinematic achievements.

The Night Deela Thrilled Lagos

Obioha

The LiVE! Lounge on Idejo Street, Victoria Island was on a recent Saturday night, pulsating with music. Passersby could not quickly decipher the cause of the frenzy as well-heeled guests like the SA Consul General, Prof. Bobby Moroe, PMAN president Pretty Okafor, Chairman Of DJAN Lagos, DJ Roland, Italian Embassy Trade Representative, Maurizo Ferri, Nollywood Travel Film Festival, Michael Parish Executive Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Aiyepekun, among others trickled in.

It was only a matter of time before the cause of the frenzy was identified. It was the Lagos showcase of the British-Nigerian rap sensation, Deela. The event tagged ‘Kini Big Deela’ was powered by Inspiro Production, famed for its exceptional music events.

The night kicked off with electrifying hits from the DJ’s turntable. These hits were a medley of different genres and who better to turn up the party than the quartet of

DJS Kahalari, DoghouseTV, St TAJ and Mooney. The climax of the night however was Deela’s performance. The young dynamic female rapper took to the stage with the confidence of a seasoned artist in a male-dominated genre. Her assertive lyrics and captivating cadence held and when she performed her hit song ‘Lagos’ alongside Somadina, the audience roared as the verses resonated with the spirit of the city. It was a moment of connection, a shared experience between the artist and her fans, celebrating the city that never sleeps. Deela’s music is a unique blend of trap and hip-hop and is a homage to her Lagos roots and the diverse musical influences that have shaped her sound. With each song, Deela took all deeper into her world, her lyrics delivered with precision as she painted vivid pictures of life, love, and the hustle, resonating with fans on a different level.

The ‘Kini Big Deela’ show was not just about the music, it was about the experience, an assertion made by the audience as the night drew to a close.

Nollywood to Take Centre Stage at Essence Festival 2024

Iyke Bede

For a third consecutive year, media entrepreneur Toyosi Etim-Effiong is set to showcase the Nigerian film industry at the Essence Festival of Culture, a yearly celebration of black creativity through film, fashion, arts, and culture. This year’s event takes place in New Orleans, USA, from July 5 to July 7 at Caesars Superdome.

Etim-Effiong’s journey to the Essence Film Festival, a segment of the broader Essence Festival of Culture, started in 2022 after gaining slots to screen a handful of Nigerian cinematic works that include the Walter Taylaurdirected ‘Jolly Roger,’ and ‘Collision Course’ directed by Bolanle Auten-Peters. The subsequent year, she earned a full day of exhibition tagged ‘Nigerian Day,’ where she paraded a handful of Nollywood’s bests like Richard Mofe Damijo and Stella Damasus, as well as opening doors for collaboration between creatives on both sides of the aisle.

“The Essence Film Festival is a gathering of black excellence,” Etim-Effiong reiterated, emphasising why Nollywood should be fully represented on this global platform. “When they talked about their film festival, I recalled Nollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world. Nollywood is Black. So if we say we are catering to Black filmmakers and actors, then we should be there as well.”

She continued: “I don’t think Nollywood, as it is, can take care of its players right now. We need collaborations. We see what has happened to afrobeats with collaborations, and we want the same for our actors.

I’m tired of our actors not being able to take care of themselves and seeking aid when they fall sick or have issues with rent.”

In a dynamic collaboration with That Good Media (TGM), where Etim-Effiong serves as founder and CEO, Nollywood’s third appearance at the festival is poised to generate more exposure for the industry. The event will also gather esteemed Nollywood celebrities and influential figures from Hollywood, facilitating a rich exchange of ideas and experiences.

Through the panel session titled ‘Building Bridges: Collaborating with Nollywood for Global Success,’ which aims to underline the importance of international partnerships in elevating Nollywood on the world stage, panellists will discuss strategic alliances and the role of storytelling in fostering cultural exchanges and deepening global understanding. Expressing delight at Nollywood’s participation this year, Director, Essence Film Festival, Lamonia Brown said: “We are thrilled to host Nollywood’s vibrant showcase, which is a testament to the rich cultural heritage and storytelling prowess that Nigerian cinema brings to our global audience.”

As Nollywood gears up for the festival, EtimEffiong’s efforts highlight her pivotal role in expanding Africa’s entertainment landscape and bridging cultural divides. “Our participation at Essence Film Festival not only showcases the unique narratives and talents of Nollywood but also reinforces our commitment to creating global dialogues through film,” Etim-Effiong concluded.

Vanessa

AMVCA’s winning movie ‘Breath of Life’ crew

Richard Mofe-Damijo

Toke, Nana, Osas in stunning outfits at AMVCA 10

Inspiro CEO Ayoola Sadare and Deela

L–R: Seun Ajayi, Toyosi Etim-Effiong, Shawn Faqua, Yolanda Okereke, and Mofe Duncan gathered in Lagos for the press conference revealing Nollywood’s involvement in this year’s Essence Festival of Culture.

It’s like yesterday when the entertainment phenomenon called D’banj invaded and charmed the African continent; more with his charisma than the music. Twenty years later, Vanessa Obioha documents his checkered career comprising the good, the bad and the ugly

D’banj: Two Decades of Showmanship

D’banj is a showman. And he knows it. It’s a natural gift that shines through his persona. No need to fake it. It shows in his dressing. Even though he denies having a unique style, a glance at his outfits tells a different story. Whether it is the bespoke suits that give a nod to the iconic TV character James Bond, or the casual outfits that give him a younger vibe, his distinct style is exclusive to the entertainer and creative entrepreneur, making him a show-stopper in every manner. His wit and charm are magnetic, almost too hard to resist. It is in the way he embraces everyone, treating them as if he has known them all their lives. And also the deftness with which he comes up with catchphrases: kokolets, babylets, mamalets and even grannylets.

Just as he did on a recent cloudy morning during a media round and mini tour. The moment he emerged from the vehicle, he raised his hands and greeted the small group of people who had converged to welcome him with his iconic “I must greet you specially,” smiling willingly at the sea of cameras clicking speedily to capture every inch of him. He greeted everyone, offering a friendly “hi’ here, taking a hug there, exuding such infectious camaraderie that a stranger would have difficulty differentiating between him and others — except for the two unsmiling bodyguards ensuring no one got too close. Even that task was challenging as D’banj’s friendliness nearly dissolved every barrier.

“I’ve always loved entertaining,” he said during a chat. “I have always said that I’m not a singer or a rapper but an entertainer. And I think it’s a gift because it’s not as if I read any book, it just comes out naturally.”

D’banj’s amiability does not only endear him to millions of fans across the continent and beyond but also fetches him relevance that has lasted the stretch of his 20-year career. It was in 2004, that a hustling D’banj, eager to conquer the music industry found his way in a concert held in London and persuaded DJ Abass and Ayo Shonaiya to perform on stage. He was only allowed to perform one song. The effect he had on the crowd with that performance was so electrifying that the veteran journalist and former Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Steve Ayorinde, wrote an eight-paragraph article about him, declaring him a star to watch out for. That endorsement convinced his mother to support his music career.

Together with Don Jazzy, he returned to Nigeria and by 2005, released his debut album ‘No Long Thing.’ Fame instantly found D’banj fueled by his impeccable stagecraft. Ladies wanted him, men adored him. He was a charismatic and witty demigod, a deadly combination for the faint-hearted. Twenty years later, D’banj still has that magic. At the Trace Live event last month, he got the crowd swooning to him as if he cast a magic spell on them. They belted his songs back to him with every breath, and he urged them on, entertaining them like the entertainer he truly is.

“I’m only me,” he said, explaining the source of his relevance in the music industry. “Anytime you see me you get entertainment. From a long time ago, I realised that music gets you into the room but what you do inside is up to you. So in 20 years, the music has got me through but I have also realised that I’m not the smartest, not the best singer, not the best dressed but you just have to package,” he concluded amusingly.

Born Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, D’banj grew up in Zaria. His father was a military officer while his mother was a shrewd businesswoman.

“I would have been a soldier if I didn’t become a musician,” he said, attributing his energetic vibe to the military drills he did as a student at Nigerian Military School. He inherited his business acumen from his mother and does not shy away from calling himself a “mummy’s boy.” In fact, he declared that if given a second chance, he would make his mother his manager. Clearly, his love and respect for her runs deep.

D’banj was among the pioneers of the music genre loosely called afrobeats, which

is now gaining global appeal. Artists like Innocent ‘2Baba’ Idibia and the defunct Remedies were already on the scene, striving for international recognition. Therefore, when D’banj entered the music industry, he had a clear vision of how he wanted to be perceived.

“When we started, we always knew that this was all we had. And I always used to say dress how you want to be addressed. I always had it in my mind that even though we were Nigerian musicians, we were on the same bar as the global artists. From day one, if you check, that was what we stood for. From the quality of sound to the quality of video and marketing, and if you fast forward to today, to see what’s happening, it’s just a testament to that vision that we had.”

While D’banj found fame early in his music career, it was not always smooth sailing. In 2012, he parted ways with his longtime partner Don Jazzy, leading to the dissolution of their joint venture, Mo’Hits Records, shortly after signing with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music. D’banj then started his own record label, DB Records. However, the seeming misunderstanding between D’banj and Don Jazzy was shortlived. They reconciled and were frequently seen promoting each other’s music. In his latest single, ‘Since 04,’ Don Jazzy featured in an Instagram post promoting the song alongside D’banj. The song also references their former record label, Mo’Hits.

More challenges hit D’banj: the tragic loss of his son in 2018 as well as financial and sexual allegations subsequently. For the first time, D’banj opened up on how he dealt with the crises that rocked his life.

“First of all, I want to thank God that I even went through such, because it would have been funny that we’re celebrating 20 years and you don’t have any pain,” he began. “Now that I’m here, I understand why God took me through this so I can be a source of hope for other people because people often see me as one that doesn’t have a problem,” he said, switching to pidgin English. “Say I fresh, I no get wahala, I don dey chop money since, they just believed all of that. But with what happened, everyone could feel the pain. Especially people who loved us or the brand or even supported the brand one time. For me personally, I now became human. I came to understand that this life is a gift.

“And the same people that love you can turn against you, on something that you’re totally innocent of. That sent me back to my foundation, which is God. I could look at no one but God at that time. Baba na you bring me come here, na only you fit save me. I think that’s how I was able to stay afloat from the loss of my child to false allegations. It just made me connect directly with Him and find the most important people which is my family. My family never left me.”

D’banj also discussed his mental health during this difficult period, revealing that he and his wife, Lineo Didi Kilgrow went to therapy after losing their son.

“But I couldn’t go to therapy more than once because of how I’m built. I had to look for a different way to heal, but she kept going,” he said.

In seeking God, D’banj discovered his inner strength, which he describes as being an entertainer and a happy soul.

“I had to find that entertainer within me, entertaining myself, to be able to stay afloat again.”

“You will never really eradicate it totally,” he continued a bit emotionally. “Sometimes I watch a movie and have PTSD. Maybe I’ll see a swimming pool with a child or something related to that, or even see news online about him, it still triggers something in me. Same with my wife. It’s something that you don’t wish for your enemy, but it’s something that if you ever overcome it, you’re definitely a stronger person. You’re definitely going to be able to use that to help other people and that’s what we’re doing,” he said, also revealing how he provided succour to Davido when he faced a similar tragedy.

“You never really know where God is directing our steps but as long as we can hold that faith in Him, the light at the end

of the tunnel is sure.”

The entertainer has often felt misunderstood by the public, particularly on social media, where false narratives can cast him in a negative light. He hopes to reveal his true self in an upcoming documentary.

To keep the memory of his son, D’banj disclosed that he and his wife would officially launch the DOTT Foundation, named after his late son as part of his 20th anniversary managed by the Temple Management Company. The foundation will focus on young children while providing support for parents who have gone through similar experiences.

Other activities lined up for his 20th anniversary include hosting 20 shows in 20 cities, starting from Lagos, Nigeria. On June 7, there will be a VIP dinner to celebrate his birthday followed by the launch of his new album ‘Entertainer: The Sequel.’ This will be followed by a free concert at the New Afrika Shrine on June 11. His admiration for the late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti

is well-known. During a tour of the Kalakuta Museum, his curiosity about the legend was palpable, and he was given the rare opportunity to enter Fela’s preserved room. D’banj also announced plans to tour cities in America, Europe, and other African countries, returning to Nigeria in December for the Koko Festival.

“In each city, we will be having a concert and also a meet and greet with emerging artists. We like to connect these artists to our partners as well as financial institutions such as AfreximBank or Nexim Bank. The aim of going to these cities is to see how we can impact their creative talents.”

As he reflected on his 20-year sojourn in the industry, D’banj is most thankful for the Grace of God in his life, his relevance and recognition as a pacesetter in the industry. More importantly, the timing of his music career. In the next 20 years, he wants to help aspiring musicians achieve their dreams. Well, he is already doing that with his CREAM platform which has empowered many creatives. For now, he remains the entertainer, sequel or not.

D’banj

HighLife

Sholaye Jeremi Loses Mother

Death comes to all; this is not a very scary fact. What scares the heart is that it comes without knocking, without making a sound. And when it comes, it leaves behind deep scars, as it has done with the Jeremi family.

Amidst heavy hearts and profound sadness, the Jeremi family of Delta State mourns the passing of their beloved matriarch, Mrs. Lilian Jeremi, at the age of 74. The deceased who is the mother of esteemed businessman, Sholaye Jeremi, departed this world after a brief illness.

In a statement issued by the Jeremi family, they expressed deep gratitude for the life Mrs. Jeremi lived, characterised by hard work, courage, and devotion to family, community, and God. Her passing leaves a void in the hearts of her children, grandchildren, and extended family, but her memory will forever be cherished.

Mrs. Jeremi’s life was a testament to the values of humility, kindness, and generosity. She instilled these virtues in her son, Sholaye, who, despite his remarkable success as an oil magnate and businessman, remains grounded and compassionate. Sholaye’s annual tradition of celebrating his birthday by sharing joy and sustenance with the less fortunate exemplifies the profound impact of his upbringing and the enduring influence of his mother’s teachings.

As Sholaye grieves the loss of his beloved mother, his profound humanity and unwavering compassion remain a lamp of hope and inspiration to all. In this time of mourning, Nigeria will remember his mother’s legacy of love and service, and pray that her soul finds eternal peace in the arms of the Almighty, as she taught her son to do for others.

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

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

Governor Adeleke Puts on Another Late Brother’s Big Shoes

In a momentous occasion steeped in history and emotion, Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, was recently installed as the Asiwaju (The Leader) of Ede Land. The Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Lawal, bestowed this prestigious title upon Adeleke as part of his 64th birthday celebrations. It’s a title of immense honour, typically reserved for individuals of towering stature within the community—a recognition that echoes the legacy of his late brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke.

The Adeleke family, long revered in Ede, has seen the torch of leadership passed down from one generation to the next. Governor Adeleke follows in the footsteps of his late brother, who was not only a former senator but also a governor of the state. The decision to confer the Asiwaju title on Governor Adeleke is a testament to his dedication and contributions to the growth and development of Ede and Osun State at

large. According to the Timi of Ede’s palace, the title is a symbolic gesture to acknowledge Governor Adeleke’s efforts in advancing the welfare of the people of Ede and Osun State. Dignitaries from all walks of life, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo and governors from neighbouring states, gathered to witness this momentous occasion.

Flanked by esteemed traditional rulers, Adeleke accepted the title with humility and a sense of duty, dedicating it to his late father and siblings, particularly his brother, the immediate past Asiwaju of Ede. In his response, Governor Adeleke pledged his unwavering commitment to the development of Ede and Osun State as a whole.

As Governor Adeleke assumes his new role as the Asiwaju of Edeland, he not only honours the legacy of his late brother but also continues to win the hearts of his people with his dedication to their welfare and the advancement of their communities.

Aliko Dangote’s Grace: Nourishing the Hungry, Saving Lives

To the merciful, God shows Himself merciful - so says the Good Book. In a gesture of immense generosity and compassion, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s wealthiest person and chairman of the Dangote Group, has initiated the distribution of 10,000 kilogrammes of rice to impoverished individuals in Anambra State. This noble endeavour, orchestrated through the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), is a beacon of hope for those grappling with economic hardships in Nigeria’s southeastern region.

Administered by the nongovernmental organisation Justice Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC), affiliated with the Awka Catholic Diocese, the distribution is meticulously organised at the grassroots level, ensuring that aid reaches those who need it most. The partnership reinforces Dangote’s commitment to leveraging his vast resources for the betterment of society, transcending traditional boundaries to uplift the

marginalised.

This initiative represents a continuation of the foundation’s broader mission to tackle pressing social issues and alleviate the plight of vulnerable populations across Nigeria. Earlier endeavours, including a N15 billion food intervention program, exemplify Dangote’s dedication to addressing food insecurity and fostering social welfare nationwide.

Dangote’s philanthropic footprint extends far and wide, encompassing education, healthcare, and economic empowerment initiatives across Africa. ADF, established over four decades ago, stands as a testament to his enduring legacy of giving back to society and catalysing transformative change.

As Nigeria grapples with mounting challenges of food insecurity and economic instability, Dangote’s intervention is lending life to those in the quarters of hunger. His unparalleled philanthropy and visionary leadership serve as a guiding light, inspiring hope and resilience in the face of adversity.

Akinwunmi Ambode Returns to His Shell, Again

Prepare to witness the enigmatic disappearance of Akinwunmi Ambode, the former governor of Lagos State, as he gracefully exits the Nigerian political stage once more. Ambode’s journey is a tale of exits and entrances, each one shrouded in mystery and intrigue, leaving us wondering what his next move will be.

From his humble beginnings as the auditor general for local government to his illustrious tenure as governor, Ambode has always been a figure of prominence in Nigerian politics. His contributions to the state’s financial stability and governance have earned him both praise and criticism, but it is his penchant for disappearing acts that truly sets him apart.

Despite his undeniable achievements, Ambode’s political career has been marked by uncertainty and upheaval. His bid for a second term was thwarted by internal party politics, leading to his replacement by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Since then, Ambode has receded from the limelight, retreating into the shadows of political obscurity once again.

But this isn’t the first time Ambode has vanished from the political scene. Throughout his career, he has mastered the art of the disappearing act, only to reappear when least expected. His enigmatic nature and ability to navigate the complexities of Nigerian politics make him a fascinating figure to watch.

Readers would recall how he vanished after his fracas with Tinubu, only to return to the limelight when the latter was campaigning to be Nigeria’s president. Despite their issues, Ambode allegedly helped out as much as he could. But now, he’s gone, again.

As rumours swirl about his potential appointment as an ambassador and his rumoured ventures into private business, Ambode’s departure leaves many questions unanswered. Will he resurface in the future, or is this truly the end of his political journey? Readers should bet on the former. Nevertheless, only time will tell as we all bid (a temporary) farewell to one of Nigerian politics’ most enigmatic figures. Ambode

Dangote

Adeleke

Jeremi

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede Becomes New Bride

Aig-Imoukhuede

To the brilliant and committed, great things always come. For example, few names resonate as profoundly as Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede,

Chairman of Access Holdings PLC. With each strategic move, he seems to effortlessly hit destiny’s bull’s-eye, leaving an indelible mark on the global stage. His recent appointment as President of the France Nigeria Business Council (FNBC) at the esteemed Choose France Summit 2024 only solidifies his status as a true business visionary.

The FNBC stands as a beacon of bilateral collaboration, fostering robust ties between Nigeria and France. Under Aig-Imoukhuede’s leadership, it could serve as a pivotal force driving trade, investments, and cultural integration between the two nations. Since its inception in June 2021 under the auspices of President Emmanuel Macron, the FNBC has catalysed a wave of Nigerian investments in France while facilitating reciprocal ventures, ushering in a new era of economic cooperation.

At its helm, currently, Aig-Imoukhuede leads a cohort of distinguished members, comprising titans of industry such as Abdul Samad Rabiu, Gilbert Chagoury, Mike Adenuga, and Aliko Dangote, among others. With

What are the Thoughts of Abdulmalik Sarkindaji?

In Nigeria’s politics, where projects range from the mundane to the bizarre, one figure stands out amidst the cacophony: Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly. Recently, he found himself embroiled in controversy as he withdrew his support for a mass wedding involving 100 orphans from his constituency in Mariga LGA of the state.

Initially championing the cause of these vulnerable youths, Sarkindaji’s about-face came swift and unexpected. The catalyst? Concerns raised by the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, regarding the legality of the wedding and the crucial issue of consent and age for marriage, as stipulated by law, including the Child Rights Act.

Addressing journalists at the House of Assembly complex in Minna, Sarkindaji revealed his dilemma. While preparations

Authentic genius can be recognised by its fruits, specifically, by how much it changes things around it. This is the case for the leading people in charge of Nigeria’s infrastructure development, among whom one name stands out: Abiodun Otunola. As a civil engineer at Planet Projects Construction Company, Otunola is poised for sky-high success, with a

for the wedding, including the payment of bride prices on behalf of the grooms, were underway, the speaker found himself at a crossroads. He chose to entrust the decision to proceed with the wedding or not to the traditional and religious leaders in the area.

Expressing disappointment with the minister’s stance, Sarkindaji vehemently denied any coercion of the girls into marriage, asserting that the parents had approached him seeking support. This decision, he clarified, was made after consulting religious and traditional leaders, as well as other stakeholders.

But what lies beneath Sarkindaji’s abrupt change of heart? Is it a genuine concern for legalities and ethical considerations, or the pressure of public scrutiny? As the saga unfolds, Sarkindaji’s actions invite scrutiny and reflection on the complexities of political manoeuvring in Nigeria.

their collective expertise and influence, the Council navigates complex business landscapes, forging pathways for mutual prosperity and growth.

Aig-Imoukhuede’s appointment comes as a fitting tribute to his predecessor, the late Herbert Wigwe, whose legacy he now carries forward with grace and determination. At the Choose France Summit, amidst a backdrop of high-level engagements and mutual commitments, Aig-Imoukhuede’s presidency signals a new chapter in FrancoNigerian relations, marked by innovation, collaboration, and boundless opportunity.

As Aig-Imoukhuede assumes the mantle of leadership, his vision for the FNBC transcends borders, propelling both nations towards a future defined by shared prosperity and enduring partnership. In his hands, the FNBC can be a catalyst for transformative change, where business brilliance meets diplomatic finesse, and destiny’s bull’s-eye is hit, time and time again.

Abiodun Otunola is Cleaning Out Big Time

slew of mouth-watering projects under his belt.

Otunola’s ascent to prominence is marked by his company’s recent coup—a coveted contract awarded by the Federal Executive Council for the construction of bus terminals and transport facilities in the Federal Capital, Abuja. With terminals slated for completion within 15 months at strategic locations like Kugbo, Abuja Central Business District, and Mabushi, the project is set to revolutionise transportation infrastructure in the nation’s capital. With a hefty price tag of N51 billion, this endeavour underscores Otunola’s status as a key player in Nigeria’s engineering landscape.

Having earned his stripes under the tutelage of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Otunola’s trajectory has been nothing short of meteoric. His breakthrough moment paved the way for a series of lucrative contracts, catapulting him into the ranks of the well-to-do in the southwest region of Nigeria.

As the founding MD of Planet Projects Limited (PPL), Otunola spearheads a dynamic team that provides comprehensive solutions to transport challenges across Nigerian cities. From bus terminals and BRT systems to rail networks and water transport, Otunola’s expertise spans the entire spectrum of transportation infrastructure. His impressive portfolio includes landmark projects such as the Lagos Strategic Transport Master Plan, the Oshodi Transport Interchange Project (OTIP), and the Lagos Blue Line Light Rail Project, among others.

With his exceptional excellence and innovation, Otunola is not just building infrastructure; he is shaping the future of transportation in Nigeria. As his star continues to rise, Otunola’s legacy as a visionary engineer and transformative leader is firmly cemented in the annals of Nigerian development.

Emeka Offor Breaks Barriers in Philanthropy and Sustainable Development

Emeka Offor, the renowned Nigerian oil magnate and founder of Chrome Group, has once again shattered expectations with his groundbreaking approach to philanthropy and sustainable development. His recent donation of a N100 million endowment fund to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) marks a new chapter in his legacy of generosity and impact.

This extraordinary act of giving comes hot on the heels of Offor’s receipt of an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree during UNN’s 52nd convocation ceremony. In a statement expressing his gratitude, Offor emphasised his appreciation for

the esteemed institution and its recognition of his contributions.

But Offor’s philanthropic efforts extend far beyond this recent donation. With a track record of donating books worth $30 million to institutions across Africa, he has already made a profound impact on education and knowledge dissemination. Now, with the establishment of the endowment fund at UNN, Offor is poised to further elevate the educational landscape in Nigeria.

But this is a given, considering that Offor’s visionary leadership at Chrome Group is responsible for not only propelling the conglomerate to the forefront of Nigeria’s energy industry but also paving the way

Aisha Babangida: Citizen of Humanity at 54

Good hearts are rare. This is why a heart as kind as Erelu Aisha Babangida is a precious thing indeed. Therefore, as she turns 54 on Saturday, May 25, her remarkable journey as a visionary humanitarian leader continues to inspire and uplift countless lives across Nigeria and beyond. Renowned as the Chairperson of the Better Life Programme for the African Rural Woman (BLPARW), Erelu Aisha embodies compassion, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to serving humanity.

Born into a legacy of service and compassion, Erelu Aisha’s lineage traces back to her mother, the late Maryam Babangida, whose enduring legacy of philanthropy and empowerment laid the foundation for Erelu Aisha’s own transformative work. Through the Better Life Program, Erelu Aisha carries forward her mother’s legacy, providing hope and support to underserved communities across Nigeria. Erelu Aisha’s humanitarian endeavours extend far beyond the realms of charity. With the founding of the Tasnim Foundation, she champions the cause of girl child education, offering scholarships to young girls in rural areas and equipping them with the tools they need to build a brighter future. Through her tireless efforts, Erelu Aisha not only provides educational opportunities but also fosters a culture of empowerment and self-reliance among marginalised communities.

Furthermore, Erelu Aisha’s advocacy for financial inclusion and entrepreneurship has revolutionised the landscape of economic empowerment in Nigeria. Recognizing the transformative power of microfinance, she founded the Egwafin Microfinance Bank, providing vital access to funding and financing for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. And what cannot be said about her establishment of the Women Enterprise Alliance, which shows her unwavering commitment to paving the way for women to thrive in the world of business?

By all accounts, Erelu Aisha is doing well. This is why informed Nigerians always honour her remarkable contributions to humanity and her steadfast dedication to uplifting the lives of the marginalised and underserved this time of the year. A true citizen indeed, no less compassionate and visionary than her late mother.

for impactful initiatives through the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation. This foundation, funded solely by Offor, focuses on education and healthcare, two critical pillars of sustainable development.

Through the foundation, Offor has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to empowering the next generation of leaders by awarding millions of dollars annually in scholarships to underprivileged Nigerian students. Moreover, his dedication to healthcare is evident in initiatives such as the donation of fully equipped hospital beds to the UNN Teaching Hospital and the provision of essential medicines to health facilities nationwide.

Sarkindaji

Babangida

Otunola

DEAR NIGERIANS, WE ARE POOR

FOR SIM FUBARA, THE DIE IS CAST

My Oga’s confidence level these days must be studied. Bro has moved from squeamish and almost fearful to very bold, almost an Idi Amin kind of boldness. The other day, I saw a clip where he was calling some people house rats and that he has bought the ‘otapiapia” that he will use to extinguish them. He ended that same pitch with the saying that “the jungle has matured.”

The wahala in Rivers is becoming exciting and me, I like this kind of fight. Yes, it is now looking like two worthy opponents are at it unlike in the past when the oga in Abuja would just be knocking this one’s gorimapa and be dancing “kunkunu” dance while at it. Now the salvo has changed as we have started seeing a long list of property reportedly illegally acquired by King Pharaoh of Ikwerre land. An investigation has been thrown up and a resolve to fight to the end has been

I don’t know what entered my head o. My friend was talking to me about setting up a small business and the next thing she said: “When the idea came to me 10 years ago, I looked at my social status and felt it was beneath me. Today, I am doing it with far more money, with no real social status anymore.”

Then the thought hit me- we have just created the largest grouping of urban poor anywhere in the world since the end of the Second World War.

My people, today in Nigeria what we have are three categories – ultra-rich, poor and peasants. Ultra-rich are those who have access to the centralised resources, either by appointments, biological relationships or third-party access. The poor are what used to be the former middle class. Those who can no longer buy a brand new car, in fact, can no longer buy a tokunbo car, or buy a plane ticket to Abuja but can still buy a carton of Indomie after some slight savings. Then the last batch is the peasants, these are the normal poor people who have been pushed further. They now rely on the earth, dustbins and handouts to survive.

declared by the former godson. Me, I am with Sim on this one and every right-thinking lover of democracy should be with him on this one. To show my resolve to stand by him, I have written about him twice in two weeks as my own contribution to the fight.

As I no get juju and do not love violence, I will join in the only way possible that I know how and which is my mouth. I will abuse Wike to high heavens, talk about the craw craw in his buttocks, sing about his big head and croaky voice until he learns how to respect the will of the people and carry his wahala self back to his village.

Mbok I tire for this kind tyranny. Na wa.

GODWIN OBASEKI VS OBA OF BENIN: THE KING SHALL REIGN FOREVER

During the week, we saw rumpus coming from Benin City. You know

This is where President Jonathan, Buhari and our current emperor have led us to, a country where the middle class has been totally decimated. A journey that started with our bowler hat-wearing oga and continued with the most annoyingly detached president ever and ended with a slam dunk by our present oga whose main understanding of governance has moved from “agbado” to tax and levies.

Me, I am not fooling myself; I am firmly in the “poor” category. I came to that realisation the day I was charged N106,000 in a restaurant in Lekki for six pieces of Chicken. I looked at the bill, looked at the waitress and brought out my card and paid and when the balance in my account came out – N1,230, it dawned on me that I am now a member of the urban poor class.

Oya, you test yourself, go to that restaurant in Lekki – call me and I will give you their address- buy chicken wings and pay the N106,000 and then check your balance, it will tell you very clearly where you stand, either as ultra-rich, poor or peasant. I kinda suspect say na peasant a lot of you will be as the POS will say unavailable funds. Lol!

me I used to fear those people, so I will be very careful with the way I choose my words. Some reports had said that the governor, Mr. Obaseki had taken the highly revered Oba to court and as such was desecrating the ancient stool of the Benin Kingdom. Other reports refuted that and stated the contrary, that it was some chiefs who took the Oba and the state government to court. This however threw up a hot debate as to the superiority or otherwise of the state governor over the traditional stool. You see, this would have been of no consequence to me if it did not involve the great Oba of Benin. See very unlike the ‘kobo kobo’ traditional rulers that abound everywhere, the Oba of Benin has in his comportment and carriage preserved the very high respect of the stool that he sits. He remains highly revered, the institution he represents retaining its allure and dignity globally

simply because they have preserved the very distinct traditions of their ancestry.

This is why the debate on the superiority of public service over the Oba is even taken seriously by people like me.

Let me tell you guys something, I have seen a traditional ruler queue for food at Owambe, I have seen some stand on the road waiting for Uber, I have heard and seen others hawking chieftaincy titles and offering - buy one get two free. So, if this argument was between the governor and those ones, it wouldn’t even be a discussion, I will just send the councillor of his local government to give him a query. But this is the Oba of Benin, the only one after maybe the Olu of Warri and the Obi of Onitsha and the Sultan of Sokoto and a few others who continue to protect the integrity of their stool.

Kukah

President Tinubu

Tinubu

Obaseki

Fubara

This is the Oba of Benin whose words are stronger than law, this is the Oba of Benin who made my head swell when I entered his palace grounds, this is the almighty Oba of Benin ooo. Mbok, we must continue to give him his maximum respect and the truth is I really do not care what the constitution says, this traditional ruler oooo is far above any law made by man and this is coming from a democrat.

BISHOP KUKAH AS MY HERO OF ALL TIMES

Nothing really beats the taste of well-made afang, but listening to this highly revered Bishop speak almost beats it. His oratorical skill used to sha mess me up and if I was a woman, he would by now have forgotten his vow of celibacy, I tell you.

This man has been very consistent with his positions, his love for Nigeria and the depth and clarity with which he espouses this love. He remains a bold and true son of this country. Patriotism is in his veins and doesn’t stop short of saying it as it is, no matter whose ox is gored.

From the military era straight through the present cacophony that we call this presidency, the reverend father continues to push truth, fair play and justice using well-spoken diction, powerful engagement and sweet prose as main vehicles of delivery.

When I was younger, I would rush to the TV to listen to him speak on NTA and they used to like to invite him. The man can yarn, his speeches are laced with the sweet velvety flow of an accomplished bard. He will just be mesmerising and romancing you with the words. His pacing, deliberate delivery and the smoothness of his voice make him one of the most gifted speakers ever.

All we have to do at this point is to thank God that he has taken the vow of celibacy otherwise, our wives would not be safe around him, with that kind sweet mouth.

Father, let’s do afang one of these days. I need a one-on-one with you, so I can swoon. Kai.

SEYI TINUBU: RUN FOR COVER

During riots like the June 12 one, stray bullets used to fly and that is what happened to my aburo Seyi Tinubu, the most influential son of a President worldwide.

That was how his father’s administration woke up one morning and decided to commission the huge Lagos-Calabar road in record time. From visioning to commencement took a record time that the Guinness Book of World Records would be very glad to have on its books.

I heard people were given seven days to move whole hotels, pack it, fold it and put it in their portmanteaus and move away so that the road could be quickly built before the rapture comes. Well, our Dubai resident in his own admonition went at the great Seyi Tinubu. We did not even know that the great Seyi was on the board of the company awarded the contract until our oga came all the way from Dubai to tell us.

Well, in his long published epistle, he admonished the fact that the son was on board of a company that has just been awarded one of the biggest ever contracts since the scramble and partition of Africa by father. Unlike Atiku, me I did not see any conflict of interest there o. Wait, let me explain. It’s not like Seyi will even understand the things that they will

TEMI POPOOLA: A STORM

IN

A TEACUP

You cannot make an omelette without breaking the egg. The NGX has for some time now lost its bearing. It has been floating aimlessly into irrelevance with other such parallel institutions taking its place as the premier engine of economic growth in the capital market.

Then a new board was constituted. Alhaji Kwairanga whom I have known forever and was even there when he got his first car – a Toyota Tercel, it was a Tokunbo – emerged as chairman. Instantly supported by such astute and cerebral men like my brother Nonso Okpala and perhaps one of the most brilliant investment bankers ever, Mohammed Garuba, the Board set about redirecting the NGX and giving it back its bite. That was how Temi Popoola emerged as the Group Managing Director/CEO. Wait, let me tell you guys about Temi. This is one of the most brilliant traders you will ever come across in this generation. See, two major stockbrokers are iconic: Bolaji Balogun and Egwakhide Longe but that was in that generation. Dem don old now. In this generation, Temi stands head over heels. I worked closely with him at CSL and saw just how he worked his magic and it didn’t come as a surprise when Rencap came for him from where he landed at the NGX.

be saying at board meetings, or that he will even know the difference between coal tar and mud and in that sense, there will be no conflict because he will just be at the meetings playing that game on the phone that has captured every young person including my Chantal.

For me, Atiku is playing agbaya games, pulling Seyi into this matter. If he has anything against the father he should face him and leave the son even if he is the one that is serving tea at the board meetings of that company or doing internship.

The most important thing for us right now is to launch a panel of inquiry to look into the reason why Atiku prefers Dubai to his Boko Haram ravaged North-east as a retirement home and leave Seyi to join any board he wants to join, After all, na him time.

Seyi, mbok don’t mind all these ancestors, just ignore them. Let me recommend more boards for you to join – Pension as we are looking at their trillions for infrastructure; Zenith Bank, did you hear the profits they just declared? MTN so that you can assist me in using your powers there to hack Duchess’s phone, the way she is bursting my password, I don’t understand again.

Seyi is the man of the moment. Let him be mbok. Thank you.

BOLANLE AUSTEN PETERS – WELL DONE ON FRK

Immediately, the markets started responding, recording some very stupendous results and in one instance emerging as the best performing globally. Now faced with the everimportant challenge of sustaining the performance, he set about right-sizing the place, taking out those that were not aligned either by capacity or outlook to make space for more serious operatives that would push for the institution of reforms.

In that guise, 25 people were let go. Only 25 and come and see wahala. The attacks started and I received a call at midnight from an operative begging me to “attack” Temi for what he was doing. This made me wonder why disruptors and visioners face almost the same pushback. The man has grown the sector phenomenally, they have paid dividends for the first time in four years, they are getting international respect and the markets are responding because of a right sizing exercise that was even recommended and guided by one of the most prominent consulting firms, you now want to crush his balls?

No, I won’t yab Temi but will say well done even as we continue to watch very closely, making sure that he stays true to his job description while wishing him success. Well-done bro.

Talking of disruptors. Bolanle AustenPeters is a disruptor-in-chief. She has scattered Nigerian theatre, earning her the sobriquet of Mother of Modern Day Nigerian Theatre and is now scattering the movie industry with her wave-making award-winning movies. Her latest, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (FRK), which is a depiction of mummy Fela, and which I have not watched, did so well at the last AMVCA and has now signposted her as one of the very important cultural icons. She is one lady who has done it her way and when I say she is the single most important personality in modern-day culture, some people will be cursing me. I wonder how people who have not sold one ticket, put up a production in their background or even understand the stress the producer goes through to put up this work of magic will now just sit down on their armchairs with their testicles hanging out and in drunken stupor arrogate to themselves the authority to attempt to hack down the hard work of people of pedigree like Bolanle.

I know about life too much to join that leprose army and this is why I proclaim Bolanle daily for what she is doing in that space. Her energy, creativity, hard work and visionary disposition recreated a dying space and are now energising a prolific format, making her in my books one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th century up there with Hubert Ogunde and Wole Soyinka- yes, I have said it. Come and beat me.

PORTABLE: WAIT FOR ME

Did you guys see that video where this person scampered over a gate to escape from the police over a debt? Did you also see how he was carried like some common criminal by policemen in an attempt to engage him over a reported debt?

Well, I am busy this week and really do not have his time. Next week, I will settle down and talk about him very well. So, guys, let’s pray for life, next week.

Popoola

Who is After Captain Chris Najomo?

As a pilot, Captain Chris Najomo was experienced and excellent. Until he retired years ago, he was one of the brightest in that trade. As an administrator, he has also proven without doubt that he is a born leader.

So, when the Delta State-born aviator expert was appointed acting director-general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), in December 2023, it was received with applause by many of his fans who are aware of his leadership qualities.

His appointment was considered as a round peg in a round hole. That he hit the ground running is like stating the obvious. Before his appointment, the aviation regulatory body seemed to be literally diminishing in its function of checking the excesses of airlines in the country. However, all of that has changed in just a few months of assuming office by the aviation guru.

For a man who has learned and mastered the intricate aviation sector as a genius conductor, you can never find the right words in a hurry to describe his unparalleled verve and ingenuity.

With a deft combination of courage, compassion, and confidence in his vision, Najomo, a renowned aviation professional with over four decades of experience in leadership, piloting, and regulatory expertise in the industry is already rewriting NCAA’s narrative, and governing the aviation sector while steadily improving the sector’s fortunes.

However, it seems some unscrupulous elements are not comfortable with the current dynamics at the NCAA. They would rather he maintain the status quo as he met it.

As usual with their style, they went with a campaign of calumny, claiming the ebullient DG bought a N250 million SUV.

The NCAA has raised the alarm over the plot to blackmail the agency and its acting directorgeneral, refuting the story. It narrated that no purchase of vehicles has been made and so, no procurement rules have been abused.

So, the question on the lips of some of his fans is ‘Who is after Najomo?’

Shade Okoya Honoured as Most Outstanding Woman in Nigeria

Still basking in the euphoria of the celebrations of her 47th birthday, as well as her 25th wedding anniversary, Folashade Okoya has remained in a good and exhilarating mood.

Many would recall that a few weeks ago, movers and shakers, including captains of industries, politicians, and top and flamboyant socialites from all walks of life converged on the expansive Oluwanishola Estate, Ajah, Lagos, to honour the beautiful wife of billionaire businessman, Razak Okoya.

Over the years, the woman of substance has become the darling of all because of her humility, courteous and sterling qualities as a mother, wife and soulmate to the Aare of Lagos, and the chairman of the famous Eleganza Group.

As gathered, the Bewaji of Lagos and Managing Director/ CEO Eleganza Group is being honoured again. According to a source, the elegant woman has been listed among 20 Outstanding Women in Nigeria in a special publication by Sun Newspaper slated for June 3, 2024.

As hinted, the letter addressed to the

business magnate read:

“In Nigeria’s socio-economic and political development, women have played key roles and firmly stand to be counted. Indeed, many women have broken the glass ceiling and proven to be a force to be reckoned with.

“In recognition of the sterling performance of women and their contributions in Nigeria, our medium is doing a special publication on 20 Outstanding Women in Nigeria. In consideration of your contribution to Nigeria’s development, we have chosen you as one of the Outstanding ones.”

It is not surprising that Okoya is currently enjoying a myriad of honours, ‘Mama Lamide’, as she is fondly called within the Okoyas household, has made remarkable progress within the Eleganza Industry, turning its fortune around. Since she has taken it upon herself to give her all to her husband’s business, things have never been the same again, as the business has moved in bounds and leaps.

She has held many top capacities in the past, such as Managing Director of Eleganza Fashion Products Limited, Eleganza Cruise and Travels

Limited, as well as a member, Board of the Directors of Eleganza Group and RAO Investment Property Company Limited.

This latest honour is a stamp of seal of approval that indeed, the Ogun Stateborn business genius is an accomplished entrepreneur whose ingenuity, dedication and commitment to her business are worthy of emulation.

High-flying Architect, Fifi Ejindu, Glides into 62 with Grace!

R.G. Moon must have had billionaire businesswoman, Princess Fifi Ejindu, in mind when he penned this deathless quote: “She would rather walk alone in darkness than follow anyone else’s shadow.”

The top and outstanding architect and businesswoman has not just contributed to the economy of the country but is a woman who rubs shoulders with other renowned women across the shores of Africa.

Her record of incisive vision to reshape Nigeria’s business climate remains unequalled, making her one of the few women who refused to be cowed.

The well-educated damsel holds a special place in the hearts of many across the country because of her philanthropic gestures that have

Rising Profile of Logistic Top Shot, Kenny Adebayo

Kenny Adebayo, boss of Global Ultra Logistics, LCC, is ever busy flying high. The New Jersey, USbased businessman is rooted in his uncommon brilliance and business acumen. Thus, his exploits do not come as a surprise to those who knew him early in life.

As a highly intelligent man, the Ogun State-born mogul began to exhibit a high level of skills and attitude very early in life as disclosed by a source. When he dabbled into business many years ago, his clear vision was to make his company the leading logistics company in its area of operation. Today, he has steadfastly achieved his dream.

Adebayo began his sojourn in

business way back in Nigeria when he left his former employers to face the challenges of a business owner in a volatile environment like ours. It was revealed that his first business was established alongside his twin brother, T&K Freight in London.

But he later followed his instincts by relocating to the US where Global Logistics was birthed. Though the beginning wasn’t that easy, as a young man driven by the hunger for success, as early as that time, he resolved to pursue his dream without looking back, and not even the seeming impossibility of the task could deter him from pursuing his dream. The rest is history as they say.

raised many out of total financial misery and obscurity to relevance.

But despite her wealth and the influence she commands in society, Ejindu is ever willing to give her shoulders to anyone to lean on in a moment of need. She is always willing to tell whoever cares to listen that she achieved all she has through God’s grace and mercy.

On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, the woman of sophistication and class will clock 62. It would be yet another bright day and opportunity to climb the mountaintop to shout Hallelujah to her Creator for the great-granddaughter of James Ekpo Bassey, an Efik monarch in the colonial era.

other side.

Though he has made money, and connections and is highly influential, the advice has stuck to his head. Today, the businessman is not only making the country proud in the Diaspora, he has also not forgotten the ‘son of whom he is.’

The Chartered Accountant and Management strategist has continued to show that he is still in tune with his motherland with his immense contribution to the development of human capacity through his Elom Foundation which seeks to provide support to people living with visual impairment.

This, we gathered, he has dedicated his life to and would not spare any cost to make the project a reality.

While he does not court media attention for his great philanthropic works; many around him are taking note of his giant strides. Good deeds attract good rewards; and in appreciation of his good works for the downtrodden, which include

payment of poor children’s school fees and providing medical succour for the less privileged among other charitable deeds, the businessman has caught the attention of the Olu of Ilaro and paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, who conferred on him a traditional chieftaincy title as the Otunba Bobaseto of Ilaro Yewa. At the installation ceremony at the Olu’s palace, the economics graduate from the University of Ibadan was celebrated to the high heavens as those who mattered most in the country gathered to share in his joy. He also launched a scholarship for 20 persons living with visual impairment and promised to fund their education from their current level through their university level.

This, as revealed, is just a way to support the Nigerian government to take as many as possible out of the street.

Adebayo

Okoya

Ejindu

Najomo

When Adedotun Adegbesan left Nigeria for Dublin, Ireland many years ago, one of the advice he got from the elders was not to forget his home no matter how green the pasture may be on the

ARTS & REVIEW ARTS &

A PUBLICATION

To many of the local art scene’s cognoscenti, Imal Emmanuel Silva might just as well have emerged from a no-show phase, albeit a brief one. The University of Ibadan and the Enterprise Development Centre at Lagos Business School graduate—as it now turns out—is fervently immersing himself in meticulous preparation for an imminent solo exhibition at the Turkish Embassy in Abuja.

Hardly has the word about the forthcoming exhibition, titled An Ode to Existence, been out before the artist—seething with a torrent of emotions bursting from within—let out that it has been envisioned as an immersive experience. Also, even before the curtains rise on this milestone event on Thursday, June 6, he

exhibition in London to wrap up the year in a meticulously planned exhibition, which will be orchestrated under the supervision of the esteemed Turkish female curator, Beste Gürsu. It will feature abstract paintings that delve into the intricate theme of environmental human existence. “I have deliberately avoided on Facebook, “particularly not placing human subjects in the work, because I wanted this exhibition and its process to be a time of contemplation… to look from outside in… and avoid our desire as humans to see ourselves

No doubt, the unwavering predilection for sustainability runs deep, embedding mindfulness in each painting that seamlessly intertwines socio-cultural, environmental, and economic facets. Hence, the introspective Sri Lankan-born artist’s work transcends mere artistry to leave a lasting impact on the world, emphasising the delicate balance needed for sustainable progress.

the delicate dance of light with shadows— consciousness. Each stroke on canvas whispers tales of forests, oceans, and skies, enveloping viewers in a world where hues meld like dreams. His canvas, therefore, is a portal into a realm where earthly wonders intertwine with artistic ingenuity, igniting a passion for conservation and a celebration of the natural in her curatorial statement for the exhibition, which ends on July 6, he also “understands how perceive environmental issues emotionally and intellectually and the role these interactions play in environmental decision-making. They work to support environmental activism through their art, and they strive to create and develop an artistic space for sustainability by fostering

With upcoming projects in view, Silva’s profound insights promise a grand unveiling deeper understanding of human existence and purpose. Among these upcoming projects is the pioneering Women Creative Summit, which promises to be a transformative endeavour. For instance, Treasure for Life AGH, which he co-founded, will be teaming up with esteemed partners like the MISSD Foundation and Terra Kulture for this grand collaboration that aims to empower female creatives by addressing industry challenges and proposing innovative solutions. Expectedly, the project has the backing of the culture and creative economy minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, signalling a deep commitment to fostering creativity and diversity.

As is oftentimes the case with creative souls,ence, where the delicate threads of artistry and

On the Quest for Gold and…Silva

In abstraction, Imal Emmanuel Silva discerns a gateway to uncharted territories, forging deep connections with viewers and transcending mere aesthetics to unravel the core of human existence. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes

entrepreneurship intertwine in a shimmering dance of harmonious elegance. It is akin to a compelling internal struggle to toe the delicate artistic essence and the practical demands of business—perhaps a see-saw between passion and pragmatism. This is one reason why his recent video Ojumo, harps on the symbiotic relationship between art and commerce, where the artist must gracefully pirouette between his creative muses pensively in that 17-minute-36-second video, “peculiar challenges for me would have

His artistic journey began with exposure to art during his formative years. Observing a landscape or an object would trigger an innate need to freeze the moment for posterity through the medium of art while capturing the subtleties in vibrant strokes. Initially, his creations mirrored the known, until a burgeoning curiosity led him towards the realm of abstraction.

Embracing this shift, he delved deeper into -

cept or thematic essence. Adapting acrylics as his primary medium, he deftly wields a palette

knife to craft intricate textures, combining drip

This duality intertwines harmoniously, birthing a body of work teeming with raw emotion and unbridled expression. While anchored in acrylics, the spectre of future exploration looms, beckoning the allure of oil on canvas—a potential canvas for untold stories and unrestrained creativity. In the delicate dance between control and sponmelodic composition inscribed on the canvas, a symphony of feelings in vivid hues.“While creating abstract expressions using nature’s colours and forms, Silva manipulates them not

Having been a devoted artist for years, he counts on the unwavering support of his wife, close-knit family, and a circle of loyal friends. He is grateful for the deep understanding people have of his true self. This is while attributing his good fortune to his conscientious conduct and grounded demeanour. Balancing the dichotomy cherishing his privacy, he navigates life with a Sri Lanka, where he left at age 10, and spending over four decades in Nigeria, he wholeheartedly embraces his second home while maintaining strong ties to his roots. Marrying and raising his children in Nigeria, he seamlessly blends both cultures into his everyday life, evident in his eclectic wardrobe and diverse culinary Ultimately, Silva proudly embodies a harmonious blend of identities shaped by diverse experiences—a fact the forthcoming exhibition will attest to.

Another abstract landscape painting by Silva A painting by Silva

Silva beside his acrylic on canvas painting, Once in a Blue Moon, 2024

For Soyinka, WSICE Plans Lagos, London Celebrations

Yinka Olatunbosun

The 15th edition of the annual Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE) is eagerly anticipated as it unfolds in two captivating blend of virtual and onsite events from July 13 to 16 in London from July 19 to 27.

This remarkable celebration marks the 90th birth-

extraordinary life journey and distinguished legacy as a visionary artist and global advocate catalysed the inception of this transformative initiative back in 2010.

The WS90/WSICE2024 theme “Engaging National Nation-Building” is a summation of the over seven decades of commitment and struggles of Soyinka as creative works and consistent public engagement.ment to the cause of nation-building through his ensure good governance for the wellbeing of the While the theme domiciles an appreciation of -

The theme will be the focus of all the programme items in the edition.

The celebration will embrace several programming ideas that have been features of the WSICE since

Engaging N-National Interest O-n G-ood Governance

stated: “Prof. Soyinka has pursued the betterment of society through his support for freedom and

his work a global service to humanity. His career -

the event enjoys the support and participation of amongst others.

With ‘Flames of Nostalgia,’ Hanson Okere Ups the Ante

EXHIBITION

Htalented Lagos-based artist widely recognised for his

dean of humanities and deputy provost.

career of Soyinka.

The WSICE is organised on the platform of the exchange programme designed for the purpose of using the platforms of the arts (literary and the dignity of man.Organised and sponsored by Segun Ojewuyi (immediate past dean of the College to enjoy support from public and corporate organThe Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange and culture.

Artworks That Are Set to Brighten the World

Nkechinyere Anaedum

The art world is a canvas always waiting to be splashed withtive art has a unique powerlowing us to step into worlds crafted by imagination and

and was inaugurated by the Catholic Bishop of commenced the exhibition with a Holy Mass.ground holding both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting education from Nnamdi formal education to pursue her passion for art. for drawing. This inherited passion evolved into a professional pursuit during her third

to narrate traditional and cultural stories that resonate deeply with her audience. Specialising in hyper-realism and abstract

focusing on the values and traditions of the Igbo notable feature of her art is the innovative use distinctive element to her pieces. Choosing to launch her career in a Catholic gratitude. This was symbolised by her donation of a painting of Pope John Paul II and the exhibition

focusing on the African girl child as a symbol of resilience and strength. Her paintings are a clarion call to preserve cultural heritage and

The exhibition featured a variety of captivating -

like Olu Jacobs and Genevieve Nnaji also featured solace and inspiration.

Ekeoma’s journey of overcoming self-doubt and making her dream exhibition a reality. Known

on the art world. Her debut exhibition not only celebrated her artistic arrival but also set the stage for a promising future where her works continue to inspire and provoke thought. With her compelling narratives and uniquelished herself as an artist to watch. Her debut exhibition was not just an introduction but arival of a new voice in the rich kaleidoscope of for years to come.

AnaedumwritesfromAwka

has long fascinated audiences. The Rivers State native’s innovative technique of intricately etching elaborate motifs on wood using specialised tools creates a powerful and unforgettable visual impact on those who view his work.

prominence in the art world. His latest solo exhibi-

milestone in his promising career.

TheexhibitionfeaturesOkere’ssignaturemonochrocaptivating visual narrative that seamlessly transitions viewers between contemporary times and nostalgic and strength depicted in Okere’s artwork resonates vibrancy through thoughtful expression. for creative expression has grown with time. With

his abilities and creating the exquisite attention to detail that distinguishes his work. He was born in Harcourt with a bachelor’s degree in art.

Okere’s artistic activities seek to expose the intricate of life with transparency and depth. His artwork serves as a vehicle for portraying the core of human thought and introspection in his audience. that requires accuracy and a steady hand to carve intricate designs into wood surfaces using heated artist. Okere has honed this precise trade over the

Each piece produced by the artist attests to his dedication to his artistic vision and mission to communicate the rich stories and experiences of the black community via his emotive creativity. His carvings

immersive experience that emotionally resonates with viewers. His devotion and talent continue to

“And patience is the key to that. I try as much as possible to give microscopic and meticulous attention to details in order for me to achieve a fabulous piece of artwork.”

his current professional goal is to be recognised last few years.

Soyinka pursuit.

Okere at work in his studio

Emmanuel Ndogo

Editor: Ejiofor

SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

IN THE ARENA

Unending Threat of Crude Oil Theft

Wale Igbintade reports that the

inability of the federal government to tame the menace of crude oil theft is still costing the country huge revenue loss

When the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) entered into a security agreement with Tantita Security Services Limited in 2022 to tackle crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, very few Nigerians expressed support for the deal. It was widely believed that the security of such a critical national asset should not be handed over to a nonstate actor.

Before the contract was awarded, NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, and the then Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, had raised the alarm that more than 700,000 barrels of Nigerian oil were stolen daily.

The knock-on effect of this crude oil theft is that foreign exchange reserves are under considerable pressure, as the shortage of US dollars causes the naira to depreciate.

Nigeria also relies on crude oil and gas revenues to fund much of the federal government’s budget.

Soon after the agreement was sealed, it started yielding positive results as the country began experiencing an increase in crude oil sales in the international market.

Cumulatively, Nigeria’s national oil production recovered to an average of more than 1.47 million barrels per day in November from an all-time low of 1.1 million barrels per day before the contract was signed in August 2022, according to documents released by the NNPCL. This translates to an increase of over 300,000 bpd.

Likewise, findings further suggest that oil production continued to improve significantly as more and more wells and associated surface facilities, hitherto shut down by ongoing theft and vandalism, reopened. Specifically, the Joint Venture assets, mainly onshore, which were mostly affected by the security challenges, the NNPCL witnessed a slump in production from a monthly average of 800,00 bpd in January 2022 to about 500,000 bpd in August 2022.

The country’s average joint venture oil production in the August to November 2022 period increased by about 190,000 barrels per day. A breakdown of the joint venture’s increase showed that as of August, oil production averaged 502,759 barrels per day, which is the lowest in 2023.

According to the document, production rose to 521,834 bpd in September 2023 following the signing of the safety contract on August 13, before rising further to an average of 590,431

bpd and 668,147 bpd in October and November. Before the agreement, disruptions to major arterial lines severely had also affected gas production and evacuations, depriving gas-fired power plants and industrial feedstock operations.

However, 2,426 oil theft incidents were reported in the last four months even as the nation’s crude oil production struggles.

From December 30, 2023, to January 5, 2024, NNPC reported 157 breaches on oil assets. The following week, which ended on January 14, the cases of theft went to 211; 214 in the week ending January 19; 176 by January 27 and settled at 241 breaches by February 2. By February 9, the theft figure stood at 354, 226 by February 16, 253 by February 23 and 263 by the first of March. In the first two weeks of March, the theft cases stood at 335. Monthly, the cases of theft hovers around 1,337.

Crude oil production data for Nigeria was 972,394 barrels per day in August 2022 and 937,766 bpd in September when the war against oil theft started.

Oil production in October of 2022 was 1.014 mil-

lion barrels per day. It went to 1.186 million per day in November. The country recorded 1.35 million barrels per day in December 2022.

In January of 2023, the overall crude oil production rate for the country was 1.4 million barrels per day, which means condensate and crude oil. It recorded a daily crude oil production of 1.47 million barrels per day for February before reducing to 1.2 million barrels per day in March 2023.

With the addition of condensates, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said oil production rose from 1.245 million bpd in April 2023, to 1.427 million bpd in May the same year. Nigeria’s crude oil production came in at 1.48mbpd in June 2023 (inclusive of 55,088bpd and 176,030bpd of its blended and unblended condensates respectively). The production in July was 1.30 million barrels per day. The oil production was 1.48 million barrels per day for August. September output was 1.5 million barrels per day, it was 1.5 million barrels per day in October, in November 2023, Nigeria’s oil production dropped to 1.2 million barrels per day before rising to 1.418 million barrels per day in December

POLITICAL NOTES

In January 2024, the production was 1.419 million barrels and further dropped to 1.3 million barrels per day in February.

The crude oil production benchmark in the 2022 budget was 1.60 million barrels per day, and in 2023, 1.69 million barrels per day. For 2024, the production benchmark stands at 1.78 million barrels per day. However, none of the budget benchmarks have been met.

Despite the militarisation of the Niger Delta region and the involvement of private security outfits to safeguard oil production and reduce crude theft, those accused of stealing the nation’s crude appear to be unrelenting and outsmarting the system in an unabated theft.

Most stakeholders believe that the many approaches deployed by the federal government and continuous spending by the state oil company have failed as they called for an immediate overhaul of the security architecture of the oil sector.

Speaking during the oversight function of the House of Representatives Special Committee on Oil Theft at the headquarters of NNPCL in Abuja in March, Kyari, said in one year the state oil company recorded 9,000 infractions on pipelines. While he alleged that the Nigerian elite are the brains behind crude oil theft, foremost Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark debunked it, alleging that NNPC and military were behind oil theft.

The Nigerian Army, Navy and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have a series of operations in the oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta. Daily, they show pictures and videos of illegal refineries and pipeline points that are rescued from breaches and in some cases, make arrests. However, these illegal activities remain prevalent.

Many have argued that if stolen diamonds in Sierra Leone and the Congo could be labelled as “blood diamonds,” in the international system, Nigeria’s stolen crude should be similarly labelled.

They also canvassed the reviewing of the penal regime to ensure that convicted felons serve long jail terms, while their vessels and trucks are forfeited to the government.

Niger Delta communities and their leaders should also spare no efforts in combating oil theft in the region. Bunkering, sabotage of pipelines and illegal refineries are criminal acts that not only threaten Nigeria’s economic security but also damage the environment and aquatic life. Therefore, a joint effort is required to tackle this menace.

Much Ado about Marriage of 100 Girls in Niger

ThefeudbetweentheMinisterofWomenAffairs, MrsUjuKennedy-Ohanenye,andtheSpeakerofthe Niger State House of Assembly, Mr. Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, is an unnecessary distraction, especially at a time when Nigeria and Niger State in particular, have serious security and economic challenges to contend with.

Sarkindajidisclosedlastweekthathewould,onMay 24,sponsortheweddingof100girls,someofwhom were orphaned by insurgency, as part of his Maringa constituency project.

Buttheministerapproachedthecourttostopthe marriage, asking whether the girls’ consent and age formarriage,asdefinedbythelaw,includingtheChild Rights Act, were ensured.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the

minister who had also petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IG) over the issue, insisted that the future of the girlsshouldbeapriority,addingthatherministrywouldtake responsibilityforthegirls’educationandvocationaltraining.

Reactingtotheminister’soutburst,Sarkindajitoldreportersthattheministerdoesnotunderstandtheneedsofhis constituency and has no right to criticise his decision. He addedthattheministernevercalledhimtoseekhisopinion before going to press.

TheSpeakerinsistedthatthegirlswereofage,addingthat itwasthetraditionalandreligiousleadersinhisconstituency that approached him.

“Iwouldhaveacceptedwhateversuggestionsshemade becauseIvaluehelpandassistanceformypeople.Iamdisappointedwithheractionsanddisheartenedbyit,”headded. Indeed,theministerwashastyinheractionsandshouldhave

reachedouttothespeakertodiscussthebestwaystoassistthe girls,giventhefactthatbothofthemmeantwell.Theconstituency belongs to the speaker and he understands their needs better. KanoCentralDistrictSenator,RufaiHanga,hadrecentlydonated 500,000 clay pots and 500,000 pieces of plain white cloths to help his constituents in burying their dead.

Hesaidthedonationwasinresponsetofrequentdemandsfor assistance for burial materials from his constituents.

Every constituency has its peculiar needs which should be respected by everyone, including the government.

While the minister should be blamed for not consulting the speakerbeforetakingactions,thethreatbytheDirectorGeneral ofNigerStateReligiousAffairs,DrUmarFarouk,fortheminister to withdraw the court case and apologise within seven days, or face legal action, was unnecessary as both the speaker and the minister meant well for the girls.

Kennedy-Ohanenye

Tinubu

BRIEFING NOTES

As Some Governors Threaten Their Predecessors with Probes

With Nigeria’s record where no governor had successfully put his predecessor, who was backed by the federal authorities, on successful trial for corruption charges, the ongoing attempts by the governors of Kano, Rivers and Kaduna states to probe their predecessors may be another political showmanship and an exercise in futility, Ejiofor Alike reports

In what appears like another political showmanship to distract the people who are at the receiving end of bad governance, some governors have resorted to threatening their predecessors with probes when it is on record that no governor has successfully put his predecessor on trial for corruption-related charges without the backing of the federal anti-corruption agencies.

An indication of bad faith in some of the planned probes is the involvement of some of the incumbent governors in the administrations of their predecessors, which makes some of the serving governors complicit in some of the alleged fraudulent dealings linked to their estranged godfathers.

Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State opened the season of probes when on assumption of office, he accused his predecessor and National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje of misappropriating public funds and allocating plots of land to some members of his immediate family.

However, Governor Yusuf, elected on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), is a known political opponent of the APC national chairman, whose family is not new to allegations of corruption.

A video clip allegedly showing Ganduje stuffing his pockets with bales of dollars suspected to be kickback from contractors, was released to the public in October 2018 by the Publisher of Daily Nigerian, Mr. Ja’afar Ja’afar.

While Ganduje had denied being the person in the video, Governor Yusuf had urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to release the result of its probe into the alleged dollar bribery video.

Governor Yusuf later inaugurated two judicial commissions of inquiry (JCI) to investigate instances of misappropriation of public properties and assets, political violence, and missing persons between 2015 and 2023.

While the panel was yet to commence sittings, the state High Court, at the instance of the state government, had fixed April 17, 2024 for the arraignment of Ganduje, on bribery charges.

Ganduje was scheduled to be arraigned alongside his wife, Hafsat, who is a professor; his son, Umar; and five others before Justice Usman Na’aba, on eight counts, bordering on $413,000 and N1.38 billion bribery.

The anticipated arraignment was however stalled due to the state government’s inability to

serve criminal charges on the accused persons, and the presiding judge, Justice Usman Mallam Na’abba, adjourned the matter till April 29, 2024.

However, the much-anticipated arraignment could not continue on April 29 due to inability to serve criminal charges on the seven accused persons.

After a heated argument between the prosecution and defence counsel on the method of service, Justice Na’abba fixed May 16, 2024 to rule on means of service in the case.

But on May 16, the state Chief Judge, Justice Dije Abdu-Aboki, transferred the case to a new judge, Amina Adamu-Aliyu, and no date has been fixed for Ganduje’s arraignment before the new judge.

Indications that Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State would also probe his estranged ally, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, emerged when the governor raised the alarm in March that the huge debt burden he inherited from El-Rufai’s administration was suffocating the state.

Barely two weeks after the governor’s comments on the state’s debt burden, the state House of Assembly set up a 13-member fact-finding committee to probe all finances, loans and contracts awarded under El-Rufai’s administration.

The panel would also investigate the former governor’s top associate and Senior Counsellor on Investment, Jimi Lawal.

There are also indications that Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State may probe his predecessor, Professor Ben Ayade, following repeated claims by the officials of the state government that Ayade left an “empty” treasury.

Last Wednesday, the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ankpo Edet, told reporters that the state government treasury was “empty” when Governor Otu assumed office on May 29, 2023.

In July 2023, the governor’s media aide, Emmanuel Ogbeche, had also told journalists that the state was “badly rundown” by Ayade.

It is however not certain if Governor Otu will probe his predecessor.

In Rivers State, the political battle between Governor Siminalaye Fubara and his predecessor and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike took a strange twist on Monday when the governor vowed that he would probe his estranged godfather.

Fubara was a key player in Wike’s ad-

NOTES FOR FILE

ministration and was declared wanted in May 2022, alongside three others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over N117 billion fraud linked to Wike’s administration.

Many believe that Wike would have also been declared wanted if immunity had not covered him.

In a recent letter to the Inspector General of Police (IG), foremost Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark alleged that Wike installed Fubara as successor to confer immunity on him so that he would not be available for questioning as EFCC’s prosecution witness against Wike.

But speaking on Monday during the swearing-in of Mr. Dagogo Israel Iboroma (SAN) as the new Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Fubara asked the new appointee to brace up for Wike’s probe.

Fubara had also on Tuesday, stated that his administration inherited a huge debt burden on projects embarked upon by Wike’s administration. Political analysts however believe that Fubara’s threat would amount to probing himself because he was a key member of Wike’s administration. Speaking on the huge debts left behind by Wike, the governor had stated: “I did not want to talk because I was part of that system,” but “they kept pushing me.”

With Wike and Ganduje’s backing by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the ongoing efforts to probe them by their predecessors, may end up as an exercise in futility.

Wike had on June 19, 2015 set up a sevenman panel to probe former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, a powerful member of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet but the exercise ended in futility as the state government suddenly withdrew the corruption charges it filed against Amaechi in October 2022.

Ganduje had already secured the order of Justice Simon Amobeda of Federal High Court sitting in Kano, restraining the two commissions of inquiry set up by Gov Yusuf from conducting any further proceedings until after the determination of the suit he instituted.

Without the direct involvement of the EFCC, it will be difficult for Governors Fubara, Sani, Yusuf or Otu to put their predecessors on a successful trial.

However, the dismissal of Amaechi’s application challenging his probe by Wike’s government by the Supreme Court on May 27, 2022, may serve as a flicker of hope to governors who insist on putting their predecessors on trial.

Nigeria Police Force as Debt-recovery Agency

It was another embarrassing moment for the authorities of the Nigeria Police as the video of the arrest of a Nigerian singer, HabeebOkikiola,popularlyknownasPortable, went viral on social media, last Wednesday.

In the video, the singer, standing alongside eight other people, could be seen having a friendly conversation with the officers who came for him

After he was shown a warrant of arrest by the officers, the singer responded, “No problem, no problem, Oga mi,” while pacing around.

In a twinkle of an eye, the singer climbed over a gate close by, taking to his heels.

However, there was an eagle-eyed officer whosuspectedornoticedthathewasplanning to escape and followed him as he was about to climb the gate.

Thevigilantofficer,alongsideotherpolicemen, gave him a hot chase and arrested him.

As he was being lifted and carried across a concrete gutter by the policemen, he struggled to free himself and almost hit his head on the concrete, which could have resulted in fatality.

Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that Portable was arrested because of unpaid debts.

“He bought a G-Wagon for N27million, paid N13million, and refused to pay the rest, claiming the vehicle was bad. We arrested him today,” he reportedly added.

Though Portable was released on bail on Wednesday, many are asking whether the policehavebecomeadebt-recoveryagency.

In his reaction, Abuja-based legal prac-

titioner, Pelumi Olajengbesi said: “The mode of arrest highlights the deteriorating state of the Nigerian Police Force. It’s crucial to note that indebtedness is not a criminal offence, even the Nigerian government has debts.

“The courts have consistently emphasised that the police should refrain from involvement in civil matters such as debt recovery or contractual disputes, unless there are allegations of fraud, such as obtaining under false pretences, cheating, or criminal breach of trust.”

Another Abuja-based lawyer and human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, also insisted that the police and other security agencies were not debt- recovery agencies.

Rather than dissipate energy in the demonstration of a show of force to humiliate and dehumanise unarmed citizens over civil matters, the Nigeria Police should deploy their critical assets to tackle Nigeria’s security challengeswhichappeartohaveoverwhelmedtheforce.

Egbetokun

Uba

Fubara

Edo 2024 Campaign and Oba of Benin

Adibe Emenyonu queries another attempt by desperate elements in Edo State politics to use the name of Oba of Benin as a campaign strategy in the September 21, 2024 governorship election in the state

Since the commencement of the present democratic dispensation, political parties in Edo State have been winning elections based on their ability to convince the electorate, as well as the popularity and acceptability of their candidates.

However, one issue that has played out in almost all past elections has been the recurring issue of drafting the name of the Oba of Benin into every campaign by desperate elements.

Therefore, it is not strange that political parties are exploring the same strategy in the 2024 campaigns by dragging the name of the monarch into the campaign fray as if he is supporting any political party or candidate.

Part of the strategy includes generating obnoxious materials in the social media containing distasteful and demeaning information against the Royal Palace purported to have come from a particular political party.

Little wonder in the build-up to this year’s governorship polls, misinformation regarding a court case involving the Oba of Benin and some Enogies began to trend.

The case in point is between His Royal Highness (Prince) Prof. Gregory Idurobo Akenzua, the Enogie of Evbo-Obanosa/Abudu and His Royal Highness Edomwonyi Iduozee Ogiegbaen, the Enogie of Egbaen-Siluko against the Oba of Benin and the state government, who are defendants in the suit with Suit No: B/29005/2023.

Ordinarily, the matter which is supposed to be between blood brothers in the Benin royal family is being twisted and coloured to mean that Governor Godwin Obaseki instigated the court to reduce the influence of the Oba, using his uncles.

Due to the strong insinuations that followed and knowing the backlash it may invoke because of the traditional and cultural sentiments attached, the Edo State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare absolved the state government of any bias. He said the state government’s position is that since the matter is between blood brothers, it must be withdrawn and settled out of court. He even quoted the state governor as having promised to mediate in the settlement.

Nehikhare, however, pointed fingers at the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the party is trying to turn the people of the state against the palace of the Oba of Benin. He accused the party of using this as a strategy to win the upcoming gubernatorial election.

According to him, “we all agreed that we are coming into an election and there is so much madness in town. It has become clear that it

is the intention of the opposition to drag the reputation of our Royal Majesty into the murky waters of their dirty politics.

“All findings have revealed that apart from generating very obnoxious materials on social media, members of the APC have been seen openly propagating this distasteful and demeaning information against the Royal Palace.

“Clearly, they have resorted to weaponising negative campaign against our traditional institution as their only strategy for the coming election because they do not have a sellable candidate and also lack intelligence to market their bad product.

“We however want to warn them that this disrespectful comment about our traditional institution is not a strategy for campaign and since they have no plan and have a defective candidate come September 2024, PDP shall trample upon them in a free and fair election to resounding victory.”

Reacting to the accusations, a former Commissioner for Information and Orientation and chieftain of the APC, Kassim Afegbua asked: “Who is dragging the Oba into Edo political campaign but Governor Obaseki?” He said Benin Kingdom which has been one of the monarchies in Nigeria that have survived years of series of surreptitious attempts at usurping their sovereignty has serially been the object of several acts of betrayal that were meant to undermine its territorial power and influence.

“But heroically, the Benin monarchy has sustained its ingenuity and cultural fecundity for almost 800 years and has kept its historical originality with ecclesiastical awareness. This though has not come at anything less than austere costs. Despite the pervasive western civilisation, the monarchy has remained unadulterated and has consistently retained its cultural heritage,” Afegbua noted, pointing out that Oshiomhole was advised not to make Obaseki governor because of the antecedent of his forebear, Agho Obaseki who tried to betray royal palace and take over as king.

Disturbed by this trending propaganda alleging that Obaseki instituted a lawsuit to water down the influence of the Benin monarch, a political analyst described what is going on presently as “same old and mischievous campaign strategy” that had been retold over and over.

The analyst who preferred not to be quoted said every gubernatorial election especially in the South senatorial district of the state has always been carried out with the same storyline on a particular candidate or those around him who are being labelled enemies of the Oba of Benin and the Benin Royal Palace. He, however,

added that this mischievous campaign has always failed in every election. Going down memory lane, the analyst recalled that in the 1983 governorship election in the old Bendel State between Prof. Ambrose Alli and Samuel Ogbemudia, there was the same smear campaign against Prof. Alli, claiming that he attempted splitting Benin kingdom into two by proposing the creation of Egbema kingdom, from the Benin kingdom.

According to him, Alli was labelled Oghionoba (an enemy of the Oba and enemy of the Benin kingdom). He said though Ogbemudia of the NPN was declared the winner of that election, it was not because the campaign of calumny led to Alli’s defeat, but that the NPN rigged the election massively using their federal might.

Again, he recalled that in 1991 when Chief John Odigie-Oyegun ran against Chief Lucky Igbinedion in a two-party race, (SDP and NRC), Chief Gabriel Igbinedion was also labelled as the enemy of the Oba and the Benin Royal Palace, and Oyegun defeated the junior Igbinedion not because of the false label but because of Oyegun’s superiority over Lucky Igbinedion in terms of capacity and competence.

According to him, if the false label of being an enemy of the Oba was effective, the negative effects would have stuck like gum on Lucky Igbinedion in the 1999 governorship election and resulted to his defeat but he won the election.

“In the subsequent elections of 2003, 2007 and 2012, the Oba and the Benin palace was not a campaign strategy, until the 2016 gubernatorial election that produced Godwin Obaseki,” he added.

He further reflected that in 2016, the Edo electorate was reminded of the sins of Chief Agho Obaseki, the great-grandfather of Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who was alleged to have betrayed Oba Ovonramwen N’Ogbaisi that led to the 1897 invasion. But Obaseki still won the election due to his acceptability and political sagacity of the then outgoing governor Adams Oshiomhole.

In 2020, Obaseki won his reelection because the Edo electorate asserted themselves by refusing to allow external influence to dictate their choice of voting with the slogan “Edo no be Lagos.”

Unfortunately, another election is around the corner and the same label as an “enemy of the Oba” has cropped up

again with the intention to pull down a particular party and its candidate without asking how much this campaign strategy produced positive results in the past.

Ironically, to further show that the state government does not have anything to do with the disagreement, Governor Obaseki has initiated a peace-building process to resolve the issue between Oba Ewuare and the Enigies.

He condemned the action of politicians who are attempting to hijack and distort the matter at stake, urging them to be careful as the Benin royalty is a unique inheritance which Edo people must preserve.

He said: “You will recall that a few days ago, there was an incident in court in Benin City, where there was almost a breakdown of law and order because some people tried to stop a court hearing relating to a case between some Enigie in Benin Kingdom and the palace.

“Government issued a statement that we are going to look into the matter and seek for amicable reconciliation over the issues in court. I came back from a trip about two days ago and decided to commence that process by meeting with the aggrieved Enigie who went to court. The intention is to see what the issues are and amicably ensure that they are resolved.”

Obaseki continued: “Every Enogie in Edo South has a blood relationship with the Palace; they are an extension of the Benin Royal family. We are here to meet a cross-section of them to understand what the issues are. We want to know what it takes to broker peace and reconcile them with the hope that the case is withdrawn from the court.

“They have assured me that they are anxious to promote peace and acknowledge the Oba of Benin as their Royal father but have concerns that bother them and would like them to be resolved. The process has started. We will also visit the lyase of Benin Kingdom and after that, we will visit our Royal father and see how these issues will be resolved.”

From the foregoing, it is obvious that this mischievous campaign of calumny strategy that did not help to win elections in the past cannot help because of what lies ahead, may not change the situation.

What parties in the contest should do is embark on issues-based campaigns rather than engaging in this old story and primordial campaign strategy that has never helped in the past to advance anyone’s cause. Therefore, if the 2024 election is won or lost, it is not because the winner or loser is tagged a friend or enemy of the Oba but because of the acceptability of the party to the electorate.

Obaseki

Ighodalo

Oba Ewuare II

Okpebholo

Adoke: When Mere Allegations Cannot Translate to Facts

The recent judicial pronouncements on the charges against a former Attorney-General of the Federation andMinisterofJustice,MohammedBelloAdoke,onceagainhighlighttheimportanceofmanagingcriminal charges responsibly as they directly affect individual integrity and freedom, writes Wale Igbintade

After a vigorous trial that lasted nearly seven years, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja, and Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the FCT High Court in Jabi, Abuja in their separate rulings upheld the ‘no case’ submission by the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke and an Abuja-based property developer, Aliyu Abubakar.

In the case before Justice Ekwo, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in 2017 charged Adoke and Abubakar, for alleged money laundering to the tune of N300 million. While the EFCC did not mention the Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245 transaction in the charge, the same particulars were also charged by the EFCC before Justice Kutigi in 2020.

In its charge, the EFCC admitted before Ekwo that Adoke took a mortgage from Unity Bank, but contradicted itself by alleging before Kutigi that the money was a bribe from the sale of the oil block by Malabu Oil & Gas Limited in 2011.

At the end of the prosecution’s case, the first defendant (Adoke) filed a ‘no-case’ submission and asked the court for an acquittal without having him present a defence.

On March 28, 2024, Justice Kutigi pointed out the contradictions, while dismissing the charges against Adoke and other defendants, namely Aliyu Abubakar, Rasky Gbinigie, company secretary of Malabu Oil & Gas Limited; Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited (NAEP), Shell Nigeria Ultra-Deep Limited (SNUD), and Shell Nigeria Exploration Production (SNEPCo).

Scolding the EFCC for wasting the court’s time for four years, Kutigi ruled that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case to proceed with the trial. The judge pointed out that having gone through the evidence led by the prosecution witnesses, nobody alluded to any offer or gratification of N300 million by the second defendant to the first defendant and or that they were privy to the first defendant accepting any form of gratification from the second defendant as a motive for showing favour in the exercise of his official functions.

The court noted that not a single witness mentioned the name of the first defendant (Adoke) in relation to or in connection with this offence or said anything implicating him about the alleged offence.

The court held that “mere allegations, no matter how weighty, do not translate to or are tantamount to facts and evidence that will at least raise a prima facie case, even if weak, to necessitate a response.

A charge, the judge said “must therefore not be filed for the simple sake of doing so or to soothe the ego of any

person or institution.”

Citing Overseas Construction Co. Ltd V Creek Enterprises Ltd (1983) 16 NSCC, Justice Kutigi held: “A trial judge cannot decide issues on speculations, no matter how close what it relies on may seem to the facts. On the authorities of our superior courts, speculation is not an aspect of inference that may be drawn from facts that are laid before the court.”

He further submitted: “On the whole, the prosecution has failed to prove the essential elements of the offences for which the defendants were charged and accordingly, the ‘no -case’ to submission has considerable merit and must be sustained.

“In the final analysis, and for the avoidance of doubt, my firm decision, on the basis of the provision of Section 302 of ACJA 2015 is that the evidence adduced by the prosecution on record is not sufficient to justify the continuation of this trial,” the judge held.

The trial judge added that: “For this reason, I hereby preclude them from entering upon their defence and accordingly, hereby discharge the defendants of the entirety of the charge preferred against them.”

Also, in his ruling delivered on Friday, April 19, 2024, Justice Ekwo held that the EFCC did not provide any evidence to prove the essential elements of the offence against Adoke, who was listed as the first defendant.

Tearing the case of the prosecution to shreds, the judge stated that: “The evidence of PW1 and his exhibits had nothing on this allegation. The evidence of PW2 had nothing on this allegation. The evidence of PW3 had nothing on this allegation. The evidence of PW4 had nothing on this allegation. The evidence of PW5 and exhibits had nothing on this allegation. The evidence of PW6 had nothing on this allegation. The evidence of PW7 and exhibits had nothing on this allegation. PW8 mentioned the sum of N300,000,000.00 four times in his evidence-in-chief.

“On the fourth time, PW8 said, “the refund made to the first defendant in respect of the property he purchased, he (second defendant) paid N300,000,000 Nigerian money”. The evidence of PW9 had nothing to do with the allegation in count 2. Therefore, the essential element in Count 2 that the first defendant accepted cash payment of the equivalent of N300,000,000 in USD from the 2nd defendant cannot be found in the evidence of PW1, PW2, PW3, PW4, PW5, PW6, PW7, PW8 and PW9.

“The law has always been that the essential ingredient

for the offence of conspiracy is inferred from acts that are proved. I have studied the evidence of PW1, PW2, PW3, PW4, PWS, PW6, PW7, PW8 and PW9 to see where all or any of them gave evidence concerning the allegation in Count 1 from where this Court can make an inference of any circumstantial nature and found none. I find no prima facie evidence established on account of the allegation in Count 1 and I so hold.

“On the whole, I have weighed the evidence of the prosecution on the statutory parameters on the point of no-case submission… I find that there is no evidence to prove the essential elements of the alleged offences in counts 1, 2, 3, and 4 against the 1st defendant and I so hold.

“Upon the above, I also find that the evidence of the prosecution against the first defendant is manifestly unreliable that no reasonable tribunal or court can safely convict on it and I so hold,” the judge added.

To be fair, Adoke has always said he was not guilty of the charges, rather he was merely carrying out Presidential Approval/Directive to implement the subsisting 2006 Settlement Agreement between the FGN and Malabu, which at the material time had been reduced into a consent judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Even the then AGF, Abubakar Malami (at the time the charges were conceived), had in his reasoned legal opinion to the EFCC confirmed that he had reviewed the Settlement Agreement and could not find any illegality in the transaction that would warrant prosecution.

Similarly, the then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, a senior lawyer, had also written an opinion to the President through the late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, where he opined that the transaction was for the benefit of the country as it would enable the development of the oil block.

Yet, despite the several exonerating opinions and the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the EFCC proceeded to charge the defendants and other entities for corruption, money laundering and other sundry offences.

This celebrated trial of Adoke serves as a lesson to all those involved in the justice system to avoid frivolous trials, as the dignity and integrity of the accused are involved. It further emphasises the need for the prosecution, saddled with the responsibility of adducing credible evidence to establish the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt. This is because, no matter what indictment or formal charges are brought against an accused person regardless of popular opinion, if the prosecution cannot decisively establish his guilt at the trial, he is entitled to be discharged and acquitted.

Olukoyede

Adoke

ENGAGEMENTS

An Emperor and His Nemesis

Thedramaofpoliticalbadmannersin

Rivers State is about to enter the ‘last corner’. Incumbent governor

Mr. Siminalayi Fubara has dealt a survival kick after being pushed to the wall for most of his one year tenure. In quick succession, he has turned the table on his chief adversary, FCT minister, Nyesom Wike. Mob support for the embattled governor has invaded the streets of Port Harcourt. The governor has won a decisive and most significant court fight to invalidate the legitimacy of the pro-Wike legislators. The 25 former legislators are now illegal occupants of their very quarters. A better funded appeal may yet problematize the subsisting court outcome. For now, Mr. Wike is yet to find an appropriate political vocabulary to describe his fading political glory. In the interim, all the political outcomes seem to favour the governor. Similarly, most of the significant political voices in the state have come out openly to challenge Mr. Wike’s long standing domination of the Rivers political turf. From most indications, Mr. Wike’s imperial reign seems to be entering its last days.

Unfortunately, as the unfolding drama goes on, there is very little real governance going on. If this turf war goes on and worsens, Rivers state may be another case of a state with immense resources but an arrested development. The ordinary people of the state may end up as the ultimate losers in this drama of an emperor with his ultimate nemesis.

The unwritten handbook of godfatherism in Nigerian politics is about to be shredded. Mr. Wike had done an untidy job of handing the baton of state governorship to his former state Accountant General. The illicit logic was perhaps that the critical challenge of all former governors in Nigeria is the extent to which they control the bag of tricks played while they were in office. Who better to guard your money secrets when you leave office than the chief book keeper of the state? That thinking seems to be up in smoke now that governor Fubara, the ex- Account General turned governor has rediscovered that he is first and foremost a state governor and not an errand boy of a departing emperor. His recognition seems to be that he needs to be in both office and in power in order to command credibility no matter how they got to office.

The trouble is perhaps that Mr. Wike schemed to put Fubara in office and not in power from the beginning. The governor seems to have realized that the opposite is what he needs. He needs to be in both power and in politics. The key hubris committed by Mr. Wike is that he did not allow Fubara to be minimally in office. He therefore reportedly surrounded the new governor with commissioners whom he himself chose. He reportedly dictated the portfolios, reporting line and created a separate line of reporting which ultimately ended with him in far away Abuja. Most importantly, all the state legislators were sponsored and loyal to Mr. Wike. As it were, Wike was to run Rivers State from his duty post in Abuja. He also put in place a coterie of local government chairpersons in all 23 local governments. Effectively, the entire political structure of Rivers state was in Mr. Wike’s back pocket. He himself openly boasted that he had paid the nomination fees of all political office holders in the state.

In order to keep his home base in tact politically, Wike maintained an eagle eyed watch over the state as an extension of his political manor. He had while in office either alienated or marginalized all major political voices in the state. An army of political jobbers and handpicked war lords maintained surveillance for Mr. Wike from inside the governor’s office, the state assembly and the local governments. An imperial rule was put in place over an entire state and has lasted for nearly 9 years.

But in pursuit of his imperial oversight over the state, Mr. Wike forgot a few rules of power incumbency. A man in a powerful political office such as that of a state governorship would want to be seen to wield the power of his office. Secondly, there can be only one captain on board a ship of state. The commissioners were either serving Wike or Fubara. Similarly, the state legislators could not afford to be at variance with the governor who pays their salaries, allowances and sundry costs. Most importantly, the rule that governs the relationship of a political god father

and his surrogate is ruled by distance. The political god father must keep his distance . A god father who insists on having overriding influence over his surrogate and also sharing political visibility and the limelight with the surrogate is preparing for suicide. Wike wanted both control, influence and visibility. At the slightes opportunity, he was present in Rivers state, attending church events and converting them into political sermons, visiting key constituencies and holding sundry political meeting. Confronted with such a god father, the incumbent who wants to survive in office has only one choice: commit political regicide in order to regain his freedom.

The initial role of President Tinubu in the crisis was a bit more problematic. He had a primary responsibility to ensure peace and security in Rivers state failing which he would be confronted with an impossible national security challenge. He needed to protect Wike who had become his political axe man in Rivers in order to use him to guarantee APC support in the strategic state. Ostensibly , Wike had risked his political neck in order to guarantee both electoral victory and political support for Tinubu and the APC in Rivers. The President needed to play multiple impossible roles: impartial political arbiter as head of state, interested political leader of an embattled APC in Rivers, the protector of the political interest of his minister of the strategic FCT. That was the source of the early agreement that restored minimal co-operation between Wike and Fubara. But that respite evaporated soon enough because it was untenable and not founded in any sensible appreciation of the realities of Rivers politics.

But the grounds of that agreement were precarious and tenuous. It did not have understanding or control of the crucial factors that determine what happens in Rivers politics. The flow of money to oil the machinery of support could not be controlled from Abuja. There is no

open campaign and so ‘political money’ cannot be used to buy support in the state. There is a limit to Wike’s war chest. He is not contesting an election in the state and cannot run riot with FCT resources as he probably could as Rivers state governor. Only Mr. Fubara has control over the money and power required to keep political support in Rivers State.

Most importantly, the abiding polarity in Rivers politics is the divide and balance of power between the demographics of the upland areas counter balanced by the resource base of the riverine areas. It is a balancing act between the Ijaw of the ancient oil river areas and the rest of the state. In recent times, Ijaw nationalism has acquired an unmistakable militancy which it has weaponized in pursuit of resource control at national and international levels. Niger Delta nationalism in pursuit of resource equity in Nigeria has become part of the international vocabulary about minority rights in the world.

The ability of the Ijaw to make life impossible for the rest of Nigeria is no longer in doubt. That capacity is even more enlarged in the context of states like Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta especially.

Therefore, Mr. Wike’s open threats to Fubara’s governorship reminded the governor that he is primarily an Ijaw son. He has now weaponized that latent political asset to arrive at the present pass. This obviously creates serious problems with President Tinubu’s initial apparent support for Wike. As the table seems to have turned in favour of Fubara, Tinubu has retreated under the fire of the changed canvas of the confrontation. He cannot afford to endanger the national golden goose of the Niger Delta. He cannot also afford to back a minister who seems to be losing his support base very feast. It is safer to play and sound neutral and statesmanlike. That is the safe harbor where Tinubu is right now.

In line with the logic of the twist of power towards more of governor Fubara, the political pendulum in the state is fast shifting towards support for the previously embattled governor.

Key political figures like Odili, Secondus, Opara, Omehia and others have swung towards the governor. There is no end to the number of political enemies that Wike made during his imperial rulership of the state as governor. These have now become natural allies of the governor. Inside

his own party, the PDP, Mr. Wike may not find the support to fight a local battle in the state. A state that had previously been celebrated as a PDP state is now so badly shaken that it is neither a PDP state nor an APC state. Wike has himself become something of a political bat, neither a bird nor a mammal. He is neither APC nor PDP. At the national level, he is tolerated by the APC hierarchy as the president’s hatchet man and ‘friend’ but a risky political capital. If Tinubu admits him into APC, it will be a risk he took alone and may have to pay for later. The PDP at the national level cannot re-embrace Wike because he is a divisive figure who has grossly damaged the party and literally neutralized its national and state chances.

The real nightmare for emperor Wike is the impending probe of his governorship by his successor. Mr. Fubara has uncovered his trump card. He believes that Wike wanted him politically dead. He is likely to fight like a mortally wounded lion. He has all the paperwork on Wike’s glorious days as emperor of Rivers state. It may in fact be the first time in Nigerian history where a chief accountant of a state becomes the chief advocate of a probe of the tenure of his imperial predecessor. Nigerians cannot wait for the probe to begin. Even the sheer entertainment value of the proceedings, preferably on live television, may uplift our collective subdued mood in these troubled times. It promises to be a curious combination of comedy and tragedy, scenes and slides difficult to forget.

So we have an increasingly isolated figure who may not have much political use in the near future. Yet he does have a residual nuisance value. He can cause Fubara a few sleepless nights through purchased mobs and miscreants inside Rivers. He could try to recover political relevance at home using the blackmail of money and intimidation but to little avail. He could just serve out his tenure with Tinubu depending on his nuisance and embarrassment value. If he is indicted by a fair probe, he is likely to leave the stage a badly bruised and miserable lonely man. If he survives the probe, he will be more of a political pariah, an embarrassment to all who embrace him.

Incidentally, there would be no tragedy either a s an art form of a fact of real life if emperors do not rise and then fall resoundingly.

Wike

How NNPCL, Partners Broke Record with Three Critical Gas Projects Months Before Delivery Date

Ifeanyi Onuba

Last Wednesday, President BolaTinubu inaugurated three critical gas infrastructure projects that were implemented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its partners.

The commissioning of the projects is in line with the president’s commitment to significantly leverage gas to grow the Nigerian economy.

The three projects commissioned by the president were the AHL Gas Processing Plant 2 (GPP - 2) - 200mmscf/d which is an expansion to the Kwale Gas Processing Plant (GPP - 1); the AHL Gas Plant, which is being developed by AHL Limited, an incorporated Joint Venture owned by NNPC Limited and SEEPCO; and the ANOH-OB3 CTMS Gas Pipeline Project.

The event was attended by the Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori; the Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo; the NNPCL Board Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari.

Others in attendance are the Managing Director of AHL, Mohit Barot; the Managing Director of Seplat Roger Brown, and other top officials in both the private and public sectors of the economy.

The Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd (AHL) project, a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and Sterlin Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO), is designed to process 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, with the capacity to scale up to 240 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The processed natural gas from AHL will be delivered to OB3 in Rivers State, providing cleaner and more conveniently usable fuels to facilitate social, economic, and technological development.

The AHL project is much more than the economic gains it has in store. It guarantees sustainable development, achieved through Public-Private partnerships, and the monetization of the entire gas business value chain across midstream and downstream segments.

The AHL Gas Processing Project is also expected to generate over $500million in the next 10 years. During construction, it provided over 300 direct jobs, and during operations, is poised to generate over 2000 direct and indirect jobs.

The benefits of the NNPC / SEEPCO AHL project are manifold, and it is a game changer in the energy sector as it will guarantee the household uptake of LPG.

It will also ensure lean gas for power generation, to gas and NGLs for the petrochemical industry, reduced gas flaring leading to improved agriculture and environment, increased tax revenues contributing to state development, and improved quality of life through domestic LPG supply.

The president, while speaking during the commissioning, expressed surprise about the speed, efficiency, and technical competence demonstrated by the NNPCL and its partners in the execution of the project.

Tinubu who described the projects as vital for his administration’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” specifically commended the NNPC Ltd and the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari for ensuring that the projects were delivered far ahead the scheduled date for its completion.

He said: “I congratulate NNPC in particular because, when we resumed 11 months ago, I asked of these projects. I made my priority and the administration’s priority clear on gas for prosperity, and they said this might take two years.

“These three projects, upon later review, they didn’t make further promises but said they would surprise Nigerians. Today is a great day for your achievement, demonstrating teamship, commitment, and dedication to duty.

“I congratulate all of you, the entire team, for what you have done for the country to achieve these projects in less than two years. Eleven months fulfillment of promise. I thank all of you.”

He said the delivery of the projects was accelerated from the inception of the administration in keeping with the overall objective of deepening domestic gas supply as a critical enabler for economic prosperity.

The projects will increase gas supply to the domestic market by approximately 500mmscf/d, creating a better investment climate and promoting balanced economic growth cumulatively.

Tinubu said the inauguration event is highly significant to the country as it demonstrates the administration’s concerted efforts to accelerate the development of critical gas infrastructures geared at significantly enhancing the supply of energy to boost industrial growth and create employment opportunities.

Also, he said the projects are fully in line with the Decade of Gas initiative, and the federal government’s quest to grow value from the nation’s abundant gas assets while concurrently eliminating gas flaring and accelerating industrialization.

He commended the strategic vision of the NNPC Limited and its partners Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) and Seplat Energy Plc for this laudable and value adding projects.

The president said: “It is pleasing that approximately 500MMscf of gas in aggregate would be supplied to the domestic market from these two Gas Processing Plants, which represents over 25 per cent incremental growth in gas supply.

TinubuKyari’

“In practical terms, this is more gas to the Power Sector, Gas-Based Industries, and other critical segments of the economy. I therefore commend the strategic vision of the NNPC Limited and its partners Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) and Seplat Energy Plc for these value-adding projects.

“From the outset of this administration, we have been very clear of our intention to leverage on the virtually unlimited capacity of gas to drive economic growth. Aside from the presidential CNG initiative which is aimed at moving the good people of Nigeria away from petrol and diesel as vehicular combustion fuel, significant progress has also been recorded in incentivising gas development through Presidential Executive Orders.”

The president assured Nigerians that these projects are just the beginning, as the federal government is stepping up its coordination of other landmark projects and initiatives that will ensure the earliest realization of gas fueled prosperity in the country.

He assured investors in the energy space that this is an investment enabling government, and the government will not relent in facilitating the ease of doing business.

He said: “The theme of this commissioning - ‘From Gas to Prosperity; Renewed Hope’ must be adopted by all gas sector participants and would-be investors as a clarion call to ramp up efforts to accelerate investment and developments of projects in the gas sector on a win-win basis.

“I would once again commend the efforts of NNPC Limited, alongside SEEPCO and Seplat Energy, on this business partnership initiative and congratulate you all on the successful implementation of the three projects

“Finally, I want to reiterate the federal government’s resolve to continue to provide support in deepening domestic gas utilization, to increase national power generation capacity, revitalise industries and create multiple job opportunities for economic growth.

“Today, I have the singular honour to commission the expansion of the AHL Gas Processing Plant, the ANOH Gas Processing Plant and the 23.3Km ANOH to ObiafuObrikom-Oben(OB3) Custody Transfer Metering Station Gas Pipeline Projects in line with this administration’s resolve to provide energy for Nigerians, and to use our vast natural gas resources to transform Nigeria.

“I urge NNPC limited as our national energy company of choice to continue its relentless efforts and record more successes in the energy sector for the benefit of all Nigerians. ‘From Gas to Prosperity, with a Renewed Hope.”

In his remarks, the petroleum minister said in keeping with the climate control agenda, the government decided to use gas as the transition fuel to achieve green energy by 2060.

He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu has been putting projects in place to ensure the decade of gas project is achieved, adding that these projects are critical to achieving that.

The minister said the plant will promote rapid industrialization in Nigeria and described it as a shining example of the drive to boost power generation and strengthen industrialisation.

He said: “I would especially like to express my gratitude to His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, President

and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, whose inspiring leadership has been the driving force behind our progress toward a future full of opportunity and promise.

“Mr. President, the decision to eliminate fuel subsidies at the start of your administration has compelled increased spending in the upstream and midstream gas development, and the use of gas as an appropriate, more cost-effective, and cleaner alternative to diesel and gasoline.

“Furthermore, in keeping with the climate control accord, this measure solidifies the use of gas as our transition fuel as we move the nation toward achieving green energy sufficiency by 2060

In his remarks, the NNPCL GCEO commended the president for his support and added that the pressure he gave the team on these projects ensures that it is delivered on schedule.

He said the progressive policy direction of this government to transform the country into a gas project is making its mark.

According to Kyari, the three projects commissioned today is in like with the Decade of gas agenda and consistent with the administration’s effort to boost gas supply to domestic market.

Kyari stated further that the projects will also reduce dependency on importation.

He noted that the three infrastructure projects will enable additional gas processing capacity and also increase the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), thereby reducing the dependency on importation.

Also, he said the projects are fully in line with the Federal Government’s quest to derive value from the Nation’s gas assets while eliminating gas flaring and moving towards environmentally friendly energy sources.

Nigeria, he added, is endowed with significant natural gas resources of over 209TCF of proven gas reserves, with the potential to grow to over 600TCF.

He said, “As a commercial enterprise, these milestone projects present an opportunity to monetize our abundant natural gas resources by expanding access to energy to support economic growth, industrialization, and job creation.

“Your Excellency, Mr. President may kindly wish to note that in order to monetise our gas resources, NNPC is currently executing several major gas infrastructure projects such as the AjaokutaKaduna-Kano pipeline with the associated power plants, the full delivery of the wider OB3 project shortly and also progressing with other initiatives such as Fertilizer and Petrochemical plants, Small and large scale LNG and Floating LNG.

“Currently, NNPC is executing a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) project aimed at providing a cleaner fuel to power our vehicles as a cheaper alternative to the Premium Motor spirit (PMS).

“We are also pleased to mention that in line with the just announced Presidential directive on the purchase of CNG powered vehicles by institutions of government, and in furtherance of the overall objective of broadening CNG as an alternative fuel for automobiles, NNPC is deploying CNG delivery installations in our retail stations across the country.”

In his speech, the Delta State Governor said that the project will boost the country’s energy supply resources as well as increase the standard of living of the people.

He appreciated key stakeholders in the implementation of this project, adding that this would also reduce the level of poverty within the country.

SUNDAY SPORTS

Edited by: Duro Ikhazuagbe

email:Duro.Ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Usyk Beats Fury to Become Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Oleksandr Usyk in the early hours of today, beat Tyson Fury by split decision to become the undisputed heavyweight world champion.

The Mirror noted that Usyk toppled Fury with a stirring second-half comeback to be crowned the undisputed heavyweight world champion. -

tude of the night by clowning around at every opportunity.

But Usyk made a stirring comeback in the desert, forcing the referee to issue a count when only the ropes held his rival up in the ninth round.

Accordingly, Fury struggled to regain the momentum and would have been the happier bell.

But his relief was short-lived as Usyk was announced the winner – and the division’s years – by split-decision.

The Brit, who was making the

fourth defence of his world title, than bid rival and also enjoyed

He towered over Usyk as they touched gloves, telling the smaller man he was “going

to school”.

Despite the occasion, Fury was in a playful mood from by lying back on the ropes. He then repeatedly punched himself in the head, beckoning

his rival on.

Usyk landed a one-two at the start of the second round as Fury began to target the body – before punctuating the three minutes with an uppercut.

Bello Adds to Nigeria’s Paris 2024 Table Tennis Slots in Rwanda

The number of Nigerian table tennis players heading to Olympic Games increased to three after Fatimo Bello defeated Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi stage of the African Olympic

Bello failed to make the

but she returned stronger to win the sole slot in the secwomen’s singles. Bello will join her compatriots – Olajide Omotayo and Games.

Also, Algeria’s Mehdi Bou-

loussa who missed out from atone for his defeat to pick the last slot in the men’s singles of

geria’s trio of Bello, Omotayo and Edem while Cameroon’s tickets to third Olympics appearance while Fabio

tennis player to qualify for the Olympic Games after picking the second slot in Mehdi Bouloussa of Algeria men’s singles. Bouloussa, who narrowly -

ticket in the men’s singles of

Nigerian international, Victor Okoh Boni-

in all competitions as Bayer Leverkusen

Bundesliga season on Saturday evening. and a record-making one in all of Europe.

UEFA record – and two more wins will secure a remarkable treble.

legendary Eusebio previously held the history this season. They are not done yet.

nal clash with Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta coming up on Wednesday

against second-tier Kaiserslautern three days later, Leverkusen’s treble appears possible and a record that may take years to match, loading.

The Super Eagles gangling forward got the opener for the German champions up for the opener by teammate, Amine Andrich made it double.

Mert Komur’s second-half strike in reply was meaningless as Leverkusen campaign in winning ways.

Africa Cup of Nations’ party in Côte d’Ivoire in January through a late injury, has proved a vital addition to Leverkusen this season.

After helping Belgian side Union Saint-

goals, he switched to the Bundesliga side ground running almost immediately and continued in that pace until this weekend Leverkusen were formally crowned German champions.

the back foot but began to use his size to lean on Usyk.

He switched to southpaw in the fourth round and prematurely raised his hands in victory after landing a back hand.

Such was Fury’s reach advantage that Usyk was at times struggling to close the distance.

Fury whipped in hooks to either side of the Ukrainian’sweight champion showed the

looked to be in complete control as Usyk began to tire. Now the Brit was on the front foot as his rival backtracked and he reached the halfway mark with his hands behind his back.

Anthony Joshua had the best seats in the house alongside

Turki Alalshikh.

Steven Gerrard paid a visit to Fury’s dressing room before superstar Neymar also made an appearance.

And they would have enjoyed Fury’s performance in a travelling contingent of Fury’s loyalists.

But Usyk was never going to lie down easily and returned two left-hand reminders.

Fury was alive to the threat however and immediately answered back.

Usyk increased his urgency in the eighth round as he chased down his fellow champion, appearing to demand

It was Usyk’s best round of contention, landing a left-hand

And he put his foot on the a left hand against the ropes left Fury stunned.

Fury staggered around the ring as Usyk rushed after him and with only the ropes holding him up, the referee issued him a count.

The bell sounded to ensure smelled blood.

Fury had been down seven times before in his career and recovered each time but he looked vulnerable.

But that didn’t stop him showboating in the corner in an attempt to prove he wasn’t still stunned.

Premier League Decider: Will Man City Slip to Favour Arsenal Today?

It’s advantage Manchester City as another compelling Premier League season comes to an end today.

Pep Guardiola’s leaders will clinch a historic fourth successive league title if they defeat ninth-placed West Ham at Etihad Stadium.

But Arsenal, who trail City by two points, will be champions they beat Everton at Emirates Stadium and City fail to win

If Guardiola’s men draw and Arsenal win, both teams will

Guardiola said: “The destiny is in our hands, but if you are thinking that they are going to drop, you are wrong. If you are thinking that Everton are going to do something, forget about it. I have seen Arsenal all season.

“We just focus on what we have to do against West Ham. There is not any contamination in my brain about anything other than

what we have to do to beat West Ham.”

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta added: “The magic is already happening because this is what every football supporter wants and lives that it goes to the last game.

“The last minute of the Premier League at this level, the most beautiful league in the world by far where you have two teams. This is what you want, this is why it’s the most competitive league in the world.

“The unpredictability is like a drug. You are still there, you still have to earn it and it’s uncertain. There are a lot of factors which can change things around very quickly but when you manage to do it, it’s phenomenal.”

In addition, there are places in the Europa League and Europa Conference League to be decided.

where Jurgen Klopptakes chargetake charge of his last match as Brighton boss.

Usyk beats Fury to emerge heavyweight world champion

Victor Boniface...wins Bundesliga in first season in Germany

Mikel Arteta Pep Guardiola

Duro Ikhazuagbe

MISSILE

Babachir Lawal to Tinubu

“After swearing in you embarked on the first major policies that are very impactful on the lives of the society. It is like a cowboy, or macho man removing subsidies…So immediately after that inauguration, Nigeria collapsed. It is like a balloon. Nigeria fell down. It deflated completely. Immediately transportation (fare) tripled” – Former SGF, Babachir Lawal, saying that Nigeria collapsed after the swearing of President Tinubu on May 29, 2023.

SIMON KOLAWOLE

Announcing the Arrival of State Police

After nearly 70 years of agitation, Nigeria finally looks set to establish state police. That is, every state will have its own police force. On Thursday, House of Assembly speakers in the 36 states of the federation announced their support for the proposal. That means we should expect state legislators to endorse an amendment when it gets to them. First, two-thirds of National Assembly members must pass it. Only 24 of the 36 states are required to endorse it by a simple majority of the Houses of Assembly. It will finally require presidential assent for it to take effect. President Bola Tinubu has been campaigning for state police for decades, so I guess he will sign off as soon as it gets to his desk.

The book, ‘The Police in Modern Nigeria, 18611965: Origins, Development, and Role’, authored by Prof Tekena Tamuno and published by the Ibadan University Press in 1970, offers some insight into the historical battle for the control of police. The agitation for “regional police”, now called “state police” (since the federal structure has morphed from three regions to 36 states), started in the 1950s under colonial rule. As Nigeria prepared for limited self-rule and, eventually, independence, the structure and control of the police force became a hot topic, championed in the main by the now-defunct Western region, which is today’s south-west zone plus Edo and Delta states.

As related by Tamuno, a professor of history and former vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan who died in 2015, S. Akinola, representing Ijesha (Western region) in the Federal House of Representatives, raised a couple of proposals during the house debates in 1955. One, he wanted police deployment to be done predominantly along ethnic and linguistic lines. That meant Yoruba would dominate the west; Igbo, the east; and Hausa/Fulani, the north. His second proposal was more radical: he wanted the police regionalised and placed under a “Regional Authority” rather than “remotely controlled” by the “big man in Lagos” — referring to the inspector-general of police.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who was premier of the Western region, was a fierce advocate of regionalised police. He argued that it was a feature of federalism (what we call “true federalism” in modern-day Nigeria) and that of all the federations he had studied, only the Federation of Malaya (now defunct and succeeded by Malaysia) centralised the police force. Awo said as a premier, he considered it “humiliating” that a regional government that was constitutionally vested with the power of maintaining law and order was denied the power of managing its own policing. He warned that the central government could become “authoritarian” under the existing policing structure.

From my reading of history, regional police was an idea loved and promoted largely by the Western region. The Eastern government preferred “a unified Federally-controlled Police Force”. The Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), the biggest party in the Northern region, was not that interested in the regional police debate, maybe because there was already the Native Authority Police which operated at the local government level. The Western region had local government police too, but it wanted the arrangement replicated at the regional level. Notably, the Eastern region did not have local police. Eventually, the constitutional conferences of 1957 and 1958 did not endorse regional police.

We, therefore, went into independence in 1960 with the federal police structure unchanged, although local police remained in Northern and Western regions. The 1963 Constitution also retained the structure. Western and Northern regions resisted attempts to absorb the local police forces into the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). In 1965, the Eastern region — perhaps, having observed how politicians were using local police in the other regions — decided to establish its own, but this was not

Police IGP, Kayode Egbetokun implemented before the military took over in 1966 and thereafter amalgamated all the police forces in Nigeria. We have had the same structure and control of the police force since then. However, with growing insecurity across the federation, the campaign for subnational police, initially viewed as the agenda of the south-west, has started winning disciples in other zones. In fact, the south-west defiantly set up Amotekun and the south-east Ebube Agu to do some form of internal policing in the heat of the debate a few years ago. With state police, the governors — as chief security officers — will assume some control over policing in their domains, including recruitment, appointment and funding. In theory, they will have no say in operational matters, such as deployment. But in theory, too, the president has no operational control over the federal police.

There are several arguments in favour of having state police. The most compelling is the need for efficiency. It is argued that a police force spread across 774 local government areas and controlled from Abuja offers something of a logistical nightmare. This is somewhat exaggerated: I have never heard that the police were informed of an ongoing robbery in Egbeda and they said they needed an order from Abuja to respond to the call. However, responsiveness is not something associated with the current structure. But is it the centralisation that hampers efficiency? Is it poor funding? Is it corruption? Is it a lack of local content, such as community policing? These are important questions.

Another argument for state police is the political abuse and misuse of federal police by the federal government. One of the resolutions of the constitutional conference held in London in 1953 was that “arrangements should be made to avoid the danger of the police coming under the control of a political party”. This is difficult to implement, whether at federal or state level. In 1955, members representing Asaba, Warri and Benin in the Western House of Assembly complained about the activities of local police in areas not under the control of the dominant Action Group (AG). We may end up only decentralising the political abuse of police when the states set up their own forces.

I must admit at this stage that I was once totally against state police. My reservations — which I will restate shortly — have not changed. But I have amended my position. I am now willing

to watch us perform the experiment, even though I am not expecting any spectacular change in our situation. The problem starts from the way we identify problems and proffer solutions in Nigeria. We often narrow down to one out of several causes — and then propose a cure-all solution. Sadly, when an ailment is misdiagnosed, increasing the dosage of medication is not going to solve the problem. Most times in Nigeria, we are more interested in treating scabies than getting rid of leprosy. It is what it is.

A case for state police is “efficiency” — that is, the states will manage the forces much better than federal government. Really? Where is the evidence? There is this assumption that states manage things better than federal government. But are state-owned universities better run than federal ones? Are stateowned hospitals better? Are state roads better? What really do states do that can be classified as better than what the federal government does? For instance, there are far more federal employees enrolled in the contributory pension and national health insurance schemes compared to the states. But, somehow, we just believe that the police force will be better off under the states. We certainly need better policing in Nigeria. But efficiency is not a function of what tier of government controls the police. It is about how police organise themselves and their operations. It is about professionalism and sophistication. For example, street lights, drones and CCTV, along with biometrics, can efficiently prevent or resolve crimes more than thousands of policemen and women mounting checkpoints and roadblocks in the streets. Also, a well-developed strategy of community policing — in which police officers bond with the community where they are serving — can efficiently improve intelligence gathering and tackle little and big crimes. We just need to think. Moreover, we should not dismiss the fears of political and ethnic minorities who think state police might be used to oppress them. They have a reason to be afraid. The Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) opposed regional police at the 1958 constitutional conference for this reason. The Willink Commission opposed regional police for the same reason, and its report was adopted by the conference. Today, will an Igbo feel safe in say Damaturu if all the police officers speak the same language? Will a Fulani feel safe in Imo state? The ethnic and religious diversity in federal police is a form of restraint and comfort on its own. We must think about this while designing state police. There are so many reservations that must be addressed before we perform this experiment. Aside the fear that political thugs may form the core of state police, I think there are already too many uniformed agencies on the road harassing, terrorising and extorting ordinary Nigerians every day. Abuse of human rights could be an extra burden on Nigerians — as if they are not suffering enough. Meanwhile, some governors use federal police to harass journalists, activists and opponents. I wonder what the situation will be with state police. More so, a country with a history of mutual suspicion and ethno-religious rivalry should be careful with state police because of loyalty issues. My misgivings notwithstanding, I admit that decentralised policing has its merits. It is not just a feature of federalism, local policing is also a feature of unitary systems. The part I am still unclear about is whether it should be at state or local government level. I am also unclear about the calibre of their arms they should carry and the extent of their powers. I worry about possible jurisdictional tension between federal and subnational police. We really need to think carefully about the bolts and the nuts. My experience with public policy in Nigeria has been traumatic. Many ideas that are brilliant on paper and work excellently abroad only produce sleaze, nightmares and aches in Nigeria.

And Four Other Things…

CAGING CANCER

I have always believed that medical scientists will find a solution to cancer someday. The journey may still be far, but advances are being made all the time. The latest news from the UK Oxford Population Health is very heartwarming: its researchers discovered hundreds of proteins in the blood that could warn people of cancer more than seven years before it is diagnosed. They pin-pointed proteins linked to 19 types of cancer, including bowel, prostate and breast. Why cancer is so brutal in killing people is the fact that it is hardly discovered before it maligns. With this test, it will be possible to treat the disease at a much earlier stage before it spreads. It can even be prevented altogether. Progress.

DEATH PENALTY

A bill proposing to impose the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers recently passed third reading at the senate. Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno north), while presenting a report on behalf of the joint committees on judiciary and drugs and narcotics, said there is a need to strengthen the war against drug trafficking. This is very interesting indeed. We need to strengthen so many wars in this country, although we are picking and choosing the ones to pour our righteous anger on. We already have the death penalty for armed robbery and, I think, kidnapping. Can we also have the death penalty for budget padding and extortion of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)? Vital.

COMMISSIONS

GALORE

Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). North East Development Commission (NEDC). And now, North West Development Commission (NWDC). Well, almost. The senate has just passed a bill to establish the NWDC “for the development of the north-west geopolitical zone”. We may soon have the North Central Development Commission (NCDC), South West Development Commission (SWDC) and South East Development Commission (SEDC). We will then create for every state and every LGA. All for political patronage, less about development. Since President Tinubu directed the implementation of the Oronsaye Report, we have been creating agencies per second. Continue.

NO COMMENT

Insurgents have been attacking power transmission towers in Kasaisa, Gujba LGA, Yobe state, cutting the state from the national grid and plunging it into darkness all the time. The Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) recently reported that the insurgents attacked the towers in December 2023 and February 2024. The solution? Spiritual warfare. Mai Mala Buni, the state governor, on Wednesday led a team of clerics and students in prayers against the sabotage carried out by the insurgents. Cows were also sacrificed as part of the prayers. And that is where my interest lies: how much in total was spent on cows and the prayer session? Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Wink.