SATURDAY 7TH MARCH 2020

Police Hunt for 5 Schoolgirls Kidnapped by Bandits in Niger State Laleye Dipo in Minna The Niger State Police Command has begun a massive search for five school girls, their teacher and a security guard abducted by bandits from their Tulare Academy School, Maruba,

in Mariga Local Government Area of the state last Sunday.

It was gathered that the bandits numbering about 36 came into the school on motorcycles on Sunday evening and started shooting into the air causing panic and in the process, they abducted

the five girls, their teacher and the security man.

The bandits were said to have taken advantage of the remote location of the private boarding primary school, its lack of perimeter fence and communication to carry out the operation.

The school has now been deserted. However, Niger State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Adamu Unman who led heads of other security agencies to the school said, "a special technical squad and armed anti-kidnapping squad had been deployed to the area

to rescue the victims unhurt."

He explained that the visit of the security chiefs to the scene was to enable them deploy additional security men to the school and the community to forestall future attack.

Unman however said that no amount of pressure and

intimidation would deter the command from discharging its constitutional mandate of safeguarding lives and properties of people in the state, but appealed to communities in the state to Continued on page 5

AMCON Moves against Debtors Owing N8.4bn, Seizes 72 Luxury Flats...Page 6 Saturday 7 March, 2020 Vol 25. No 9098

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Security Agents Seal APC National Secretariat, Oshiomhole Fails to Resume Staff locked out, IG Adamu orders warring factions to keep off Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

was yesterday sealed by the police and officers of the The national secretariat of Department of State Services the ruling All Progressives following conflicting court Congress, (APC) in Abuja, orders on the status of the

party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

An Abuja High Court had on Wednesday ordered Oshiomhole to step aside

and stop parading himself as the national chairman of the party. But the following day, he secured a controversial injunction from Justice Lewis

Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Kano, who ordered all parties in the suit to maintain status quo bellum.

More security agents arrived

the national secretariat of the party yesterday morning, sealed it and barred everybody Continued on page 5

Coronavirus: Over 100,000 Now Infected in 91 Countries, Italian Suffers Depression 93 Turkish Airline passengers wanted Three new suspected cases in Lagos test negative FG releases N984m to combat virus Ndubuisi Francis and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja, Segun James and Chinedu Eze in Lagos Coronavirus has infected more than 100,000 people across 91 countries globally, according to statistics released yesterday by French news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

The death toll reached 3,406, while the total number of infections, according to AFP, hit 100,002, after a surge in cases worldwide since Thursday, notably in virus hotspot Iran.

The Johns Hopkins University’s CSSE also updated its global death toll to 3,460 people and the total number of cases to 101,733.

Also yesterday, while providing update on the state of the virus attack, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire said only 55 of the 148 passengers on board Turkish Airlines with the Nigerian index case, an Italian, had come forward for testing.

The figures showing over 100,000 infected globally by Coronavirus were compiled from data collected by AFP offices from the competent national authorities and information from the World Health Organisation.

The over 100,000 figure is a grim milestone that now appears inevitable with selfsustaining clusters continuing to expand in South Korea, Japan, parts of Europe, Iran Continued on page 5

EFCC Re-arraigns Atiku’s Lawyer, Iwu to Be Tried in Lagos... Page 14

FARE THEE WELL...

President Muhammadu Buhari presenting a gift to the outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E Morteza Rahimi Zarchi during a farewell audience at the State House, Abuja…yesterday

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PAGE FIVE CORONAVIRUS: OVER 100,000 NOW INFECTED IN 91 COUNTRIES, ITALIAN SUFFERS DEPRESSION and the United States.

Health experts have suggested that newly emergent clusters in Europe and the Middle East could accelerate the global spread of the disease. India has so far identified 31 cases, at least 17 of which have been linked to travelers from Italy, leading to fears that the world's second most populous country could see its own outbreak in the coming days. Cases linked to Iran have also emerged elsewhere in the world.

In neighboring South Korea, infections have surged dramatically, with more than 6,500 confirmed cases after the government tested tens of thousands of people as part of a mass screening drive aimed at better mapping and controlling the virus' spread.

By Thursday afternoon, there were at least 228 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, with 70 in Washington state alone, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local governments.

South Korea has the highest number of cases outside China, with over 6,500 infections and 42 deaths, prompting the country to extend school breaks by three weeks.

Japan imposed quarantine on arrivals from South Korea and China, angering Seoul which summoned the Japanese ambassador to protest the "irrational" move.

Italy, which has the biggest outbreak in Europe, has ordered schools and universities shut until March 15, and on Thursday reported a sharp rise in deaths, bringing the total to 148, with the contagion in Europe’s worst-hit country showing no sign of slowing.

The government, which has imposed draconian measures to try to contain the outbreak, said it would double the money pledged to help the economy cope with the impact of the epidemic.

The accumulative number of cases in the country totalled 3,858, up from 3,089 on Wednesday.

The increase in both the number of deaths and the number of infections was by far the largest since the outbreak began in northern regions two weeks ago.

As the strain on hospitals increased, the northern Lombardy region, Italy’s industrial and financial

heartland that has reported by far the highest number of patients and deaths, told inhabitants not to go to hospitals with anything other than urgent problems.

The epidemic is focused on a handful of hotspots in the north of Italy. However, cases have now been confirmed in each of the country’s 20 regions, with 44 in central Lazio around Rome, and 45 in southern Campania, around Naples.

In Malaysia, the Health Ministry has confirmed five new cases of Covid-19, bringing the tally of infections to 55.

Ehanire Pleads with

Turkish Airlines Passengers to Come Forward Also yesterday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that it plans to commit N1.674 billion in the next 28 days on activities aimed at containing Coronavirus in the country.

The Deputy Director, Special Duties at NCDC, Dr. Priscilla Ibekwe, who spoke at the weekly ministerial briefing organised by the Ministry of Health in Abuja, said from the assessment the centre made, it would need N1.674 billion to carry out its surveillance, testing and isolation activities in the next one month.

"We have met with donor partners on how to access funds to tackle Covid-19 virus. For the first 28 days we have a budget of about N1.674 billion to tackle Covid-19 and so we have spoken to our international partners and local partners and we are going to continue that conversation,� she said.

At the briefing, the Director General of the Nigeria Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Dr. Obi Adigwe disclosed that the agency has successfully developed a hand sanitizer to address the looming scarcity of the liquid used as part of the prevention for Coronavirus.

He said that the agency responded to the outcry of concerned Nigerians and the subsequent directive by the minister of health to assist in checking the anticipated shortages in local supply of drugs and materials needed to manage the outbreak of Covid-19 disease.

Adigwe, who said that the new product was

undergoing process of certification by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), added that NIPRD was engaging further research to help actualise government's vision on drug security.

At the forum, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire spoke on the claim by former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu that he had developed a medicine that can cure the Covid-19 virus.

He said that he was aware that Prof. Iwu had sent his research to the United States for further analysis, adding that the federal government would not hesitate to cue into any credible effort to contain the disease outbreak.

While providing update on the state of the virus attack, Ehanire said that there was no new confirmed case of Covid-19 in the country.

He said that so far, health officials engaged in contact tracing of all those that have had contact with index patient- the Italian consultant have 61 persons in Ogun and Lagos states.

Ehanire said that 21 suspected people who met the case definition were tested, and put under observation but that they reported negative.

The minister also gave update on the progress being made to trace copassengers of the Italian Covid-19 patient, saying that 55 of the passengers of Turkish airline that brought the Italian had been traced and were being followed up by health officials.

The minister said that between the 7th of January and 5th of March 2020, a total of 21 suspected cases had been identified across four states in Nigeria.

"The states are Lagos, Ogun, FCT and Kano. There is still only one confirmed case of COVID- 9 in Nigeria, which is the index case and no death. “Therefore as of today, 6th of March 2020, I repeat that there is no confirmed case of COVID-9 in Nigeria," he said.

The minister also spoke on the state of health of the index case, saying "he is clinically stable, with mild symptoms and is being managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos."

Ehanire said that health officials were following up with 61 contacts of the index case, 21 in Lagos State and 40 in Ogun State.

He said the contacts of the index case are currently under supervised selfisolation and the states have provided them with temperature monitoring tools.

Of the 148 passengers on the manifest of the index case flight, the minister said 55 are actively being followed up, adding that the NCDC and Port Health Services are in touch with them to monitor their temperatures and possible appearance of COVID- 9 symptoms.

The minister further appealed to other passenger of the Turkish Airlines Flight to Lagos on February 24 to contact relevant officials.

He said: “I urge any passenger of the Turkish Airlines Flight to Lagos on February 24 listening to me to contact us on 080097000-10.�

Suspected Patients Test Negative in Lagos The three suspected patients quarantined in Lagos have tested negative to the deadly disease.

This leaves only the Italian patient as the only confirmed case in the country so far, the Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi said yesterday.

Abayomi had on Thursday said three people had been quarantined at the state's isolation centre in Yaba on suspicion of Coronavirus.

The commissioner tweeted yesterday evening that the three suspects had tested negative to the deadly disease and they had since been discharged and allowed to go.

He however maintained on Thursday that the index case, an Italian was responding to treatment at the isolation centre, as his clinical situation was stable.

He stated that the Italian was in high spirit, but that he required psycho-social support as he was getting depressed for being in isolation, adding that the patient was in touch with his family and friends in Italy.

Abayomi, however, said the level of viral load in his body had gone down and if that continued, in

the next few days, he might be discharged if he tested negative to the disease.

He said government would not just release him immediately he tested negative to the disease, but would still keep him and run a second test in few days to ascertain he was completely free of the disease before letting him go back to his country.

FG Releases N984m to Combat Virus The federal government disclosed yesterday that it had released a total of N984 million to relevant agencies to help combat Coronavirus.

The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning said in a statement that the federal government released N620 million yesterday, having released N364 million earlier, bringing the total so far released to fight the global scourge, to N984 million.

The statement issued by Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said: "The approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the release of funds to tackle COVID-19 was an emergency and the process of releasing the fund was also an emergency as it was an unexpected expenditure.

However, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning had released the first tranche of N364 million sometime ago and the process of releasing the second tranche has been concluded with the release of N620 million this morning (yesterday), bringing total release to N984 million."

Togo ConďŹ rms First Case Togo yesterday confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus after a 42-yearold woman tested positive following her return from a trip to Benin, Germany, France and Turkey.

The presidency in the West African nation of eight million people said the patient, who lives in the capital Lome with her family, was “currently isolated in a treatment centre for infectious diseases� after testing positive on Thursday. “From February 22 to March 2, 2020 she visited Benin, Germany, France and Turkey before returning to Togo via the land border with Benin,� the presidency said in a statement.

It said all people who had contact with the patient in the country “have been identified and put in quarantine.�

In sub-Saharan Africa, Senegal has registered four cases, all foreign nationals.

Foreign Airlines Record 20% Decline in Passenger TrafďŹ c, Says NANTA

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni reported yesterday that the first case of coronavirus infection had been reported in the Vatican City.

He noted that the patient was discovered on Thursday and that emergency services are sanitising the area.

The Vatican is not the first holy site to be affected by the coronavirus this week.

Saudi authorities previously suspended pilgrimages to Mecca due to health concerns, while Israel shut down travel to and from Bethlehem.

President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents, (NANTA), Bankole Bernard has said that Nigeria’s aviation sector has seen about 20 per cent decline in passenger traffic as a result of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Just as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) projected that globally the airline industry would lose between $63 billion and $113 billion to the Coronavirus epidemic.

Bernard said in Lagos yesterday that since the spread of the Coronavirus from China, the travel industry has been affected, especially because Nigeria is an import driven country but Nigerians however are now diverting to other countries such as Turkey to import their goods.

Speaking during a press conference to announce NANTA elective Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the NANTA president said the level of resilience and tenacity of Nigerians is second to none, as Nigerians now go to Turkey to bring in their goods instead of China.

running for their lives.

It was in the confusion that the pastor and the three female church members were kidnapped.

The source said that on Monday the bandits contacted the church secretary asking

for N30 million ransom before those kidnapped would be released.

The church reportedly pleaded that they could only raise N40,000 which the bandits reportedly rejected but promised to get back to them.

and their refusal to grant him access to the secretariat, he left.

However, at about 4:20pm, special forces from DSS riding five power bikes came to the secretariat, and a couple of minutes after, some DSS operatives also came in two black Hilux Vans.

Their mission was not

known but they later left around 6: 30pm when it was clear that Oshiomhole was no longer coming.

Also, the APC National Vice Chairman, North East, Comrade Salihu Mustapha and some other NWC members had also approached the Police IGP to prevent Oshiomhole from resuming at the secretariat.

Vatican Records First Case

POLICE HUNT FOR 5 SCHOOLGIRLS KIDNAPPED BY BANDITS IN NIGER STATE always report any person or group of persons with questionable character to the nearest security agencies for prompt response.

Also last Sunday, the Pastor of Kauna Baptist Church, Danazunmi near Grigori in

the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, Reverend Genesis Zaka and three female church members were kidnapped by bandits.

The names of the kidnapped female church members were given as

Tabitha Luka, Liatu Nuhu and Rahila Luka.

The pastor and the female church members were said to have been abducted by the bandits during the morning Sunday service.

An eyewitness who

narrated how the incident occurred told THISDAY that during the service, the bandits came in large number riding on motorcycles and surrounded the church resulting in a stampede with many of the worshipers

SECURITY AGENTS SEAL APC NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, OSHIOMHOLE FAILS TO RESUME from entering the place, including journalists and staff.

Immediately after the Kano judgement, Oshiomhole had told journalists that he would resume his duty as the chairman at the national secretariat of the party yesterday.

Sources said Oshiomhole and some members of the

party’s National Working Committee (NWC) loyal to him had planned to storm the secretariat yesterday but could not get necessary police protection.

Although, on Thursday, before the order of the Kano High Court, staff and a faction of the NWC were allowed into the national secretariat to carry out their

duties.

It was however a different story yesterday when the security men sealed off the secretariat and denied both factions of the NWC and staff from gaining access to the secretariat.

Sources told THIDAY that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, hosted the two

warring groups of the party at the force headquarters yesterday and directed them to stay away from the party’s headquarters due to the conflicting court judgements.

At about 2:40 p.m, the Chief of Staff to Oshiomole came to the secretariat, but after a brief conversation with the security agents,

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

NEWS

News Editor Ahamefula Ogbu 08116759810 (sms only) Email ahamefula.ogbu@thisdaylive.com

PLEASED TO WORK WITH YOU. . .

L-R: Ogun State Head of Service, TPL Amope Ajibola Chokor; Country Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Khaled El Dokani; the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, MFR; Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi; and the Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainable Development Director of Lafarge, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose Medebem, when the Management Team of Lafarge Plc paid the Governor a courtesy visit in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

AMCON Moves Against Debtors Owing N8.4b, Seizes 72 Luxury Flats Davidson Iriekpen

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) yesterday moved against 12 debtors owing the federal government N8.4billion by seizing their multi-billion naira properties across Lagos.

The operation, which lasted hours, took place simultaneously in Lekki, Apapa, Ikeja, Somolu and Kosofe areas of Lagos.

The affected properties are: Elegant Court on Mobil Road Lekki. It houses 12 three-storey blocks of 72 luxury apartments, a tennis court and other facilities on 1.802 hectares.

A three-storey shopping complex on Mobil Road, Lekki, was also sealed.

Its occupants including three churches –Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Dominion City and Living Word Arena – were also affected.

AMCON is also mandated to recover land measuring 1668.740 square metres along Kirikiri Road, Olodi Apapa, land measuring 4939.122 square metres on 98 Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, lkeja and land at No. 21, Adaranijo Street, Bariga, Somolu.

Others are: a property at No. 1 Cortex Drive, off Kosofe Street, Ketu; a property at 2, Hilton

Close, Off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, property at 24, Medoyin Street, Kosofe, Ketu (Cortex House) and AMCON enforcement units and sheriffs of the Federal High Court protected by policemen sealed up the properties in execution of an April 11, 2019 order of Justice Rilwan Aikawa.

AMCON receiver manager’s counsel, Gbenga Dosunmu, said the debtors had refused to liquidate their debts despite all efforts and consultations to get them to do so.

He said in addition to the pending action, AMCON also appointed a Receiver/Manager, Mr. Lanre Olaoluwa, to run

Cortex Ltd’s operations.

The order further attached the funds and other assets “of the debtor, its directors, shareholders and guarantors pending the determination of the Suit,” Dosunmu said.

He explained that the properties were “bank eligible assets of Cortex Nigeria Ltd” and the court order permitted AMCON to “move into the properties and recover the assets.”

Dosunmu said: “AMCON is moving in as a result of the fact that Cortex is indebted to one of the banks to the tune of about N8.4billion. This bank loan still stands unpaid till date.

“AMCON naturally bought

the loans and, of course, AMCON went to court and obtained court orders to move into some of the assets, to try to see how we can liquidate the facility.”

As to the fate of tenants of the properties and others who may have bought from the debtors, the lawyer said “it is unfortunate, but the law must take its course”.

He advised them to approach AMCON and seek to ratify their title.

Aside Cortex Ltd, the others named in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/521/19, are: a law firm, Succedant Solicitors, Mrs. Adebimsola Olufunmilade Odunaiya, Mr. Olufemi Kehinde Odunaiya, Dr. Olushola, Taiwo

Odunaiya Mrs. Ololade Ososami, and Dr. (Mrs.) Tolulope Solola, Mr. Akin Thomas, Mr. Wole Odubanjo, ASCO Quarry Nigeria Ltd, Basorun Rotimi Obeisun, Chief (Mrs.) Bosede Obeisun, Mr. Oluwamayowa Ayokunle Obeisun, Murufudeen Olabode Abu, Kehinde Afeez Abu, Abdullahi Kamar, Juliet Kesiena David, Adeyemi Olufunmilade Adekoya, Olufunmilade Moses Adeyemi, Sani Fatima Dabai, and Michael Ayodele Ewuosho.

Last August, the federal government inaugurated an inter-agency committee to recover the N5 trillion debts owed AMCON.

CJN Swears-in Justice Dongban-Mensem Court Restrain Kano Anti-corruption Nigeria Re-elected UN Peacekeeping as Acting Court of Appeal President Body from Investigating Emir Sanusi Committee Chairman Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad yesterday swore-in Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem as Acting President of the Court Appeal.

Justice Dongban-Mensem succeeded former President of the court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who retired midnight of March 6, 2020 after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

Her appointment as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari following a recommendation from the National Judicial Council (NJC).

In a remark during the swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court, the CJN, who described Justice DongbanMensem as “a seasoned Judicial officer in the system” urged her to carry her colleagues along through consultations in order to succeed as President of the appellate court.

Justice Muhammad in addition, urged the new Acting President to form the habit of visiting the various divisions of the Court so as to have firsthand knowledge

of the challenges there.

“As a seasoned Judicial officer in the system right from day one after graduation, I don’t know what to tell you. You know your work very well and you have been doing your job satisfactory well.

“It is as a result of this hard work and general character and altitude that has enticed both the Court of Appeal and the National Judicial Council to uplift you to be the Acting President of the Court of Appeal.

“I am pretty sure as I know you very well, except you have changed which I have not noticed.

I will therefore urge you to continue with your charisma, altitude and ability to carry out the task and assignment given to you.

“The whole world has testified that you can do it. The testimony that come from the generality of the public and colleagues and those of us that you met. Please continue to bear that testimony,” the CJN said.

Before her appointment, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem was the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division.

Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

A Federal High Court in Kano has granted an interim injunction restraining Kano Public Complaints and AntiCorruption Commission from further investigating Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II. In an exparte order granted

by Justice Lewis Allago yesterday, the court instructed the state Anti-Corruption and its Chairman, Mr. Muhuyi Magaji, Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice of Kano State and Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to maintain status quo pending the hearing and determination of the substantive motion.

The order dated 6th, March, 2020 and signed by the court registrar Bello Nuhu Ahmed, also directed suspension of any attempt by the commission or any acting on its behalf pending the hearing which has been slated for 18th, March 2020.

The seven pages application on the motion of interim order filed by Mr. Nureini Jimoh, counsel to Emir Sanusi, was

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

supported by affidavit of urgency of five pages, which was deposed to by Mahammad Minor Sanusi, Chief of Staff to the Emir of Kano.

The state Anti-Corruption agency on Thursday disclosed fresh investigation on the Emir Sanusi on alleged illegal sale of landed property.

Besides, the commission has issued fresh invitation on the emir to appear before it on Monday 9th of March, 2020, to clear himself of the allegation.

The commission’s investigation came two days after the state House of Assembly directed the House Committee on Public Petition to also investigate petition filed against the monarch.

Although the agency had told journalists that the fresh investigation had nothing to do with the pending matter on alleged mismanagement of N3.4bn, the commission had earlier submitted a report to Kano State government recommending the suspension

Nigeria has been re-elected to chair the United Nations Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations for the 48th time.

Nigeria has chaired the special committee on peacekeeping operations from 1972 till date and was always re-elected to continue to lead the most critical committee of the United Nations.

The Charge d’Affaires, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations, Amb. Samson Itegboje was elected the Chairman of the committee also known as C-34 by acclamation at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during opening of the 2020 Session.

The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations regarded as UN’s most strategic committee was established in 1965 by the General Assembly in order to review and provide recommendations on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.

The committee is the only UN committee mandated to

review comprehensively the whole question of United Nations Peacekeeping operations in all its aspects.

It also makes recommendations on enhancing United Nations Peacekeeping operations across the world, particularly, some of the pressing issues facing the more than 100,000 military, police and civilian personnel from 125 countries presently serving in 14 operations.

The committee consists of 147 member States involved in Peacekeeping missions and observing members such as the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).

Nigeria is among the world’s 15th largest troops contributor to UN Peacekeeping operations and the eighth in Africa, according to a data from the UN Peacekeeping Department.

The data showed that Nigeria contributed 2,170 peacekeeping personnel in 2016, made up of 403 policemen, 46 military experts and 1, 721 troops, out of which 232 were females.

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NEWS

In Brief Kidnappers Free 3 Issele-Azagba Residents as Police Keep Mute on Attacks Katsina Spends N390m on Malnutrition Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba Three of the seven persons abducted by gunmen who invaded Issele-Azagba Town in Delta State on Wednesday night have been released by their captors.

THISDAY learnt that the abductees, who were set free in the early hours of yesterday after allegedly paying huge sums as ransom to the suspected Fulani herdsmen, were apparently in good health.

One person was killed when the bandits stormed the High Hope Guest House in the town, and seven people were taken away at gunpoint.

However, one of the two

captives who tried to escape was shot in the waist region while the other made good his escape eventually.

The man that escaped and later conveyed the injured and the remains of the dead victim to the hospital in Asaba is the manager of the guest house but who was erroneously reported in the media as the dead victim.

Nevertheless, two of the five abductees, said to include an engineer cum businessman and one of his workers, were yesterday afternoon still being held by the gunmen in their hideouts believed to be in the bushes of Issele-Azagba in Aniocha North and Aniocha

South local government areas of the state.

A source in the community confided in THISDAY that the kidnappers were asking for about N4m for the release of the two men still in their custody.

Since the February 5, 2020 night attack that left an Edo State-born engineer and another resident dead, last Wednesday night's attack is the third major attack on residents of the community by the unidentified gunmen.

Five persons were killed during the attacks with about eight persons abducted but some of them eventually released after the alleged payment of huge

sums as ransom.

Two persons, including a teacher and a youth volunteer, had similarly lost their lives when the gunmen had invaded the Issele-Azagba Mixed Secondary School in October last year, forcibly taking away the principal along with some teachers and students.

Meanwhile, the state police command, which has reportedly concluded plans to establish a post in the town, has not reacted officially to the latest attack on the community as calls and SMS to the command's spokeswoman,DSP Onome Oghene, and the Commissioner, Mr. Inuwa Mohammed Afiz received no response.

The Katsina State Government has said it has expended N390 million to effectively tackle Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) bedeviling children andpregnantwomeninthestatebetween2017to2018.Thegovernment also disclosed that it had inaugurated a taskforce on implementation of adolescent nutrition programme in three local government areas of Kafur, Rimi and Kankia. Wife of the State Governor, Dr. Hadiza Bello Masari, who revealed this during a stakeholders meeting on nutrition yesterday, organisedbyAishaBuhariFoundation,FutureAssured,saidthefundswere used to procure Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). She said: "The State government released the sum of N250,000 monthly to each of the 14 selected Local Government Areas as support for Community-based Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition (CMAM).

Review Travel Advice on Nigeria

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has appealed to Western countries to review their travel advisories that caution their citizens from travelling to some Northern states, including Sokoto, that were perceived as having security challenges. GovernorTambuwal made the appeal yesterday when he received France Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. JÊrôme Pasquier, at Government House, Sokoto.The governor urged France government �and other Western countries to review their travel advisories to their citizens" asking them not visit Sokoto. He assured that the state was secure despite pockets of insurgency in some places.While appreciating France's government efforts in providing security assistance to the country and its armed forces, he noted that "the role of France in this direction is very clear," as Sokoto being a neighbour of Niger Republic, which harbours some insurgents, would have been worse hit if there had been no such gesture."

‘Declare Emergency in Food Sector’ A Coalition of civil society organisations has called on the federal government to declare an emergency in the food sector and commence massive awareness on the dangers of industrially-produced trans fats intakes.Trans fat food are also known as trans-fatty acids, which naturally occur in small, safe quantities in some meat and dairy products and the can also be industrially produced by partially hydrogenating vegetable oils. Cookies, popcorn, frozen pizzas, cake frosting and coffee creamers may contain artificial trans-fat.The coalition which included Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Global Health Advocacy incubator (GHAI), Nigeria Heart Foundation, and the Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), made the call at a press conference on yesterday in Abuja.

Tiv Youths to Embrace Self Defence

AIR SAFETY...

L-R: The Chairman, House of Respresentatives Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji (middle), with his deputy, Hon. Musa Mohammad Pali (left), Hon. Martin Oke (2nd right), Hon. Ifeanyi Chidi Momah (right), Hon Abubakar Yarima Idris (3rd right) and the Air Space Manager, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Engr. Iliya Yohana (2nd left), others, when members of the Aviation Committee inspected the ongoing rehabilitation of the airport, yesterday

FG Inaugurates Humanitarian Policy Dialogues Forum Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq has inaugurated the Humanitarian Policy Dialogue Forum (HPDF) to provide a platform for enhancing the conduct of humanitarian affairs and delivery and social inclusion in Nigeria.

The Forum was inaugurated yesterday at the United Nations (UN) House in Abuja.

At the inauguration, Farouq said the ministry had taken steps to strategically position itself towards the attainment of its vast mandate.

The minister added that the Forum will serve as a platform for engagement between the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and the key stakeholders within the humanitarian sector.

The three maim expected outcomes of the Forum, include dialogue, support and advice.

Farouq pledged the ministry’s readiness to work with members of the Forum, which comprise the UN, the EU, international partners and donors and ambassadors, to ensure all deliberations benefit the people of the country.

She also stressed that ministry

is very focused on completing the guidelines and framework for coordination of all humanitarian and developmental activities in the country with the full support and integration of the agencies under its purview. “One of my key priorities is to kick start the process for early recovery, which will include sustainable home-grown models for rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction. For us to achieve these, trust must be established between the people, government and non-governmental actors,�

Farouq said.

Earlier, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Edward Kallon, said it is envisaged that the HPDF will provide the opportunity for key stakeholders to review humanitarian response in line with existing policies and suggest areas that require policy guidance, amendments, or proposal for establishing new policies to enhance humanitarian response nationwide.

He added that, the HPDF will support the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry with global best practices to ensure a principled humanitarian response and strengthen the capacity of the Ministry to meet its mandate.

After Gun Duel, Police Arrest Undergraduates for Suspected Kidnapping in Calabar Bassey Inyang in Calabar A team of the Nigerian Police have arrested three suspected kidnappers, all believed to be university graduates, in a storey building at Etta Agbor Street in heart of Calabar, Cross River State.

The police said during the raid of the suspects’ hideout, a woman who was kidnapped the previous night was rescued, while about four other suspected members of the kidnapping gang escaped.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nkereuwem Akpan, who led the raid of the suspects den, paraded those caught before journalists in Calabar yesterday.

Addressing journalists at the headquarters of the state Police Command at Diamond Hill, where the suspected kidnappers were paraded, the commissioner said their den was raided based on very credible intelligence about what the building was used for.

He said one of the reports indicated that the suspects kidnapped a female university student the previous day and raped her, before releasing her.

The commissioner said, “The police stormed the building and fortunately a businesswoman who

was kidnapped 24 hours earlier was rescued in a corner of the premises with her hands and legs tied.�

The commissioner said about four of the suspected gang members escaped during the raid on the building.

He said the police would soon apprehend the fleeing suspects based on intelligence so far gathered about them.

The police boss urged the people of the state to be rest assured of their safety as the police worked round the clock to smoke out criminals from the state.

Recounting her encounter with the suspects, the rescued woman, who gave her name as Mrs. Grace Adams said: “Yesterday, on my way from work, my husband picked me in his car, as we entered the gate, they came in and just picked me and took me out of my compound in my husband’s car.... “We stay at 46 Joseph Ekpang at Ikot Ansa. They did not beat me. They just tied me up and they demanded that my husband should pay N30 million. They picked me yesterday around 7.15p.m.This morning, I started hearing gunshots inside the building. I was so scared."

The Tiv Youth Organisation (TYO), has urged Tiv youths to embark on self-defense following rising cases of attacks on their communities by Fulani herdsmeninrecentdays.Itnotesthatitwashighlyprovocativeandbarbaric that afterconcertedeffortbytheTYOwiththeaimtoachievingpeace,theherdsmen hadcontinuedtheirheinousactsagainstunsuspectingTivfarmerswhichitnotes has made the call for self-help inevitable.The call was made yesterday by the National President of the group, Mr. Timothy Hembaor. He recalled that only twodaysback,about10personsweregruesomelymurderedinKwandeLocal Government Area by the marauding herdsmen and also noted with sadness the attack on the district head of Mbawa, in Guma LGA whose wife was also rapedbytheherdsmenamongotheractsofinfamyandcouldnotcontinueto fold it's hand and watch aloof. “Given the forgoing therefore, the TYO wishes to state categorically that theTiv in Benue State, and elsewhere, have a right, same as every other human being, to life and liberty, and shall defend that life with all means available to him, where the statutory arm of organised human society fails to afford them security�

Nasarawa Children Suering from Anemia The Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) has said that 67.9% of children under five years in Nasarawa State were suffering from anemia. Executive Secretary of SC-SUNN, Beatrice Eluaka, gave the statisticsyesterdayinLafiaataone-daymediaroundtableonMicronutrient Deficiency Control (MNDC) SC-SUNN organised for media practitioners in Nasarawa State.The SC-SUNN Executive Secretary, who was represented by the Project Officer, Mary Ajakaye, added that 65.1% of women of reproductive age were equally anaemic, hence describing the figures as unacceptable as she called for deliberate actions to address the situation.

According to her, "the provision of routine services in Primary Health Care centres should be prioritise as this will promote distribution of Micronutrient Powder, Iron/Folic Acid supplements and Zinc including Vitamin A supplementation for pregnant women and children respectively," Eluaka said:

Omoluwa Passes on ThedeathhasbeenannouncedofSirLuckyOmoluwaafterabriefillness.

According to a statement signed by the family, the service of songs would take place at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Aguyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), by 5p.m. on March 5. It added: “The funeral mass would take place at Proposed Cathedral of the 12 Apostles, Papal’s ground, Plot 58, Kasana East District, Abuja, at 11a.m. on March 6, and the interment will take place after the requiem mass at the military cemetery in Abuja. The reception will take place immediately after the interment at International Conference Centre, Area 8, Garki, Abuja.�

Auchi Mourns Daudu at 70

The Royal House of Auchi Kingdom has announced the passage of Senior Daudu and member of the Royal House, Prince (Alhaji) Abdul Azeez Momoh. In a statement signed by Alhaji Usman Abudah, the Dania of Auchi on behalf of the Otaru In-Council, Auchi, stated that Prince Azeez Momoh died last Monday at the Irrua Specialist Hospital at the age of 70. According to the statement, Daudu who has since been buried according to Islamic rites was once a member of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), one time former Executive Chairman, EtsakoWest Local Government Area of Edo State.The statement added that he late Prince Abdul Azeez Momoh is survived by his wife, children and numerous relations.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

Bandits: El-Rufai Must Go Beyond Swaggering

H

is response to attacks by bandits in any community in Kaduna State is always predictable. I am talking about Governor Nasir El-Rufai. He visits the community, laments the incessant killings and vows to tame the killers. The story ends there until there is another attack and he would repeat the same swagger. The killers are hardly apprehended. It happened few days back when bandits attacked some communities in Igabi and Giwa Local Government Areas of the state, killing 51 people. The gunmen carried out the slaughters last Sunday and El-Rufai was there the following day.

As usual, El-Rufai declared: “In Kaduna State, we don’t give bandits amnesty and we don’t negotiate with them. Security agencies have been asked to wipe them out. The state government will not rest until the bandits are completely wiped out. It is our duty to wipe them until we send them to their maker. The security agencies are taking the war to the forest and we are eliminating them. I also came to apologise to the community for failure to protect them fully. We are doing our best to minimise the situation.”

Then the usual El-Rufai excuses follow: “The security agencies are doing the best they can, but they find it difficult to get to remote areas in good time due to poor access roads while the natives also find it difficult to alert security agencies due to poor GSM network. Kaduna has vast land and if the security closes one area, they attack another area. We are hoping that this bandit issue will be addressed because security agencies are on ground to manage the situation.”

El-Rufai also told traumatised residents of Igabi and Giwa Local Government Areas that shortly after the bandits started the attack, there was security intervention both on ground and in the air and that the bandits were wiped out. Haba! Not a single dead body of the bandits “wiped out” was seen anywhere. I am sure the security agents would have made a big show of this if they have such pictures. The Police Commissioner, Kaduna State Command, Ali Janga, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Faruk Yahaya, and the Kaduna State Director of DSS, Idris Koya, have been silent about the so-called “wiping out” of bandits.

Only El-Rufai has the story of how security agents wiped out the bandits.

No wonder he thanked them thus: “I am grateful to the Air Force, Army, Police and DSS for being always prompt.

It would have been worst. If not for their prompt intervention, they (bandits) would have wiped out the entire villages, but people are still here.” This is part of the swagger agenda.

The security agents in Kaduna State are also very good when it comes to swagger.

They proudly announced deployment of officers and men to affected communities in Igabi and Giwa Local Government Areas after the bandits had completed their mission and departed. As at last Tuesday, there was heavy presence of policemen in Kerawa after the carnage had ended. Instead of going in search of the killers, they are on ground in the devastated villages. Doing what? Only God knows.

Just as the District Head of Karewa, Alhaji Ibrahim Damu, noted, attacks, killings and kidnappings in his community have persisted for so long. Economic and social activities have been destroyed in this place. Hundreds of displaced men, women and children are now languishing in a primary school in Birnin Yero. The situation is the same in so many com-

El-Rufai

munities in Kaduna State. Killings and abductions occur daily. El-Rufai’s Kaduna State is in a big mess and he is not helping matters with his unproductive swagger.

Kidnapping and banditry have become big businesses. The last four years have been horrendous. Daily, scores of hapless people are kidnapped for ransom (many killed) in communities across the state, while security agents and Governor Nasir El-rufai display so much incompetence.

I remember that traumatised residents of Rigasa, in Igabi Local Government Area, were on the streets last year to protest the high rate of abductions in their community. They also visited the state’s House of Assembly to seek the intervention of the lawmakers over their plight.

Few months back, kidnappers walked into Engravers College, Kakau Daji, Chikun

Local Government Area of Kaduna State and cherry-picked six female students and two staff of the college. There was no sign that security agents ever got close to the kidnappers. In fact, the girls and their teachers spent 23 days in the dungeons of their captors.

The victims eventually secured freedom, largely based on the efforts of the parents, concerned indigenes of the state and a retired Army officer, who mobilised N13.6 million to meet the demands of the kidnappers.

Security agents and the Kaduna State Government were obviously lackadaisical about freeing the victims and the concerned indigenes had to come in. No word yet on apprehending the abductors of the Engravers girls and their teachers. Like in previous cases of abductions, it may never happen. Those who inflicted pain on these children, their parents and teachers are enjoying their loot. What a country!

Another Kaduna community persistently attacked by bandits and kidnappers is Kajuru. Apart from kidnapping for ransom, here, herders and locals are persistently at war, leaving hundreds dead and so many families bereaved. The Kaduna State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Joseph Hayab said the church had spent over N300 million on payment of ransom in the last four years for over 500 Christians abducted within the period. El-Rufai and security agents persistently fail these people. They must show greater commitment to ending the kidnappings and banditry by running the state dispassionately. The pounded communities see this governor and security agents as having compromised.

On the flip side, can those attacking Kaduna communities be rightly described as bandits? I have checked the meaning of the word “bandit” and the mode of attacks don’t fit into it. More often than not, they attack, kill and maim, without taking anything from the communities. The conclusion is that our security agents should look deeper. In the case of the Kerawa killings, they arrived burning houses, killing and unleashing mayhem on the people.

They did not steal anything.

A councilor representing Kerawa Ward,

Alhaji Daiyibu Kerawa, said: “What happened was unprecedented. We have never seen this kind of horror in our lives. These killers are Boko Haram. They stormed our village killing indiscriminately. They spared nobody, the young, the old, even Almajiris were not spared. They continued to shoot people, setting fire on the dead and on property. It was extremely horrific!’ They went from one room to the other, a man and his children were killed, even new born babies. We are in a terrible situation. These killers are not just bandits. They are Boko Haram, they did not steal anything; they just killed and burnt peoples’ belongings.”

The position of Shehu Sani after the Kerawa killings is instructive. Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central said: “The mass killings of innocent people in Kerawa village and surroundings by suspected bandits stand unreservedly condemned. Northern governors are still playing the ostrich, afraid of confronting the federal government and taking independent action to protect their people while the killings and the kidnappings go on. The north has become a region of endless funerals and perpetual bereavement.

Bandits in the north have become a state; they impose fines and taxes, send notices, control spaces, determine life and death and operate without much challenge. Banditry has further impoverished the north and turned it into a cemetery.

“The lives of ordinary people in the north have become cheap, dispensable, disposable and ordinary. The pervasive insecurity in the north is reinforced and sustained by the silence and sycophancy of its elite as much as the inaction of the government.

Muslims are not much being seen as victims of the killings in the north because many Islamic leaders prefer to massage the image of the government in the face of the killings of their followers, while Christian clerics are leading protests in the streets. The north must wake up, buckle down or perish.”

Sani has bravely spoken the truth.

Northern governors must wake and free the region from servitude.

Depletion of Excess Crude Account Now, crude oil price has fallen below Nigeria’s 2020 budget benchmark price of $57 per barrel, no thanks to Coronavirus.

Demand from China has fallen drastically, and this country is the biggest importer of crude oil and the home of Coronavirus.

Many factories in China have been shut for fear of further spread of the virus.

Back to Nigeria, economic crisis looms as crude oil continues to slide. Already, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, has confirmed that Covid-19 is negatively impacting on Nigeria’s oil revenue, adding that a mid-term review of the 2020 budget will be carried out to reflect the realities on the ground. According to her, the international oil price has dropped to $52, which is below the budget benchmark of $57 per barrel, impacting negatively on the nation’s estimated revenue for the fiscal year.

The Excess Crude Account (ECA) that should help us at this period has been badly depleted. Only recently, the World Bank warned that a “moderate” decline in oil price could trigger another recession in Nigeria, noting that the exhaustion of the ECA had made the country more vulnerable. The bank, in its latest Nigeria Economic Update, rightly stated that the Nigerian economy had become more vulnerable to shocks as a result of the depletion of the ECA. “Fiscal buffers in the Excess Crude

Account have been exhausted, rendering Nigeria more vulnerable to shocks. The ECA has rarely operated as envisaged.

When it was established in 2004, it was to be drawn on only when the actual crude oil price falls below the budget benchmark price for three consecutive months,” the bank stated, noting that the account was mismanaged.

The ECA, created by the Obasanjo government in 2004, for the purpose of saving oil income in excess of the budgeted benchmark, rose from $5.1 billion in 2005 to more than $20 billion in November 2008. Persistent demand by states to fund numerous programmes and the inability of the federal government to generate sufficient income to fund its operations resulted in pressure on the ECA. The three levels of government are guilty of this mismanagement. Some payments for petrol subsidy also came from the ECA. And so, the depletion of the account has been unending, and it has been on since 2009. Between 2015 and 2019, federal and state governments withdrew $4.92 billion from the account. The $496.37 million paid to the United States Government for the purchase of Super Tucano Aircraft was also withdrawn from ECA by the Buhari government. The $380.51 million approved by Buhari for procurement of equipment for the Nigerian Army, Navy and Defence Intelligence Agency late in

Ahmed

2018 was also from the ECA. The Obasanjo government saved for the rainy day while others that came after him depleted the savings.

Now, the ECA that should serve as our buffer while oil price is tumbling is gone. The storm is already gathering and there is no ECA to help due to mismanagement. Nigerians should prepare for harsher times.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

SUPER SATURDAY

Niniola in ‘Fantasy’ with Femi Kuti Nigeria’s Queen of Afro-house music, Niniola (Niniola Akpata) joined forces with Afrobeat icon, Femi Kuti to drop a new single ahead of her upcoming sophomore album. On the track, Fantasy, the songstress fuses her trademark vocals and Afro-housestyle with the distinctive saxophone sound of the four-time Grammy nominee. Ferdinand Ekechukwu reports

Niniola with Femi Kuti

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

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SUPERSATURDAY Niniola in ‘Fantasy’ with Femi Kuti

S

inger/songwriter, Niniola Apata is working on her sophomore album. That alone should excite fans and lovers of the queen of afro-house music knowing the stuff she’s made of.

The singer who simply goes by her stage name Niniola on this upcoming album has worked with legendary afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti to deliver on a new single, Fantasy.

The Ibadi crooner fuses her trademark vocals and Afro-housestyle with the distinctive saxophone sound of the four-time Grammy nominee and pretty excited working with Femi, the scion of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. To the songstress, collaborating with the Afrobeat icon is a dream come true.

“Femi Kuti is a legend in every sense of the word. We got into the studio and he gave us more than we could have imagined,” she acknowledged.

The track is the singer’s latest since the release of ‘Omo Rapala’ last January. On Fantasy, the singer delivers her usual crisp vocals atop a pulsating beat and smooth saxophone riffs from Kuti. It’s an infectious song through and through, and the two make for a memorable duo. Prior to the song release days back, Niniola took to the social sphere to share a story about performing with Femi Kuti some years ago.

She reflected on what it means to now have her very own song with the celebrated Nigerian musician.

“Two years ago, I was on his stage performing, Baba came up to join me and today I have a song with him…

LEGEND@femiakuti. Thank you so much for agreeing to do this song with me, without listening to the song you came to the studio and killed it…

Thank you so much sir,” the seductive vocal artiste tweeted.

Since participating in the sixth season of Project Fame West Africa in 2013, where she finished third runnerup, Niniola, after releasing her debut single Ibadi, has had a remarkable path. According to a new profile on the artiste in Rolling Stone, she’s also been working with the hit-making American producer Timbaland, who has long expressed being a fan of her music. “I’m glad I can be comfortable as an African and sing in my language,” Niniola tells Rolling Stone online magazine. “When I drop songs, I drop hit songs,” she adds.

Niniola’s sophomore album is due later this year, the follow-up to her 2017’s This is Me, which produced the hit song Maradona. Through massive singles like Maradona and Bana and her debut standout album This Is Me, the singer has taken the throne as the leading artiste pushing a blend of afro-pop and house music. She has continued that upward trend with more recent drops like Boda Sodiq and Designer.

Her lyrics are lewdly coded if you listen to her exploiting the Yoruba language to sing. She subtly admits the Yoruba language makes her song’s delivery beautiful. Niniola is regarded as one of Nigeria’s most successful female musicians. Hits such as Maradona and Boda Sodiq have won her glowing endorsements from big international stars like Drake.

Beyoncé also caught the Niniola wave by borrowing from Maradona to compose ‘Find Your Way Back’ off the Grammy-nominated project The Lion King. That Beyoncé’s 2019 album The Gift, a companion to her soundtrack to The Lion King, finds sturdy footing on its fourth track. “Find Your Way Back” is supported by the graceful thrum of Niniola’s Maradona, an indelible house music single released early in 2017.

This nod marked the latest jump in global exposure for Niniola, a singer who has gradually built an international profile since Maradona became a multi-country hit three years ago.

Her latest release, “Fantasy,” came out on Thursday, February 27, 2020; a wiry collaboration driven by pinprick guitar, jolts of brass, and pattering hand-drums. “I don’t know why I’m working with these legends now,” Niniola says happily.

Niniola

It’s a long way from where she started. She took to music early, absorbing her parents’ record collection. In secondary school, she started entertaining her friends during lunchtime: “I had a sort of request show where my friends would request songs and I would sing,” Niniola recalls. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m a star!’”

But not everyone felt the same.

When she started to audition for televised talent shows in Nigeria, she faced a string of rejections. “I got my fair share of, ‘No, you’re not good enough,’” Niniola says. “I remember a particular incident where I went for an audition at West African Idol, the Lagos edition. I got one yes from a judge but two no’s, so I couldn’t move on to the next level. I got on a plane and went to Abuja. I went to audition, but I was told that I couldn’t. I cried, told them I came all the way from Lagos. At the end of the day I was

picked but then dropped.”

Niniola temporarily stopped doing music, dispirited by all the rejections.

She was jarred back into action by her brother, who called and told her that X Factor was holding auditions in Nigeria; Niniola tried out but fell short once again. She allowed herself one final opportunity, deciding that if she was not picked, then music is not for her. She made it on to Project Fame West Africa and finished fourth.

With prize money from the show in hand, Niniola sought out a collaborator who could help turn a TV performance into a career. That turned out to be Sarz, a gifted beat maker who has worked with stars like Wizkid and Wande Coal. Niniola learned about him by googling “Top Ten Nigerian music producers.”

“We had a meeting in the studio, and the minute I walked in, I told him I want a hit song,” Niniola says.

“He laughed at me ‘You haven’t even

released any songs!’ I just said, “It has to be worth my money.” And it was. In contrast to the early wave of rejections from talent-show judges, listeners took to Niniola’s debut single quickly.

“Ibadi” was supple but pushy, a dance-floor-ready barrage of percussion shrouded in Niniola’s vocal lines, which she delivered in both English and Yoruba. After releasing the track, Niniola didn’t have enough money to make a video for months, but even that setback didn’t hamper “Ibadi,” which became a hit around Nigeria.

That was partially due to Niniola’s sound. While many of her peers in the Nigerian mainstream were cohering around the easy, charming bounce dubbed Afrobeats, Niniola was more connected to the four-on-the-floor thump of house music - so connected, in fact, that she has taken on the mantle of “the Queen of Afro House.”

“I wanted the kind of beat that would give me freedom to sing,” she said.

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ÍżËœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

COMMENTARY

CORONA SCARE AND CHILDREN Bidemi Nelson lists new habits that should be taught children to keep them safe

T

he level of infamy enjoyed by the Corona virus has caused various trepidations across the world. With such an incurable disease on the prowl and the ease of infection, one can only wonder “Who’s Next�? Nigeria’s reported cases of Corona virus have elicited the same global responses of quarantining, alongside prevention measures of hand-washing, hand-sanitization, nose and mouth covering while sneezing/coughing, among others. At this point, it is important to consider the preventive health measures being sensitized about, from sources such as the World Health Organization, among others, on this disease with respect to children. The reasons being that their level of exposure could be higher (they tend to mingle with more people than adults, especially at school) and getting children to remember and follow hygiene rules can be quite challenging. Nonetheless, the continuous education of children about this disease cannot be over-emphasized.

First, it is important to inform children to stay away from people including children, with flu-like symptoms, that is people who sneeze or cough repeatedly (they should maintain at least a distance of three feet from such people).

While not everyone who sneezes or coughs is infected, the likelihood of an infection cannot also be ruled out. Also, many people sometimes forget to cover their noses or mouths while sneezing or coughing. In the event of being sneezed or coughed upon, they should wash their hands and the body parts that have the droplets of the sneeze or cough. Children should also endeavor to cover their mouths and noses while coughing or sneezing, whether or not they are infected.

Second, please instruct children to politely decline shows of affection from anyone particularly handshakes, hugs and kisses. All of these kinds of contact must be refrained from at this time. Please inform their teachers and school administrators about this too. The virus is highly contagious and can spread to children through any of these media of touch.

Third, the sharing of toys at this time should be banned.

While the collaborative toy games are ways children can relax and develop certain skills, toys have surface areas that the droplets of an infected person can land on. Children in their usual fashion play with these toys and even put some of them in their mouths. This can expose them to infection.

Also, this is the time to sanitize all toys in your homes or schools and ensure that they are put away, at least for now.

PLEASE INSTRUCT CHILDREN TO POLITELY DECLINE SHOWS OF AFFECTION FROM ANYONE PARTICULARLY HANDSHAKES, HUGS AND KISSES. ALL OF THESE KINDS OF CONTACT MUST BE REFRAINED FROM AT THIS TIME

Fourth, discourage children from touching their faces, especially their eyes, nostrils and mouths with their fingers.

If they must touch their faces, let them have handy tissues in their bags for that purpose. These tissues should be properly disposed in a trash can after use.

Fifth, children should be discouraged from spitting or sneezing on the floor in public places such as their schools and places of worship, among others. If they must spit or sneeze, they should do it in a tissue and dispose it properly in a trash can. They should never throw their used tissue paper in the open space. In addition, going to crowded places at this time should be discouraged by parents especially if their children will be there too.

Sixth, children should be discouraged from touching door knobs or taps directly. This is because several people touch these same surfaces daily and some of these people could be infected. If they must use a door knob or a tap, they should use handy tissue paper to prevent their hands from touching these surfaces, directly. The tissues should be properly disposed in a trash can.

Many new habits should now be taught to children to keep them safe during this time. One of such is the constant washing of hands with soap and water (inclusive of their palms, back of their palms, wrists and under their finger nails). Schools across the country should make water and soap available in their premises at strategic locations (toilets, school gates and school playgrounds, among others). Also, children should have access to hand sanitizers and the use of the sanitizer should be explained to them. Parents should ensure that children use face masks in public and crowded places, including when they are in a public transportation system. Please remember to change face masks daily and if it is re-usable, please wash after use.

Aside from these, children should be encouraged to take lots of water and eat foods that will strengthen their immunity (balanced diet). Parents and school chefs should ensure children’s meals are properly washed and cooked, especially meat. It is also important for parents and teachers to take note of children with flu-like symptoms such as sneezes and coughs. Such children should be quickly taken to the hospital for examination and healthcare services.

Nelson is CEO, Shield of Innocence Initiative, Ibadan Nigeria

NOT ALL BAD NEWS Saadiya Farouk as minister of humanitarian affairs is an appointment well made, writes Danliti Goga

T

he appointment of Hajia Saadiya Umar Farouk as the pioneer Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, is now regarded as the most strategic input that gave the all-important ministry a head start in the difďŹ cult task of integrating several separate agencies of government into an omnibus functional structure in a timely and smooth manner. This was not just another “political appointmentâ€? where afďŹ liation looms larger than qualiďŹ cation. For such uncommon assignments, qualiďŹ cation would require the added value of experience and capacity.

With the benefit of hindsight and in the light of the seemingly effortless efficiency with which she has been performing this herculean task, it is obvious that Hajia Saadiya was qualified, experienced and very capable. This is to be expected from the minister’s impactful tenure as Federal Commissioner in charge of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs, which is seen as the pre-qualification for her elevation to the federal cabinet as well as the impetus for the strategic restructuring of agencies relevant to the new portfolio into departments of the ministry.

The combined outcome of apt appointment and innovative re-strategizing has earned President Buhari commendation especially for significantly optimizing the administration’s capacity to redress the history of neglect of the deplorable plight of the nation’s huge population of disabled, distressed, deprived and displaced citizens. Hajia Umar Farouk has been on top of the situation, making informed pronouncements and taking impactful decisions on the major components of the schedule of the new ministry, testifying to her possession of the experience and insight to identify the problems and apply corrective measures without dilly-dallying.

While much attention had been focused on the compensatory “empowerment� schemes for the youth and elderly, the minister unveiled a more fundamental but less appreciated aspect of the ministry’s agenda with the commencement of series of step-down training workshop for teachers and caregivers of children with special needs in Ibadan. “We want to have a critical mass of Nigerians who have better knowledge and skills to show care, love and affection for these categories of people so as to discover their full potential and participate in the development of the country. I believe they should not be left out�, she declared at the event which prioritized the crying need to make school accessible for children with special needs and most vulnerable in the country.

This broader perspective of the mandate of her ministry was however not at the expense of addressing the task of institutionalizing the adhoc arrangements made for implementing some of the more popular poverty alleviation and school feeding programmes in order to make them sustainable and prudently managed. Hajia Umar Farouk identified information gaps affecting the monitoring and evaluation mechanism and framework of the N-Power and GEEP Programmes, leading to unscheduled disruptions which were redressed as part of their transfer to the new ministry.

The ministry paid the October and November 2019 backlog allowances of beneficiaries of the N-Power programme while making efforts to develop an exit strategy as promised by the minister who assured that promptness in payment will be sustained so that the programmes will continue to achieve their goals of improving the wellbeing of Nigerians. She assured the N-Power beneficiaries and Nigerians that the ministry was

committed to President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

To facilitate effective management of the programmes under ministerial supervision, Hajia Saadiya Farouk summoned the NSIP Focal Persons across the country to strategize on operational framework with a clear and improved communication strategy, emphasizing that the federal government understood the need to focus more attention on youth empowerment by creating the enabling environment for job opportunities and capacity building. She said the federal government pledged additional US 1.3 billion from its budget to create the Social Safety Net Programmes which came to be known as National Social Investment Programme, through which over four million Nigerians have directly benefited from job training, financial assistance and social development.

During her meetings with various stakeholders to promote understanding and support for the effective take-over of programmes and schemes, she consistently captured the mission of the ministry without mincing words: “Our responsibilities are many and they are vast.

Social protection and inclusion concerns all of us. The ministry is responsible for the wellbeing and welfare of every single Nigerian and some non-Nigerians that are of concern to us. We are essentially the people’s ministry and we take this duty very seriously.�

She emphasized the strategic relevance of the ministry’s mandate in the quest for achieving Nigeria’s developmental potential, pointing out that displaced persons living in camps, unemployment, inadequate protection mechanisms for children, elderly and other vulnerable groups pose challenges that must be resolved in a

sustainable manner.

Hajia Saadiya Umar Farouk always backs her passionate expression of determination to alleviate the plight of vulnerable and poor people with bold practical initiatives that erase any doubts about her sincerity. A shining example was the unprecedented decision of the federal government to pay suppliers of foodstuff and cooks under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme in advance for January 2020. This was to ensure that the feeding of the 9.9 million pupils in the 33 participating states and the FCT commenced as soon as the schools resume without any hitches or excuses. She expressed satisfaction with reports of improved attendance in the schools and improved hygiene among the pupils as outcomes of the programme under which a total of 9,963,726 pupils are fed in 54, 942 schools served by 107,862 suppliers and cooks.

Such exemplary dedication to a humane cause can also be attributed to the motherly instincts that influence Saadiya Farouk’s thoughts and actions. Her overwhelming compassion for innocent and helpless children and mothers and the suffering of poor people, plunged into hardships of unemployment and forced migration, motivated her to re-invigorate the activities of the National Commission for Refugees with high impact but modest profile approach to public service.

Her elevation to a minister coinciding with the first time establishment of federal ministry for humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development is undoubtedly the best thing to happen to bring meaningful attention and succor to Nigeria’s most vulnerable and needy population, especially at a time of escalating human and natural tragedies.

Goga wrote from Kano

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ÍżËœ ͺ͸ͺ͸ Ëž THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER

INSIGHT

An end in sight?

Duoye Diri and the Land of Glory

T

he golden eye of justice sees and requites the just. This statement would probably be a favorite amongst the good people of Bayelsa State and its recently installed governor, Senator Duoye Diri and rightly so. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it is adopted as some sort of mantra in the state, considering the timeline of events in the political atmosphere of the state.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria on the 13th of February 2020 delivered its final judgement and sacked David Lyon as Governor-elect of Bayelsa State, because his running mate in the November 16, 2019 election, Biobarakuma Degi-Eriemienyo, was found guilty of possessing ‘forged’ certificates or school certificates laden with discrepancies. It was clearly and rightly stated that Degi-Eriemienyo’s forgery had infected Lyon because both men ran on a joint ticket. But indeed it was a case of nemesis finally catching up with the entire false journey of Mr Lyon to the governorship seat of the state dubbed “The Glory of all Lands�. The settings for the end was all the more dramatic as the ousted governor-elect had the previous day completed rehearsals to be sworn in onto a position he never merited.

Indeed, it was never to be when we consider the fraudulent and unconstitutional play of events that unfolded beginning from the APC’s gubernatorial primaries in the state. It was alleged that Mr David Lyon was never the winner of the primaries and that in fact he came 5th after delegates had performed the selection rights and votes counted. How he managed to get the ticket to run for governor is still baffling more so to the returning officer the Governor of Yobe State, who had refused to issue a certificate of victory, rightly knowing the truth of how events had played out. It was later established that an unconstitutional authority within the committee had gone ahead to issue the certificate of return after the governor who was head, distanced himself from foul play.

Despite being on same party frontlines, the original winner of the APC primaries in the state is sure to have a “Justice at last� feeling or some sort of bitter-sweet taste in his mouth considering the sacking of Mr Lyon is a fatal blow to the party and all that is connected with it. Mr Heineken Lokpobiri had contended the decision at the time in the High Court, stating that he was the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial Bayelsa primary election held on September 4,2019 and the Yenagoa High Court has declared that the governorship primaries conducted by the APC in Bayelsa State was not done in compliance with the guidelines and the constitution of the party, and therefore, concluded that the party had no candidate.

The Royal Rumble in Osun

At the time, his efforts were futile allowing Mr Lyon to go on fanning the steam of his campaign locomotive, which would eventually land him the election victory amidst alleged fraudulent occurrences during the November 16 governorship elections. Both INEC polling officials and security agencies on the day, were accused of electoral malpractices in favour of David Lyon and ultimately declaring him winner of election.

Controversies had tainted Mr Lyon’s campaign trail, but none so blatant as his refusal to attend the governorship debate customarily done before elections. Many suggested that rather than it being a political stunt, it was more of a case of avoiding embarrassment due to educational incompetence. It is expedient that individuals that aspire to political leadership positions should possess both high level moral and educational qualifications as they are representative of the larger populations they lead both to the local and international community.

The attempt to deceive the electoral umpire and the people by falsification of documents by Mr Lyon’s running mate Mr Degi-Eriemienyo was the final straw but considering all that took place, justice was long overdue.

Allison Abanum, Lagos

T

he sun gleamed above the city of Osogbo, when adrenaline got owing between monarchs. What happened on 14th February 2020 between the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi and Agbowu of Ogbagbaa, Oba Skirulahi Akinropo at the meeting in Osogbo, Osun State, was not the kind of royal rumble described by Wikipedia.org as ‘a professional wrestling event, produced every January since 1988 by professional wrestling promotion,’ but an event of ďŹ tful gusts of adrenaline which they may not be proud of in few years’ time.

Gone were the days when fighting was considered the duty of the aristocracy. In olden days, noble men became knights in the service of their father’s land. In other words, the king who proved to be the bravest and strongest of them would rule over the other kingdoms. At that time, the interests of the people were harnessed for the benefit of all but today democracy and the rule of law are enshrined into our system; the core values and traditions are lying in ruins. Today individuals are corrupt, the vast land given by the creator has divided citizens between competing ethnic groups.

Today, some of our leaders are now seduced by wealth and they use the wealth to perpetrate evil.

In the past, the traditional rulers protect and preserve the purity of traditional institutions; they display high level of discipline by restraining themselves when angered because they are the cynosure of all eyes at all times and more importantly, they are seen as the second to the deity.

The implication of the two royals fighting each other is that their subjects are disintegrated to fighting one other and eventually, a reprisal attack is imminent if all the stakeholders do not as a matter of urgency wade into the imbroglio.

From reports, the issue was an alleged selling of land. Red flames in the heart swiftly grew into a brawl. A monarch does not allow his wrath blazed in consuming flame when in the public but eschew anger with wisdom. Now that it has happened, what is the responsibility of people who love peace? It is to build a wall of accord among differing parties.

The Osun State Government must prevent escalation of this misunderstanding and avoid a proxy war between these two regions. The state government should steadily reassert its control within the ambiance of the law to ensure peace reigns between these two monarchs.

Olusanya Anjorin, Lagos

Kaduna State and Bandits T H E SAT U R DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE DEPUTY EDITOR CHIKA AMANZE-NWACHUKU MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO HEAD, COMPUTER DEPARTMENT PATRICIA UBAKA-ADEKOYA TO SEND EMAIL: ďŹ rst name.surname@thisdaylive.com

T

he efforts of Governor El-Rufai to pay back the bandits in their own coin is good. This idea, perhaps, is born out of anger and sympathy for the victims of Kerawa and the affected communities who the governor went to commiserate with after the killing of over 50 people.

To achieve this noble objective coordinated community policing which the South West has started with Amotekun would serve as a good starting point. An organized and a conscious civilian task force working in synergy with the conventional security outfits may assist greatly in this regard. Shege ka Fasa, a regional outfit in the form of Amotekun suffices here.

Kaduna State already has a vibrant and structured vigilant group. There is the need therefore to arm this group with a law to enable it function effectively and efficiently when the need arises. It will complement the efforts of government if it is properly structured and mobilised for this purpose. Kaduna State government is greatly concerned about people and their lives; that is why our dear governor is committed. However, security is everyone’s business. The recent attacks in Kerawa in Igabi local government is disheartening. Innocent people were killed and set ablaze for nothing.

Jamilu Bello Dogarawa, jbdogarawa@gmail.com

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER MARCH 7, 2020

NEWS

Boko Haram: Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Accuse FG of Recycling 606 Insurgents Deji Elumoye in Abuja

FOR A SECURE NATION...

L-R: President, Fellowship of Christian Ministers Nigeria, Rt. Revd Dr. Isaac Olayemi Ogunniran; General Overseer, Christ Light House Church, Oshodi Lagos, Revd Dr. Joshua Oguntulu; and Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Christian Religious matters, Very Revd Bukola Adeleke at the Fellowship of Christian Ministries Nigeria Press Conference and prayers session of the Group on the state of the nation held at the Church ... recently

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum has accused the federal government of clandestine move to support the Boko Haram insurgents in their renewed bid to unleash mayhem in the North-east zone.

The leaders in a one-page statement entitled ‘Boko Haram: FG Killing Us Softly’, alerted Nigerians and the international community of the relentless efforts of the federal government to provide support for the dreaded Boko Haram sect in their continued killings of the people of Nigeria.

The Forum in the statement jointly signed by the quintet of Yinka Odumakin (South West); Gen CRU Ihekire (South East); Senator Bassey Henshaw (South South) and Dr. Isuwa Dogo (Middle Belt) yesterday declared that the Buhari regime had decided to recycle 606 Boko Haram activists under the repulsive OPERATiON SAFE CORRIDOR “as if in protest against President Trump placing some bounty on the head of Shekau, Boko Haram Leader.”

According to the leaders, reintegrating terrorists who were still causing funerals daily was

creating unsafe corridor and a backhand service for evil.

They stressed that “the fresh batch of 606 Boko Haram fighters is to be reunited with their families after undergoing so-called rehabilitation under federal government’s Operation Safe Corridor.”

The leaders expressed concern that while the parents of Leah Sharibu was quoted recently to have said the President called the family only after seven months after her abduction, the Buhari administration is now openly cuddling the evil group.

“The insensitivity of the administration in its dealings with Boko Haram has only confirmed what we have gathered from those who shared detention facilities with the Boko Haram terrorists that they are treated like Very Important Personalities (VIPs) with cable television sets in their cells and allegedly getting married in their supposed detention.

“The whole world must now ask this government to tell us the pact it has with Boko Haram to be lionising terrorists this way.

To continue with this is to be telling Nigerians to see the finger of the government in every blood the group sheds”, the Forum said.

EFCC Re-arraigns Atiku’s Lawyer, Banire: Oshiomhole Guilty of Same Iwu to Be Tried in Lagos Bennett Oghifo

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday, re-arraigned the lawyer to former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election at the Federal High Court in Lagos before Justice C.J. Aneke, for allegedly laundering $2 million during the election process.

Also yesterday, Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos dismissed, for lack of merit, an application by former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral

Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu that seeks the transfer of his trial, instituted by the EFCC, for alleged fraud involving N1.23 billion from Lagos to Abuja.

Justice Oweibo, who adjourned till April 28 for trial, stated that justice would be better served if Iwu were tried in Lagos since the list of witnesses shows that most of them reside in Lagos and that some were retired and may not be able to fund their movement to and fro Abuja.

This followed opposition of Iwu’s plea by the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo.

The former INEC chief’s lawyer,

Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN) had pleaded with the court to allow his client, standing a four-count charge of alleged money laundering and fraud in Lagos, to be tried in Abuja where he lives, because he was too old at 70 years to be travelling to Lagos for the duration of the trial, adding that the alleged fraud took place in Abuja.

“My Lord, this defendant is over 70 years of age and he always travels down to Lagos and books a hotel whenever this matter comes up.

It will amount to great agony for him to continue with this trial in Lagos,” Raji said.

In the case of the former vice

president’s lawyer, the EFCC claimed in its three-count charge filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos that Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie and his younger brother, Erhunse Giwa-Osagie conspired to make cash payments to the tune of $2 million without using any financial institution, which it said violates provisions of Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.

Specifically, the EFCC said the transaction violated the provisions of Sections 18(a) and 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011, adding that the defendants were liable to be punished under Section 16(2)(b) of the same Act.

PDP Congresses: Ex-Gov Dickson Urges Party to Support Successor The immediate past governor of Bayelsa State, the Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson, has urged the leaders and supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to support his successor, Senator Douye Diri, towards a successful conduct of ward congresses in the state on Saturday.

The former governor, who thanked the leaders and members for their enduring loyalty and support to the party, urged them

to conduct rancour-free, credible and consultative congresses in the state.

The ex-governor said in a statement by his Media Aide, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, yesterday that the exercise was designed to strengthen internal cohesion within the party and not to weaken it.

He said that the governor had his support and indeed the leadership of the party in the exercise and should have the cooperation

of all members and leaders.

He commended members for the maturity and the consultative, all-inclusive approach which they had adopted for the exercise and urged them to sustain it in the interest of the party.

“I thank all party leaders and members for their support for the governor. I urge all party faithful to work towards a rancour-free consultative, all-inclusive exercise on Saturday.

“The exercise is meant to strengthen the party and not to weaken it. So all party leaders and members should support the exercise led by the governor.

“The governor has my support in what he is doing. I like the way the exercise has started with consultation in the various wards.

“I urge our teeming supporters to continue in that spirit. They should ensure that it is consultative and all-inclusive.”

Wike Decries Exclusion of Rivers from Siting of Federal Projects Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has decried the exclusion of Rivers State from the siting and execution of projects by the federal government.

This is as the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, stated that the present administration in the country has disappointed Nigerians.

They spoke late Thursday night at the Government House Port Harcourt during a condolence visit by the Senate Minority Caucus to the Rivers

State Governor over the passage of the governor’s uncle, Chief Charles Wike.

Wike said: “It is unfortunate that one minister from the Southsouth said that Rivers State is being denied projects because of kidnapping. It is painful.

“There are killings all over the country. Killings in different states. But they are siting projects in those states. But in Rivers State, not a single federal project.”

He said the exclusion of Rivers State from the execution of projects by the federal

government raised very critical questions.

He said: “Are we really part of this country? Is Rivers State part of this country? They have taken away majority of the prominent positions occupied by our sons and daughters in the federal government.

“Rivers State is part of this country. We did not commit any offence to warrant the total exclusion from federal projects under this dispensation.“ He said that the politicisation of security and national development was counterproductive,

adding that all Nigerians must work together to defeat insecurity.

“We need to work together to fight insecurity. It doesn’t matter the party that you belong to, let’s work together to save this country.

“If you are a human being, you cannot say that you enjoy the slaughtering of people. Where are we heading to?

“Why should anyone play politics with the lives of people?

I don’t need to be in your party for you to protect me. We are brothers and we are all from one country,” he said.

Breach of Party’s Constitution Bennett Oghifo A former Legal Adviser to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Muiz Banire has said that the National Chairman of the party is guilty of the same breach of the party’s constitution and non-adherence to the rule of law that he is acusing other party members of.

Banire stated this at the London studio of Arise TV in an interview on The Morning Show, yesterday, saying he would not be able to comment on the court cases because it would be subjudice, but stated that the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was a victim of his creation and should resign honourably, “even if it is to save the party.”

Oshiomhole had said after the Federal High Court in Abuja suspended him as chairman of the APC that it would not hold neither can the Edo State APC suspend him, since he was elected by 7000 delegates to the National Convention.

He subsequently went to the Federal High Court in Kano where the suspension was lifted and all parties were told to maintain the status quo.

Regardless, Banire said, “It is interesting that the chairman can purport to be stating the position of the law and wanting its applicability. As far as I’m concerned, like I said, the issue touches on the substansive matter before the court and as a lawyer, I regard it as subjudice and may not be able to say much about it, but I know as a matter of fact that the same allegation he is making now is the same himself has been perpetrating in office as the chairman.

“I’ll give you an example, I read in the social media recently that some appointments were made of national officers. Of course that is inconsistent, it can never be correct. If you look at Article 20 of the party constitution, for example, it talks about the fact that all national officers of the party must be democratically elected by the convention after normination

under Article 31, but what is being done now is an infraction of the constitutional provision.

“Again, some few months ago, this same chairman presiding over the National Working Committee purported to have suspended two governors as members of the party and, I think the Deputy National Chairman and one other person. These are complete constitutional aberration.

So, if you have chosen to continuiously violate the constitution, it does not lie morally in your mouth to start complaining about somebody else violating the constitution.”

He said if the interpretation of the Edo people is that “you registered with us, so we can de-register or suspend you, well the court will determine the propriety or otherwise of that argument. But the reality is that being a national officer of the party is quite distinct from being a member of the party. They are two diferent things. But if you look at Article 31 of APC constitution, it says, of course for you to be a national officer, or to even be an officer of the party at all, you must first and formost be a member of the party.

So, the question is if, for example, you are suspended as a member, can you continue in the light of that to be the national chairman? That is an issue for the determination of the court. The argument of the chairman is neigther here nor there, depending on the school of thought.

Basically, the genesis of the crisis is the lack of adherence to rule of law and the constitution of the party, which has become a habit and it is now haunting the party badly. If an emergency rescue or surgery is not done, that might be the end of the party itself.”

According to Banire, “In as much as I’d like to refrain from the matter before the two court now, all I can is that as far as I know, the earlier order given by the FCT High Court, rightly or wrongly, out not to be discharged by the other court (Federal High Court, Kano).

SATURDAY MARCH 7, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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1THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER MARCH 7, 2020

NEWS Insecurity: Kaduna Airport Cautions Staff on Movement John Shiklam in Kaduna

PRAISE BE TO GOD… Director, Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Mrs. Esther Kwaghe (middle); and some staff of NCPC during a thanksgiving service for the successful completion of the 2019 pilgrimage to Israel, Rome and Greece, at the EYN Church of the Brethren in Utako, Abuja… recently

Shell, Exxon Bid to Secure $2.7bn Arbitral Award against Nigeria May Hit Brick Wall Chika Amanze-Nwachuku with agency report Efforts by oil giants, Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corporation to secure $2.7 billion arbitral award against Nigeria may hit a brick wall, as US Attornies fear the firms may be unable to persuade a US judge to reinstate damages already set aside by a competent court in Nigeria.

Besides, the attornies argued that for the appeal to succeed, the appellant firms must prove that the decisions of the Nigerian judiciary were repugnant to basic U.S. principles of justice and fairness or due process.

The oil majors had filed an appeal before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, against a September 2019 judgement of a U.S. judge, which rejected their application to revive a $1.8 billion arbitration award against the NNPC in 2011.

In a court filing published by Bloomberg yesterday, the firms claimed the case was filed in the U.S. because Nigeria’s courts have never ordered NNPC to pay monetary damages to a foreign

plaintiff over two decades and lack “the political independence to render impartial judgments in a high-value dispute.”

The firms alleged it could take at least a decade for Nigeria’s Supreme Court to adjudicate in the appeals process, “which renders the prospect of justice so illusory as to amount to no justice at all.”

But analysing the matter, a Washington-based partner in Foley Hoag LLP’s international litigation and arbitration department, Tafadzwa Pasipanodya said the companies “face a formidable challenge” to persuade a U.S. judge to reinstate damages already set aside by a Nigerian court.

While U.S. courts can enforce arbitration awards made and subsequently overturned in other countries, they “apply a strong presumption in favor of following the foreign court’s ruling,” New York-based senior counsel at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, to Jonathan Blackman.

The parties must show the decisions of the Nigerian judiciary were “repugnant to

basic U.S. principles of justice and fairness or due process,” he said. “This is a difficult -- but not impossible -- standard to meet”, Bloomber quoted him as saying.

A Court of Arbitration in Nigeria had in 2011 awarded a whopping $1.8 billion with annual interest running at LIBOR plus four per cent in favour of Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), which is 100 per cent owned by Shell and ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation in a dispute between the two firms and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the implementation of the Production Sharing Contract dated May 21, 1993, covering Oil Prospecting License (OPL 209/Oil Mining Lease (OML 133).

The firms, last November, put the award value at $2.7 billion including accrued interest.

The NNPC had challenged the award at the Federal High Court, Abuja, and in May 2012,

the court ordered that the Arbitral Award be set aside.

Despite the decision of the Nigerian Court, ESSO applied to the United States District Court, Southern District of New York for recognition and enforcement of the Arbitral Award.

The NNPC in turn, challenged ESSO’s application on the ground among others that there was no order to be enforced by the U.S. court since a competent court in Nigeria had since set aside the Award.

NNPC had also contended that the US Court had no jurisdiction over it as it had no presence in the United States, owned no property and does not conduct its businesses therein.

But ESSO argued that NNPC is the alter ego of the Federal Government of Nigeria, owned assets in the USA including bank accounts and also conducts businesses in the USA. In a ruling delivered in September last year, a U.S. District Judge William Pauley had rejected Exxon Mobil Corp’s and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s effort to revive a $1.8 billion arbitration award against NNPC.

Uzodinma Orders Security Agencies to Unmask Those Behind Okigwe Killing Calm has returned to Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State after gunmen went on rampage, Wednesday night, killing some persons and chasing residents into the bush.

The Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma who responded promptly to the incident with a visit yesterday, assured Okigwe people that government was on top of the situation, urging citizens to go about their normal businesses without any fear.

Governor Uzodimma promised adequate security for the entire Okigwe which he said was the primary objective of any purposeful government.

He said: “We are concerned as a government because the primary responsibility of every reasonable government is to guarantee security for its citizens.

“When I heard that this ugly thing happened, I became very apprehensive, made phone calls, met with the Security Agencies and agreed to be here today to nip the problem in the bud.”

On the rumour that the attackers could be Fulani herdsmen, the governor cautioned against fake news capable of causing disaffection.

He noted that based on the arrest made so far and the confessional statement of the suspects, it was discovered that the attack was masterminded and carried out by natives of the area.

On allegation that the Security Operatives did not respond promptly, Governor Uzodimma said: “Under my watch in Imo State, there must be security. I am aware that Security Agencies responded

after the incident. They may not have responded the way you wished, but because intelligence drives every investigation, I want to announce to you that an arrest has been made and one of those that killed these people has been arrested and the telephone number of one of the victims has been recovered from him. This man is an indigene, he is from here,” the governor stated.

Commending the Security Agencies for rising to the occasion, Governor Uzodimma charged them to get to the root of the matter and arrest the two remaining suspects who are still on the run.

While condoling with the bereaved families, the governor promised that his administration would launch a security outfit on the 14th of March, 2020, in fulfillment of his pledge

to bring criminality to a halt across the zones of the state.

Governor Uzodimma equally urged traditional rulers and town unions to help the police by providing reasonable information and at the same time ensure that the local vigilante are working very well.

Earlier, a community leader in the area and former House of Representative member, Hon. Matthew Omeogara explained that gunmen who came on a motorbike stopped at one of the eatries in the area and opened fire on the people, killing three and wounding many others.

He noted that the attack was targeted at local vigilante men in the area, pointing out that the security apparatus in the area needed to be re-jigged and operational vehicles provided for them for prompt response to distress calls.

The authorities of the Kaduna International Airport, Kaduna, has cautioned its staff to be wary of the current state of insecurity on the road to the airport.

The airport road has become unsafe due to the activities of bandits.

In an internal memo dated March 2, 2020, the authorities urged the staff to avoid early or late movements along the road to the airport.

The memo signed on behalf of the Airport Manager, by the Assistant Manager, Dali D. J, recalled the recent attack on a staff of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other commuters close to the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), saying that it had become imperative to advise all staff against early or late movements on the road.

The memo reads: “The current insecurity state around our airport axis/road cannot be over emphasised.

“The very recent attack on a FAAN staff and other commuters along the airport road close to NDA is a clear testimony. Hence it has become imperative to advice all airport staff to completely avoid early / late hours movement along

the airport road.

“All FAAN departments are to adhere strictly to FAAN HQ early directive on duty roster/duty resumption and closing.

“Other agencies and companies in the airport are advised to take advantage of the NOTAM (notice to air man) issued by NAMA to avoid movement of staff along the airport road at late/very early hours of the day.

“As shared responsibility, our family members should also be sensitised on this and several other security tips which include but not limited to; Moving in convoy, control of speech, maintaining privacy, not stopping for unusual scenes at any time of the day especially at well-known flash points.

“As it is widely said and believed prevention is better than cure.

Kaduna is among the northern states facing serious security challenges with persistent attacks on residents by bandits and kidnappers.

Last Sunday, the bandits invaded some communities in Igabi and Giwa Local Government Areas of the state, killing 51 people and injuring several others.

Mowe ‘Baby Factory’: Police Launch Manhunt for Buyers Kayode Fasua in Abeokuta The Ogun State Police Command may have begun a mass arrest of some highly placed persons in the society, said to be regular buyers of newly born babies at a ‘baby factory’ located in Imedu Olori area of Mowe in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state.

A top source at the Command disclosed to THISDAY yesterday that no fewer than 10 persons are currently being interrogated in connection with the crime.

The police source, who craved anonymity, said, “Some of the people that the wind of investigation is blowing toward their direction include some ritualists and herbalists who have clients among some rich people in the society.

“For this class of people, some of whom are currently being detained, any baby bought is usually doomed to die as they would be used for money rituals.

“The second category, are people in need of babies to adopt, and we have decided not to detain these people but prod them to go through due process by taking the illegally adopted children to the Ministry of Social Welfare in Ogun State; to review the state of the adoption.

“Under this circumstance, the mothers of the snatched babies must be carried along.”

The source added that the identities of some men being hired to impregnate the female inmates of the dungeon are already trickling in.

The illegal baby factory

was uncovered by the police last weekend, when one of the inmates who escaped from the home reported at the Mowe Police Station that she was lured into the home and held captive for months.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, quoted the escapee as saying that the owner of the home, one Florence Ogbonna, who allegedly lured her into the place, usually contract some able-body men to sleep with them and impregnate them.

Immediately any of them gave birth to a baby, such baby will be taken away by the said Florence, “to only God knows where.”

Following her report, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the Mowe Division, Marvis Jayeola, a Superintendent of Police, mobilised detectives to the scene, where 12 ladies between the ages of 20 and 25 years were rescued, with six of them heavily pregnant.

Three suspects, namely Florence Ogbonna, ‘f’; Chibuke Akabueze, ‘m’, and Chibuzor Okafor ‘m’, were arrested in connection with the crime.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the anti-human trafficking and child labour unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, for discreet investigations.

He equally directed that the victims be kept in safe and protective custody, pending when they will be re-united with their respective families.

Plus

FASHION FILE

pg. 20

GLOBAL SOCCER

pg. 29

FAIRGROUND

pg. 36

SHOWBIZFLAIR

pg. 43

Lami Tumaka I Don’t Allow Anything to Weigh Me Down, Even When Going through Persecution

18

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

PLUS

I Don’t Allow Anything to Weigh Me Down, Even When Going through Persecution Hajia Lami Tumaka is bold, intelligent, good-natured, elegant and God-fearing. She recently celebrated her 60th birthday and retirement from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as a Director after 22 eventful years.

No doubt, Lami is endowed with huge positive attributes.

At her elegantly furnished and scented Lagos apartment, she tells Charles Ajunwa and Ugo Aliogo about life at 60, her upbringing, family, career and more

How are you feeling at 60?

I feel great, blessed, wonderful and thankful. I will describe my life as a life of grace at 60.

Are there things you will be doing differently, going forward?

At present, I am not feeling any different. Maybe there could be things I will be doing down the line; but for now, everything is normal and I don’t see myself doing anything differently yet. I remember when I turned 50, I became emboldened. I became freer to speak out my mind. I was quite introspective, but bolder. If at 50 I felt like that, I think at 60, it will be a stronger manifestation of those values I have.

What are your values in life?

My values lie in the beauty, greatness, and blissfulness of things. Although I’m not a righteous person, I try to live by the rules of society. I value my family and friends.

So I live within acceptable standards in the society.

What are some of your indelible high and low moments in the last 60 years?

I can compartmentalise my last 60 years into family, friends, and work. I taught English at Army Day Secondary School, Zaria, worked as a newscaster at NTA Minna, PR manager at Peugeot Automobiles Nigeria in Kaduna and finally NIMASA for the last 22 years.

All through my career, I came in contact with different people, who had various character traits that I had to learn how to handle. I was faced with many challenges and many opportunities too. There were highs and lows. Above everything, my passage at NIMASA was quite fulfilling.

When I joined NIMASA years back, it was mainly male-dominated. But as time went by, more women came into the fold. More women occupied positions of authority. For instance, we had seven female deputy directors including myself who held top management positions. So we broke down the barriers and the ceiling (laughter!).

We also had the men there and their contribution was quite encouraging. They encouraged us to break those barriers.

However, one cannot take away corporate politics from any organisation and NIMASA was no exception. But to the glory of God, I was able to weather the storms.

I cannot speak about NIMASA without speaking about the board, executive management, and most importantly, the Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.

The CEO is an awesome personality. He is an urbane and brilliant personality. Due to his background in politics, he was able to carry a lot of people along. His understanding of politics helped him to steer the ship of the Agency very well.

Other CEOs played their part in driving the growth of the Agency. It might interest you to know that I worked under 13 Chief Executive Officers in different departments of the Agency including planning, research and shipping operations.

For the most part, I was head of public relations at different times under about five CEOs-Ferdinand Agu, Dr. Dosunmu, Temisan Omatseye, Patrick Akpobolokemi and of course Dr. Dakuku Peterside. We had a good working relationship. To be able to succeed, you need to be able to hone and sharpen your interpersonal skills.

You need to be abreast of trends in the maritime industry and the public relations domain. You have to be a step ahead. I would say we did well.

How were you able to work with men, knowing their nature and disposition?

My male colleagues were urbane. I didn’t think of any of them as being chauvinistic.

They realised that to succeed in life, it was not a function of whether you were male or female. It was a function of one’s level of competence and the value one had to offer. Competence is what puts one in good stead above one’s equals.

The women that succeeded in the agency did not consider their gender as success parameters. We worked together with our male colleagues towards the growth and

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

19

PLUS Retirement is Giving Me a Treat At the Moment died. My husband died several years ago as a Major-General. He was actually the GOC, Third Armoured Division, Plateau State, when he died.

success of the agency.

You have retired from the Agency, would you say you are retiring fulfilled?

Definitely, I feel fulfilled. Although I have retired, but I’m certainly not tired. Given more opportunities, I’m ready to serve my country in any capacity. But I can sit back, and look at where I’m coming from and how far I have come and be able to say that I did my best. This is not to say that I don’t have much more to give. I have much more to give if called upon and if given the opportunity and challenged to come forward which I will gladly do.

What attracted you to your husband?

He was a good looking man. He was very handsome. He was very brilliant. One of my weaknesses is that I’m easily attracted to brilliant individuals, especially men. In addition, tall, lanky and handsome men. He was very principled. He was known in the Nigerian army for his intelligence, integrity and principle.

What were the most difficult things that ever happened to you in life and how did you overcome it?

I guess some of the difficult situations I faced in my life were losing my husband, my mother and my child at birth. Those were very challenging situations, but as a Muslim, you know that life is from God Almighty.

We are from Him, unto Him we will return.

You don’t have control over your own life, let alone someone else’s life. If you believe that you are guided by that, it helps you come to terms with the tragedy of losing a loved one.

What are you going to be doing in retirement?

Retirement is giving me a treat at the moment. The blaze of glory that I have seen in retirement cannot be compared with my 22 years of active service. The industry came together to celebrate me. The journalists in the maritime industry organised a dinner for me in Lagos. Nothing like that has ever happened. There was dinner for me by friends and family at Abuja. So since my retirement, I have been experiencing a blaze of God’s glory, mercy, blessings and magnificence.

All I intend to do is put up my legs for the next three months. I am a communications person, public relations consultant, public speaker and maritime expert. I am certain I will find something else to do in these spaces.

What happens when one is retiring is fear of the unknown because one is used to a certain pattern of life. This pattern of life is regimented; Monday to Friday is dedicated to work. There are benefits and allowances attached because one is pursuing a particular line of career. But someday, those benefits and allowances are cut off. Then the individual goes through a panic phase. I went through my panic phase because I loved my career. I am at my best when I’m working because I love challenges. When you throw me a challenge, I accept it and conquer it. So I went through that fear of the unknown.

But my nature being what it is, I told myself that I must find something to do that will continue to put bread on my table. Since I advised myself about finding something to do, I have been good to go.

Where did you spend your formative years, what was it like growing up there?

I was born in Kaduna and schooled in Lagos. I had my primary education in Lagos, secondary education in Minna, Niger State and University education at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. But my formative years were in Lagos here, which is responsible for my cosmopolitan background.

I had a wonderful childhood growing up with my siblings. The day I was born; my father said a diamond had been born. He thought the best that can happen to him in his life had been born. We are six in the family and to the glory of God, all of us are alive. So my life has been blessed.

Can you say you were born with a silver spoon?

Definitely not. I was not born with a silver spoon neither was I born with a wooden spoon. I was born into a family with a lot of love and happiness. My parents were not poor; though we did not have so much affluence such as the Dangotes and Adenugas of this world. But we were very comfortable.

How did your background shape your life?

When you’re born into a family of love, you grow up being positive about life. The first thing you will observe about me is my positivity. I have a positive attitude towards life. I never allow anything to weigh me down at work or at home. I always look at the sunny side of life. When my persecutors see me, they think about how to bring me down because they don’t understand why I’m always happy.

Talking about your childhood, what were those pranks that you played growing up?

Growing up, I was a very naughty child.

Being naughty was the reason why I didn’t

What do you consider the biggest mistake you have ever made in life?

I don’t have any mistakes because my religion teaches me not to have regrets.

What is your biggest fear in life?

My biggest fear in life is an illness; being ill and not able to move on with my life. I pray day and night against any kind of illness for myself, family and friends.

Definitely not. I was not born with a silver spoon neither was I born with a wooden spoon. I was born into a family with a lot of love and happiness. My parents were not poor; though we did not have so much affluence such as the Dangotes and Adenugas of this world. But we were very comfortable Tumaka

continue secondary education in Lagos.

Then my father ensured I was taken back to the North. I was taken to a secondary school, run by Catholic Priests. During that period, the best schools in Nigeria were owned by the Catholic Church. My father said I needed to be taken to the Catholic school so I could be tamed.

Who influenced you most between your dad and mum? What were the lessons you learnt from them growing up?

Unfortunately, I lost my dad at the very tender age of 12, in 1972. We were so close that I remembered vividly the love and pride that my dad had for all his children, not just me. After his death, my poor mum was left to fend for six children.

She did not have any formal education.

But she was a smart and brilliant woman.

She went into business (buying and selling) to educate us. My mum is one of the strongest women I know. She was a strong, determined woman. She was young when my dad died, she successfully trained us.

Today, I am happy to say we are all graduates. My siblings are very successful.

They are married with their children all

thanks to the tenacity of our mother. She was a strong woman and my siblings all got that lifestyle from her. My mum was a good woman. When you see the love and closeness between my siblings and I, you will realise how strong my mum was.

What was the best gift you remember receiving as a child?

I was born in Kaduna, but I remember we lived in Sokoto and coincidentally in Lagos. My father was a police officer and he travelled a lot. I remember my dad travelled to Zaire Republic, which is the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo. On his return, he bought us so many beautiful clothes. We dressed nicely; I think that is one thing that has stuck in my brain.

How old were you when you got married and how did it happen?

I graduated at the age of 19. I had met my husband, then a Major in the Nigerian Army. I was going out with him in final year in the University. When I went for my NYSC, we had gotten married and that was at the age of 20.

At 21, I had my first child (a boy). But he

Are there still things you desire in life?

As a human being, no matter what you have, you want more. It is not that you are greedy, but it is human nature. It is natural to improve yourself and move beyond where you are presently. You want to be better at every stage of your life. You crave for better things for improvement in your life. My desire in life may not be one particular thing, but a state of mind. It could be a prayer for peace of mind, now that I have retired.

What are the lessons that life has taught you?

One of my greatest weaknesses is that I trust people easily. I have a clean heart, so I feel everybody has a clean heart like me. So when I meet you, I think you are like me. But I have learnt in life not to judge a book by its cover. Having said that, I am always willing to give people a second chance. Don’t allow a bad experience with one person permeate your life. Don’t allow a bad experience to change who you are.

How did schooling in Catholic School affect your upbringing?

It affected my upbringing positively.

As I said, I am a tolerant person. I’m not concerned about your religious background.

For me, religion is a thing of the mind. I don’t care whether you’re a Muslim or Christian, but it is who you are, that I care about. Going to that school made me more tolerant of all religions. Many of my very best friends have been Christians.

At 60, you look so young and flashy.

What is the secret?

The grace of God in my life has helped me thus far. If I tell you this is what I do, I will be attributing it to myself. It is the grace of God that is permeating my life. I also exercise.

Until lately, I used to eat like a diabetic patient but I am not diabetic. My life is one of moderation. There is no excess of anything in my life. I try to do things in moderation.

How do you relax?

Just among friends, and family members.

I watch movies, and I love dancing. I love Nigerian movies. When we watch foreign movies, one would not know the background and the scenery that was used. But in Nigerian movies, one is familiar with some of the actors and actresses, so there is the connection. There are times they will use locations known to one. Also, watching our movies helps to encourage the industry.

20

Fashion File

Maxivive Shirt 2020 Capsule

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ϳ˜ 2020 with

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ Ϳ˜ 2020

21

FASHION FILE

Maxivive Shirt 2020 Capsule Shirt 2020 celebrates the radical quirks and a rush of casualness and essence, rooted in a new dimension, immersed in the book of Maxivive.

Radical sensuality informs every piece, the confidence of pure self-expression. Rich palettes punctuate colorful depth of the multi-functional essence of the pieces in elongated silhouettes, textured fabrication with luxurious comfort and warmth. Gentle note of history embedded in

the spirit of the show recall the twist and bend of the genesis and importance of shirts within the DNA of Maxivive and the human race.

CREDITS PHOTOGRAPHY - KOSOL NWUDINJOR MODEL- MARIO PHILLIPS (ANGELS MODELS MANAGEMENT) CREATIVE DIRECTION AND STYLING - PAPA OYEYEMI

22

˜ ˞ MARCH 7, 2020

THEFRONTLINES

FAJ/JOE

JOSEPH USHIGIALE

Flight Disruptions, Avoidable Embarrassment

I

t is really amazing how some officials who man sensitive positions fail to deliver on their key performance indicators (KPIs) when the chips are down.

Could it be that they are ill equipped for the jobs or are square pegs in round holes? How could one explain the recent debacle in Lagos airport where both local and international flights were disrupted simply because of harmattan haze which reduced visibility to almost zero?

Every new year beginning from January, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) issues weather warnings indicating weather conditions across the country and how these conditions affect flight operations.

The reason for this is to allow those in charge of these sensitive areas take heed and make the necessary plans and adjustments to meet the challenges as they come.

Given the unpredictable nature of weather conditions around the Lagos airports area, even a novice who has been following the weather trend ought not wait for a NiMet forecast to start thinking ahead of the advancing harmattan haze.

Explaining the cause of the harmattan haze, the General Manager in charge of research and technical assistance to the Director General, NIMET, Dr. Mansur Bako-Matazu, said why the harmattan haze seemed severe in lowering visibility in Lagos was because the dry dust coming from the north mixes with humidity and moisture and then spreading thick, brownish dust on the atmosphere, thus inhibiting visibility for a long distance.

But what did we see? Even with NiMet’s warnings, those in position of authority in the aviation ministry and the respective agency like the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) failed to do the needful.

It was therefore a big surprise to hear that the airspace in Lagos was shutdown to air traffic because the only Instrument Landing System (ILS) covering the airspace was not in place.

The question is: what were they doing when they knew ahead of time that the harmattan haze which would disrupt flight operations without a functional ILS loomed?

The resultant effect was that as the harmattan haze descended on Lagos reducing visibility to almost zero, NAMAhad no answer. Local flights were grounded; international flights heading to Lagos were diverted to neighbouring Togo, Senegal, Benin and Ghana.

Airlines and passengers suffered huge losses and inconve-

Sirika, Aviation Minister

niences as the Minister of Aviation and his cohorts resorted to finger pointing and making platitude of excuses that were untenable in civilized climes.

That singular incident caused Nigeria very serious embarrassment globally and stood us out as a country of unserious people.

Nigeria’s loss was gain for Ghana, a country that has been striving to position as a major aviation hub in the West African subregion.

Expectedly, most international airlines spurned the thought of even diverting to Abuja choosing instead to head to Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport in Accra while other headed towards Senegal, Benin Republic and Togo airports. Delta Airline, it was learnt took its passengers back to where the flight originated.

It is a shame that smaller countries mentioned above with very low passenger traffic took pains to provide the very basic of infrastructure making them the airports of choice in time of emergencies.

Nigeria, that prides herself as a major and busiest travel hub with a passenger traffic of about 7 million going by 2019 estimates and ranks 11th in Africa has shown clearly that it lacks the capacity to maintain the lead in the aviation sector and can not compete globally too.

Most airports in countries like Benin, Togo, Senegal, Ghana etc all have CAT 1, 2, 3 ILS installed which they use alternately as the need arises. But Nigeria opted to scrap the existing CAT 2 ILS that

jushigiale@yahoo.co.uk, joseph.ushigiale@thisdaylive.com 08023422660 (sms only)

was in place without a replacement thereby making the airspace so vulnerable to unpredictable weather conditions.

It was learnt that NAMAdecided after the January harmattan haze to remove the CAT 2 ILS covering Lagos in readiness for calibration which would lead to the installation of CAT 3 ILS. It turned out that the decision was wrong as the harmattan returned with uncanny ferocity bringing flights to a complete halt.

The six days that followed were a nightmare, when the weather suddenly changed, it reduced visibility to below the standard 800 meters minima to about 600 or less. Under this circumstance, airlines needed Instrument Landing System (ILS) to land at such low visibility.

But the installed ILS then was not functional and had actually been deactivated by NAMAin November 2019 in readiness to replace it with Category 3, which is a more advanced equipment than Cat 2. The difference is that while Cat 2 can take the pilot to 400 meters to the runway, Cat 3 can take the pilot to the runway at zero visibility.

While it is a great sigh of relief that the airport calibration has been carried out successfully and the CAT 3 ILS has been installed and certified, it needs to be repeated that NAMAexhibited very poor judgement when it removed the only CAT 2 ILS that covered the Lagos airport without a replacement.

To forestall a similar recurrence, since CAT 3 has wide coverage but very expensive to maintain; given our poor maintenance culture, I recommend that NAMAand the aviation ministry should installed CATs 1, 2 ILS in all the major airport to be used alternately according to the prevailing weather conditions at these airports.

The ministry and NAMAshould ensure that all steps are taken to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassment to the country and to save both passengers and airlines from incurring huge losses and inconveniences in future.

Averagely, some airlines are estimated to have lost about N5 billion to the bad weather that lasted for about six days. The aviation agencies like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which charges about $50 per passenger on international flight and also charges for landing and parking lost huge revenue. NAMA lost en-route charges paid by both local and international carriers.

Now, A Change We Can Believe

I

t seems premeditated, and wickedly sporadic, the frequency and vehemence of insurgent attacks, killings, arson and general orgy of destruction; and when you add the wanton devilry of kidnappers and commercial blood-suckers who still waylay innocent, defenceless travellers, it is understandable why many Nigerians are clamouring for change of guards of the Nigerian security superstructure.

In places where order is cherished over chaos, where performance is seen and measured, not imagined and hoped; when your security forces spend so many lives and time dealing with stubborn, ill-motivated but obviously committed bloody disrupters, it is commonsensical and strategic to revamp the heads, and prompt the successors to up the ante and get the job done as quickly and ‘costlessly’ as possible, or suffer the fates of their predecessors.

Is it not apparent that political correctness dictates some form of action, at the level we have found ourselves? Our legislators are so worried that while the Senate is considering cosying up to insurgents with carrots of amnesty and deradicalisation mumbojumbo, the federal representatives, through their party-loving Speaker, Femi Gbajabimila, are on their knees begging the self-annointed global counter-terrorist and policeman, the United States of America, to help Nigeria defeat Boko Haram and our other security challenges. Gbajabiamila, reportedly made the plea while welcoming the visiting US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard. He said Nigerians are now afraid about the relentless insecurity onslaught, a thought that very few would disagree with. However, that we should be looking up to the US for assistance is a tad naive. The octopal American security superstructure is overstressed by different levels of activations on different theaters of conflicts globally, that Nigeria, in spite of its strategic relevance in sub-saharan geo-politics, is but a little irritation. Their answer, ostensibly came few days after when the notorious leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau was staked with a bounty of $7m for his capture - a typical US signature for “keep in view�.

We also appreciate the fact that the President is worried about the security situation - that is to be expected, unless we have chosen the wrong man as our shield-bearer. President Muhammadu Buhari has regularly condemned killings and outrageous mayhems unleashed on innocent Nigerians all across the nation.

The latest was the mindless massacre of 50 people in Kerawa village, Kaduna State, as reported by the media. The presidency ascribed the latest villainy to the bandits visiting their fury and frustration on innocent Nigerians as a result of ongoing military and police offensive against them in the Birnin Gwari and Kaduru forests. Yet, Kaduna is not the only killing field, we have received reports from other states, in the North and elsewhere.

Such level of infamy has once again triggered calls for a change in our security apparatus. The chairmen of Christian

Association of Nigeria, CAN (South-South and South-East), Archbishop Israel Eniyekemini, and Bishop Goddy Okafor, have asked Buhari to replace the Service Chiefs, after a colloquium on insecurity in Nigeria convened recently in Umuahia, Abia State.

Similarly, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, and presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 elections, also called for urgent reappraisal of the country’s security architecture, in the wake of the Kaduna massacre.

Adding weight to the pressure on government to “do something� about arresting the insecurity surge, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, abandoned his usual letter-writing exercise, and availed himself the platform provided at the first ‘Memorial Lecture’ for the late founder of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Frederick Fasehun, a medical doctor. Ignoring the irony of the historical iron-fist he visited on this same OPC and its late founder during the overflow of political and sectional emotions arising from the June 12, 1994 elections, and subsequent years of anomie.

Obasanjo reiterated the obvious: our national security architecture, interventions and arrangements have failed abysmally, even to the dismay of Buhari; and that the time is up for the president to accept the responsibility, and act accordingly.

So, it is about time we accelerated the process that will take cognizance of the critically urgent need to infuse dynamism, better strategies, increased intelligence and recharged infantry morale in this overly long-drawn war with landlocked insurgents.

We must not be indecisive or beholden to past exploits of our current service chiefs, and thus fiddle and pinch nails while more blood and gore flow. We know that commanders-in-chief, in the past, have had to sack sundry military heads who dropped the gun while in command for less atrocious misdeamenours... and here we are, talking about needless losses of lives, heightened ferocity and brutality of non-state combatants on civilians. Haba, it’s time to act.

Let Kabiyesi Act As One

Though we run a republic, we ironically still covet some space for our traditional institutions, like the monarchy, to thrive. Our politicians apparently believe they serve more than a fond memorabilia of some glorious ancestry; that security, peace and orderliness in our communities are better sustained with these feathered personages acting as overlords - kings, obis, emirs, sultans, igwes, baales, mogajis, serikis, etc. One is not seriously opposed to their continuance and splendour (in the midst of grinding poverty) when they respond to and respect the strains and challenges of their environments. Where they can use their influence to bring succour and joy to their locales, we will be charitable.

But where they choose to follow in the paths and farce of the recently suspended Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Akanbi, we are constrained to look the titled individual in the face, and

COUNTERPOINT

FEMI

AKINTUNDE-JOHNSON fajalive1@gmail.com 08182223348 - (SMS Only)

tell him or her to act his grace, or look for another assignment.

Oluwo, whose antics in the past few years had raised bemused eyebrows, overreached himself when he was alleged to have rough-handled a co-monarch, right in the presence of a top law enforcement officer, no less than an Assistant Inspector General of Police. Some even described the jaw-dropping scenario in more violently colourful words painfully inappropriate in describing a royalty. His accuser, and fellow monarch, Agbuwo of Ogbaagba, Oba Dikhirulahi Akinropo, alleged that the Oluwo punched him a number of times, thereby inflicting injury on him during a peace parley called by the AIG in charge of Zone 11, Osogbo, Bashir Makama. Of course, the Oluwo denied the fisticuffs, and the social media became frenzy, trolling the sorry spectacle, and feasting on caricatures of the young king in names, acts and other dramatic limericks. Some praised his fistic endowments with titles like ‘Aluwo’ (some mythical ring that can turn the toughest opponent into a bag of dough), ‘Abesekubiojo’ (a throwback to Baba Sala’s parody of a pugilist whose fists produce thunders and lightning!) All, and more unprintable scabs, for the Oluwo!

To make matters worse, when his embarrassed colleagues in the Osun State Council of Traditional Rulers intervened to abort the spiralling shame being toyed with, by suspending Oluwo as a council member for six months, the combative one mocked their effort.

A calmer reading would have instructed the monarch that the Council, which didn’t install him as Oluwo, and therefore cannot dethrone him (that’s the business of the king-makers, if they exist, or the governor, who seemed happy to look away)... the six months would only affect his membership of the Traditional Council, which, admittedly, is a big deal for people who see themselves as bridges (and piggy-bank) between government and the governed... it ought to be a good time to stay out of the limelight of social media activism, and mend fences with aggrieved colleagues, while submitting himself to some sort of determination to reclaim lost appeal and honour in the hearts of culture-loving Nigerians who still have regard for things traditional. Meanwhile, anger management therapy and brand refurbishing sessions would not be a waste of resources.

Oluwo is young, exuberant and “upwardly mobile�, he can still salvage some prestige by acting and moving in the shadows of illustrious examples like the Alaafin, Ooni, Sultan, Kano’s Emir of the 60’s and 70’s - people whose carriage, ebullience and studied silence provoked reverence and adulation... spontaneously.

23

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

MEDIAGAFFES

EXPRESSION/RELATIONSHIP

BY

Data: Singular or Plural Verb?

P

AGE 2 BUSINESS of March 2 welcomes us today with inelegant phraseology: â€œâ€Ś and a nation builder per (par) excellence.â€? “Imo: End of road for Ihediohaâ€? Voice of the nation: The end of the road for Ihedioha “N400m up for grab (grabs) as Coca-Cola unveils ‘Under the Crown’ (‘Under-the-Crown’) EPL promoâ€? (MARKETING MATTERS, March 4) “Border closure opened our eyes to Nigeria’s potentials—Buhariâ€? ‘Potential’ is uncountable. “Court restrains resident doctors in ESUT Teaching Hospital from continuing strike actionâ€? Kindly delete ‘action’ in the interest of our sanity “Ayade swears-in (swears in) Eneji as acting CJâ€? “Celestial pastor, 2 others arrested over (for) murder in Lagosâ€? (News around the city, March 2) “Ebonyi community raises alarm (the alarm) over attack by suspected Benue militantsâ€? “Available data shows (show) that the metering gap in the country remains high at about‌.â€? (DAILY Sun Editorial, March 2) Grammar: In everyday English, ‘data’ is usually followed by a singular verb. In academic or very formal English—like an editorial—a plural verb is used. When talking about one fact or a piece of information, you say ‘a piece of data’. Credit: Longman Advanced Dictionary of Contemporary English From Politics & Power of the above edition comes the following headline injustice: “Supreme Court and concern over post judgement (sic) reviewâ€? This way: post-judgment (please take judicial notice of the hyphen!) review “Insecurity: We won’t deploy corps members to (in) volatile areas—Ibrahim, NYSC DGâ€?

(Source: as above) “IPCR sensitises Nnewi residents on (to) peace, conflict resolution� (South-East News, March 2) “NDDC: Diri, Dickson, group commend Buhari over (for/on) Pondel’s appointment� “Climate change and fire outbreaks� Insight: just fires—there is no need for ‘outbreaks’ as fire will always break out no matter the inhibition once there is any form of ignition! “Advocating for safe motherhood� (Your

Voice, February 26) Delete ‘for’ The next two blunders are from Politics & Power of February 26: “And what is (are) the police doing?� “What are the strategy (strategies) they have to employ?� “Encomiums for philantropist (philanthropist) as orphans, widows, youths get lifeline�

(Oriental News, February 26) “Police read riot actâ€? Get it right: the riot act “Buhari commissions (inaugurates) projects in Ondo, promises to invest in infrastructureâ€? “Nigeria at war, PDP raises alarmâ€? This way: PDP raises/sounds the alarm “Okogie seeks prayers, counsels (counsel) for Nigeriaâ€? “Why FG awarded crude lifting (crudelifting) contracts to indigenous firms, by ministerâ€? The incorrect extract implies that ‘crude is lifting contracts’! “Lagos PDP wants Tinubu arrested over (for) utterances on 2023 pollsâ€? “Police threaten to charge offenders over (with) inciting statementsâ€? “Minister commissions (inaugurates) Abia eye centreâ€? “Calling off the Kano rally, therefore, would have been a wonderful symbolic gesture, (irrelevant comma) that would have spoken volume (volumes) to Nigerians‌.â€? â€œâ€Śwhat the president is doing by his socalled unity rallies amounts to electioneering campaigns‌.â€? With ‘electioneering’, you do not need ‘campaigns’ as the word is embedded in ‘electioneering’. “But one of the detectives demanded for a stool‌.â€? Delete ‘for’. â€œâ€Śthe battle over who should represent the oil rich (oil-rich) community‌.â€? “The initiative, which has been scripted to tow (toe) the mode of the pilot run of cash-less (cashless) policy, would begin in Lagos, with no fewer than 1000 of the 1401 branch (1401-branch) network of the nation’s deposit money banks.â€? â€œâ€Śand to establish strong institution (institutional) frameworks‌.â€? “After the initial hiccups, construction has been flagged-off (flagged off) on the estate‌.â€? â€œâ€Śbut constitute a hindrance for (to) future expansion and other developmental purposes.â€? “Let us join hands together and make Lagos

a place of pride for all.â€? Take away ‘together’ in foreclosure of Elizabethan English! “Sportlight (Spotlight) on outstanding furniture, marble, tiles and interior outfitsâ€? “To discourage people from continuing with unhealthy practices of disposing (disposing of) their wastewater into drains, government needs to build sufficient waste water (wastewater) treatment (wastewater-treatment) plants‌.â€? â€?‌which is just in few (a few) months (months’) time‌.â€? “NIA sensitises (sensitizes, preferably in line with modern trend) on (to) compensation, counsels against toutingâ€?

Still on THE GUARDIAN of March 3 under review: â€œâ€Śespecially as the country grapple (grapples) with internal and external security threats.â€? “Obiano condoles (condoles with or simply consoles) ‌ family, as Anambra mourns late starâ€? Will the state mourn a living star? So, delete ‘late’! “Obituary Announcement (delete ‘announcement’): The Management and Staff of the Petroleum Equalization Fund (Management) Board regret to announce the untimely passing (passing away) of its (their) staff‌.â€?

An aside: is there any ‘timely death’?

DAILY INDEPENDENT of February 28 follows with the next set of solecisms: â€œâ€Ś Obi said that participating in such solemn celebration (a solemn celebration or solemn celebrations reminds (reminded) the faithful about christians (sic)‌.â€? “Benue first lady assures on peaceâ€? Who did the First Lady assure? “I am going into this contest knowing fully (full) well that I am the only candidate‌.â€?

Alternatively, knowing fully that‌.

The PUNCH of February 28 misled readers: “Boko Haram, an affront on (to) Nigerians� “Card fraud: CBN issues deadline for (to) banks, others� “Dangote Cement, LSBA collaborate on building collapse prevention� Get it right: building-collapse prevention “It cannot repeat itself again.� (Nollywood sub-literacy, March 4) Delete ‘again’.

There is nothing like ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’! I grew up to meet this awkward expression which is still being used by a majority of writers/speakers. ‘Rubbish’ cannot be good or bad—‘rubbish’ is rubbish (garbage)! And ‘good riddance’ is somebody/something you

EBERE WABARA

ewabara@yahoo.com, 08055001948

are happy to miss: Good riddance to insurgency/terrorism. Good riddance to my lover/ housewife! (Thanks to Femi, 08136788881, for provoking this profound thought). More constructive contributions are welcome.

Sunday PUNCH of March 1 lost its journalistic essence: “He discusses why he decided to float an online media (medium).�

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER, March 1, abused the English language: â€œâ€Ś even as the Lagos State Police Command keep (keeps) mum over the matter.â€? â€œâ€Śthe sixth country in (on) the continent.â€? “VNL said attempts to play up religious or zonal sentiments in the state’s politics will (would) be counter-productive (counterproductive).â€? “The South East’s vote of confidence on (in) Buhariâ€? “Confirming this, the presidency, yesterday, said that the Nigerian elite, irrespective of their political leanings, is (were)‌.â€? “Dr. Doyin Okupe, the former SSA to ex-President Obasanjo on Public Affairs, in a telephone conversation, said ‘the responses of major stakeholders is (were) quite encouraging’‌.â€? â€œâ€Śavoidable deaths from fire outbreaks from the two sourcesâ€? Just fires—there is no need for ‘outbreaks’. â€œâ€Śthis kind of problem would not have arisen if religious sentiments have (had) not been exploited unnecessarily‌.â€? “There is a (There’s) life changing (lifechanging) power in the gospelâ€? “International Malaria Day 2020: Framing the Post 2021 (post-2021) Agendaâ€?

THE NATION ON SUNDAY of March 1 harvested some misapprehensions: “The NUJ Ondo State Council has passed a vote of no confidence on (in) the state leadership of the NLC‌.â€? â€œâ€Śperhaps the worst in Nigeria’s history, would be do-or-die.â€? (COMMENT) ‘Do or die’ is hyphenated only when used as an adjective: a do-or-die affair. â€œâ€Śwhich literarily (literally) means‌.â€? “My battle with career threatening ailmentâ€?

Truth in defence of freedom: career-threatening ailment “The Girls (Girls’) Club� “Police arrest 51 over (for) robbery, rape, others�

If Your Wife Were Richer

A

rich wife is not anything strange or out of place in Africa, South of the Sahara. A woman could be rich as a result of a couple of factors. Firstly, is the financial status of her parents, her academic standing which is one factor that would influence her placements and remunerations and her diligence in the pursuit of excellence in her professional practice. A woman born by rich parents expectedly must have been spoiled a little by her parents with financial and material resources. The question that should agitate the mind of anybody is whether she was trained with good manners.

Good manners are what the African man would not throw to the gutters.

Prior to getting married, a woman must have dated a couple of men who must have reacted favourably or otherwise about her disposition to wealth and philosophy towards life generally.

In this connection, some boyfriends must have walked out on her if she is arrogant. For this type of women, she should go ahead and marry her biological father who was delinquent in teaching his rich daughter good manners.

There is another category of men, who would conduct themselves with dignity when in a relationship with a rich girl.

His comportment is that of a senior brother or an uncle because she receives lessons of life by way of how things should be done with practical examples. This type of men would ask her to save her money for the rainy day and pay for bills wherever they go.

There is yet another category of men, who are otherwise known as gold diggers. They cannot be bothered about what she says and her attitudinal dispositions at every point in time.

At the back of his mind, he would like to collect her money as long as the encounter with the rich girl lasts; consequent upon which conditional love was the attraction to her.

From the three examples cited, there is a probability she would end up in the house of the second or third boyfriend, since the first one walked away without an opportunity for taking a chance on a girl perceived as rich but arrogant. If she gets married to the second man who conducts himself with some dignity, who also teaches and shows her how things should be on the altar of good behaviours, she is indeed a lucky girl, who would have married her friend. The Philosophy of

comportment with humility would continue in the marriage.

If, however, she marries the third fellow who got attracted to her money, such men usually do not have a defined means of livelihood but are in the business of collecting money from women in the millions to finance an oil and gas project that is neither here nor there. He drives her cars around, carries strange girls and lavishes her money on parasites from the realm of the unknown places. Unfortunately, some marriages are still standing under the influence of a bewitched partner. The woman is just putting up with such husband because the marriage has already produced children consequent upon which she would rather stay with her children who would pay her the dividend of her endurance later in life.

It is against these backgrounds that that this author would like to pitch his tent with the second category where a level headed rich woman is in a relationship. When asked what his reaction would be if his wife were richer, Victor, a Computer analyst was of the view it would not be any issue provided she would not allow her money go into her head and regulate her person negatively.

Rich wives are expected to come to terms with primary obligations and discuss with their spouses on how they could support with the payment of some expenditures. Such women would not do anything to spite their husbands. They would only come in to assist in their capacities as helpmates.

Men in this type of relationship are not only hardworking, they also considerate and responsible. He is from the school of thought that he should perform an obligation towards his wife as a bread winner, a husband and the father of her children.

When such men are financially constrained, they would not be in a hurry to jump at his wife’s bank accounts as another source of income. He would in fact feel bad that he is resorting to his wife’s money as an alternative to solve a problem.

Women in this category would watch her husband with a high level of appreciation pay her children school fees, weekly feeding allowances and her own upkeep as a wife. Such women are advised to propose investment in health insurance, Pension Fund Scheme and housing project. All these investments would be there for them when they grow older. Yes, your wife could be richer, but humane, responsible and level headed. We want many of such women to lift up the institution of marriage.

emma3nueld@yahoo.com sms only: 09015976380

Be diplomatic with in-laws, you will meet them again

At the point you made up your mind you would get married to the fellow with whom you have been going out, you will come one on one with the reality to get serious with some persons you came across during the days of courting your spouse. The category of people is otherwise known as in-laws. In Africa, South of the Sahara, the bride spends time with her mother in-law at the kitchen to prepare meals for her husband and father in law, while the groom helps his father in-law fix some masculine related issues in the house. During this period, however, it would be difficult to situate who is relating as a product of a disciplined background or who is pretending with a view to be in the good books of the parents in law.

By way of a ground rule, couples are advised that parents in-law occupy the position of their biological parents; hence they should be treated with some caution and respect. What you want for your parents are the things you should do to them. There would be opportunity for execution of projects where you would deploy personal initiatives backed by sound wisdom. There would also be times for argument; be reminded you are not of the same age with your in laws hence, you are unlikely to be on the same page with them on some subjects. Listen to their view points and see what could be relevant for you. Another opportunity will present itself for you to prove a point. They were there when you needed them and hence you should make yourself available especially in the area of subsidising their medical bills and running errands if their biological children were around.

Don’t entangle yourself in siblings’ rivalry. In-laws are usually at the centre as scapegoats to fuel such psychological warfare which started from the womb. You should listen more; weigh the options and the financial implications before getting involved in any project.

The finest goal you would always score is to agree with your spouse on every subject from within the comfort of your home before going public.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ 2020

24

MARKET PLACE with Omolabake Fasogbon... 08155131874

Group Enlightens Professionals on Finance Act In order to provide more clarity on the Finance Act 2020, a group, Joint Minds International, JMI, has gathered professionals in the tax environment to discuss and demystify the Act. This has followed the issue of misconceptions and vagueness that surrounds the Act which they said may threaten its objectives.

The gathering had tax pundits from the public and private sectors, as well as members of the professions, including accountants and students.

Speaking on the theme of the seminar, “Finance Act and The Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria�, Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Muhammad Nami, reiterated the gains of the bill to improve the ease of doing business and attract more investments into the country.

While breaking down the amendments in the Act, Nami said it comes with juicy incentives, which has also taken care of discriminatory taxes.

He said, “With the amended Act, companies with less than N25 million turnover will now pay tax at zero per

cent; also, companies no longer need to pay provisional tax that used to be there; the changes also allowed that bonus be given to companies that pay their tax 90 days before the due date; the special minimum tax for insurance has also been abolished while the new Act also gives room for incentives that will drive investment in the real estate.�

In his presentation on “Finance Act 2020 and the Nigerian Business Environment,� the Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Dr Muda Yusuf, acknowledged the impact of the amendment on small businesses, adding that majority of the incentives are targeted at small and medium enterprises, SMEs. He, however, urged government to see to formalising small businesses through the tax Identification Number, TIN. He added, “Government should provide the SMEs with incentives like Export Expansion Grant and Pioneer Incentives Schemes. When this happens, the index of financial inclusion will rise and many more SMEs can have access to finance once they become formal.�

Campari Strengthens Business in New Deal Top player in the global branded industry, Gruppo Campari has announced that it has concluded the acquisition of its French distributor, Baron Philippe de Rothschild Distribution.

According to the company, the deal was concluded for ₏60 million, and this development adds up to Campari’s restructuring exercise in recent years.

Earlier, the firm had divested its wine portfolio and non-drinks assets such as Villa les Cèdres, and boost its spirit portfolio with the acquisition of brands, including French rhum agricole brands ‘Trois Rivières’ and ‘La Mauny’, and mezcal producer Montelobos.

The company stated further that the strong performance of Aperol and Riccadonna in France had made it the largest contributor of the French distributor’s sales value and growth to the distributor, which hit total sales of ₏145.1 million in 2018.

Providing more clarity on the business, Chief Executive Officer of Campari, Bob Kunze-Concewitz stated that the

acquisition would be a key step forward for Campari Group’s long-term growth strategy.

He added that the strategy aimed to continuously strengthen firm’s route-tomarket globally. “France is a core and high potential market for Campari Group, mainly thanks to our aperitifs business and the newly acquired rhum agricole premium brands Trois Rivières and La Mauny. This deal offers us a unique opportunity to insource RFD’s strong distribution capabilities and therefore operate directly in this market, benefitting from significantly increased critical mass, as well as enhanced focus on our core brand portfolio.â€?

The company had first announced its negotiations plans with the French distributor, which was owned by Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A., in November last year.

It recently confirmed the completion of the deal after obtaining antitrust clearance. The subsidary will be known as Campari France Distribution S.A.S.

In her remark during a panel discussion, Chairperson of Society of Women in Taxation, Lagos State chapter, Dr. Titilayo Fowokan pointed out that although the Finance Act has helped Nigeria’s ease of doing business ranking to move up to 131, but government still needs to align the development with revenue mobilisation and create conducive environment for business to

L-R: President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mazi Nnamdi Okwadigbo, presenting a plaque of Honour to the Lead Doyen of Joint Minds International (JMI),Oluwatobi Abiola, during a seminar themed: ‘Finance Act 2019 and Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’, organised by JMI for tax professionals in Lagos...recently

R-L: Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Hon. Lynda Ikpeazu; Head, Shipping Development, NIMASA, Mr. Anthony Ogadi; and Executive Director, Operations, Engr. Rotimi Fashakin, during the inspection of NIMASA Floating Dockyard by the Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration in Lagos...recently

Diageo Launches Initiative to Mark Women’s Day In celebrating this year’s International Women’s Day, Global drinks giant, Diageo, has launched an initiative tasking its employees to make a #EachForEqual pledge.

As a result of this initiative, the 28,000 workers of the organisation are expected to state and pledge how they will help accelerate gender equality in the workplace.

Providing details of the initiative, Diageo’s Chief HR officer, MairÊad Nayager, said that it is part of the company’s commitment to champion inclusion and diversity at work.

She said, Diageo will be running series of events and panel discussions linked to the ‘each for equal’ theme, examining how employees can be allies

for gender equality. “I am proud to see Diageo employees around the world pledge to be ‘each for equal’.

This pledge is about each and every one of us using our voice and influence to create change, challenge stereotypes, fight bias, and broaden perceptions.�

The firm will also be releasing a series of video interviews with female Diageo employees from around the world working in a variety of roles.

In the videos the women will share their career journeys and experiences of contributing to a culture of inclusion, offering advice on how to be an agent for change. “By sharing your achievements, others can feel inspired – you could be an example,

thrive.

Earlier, the Lead Doyen of JMI, Tobi Abiola, lauded government’s efforts at revisiting the bill 20 years after its introduction.

He added that the bill would change the face of taxation in the country and urged the authority to continuously work on it to be able to accommodate necessary adjustments.

or you could spark an idea. I find that very powerful,� Diageo’s Scotch category director, Cristina Diezhandino, added.

Diageo has been ranked as the top company globally for gender equality by Equileap, and as the second most diverse and inclusive workplace by Refinitiv.

An encouraging 44% of Diageo’s board and around 40% of Diageo’s executive committee are women, and the business is working towards targets for its global senior leadership team to be 40% female by 2025.

So far, the firm has supported over 400,000 women through initiatives like hospitality skills training and helping female entrepreneurs.

Domino’s Pizza Expands Footprint in Nigeria As part of its expansion drives, Domino’s Pizza has opened its 50th store in Nigeria to strengthen its presence and operations in the country.

This is coming after eight years when the brand officially berthed and opened its first store in Nigeria.

The newly opened store is located in the heart of Ikeja, Lagos, to provide access and superior service to customers within the domain.

According to the company, the new store also adds, as its 106th store for all its three brands, including Coldstone Creamery and Pinkberry Gourmet Frozen Yoghurt, since it started operations in Nigeria in 2012.

Commenting on the development, Chief Executive Officer of Eat’N’Go Limited, Patrick McMichael, noted that the feat was in fulfilment of the company’s 2020 vision to expand its presence in the Nigerian market place.

He said, “The launch of the new Ikeja outlet would ensure that all our customers continue to have great access to our products and also in line with our 25 minutes delivery guarantee within the Ikeja axis. “With our expansion strategy, our goal is to ensure that our customers are able to reach us everywhere while maintaining our high-quality products and service delivery.�

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

POLITY

Kwara’s Having It So Good Suleiman Alabi

T

he Etsu Patigi, Ibrahim Umar Bologi II, who recently led a delegation of Patigi Secondary School Old Students Association (Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State) to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, aptly describes the breath of fresh air in the state. The Etsu Patigi declared that Kwara State, in the last 20 years, has never had it so good, in terms of good government. This traditional ruler has every reason to commend Abdulrazaq. His Alma Matar is enjoying, for the first time, a comprehensive renovation, 50 years after it was established. Yes, this is the first time in 50 years that Patigi Secondary School is being extensively renovated, thanks to this refreshingly different Kwara Governor.

The delegation, which included the Etsu Tsaragi, Aliyu Ndakpotwa Abdullahi; former Kwara State Head of Service, Mohammed Dabarako; and former Permanent Secretary in the state’s civil service, Mohammed Koro, wants Governor Abdulrazaq to keep up the good job. The Etsu Tsaragi declared: “Since the establishment of our Alma Mata (Patigi Secondary School) some 50 years ago, no government has done what you are doing in the area of comprehensive rehabilitation. We are here to commend you for the numerous things you have been doing for our communities.”

The Etsu Tsaragi, who is the chairman of the school’s upcoming 50th anniversary’s central working committee, said the alumni association “is pleased with the renovation of the school, which is progressing very well”, adding, “It will be naïve on our part not to come and thank you for your milk of kindness.”

Patigi Secondary School is just one of the hundreds of public schools being rehabilitated by Governor Abdulrazaq, as he continues with his massive restoration of schools and other basic amenities across the state. Most of these schools have not experienced any form of renovation for years until Abdulrazaq emerged governor. The public school renovation agenda is just one of the several high-impact projects of the Abdulrazaq administration in Kwara State. The Abdulrazaq administration has embarked on capital projects that are already transforming Kwara State. He is indeed on a mission to build a Kwara that works for all.

The people of Patigi Local Government Area look good to get more from Abdulrazak. The governor has visited the Duku Lade Irrigation Scheme in the area and has promised to revive it, as part of efforts to ensure all-year farming in the area.

Kwara State was indeed in tatters when Governor Abdulrazaq assumed office on May 29, 2019. But he is undeterred. His first priority was to get things back to normal and restore confidence, such as repairing bad roads, getting water running and getting moribund institutions back to work. He has done very well in this regard. Water works, hospitals, schools and the comatose media houses are now working. Now, there is semblance of government in the state after many years of invasion by locusts.

I remember when he visited the Kwara State College of Education (Technical), Lafiagi, and assured workers who had long been on strike, due to years of unpaid salaries that they would be paid as soon as possible. He told workers: “Things are not just bad here.

I have seen your hospital and your waterworks. They are in a bad state. But that is the way things are all over the state. What we are trying to do is to get things gradually working the way they used to be. Now, how does that affect you here? We will get you back to work. We will clear whatever has to be cleared. But as I said, it is a difficult task. I will give you an example. There’s no money, but we will manage our resources. For May, we received N3.2 billion and salary alone gulped N2.2 billion. So, only N1 billion is left to run institutions like this and fixing hospitals and waterworks. We

Patigi Secondary School is just one of the hundreds of public schools being rehabilitated

by Governor Abdulrazaq, as he continues with his massive restoration of schools and other basic amenities across the state. Most of these schools have not experienced any form of renovation for years until Abdulrazaq emerged governor.

The public school renovation agenda is just one of the several high-impact projects of the Abdulrazaq administration in Kwara State

Abdulrazaq just have to manage our resources…and put the little resources in the right place.” These workers are already smiling because this miracle-working governor has paid huge backlog of their salaries.

Things are now looking good for workers of Lafiagi College of Education.

Few weeks after assumption of office, Abdulrazaq visited Bacita, a town in Kwara North that once housed Nigeria’s biggest sugar factory. He assured the community that the sugar factory would soon roar back to life. The Kwara governor is already discussing with investors to revive the industry with domino effects on employment and wealth creation in the area.

Abdulrazaq met public hospitals in a mess and one would wonder what past administration had been doing with the state’s resources. Your guess is as good as mine. This governor inherited a state with abysmal records on all fronts. People of Baruten often had to visit the neighbouring Benin Republic to access medical care. In Ilorin, the state capital, thousands troop to University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital for minor health issues. The General Hospital in Ilorin, the state’s premier hospital, didn’t even have water, not to talk of drugs or basic facilities to attend to millions of people in the state. The last administration in the state had spent billions on this hospital without result. When Abdulrazaq visited the Lafiagi General Hospital, he was shocked by the lack of basic amenities like water, electricity and refrigeration for medical supplies like anti-snakebite serum. Public hospitals across the state are now enjoying this breath of fresh air called Abdulrazaq, with massive renovation and quality equipment being supplied by the government.

Children sit on the floor in schools with thatched roofs. Kwara retirees were not getting paid. Ministries, Departments and Parastatals of government had nothing to work with. Public facilities were sold out to cronies of the defeated dynasty at ridiculous prices. The governor’s extensive tours of facilities across the state are unending. He is touching all nooks and crannies of the state, which have led to the release of funds for quick measures that have seen basic amenities working again.

AbdulRazaq has repeatedly been sleeping in some villages in the state, visiting schools, hospitals and moribund institutions and industries - dozens of kilometres away from the comfort of Government House or his own home - to better assess the endemic rot and determine government redemptive initiatives.

The last time a Kwara Governor slept outside of the state capital while on state duty was in the 1980s under Cornelius Adebayo.

Abdulrazaq added another dimension to this last year when he summoned the permanent secretaries and directors to join him for a meeting at a decrepit school in Patigi, many kilometres away from their Ilorin base, so they could have firsthand experience of the extent of the pains of the people and the rot to be fixed.

Last July, he directed that the 2019 budget review sessions be held at the Special Needs School at Apata Yakuba, away from the air-conditioned conference rooms at Government Secretariat. The Governor said holding budget review sessions in an environment as deprived as that school, was his way of redirecting the focus of the technocrats to the plights of the poor.

This governor is also not vindictive.

He cares about people and shows it.

For example, the main talking point after inauguration was the fate of Kwara civil servants whose employments were almost surreptitiously effected by the last administration in the state. After initially suspending their pay to allow for some checks, Abdulrazaq restored their salaries, in what was a clear departure from the past. For example, in 2003, workers and statutory appointees engaged by the administration of the late Mohammed Lawal were summarily sacked and all entitlements due them withheld without any recourse to the law. Abdulrazaq’s position this time around was that the affected civil servants are Kwarans. While their engagements may indeed be dubious, he still retained them. What he is doing now is general screening to ensure that only qualified hands are working in the civil service. Ageneral screening is also ongoing for teachers to ensure that only qualified tutors are allowed to teach our children.

This instantly sets Abdulrazak apart as a statesman.

The focus of the Abdulrazak administration is on human capital and infrastructural development, which aims at attracting investments, combating poverty and taking the state to the top of the table of revenue generation and competitiveness. He has prioritised water, education, health, road and general infrastructure. He recently remarked: “Agriculture is also a priority and we are also looking at ensuring that a lot is done in the area of agro-processing because of our comparative advantage. We want to completely change the story of this state and our plans revolve around just that, beginning from the budget review.” The governor was able to fix key infrastructural challenges of the state without the N4.8 billion he inherited from the previous government. He said: “The N4.8 billion is reserved to kick-start the state’s social security programme and putting basic infrastructure in place. Under the Kwara State Social Investment Programme, for instance, we plan to spend N1 billion to help traders and artisans with soft loans. We are looking at roughly 1, 000 beneficiaries for soft loans. We cannot watch while our people are suffering. We have to do something in that regard.”

Abdulrazaq’s major challenge, which he inherited from his predecessor, was sale of public property by the officials of the last administration to themselves at ridiculous prices. He was disappointed at what he called mindless mismanagement of public resources and promised that steps would be taken to redress the excesses of the former officials. He has since done this. Acommittee was set up to investigate the illegal sale of Kwara property and a comprehensive report was turned in, indicting officials of the last government in the state. This governor has assured the people of the state that the recommendations of the committee would be implemented fully. Abdulrazak looks determined to recover the state’s looted assets. Over 100 public property are expected to be recovered for the traumatised people of Kwara State.

No wonder a former gubernatorial candidate of the United Democratic Party, UDP, Mr. Adetunji Oyabambi, described Abdulrazak’s government as transformational. He said: “Against what we used to have in the past, the new administration under the leadership of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has set a new blueprint for governance in Kwara. Civil servants now enjoy full salaries as and when due. Our infrastructure are receiving prompt and deserved attention, likewise the health and education sector. It’s indeed ‘Iseya’.

For Chief Gbenga Awoyale, President General of Orisun Igbomina, a socio political group of the Ignomina people of Kwara State, Abdulrazak’s performance has been phenomenal. He said: “Abdulrazak’s 100 days in office are so marvelous and monumental. The most interesting aspect of his administration was when I heard that he approved N 20 million for the repair of pot-holes in the state. To my surprise, the money was effectively utilised to fix our roads.

We know how much past administrations earmarked for roads in the past with no significant improvement. The abandoned projects in the Kwara State Polytechnic, unscheduled visits to places, as well as prompt actions on the needs of Kwarans have distinguished him from his predecessors. Other outstanding records of the governor include provision of Infrastructure at the NYSC camp and subsequent renovation of the camp to make an ideal accommodation for the Corp members, re-opening of the shutdown Kwara Radio by the immediate past administration, counterparts funding payments of N450 million to SUBEB, N200 million to World Bank, as well as payment of counterparts funds for NHIS. His achievements are far beyond 100 days in office. Most of his predecessors couldn’t boast of these achievements in all their years in office. Therefore, we don’t want any distractions to come his way.”

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

POLITY 360° Ikoyi: Positive Reflection of Diaspora Spirit Bennett Oghifo writes that this is the best time for high-flying Nigerians in the Diaspora to come home to make an exciting difference. One of such success stories is 360 Degrees Towers being built by a highly regarded developer Femi Osibona, who returned to Nigeria recently, bringing back his wealth of experience and technical know-how in the development of intelligent homes

N

igerians in the Diaspora who are experts in their host countries in various fields can come home to set up their dream projects if they are certain of the right investment turf.

They have definitely heard unfortunate stories of people who dared and got their fingers burnt and this could be discouraging. Regardless, this is motherland, which means they must take that bold step as did the promoter of 360 Degrees Towers, three fine pieces of high-rise, real estate, being built on Gerald Road by Fourscore Homes, whose Chief Executive Officer is Olufemi Adegoke Osibona, popularly known as Femi FOURSCORE, a Diasporan with landmark developments in the United Kingdom, South Africa and in the United States of America and from the look of things, has presented something excitingly different in the high-priced Ikoyi enclave.

Real estate market buzz has it that the iconic towers have been over-subscribed, but it was not thrown open to just any client because prospective buyers were profiled to ensure the right clientele. Located at 44B, C & D Gerald Road, 360 Degrees Towers presents very unique features, which instantly attract attention. The towers will encompass smart homes, imbued with accessories controlled with artificial intelligence. There are virtual offices for homeowners and five star board rooms, among others.

Osibona, who reluctantly discussed the project and the reach of his company in Nigeria and overseas, said Fourscore Homes is a member of the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council) in SouthAfrica and Zurich Building Guarantee in Europe, as part of the company’s presence overseas. His company specialises in the building of choice properties in different parts of the world, Osibona said. “We have exhibited our expertise in property development in the United Kingdom, SouthAfrica, the United States ofAmerica and Nigeria. Fourscore Homes possesses uncommon capabilities in redefining property development in any market we choose to play in.”

Fourscore Homes has an enviable track record built by Osibona, better known as “Femi Fourscore”. The Towers in progress company began its foray into real estate in the United Kingdom purchases real estate from us to derive maximum value for their before branching out to SouthAfrica and later Nigeria. In 2009, money. To achieve this, we go out of our way to ensure we chaperwhen Brig-General Buba Marwa (rtd) was the Nigerian High one the entire process from design to completion, ensuring that we Commissioner in SouthAfrica, Fourscore Homes built six luxury adhere to best practice while minimising our costs. This way, we are units called Fourscore Mansions in Waterkloof, a very exclusive able to deliver high quality units at the best value for money.” neighbourhood in Pretoria.

Femi FOURSCORE was also the firstAfrican developer to Diaspora Touch deliver a seven-storey building in the United Kingdom. The 360 Degrees is strictly a residential facility that evolved from property called Fourscore Mansion is located at 113,Albion Drive Osibona’s desire to do something unique, indeed, something that London Fields, E8, 4LZ, East London. Not only that, he was the first has never been done in Nigeria. The concept is to have serviced black developer ofAfrican origin to build other projects in the UK. flats in the three towers and for residents to experience a stress-free The company’s real estate business started in Hackney, London lifestyle, complete with a hotel flair. “What we want to achieve in 1997. “I was one of the people whose real estate developments is to have people live in their homes as if they’re living in a 7-star led to the growth of East London. I bought a house on New Cross hotel. There is security with access control from the entrance on Road and renovated it. I also bought a piece of land behind it and Gerald Road and there is another security post when coming into built two flats there, and that is what I will call my first real estate the buildings. Electricity will be guaranteed 24 hours a day and project. That was how I started building houses for sale. Renowned there will be cleaning and gardening around the estate, as well as Juju music maestro, Ebenezer Obey visited the property when he housekeeping/concierge services for those who desire it.” was in London.”

The design and rendition is targeted at people that are too busy Osibona said prior to making a foray into real estate, he sold to concern themselves with anything else, Osibona said. “This clothes and shoes for a living in London. “I started selling shoes in development will give peace of mind and comfort to the residents, July, 1991 after I finished my HND in the UK, and later sold suits because everything works.” but I stopped in 1998 and I started real estate development and On the first floor is a suspended platform that serves as a purchase of property in 1997. The popular PastorAshimolowo recreational area where residents can unwind and hold a small never ceases to talk about the testimony and rise of Osibona. I also party, if they wish.Also, there is a five-star lobby where residents noticed that many Nigerians at that time were reluctant to go into can host friends and family members, without compromising construction but I believed anything was possible with God on my their privacy. The towers have various house types: Maisonettes of side. about 420sqms each on three floors; penthouses on two floors; and “I built over 50 projects in London and Manchester and from four-bedroom flats on one floor, with each flat as large as 400sqms there, went to SouthAfrica where I built a number of estates.”After – almost twice the size of most flats in other developments in Ikoyi. developing so many properties abroad, Osibona said he decided The penthouses are about 600sqms to 800sqms. to come back to Nigeria to contribute positively to the nation’s The homes in 360 Degrees Towers, better described as ‘Luxury in real estate development. Osibona also started building inAtlanta, the Sky’, are being sold off-plan and directly to people who intend Georgia, USAin 2016. “In all the projects abroad, we buy land and to live there, Osibona said, explaining that “90 per cent of people develop and I am the builder, I don’t engage any builder. I was in that have bought from us are those that own houses. However, Atlanta for only four months before I decided to buy land. It is the what is happening now is that most people with big, single unit same procedure in housing development and if you have done it dwellings are now cutting down for several reasons: Their children in one country, then you can do it in another because it is the same have left the nest, most of them are in their 50s and they want to principle.” really enjoy their lives and are looking for a place that is secure with Apart from developing residential homes, Fourscore also deals no headache. Imagine living in a hotel where your money works in residential light fittings and other building materials. “We are for you.” really passionate about value creation, we want everyone who Land in Ikoyi is highly priced and that is the reason most devel-

opers in Ikoyi do all that is necessary to put their money’s worth on the ground and traces of these accomplishments can be seen on both sides of the dual carriageway from Osborne Foreshore throughAlfred Rewane Road (former Kingsway Road) to the foot of Falomo Bridge. Turn into Bourdillon Road to see other beautiful buildings, a mix of office spaces and head-spinning residential apartment buildings.

Agood number of sturdy pieces of commercial and mixed-use real estate lineAlfred Rewane, some evergreen in their rendition like the Kingsway Towers, Mulliner Towers and Heritage Place, the upcoming Famfa Towers and the Dangote HQ, British-America Tobacco building, Rising Sun,Alliance Place, One 6 Temple, among others.

LeavingAlfred Rewane, taller apartment buildings dot the landscape along Bourdillon, Lugard,Alexander and Gerald Roads. Joining the multitude, are the three towers of 360 Degrees, which are already up, rising up to 15 floors and are being serviced by a busy crane. The construction wrappers of the towers, which look like body-hugs, are attention grabbers.Also intriguing is the fact that the towers enjoy very good setback from the road, a feature that shields it from busy and noisy traffic on Gerald Road.

360 Degrees Towers are an improvement on whatever structure that has been built in Ikoyi, according to Osibona.

“The buildings that can compare with ours is Number 4 Bourdillion where three bedroom flats and above sell for $1.9 million to $7 million. There is also The Belmonte where apartments go from about $1.7 million upwards. These are on Bourdillion and they are the two properties that can be compared with ours, and our prices are very competitive.”

However, there is an exciting difference that stands 360 Degrees out of the crowd, according to Osibona. “You need to understand something.Anywhere in the world, nobody wants to live on a very busy road, but we also understand that Gerald-Bourdillion Roads are some of the most expensive locations inAfrica. So, we are very lucky that we are on Gerald Road but we have a very long setback of about 200 metres. The implication is that you’re living in a place where you can open your windows and take in breathtaking views but without noise because the building is not smack on the road. Our entrance is on the road but you will need to drive for about 200 metres to get to the parking lot. The setback is our main selling point.”

Added to this is that from the buildings, residents would have scenic views of the Lagos lagoon, theAtlantic Ocean, neighbouring estates such as Banana Island and Parkview, Osborne Road and the Third Mainland Bridge, as well as the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge, among other interesting sights in Lagos.

An issue that becomes very contentious with projects of this nature is parking which can be a challenge with the prosperity of the residents. This would not be an issue said the promoter of 360 Degrees, as they are building more than 160 spaces for vehicles of residents and their visitors, even when parties are being hosted and with appropriate landscaping with rich green areas. The facility also has water and sewage treatment plants, as well as private and public power sources.

Another unique feature of the development is that at the entrance, there is a huge aquarium on the driveway and can be viewed at both the entrance and exit gates of the property. There is provision for water fountains at strategic positions on the property.

The towers are expected to be completed at the end of next year, Osibona said, and that as things stand, his firm has sold over 50 per cent of the apartments.

“The advantage of buying off-plan is that you’re buying at a discounted price and it always appreciates. You have to understand something about Nigeria; people say the market is not moving but if you do something that is interesting and unique, then people will buy. I guarantee you that. The market doesn’t bother us, we have always been selling. Remember this is not my first development, I did Nos. 2-4 Mosley Road – The ShalomApartments in Ikoyi, which we built in 2010. It has 40 flats with common facilities like a swimming pool, gymnasium, and the estate is powered 24 hours a day amid tight security. The low-density facility is occupied by high net worth personalities. It was sold out.”

Funding and Engineering

Real estate developers all concede that funding is a major issue that must be taken seriously. Osibona said 360 Degrees is being built through venture capital and from off-plan sales, which is doing very well because of his company’s track record in the industry. The project is being developed by expatriate project managers, he pointed out, adding “two of them are from England and two from SouthAfrica”.

Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

POLITY

Sterling Bank Partners Lasgidis Recyclers to Clean Lagos

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terling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading commercial bank has partnered with Lasgidis Recyclers, a Lagos-based environmental social enterprise, to clean up Freedom Way andAdmiral Ayinla Way in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos over the weekend.

Speaking on the exercise, Mr. Godwin Ibeabuchi, Business Executive, Retail and Consumer Banking in charge of Victoria Island Area Lagos for Sterling Bank, said, the bank has been promoting environmental sustainability, good sanitation, and hygiene across the country for about 10 years, ensuring that Nigerians live and do business in a clean environment.

He added that “We are motivated by the understanding that it is difficult to live a healthy life, conduct business and create wealth amidst waste or in a toxic environment. Without clean air, water, land and energy, our collective humanity is endangered. This makes it necessary for us to keep our environment orderly and functional through sustainable living actions L-R: Branch Manager, Lekki, Sterling Bank, Ebi Okoh-Esene; Project Coordinator, John Sixtwelve Solutions, Ngozi Elueze; Group and regular cleaning.”

Head, Lekki Victora, Sterling Bank, Godwin Ibeabuchi; and Founder/Managing Partner, LasGidis Recyclers, Idu Okwuosa, during a Also speaking, Mrs. Idu Okwuosa, Managing Lasgidi Recycles Drainage Clean-up powered by Sterling Bank in Lagos Partner of Lasgidis Recyclers said, “I live in this neighbourhood and I normally take early morn- the women who receive stipends from Lasgidis Lasgidis would be assigned to clean one street enough wastes they could easily contact Lasgidis ing walks. Also, when I am driving around, I see daily in the Lekki area, she said. through the app. to help in the cleaning of the environment. drains blocked by plastics and other wastes and She said Lasgidis would be working with The founder said her goal was to pick up and Mrs. Okwuosa disclosed that besides Freethis usually breaks my heart.” She said Lasgidis housing estates in the Lekki neighbourhood in a dispose waste before they get to the drains. dom Way and Admiral Ayinla Way, Lasgidis decided to make the Lekki area clean by cleaning had plans to organise another major cleaning bid to sustain a clean environment, adding that Sterling Bank promotes environmental sustainone street at a time and this gave her the opporthey were also working on an app that can be ability, good sanitation, hygiene and enriches lives in exercise, tagged Lagos Sweep, before the end of tunity to reach out to volunteers and to some of downloaded by residents so that when they had fulfilment of its brand purpose of “Enriching Lives. the month. Thereafter, two staff members from

Babaeko, Ayeni, Others to Speak At Inaugural SOL PR Academy

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ice President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Steve Babaeko; Adekunle Ayeni, Founder, Black House Media; and Mrs. Temitope Jemerigbe, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, DKK Nigeria, are among the marketing communications big names lined up as facilitators at the inaugural SOL PR Academy,

a corporate social responsibility initiative of Public Relations firm SOL PR. This was disclosed in Lagos yesterday in a statement signed by Jenkins Alumona, Managing Director, SOL PR. The academy, which kicks off on Tuesday and will run for one month, the statement said, was conceived to provide basic training to young graduates desirous of building careers in the marketing communications industry.

The participants, aged between 20 and 25,

were selected after a three-phase interview process and will benefit from top-level insight from accomplished professionals in all areas of marketing communications as well as media.

According to Alumona, the SOL PR Academy is part of the company’s contribution to providing career directions for talented young people as well as a way of bringing new thinking into the industry. During the selection, Alumona explained, preference

was given to graduates in disciplines not related to communication as a way of ensuring that the next crop of entrants into the industry will arrive with different orientation and perspectives.

“The SOL PR Academy is an idea that excites us a great deal, as it provides young and talented graduates the opportunity to learn at the feet of some of the biggest industry names who, we believe, will help shape them as professionals and human beings, as well offering a platform for bringing into the industry people who could be apostles of new thinking,” he said.

PHOTO NEWS

L-R: Former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos Sate/Founding Partner, Africa Law Practice, Mr. Olasupo Shasore (SAN); Partner, Perchstone and Graeys LP, Tolulope Adeyemi; Consul General, Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lagos, Jan Van Weijen; Manager, Legal Business, BusinessDay, L-R: AAAN President, Mr. Ikechi Odigbo; Member, AAAN BOT, Mrs. Bola Thomas; ED, FCMB, event Theodora Kio- Lawson; and Chairman, Aluko and Oyebode, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, during the Businesspanelist, Mr. Olu Akanmu; and AAAN VP, Mr. Steve Babaeko, at the AAAN Business Outlook Semi- Day Legal Business Tech Forum in Lagos...recently nar held in Lagos...recently

L-R : Deputy Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, Mahe Abubakar; Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Umara L-R: Vice President, Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA), Mr. Emeka Ogbu; Brand DevelopZulum; and MD/CEO, Jaiz Bank Plc, Malam Hassan Usman, during the donation of food items to the Governor ment and Activation Manager, Premier Cool, Eniola Ogunlade; and Treasurer, NUGA, Prof. M.G Yakasai, for distribution to IDPs in Borno State on Tuesday at the official press briefing for HIFL 2020 at Radisson Blu, Lagos...recently

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SATURDAY MARCH 7, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ APRIL 24, 2011

GLOBAL SOCCER A

WEEKLY PULL-OUT

7.3.2020

NEWS

MANCHESTER DERBY

PAGE. 29

Joshua Zirzee A Big Test for NFF’s VIP Scouting Plan

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

30

GLOBAL SOCCER

Joshua Zirzee A Big Test for NFF’s VIP Scouting Plan Zirkzee’s goal rescue a point for Bayern Munich

Since coming to office, the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick has never hidden his plan at ensuring that players of Nigerian root doing well abroad are encouraged to star for the Super Eagles, in what he termed VIP Scouting. He will, however, be facing a litmus challenge in the federation’s attempt to scout Bayern Munich kid sensation, Joshua Zirzee, especially with recent calls for his inclusion in Holland’s upcoming international friendlies

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uper Eagles manager Gernot Rohr embarked on a scouting mission to Germany last weekend and the Franco-German tactician was among the 30,150 spectators that witnessed the Bundesliga clash between Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich at the PreZero Arena.

Bayern Munich teenage sensation Joshua Zirkzee went the distance on his full German Bundesliga debut and Rohr must have been impressed by what he saw of Zirkzee, with the Bayern Munich number 35 scoring 15 minutes into his debut.

The onetime Bayern Munich central defender monitored the

player with a view of a possible call-up to the Super Eagles in the nearest future.

Born in Schiedam, on the outskirts of Rotterdam, Jushua, whose middle name Orobosa denotes is of Edo State origin.

His parents are both Nigerians.

It was therefore no surprise that Zirkzee has been included in the Bundesliga Team of the Week after his impressive performance against Hoffenheim.

The youngster, who is eligible to play for Nigeria or the Netherlands at international level, scored a goal in the 15th minute of last Saturday’s league tie to give his team a 3-0 lead.

Bayern Munich went on to

secure a comfortable 6-0 win on the road with the Nigerian descent playing for the duration.

Zirkzee, scorer of three goals in four Bundesliga games this season led the Bavarians’ attack in the absence of the club’s leading scorer Robert Lewandowski.

Giving reasons for selecting 18-year-old Zirkzee ahead of Lewandowski against Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick said: “Things worked really well in the Chelsea game, so I wanted to change things as little as possible in the team,” Flick was quoted as saying “By doing that, the understanding between the players and automations are still there.

Joshua’s trained well, and he’s showed in training that he’s got good quality and is a good finisher.

“He can hold the ball up well and has the physicality to do so, which is important when things are tight up top. So that was our thinking, to make a like-for-like replacement for Lewandowski.

It was good.”

Meanwhile, Netherlands legend Willem van Hanegem is convinced that the Bayern Munich super kid deserves to be promoted to the Dutch senior squad and has urged Dutch coach Ronald Koeman to invite the striker for the upcoming international friendlies against

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

GLOBAL SOCCER

Zirkzee…will NFF win the Bayern Munich teenager over

United States and Spain.

“I hope that Ronald Koeman will really summon that boy for the upcoming international matches against the United States and Spain,” Van Hanegem told Algemeen Dagblad, according to voetbalprimeur.

“I saw at Bayern how Thomas Müller gets to work with him.

He plays with Zirkzee, makes him really grow.

Zirkzee is only 18, but already deserves a chance at the Oranje. I think it will be soon with him.”

The 18-year-old Zirkzee became provisionally cap-tied to the Netherlands when he made an appearance off the bench in a European U-17 Championship qualifier against Hungary in October 2017, and has also been capped at U-15, U-16, U-18 and U-19 levels.

Without Lewandowski there were concerns that Bayern Munich would struggle without their main source of goals, but they had no reason to worry.

Academy player Zirkzee looked right at home.

Just 120 seconds in and the teenager’s instinctive touch set Bayern on their way to their first goal. Five minutes later,

his blocked shot led to Bayern’s second. It wasn’t long after that the teenager making his starting Bundesliga debut scored one of his own. Like much of his so far young career at Bayern, Zirkzee didn’t need any time at all to make his impact.

Without Lewandowski, there were concerns Bayern’s great run under Hansi Flick would start to stutter. Could Bayern pose the same problems in attack, where would their goals come from, and would Hoffenheim secure another upset against the defending champions?

Bayern needed just a quarter of an hour to silence any concerns. Flick’s side were as ruthless as they have been all season, pressing and pushing for more in a manner that Bayern haven’t really done since the Pep Guardiola years. This was a demonstration of power, a reminder of who the real sheriff in Bundesliga town is, and a young Dutchman was at the heart of it.

At 1.93m, Zirkzee is a bigger figure than Lewandowski. He used that strength to hold off Sebastian Rudy before turning the former Bayern and Germany midfielder around. Keeping

his composure, the 18-year-old simply waited for the space to open up in the box. When it did, he didn’t hesitate to use his weaker foot to apply the necessary finish.

Bayern’s hosts played their part, but Bayern also did more than accept the invitation. They took the vibe to another level.

Philippe Coutinho went from looking down and out to scoring two goals, while Thiago continued to conduct proceedings with his usual mastery. Bayern were so relentless that they scored one minute after the restart and even at the arrival of the hour mark, they looked desperate for more.

The Dutchman never forced the issue because he didn’t need to. He was in rhythm with Bayern’s beat. His touch and feel for the ball looked like those of a more experienced player. Zirkzee ran, he passed, he slipped in and out of the channels, he even delivered a crunching tackle on the edge of the box he was attacking. He was everywhere.

After scoring the winner against Freiburg with his first touch off the bench on his debut in December, Zirkzee needed

just three minutes to break the deadlock against Wolfsburg three days later. In Sinsheim, the teenager needed a quarter of an hour to prove that he is at home at this level.

Just a day after Bayern Munich celebrated their 120th birthday, the real gift for Bayern wasn’t another rousing performance but the long-awaited unleashing of an academy talent in a position they so desperately need depth in.

G LO B A L S O C C E R ASSISTANT EDITOR KUNLE ADEWALE THISDAY ON SATURDAY EDITOR YEMI ADEBOWALE DEPUTY EDITOR CHIKA AMANZE-NWACHUKWU THISDAY NEWSPAPERS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

GLOBAL SOCCER

Shola Shoretire A Devil in the Making Manchester United have fast-tracked an agreement for rising star Shola Shoretire to secure his immediate future to the club.

The 16-year old is already regarded as one of the best ‘No 10s’ in Europe for his age and was a target for elite sides across the continent.

He is still at school yet is expected to play for the U23s this season and could even make an impression on the first team squad before the end of the year.

The Newcastle-raised teenager can’t sign a professional contract until he turns 17 next February but is so highly regarded by United that they have moved to put a scholar year in place with the promise of a lucrative first professional deal attached.

Shoretire was at school on Friday studying for his GCSEs, before heading to Old Trafford to play a starring role and score in the U18s FA Youth Cup quarter final win against Wigan.

Under-18 coach Neil Ryan said: “He was at school today, all day! Then he came over to Old Trafford to play. It’s incredible really. Different day for him compared to other players. We want to keep them humble, hard-working.”

He joined the club as a 10 year old and was promoted by head of first team development Nicky Butt to the United academy tour of Austria in 2018 when he was just 14.

He became the youngest player to appear in the UEFA Youth League in December 2018 aged 14 years 314 days when introduced as a substitute in a 2-1 win against Valencia.

Shoretire featured at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland at the age of 13 in 2017.The diminutive Shoretire can play on the wing or up front and has been described as an ‘exceptional’ talent.

Shoretire is eligible to represent Nigeria but was invited to train with England’s juniors two years ago.

Shoretire is not a scholar yet at Manchester United and schoolboys his age are usually only preparing for their GCSEs. The only papers Shoretire might be filling out in the near future at Carrington are contracts.

Shoretire only turned 16 on February 4 and should be with the Under-16s. Instead he is with the 18s, supplementing revision with precision and scoring in the FA Youth Cup at Old Trafford, helping United through to the semi-finals for the first time since 2012.

United youth team almanacs will have heard of Shoretire before he debuted in the Uefa Youth League at the age of 14 years and 314 days last season. Like Angel Gomes, Callum Gribbin, and other callow predecessors in the digital age, Shoretire went viral on social media before he was permitted entry to 15 certificates at the cinema.

With that comes a near-unattainable level of expectation. United will play Chelsea, their five-year monopoly of the Youth Cup ended by Mason Greenwood last season, in the last four and some United fans will inevitably cast their minds back to the last memorable youth team that

started at Stamford Bridge: Pogba, Lingard, Keane.

The Class of 2011 remains United’s last triumphant Youth Cup squad, though United and Chelsea met again in the last four in 2012. Seven of the players involved in the uplifting 4-3 triumph over Chelsea last year have gone onto debut for the club yet Greenwood, Brandon Williams, James Garner et al. were ejected at the second hurdle. The feeling is the current class have defied expectations.

Much of the talk in the wake of Manchester United’s FA Youth Cup win against Leeds has been focused on Hannibal Mejbri and Teden Mengi.

Rightly so. The 17-year-old pairing are incredibly talented, have both shown good leadership and are two of the most highly-rated prospects at the club. But Shoretire is even younger and put in a good performance for United at Old Trafford.

As Shoretire came out at the Theatre of Dreams, he was 16 years and three days old. That’s 260 days younger than Angel Gomes was when he made his first-team debut for the club, replacing Wayne Rooney from the bench.

There’s still time for Shoretire to equal that and the comparisons aren’t completely ridiculous.

Like Gomes, Shoretire’s stature is small. He’s not chunky in the way that Dillon Hoogewerf is. He’s not got the physique of Mark Helm and he’s not even got the same presence as Hannibal Mejbri

But Shoretire is skilful and has enough about him to influence games despite his height, age and relative frailty.

At 14, he became United’s youngest ever player at under-18 level, making his UEFA Youth League debut and setting a record in that competition too.

In the Milk Cup, he played two years up and scored a couple against players twice his size. At the 2019 Sparkasse & VGH Cup, a small-sided indoor tournament in Germany, Shoretire’s skills were delightful. Now he’s done the same in the FA Youth Cup. He was unfortunate to go off with a small calf injury in the second half. In an atmosphere befitting the historic rivalry of United vs Leeds and Lancashire vs Yorkshire, Shoretire coped well.

He offered an outlet for United on the counter, taking the ball from set-pieces and holding it up well.

For someone of his stature, it shows an impressive maturity and good decision-making. His strength, not necessarily in the physical way for a 16-year-old is excellent to see.

Born in 2004, Shoretire has a long way to go. As seen with Gomes, patience will be key. But with 11 appearances in the league and two in the FA Youth Cup, it’s been a good start to his time in the under-18s set-up.

With a brother half a decade below him, the Shoretire name might pop up again in a few years for regular watchers of United’s youth teams.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER MARCH 7, 2020

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GLOBAL SOCCER Manchester Derby

Premiership Table

United’s Top Four Quest Faces City Test Manchester City had risen from being a ‘noisy neighbour’ to become a force to be recon with in English football. With the Carabao Cup already in the kitty, a FA quarter final berth and one leg into last 16 of the Champion League, the Citizens would be buoyed heading to Old Trafford, a venue Pep Guardiola had recorded significant success since taking charge at the Emirate Stadium. However, the Reds too would be boosted by their last two victories at the Emirate, but will be under significant pressure to book a top-four ticket

Liverpool Man City Leicester Chelsea Man Utd Wolves Tottenham Sheff Utd Burnley Arsenal Everton Crystal Palace Southampton Newcastle Brighton West Ham Watford Bournemouth Aston Villa Norwich

28 27 28 28 28 28 28 27 28 27 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 28 27 28

44 39 26 8 12 7 7 4 -6 3 -5 -7 -16 -17 -8 -14 -16 -17 -18 -26

79 57 50 45 42 42 40 40 38 37 37 36 34 32 28 27 27 27 25 21

PREMIER LEAGUE TODAY

Liverpool v Arsenal v Crystal Palace v Sheffield v Southampton v Wolves v Burnley v

La Liga

Bournemouth 12:30 West Ham 15:00 Watford 15:00 Norwich City 15:00 Newcastle 15:00 Brighton 15:00 Tottenham 17:30

TODAY

Eibar Atlético Barcelona Getafe

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Mallorca Sevilla Sociedad Celta Vigo

12:00 15:00 17:30 20:00

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Espanyol Bilbao Granada Leganés Madrid

11:00 13:00 15:00 17:30 20:00

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Parma Udinese Lazio Cagliari

14:00 14:00 17:00 19:45

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Brescia 11:30 Sassuolo 14:00 Napoli 14:00 Juventus 17:00 Sampdoria 19:45

v

AC Milan

SUNDAY

Osasuna Valladolid Levante Villarreal Real Betis

Serie A TODAY

Genoa Torino Atalanta SPAL SUNDAY

Fiorentina Inter Verona Bologna Roma MONDAY

Lecce

19:45

Head to Head

Mahrez tries to waltz his way through Manchester United players

Manchester rivals United and City face off for the fourth time this season with Pep Guardiola’s City making the short trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.

Manchester United have beaten City twice already this season, and both times as the underdogs. They will go into this match as the outsiders, but can they get their first win against City this season in front of their own fans?

The race for a Champions League finish is well and truly underway with five sides vying for fourth spot. Manchester United have put a good run together and are unbeaten in four league games.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now finds his side in fifth, only three points behind Chelsea in fifth. If Frank Lampard’s side are beaten by Everton in the early kick-off, United could leapfrog them with a win due to superior goal difference.

Manchester City picked up their first silverware of the season by lifting the Carabao Cup on Sunday. They came out eventual winners against Aston Villa with a less than convincing 2-1 victory. City were not at their best, but as with all great teams, they found a way to win.

Pep’s side have lost six league games this season which is the same number of the last two seasons combined. They aren’t at the same level they have been for the last couple of seasons, but the bar was excep-

tionally high. They are the league’s top scorers and they will expect to get a result on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Arsenal play host to West Ham United at the Emirates this afternoon in a battle between two sides needing three points for entirely different reasons. The Gunners go into the weekend’s clash five points off fifth-placed Manchester United, while West Ham are only above the relegation zone on goal difference.

Indeed, the North London outfit are unbeaten in the Premier League since the New Year, and have won four out of their last five matches in all competitions.

Monday’s 2-0 victory over Portsmouth in the FA Cup fifth round keeps Arteta’s hopes of a trophy in his maiden season alive, a win which was much needed following the manner of their defeat to Olympiacos in the Europa League round of 32.

Having reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in the 2017-18 campaign, and finishing runners up to Chelsea last year, many Arsenal fans believed that a European trophy and a route back to Champions League football could have been on the horizon for their side this season.

Nevertheless, Arsenal’s league form has much improved since Arteta replaced fellow Spaniard Unai Emery, and the Gunners now sit eight points off the top four on 37 points.

Arteta has already seen his side keep six clean sheets in all competitions since his arrival, with the centre-back partnership of Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz garnering significant praise for their performances in recent weeks.

A third consecutive league victory could see Arsenal rise to eighth in the table, potentially leapfrogging arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the process should Burnley pick up all three points against Jose Mourinho’s side today.

In contrast, West Ham’s 3-1 victory over Southampton was their first league win since New Year’s Day, and David Moyes’s side are at a real risk of a first relegation since 2011 should results not improve.

As protests against the ownership of the club continue to bedevil the Londoners, Hammers supporters will be desperate to see their side pick up only their fourth win away from home all season.

Moyes’ men performed valiantly for the most part at Anfield last Monday, but eventually made the trip back down to London empty-handed following a result which has more or less epitomised their season.

However, last weekend’s triumph against Southampton has brought some muchneeded relief to the London Stadium, as goals from Jarrod Bowen, Sebastien Haller and Michail Antonio comfortably saw off Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

19/07/12 Man City 1 - 2 Man Utd 19/24/04 Man Utd 0 - 2 Man City 18/11/11 Man City 3 - 1 Man Utd 18/07/04 Man City 2 - 3 Man Utd 17/10/12 Man Utd 1 - 2 Man City 17/27/04 Man City 0 - 0 Man Utd 16/10/09 Man Utd 1 - 2 Man City 16/20/03 Man City 0 - 1 Man Utd 15/25/10 Man Utd 0 - 0 Man City 15/12/04 Man Utd 4 - 2 Man City 14/02/11 Man City1 - 0 Man Utd 14/25/03 Man Utd 0 - 3 Man City

The arrival of Bowen in particular has brought with it a strong sense of optimism over the former Hull City attacker, and fans will be eager to see what the 23-year-old can bring to the table in their fight for survival over the coming weeks.

With games against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea coming up after their Emirates visit, West Ham are no doubt in a perilous position as the relegation battle reaches a crucial point.

The Hammers have conceded nine goals in their last three league games away from home, albeit to top-four sides Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester City, and have also suffered defeats at Sheffield United and Crystal Palace since the New Year.

Nevertheless, should Moyes manage to shore up his defence in a similar way to that of Arteta at Arsenal, Hammers supporters may just be able to look forward to another Premier League campaign next season.

34

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

GLOBAL SOCCER

Gonzalo, Head Coach, FC Bulmaro with his crew intructing the students of Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idimu, Lagos, during the training sessions.

Anthony Joshua

Negotiations over Joshua, Fury Heavyweight Title Clash Yielding Positive Result Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury remain at the centre of talks to stagean undisputed title fight in 2020, and promoter Eddie Hearn has described progress as “all positive”.

FurycapturedtheWBCtitlebyspectacularlybeatingDeontayWildermeaningboth recognisedheavyweightchampionsareBritish -JoshuaholdstheIBF,WBAandWBObelts.

TalksareunderwaybetweenJoshua’spromoterHearnandFury’sUS-based promoter BobArum to pit them against each other later this year, although both champions must come through separate fights in the meantime.

Joshua will defend his gold against

mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on June 20 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, then Fury and Wilder are expected to meet for a third time in July.

“There’s no reason why a deal can’t be done now to lock in Joshua and Fury for that November-December date,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “Conversations are ongoing with Bob Arum and are all positive.”

Hearn had previously said: “The undisputed fight must happen in 2020.

“Joshua and Fury are certainly going to be boxing twice [or a] trilogy. That’s part of the deal that we are looking to do ASAP - a two-fight agreement with

Fury and Arum at the end of this year then summer 2021.

“We must try and do that fight in the UK.AskAJ and Fury where they would like it, and they would say the UK. We knowtherewillbehugeoffersfromaround the world. Our priority is to try and make this fight in the UK. “Therewillbetwoofthese,maybethree, so certainly summer 2021 we’ll get one in the UK. I would love to make the first one in the UK because we’ve got two British world champions who will fight for the undisputed title - this is never going to happen again. To do it in the UK would be very special.”

Football, a Pillar for Sustainable National Peace, Says Gonzalo Coach The Technical Crew of FC Bulmaro, led by theArgentine Coach Gonzalo Dibiasi, last weekend filed out, at Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idiimu, Lagos, taking the participants through various rigorous sessions of training to hone their talents, making them better football players and excellent and selfless teammates, to making them better leaders.

The students who exhibited undaunted and proficient skills in a trial competitive exhibition match between the world select and the Wazobia- the Nigerian select, comprising the various ethnic groups, as the symbol of diverse cultural difference, yet the essence of the nation’s bonding force of peace, progress and unity, and fostering true nationhood.

This Rev. Fr. Maduabuchi Leo Moun-

eme, the school administrator said is one of the reasons the non-profit academic institution is founded all over the world.

He added that the school decided to accept the very kind gesture of FC Bulmaro free training clinic, to add a unique unfamiliar value to the annual event, arguing that there is no global sporting event like the football Mundial or Olympics that cultural displays would not be a key part of it, which shows how influential and strong these things unify humanity.

In his response, Rev. Fr. Chuks Afiawari, the Provincial, said the Jesuit approach of a child education - female or male is holistic. In a way the children would grow up in a great manner, they will never depart from it

because they are very well nurtured to be complete human beings who can adapt to any situation without bias.

Leslie Oghomienor, who was the special guest of honour at the event said the club in line with her social responsibility policy will continue to seek ways to help better the Nigerian future, by helping to educate and train children who are interested in and willing to better themselves and live their dreams in ways devoid of social vices that hurt society.

“Is a very fruitfully and a fulfilling way to live one’s life, helping others become better persons. That way we are bound to faceless social crises. This is an idea that we are very passionate about,” he said.

Arsenal, West Ham London Derby Live on GOtv Football fans are in for a treat this weekend as games from the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie Awill be broadcast live on GOtv. This weekend’s broadcast begins with the Premier League encounter between Arsenal and West Ham at the Emirates Stadium today. The game kicks off at 4pm and will be aired live on SuperSport Select 2.

A fascinating game lies in prospect in the Serie A when the defending champions, Juventus will travel to face Bologna Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Sunday. The game will be aired live on SuperSport Select 5 at 6pm.

Also on Sunday, Real Betis will host Real Madrid at Benito Villamarín Stadium. The game kicks off at 9pm on SuperSport Select 4.

Real Betis have been struggling this

season, losing two and drawing three of their last five games and placed in 14th position. Manager Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia will be hoping that his team can begin to win games and avoid dropping into the relegation zone.

Los Verdiblancos will, however, meet a Real Madrid side that wants to consolidate its league position as table-toppers following their win over Barcelona last week.

PwC Chess4Change Mentorship Begins in Lagos The much-awaited Chess4Change mentorship programme for secondary school students have finally commenced in Lagos.

The programme, according to the organisers, is aimed to tutor and nurture secondary school students about chess and also to enlightening the students on skill set that would help them thrive in their academics and in the future.

The mentorship which is the first of several others kicked off with a tour of the PwC office complex as student-beneficiaries of the program were ushered through the facility by PwC officials, who described the layout and inner workings of the organisation.

This was keeping in line with the objectives of the mentorship sessions to inspire and motivate students by creating a close contact point between the students and the PwC brand.

The event also featured its trademark mentorship sessions which were delivered by an esteemed range of facilitators including Number 4 ranked chess player, Oluwafemi Balogun as well as PwC Representatives.

Facilitators at the event also disussed topics such as; digital skills: requisite skills to thrive in a digital world, financial literacy: The hacks of saving culture and self-esteem: How to build your self-confidence.

Dignitaries in attendance inlude:

Mrs Delia Asuzu – Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications, PwC, Mrs Lynda Ori - Senior Associate, Marketing & Communications, Mr Ifeanyi Nnaji - Senior Associate, Technology Advisory, PwC, Ms Chinasa Ken-ugwuh- Manager, PwC, Dr BolaAdigun-Associate Director, PwC, Mr Oluwafemi Balogun- International Chess Master & 4th Highest FIDE rated Nigerian Player, Chess Facilitators, District Officers and Principals The initiative sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC); one of the world’s leading audit and advisory firms was supported by the Lagos State Ministry of Education and Nigeria Chess Federation.

Polo: Growing the Game of Kings in Nigeria Olutayo Irantiola This year’s Lagos International Polo Tournament sponsored by GTBank which lasted from February 4th to 16th at the Rabidu Road end of highbrow Ikoyi, played host to some of the most prestigious African teams.

With the theme “Lagos Develops Polo,” it was aimed at encouraging the participation of young and indigenous talented players while featuring top class action from some of the most experienced and acclaimed polo players in and out of the country. Some of the stars that featured include; South Africa’s Chris Mackenzie +7, Argentina’s Andres Crespo +5, Raul Laplacette +7 and Santiago de Estrada +6, as well as Nigeria’s Neku Atawodi-Edun +5, the highest-handicapped female player at the tournament.

The competition featured 39 teams; the highest number at thetournament till date. The teams competed in four major cups; the Silver Cup, Open Cup, Low Cup, and Majekodunmi Cup. The finals held on Sunday 9th February 2020, with Lagos Leighton Kings clinching the prestigious Majekodunmi Cup 10-5 at the expense of Lintex Agad. NRT clinched the Low Cup while RCF won the Governor’s Cup. Commenting on the GTBank’s continued support for the tournament, the President of Lagos Polo Club, Mr Ayo Olashoju said, “We are delighted to have GTBank as our sponsor. The relationship between Lagos Polo Club and the bank is borne out of common shared values and reputation for quality.”

After sponsoring five tournaments, the bank has not given up in delighting the players through their support. Guaranty Trust Bank PLC is one of the few Nigerian financial institutions that have maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, most especially in sports education.

Alongside the GTBank Lagos International Polo Tournament, the bank organizes and sponsors several other sports competitions which includes Lagos & Ogun State Principals Cup, Masters Cup and Super Cup football competitions amongst secondary schools in Lagos and Ogun State.

A leading advocate of sports education as a major way of promoting the values of excellence and fair play whilst laying the foundation for the emergence of sporting talent, a close study of the bank’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, reflects that GTBank maintains a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy focused on championing causes and fostering initiatives that transform lives and uplift communities.

Speaking on the bank’s involvement with the game of Polo, The Managing Director, Mr. Segun Agbaje noted that, “We love the game of polo, not only because it is one of the most anticipated events in the social calendar of the country, but also because its values such as discipline, rigour and fair play strongly resonates with our brand.

He further stated that; “Our sponsorship of the NPA Lagos International Polo Tournament also reflects our strong belief in the role of sports as a major vehicle of social development and our commitment to championing activities and events that bring people together.”

The game which was introduced to Lagos, Nigeria in 1904 by British naval officers, was played on an air strip that was shared between the Lagos Polo Club and the Ikoyi Club. The game is one of the oldest sports in the country.

The game never got into a competitive stage until about a decade after.

In 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Germany presented a Sterling Silver Cup (now known as the Independence Cup) for a championship between Nigeria and the German Cameroon’s. This was the beginning of another era for the game in Nigeria. Gradually, top civil servants and senior citizens became members of the club and since then, the game has gradually evolved.

A Nigerian, Dr Majekodunmi donated the now famous Majekodunmi Cup to be competed for by the highest handicap players at club tournaments. Other cups within the club are the Silver Cup, Low Cup, Open Cup, Governors Cup while there are subsidiary cups such as Independence Club; Italian Ambassador’s Cup and Oba of Lagos Cup. All of these cups have become the regular feature of the Annual Nigeria Polo Association Lagos International Polo Tournament which has become the flagship of polo competition from Nigeria and across the world.

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

35

GLOBAL SOCCER

Funke Oshonaike

History Maker Oshonaike... looking towards Tokyo Olympics

Funke Oshonaike has never hidden her dream of becoming the first African female athlete to participate in seven Olympic Games, but doubts were cast over her ability to achieve the feat, more especially after her lacklustre performance at the last National Sports Festival in Abuja, where she was defeated by little known, Nimota Aregbesola. The former African champion however rose from those disappointments to book her Tokyo 2020 Olympics ticket

N

igerian Funke Oshonaike became the first African female athlete to qualify for seven Olympic Games after the former African table tennis champion penultimate Thursday secured her place in the singles event at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, matching the number of appearances of compatriot, Segun Toriola, for an African athlete competing at the Olympic Games.

Oshonaike booked her place for the biggest sporting event after defeating Cameroon’s Sarah Hanffou 4-1 in her final group match at the ongoing Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tunis after having earlier defeated Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi 4-1 to set up the tie against Hanffou.

Qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics means Oshonaike is now ahead of Mozambican track legend, Maria Mutola, who she shared six appearances at the Games with.

Oshonaike had featured in six previous Olympic Games starting with Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Oshonaike described her historic seventh Olympics qualification in table tennis as a dream come true.

“I’m very excited to be the first female to be going to seven Olympic Games. It wasn’t an easy task but I thank God for the achievement. I did it for Nigerian and African women,” said the veteran ping-ponger.

Oshonaike has indeed said she suffered depression but had to stand strong in order to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In a Facebook live feed, Oshonaike expressed her joy by becoming the first African female athlete to compete in

the Olympics on seven occasions in table tennis, or in other sports, combined.

“I went through depression last year. I was crying almost every day. I was heartbroken by many people. I developed high blood pressure and now I have to live with it. I was operated on two times. My left arm was even injured.

“I couldn’t play table tennis for a long time after All African Games in Morocco. I had another surgery this year in January, I cried bitterly. My name was not on Africa Top 16 list, I was very sad because I was supposed to be there for the competition. I fought but lost,” she said.

She further thanked Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, as well as some other Nigerians who came to her rescue in her time of depression.

“The same people that planned the removal of my name tried to remove me from Olympic qualification but God is greater. The Minister of Sports in Nigeria and some good people rescued me.

“I have been having sleepless nights because of these mischievous people. I have a lot to talk about but I leave it for another day.

“Tokyo 2020 here I come. 7 times Olympian. Don’t give up on your dreams,” she declared.

Oshonaike, who would be retiring after the 2020 Olympics, claimed a 4-1 victory over Algeria’s Lynda Loghraibi.

The Africa’s queen of table tennis started competing for Nigeria since early 80s and has attended six Olympic Games beginning from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“Table tennis is something I have the passion for, so much so that over 41 years I am still playing. Sometimes, the situation of the country tends to weigh me, I think probably it is because of my German lifestyle I am used to, and over there things are quite different. But I realise that this is Nigeria

and we have a way of doing things. I am hopeful that one-day things will change,” she told THISDAY. The loss to Aregbesola left a big doubt as to whether Oshonaike still has the strength to forge ahead in the game, while many are of the opinion that she should just quit honourably.

“Maybe I will retire soon, but, right now, I’m still having fun with what I am doing. It is not giving me stress.

As long as I have everything I need, then why should I stop. Many people have told me that age is telling on me but I believe age is nothing but numbers. Age is in the head and heart,” Oshonaike had said then.

For every glorious career, there is always a starting point, Oshonaike’s foray into table tennis began at her teenage years in elementary school in the streets of Shomolu, a bustling town in Lagos State. At that age of her life passion for the sports helped to water the ground for this life expedition. While in Shomolu, Oshonaike started developing this perceived potential which she describes as a ‘talent from God’ using a makeshift table and soak away slabs to play the game with her elder brother.

From there, the ship took sail to her secondary school, where she started representing the school at competitions, earning her the awards and recognition from the school principal, who recognised this budding talent and decided to propel her to greatness. This opportunity did not only launch her to limelight, but set her apart as a rare talent with promise and potentials.

“I started playing table tennis at the age of 12, during my primary school days in Shomolu and I was driven by the belief that it was a God-free given talent and the fact that my elder brother played was also an inspiration. We had a small makeshift table to play with before somebody in my street bought a table tennis board and from there a coach discovered me. Then I started representing my school, the state and the country. At the state level, I won several awards and was also recognised by the state,” she recalled.

According to her, “the journey has been wonderful for me, and I have no regret whatsoever. Table tennis has taken me everywhere and given me everything I have achieved today. Though there have been some challenges, but that is life nothing good comes easy. There have been good and bad times in my career, but I try to move on despite these ups and downs. One of the saddest moments in my career was during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2011, when I was dropped from the team. Despite that, I did not lose faith in the team and the country; today I still represent the country.”

36

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ 2020

FAIRGROUND

7th AMVCA: Fans Have One Week to Vote for their Choice Movie Stars

with

AZUKA OGUJIUBA

azuka.ogujiuba@thisdaylive.com

F

ans have only one week to vote for their favourite movie and TV stars, nominated in various categories for the 7th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 14 in Lagos.

Nominees for the prestigious awards ceremony were announced early February, with several actors, directors, screenwriters and other industry specialists vying for honors in 28 categories. Although all the nominees have been recognised for their outstanding performances over the past 19 months, there can only be one winner in each category.

Seven categories including Best Actor in a Comedy (Movie/TV Series), Best Actor in a Drama (Movie/ TV Series), Best Actress in a Comedy (Movie/TV Series), Best Actress in a Drama (Movie/TV Series), Best Supporting Actor (Movie/TV Series), Best Supporting Actress (Movie/TV Series), and Best Short Film or Online Video are all open to public voting, while a panel of highly experienced judges will determine the outcome of other categories.

As the countdown to the 7th AMVCA intensifies, fans can show support for their favorites by casting their votes for them on the AMVCA website https://africamagic.dstv.com/show/amvca/vote This edition promises to come with a lot of surprises, as all the categories are filled with a good mix of veteran and breakthrough actors.

The AMVCA, sponsored by Amstel Malta, will hold at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, and will be broadcast live on all Africa Magic channels on DStv and GOtv.

Efa Iwara and Akah Nnani

Uzor Arukwe and guests

Dakore Egbuson

Timini Egbuson

'2Weeks In Lagos,' Fused with Ghanaian Flavor, Debuts March 27 Award winning Director, Kathryn Fasegha, fuses Ghanaian flavor in her forthcoming original Lagos love story movie project titled, “2Weeks In Lagos� to be released in cinemas on March 27, 2020. The movie, which captures the excitement and vibrancy of everyday life in Lagos and reflects the complexity of life in Lagos, a dynamic city where anything is possible in two weeks, also fuses in some Ghanaian flavor into as Ghollywood superstar, Mawuli Gavor leads the pack of Nollywood superstars such as Toyin Abraham, Beverly Naya, Joke Silva, Shaffy Bello, Deyemi Okanlawon, Jide Kosoko, Yaw, Tina Mba, Patrick Nnamani, Efe Irele, Uto Usman and a host of others. “2 Weeks in Lagos� is a captivating, turbulent

and thrilling journey into the Love affair of Ejikeme (Mawuli Gavor) and Lola (Beverly Naya). Their lives collide when Ejikeme an investment banker comes home from the United States to invest in Nigerian businesses. It is love at first sight for them and as they embark on a journey of discovering this new love, they have to contend with the political ambitions of Ejikeme’s mother who is planning a marriage between him and the only daughter of Otunba Ayodeji, a political juggernaut who is considering Ejikeme’s father as his running mate for the Nigerian Presidency. His mother’s actions create a rift between Ejikeme and Lola that puts their families on a deadly collision course.

The movie was first screened at Cannes Festival which happens to be the biggest film festival in the

world on Friday, May 17, 2019 in Cannes France and will be released in all cinemas in Nigeria on March 27.

Speaking on the movie, the Director, Fasegha expressed joy for the privilege to have her movie showcase at the Cannes Film Festival in France. “I am very excited to be at the Cannes Film Festival. For me, it’s not just about directing a movie, it is also exciting to see my movie placed at one of the biggest film platforms in the world� she said. “The Cannes film festival is one where movies from different parts of the world are showcased to promote film making, and I am grateful to everyone who contributed to bringing this movie to life, from the cast to the crew and everyone indeed,� she added.

Beverly

37

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ 2020

FAIRGROUND

TBWC Ignites South-South With Level Up Conference Arrangements have been concluded for the hosting of this year's edition of the Business Women Connect (TBWC), Conference 2020.

According to an official statement, TBWC, is a not-for-profit initiative and the event, which is the third edition of her annual business women’s conference is scheduled for March 21.

The conference, with the theme, ‘Level Up- Unleash the Extraodinary You,’ is said to be the largest business women forum in the South-South and is billed to hold at the KFT Event Place Warri, Delta State.

The business women connect is an initiative, which debuted three years ago with a mission to educate, inspire, motivate and build a network of an upwardly mobile community of female entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta.

TBWC president, Doubra Emein, said the business women connect conference is a brand that has come to stay "as it exists to meet a need in the Niger Delta business terrain and beyond."

According to her, the group is building a strong women network aimed at inspiring women across the South-South region to unleash their potential.

She said: “There is a big gap we have in our environment, as there are few and almost non-existing platforms or opportunities for the upwardly mobile woman in Delta state, as most business conferences tailored towards women happen in Lagos and Abuja. “We believe there are enough enterprising, intelligent, modern women who will be interested in building themselves up and are willing to invest their time to learn how to not only improve and

be better at their different businesses and jobs, but also learn how to find a balance between the work and life.�

Speaking on the impact, TBWC executive director, Ufuoma Ogbo, explained that the conference, since inception, has so far impacted over 1,000 women and targets individuals, female entrepreneurs, working class women as well as all of those who want to start-out in entrepreneurship.

Recalling one of the testimonials from the last conference, many of the participants now have a mind shift as to how to efficiently run their businesses and a lot have discovered purpose due to their contact with the annual inspirational event.

According to Onome Akpobaro, one of the TBWC directors, there are preconference activities to sensitise women across the region, like the meet and greets the group, from Benin to Sapele, Asaba , Yenagoa, with the last one billed to take place in Port Harcourt as well as the Power Walk slated for March 14.

The event will be chaired by Shimite Bello, executive assistant to the Delta State Government on Export Initiative, while speakers expected at the conference include: CEO, House of Tara International, Tara Fela Durotoye and CEO, Fine and Country West Africa, Udo Okonjo. The panelist session will be anchored by experienced and succesful entrepreneurs who have broken barriers in South-South, like Tarela Okene of Dripples Cakes; Edirin Esigie CEO Jetana Services; Joyce Bozimo, organizer Warri/Effurun Peace Marathon, amongst others.

Princess Onome Akpobaro

Linda Ikeji Back with Self-made Conference

Linda Ikeji

One of Africa’s most successful media entrepreneurs and a blogger, Linda Ikeji, in partnership with Ecobank, is to host this edition of her yearly women empowerment programme, titled “Selfmade Woman Conference�, scheduled to hold on April 25, 2020, in Lagos Nigeria.

Ikeji, who happens to be the most successful blogger out of Africa started the “Selfmade Woman Conference� in 2013 as an advocacy project with the sole aim to educate, mentor and provide financial empowerment to young female entrepreneurs or aspiring ones seeking greener pastures, career-wise.

The blogger has over the years used her voice and platform to encourage young Nigerian women to be financially independent and resourceful while providing funding and support for them to kick start their businesses.

Since 2015, she has given over N30million of her own personal money to empower over 40 female entrepreneurs, with quite a few of them going on to have successful small scale businesses The first edition of the "Selfmade Woman Conference" which held in April 2017 was outrightly successful as it hosted over 3000 young women.

Speaking about the 2020 edition, Linda said she

took time off the conference so as to plan better and also had to attend to her new role as a mum.

"I am very passionate about women and very inspired by successful women. I want more women to believe in themselves, fight for their dreams, be financially independent, believe that there's nothing they can't accomplish.

The conference is to mentor and inspire women with dreams and aspirations", she said.

She further added: "It seems the world is more skewed towards making a man more successful than women, or at least that’s the narrative most of our generation was given.

So, those of us who have broken through the myth has the duty to take as many other women as possible with us. We need more women to succeed. We need more women to head conglomerates. We need more women making an impact. We need more women shattering tables."

Ikeji also took out time to appreciate Ecobank for coming on board of the project. ‘Having Ecobank on board the project is so heartwarming. It is like coming together of liked minds. Now we can make ‘Selfmade Woman Conference' bigger and better.

TSLS Foundation Priemeres, 'The Scourge', Launches Be The Change Trauma Savers Life Support Foundation, a non governmental organisation (NGO), concerned about the impact of substance abuse among the youths, recently took its campaign against drugs and indiscriminate use of alcohol and other controlled substances to schools in Lagos State. Pushing forward on this mission, the NGO also shot a feature film titled, 'The Scourge', which enlisted the support of Nollywood stars to broadcast the message featuring Wole Ojo, Richard Agbor, Tobi Bakare, Saidi Balogun and a host of others. The film intends to show the ill sides of drug abuse, how it could be tackled and a life after its abuse.

The NGO is a registered health advocacy, established to promote positive mental health among people by educating them on the menace of drug addiction in Nigeria.

The president, Mrs. Yinka Olaiya said: "It’s easier to pass a message through entertainment as it’s an easy way to attract people and this medium is where

our message would be passed easily. The movie has a tone of tragedy but with a happy ending. I remember when I was in secondary school, drugs were not common.

"If you want to get high, maybe it will be on sugar. Drug addiction now is a global thing, and it is not only in Nigeria. The United Nations has said the drug rate in Nigeria would be higher in five years than anywhere in the whole world, which is why the foundation is paying attention to it now."

Also at the event was the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu and a host of other dignitaries who came out to support the cause.

Several students from different schools across Lagos state and three students emerged winners of an essay competition and were awarded gifts by her excellency.

Be the Change group was also unveiled at the event as a support system for the eradication of drug abuse.

L-R: Saheed Balogun, Mrs. Yinka Olaiya, Amaifeobi Nonso and wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu and a guest

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ 2020

38

AUTO Volkswagen Provides First Insights into its new All-electric Compact SUVID.4

The new Jaguar F-TYPE

BAFTA-winning Director Features new Jaguar F-TYPE in Six Films Stories by Bennett Oghifo

J

aguar has worked with multi awardwinning director William Bartlett on a collection of six films starring the new F-TYPE sports car.

The new Jaguar F-TYPE will be available in sub-SaharaAfrica from May 2020, and will be in the showroom of Coscharis Motors which represents Jaguar in Nigeria.

Bartlett won a BAFTA for his work on British drama series SS-GB and has created the title sequences for James Bond movies Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Spectre.

The ‘Just Imagine’ films use innovative storytelling techniques and combine live action and computer-generated images, allowing you to imagine the thrill of driving or sitting in a new JaguarF-TYPE,saidastatementbytheautomaker.

The films are a result of extensive collaboration between Jaguar, agency Spark44 and London-based Framestore Pictures. Director William Bartlett places the new Jaguar F-TYPE

in different scenarios to highlight its features. It races alongside galloping horses to showcase the 2.0-litre Convertible model, leaps off a ski jump to promote the power of its 5.0-litre V8 R version and shows off its handling on a Hot Wheels-inspired track. It’s also the centre of attention as a photographer snaps images, and it shrinks to the size of a stitch in the trim to show its beautiful new interior.

Andy Hunt Cooke, Jaguar Global Communications Senior Manager, said: “The new Jaguar F-TYPE was designed to inspire extraordinary journeys. By using the latest innovative film techniques we have taken the driver to a hyper-real world, so they can imagine the thrill of experiencing it and the pride they would feel as an owner of such beauty, craftsmanship and sporting dynamism. “Our partners Spark44 and Framestore both fully embraced our philosophy of fearless creativity driving progress – the spirit that makes Jaguar unique in the automotive world.�

William Bartlett, Executive Creative Director,

Framestore, said: “As an iconic British brand there are few car makers that capture the imagination in quite the same way as Jaguar. “The combination of the technical and aesthetic challenge, mixing live action and CGI was right up my street and the sort of job that always gets me excited. And of course, since a large part of our responsibility is to make beautiful images it certainly helps when at the centre of every frame is Jaguar’s new F-TYPE.�

The new Jaguar F-TYPE in the films looks more beautiful than ever and embodies Jaguar design DNA in its purest form. The two-seat sports car offers a perfect balance of performance and driver reward with an even more muscular, assertive design and a cabin defined by rich, luxurious materials and beautiful details.

A range of powerful, responsive engines includes four, six and eight-cylinder options which are all matched to eight-speed Quickshift transmissions with full manual control using either the SportShift gear selector or the steering wheel-mounted paddles.

World Premiere of new Porsche 911Turbo S

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orsche presents the new generation 911 Turbo S featuring unprecedented power, driving dynamics and comfort.

Available in CoupĂŠ and Cabriolet form, the latest version of the two-door sports car delivers 650 hp (478 kW). A new 3.8-litre boxer engine with two VTG turbochargers is the beating heart of the car and delivers 70 hp (51 kW) more than its predecessor. The maximum torque now reaches 800 Nm (an increase of 50 Nm). The Turbo-specificeight-speedPorscheDoppelkupplung (PDK) cuts the sprint from zero to 100 km/h to 2.7 seconds (a decrease of 0.2 seconds), while the top speed is unchanged at 330 km/h.

The dimensions of the 911 Turbo S have increased significantly in line with its enhanced driving dynamics. The body is now 45 mm wider above the front axle at a total width of 1,840 mm and 20mm wider above the rear axle, bringing the overall width here to 1,900 mm. Modified track widths, further developed aerodynamics, and the new mixed-size tyres contribute to its agility and sportiness. The adaptive aerodynamics now include controlled cooling air flaps at the front and a larger rear wing designed to produce even more downforce. For the first time, the 911 Turbo S transfers its power to the road with tyres in two different sizes: 20-inch tyres at the front and 21-inch tyres at the rear. New equipment options underline the much sportier image of the all-wheel drive 911. These include the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) sports chassis that has been lowered by 10 mm and the sports exhaust system with adjustable flaps that guarantees a distinctive sound.

The new engine of the 911 Turbo S is based on the 911 Carrera engine generation. It features a completely

The new Porsche 911 Turbo S redesigned charge air cooling system and new, larger variable turbine geometry (VTG) turbochargers in a symmetrical layout with electrically adjustable wastegate flaps. It also uses piezo injectors which have significantly improved the vehicle’s characteristics with regard to responsiveness, power, torque, emissions and revving ability.

Thenewsix-cylinderengineisnowaspiratedbyfour intakes with a larger overall cross-section and lower resistance, enhancing the overall engine efficiency.

Twosymmetricalturbochargerswithvariableturbine geometry (VTG) and larger dimensions replace the previous identical parts, with the compressor and turbine wheels now rotating in opposite directions.

The ID. CROZZ showcar evolves into its series production version, the ID.4: Volkswagen is forging ahead with its electric mobility strategy by providing a detailed insight into the brand’s first all-electric SUV during a webcast following the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show. The new ID.4 will be launched this year. Following in the tracks of the ID.3, the countdown has already begun for the second model based on the new modular electric drive matrix (MEB). “Just like the ID.3, the ID.4 will also come onto the market as a carbon-neutral vehicleâ€?, explains Ralf Brandstätter, Chief Operating Officer of the Volkswagen brand. “We will produce and sell the ID.4 in Europe, China and the U.S..â€?

The design of this zero-emission SUV is particularly aerodynamic. Ralf Brandstätter: “The outstanding aerodynamics reduce the drag coefficient, and it will boost the ID.4’s range to up to 500 kilometres, depending on the drive package.â€?

The ID.4 will initially be launched with rearwheel drive, while an electric all-wheel drive version will be added to the portfolio at a later date. The high-voltage battery is positioned near the center of the underbody to create a low centre of gravity and an optimum in terms of driving dynamics, along with an extremely well-balanced axle load distribution. Just like all other MEB models, the ID.4 offers plenty of interior space thanks to its compact, electric drive technology. The fully digital cockpit of the zero-emission SUV has been clearly structured.

It is operated primarily using touch surfaces and intelligent, intuitive voice control.

For Volkswagen, the ID.4 and ID.3 represent important milestones in the brand’s bid to become entirely carbon-neutral by 2050 – in line with the Paris climate agreement. Plans have been put in place to reduce the Volkswagen fleet’s CO2-emissions by a third by as early as 2025. Volkswagen is currently investing one billion euro to electrify its model range while also offering an increasing number of hybrid vehicles. This is based on the fact that, just like electric powertrains, new mild and plug-in hybrid drives in large-scale product lines such as the all-conquering Golf will significantly help to reduce fleet emissions in the future.

This is why the company’s focus during the webcast is not only on ID. models, but also on new Volkswagen models with hybrid drive.

These include the new Touareg R As a result, the most powerful Volkswagen model will in future also be powered by an efficient plug-in hybrid system. The alliance between an electric drive motor generating 100 kW (136 PS) and a V6 turbocharged petrol engine (TSI) with an output of 250 kW (340 PS) develops a system output of 340 kW (462 PS).

The battery capacity of the Touareg R with a top speed of 140 km/h in all-electric E-MODE has been designed so that most average daily commuting distances can be covered with zero emissions.

The same applies to the new Golf GTE– its plug-in hybrid drive has been geared towards performance and consists of an electric drive motor with 85 kW (115 PS) and a four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine (TSI) generating 110 kW (150 PS). As a unit, the electric drive motor and the TSI develop a system output of 180 kW (245 PS). The new Golf GTE’s top speed in all-electric mode is 130 km/h. Further Volkswagen highlights include the new Golf GTD, which generates significantly lower nitrogen oxide emissions compared with its predecessor thanks to innovative twin dosing technology, plus the eighth generation of the Golf GTI, produced more than 2.3 million times. The most recent version is powered by a 180 kW (245 PS) 2.0-litre turbocharged direct injection engine.

The maximum torque is 370 Nm. The fourcylinder engine is coupled with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard. A 7-speed dual clutch gearbox (DSG) is optionally available for the new GTI.

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AUTO

Intelligence is Getting Exciting with Mercedes-Benz new E-Class Stories by Bennett Oghifo

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he Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon and Estatehaveundergoneacomprehensive updateasthefirstrepresentativesofthis model series.

Automotiveintelligenceisnowgetting exciting and dynamic, according to the automaker, who said both models will arrive in the showrooms of European dealers in summer 2020.

The long-wheelbase version of the Saloon (China), as well as the CoupĂŠ and Cabriolet, will follow soon thereafter.

With over 14 million Saloon and Estate models deliveredsince1946,theE-Classisthebest-sellingmodel seriesinthehistoryofMercedes-Benz.Itisperceivedby manyasthe“heartofthebrand�.Thetenthgeneration of the E-Class set styling trends in 2016 with its clean yet emotionally appealing design and an exclusive, high-quality interior. The wealth of innovations such as in the area of the driving assistance systems also was characteristic. This emotionally appealing and at the same time intelligent combination is extremely successful: to date, more than 1.2 million customers around the world have bought a current-generation E-Class Saloon or E-Class Estate.

Here the key facts about the refresh: More dynamic design Avantgarde Line as the new basic specification for the exterior Redesigned front headlamps (fullLED headlamps as standard, optionally available MULTIBEAM LED headlamps) Redesigned tail lamps Redesigned radiator grille and front bumper All-Terrain variant visually more similar to the SUV models

Next-generation driving assistance systems, including: New steering wheel generation with capacitive hands-off detection ActiveDistanceAssistDISTRONICwithroute-based speed adjustment Active Stop-and-Go Assist Active Steering Assist ActiveBrakeAssist;intheDrivingAssistancePackage now also with turning manoeuvre function ActiveBlindSpotAssist–nowalsowithexitwarning Parking Package in conjunction with 360° camera: newly expanded side view and for the first time automatic parking not only in parallel and end-on parking spaces, but also on marked areas.

Even more comfort in the interior Two digital screens as standard (2 x 10.25-inch, bonded), optional Widescreen cockpit with two 12.3-inch displays) MBUX with LINGUATRONIC voice control (standard) and augmented reality Interior Assistant ENERGIZINGcomfortcontrolwithENERGIZING COACH and PowerNap (in plug-in hybrids) ENERGIZING seat kinetics E as in efficiency: electrification of the powertrain Sevenplug-inhybridsasSaloonandEstatemodels, petrol and diesel, with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive Electrified models for the first time also for the US market New M 254 engine: two-litre, four-cylinder petrolenginewithISG(IntegratedStarter-Generator) and 48-volt on-board electrical system, rated output: 200 + 15 kW, innovative segment turbocharger with flow connection, electric additional compressor (eVZ), NANOSLIDEÂŽ coated cylinder barrels, CONICSHAPEÂŽ cylinder bore, CAMTRONIC for controlling the intake valves.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Hyundai Motor Unveils Prophecy Concept EV

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yundaiMotorCompanyunveiled its new concept EV, “Prophecy�, expressing the company’s latest design language.

The visionary concept clearly expresses Hyundai’s latest design philosophy, Sensuous Sportiness, expanding on the era-defining example set by last year’s “45� concept EV that stripped away complexity in favor of clean lines and minimalistic structures. “Prophecy� follows suit with an iconic silhouette of perfect proportions that have been inspired by an aerodynamic design. Leveraging the extended wheelbase and shorter overhang, Hyundai’s designers have achieved the Ultimate Automotive Form, thanks to a new EV architecture defined by pristine surfaces and pure volume in combination with aesthetic harmony and functionality. “We have brought to life yet another icon that establishes a new standard for the EV segment as well as pushing Hyundai’s design vision to even broader horizons,� said SangYup Lee, Head of Hyundai Global Design Center. “A part of that expansion is what we call Optimistic Futurism, a design concept embodied by ‘Prophecy’. With Optimistic Futurism, our aim is to forge an emotional connection between humans and automobiles.�

Sensuous Sportiness finds its full expression with

the “Prophecy� exterior The application of Hyundai’s Sensuous Sportiness design philosophy is evident in the voluptuous side section, which is like that of a perfectly weathered stone. It is cut by a clean and simple One Curve streamline which extends from front to rear with minimalist restraint. This underlines the timelessness of its design. The dynamic and elegant boat-tail line created by the rear quarter panels appear to propel the form forward even when it is standing still.

Furthermore, the design provides excellent aerodynamics, a characteristic indispensable to EVs. The propeller shapes embedded in the vehicle’s wheel not only affirm this trait, they also compel air to be drawn in and flow down the side of the body like water over a stone. The integrated rear spoiler complements this effect by harnessing downforce that aids vehicle stability when travelling at speed.

The transparent acrylic material provides a clear view of the functional components inside.

This intentional design feature is integrated in the spoiler, headlamp and in the camera monitoring system (CMS), calling attention to the functional beauty of the components.

The pixel lamp lights, which were first seen on the ‘45’, take a step forward. This progressive lighting technology is integrated into the headlamp, tail lamp and spoiler, calling to mind the abundant energy contained in the vehicle’s battery cells.

Hyundai new concept EV, Prophecy

Number Plate Regulations For Articulated Vehicles In December 2019, I did a piece I titled, ‘’Is Number Plate Removal Legal’’. I am tempted to run through same piece with some alteration in the face of the recent pronouncement by the Federal Road Safety Corps on articulated vehicles and number plate compliance. For the sake of those who missed out on the recent pronouncement by the Corps, please allow me to run excerpts of the press statement announcing strict enforcement soon on the subject matter in the face of safety and security concerns in the country as well as ease of robust data management.

The statement signed by Bisi Kazeem, the head of media said plans have been concluded towards the fullimplementationof3numberplateforarticulated vehicles. “It noted that it is statutory for articulated vehicles to have 3 number plates which are to be visibly placed at the front of the tractor, at the back of the tractor and the third number plate placed at the back of the trailer or tanker.

Thestatementgavereasonsfortheimplementation of this provisions to include boosting existing data on articulated vehicles, promote national security, enhance ease of identification and advance the objectives of the National Vehicles Identifications Scheme(NVIS) What really is the position of the law on removal of number plates and articulated vehicles? First, I wish to state here that it is illegal for any law enforcement operative to engage in removal/ confiscation of number plates from a vehicle. This

SAFE DRIVING with Jonas Agwu amnipr, mcipr,mprsa,arpa (Corps Commander) Corps Public Education Officer Federal Road Safety Corps. + 2348033026491 is how the Corps captured it in a recent clarification: for appropriate guidance, the following provisions of the law are instructive: Section 10(4)(h) of the FRSC (Establishment) Act, 2007 states: that it is an offence to be on the road without a valid vehicle licence or identification mark being displayed. Similarly, Section 10(4)(s) of the Act makes failure to display number plates on vehicles an offence.

The National Road Traffic Regulations (NRTR) 2012 also provide as follows: Section 36(NRTR) 2012 makes it mandatory for all private and commercial vehicles to have number plates which shall be fixed on them in a manner as not to be easily detachable.

Section 36 states that All private and commercial vehicles shall have on them Vehicle Identification Number Plates which shall -Be carried by the motor vehicle on two plates which shall conform to the requirements of these regulations; and the number plate shall be fixed-in such a manner that each is not easily detachable; and in an upright position

or within 15 degrees of such position.

Section 39(a): states that “All vehicles private and commercial shall have on them vehicle identification number plates and shall be an offence for any vehicle not to have the said number plates�. It concludes by stating that ‘that apart from identification purposes, vehicle registration number plates are security items that are captured on the national security architecture and have been used to assist security operatives in tracking some serious national security issues.

Removing such identification items from vehicle plying our roads will not only offend the law but would further jeopardize national security.

In Section 37- (1) of the same Regulations, it states that The Identification Number Plates carried by a motorvehicleorarticulatedvehicleshallbedisplayed on two plates for a motor vehicle and three plates for anarticulatedvehicleandshallconformastolettering, numbering and otherwise with the provision set out in figures 1-11 of schedule 5 to these regulations. The number plates shall in respect of a motor vehicle be fixed, one on the front of the vehicle and the other at the center or on the off side of the rear of the vehicle or as may be provided by the manufacturer.

In respect of a trailer which is our focus, it says one should be fixed on the front of the vehicle and two at the rear of the trailer in an upright position. For a motorcycle, one plate shall be fixed in front and one at the rear with the plate having white background but blue lettering for private green lettering for the Federal, State or Local Government, black lettering

for theArmed Forces, Paramilitary Service and red lettering for commercial, so that every letter or figure on the plate is up- right and easily distinguishable in the case of the front plate from behind.

In the case of the recovery of a semi-trailer, the operator of the prime mover shall be required to ensure that the entire articulated vehicle carries the same identification number in respect of the prime mover and the semi-trailer.

Each Identification Number Plate must be reflective and so made that any letter, numeral or other identifying mark displayed on it are legible at day timeandatnightinclearweatherandmustbevisible and recognizable at a distance of not less than 60 meters by the driver of the immediate following vehicle and in the case of motorcycle at a distance of 30 meters.

The Regulation further states in Section 38-(1) that a vehicle shall carry a Vehicle Tag as specified in Form MVA25 of schedule 5 to these regulations whichshallbeissuedalongwiththeVehicleNumber Plate and shall carry the same number with the plate and be affixed to the rear windscreen.

Except as otherwise provided under these regulations, number plates shall be transferred from one vehicle or trailer to another; Number plates shall be attached to a person and not to a vehicle and that Number Plate shall be returned to the Motor Licensing Authority on sale of a car and the new owner shall obtain new set of number plate; while Proof of Ownership Certificate is mandatory for issuance of new number plates. All of these provisions cited explain why driving with one number plate or none at all is illegal.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ MARCH 7, 2020

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SATURDAY MARCH 7, 2020 •T H I S D AY

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SHOWBIZFLAIR

DJ Cuppy Uncovers ‘Original Copy’ 2Baba Grooving with Burna Boy pg. 50

Diane Russet Focuses on Underage Marriage pg. 52

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DJ Cuppy Uncovers ‘Original Copy’ “Original Copy,� DJ Cuppy’s anticipated debut EP is expected to break down all preconceived notions and prove to critics that Cuppy is passionate about her art, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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little over a week ago, celebrity disc jockey Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, popularly known as DJ Cuppy took to her social media page to get her fans involved in search of a title for her forthcoming debut EP. The energetic daughter of billionaire business mogul, Femi Otedola, had taken to her Twitter page to ask her fans to vote for the most suitable name for her Debut EP. Her fans then responded by going to their twitter handle to cast their votes. Following the results of the Twitter poll, DJ Cuppy revealed the title of her debut EP which is set for release this year.

The 27-year-old took to her Instagram page last Sunday to divulge ‘Original Copy’ as the name of her debut EP. She explained that she chose it based on its popularity among her fans and also in keeping with her ‘oxymoron theme’. “Final results! Over 9,000 of you voted‌ #OriginalCopy will be the official name of me debut EP to keep in line with my oxymoron theme,â€?

Cuppy wrote.

She had earlier posted to her over 1.1million followers: “My debut EP #OriginalCopy is coming soon. Ps: This is not the official artwork!� she wrote on Twitter.

Before the final announcement, Cuppy had suggested some names for the upcoming EP, asking her fans to vote for their choices. The Gelato crooner created an online poll listing four options for her ‘Cupcakes’ to pick from - “Guest Hostâ€?, “The Cupcakeâ€?, “Original Copyâ€? and “Only Choiceâ€? as intended options to name her debut EP, with “The Cupcakeâ€? coming very close to being the winner. “My Cupcakes! The name of my debut EP is in your hands! Vote your favourite name below and I will proceed with the artwork! ‌ choose wisely!!!â€?

Cuppy previously announced that she was yet to pick a title for her debut EP, even though it was more than 64 per cent complete.

She, therefore, enlisted her fans and godmother, Carolyn Steyn, to help her name it. The name “Original Copy� which was eventually chosen by her fans is a strong oxymoron that portrays Cuppy herself. Cuppy has consistently pushed the envelope as a woman and a creative since she began her musical career; shattering stereotypes and raising the standard.

Original Copy is expected to break down all preconceived notions and prove to critics that Cuppy is passionate about her art and raising the standard.

What are the songs expected in “Original Copy�? Cuppy has got a couple of single songs featuring guest appearances. She has Green Light featuring Tekno, Vybe featuring Ghanaian superstar Sarkodie,

DJ Cuppy

and Currency featuring L.A.X. she also has Werk featuring the Skuki duo, Charged Up featuring beat maker Masterkraft, Abena featuring Kwesi Arthur, Shaydee, Ceeza Milli and her much raved Gelato featuring Zanku master, Zlatan Ibile.

Her fans and follows wait to see which of the songs will make the

upcoming Extended Play (EP). Prior to the Valentine season, the awardwinning pretty Nigerian DJ came out in her usual fun way to say she was ready to drop her single status.

She made this known via a Twitter post while responding to an earlier tweet by British singer Jhus, where she said she was willing to marry

him if he will agree to a feature on her EP album. She wrote “I’ll let you wifey me if you’ll be on my debut EP. LOL #ShootYourShot2020â€?. Earlier Jhus had tweeted that he was looking to settle down and interested ladies should send in their CV and resumĂŠ.

He wrote “I need a wifey, dm me your CV’s and your rĂŠsumĂŠâ€?.

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SHOWBIZFLAIR

Gabriel Afolayan

Stella Damasus

Ademinokan Opens the ‘Gone’ Thriller In Daniel Ademinokan’s upcoming movie, veteran actor Sam Dede stars as a man whose return to serve payback is met with raised eyebrows, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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fter the release of his award-winning feature “Black Friday� in 2010, filmmaker Daniel Ademinokan is back with a new feature film titled “Gone�. “Gone� is a deeply emotional and dramatic thriller set in Lagos and New York City and its cinematic spectacle perfectly blends a cast of three Generations of Nollywood. This serves as Blue Pictures Studios first feature film in conjunction with Index Two Studios in the United States.

The cast includes Sam Dede, Stella Damasus, Gbenga Atitiloye, Gabriel Afolayan, Bimbo Ademoye, Sophie Alakija, Emma Oh Ma God, Adejumoke Aderounmu, produced by Joy Odiete and Daniel Ademonikan. The teaser of Gone shows Sam Dede’s character back to exact what seems to be bloody vengeance. Not much has been revealed about the plot

of the upcoming movie but from what is glimpsed from the trailer, Animashaun (Dede) returned after a long time to dish payback.

Sam Dede stars as a man whose return is met with raised eyebrows; a pointer that he wasn’t that much of a beloved individual before his disappearance. If the brief scenes we see in the short clip are anything to go by, then we are in for an engaging drama. A scene where Dede’s character deals Gabriel Afolayan a vicious blow, also reveals that some action might also be part of the package as well.

The movie producer, Daniel Ademonikan, is regarded as one of the most prolific filmmakers from Africa today as his works have charted a new course for the Nigerian motion picture industry. For over 12 years, he has written, produced and directed several feature films, shorts, music videos, commercials, PSAs, and documentaries. Daniel started

out as a scriptwriter but his eyes have always been on the director’s chair.

He is one of those you can describe as natural in the art of directing.

His first passion was music and as a teenager, he toured with major bands as a bass player for several years.

Even as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music producer, Daniel still nurtured his love for films and television. In the late 1990s, he penned several screenplays for producers in Nigeria that became very successful movies. This gave him more drive to pursue his vision as a filmmaker.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science in Nigeria, he went on to the United States to study Filmmaking at the Digital Film Academy in New York. He is also a trained and certified RED camera user by RED. He worked as an assistant director to renowned director Ikechukwu Onyeka who

helped him hone his skills as a filmmaker. Daniel’s claim to fame came when he directed the movie Black Friday that earned five nominations at the most regarded Africa Movie Academy Awards.

The nominations included best screenplay, best director, best editing, best sound and best actor. He has gone on to win scores of awards as a director across Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His films have also screened at festivals & cinemas across the world. He has been described as the “actors’ director�, “the all-in-onedirector� and the “one-stop-shop�.

Noted for his knack for perfection and attention to details, actors and crew rarely turn down any script or material from Ademinokan. He is respected as a director but he is also a seasoned cinematographer, writer, editor, motion graphics animator, producer, and songwriter, musician, and music producer.

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SHOWBIZFLAIR Biodun Okeowo

We Should Learn to Live Everyday Like It’s Our Last Pretty and undeniably endowed actress, Biodun Okeowo, best known in the movie industry as Omoborty, is one actress whose shape announces her even when she is not speaking. Biodun, the fair-skinned role interpreter, talks to Tosin Clegg, recalling her journey into Nollywood, her social life, and how she copes with the negativity that comes with being a celebrity and a lot more Lessons from 2019 est lesson learned in 2019 is that we are all visitors in this world and nobody is promised tomorrow. We should always do good and live everyday like it’s our last. Because I didn’t believe my mom could die last year.

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Being scarce in movies lately is a personal choice Reason being that my business takes 70% to 85% of my time and that’s because it is where the major money I make comes from. But this year I’m doing a cinema movie

by God’s grace. Business has been good and largely we have been doing well. Skincare business is the main deal now and I’m launching a bigger one soon by His Grace.

Embarrassing moments I have never had any embarrassing moments per say but I remember a certain man that used to call me Iya Iyabo then in Kaduna because of my massive hips. He was like ‘if you born ehn, this your hips go full everywhere o, because you never born now, the thing too big’. So that made me conscious of my shape. As skinny as I was then, even my curves couldn’t be hidden.

What I do to maintain my looks I drink a lot of water; I exercise once in a while. I am getting lazy in that aspect, though. I also exfoliate a lot. And I moisturise much too.

However, I don’t joke with my Organo White lotion and soap from Victoria’s Beauty. I’m a fan of glowing skin and I take a lot of skin vitamins too, such as Vitamin C, Collagen and hyaluronic in capsule form.

Handling the rise of my colleagues in the industry, while establishing my businesses Let me explain to you how I see it. We are all in a race to win a prize, and then along the way, I saw money and picked the money, while others passed me.

As the journey continued, I saw something nice and also picked it up. At the end of the race my contemporary came first and was presented the prize but in my case, I completed the race too and have two gifts to show off. You can see that I’m still at the winning end; it’s not how far but how well. So, I have no reason to be envious.

After all, I have made a name in the entertainment industry and that needs no introduction to the public. I really don’t have anything to lose; no latecomer in success.

I and the red-carpets I’m hardly spotted on the red-carpets and It’s just my busy schedule, that’s all. It has even affected my social media platform.

For a while, my Instagram was dormant. But now I update it almost every day.

Dealing with negative comments on my page I’m a very free and playful person but I think there’s this mentality that Nigerians have about dressing. They believe you can’t dress the way you like. But I’m an advocate of dressing in whatever you are comfortable in. I don’t look at anybody. If I feel like rocking my bikini, I do just that without minding whatever people are saying. When next I’d travel to Miami, I am going to rock my bikini. I don’t care at all.

As for the comments on Instagram, sometimes I just laugh and other times, I just respond to them.

While responding, I don’t sound bitter or angry, I just reply them playfully and make my point known that they have no right to judge me. Those that seek cheap attention, I give them in full dose whenever I am in the mood. If my dressing and butts make people talk on my Instagram, I will keep on rocking more of such clothes and flaunting what I have got.

No comments have ever hit me so bad No! Not at all. I can only delete the pictures that I want to use to pass a message, but while posting it, I would also write ‘deleting soon’. Then the pictures my children don’t like, I won’t post. As far as they don’t complain, I don’t have any issues with any other person. Then my mother also, they are the ones that can tell me what to do or what they don’t like. Funnily enough, my kids understand and often commend what I wear.

So, I pity some people that would tell me ‘and you call yourself a mother, yet dress like this or that’.

What even makes them think, I want to give my children this their Nigerian upbringing and mentality? I know we have cultures and I won’t go out there exposing what’s beyond the normal.

Adding to that, I am an actress and some of my pictures are set photos. You won’t see me outside wearing such or see me walking on the street distracting people. I don’t want to say it’s poverty mentality, but I don’t just know what to think.

Go to more advanced countries and see the way and manner they carry themselves. Nobody dares to harass anybody because of dressing.

Biodun Okeowo

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ 2020

Tosin Clegg 07062816737 e-mail: tosinclegg@hotmail.com

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MY STORY

Gists Ikechukwu Nnakenyi Miracle, aka Big Dol, is an artiste in his own class with musical creatives that are designed as audible art.

He draws inspirations from the likes of Fela, Wizkid, Davido, Olamide and a lot more.

He talks with Tosin Clegg about his music, International beauty brand, Fair and White Paris, has endorsed in his remarks during the epoch event, said that the ceremony his forthcoming projects and more one of the Big Brother season 4, 2019 housemates, Miss Esther was only a step further towards bringing the brand closer to

Ex-BBNaija Star, Esther Bags Fair and White Paris Endorsement Olaoluwa Agunbiade, as a brand ambassador for its range of products in Nigeria. The ceremony, which was attended by top distributors of the product, bank representatives, customers and friends, among others, took place recently in Ikoyi, Lagos. The Managing Director of Bozac continental, Mr. Patrick Chibueze,

its users and as a way of creating more awareness about the authentication of their products by users, in order to expose it to them and to sensitise them against buying fake products in the market.

Arepresentative from Labo Derma France, Olivier Tancogne, was also in attendance at the event, on behalf of the parent company. The winner of the Fair and White selfie challenge 2019, Miss Zainab Adamu, was also presented with the grand prize of an iPhone, as promised by the company.

In addition, the brand ambassador, Esther, said it was going to be an eventful year, as she would be touring the country with the brand to achieve brand awareness and eradicating the production of fake Fair and White products in the Nigerian market.

Fair and White products are made in France specially for men and women of colour who desire a beautiful radiant skin and is produced by Labo Derma France and marketed in Nigeria by Bozac Doro Music Team Continental Limited for over 25 years.

Uncle Ade Shares ‘Inspiration Behind Gospel Singers’ The Voice Coach UK and founder of The Ultimate Gospel Singers Boot Camp, Uncle Ade, has highlighted the importance of his latest music project. According to the US-based coach, “The Boot Camp is a one week intensive training programme designed to improve the singing technique and singing IQ of artistes at a very affordable rate. “Essentially, the GSBC is an intensive programme designed to give singers detailed insight into the essential technical and practical elements that must be present, to help a singer achieve excellence in their craft. Unlike the kind of information that students typically learn at university and college, my teaching approach, and therefore content, have been developed to ensure that my students experience career defining training,’’ he stated.

The event which is slated for March 30 to April 3, 2020 at Surulere, Lagos, is targeted at beginners, intermediates and advanced gospel music artistes. The programme is structured in a manner that will give all levels greater insight, understanding and a solid foundation on which to develop their voice.

Those who attend will take away a wealth of knowledge and insight into the Ade business practices, and thought-processes of some of the most successful practitioners in the African music industry.

StarTimes Innovates on Local Programming Across 14 Channels Desirous of meeting the growing demands of its teeming subscribers across Africa, Leading Digital Pay TV provider StarTimes, has announced an exciting new content offering that can be enjoyed in three different languages across all 14 channels on StarTimes.

The new content which features sports, dramas, live-action, and animation comedy series, documentary films, series and children’s content will be dearly loved by family and entertainment lovers.�

The new exciting, educative and entertaining channels aired in English, French, and Portuguese on StarTimes includes; Fox, Fox Life, National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Wild, ESPN, ESPN 2, National Geographic Channel French, National Geographic Wild French, Fox Portuguese, National Geographic Channel Portuguese, National Geographic Wild Portuguese, and on Baby TV respectively.

According to the Deputy General Manager of the media department at StarTimes, Lily Meng, “Fans across the African continent can catch up on the very latest array of entertainment programming that will appeal to all members of the family.�

Commenting on the technical issues affecting the signal, Lily noted that “StarTimes has furthered optimised the transmission methods and technically solved the problem of signal interference in consideration of user experience and has ensured the smooth broadcast of all exciting content.�

Empraiz Gospel Group Ranked among Best in Africa Empraiz gospel group has been ranked as one of the top best gospel groups in Africa by International gospel choir of New Foundland. The group is a Nigerian Afro-contemporary gospel group, led by a multitalented artiste, Emmanuel Olowoyeye, popularly known as Empraiz. This group is known for their traditional uniqueness of singing and performing in different African and Local languages. Their music is infused with African traditional folks and percussion instruments which have carved a niche for the group in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

Their unique style has also earned them local and international awards and they were recently nominated at the Africa Gospel Music Award, AGGMA, held in London, as the Best Traditional Group (West Africa), and were nominated at BAGMA awards in the United States.

The group also recorded international success when they went on their first international tour in the United States in November, 2016 and it was a time of African traditional display of heritages, songs and dance in different languages.

This special talent and gift has granted them over 150 Radio and TV air play in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and in other West African countries. They also performed in different Africa communities in the United States to represent African and Nigerian cultural heritage. Over the years, Empraiz gospel group has built their music credentials and creative ingenuity by being one of the top best gospel groups in Nigeria and Africa.

Their diligent and foresight in the discipline is without doubt remarkable. This won the group the best traditional gospel group category in the South South award in 2019. The group has also built a creative image and a burning desire to impact the world through gospel music.

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Tacha at Queen Sono’s Premier Anita Natacha Akide, popularly known as Tacha, a former Big Brother Naija housemate, was one of the stars on the red carpet at the exclusive screening of “Queen Sono� at Filmhouse Cinemas, IMAX Lekki, Lagos last week.

Tacha, a video blogger and an Instagram influencer, stole the show on the red carpet. Nollywood’s finest had gathered in Lagos to watch the first episode of Netflix’s first Original African Series. It follows the story of a female spy, played by South African actress Pearl Thusi, who effortlessly fights crime, while dealing with serious issues in her personal life.

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Juliet Ibrahim at 34 Ghanaian-born Nollywood actress, Juliet Ibrahim, was all over the social media on Tuesday with breath-taking pictures to celebrate her 34th birthday. The award-winning actress wrote: “Men may not understand how far You’ve brought me. They may not understand. I worship you today Jesus ome kannaya. I worship You today‌ The doer of all good things.

Whatever You say comes to pass. Onye di nso (Holy One). The only precious lamb of God. When you’re involved things change. I can’t imagine what I would be without You. Go without you, can’t live without You. Thank You Lord for another year! #atoasttolife #March3rd #happybirthdayqueen.�

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2Baba Grooving with Burna Boy

2Baba and Burna Boy

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

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t’s already in the news that Innocent Idibia aka 2Baba has dropped his much anticipated album titled Warriors. His seventh studio album, shortly before release, was preceded by the visuals for ‘We Must Grove’, a track off the 13 track album. Of the new songs from the LP, this is 2Baba’s first video for the song which featured Burna Boy. The less than four-minute video, which was produced by Jay Sleek and directed

by Patrick Ellis, sees the superstar singer addressing how people can weather the storms of life and still come out strong.

No doubt, his social and political lyrics have transformative effects on the industry as a whole; it is no surprise ‘We Must Groove’ is the next single on the record, following its title track, Warriors. Hence it is seen as a priority track when the visuals first got exposed to an exclusive A-list guests that spans the music, movie and the media industry during the album listening tagged ‘silent party themed’. In the song, 2Baba is feeling with the pressure, feeling with different problems of life. But the scenes look foreign.

The video kick starts and characterises the lyrics on a relatively ecstatic note but gradually assumed a temperate tone with a scene of an evicted tenant, who is apparently

frustrated. It also captured that of a lady who appeared to be having a relationship setback. Both characters are seen drinking themselves to stupor. The exciting atmosphere, which characterised the early part of the visuals, however, returned later, with 2Baba suggesting that nothing is worth worrying about in life. He croons: Even if I get fever

2Baba and Burna Boy

Or my landlord on the case As long as happiness I no go give vex I dont need to stop, to fly high high I got the natural high I don’t need to think too much But – no problem instead of raising solution Before the self-branded African Giant interplays the lyrics with slow raps midway into the song. 2Baba

says of the body work is to celebrate people that have been doing great things, young and old. And Burna Boy falls into the category having had impressive career run that peaked recent times. Seems the first time both artistes are doing a song together.

In his latest offering, 2Baba gives fans a little bit of everything - Afrobeats, Afropop, R&B and even reggae. Although one feels it’s an upbeat song, critics and music journalists have had their takes of the album and one related to the track in review goes thus.

In “We Must Groove� featuring Burna Boy, 2Baba switches to a reggae melody with a heavy Jamaican-style lyricism. While a fairly mid-tempo, the overall feel of the song is laid back and will have you wanting to wind that waist.

Additionally, the brass instrumentals of the track definitely add the right amount of bounce.

The afrobeats/afrofusion tune is highlighted as top five songs with very high replay value to look out for in the album. The album is his fifth work released under his record label, Hypertek Digital, which he established after leaving Kennis Music in 2008 and also marks part of his 20 Years A King celebration, which commemorates 2Baba’s two decades in the Nigerian music industry. The album is a follow-up to the artistes last project The Ascension which was released back in 2014.

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Ultimate Love: Intrigues, Excitement Intensifies After First Checkout

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wenty-one days after its debut, the Ultimate Love reality TV show has delivered its first check-out, with the first Love Guests – Michael and Cherry (Micherry) becoming the first couple to be checked out of the Love Pad having scored the least number of votes. With that, both kissed goodbye to the opportunity of winning the show’s ultimate prize.

Micherry’s check-out stunned the other couples, who didn’t think they would be the first couple to be ousted from the Love Pad. The shock delivered by Micherry’s check-out did well to remind the remaining love guests that although they are in to find lifelong love, they are in a competition,nonetheless.

The Love Pad has been buzzing with activities with the Love Guests performing various tasks such as the dramatisation of both the Asha Festival of the Ikorodu people of Lagos State and the traditional marriage rites of the people of Enugu. But these, unsurprisingly, have not set their pulses racing anywhere near the nomination exercise for the check-out; an edge-of-the-seat momentfor both the Love Guests and viewers.

The fear of being nominated and experiencing a possible check-out on Sunday has pitched couples against one another and has led to the emergence of cliques.

For example, the couples: Obichukwu, Ebiteinye, Roskie, and Meriton seem to be in one camp, while PreshDavid, JayKech, Double Chris appear to be in another. The strength of these alliances will be known as the show progresses.

Back to finding love, Aunty (Adesuwa Onyenokwe) created a “Love Nest�, a separate room in her Love Pad, to assist couples’ bond better.

The couple to go into the Love Nest is selected after winning a competition chosen by Aunty. So far, three couples have had access to the Love Nest with the first being Bolar (Bolanle and Arnold), followed by Iykeresa (Iyke and Theresa) and the current occupants are PreshDavid (Presh Talker and David Wilson).

Michael and Cherry

The Love Nest appears to have worked some wonders on PreshDavid, who now show signs of recovery from the initial awkwardness observed when they became a couple.

Iyke and Theresa (Iykeresa) are also not doing badly as their relationship looks to be growing stronger by the day, while the chemistry between the

couples: Obiebi and Jaykech also appears to be blossoming. Although they are already talking about a future together, Jelo(Jenny Koko and Louis), just like any other couple seem to argue over everything from the serious to downright trivial matters.

Chivia (Chiddy Bankz and Sylvia) still appear unable to work out the true

nature of their relationship, andthe lack of affection between Double Chris (Chris and Chris Ville) is poorly disguised.

Meanwhile, the Roskie ship is yet to have a smooth sailing, as Rosie was heard to have disclosed to her close friends her doubts over Kachi’s intention for their future, particularly with regards to their bonding and differences over relocation.

Meanwhile, there appears to be some misunderstanding between the duo of Jerry and Meriton aka Jeriton as Meriton appears not convinced by Jerry’s personality. Although Bolar seem to have now ended their seemingly unending arguments and relate better now, Arnold says he still needs time to be convinced about Bolanle’s character.

With all the happenings in the Love Pad, it is apparent that the couples are still getting to know each other and are asking the pertinent questions lovers ask as part of efforts to reach the ultimate destination – marriage! However, they are provided strategic tips on how to strengthen their relationships during their one-on-one sessions with Aunty.

Also, the real-world missions carried out by the nominated couples also positively impacts their bond, as seen during the tasks assigned The coast will become clearer on Sunday, as one or more couples will be checked out during the live show on Sunday.

Fans of the show will find out who among the Love Guests will emerge the ultimate couple and claim the grand prize totalling N5 million, a lavish traditional wedding and ahouse, only by staying tuned to DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 29.

Ultimate Love is live 24/7 on DStv Premium, DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact, DStv Confam and DStv Yanga packages on channel 198; and on GOtv Max and GOtv Jolli packages on channel 29.

For more information on the show, visit www.africamagic.tv/ultimatelove and follow the social media updates on @ultimatelovengon Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtag #UltimateLoveNg.

Morroco Maduka to Celebrate 60 Years On Stage in October

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he oldest Igbo performing musician alive and Ekpili music crooner, Chief Emeka Morocco Maduka will be celebrating his 60 years anniversary on stage come 23rd and 24th October 2020 in Awka and Onitsha both cities in Anambra State of Nigeria.

A statement signed by the publisher of Anioma Trust magazine, Patrick Ochei, said there would be a public lecture in Awka on the first day and on the second day, all roads will lead to Onitsha for the musical fiesta. The two-day event will also feature the participation of other well- known musicians.

The music festival which was earlier slated for the 6th and 7th of March 2020, was shifted to October due to what the promoters termed “the unfortunate era of Corona Virus that is creating health fears around the world.�

Speaking from London, Londonbased music promoter and President of Morocco Maduka’s Global Fans Club, Mr. Eddie Isebor, in conjunction with his other friends and coordinators all over the world, regretted the shift in date. They however, believed that it was better to postpone the event than

stage an event of this magnitude and fans and supporters would refuse to show up due to palpable fears of the epidemic breaking presently in China and already spreading in other parts of the world.

Isebor affirmed that sponsors and partners were already signing up in what would be the biggest music festival in Nigeria, stating that the shift is also an opportunity for more partners and sponsors to show interest and properly key into the programme.

Chief Dr Emeka Morocco Maduka, the Ukwulu, Anambra born music maestro, started his music career at the age of 14 and is today the oldest performing musician in the East of Nigeria.

He is famous with the Ekpili music genre, and has followers all over the world, including United States of America, Europe, Asia etc.

In a special message to his fans all over the world, he said that he was always thankful to God for giving him the grace to overcome the many challenges he encountered during the early days of his musical career.

The forthcoming stage anniversary will among other things, feature Arts and works exhibition as part of the festival colloquium.

Chief Maduka in the studio in London

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Diane Russet Focuses on Underage Marriage Big Brother Naija 2019 housemate, Diane Russet, celebrates 24th birthday and releases trailer for her short film titled, “Bayi�. Ferdinand Ekechukwu reports

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ig Brother Naija 2019 housemate, Diane Russet, celebrated her 24th birthday with the trailer of a short film titled, ‘Bayi’ based on the throes of underage marriage. This was revealed through a post shared on her social media page where the Kaduna State native first posted a trailer of the movie. The trailer for the upcoming short, directed

by Michael ‘Ama Psalmist’ Akinrogunde, gives a heartwrenching reminder of the harsh reality of child brides.

Diane plays the central character. As a child bride, she must submit to the troubling demands of her society. “There are many young girls like you all over Africa being pushed into early marriage,� a character like a counselor says to Diane in the trailer. Meanwhile, she is the executive producer of the upcoming film. The short film also stars Tope Olowoniyan, Mariam Kayode, Daniel Atteh, Nathaniel King and Sir Dee. The trailer also shows Diane as she tells the story of the challenges these women face; ranging from child marriage to marital rape and Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF).

Although the plot is reminiscent of Stephanie Linus’ 2014 tragedy Dry, it is a story that cannot be told enough; not until the issue ceases to exist. This is one film you should be on the lookout for.

In December 2019, Diane Russet, whose real name is Precious Yunana Yashim announced her debut in Nollywood with another short film, “The Therapist�.

The short film, which she also produced, features Nigerian singer Iyanya.

Diane had taken to her social media page to post the trailer of the film, in which a scene shows her and the music star locked lips which got followers talking on social media. The reality TV star also featured Kenyan actress Lynn Nardia Bentley in the film. Evans Edeha had directed “The Therapist�.

While in the BBNaija house, Diane initially expressed her interest to join the Nigerian film industry when film star and producer, Funke Akindele-Bello visited the house.

In her response, Funke Akindele revealed that she can’t wait to have Diane Russet on the set of her comedy series, “Jenifa’s Diary�.

Given the success of her first film, this new one will likely also do well. Upon release of the trailer, the reality star wrote on her page; “Bayi!!!

Thanks to everyone that came on board. This project is dear to me and I had the best team the dream team, they also made this possible.

Thank y’all�.

On another note, Diane has been made the latest ambassador for a health brand My Paddi NG. She had announced it through a post.

She recalls: “As a young adult, I know firsthand the experiences we face when it comes to depression, sexual and reproductive health issues. I know how tough it can be asking these questions and not getting the right answers. I am a proud @mypaddi_ng ambassador.

Proud to be part of a community that provides much needed answers to most of the issues we have as young adults. You can ask any question while being totally anonymous.�

Baby girl 4 life, as she is fondly called by friends and fans, hasn’t slowed down a bit since leaving the Big Brother house. The soft talking Diane reminisced on her journey thus: “This time last year, I prayed that my 23 should be amazing and be a breakthrough year for me and God did it, God did come through for me.�

Diane definitely had her prayers answered as she counts her blessings. At 23, she became famous courtesy of her appearance on Nigeria’s most popular reality TV show, Big Brother Naija Season 4.

She released her short film starring Iyanya, started a presenting gig with TV girl Simi Drey titled Untold Truths, launched a collection of beach wears and nighttime clothing and re-opened her cooking project, Russet Kitchen. 2019 was a really good year for Diane Russet, who also bagged a number of endorsements, asides her businesses. On turning 24, the young woman took out time to be thankful for her new age. Diane posted a really beautiful picture of herself, thanking God for how successful her 23rd year was. Here is what she wrote: “24!!!! Wow? I have got a lot to be thankful for. God has been so good and merciful. “This time last year, I prayed that my 23 should be amazing and be a breakthrough year for me and God did it, God did come through for me. Today, I just want to say thank you to God Almighty and to y’all.

Thank you for supporting and praying for me always.

Now 24!! More of God, less of me. More wins, more money.�

Diane had the coolest and most fun pyjamas-themed birthday party. The reality TV star on the night of her birthday celebrated by friends and even her fellow BBNaija stars such as Mercy, Elozonam, Jeff Banks, Frodd, KimOprah, Ike, Ella among others. Also, during the party, she hosted a private screening of her short film, Bayi.

Diane

˜ ˞ MARCH 7, 2020

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PERSPECTIVE

Abiola vs Abacha: Weepy Reminiscences Soyombo Opeyemi

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rank Kokori: The Struggle For June 12 is an engrossing account of how General Sani Abacha, the Defence Secretary of the Interim National Government and later Head of State, successfully deceived the President-elect, Chief MKO Abiola and viciously decimated the June 12 movement. It recounts the betrayals by the elites of different hue and shade across the country, majority of whom benefitted from the immense generosity of Abiola; the wranglings and waverings within the Labour and pro-democracy movements; and the travails of the author in the epic struggle for the revalidation of June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Kokori was arrested by the Abacha junta in August 1994 and incarcerated for four years, regaining his freedom upon the sudden demise of the maximum ruler.

Comrade Frank Kokori, then General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), literally put his life on the line for the restoration of democracy - inauguration of Abiola as the President of Nigeria.

He effectively primed NUPENG and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) “previously used to aluta for personal and immediate gain� to engage in political liberation fight for the restoration of the June 12 mandate. The Paschal Bafyau-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), however, remained impervious, a hard knock to crack. Indeed, had NLC supported the resistance, the Abacha regime would probably have collapsed within days. “Gain first political freedom and every other thing will follow,� was the message of Kokori. Engaging only in parochial bread and butter issues on behalf of the workers will only lead to preservation of capitalist wage slavery. Union leaders must, therefore, be the tribune of the masses and use their organisations to fight for a just and egalitarian society.

The first debilitating NUPENG-led oil workers’ strike that paralysed economic activities after the June 12 annulment by General Ibrahim Babangida took place between August 28 and September 7, 1993. It brought the Labour activist in a face-toface contact with Sani Abacha, the Secretary of Defence. Since Abiola had called Kokori on phone while abroad to cooperate with Abacha, who promised that most of their demands would be met, the strike was suspended.

Wrote the union activist on page 59 of the memoirs, “I found General Abacha very cordial; almost patronising. You would think he could not hurt a fly. Nothing revealed that underneath such a gentlemanly facade hid a deadly ambition that would later mow down countless politicians and citizens.�

Indeed, anyone could be taken in by the personality of Abacha and one must accept the charge of culpable naivety.

When sometime in 1993, a national magazine first carried a rumour on the political ambition of Gen. Sani Abacha, then the Defence Secretary of the Interim National Government, headed by Earnest Shonekan, I dismissed it as a huge joke.

Abacha, I reasoned, was too unpolished to crave a political space of such magnitude; besides he’s barely able to write his name. Consequently, I did not imbibe the rumour.

One should have been guided by the immortal words of William Shakespeare: “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.�

Abacha sacked Shonekan on November 17, 1993. A day after, “Names were being mentioned, and I could see that Kingibe had his name penciled down for External Affairs Minister and Member of the Provisional Ruling Council� by Abacha’s confidants in the military, assisted by two Permanent Secretaries at a compound in Ikoyi. Abacha sought and greeted Frank Kokori on phone. The Labour activist was alarmed about the unfolding events. He was not interested in biting the political appointment bait being dangled before him. A regime said to be provisional, hoping to restore the Abiola-Kingibe mandate but right there giving a ministerial appointment to the Vice President-elect, was a situation too thick for Kokori to swallow. “Did you get clearance from him (Abiola)?� Kokori asked his political associate, the Vice-President-elect, Baba Gana Kingibe. “Abacha must have told him,� Kingibe replied. “Let’s go and see MKO,� demanded Kokori.

By the time MKO and Kingibe emerged from their private discussion the next day, it was clear all was not well. MKO regaled Kokori with parables on disappointment and betrayal. “With Kingibe gone,� wrote the author, “the chances of recovering MKO’s mandate looked as remote as getting a one-winged bird to fly!�

Was Abiola confronted with a Hobson’s choice? It seems dubious on the face of it the seeming promise by Abacha to overthrow Shonekan and first govern before handing over the reins of power to MKO. One would be an irredeemable optimist to acquiesce to the proposition of ‘let me overthrow, govern small and then hand over!’ In his authoritative book on the June 12 struggle, Out of the Shadows: Exile and the Struggle for Freedom & Democracy in Nigeria, John Kayode Fayemi, who was one of the arrowheads of the anti-Abacha struggle in exile and now governor of Ekiti State, had predicted in the cover story of Nigeria Now, published just before the Abacha coup: “The irony of it is great, though that a man who won the right to power by popular

Abacha

Abiola

democratic means, should wait on extra-democratic forces to consummate that right. The trouble is, the people may be predictable, electoral orientation and inclinations even more so. But the art has not been discovered to hold a man with a gun to his words. This is the tragedy of Abiola’s strategy.�

(Emphasis supplied) According to Kokori, “He (MKO) had been assured that Abacha would shove out Shonekan and hand over power to him. With Shonekan off the scene, Abiola waited for the General to fulfil the last leg of the bargain, and Abiola waited with unalloyed hope.�

After the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as South African President in 1994, where MKO received a red carpet treatment, Abiola renewed his interest to reclaim his mandate. But Kokori initially demurred: “At the time the people told you to claim your mandate, you did not; now you want to claim your mandate when everybody’s interest has fizzled out. How do we do it?�

MKO declared himself President in Epetedo, Lagos on June 11, 1994 without any contingency security plans. You could feel the disappointment of Kokori by the manner MKO handled the whole matter. Although the activist never remotely suggested an armed struggle, it was so baffling to him - just like the NADECO ultimatum to Abacha to step down - that there were no coordinated plans such as debilitating mass action by Labour and civil society groups to back the Epetedo declaration by Abiola.

I had not read Kokori’s memoirs as at 2016 when I reviewed the book by Jamiu Abiola about his father – The President Who Never Ruled. In that review, published in THISDAY and The Guardian, I observed as follows: “On page 158 of his autobiography, the anti-apartheid hero (Mandela) submitted: ‘For me, nonviolence was not a moral principle but a strategy; there is no moral goodness in using an ineffective weapon.’ I believe the debate will rage for a long time on whether MKO should have embraced both sides of the ANC struggle against white minority rule. Should MKO have backed his declaration up with active resistance, especially when he had the resources to do so? Is it not as much ridiculous to accuse Abiola of attempting to overthrown a military government sitting illegally on the expressed wish of the electorate as accusing him of treason based on self-declaration as President by a patently illegal military government? Could he have succeeded by cashing in on the schism within the army at the time? Was MKO unwisely idealistic? The debate will linger for a long time to come.�

It is quite interesting to read in Frank Kokori: The Struggle For June 12 how Abacha and his deputy, General Oladipo Diya, initially courted the union leader. Diya, one of those whom Abacha used to kill June 12, eventually ended up in the belly of Abacha!

Of course, given the way things later developed, it would continue to be a debate whether Abiola should have accepted the bail conditions and then use the opportunity of the limited freedom, which I reckon would be virtually a house arrest, to plot his realisation of his mandate.

We equally read in the memoirs a moving account of how the gadfly - Kokori - was lured out of his hiding place by a Personal Assistant of Abiola and arrested on the “night of 19th to 20th August 1994.� One recalls here in parenthesis that it was another Abiola’s Personal Assistant that was said to have betrayed Kudirat Abiola to her killers on that fateful day of July 4, 1996!

The radical Labour leader took his first bath after 12 days in detention and was in a torn dress for the first 100 days! He was initially placed in a dungeon, stinking cell littered with excrement and in solitary confinement...

Much after the visit, a new special self-contained cell was built for the Prisoner of Conscience, courtesy of Kingibe, who had then changed portfolio as Minister of Internal Affairs. “That singular gesture speaks volumes about Kingibe’s helplessness. Instead of working to release me, he worked to keep me comfortable in prison!�

We equally learnt that “But for the four years that I languished in jail, my (NUPENG) comrades did not as much give my people (family) One Naira.� But support came from strange places. The Good Samaritan Engr. Ade Thompson “just appeared on my family’s doorsteps one day and began to give money to Esther and the children.� “Against the backdrop of all these killings, democracy activists like Femi Falana, Abdul Oroh of CLO and Dr . Funmi Adewunmi of Friedrich Ebert Foundation liased with the international community and took my children out of the country� through “NADECO Routes�. Cordelia Kokori quickly teamed up with Hafsat Abiola in the anti-Abacha campaign.

The Labour activist was aghast that Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations and Emeka Anyaoku, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, both of West African descent, could not speak truth to the military junta “about their transgression, but instead reverting to coercing a helpless prisoner to forgo his presidential mandate... “ One recalls that in a later visit by the American delegation, led by Thomas Pickering, Abiola was served a cup of tea, then slumped and died - after four years in solitary confinement on account of the billionaire’s decision to concretise the presidential mandate freely given to him by the generality of Nigerians on June 12, 1993! His wife, the Amazon, Kudirat Abiola, had earlier fallen to the bullets of the Abacha agents.

In effect, the annulment of the freest and fairest election in the annals of Nigeria by the Babangida regime led to the death of the winner, his wife and hundreds of other Nigerians. This, clearly, is a crying injustice.

The book laments how pro-democracy activists and June 12 warriors failed to come to terms with realities of politics; how they failed to take advantage of the post-Abacha era and get themselves into political power.

On page 262, Kokori submits, “What I told Pa Enahoro in America has today come to pass. Revolutionaries must have a base. We don’t just boycott and boycott the political process. If Tinubu does not reign in Lagos today, we would not have been able to give Pa Enahoro this kind of rousing welcome...�

But then the General Abdusalami Abubakar transition could also have turned out to be a hoax, a stratagem in the mould of the Babangida’s and Abacha’s. Only a reasonable political gamble could, therefore, be encouraged at the material time.

The activists who were sceptical and those optimistic of the Abdusalami transition had a foundation for their positions.

Finally, Frank Kokori: The Struggle For June 12 exposes the reader to the world of the Organised Labour and career unionists.

It may seem invidious, giving the untold sacrifice of the author, but a reviewer must do his job. The publishers of the 340-page book could have done a better job! It seems the manuscript was published unedited! The author missed out in his list of honour a few other names that equally played a key role in the anti-Abacha campaign. On the whole, Frank Kokori: The Struggle For June 12 constitutes a weepy reflection on the road Nigeria had marched. Kokori deserves all the plaudits for this historical work of immense significance. ––Soyombo, author and media practitioner, writes via densityshow@yahoo.com

54

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍżËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

NEWSXTRA

Nigeria Posts Negative Trade Balance in Q4 t Puts merchandise trade at N36.15tn in 2019 James Emejo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË Nigeria recorded a trade deficit of N579.06 billion in the fourth quarter of last (Q4 2019), representing the first negative balance since 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

However, the value of total trade stood at N10.12 trillion in the period under review, which represented a 10.15 per cent increase over the N9.19 trillion recorded in

the preceding quarter and 25.9 per cent increase relative to Q4, 2018.

According to the Foreign Trade Statistics – Q4 2019, released by the statistical agency, the value of the export component stood at (N4.77 trillion), which represented a drop by 9.79 per cent against Q3, but rose by 7.06 per cent when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2018.

Conversely, the total value of imports stood at N5.34 trillion,

denoting an increase of 37.20 per cent in Q4 against Q3 and 49.34 per cent against Q4,2018.

The NBS however, noted that "the faster increase in imports resulted in a negative trade balance of N579.06 billion during the quarter under review, the first since mid-2016."

Nevertheless, total trade for 2019 stood at N36.15 trillion, representing an increase of 14.05 per cent compared to N31.69 trillion in 2018.

The NBS said further noted that the level of imports stood at N16.95 trillion while exports were valued at N19.19 trillion, resulting in a trade balance of N2.23 trillion in 2019.

It stated that while imports rose by 28.8 per cent in 2019 over 2018, exports rose by only 3.6 per cent while trade balance was 58.4 per cent less than in 2018.

It said crude oil remained the dominant export valued at N3.62 trillion in Q4, and

accounted for 76.1 per cent of total exports, while non crude oil exports amounted to N1.14 trillion or 23.9 per cent of total trade during the quarter.

According to the NBS, value of crude oil exports in Q4 was

Court Fines Former Anambra Reps Member for Human Rights Violation David-Chyddy Eleke Ă“Ă˜ ĂĄĂ•Ă‹ An Anambra High Court has ordered Hon. Ifeanyi Ibezim, a former House of Representatives member to pay the sum of N1 million to Mr. Paul Onwughalu and Mr. Friday Titus Umah as damage for violating their fundamental human rights.

The High Court which sat at Oba also ordered Ibezim, who represented Idemili North/ South to pay the sum of N100,000 to the duo as cost of litigation and a public apology in a daily newspaper that circulate in Anambra.

Ibezim, member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was sworn-in after the 2019 general election but was sacked by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu and replaced with Hon. Obinna Chidoka of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The Applicants had dragged the ousted lawmaker to an Anambra High Court, Idemili judicial division over violation of fundamental human right

Mr. Chima Anyaso ackniowledging cheers from Bende people of Abia North Federal consttuncy during his civic reception in Bende ...recently

Ex-Oyo Court Registrar Jailed 5 Years for Stealing The Ibadan zone of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday secured the conviction of a former Deputy Chief Registrar of the Oyo State High Court, Mrs. Mutiat Omobola Adio.

A trial judge of an Ibadan High Court, Justice Muniru Olagunju, found her guilty of a lone-count charge of stealing in a case preferred against her by the anti-graft agency.

The convict, who was also a Chief Magistrate in the state,

was accused of stealing a sum of N22,375,913 (Twenty Two Million, Three Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand, Nine Hundred and Thirteen Naira), from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, an offence that runs contrary to section 390(11) of criminal Code, Cap.38, Law of Oyo State.

This is the second time in less than two years that the former top government official would earn jail term for fraud-related offences.

Earlier, on May 18, 2018, she was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for obtaining

under false pretences a sum of N9.2 million from one Abiodun Olonade, a Nigerian resident in Ireland and the sentencing was without an option of fine.

Adio, in the latest criminal charge, was said to have abused her office as the secretary of a Cooperative Society of the Oyo State Judicial Officers by inflating the total sum approved for loan facilities granted her members by the GTBank, and converting the difference to personal use.

She was said to be the facilitator of the loan which totaled about N90m.

She pleaded not guilty to the offence when she was first arraigned on April 25, 2017, necessitating the commencement of her trial. The prosecution, led by Dr. Ben Ubi, called five witnesses, while she called two.

After listening to arguments from the parties, Justice Olagunju declared her guilty of the offence and sentenced her to five years in prison without an option of fine.

She was also ordered to pay back the sum of N20,935,000 to the GTBank, the victim of her crime.

Minimum Wage: NLC Gives Bauchi Govt 21 Days Ultimatum to Resume Negotiations Segun Awofadeji Ă“Ă˜ Ă‹Ă&#x;Ă?Ă’Ă“

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)hasgiventheBauchiState Government21daysultimatum within which to resume negotiationsandsubsequentlyimplement the new N30,000 national minimum wage in the state.

Speaking to newsmen during a press conference in Bauchi yesterday, the state Chairman of the Union, Comrade Danjuma Sale, said this was part of resolutions reached at the end of the joint state executive council meeting.

According to him, after a far reaching decision and deliberation

on the non-conclusion of negotiations of the adjustment of the new national minimum wage in the state, the Union resolved that if nothing was done after the ultimatum, they would take an industrial action.

The NLC boss said that, "Members view absence of the commitment on the part of government representatives towards the resolutions and the subsequent implementation of the new national minimum wage in the state. "The Organised Labour calls on the government to restore negotiations without further delay.

That failure to conclude negotiations

and unlawful detention.

The applicants in their suit marked HID/MISC/81/2019 said they were prevented from pasting the campaign posters of their principal, Uche Annie Okonkwo, who was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the 2019 general election.

P.W. Okose and C.J.Chinwuba appeared for the applicants, E.E. Ofodeme-Obadike and Kalu Onwuchekwa appeared for first to fifth respondents while A.A Nwano appeared for the sixth and seventh respondents.

The plaintiffs had sought an order of the court for Ibezim and the co-defendants to pay them the sum of N150 million as damage as well as public apology in a newspaper.

Other respondents in the suit were Mr. Anayo Ephraim Ndubuisi, Mr. Osita Agbaleke Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Udoh, Mr. Chinasa Okoye, SP Obisesan Olusegun (DPO Eziowelle Police Station) and Commissioner Of Police in Anambra.

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however 3.16 per cent lower than in Q3 and 0.88 per cent lower than the corresponding quarter of 2018.

On an annual basis, the value of crude oil exports at N14.69 trillion was lower than in 2018 by 3.08 per cent, it added.

within the shortest period of time, the leadership would not guarantee the industrial atmosphere in the state.

"That government is hereby given 21 days ultimatum within which to conclude negotiations and implementation of the new national minimum wage in the state."

Comrade Sale explained that although the state government had started paying workers the minimum wage from grade levels 01 to 06 whose salary is not up to N30,000, "our bone of contention is the consequential adjustment, that is the increment of officers from grade levels 07 to 14. That is what

remains undone and that is what we are agitating for."

The Union leader said that although there was a shortfall in government revenue from the federation account as it is in other states, and as Bauchi indigenes, they are very much compassionate about it, saying however, that it cannot stop them as workers from pursuing their rights.

He called on the state government to be more proactive in sourcing for money to complement its revenue from the federation account so that workers can be paid their minimum wage.

"Bauchi State cannot be an

Bennett Oghifo To address the difficult and cumbersome process of financial empowerment, Sycamore. ng is poised to advance the credit culture in Nigeria, by providing secured loans to individuals, micro, small and medium scale enterprises through the creation of a Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform.

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Officials of the firm said, “As a subscriber to the platform, you have the ability to either identify and select loan contracts yourself or simply opt to have your portfolio managed autonomously.

Our platform provides a compelling combination of liquidity, low volatility and attractive returns.�

According to the Chief Executive Officer Sycamore, Mr. Tunde Akin-Moses, “It’s no secret that access to finance is one of the main issues affecting the rapid growth of individuals and businesses in Africa. Our mission is for individuals to achieve more through organised lending and borrowing.�

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55

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾MARCH 7, 2020

SPORTS XTRA

Ferdinand Reverses Self on Comments over Ighalo’s Man Utd Signing Says the Nigerian offers something Rashford, Martial can’t provide Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand admits he was wrong about Odion Ighalo and says the Nigerian’s hold-up play offers the side something that neither Anthony Martial nor Marcus Rashford can provide.

The former Watford ace made it three goals in two starts for the Red Devils with a brace in the side’s 3-0 FA Cup win against Derby

County on Thursday night.

United were widely mocked for their deadline day capture of the Nigerian and he certainly wasn’t the club’s first choice given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pursuit of Erling Haaland and Joshua King.

But Ighalo has dumfounded public opinion and his clear love for the club has endeared him to supporters, who have already taken him

into their hearts.

And Ferdinand admits that he’s been won over by the Nigerian because he offers a different dimension to both Rashford and Martial.

‘People and myself included were probably thinking Odion Ighalo, where does he fit into all of this?’ said Ferdinand. ‘If you have an opportunity to sign a player at the beginning of the January window, he is

not the guy you are going to sign but what he does bring is a point.

‘A point where they can focus and play into him from the midfield. He offers the platform to run off. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial want the ball in behind and not to bring people in ‘When the ball gets played into him, if Rashford or Martial were there they wouldn’t have

made themselves available like that,” he said over footage of his goal. To be there first is great considering the pressure he is under. He’s in the centre of goal and he’s a physical presence. That’s what he adds to this team.’

With Martial struggling with injury, Ighalo could be handed his first Premier League start in the Manchester derby on Sunday. United

are unbeaten in their last nine matches but City represent the greatest test of that run and they’ll be looking to consolidate second place behind Liverpool. Harry Maguire faces a race against time to be fit for the clash at Old Trafford after missing the win at Pride Park with an ankle injury. Aaron WanBissaka and Daniel James are also doubts.

Arsenal’ll Back Saka’s International Choice, Says Arteta Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has insinuated that the club will throw their weight behind Bukayo Saka’s international choice, reiterating that maintaining his impressive form is all that matters first and foremost.

Saka, 18 has been sounded out to the NFF by soccerloving Nigerian fans due to his obvious talents but has not been considered yet in the recently unveiled list for the Super Eagles AFCON qualifiers this month.

Primarily an out-and-out winger, he has flourished at left-back this season due to an injury-enforced move at the Gunners, scoring four goals and assisting a further ten so far.

In quotes carried by Football London, Arteta has hinted that Saka will be backed by Arsenal if he is called up by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.

“I think he (Saka) is doing really well with us,” Arteta stated.

“International level is a different level. It is up to the England manager to discuss whether he is ready to do that and what is he going to do with his squad.

“Whatever he decides we will support the idea and the player.”

Saka is also in contention to be named in the England U21 squad who play Andorra and Turkey in the UEFA Championship qualifiers later this month.

Ighalo’s brace against Derby County helped Manchester United book FA Cup quarter finals ticket

Belgian League Top Scorer, Dessers Says Eagles Call up Shocked Him, Mom Too Heracles Almelo goal poacher Cyriel Dessers has admitted that he thought he was being pranked when he received a maiden invitation to the Nigeria national team for their upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone.

Few days before the squad list was officially released by the Nigeria Football Federation, several Super Eagles fans slid into his direct message to congratulate him on his call-up to the national team for the games in Asaba and Freetown.

“I received a lot of messages that I received the call-up, but I get those a lot in the last three days,” said Dessers to

Heracles TV. “I grabbed my phone and took a look but I thought they were the same messages I saw earlier, then I saw a tweet from the Super Eagles. I checked if it was a verified account.

“I sent a message to the head coach, asking if it was real or not. It was for real which was an unbelievable feeling.”

Dessers revealed that his Nigerian mother was surprised to hear the news of his call-up and she didn’t believe it at first.

“I called my mother and she was really happy. A couple of hours later she called me again because she could not believe it. I could not believe it either.

“I think I still do not realize it, I know I am called up, it is so huge I still cannot believe it. If I’m in Nigeria, I think I will realize it. For now it is such a big news, I still have to wake up to that.

“My phone exploded with messages yesterday which is obviously a good thing. All messages are positive and people are really made up for me.

“They confirm my feeling and they know I worked hard for it for years, I worked hard for it, I know that.”

The 25-year-old Dessers had stops at NAC Breda and FC Utrecht before joining Heracles Almelo, where he has flourished, with 18 goals in 28 games across all competitions since August 2019.

Ronaldinho Avoids Charge for Fake Passport Former Brazil forward Ronaldinho will not be charged for using a fake passport to enter Paraguay, says the lead official in the case.

The 39-year-old and his brother were both questioned by law enforcement on Thursday having shown false documents.

Prosecutor Federico Delfino said the brothers were aware they had committed a crime but said they did so unwittingly.

The pair have agreed to face an alternative punishment.

“We are looking for a different way out of this that doesn’t result in a formal accusation and that recognises that these people were, we can say, taken by surprise,” Delfino told reporters in Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital.

Another man who travelled with the brothers - 45-year-old Wilmondes Sousa Lira - was held.

Ajudge will decide whether to accept Delfino’s recommendation on Friday. An alternative punishment could be a fine payable

to a local charity.

Reuters report that Ronaldinho’s lawyer Adolfo Marin could not be reached for comment.

The brothers left Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo on Wednesday with Brazilian passports and were given Paraguayan ones “as soon as they got off the plane” in Asuncion.

According to Delfino, the pair said the passports were a gift.

An investigation indicated the numbers on the passports corresponded to other people.

The twice World Player Of The Year had travelled to the South American country to promote a book and a campaign for underprivileged children.

Ronaldinho was the 2004 and 2005 World Player of the Year and enjoyed the prime of his career at Spanish giants Barcelona. He won the World Cup in 2002 alongside fellow superstar forwards Ronaldo and Rivaldo.

Liverpool Keeper to Miss Atletico Champions League Game

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has been ruled out of their Champions League last-16 second leg against Atletico Madrid with a hip injury.

Alisson will also miss Saturday’s home Premier League game against Bournemouth and is a doubt for the Merseyside derby at Everton on 16 March.

Liverpool host Atletico on Wednesday, trailing 1-0 from the first leg.

“He is not available for tomorrow and then the next week,” manager Jurgen Klopp said of the 27-year-old.

“We have to judge the situation. I would say after the international break, 100 per cent. Whatever we can get before that we will see.”

Alisson, who has played 28 times for Liverpool this season, picked up the injury in training before Tuesday’s 2-0 FA Cup fifth-round defeat at Chelsea.

The Brazil international - the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when he joined Liverpool from Roma in 2018 in a deal worth up to £66.8m - also missed nine weeks of the campaign with a calf injury sustained in their opening league match against Norwich City in August.

“He had a little incident in training before the Chelsea game,” Klopp said.

“We all thought it was nothing and it was clear he would not play anyway. The plan was that he would be on the bench.

“There was a scan the next day and they found something, so now he is out.”

Saturday, March 7, 2020

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MISSILE

Shehu Sani on killings in the North “Northern governors are still playing the ostrich, afraid of confronting the federal government and taking independent action to protect their people while killings and the kidnappings go on “ – Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna Central, condemning unending killings in Northern Nigeria.

UGOCHUKWUOKOROAFOR Facing the Brave New Future T GUEST COLUMNIST

he first time I visited this University was about 42 years ago. On that occasion, I was part of a delegation of student leaders from across the country. We had come in search of a process to build a united platform to counter the adverse effects of the crisis that had gripped the nation, triggered by a three-fold increase in the cost of meals at Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. As you can figure out, it was in the wake of the ‘Ali Must Go’ movement, following the Federal Government’s proscription of the National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS). That Decree turned us student leaders, into fugitives somewhat, condemned to meeting surreptitiously from one university campus to another with the security agents always on our trail.

We were of course a youthful and idealistic bunch; no doubt a little less restrained in our ways than what we have turned into today.

Those were the unforgettable days of Academic Freedom and the Anti-Apartheid movement. The name of the President of your Students Union then was Napoleon, I believe; a gentleman I would love to meet again. He was an excellent and engaging host who did all in his power to make our otherwise futile trip a memorable one.

One of the highlights of his copious arrangements was a visit to Kaiama on wooden canoes, where we went to pay homage to the great student leader, Ekpein Appah, who had been rusticated, just like Segun Okeowo, for being a vocal and uncompromising student leader.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to be back here today and to be given the privilege of presenting to you, a speech which I wish I had heard myself, when I was like you some 40 years ago. Deep inside you, today marks one of those moments in your life when there is a justifiable sense of accomplishment and pride. Your presence here today is testimony to perseverance, excellence and hard work; the great hallmarks that have served humanity.

With your family members and loved ones surrounding you, it must have dawned on you that you mean a lot to more people in this world than just yourself. Congratulations on attaining this very important milestone in your life.

Your certificates declare that you have a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy; but that is merely what is written on the scroll. The reality is that given your several years of academic endeavour and socialisation in this University, you are now armed with the critical tools with which you can face your future. I believe that many of you passed through this institution and that it also passed through you. It is therefore not just the academic training that you will find invaluable in the world about to unfold; it is the combination of the orientation and more, packaged in the Brand Uniport that you now are.

Today, I shall be talking on, ‘Facing The Brave New Future’. You better believe me that the future you are going to face will be ‘brave’ and curiously, ‘new’. There is a hackneyed but true expression that, ‘The future has changed’.

In relative terms, when we were graduating, we had a set of expectations about what life ahead had in store for us. Today, the parameters have changed radically. The only thing one can say is certain about the future is that it is primed for even more change and dynamism.

All the projections that probably informed your decisions about the time you chose to study pharmacy, have since altered, not just for you but for everybody. The changes have occurred, not just within the local Nigerian environment, but across the wider global one as well.

We can pretend to be noble and altruistic in our quest for education, the stark reality is

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu that for many of us in ‘developing’ societies, good quality education, such as you have received, is still a major form of insurance and a meal ticket. We live in a society that has poor economic and social safety nets, where poverty is still endemic with high prospects of quick descent into penury and squalor. Given the collection of Fellows, academicians, graduate pharmacists and students here today, this is an elite gathering. In the field of pharmacy anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, I must not fail to observe that this is a sign of how times have changed. Two hundred years ago, this gathering would have been taking place in a shrine and would have been the collection of all the great native doctors in our community.

Did it occur to you that the pharmacist of a few centuries ago was also the doctor and the nurse of today, all rolled into one. If you can take time to observe the typical native doctor at work, you will see why they remain your competitors and you must bear in mind that they were the group you replaced at the dinner table. Even more change is certain to take place.

In describing the ‘mega-trends’ now dominating our space, Robert Tucker, a futurist, pointed out that we now live in a ‘VUCA’ (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) World.

There is increased Global Uncertainty across the world, and that ‘Future Shock’, predicted half a century ago by Alvin Toffler, is now present reality. The individual is traumatised by changes that occur within a relatively short time as our society moves from an industrial to a super-industrial state. Advancements in technology are bringing some unimaginable innovations also. There are such things as ‘floating farms, brain wave passwords, coffee-powered cars, living (self-repairing} concrete building materials’ are now all technological realities.

The end of fossil fuel is in sight and renewable energy will grow exponentially. Demographic changes and great population changes are on the increase. With the ramping up of space exploration by private companies, we may soon begin to have intergalactic tours and even a colony on the moon. Globalisation is another major factor and now there is the health component of this phenomenon that we can no longer ignore. The ongoing Coronavirus contagion started in Wuhan in China. Today, it is devastating markets and disrupting societies across the world. Just this morning, we were given the chilling news that the Virus has finally come to Nigeria, even though we were given

the cold comfort that the victim is an Italian.

In Tucker’s VUCA world, one of the key elements which will shape events, is the ongoing 4th Industrial Revolution, which is the entry of information technology. There is now superiority of ‘knowledge-production’ and ‘informationprocessing’, over and above monetary wealth and manufacturing. This Revolution is exacerbating Digital Disruption and significant decline in ‘social trust’. Friendships are now virtual, and you can ‘unfriend’ someone with just a click.

There is also the demographic change that is around the corner, which will see the maturing of the millennials and their social media ways.

There are paradoxes that will face the Nigerian resident in the sense that while the rest of the world will be witnessing major advancement in various areas, the Nigerian environment will face inexplicable decline or stunted growth.

Poverty is being tackled over the world and many nations are taking millions of people each year out of it. Meanwhile, Nigeria is fast turning into the poverty capital of the world.

The Youth bulge and its adverse effects are already ravaging our society.

While we live in a world of change, I must not fail to use this opportunity to make a critical observation. It is a historical fact that our medical practices in Africa were more advanced than those of the West, which we now seem to have now accepted as the standard. I weep when we simply jettison, without even making any effort to query, validate and accept or reject them. I call this the ‘Illicit Gin’ mentality. I am sorry if I ruffle conventional feathers but then, I have taken refuge in the fact that I am not a pharmacist and therefore cannot be punished for not keeping to the didactic dictates of your profession. Those familiar with history will recall handily that one way the colonialists protected their export market, like Nigeria, for their infamous ‘fire water’ - gins, whisky and schnapps, was to slam their local equivalent, with the demeaning name of ‘illicit gin’. For good measure, the subliminally powerful word, ‘Imported’ was put on such foreign tipple.

Somehow, the sobriquet and the mentality of ‘illicit gin’, has remained with us long after colonisation. We have been made to perceive most of our indigenous practices and products as ‘illicit’. In your field, as in many others, the ‘illicit gin’ mentality’ is a problem that needs to be tackled and rooted out.

In the brave new world that you are about to face, the paradigms will continue to change, oftentimes very rapidly. In 1970, a futurist by the name Irvin Toffler, invented the phrase, ‘Future Shock’. He defined this as a personal perception of ‘too much change in too short a period’. In the book, he made some amazingly accurate predictions about certain developments in technology and society. Four of the most significant ones were the emergence of the internet, a sharing economy, telecommuting and business without a formal structure. In the course of his dissertations, Toffler invented other expressions like, ‘information overload’, which is prevalent in today’s computerised world, and adhocracy, which defines the lack of hierarchy in the forms of business entities that are mushrooming in today’s ‘dot com’ world.

This was many years before the advent of Amazon.com; Facebook, Google, Uber, AirB&B and other corporate giants that have their foundation literally in the cloud. That is the exciting paradox of life! Metal sinks, yet it takes metal to float the largest vessels on water. This should be food for thought for each one. We must always think outside the box and not just reason in a ‘commonsensical’ way all the time.

If Isaac Newton had not reasoned otherwise

when the apple fell on him, we probably would not have discovered the phenomenon of gravity until much later in the history of mankind.

When everyone is saying, ‘Why Not’? listen to your inner thoughts, if they are telling you, ‘Why’?. As Ralph Waldo Emerson would say, ‘Speak your latent conviction, and it shall become the universal sense’. When Mbonu Ojike was the advocate of ‘Buy Nigeria’ in the 1950s, he was perceived as a noisy self-seeking outlier and a maverick. His mantra was, ‘Boycott All Boycottables’, and he challenged Nigerians to consume only what they produced. More than half a century later, we have come to realise that we cannot develop until we are able to produce much of what we consume. Nigeria is still heavily import-dependent, and it is only now that the mindset is gradually changing.

In the heydays of the oil boom, everything was imported and the ‘illicit gin; mentality was entrenched with the cheap money that oil brought. The narrative that fuelled our import dependency was that our local products and even raw materials were inferior to international ones. I remember with sadness a conversation I once had with one of our famous consultants, whom I challenged on the need to at least recommend the use of our starch in making tablets. His response was that it was not of ‘pharmaceutical grade’! I believe that up till now, many of us still have the belief that even our raw materials are of inferior quality. When you travel abroad and taste their bananas, peanuts and cashew nuts; and drink their stout, beer, and other drinks, you will be left in no doubt that we have an underappreciated system.

Technology will bring fundamental changes to the world we live in today. The cycle of transformation will continue to shorten, and it is only the ones that have great ability to adapt that can survive and thrive. I am told that pharmacy is the major professions that will be under pressure from the growth of robots and artificial intelligence. It is estimated that within the next few years, some of the core activities of the pharmacist will be taken over completely by robots and artificial intelligence.

Barcodes and algorithms will be increasingly used to ensure correct medication and dispensing of drug dosages. Wearable devices could be a major threat to the pharmacist as they will be able to monitor the body real time and prescribe preventive and even curative solutions encroaching on the preserve of the certified pharmacist. This scary scenario is a reality that is already unfolding before our eyes and the progression looks like being geometric in that brave new future.

While these changes are taking place, the pharmacist remains one of the most equipped to meet the challenges of this brave future. The training you have received here all these years, gives you necessary tools you require to think outside the box, analyse critically, and take charge of your affairs and your environment.

One of these tools that you are taking away from this Institution, is the capacity for Critical Thinking. Regardless of the advancement of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), critical and creative thinking places you above machine and algorithms. Furthermore, there is the unmatched ability to develop interpersonal relations and trust in a way that only humans can.

As robots and technology take over, humanity will continue to hold that edge and is bound to continue to do so. They are basic human features that you must tap into and use to help you navigate the uncharted and uncertain brave future.

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