SUNDAY 13TH AUGUST 2023

Nigeria’s Oil Output Slumps to 3-month Low on Forcados Leak, Crude Theft

Niger’s Political Impasse Splits ECOWAS Parliament

Wase to lead mediation team

Hundreds protest in Kano against planned military invasion Soldiers, policemen foil attempt to take over Nigerian embassy in Niger

Nigeria Better under Democracy, Says DHQ

Tinubu: Operational capability of security agencies, personnel welfare my top priority

Deji Elumoye, Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja and Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano.

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has condemned requests for the Armed Forces to interfere in the nation’s democratic process, saying that Nigeria is better under democracy.

This is as President Bola Tinubu has assured that his government will make adequate provision for the enhancement of the operational capability of security and law enforcement agencies and improved welfare of personnel, in its renewed drive to address security and related concerns across the country.

The DHQ was apparently reacting to the recent allegations of poor welfare among troops across the services and a request for the military to seize power.

In a statement issued at the weekend by the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, the DHQ

L-R: Former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun; Governor Godwin Obaseki; and the Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, during

inauguration of the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy in honour of Chief Oyegun in Benin City…yesterday

NIGERIA BETTER UNDER DEMOCRACY, SAYS DHQ

described the request as wicked and unpatriotic.

Gusau said the attempt would fail, insisting that the military was happy and better under democracy, adding that it would not get involved in any act to sabotage the hard-earned democracy in Nigeria.

According to him, the military would continue to perform its constitutional duties rather than plotting any coup against the present democratic administration, saying the armed forces of Nigeria would not be distracted.

He said the armed forces of Nigeria under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, would not for any reason

involve itself in any form of insubordination.

“The reports calling on the military to interfere in our democracy is highly unpatriotic, wicked, and an attempt to distract the Armed Forces of Nigeria from performing its constitutional responsibilities,” Gusau said.

He also dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the troops of the Nigerian military were not well taken care of, noting that it would not allow any individual or group of individuals to instigate military officers against the present government.

Gusau added: “The Defence headquarters frowns at a report being circulated online about welfare issues in the Armed

Forces of Nigeria (AFN). We wish to state unequivocally that the military is happy and better under democracy and will not get involved in any act to sabotage the hard-earned democracy in our country.

“While the leadership of the AFN gives priority to the welfare of its personnel, however, we detest any attempt by any individual or group to instigate the law-abiding Armed Forces of Nigeria to embark on any unconstitutional change of government in our country.

“The AFN under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff, General CG Musa is determined to ensure complete subordination of the Armed Forces to constitutional

authority under His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and will not be distracted from its roles that are well defined in the 1999 Constitution (as amended),” Gusau added.

It would be recalled that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Taoreed Lagbaja, had last week declared that sustained democratic rule remained the path of progress for the nation.

He said subordination of the military to constituted authority remained the most fashionable means of promoting military professionalism.

Lagbaja said Nigerians desired flourishing, uninterrupted, constitutional democratic governance.

"I, therefore, charge all

NIGER’S POLITICAL IMPASSE SPLITS ECOWAS PARLIAMENT

taken over by angry protesters in Niamey, the Nigerien capital, clarifying that an attempt by the protesters to set the embassy ablaze was foiled.

While some members of the ECOWAS parliament advocated actions that would stem military intrusion into governance within the region, others said dialogue and diplomacy were the best ways to solve the crisis.

The positions were taken when the 22 parliamentarians held an extraordinary meeting, virtually, to discuss the Niger Republic impasse.

West Africa’s regional bloc on Thursday ordered the activation of a standby force for possible use against the junta that took power in Niger in July, saying it wanted a peaceful restoration of democracy but all options including force were on the table.

The members, who were against military action, put forward the fate that could befall the masses if the country was invaded by forces trying to dislodge the coupists.

Ali Djibo from Niger Republic said already no fewer than 9,000 schools have been shut since the crisis, adding that the best solution was dialogue and that military action had never been the best option anywhere in the world.

Djibo said: “War will only compound the economic woes the peoples of the sub-region are already going through.

“As we speak, over a thousand trucks, loaded with goods, are stranded at the border.

“If a coup happened in Nigeria or Cote’d’Iviore tomorrow, where’s the ECOWAS going to mobilise troops to fight the Nigerian or Ivorian military? How many borders are we going to close?

“We must also bear in mind that if we are applying the ECOWAS treaty, it should apply to all.”

Two others, who spoke against a military invasion of Niger Republic were Hon. Idris Wase and Senator Ali Ndume.

Wase, the first Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of ECOWAS, berated President Bola Tinubu, the ECOWAS Chairman.

He accused the President of unilaterally closing the NigerianNiger border and cutting electricity without the approval of the Nigerian National Assembly.

Wase added: “When the Russia-Ukraine war started, people thought it was to be a sharp war.

“A year after, the war is still lingering on with the attendant economic squander and wanton destruction of lives and properties.

“The sub-regional military chiefs knows what they stand to benefit economically. That’s why they’re eager to militarily intervene in Niger. Most of them are corrupt.

“Any war on Niger will have adverse effects on 60% of Nigeria, especially Northern Nigeria.

On his part, Senator Ndume said: “We are the representatives of the people. Whatever action that must be taken should be dependent on what our people want.

“The ECOWAS Chairman,

President Tinubu, wrote the Nigerian Senate on the planned military intervention in Niger and the Red Chamber vehemently opposed the use of force. They prefer, instead, dialogue should be adopted in resolving the impasse.

“President Tinubu has no right to close the Niger-Nigeria border, cut electricity without the approval of the Nigerian National Assembly.

“It is not the Niger junta that are suffering the sanctions, rather it is innocent people.”

For Awaji-Inombek Dagomie Abiante (Rivers), ECOWAS must pay keen attention and treat the root causes of coup in ECOWAS countries.

Members of the ECOWAS Parliament rooting for a military solution to the Niger Republic matter said dialogue and diplomacy had not tamed the spread of coup in West Africa.

One of them was Linda Ikpeazu, who said because there were no consequences in the past, especially in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, hence the Niger Republic situation.

She stressed that with the current situation in the sub-region, nobody knows which country will be the next.

Adebayo Balogun, in his contribution, said ECOWAS Heads of States were not proposing a full-scale war, but a military action to dislodge the junta.

He recalled that Niger was a signatory to ECOWAS’ revised protocol on non-military intervention.

Also, Bashir Dawodu said he believed that while dialogue is being pursued, the body should be opened to military options to put pressure on the coupists.

He also reminded those who are banking on the support of Russia to defend the juntas that Russia alone cannot defend them. He stressed while diplomacy and dialogue are going on, there must also be the heat of military intervention.

Meanwhile, he pointed out, those banking on Russia to defend the junta should know that Russia alone cannot do it.

However, ECOWAS Parliament has appointed Nigeria’s lawmaker, Wase to lead 10 other parliamentarians to mediate with Nigerien junta.

This is a last ditch attempt by the subregional body parliamentary body to prevent military confrontation with the Nigerien military who forcibly took power from President Mohamed Bazoum.

The ad hoc committee, which, is to be led by the First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Hon. Wase, is mandated to apart from the task in Niger, saddled with the responsibility of interfacing with the military juntas in Guinea, Mali, and Burkina Faso to accelerate the return to democratic rule in those countries as well.

This move was part of the parliamentary option of diplomacy, to support the mediation effort of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, in sustaining

democratic governance in the subregion.

It was part of resolutions reached at the end of the Virtual Extra Ordinary Session of ECOWAS Parliament, convened by the Speaker, Sidie Tunis to deliberate on the Niger political crisis.

The committee is to report back to the parliament for further legislative actions.

During the plenary, a Nigerian MP, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, urged ECOWAS to look beyond the surface in finding lasting solution to the Niger political impasse.

She had warned that the support the coupists in Niger enjoy from the citizens should not be taken for granted.

She said: “Let us look back and be circumspect. Our people are copycat, and they like to copy bad things. We need to dig deep to find out the real reason for the coup.”

She also posited that: “We need to legislate on the issue of coup d’etat to forestall future occurrence.”

MPs have appealed to ECOWAS Authority to relax the sanctions so that those it is made to protect should not die of diseases and starvation.

The Parliament also mooted the idea of engaging the super powers who had been fingered to be behind the crisis in Niger, so as to find a middle ground in resolving the crisis permanently.

Wase is given the task of leading 10 other members to Niger on the mediation duty.

Other notable members include Hon. Ibrahima from Togo, Hon. Edwin Melvin Snowe from Liberia, Hon. Foutoumatta Njai from The Gambia, and Senator Ali Ndume from Nigeria.

Representatives from Senegal, Ghana, Cape Verde, Benin Republic, and Guinea Bissau are also part of the committee.

Hundreds Protest in Kano against Planned Military Action

Meanwhile, hundreds of Nigerians yesterday took to the streets of Kano in protest against ECOWAS’ plans to declare war against the coupists in Niger Republic.

The protesters, who embarked on a procession on the streets expressed their displeasure at the planned military invasion of Niger and chanted various slogans to voice their concerns. Recall that the ECOWAS had directed the military forces of its member states to be on standby.

The protesters were seen chanting songs such as “War against Niger is injustice,” “It is the handiwork of America,” “It is the handiwork of westerners,” “It is Islam that we want,” “It is Justice that we want,” and “Niger is ours” among other songs.

The protesters were also displaying the Nigerian and Nigerien flags alongside placards.

Military, Police Foil Attempt by Protesters to Burn Nigerian Embassy in Niger

In a related development, the Nigerian Embassy in Niger Republic has denied a viral report that its embassy was taken over by angry protesters in Niamey, the Nigerien capital.

A statement signed by Liti Auwalu for the Nigeria Ambassador to Niger explained that even though the protesters tried to gain access to the embassy, the Nigerien military and police managed the situation, adding that the embassy is well guarded.

The statement read: “It has been brought to our notice that fake videos showing the torching of the Chancery Building in Niamey by protesters are circulating on various social media platforms.

“The Embassy wishes to

Nigerian Army personnel to be proud champions of our flourishing democracy and remain apolitical in discharging their constitutional duties," he said.

Operational Capability of Security Agencies, Personnel Welfare My Top Priority, Says Tinubu

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has assured that his government will make adequate provision for the enhancement of the operational capability of security and law enforcement agencies and improved welfare of personnel, in its renewed drive

inform the general public that even though protesters tried to gain access to the Embassy on July 30, 2023, the Nigerien military and police Authorities promptly curtailed the situation.

“At the moment, the Embassy is well guarded by the Nigerien military and other security authorities.

“We reiterate that the videos are fake and as such the general public is enjoined to disregard such videos.”

Ousted President Bazoum Visited by His Doctor

Meanwhile, the ousted Niger President, Mohamed Bazoum, who has been illegally detained by the coup leaders led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani since July was seen by his doctor on Saturday.

It was learnt that the physician also brought food for Bazoum, his wife, and his son who is being held with him.

A member of his entourage told AFP, the ousted president “had a visit by his doctor today.

“He’s fine, given the situation.”

Concerns had been raised over the health and detention conditions of Bazoum, his wife, and 20-year-old son since the military seized power and took them captive on July 26.

The European Union and the African Union have joined others in condemning the overthrow of Bazoum and subsequent detention by the country’s military.

The UN rights chief Volker Turk said Bazoum’s reported detention conditions “could amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of international human rights law”.

Top US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said he was “dismayed” by the military’s refusal to release Bazoum’s family as a “demonstration of goodwill.”

to address security and related concerns across the country.

The president, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, gave the assurance at the Passing Out Parade of the 5th Regular Course of the Nigeria Police Academy, Wudil, Kano.

According to him, “This administration is committed to implementing effective measures to combat the security challenges in Nigeria and our synergy is the surest ticket to that destiny. We are implementing a comprehensive approach that focuses on key areas.

“First, we are investing in our law enforcement agencies to enhance their capabilities and effectiveness. We are offering extra resources, training, and equipment to bolster our police force and security agencies.

"Simultaneously, we are enhancing our intelligence and systems on both national and information-sharing international levels. We acknowledge that addressing security challenges necessitates cooperative endeavours with other countries. Hence, we are establishing alliances to adeptly tackle transnational threats.

“Furthermore, we are executing all-encompassing social programs and economic development projects aimed at fostering inclusiveness, social unity, and economic prospects for everyone."

While commending the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies for their efforts, the President said "Our moral duty now is to support the Nigeria Police Force and other security organisations in intensifying their bids to improve public safety. We must do the best within our capacity to ensure there is an improvement in the security of lives, properties, and investments of our people and foreign investors.”

President Tinubu urged members of the Force to always “hold fast to the core virtues of our Police Force: integrity, honesty, and compassion. We must treat all citizens fairly and uphold their human rights, regardless of background.

“Our actions must exemplify the highest ethical standards as we safeguard the rule of law. Together, we embody the principles that define a trusted and responsible Police Force.”

Earlier in his address, the Commandant of the Academy, AIG Sadiq Abubakar, thanked the federal government for its unwavering support of the institution, noting that the successful graduation of the 169 cadets was a testament to the present administration’s commitment to infrastructure and manpower development in the Force.

NIGERIA’S OIL OUTPUT SLUMPS TO THREE-MONTH LOW ON FORCADOS LEAK, CRUDE THEFT

the lowest output for 2023, the production for last month would emerge as the second-lowest for this year so far.

With the low volume of oil produced in July, it would mean that Nigeria failed to produce as much as 661,000 barrels per day during the period under review, given that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) allocated the country a quota of 1.742 million bpd during the period.

As the industry was contending with crude oil theft, the suspension of production by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil terminal in mid-July, due to a leak at the export terminal, dashed the hope of the country’s expected gradual production recovery.

Shell had temporarily stopped

loading at the Forcados crude oil facility due to the suspected leak at the export terminal. Nigeria has been unable to meet its OPEC target since the second half of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic-induced cuts were announced.

The data released by the industry regulator showed a massive fall in production at the Forcados facility from 7.085 million barrels in June to 2.82 million barrels in the month under review.

“We can confirm that injections into the Forcados Oil Terminal were curtailed on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, following the report of some sheen in the mooring vicinity,” the company said last month when the leak was detected.

According to the report, workers observed a sheen near

the single-buoy mooring facility, prompting the suspension of activities to conduct investigations.

The Forcados crude oil terminal had the highest crude oil output in June 2023 among the seven major crude terminals in the country, according to a previous NUPRC report.

Since the beginning of the year, crude oil production at the Forcados terminal has varied between five million and seven million barrels per day, with modest declines recorded in March and April 2023.

In May this year, the terminal located in Delta State boosted crude oil and condensate output to 7.01 million barrels per day, up from 5.78 million bpd in April 2023.

But the latest NUPRC figures showed that when condensates, which are excluded from

OPEC’s output computations, are calculated, Nigeria’s crude oil production was 1.29mpd in July 2023.

Aside from the production decrease at the Forcados terminal, one other major terminal which reduced its production volume was the Bonny terminal, which recorded a production of 2.2 million barrels in July as against 2.7 million barrels in June.

Apart from the Forcados Leak, oil theft has also continued in the Niger Delta, with information from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) showing that 240 incidents of crude oil theft were recorded just between July 15 and July 21, 2023, alone.

In the same vein, there were 139 crude oil theft incidents between July 22 and July 28, the national oil company stated.

AIR PEACE LANDS IN ANTIGUA…

Shaibu Pledges Loyalty to Obaseki, PDP, Denies Plotting to Impeach His Principal

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr. Philip Shaibu, yesterday dismissed claims that he was plotting to impeach the state governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, saying he never rebelled against his principal as widely reported.

Shaibu further noted that he remained “an unrepentant democrat, who believes in the democratic process and respects the mandate given to Obaseki and his humble self by the people of Edo State.”

In a statement issued by his media office yesterday, the Edo

State deputy governor alleged that there were concerted efforts by mischief-makers and political jobbers to destabilise the state and widen the gulf between him and his principal.

Obaseki had narrated how he found out that his deputy was working against him, alleging that Shaibu had become so desperate to succeed him, ahead of the Edo governorship election in 2024.

He further claimed: “Shaibu went to Abuja. “He was boasting that he had connections in Abuja. He was also boasting that he had people in the National Assembly that they are all with

Resident Doctors: Why We Suspended Strike

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) at the weekend explained that it suspended the 17-day-old nationwide strike it embarked upon on July 26, 2023, due to the significant moves made by the federal government to address the doctors’ demands.

Speaking with THISDAY yesterday, the President of NARD, Dr. Emeka Orji, said the National Executive Council (NEC) of NARD decided to suspend the strike since the government had started addressing some of their issues.

“We had a meeting at the villa and with the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday and we see that they are willing to meet our demands, and for the interest of the people and the country, we have to suspend the strike.

“For now, the government has released the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund, and has started work on the circular on one-for-one replacement because they sent a letter to the Chief Medical Directors to provide some documents, and some CMDs have sent the documents required, so we hope that the one-for-one replacement of doctors will take effect soon.

“The circular on one-for-one replacement would address the manpower shortage and hopefully, this will take effect in the next two weeks.”

THISDAY reports that members of NARD suspended its indefinite strike on Friday night after the NEC deliberated on their demands and the efforts the government is making to meet them.

Thereafter, the union directed the doctors to resume yesterday, by 8 am, while they would review the progress made in two weeks.

The members of NARD embarked on industrial action on 26 July following the failure of the Nigerian government to meet their demands.

The doctors are demanding, among other issues, the immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), tangible steps on the “upward review” of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), and payment of all salary arrears owed its members since 2015.

The doctors also want the immediate massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals and the abolishment of the bureaucratic limitations to the immediate replacement of doctors and nurses who leave the system.

the president now, that they will take care of him, and that if he cannot get the ticket in PDP, he knows what to do.”

But the deputy governor yesterday debunked the allegation, stressing that it was preposterous and outrageous to contemplate a coup against a man that gave him too much latitude.

While denouncing the allegations, Shaibu claimed that political jobbers sold a dummy “to the governor whom he referred to as his ‘elder brother’ to provoke more crises so they can benefit from it.”

He categorically noted that the claims “are not only baseless but also malicious attempts by

political jobbers hell-bent on misleading the governor with the singular aim of damaging my reputation and sowing seeds of discord between me and Obaseki.

“I remain an unrepentant democrat who believes in the democratic process and respects the mandate given to Obaseki and his humble self by the people of Edo State. The idea that he would consider a coup to overthrow a democratically elected government is not only absurd but also deeply offensive.”

The deputy governor, specifically, reiterated his unwavering loyalty to Obaseki and the principles of PDP to

which they both belong.

Shaibu said: "It is a privilege to serve as Obaseki's deputy, and consistently within the last seven years demonstrated his commitment to the advancement of a shared vision for Edo State.

"Any insinuation that he harbours ulterior motives or seeks to undermine the governor's leadership is nothing short of a fabrication.

“I believe in the power of teamwork and collaboration. As a testament to this, Obaseki and himself had worked tirelessly together to deliver on the promises they made to the good people of Edo State.

“Our achievements in various sectors, including education,

healthcare, infrastructure, and job creation, are a testament to this collective effort and the synergy between their offices,” he explained.

As the state’s deputy governor, Shaibu said his role was to support and complement the governor's agenda and not to undermine it. I have consistently advocated for policies and initiatives that align with this administration's goals and aspirations.

“It is therefore disheartening to see such baseless allegations being propagated, as they only serve to distract the administration from its primary objective of serving the people of Edo State."

Tinubu, Obi Reiterate Commitments to Youth Development

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi have reaffirmed their commitments to the development of the Nigerian youth.

In a statement issued yesterday by his Media Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, to mark the 2023 International Youth Day (IYD), the president restated the commitment of his administration to creating meaningful opportunities for Nigerian youths.

He stressed that from job creation, education, and skills development to digital innovation, financial technology, and youth participation in governance, youth empowerment is a fundamental pillar of all reform actions being implemented across sectors, to create an environment where Nigerian youths can thrive and contribute to the growth and development of the nation.

President Tinubu acknowledged the growing interest and impact of many

young Nigerians in technologyrelated fields the world over and vowed to honour his campaign commitment of generating one million new jobs in the digital economy for their upliftment and national economic development more broadly.

He strongly expected in the principle, "to whom much is given, much is expected," and remained undeterred in his focus on delivery.

As agents of change, the president urged the youth to champion national progress, unity, and collective prosperity for all citizens of our beloved country.

In tandem with the theme of this year's event: ‘Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World,’ President Tinubu implored young Nigerians to spearhead efforts aimed at achieving the highest quality of sustainable development, which will shape the future of our planet in conformity with his agenda of expanding green job opportunities and advocating for renewable energy solutions as an integral part of Nigeria's

current and future energy mix.

On his part, Obi has also called on Nigerian youth to remain positive and hopeful for the coming of a New Nigeria, which, he said, will be anchored on youth development and productivity.

Obi made this call in his message to mark World Youth Day. He explained that the current political confusion and economic challenges in the nation should not discourage the youths, but motivate them to remain committed and resolute in the struggle for a new and better Nigeria.

"Unless we remain committed to the struggle for a better nation, we will not be able to achieve the New Nigeria of our dreams. We must remain resilient and persevere against every hardship and obstacle on our journey to a new nation," Obi said.

The former Anambra State governor stated that many of the nation's challenges will be overcome if the leaders paid attention to youth development and productivity. He blamed the high level of insecurity and high rate of social vices

associated with youths like drug and other substance abuse as well as the high inflation rate in the country to the high unemployment rate among the youthful population in their productive ages.

"According to reports, Nigeria tops in the ranking of countries with the highest rate of unemployment in the world, with a 33.3 percent unemployment rate. And further findings show that Nigeria's unemployment rate would further rise to 40.6per cent, due to the continuous flow of job seekers into the job market.

"With this high rate of youth unemployment where more than half of the population in their productive age are not working, the nation will continue to stagger under the weight of many economic and social challenges. It's only by providing job opportunities and massively supporting the growth of small businesses in the country, that the challenge of high insecurity, rising inflation, etc will be taken care of," Obi added.

L-R Non-Executive Director, Air Peace, Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN); Chairman, Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema; Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Hon Goston Browne; and Chief Operating Officer, Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide, when the prime minister came to welcome a delegation of the Airline’s board and management during the inaugural flight to Antigua and Barbuda…recently

OIL INDUSTRY AFFAIR…

Police Storm NURTW National Headquarters, Arrest President, Others, Shut Premises

Kingsley Nweze and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The National President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW),

Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa, has been arrested by officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

THISDAY gathered that Baruwa and three other union officials were arrested at the

Nigeria Already Fighting Serious Wars, Adeboye Laments, Says Fresh Wars Not Needed

Segun James

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said Nigeria is already fighting some serious wars, stressing that the country does not need more wars.

The revered cleric who was obviously referring to the proposed military intervention in Niger by Nigeria and other members of the ECOWAS said: “We are still fighting wars against hunger; we are fighting some serious wars and sure we don’t want more wars.

“We want to win the ones we are fighting and we don’t want fresh ones; whether within or without our borders,” the respected cleric said early yesterday during the church’s 2023 Convention with the theme, ‘Beyond Expectations’.

Taking a trip down memory lane, the 81-year-old cleric said he witnessed the Nigerian Civil War between the Nigerian and Biafran sides from July 1967 to January 1970. He said having experienced the war; he would choose peace over war any day, anytime.

Adeboye said: “Nigeria still needs a lot of prayers. I’m a small boy but I was at the battlefront during the civil war; not as a soldier but I lived near the battlefront and what I saw, if anybody asks me to choose between war and peace, I will choose peace.”

The preacher said Nigeria is already fighting many wars against kidnappers, terrorists, and killerherdsmen, amongst others, noting that the country does not need more wars but to win the ones it is battling currently.

“And we are already fighting many wars in Nigeria; we are fighting wars against kidnappers; we are fighting wars against terrorists. There are still places in Nigeria today where when people go to bed, they

are not sure they would not be killed before tomorrow morning.

“We are still fighting wars against some people who feel that if you are a farmer and you plant, then what you have planted is food for their cows and if their cows come to eat your harvest and you complain, they kill you,” he said.

Adeboye’s comment followed the controversy over the proposed deployment of soldiers to the Niger Republic by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the chairmanship of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu.

On July 26, 2023, the military in the neighbouring Niger Republic snatched power from the democratically-elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum.

ECOWAS subsequently gave the troops who seized power until last Sunday to reinstate 63-year-old Bazoum or face the potential use of force through the deployment of troops of the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), a multilateral armed force drawn from the 15-member states, to compel a return to democracy.

Nigeria has also cut off electricity supply to Niger amid a flurry of economic sanctions, including border closure but the coup leaders remained defiant as the deadline passed without action.

“We are still fighting wars against hunger, we are fighting some serious wars, and sure we don’t want more wars. We want to win the ones we are fighting and we don’t want fresh ones; whether within or without our borders.

“Nigeria still needs a lot of prayers. I’m a small boy but I was at the battlefront during the civil war; not as a soldier but I lived near the battlefront and what I saw, if anybody ask me to choose between war and peace, I will choose peace.”

NURTW national secretariat in Abuja on Friday evening when armed policemen invaded the premises and asked all the occupants to vacate the building.

The development came barely two days after the NURTW president had raised the alarm over alleged plot by some persons and groups to stage a protest at the national secretariat of the union located in Garki 2 district of Abuja.

The Deputy President of the

union, Isa Ore, who confirmed the development, said no reason was given for the action by the police.

Arrested alongside the NURTW President were the General Secretary, Anthony Asogwa Chukudi; National Trustee, Olayi Odion, and Principal Assistant Secretary, Abdulrasak Yemi.

According to Ore, the arrested union members were being detained at the Wuse Zone 3 Police Division.

He said the incident occurred when the union was preparing for the inauguration and swearing-in of the newly elected members of the National Administrative Council of the union.

He explained that the policemen arrived and ordered the staff to vacate the premises, which they later sealed.

“We were shocked to see the policemen locking our secretariat without giving any reason.

“Today, Saturday, we are

preparing for the inauguration and swearing-in of the newly elected National Administrative Council members, but we just saw policemen and they asked us to leave the premises,” he said.

He added, “They said it was an order from the above, and they have detained our president and other leaders at Wuse Police Station.

“I have called the FCT Commissioner of Police but he said he was not in town.”

Tinubu, Buhari, Dabiri-Erewa Mourn Nigerian Ambassador to France, Kayode Laro

Deji Elumoye and Michael Olugbode in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Chairman/ CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa have expressed profound sadness over the news of the demise of Nigeria's Ambassador to France, Kayode Laro.

In a statement issued yesterday by his Media Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, the President extended his deepest condolences to Ambassador Laro's family, the diplomatic community, as well as the Government, and the people of Kwara State.

President Tinubu recognised Ambassador Laro's tireless dedication to fostering mutuallybeneficial diplomatic ties between Nigeria and France during his tenure, noting his commitment to diplomacy and the impactful role he played in ensuring the success of the President's visit to France in June this year, which was the President's first foreign trip following his assumption of office.

Having devoted himself fully to his duties during 35 illustrious years in service as a Nigerian diplomat, from 1983 to 2018, the President remembered Ambassador Laro's profound grasp of geo-political intricacies and how he aptly harnessed his

wealth of skill and experience in multilateral diplomacy to advance worldwide peace, security, and development.

President Tinubu affirmed that the appointment of the Fellow of the National Defence College as an Ambassador in July 2020 to represent Nigeria in France was in recognition of his widely respected expertise and dedication.

According to him: "Our nation has lost an exemplary diplomat. I will always hold cherished memories of my interactions with him during my attendance at the New Global Financial Pact Summit in France this June. His unwavering dedication and strong sense of duty left an indelible mark. May his legacy continue to inspire us to strive for a more harmonious and prosperous world".

President Tinubu prayed that Almighty God will continue to console Ambassador Laro's family, friends, and colleagues while granting eternal rest to the departed soul.

On his party, former President Buhari joined the family of Laro, the government, and the people of Kwara State in mourning the demise of the envoy.

In a statement by the ex-president's spokesperson, Shehu Garba, Buhari described Ambassador Laro as an outstanding public officer who believed in a strong Nigeria-

France relationship.

According to him, the deceased diplomat left behind indelible marks on matters of governance and policy for which he will be remembered.

The former President said Laro's term as envoy marked an iconic moment in the relations between our two countries.

In her condolence message, Dabiri-Erewa said the death of the envoy at this time was painful and so sudden.

She said: "The death is so shocking to me as we still communicated very recently, and prior to that reminisced on the last visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’ to Paris, France in June during which Ambassador Laro successfully hosted the President and his delegation.

She described the late Laro as a thorough-bred professional, and a great diplomat, adding that Nigeria will miss his wealth of experience She expressed her condolence to the Laro family and the government and people of Kwara State as well as the diplomatic community.

Dabiri-Erewa prayed to Allah to forgive his shortcomings, be with his family and reward him with al-Jannah firdaus.

Meanwhile, a statement earlier by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday signed by its spokesperson. Mrs. Francisca Omayuli said Ambassador Laro

died last Friday in Paris, France, after a protracted illness.

The statement read: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is deeply saddened to announce the death of Ambassador Kayode Laro on Friday, 11th August 2023 in Paris, France, after a protracted illness.

“Until his death, Ambassador Kayode Laro was Nigeria’s Ambassador to France with concurrent accreditation to Monaco. He contributed immensely to strengthening Nigeria’s relations with France.

“The Late Ambassador Laro was a career diplomat, whose years in the Nigerian Foreign Service spanned 35 years, from December 1983December 2018. His appointment as Nigeria’s Ambassador to France in 2021, after he retired from service, was in recognition of his immense contributions to Nigeria’s Foreign Service.

“In the course of his career, late Ambassador Laro served the country in various capacities both at home and abroad, including being a Consul General at the Nigerian Consulate General in Atlanta, United States. He distinguished himself in multilateral diplomacy when he served in Nigeria’s Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva. He also served as the Director of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

L-R: Non-Executive Director, Aradel Holdings, Mr. Osten Olorunsola; pioneer Managing Director, Niger Delta Exploration and Production, Dr. Layi Fatona; Chairman, Aradel Holdings, Mr. Ladi Jadesimi; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Aradel Holdings, Mr. Adegbite Falade; Non-Executive Director, Aradel Holdings, Chief Ede Osayande, and Independent Non-Executive Director, Aradel Holdings, Ms. Simon-Hart, at the Aradel Holdings (formerly NDEP) brand launch in Lagos…recently.

Ayu Moves to Appeal Suspension, Says Low-ranking PDP Officials Shouldn’t Destroy Party, Democracy

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The suspended National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, has commenced moves to appeal the judgment of the Benue High Court that affirmed his suspension, insisting that low-ranking officials of the main opposition party should not be allowed to destroy the party and democracy.

Ayu's counsel, Chief E.K. Ashiekaa (SAN), told THSDAY in an interview that the appeal

would be filed at the Benue State Division of the Court of Appeal this week.

He noted that the appeal will be within the timeframe for such an appeal.

According to him, the grounds of appeal “is to allow the Appeal Court decide whether it is constitutional for any person or group of persons to wake up and suspend senior party officials,” adding that “the party’s constitution forbids them from exercising such powers."

He stated further that "the PDP constitution is clear on the stages of disciplinary actions that could be meted on members of the National Executive Committee (NEC).

“It is expressly stated. One such member is the national chairman of the party and members of NEC.

"You cannot wake up and claim either as a member of the ward executive and start exercising disciplinary actions of the party.

"It happened to Prince Uche Secondus and now Dr. Ayu.

We must put a stop to this constitutional rascality. If such things are allowed, we are killing our democracy.

"Democracy thrives on the observation of the tenets of justice and therefore, the PDP will not sit down and allow this rascality to continue", Ayu's lawyer said.

The PDP had earlier said that Ayu had the right to appeal his sack by a Benue State High Court.

The party further said the appeal would determine once and for all the incessant issues of

Senators May Sanction Akpabio over Unguarded Comments, Says Ndume

John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume has disclosed plans by senators to take drastic action against the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, if he continues to make unwarranted statements.

While addressing his colleagues on Monday before proceeding on annual recess, Akpabio said a token had been paid into the accounts of the lawmakers to enable them to “enjoy their holidays."

However, when he realised the embarrassment his statement had caused the lawmakers, the Senate president immediately withdrew the statement.

But his comment elicited wide

condemnations from Nigerians, who accused the lawmakers of turning deaf ears to the suffering and hardship in the country.

Speaking during an interview with the BBC Hausa service at the weekend, Ndume said Akpabio’s comments are unbecoming of a leader.

According to him, the money received was their statutory entitlement and no special payment.

“It’s common knowledge that if any employee is going on leave, he/she is entitled to a leave grant. That was the money we received, and it is nothing unusual or special. “All senators received N2 million. And I am making this comment with a heavy heart,

because he (Akpabio) is the cause of this controversy.

“He created an impression as if we were given some special or huge amounts of money. What’s the big deal if I receive N2 million allowance in my capacity as a senator?

“He made a very wrong statement, and I warned him immediately that his comments were unbecoming of an elder.

“In fact, we are even planning to take drastic action against him if he continues making unguarded statements and acting as if we are kids," Akpabio added.

Also speaking, the senator representing Kano South district, Kawu Sumaila, confirmed the receipt of N2 million.

He, however, called for transparency in the budget spending of the National Assembly, saying that would allow the lawmaker to perform their oversight functions optimally.

According to Sumaila, the Senate president’s comments were on a sensitive issue that has been bordering Nigerians.

“He sent N2 million to our accounts. Now, I want him to come out publicly and explain to Nigerians what the money is about.

“He should also tell Nigerians the total amount of money; so, I’m challenging Nigerians to take this up and insist they get full disclosure of the source of the money and the reason for disbursement,” he add

LP Refutes Rumoured Threat against Tribunal Judges

Gabriel Emameh in Abuja

The Labour Party (LP) has refuted claims that its supporters threatened judges of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) reviewing the petition by its presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi against the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, alleged in a statement that the All

Progressives Congress (APC) was behind the rumour to tarnish the LP’s image and stir unrest.

Ifoh described a circulating photo as a ploy “to distract from APC’s open intimidating remarks.”

LP highlighted remarks by Tinubu’s legal team, which suggested potential chaos if Tinubu’s election was overturned.

The party said having presented its case concretely and vividly within the law,

it remained confident that the justices would fulfill their statutory responsibilities based on the law and the weight of evidence.

The statement read: “As such LP did not need any threat, to secure the delivery of substantive justice.

“It is increasingly evident that the ruling party is afraid of its shadow and the truth, and is as busy fabricating and labeling the Labour Party to curry imaginary favour.

“The discerning public should

disregard this dubious label of LP because they know who is panicking and trying to create anarchy in the land to remain in power at all costs.

“We, therefore wish to reiterate our belief in the sanctity of our jurisprudence and expect that justice will be served based on nothing short of what the constitution and extant law says and not via the troll mechanism or devious acts of the ruling party that is desperate to cling to power without the people’s mandate.”

ward executives sacking national chairmen and members of the NEC.

Two national chairmen of the party have so far been sacked by their ward executives.

The first was Prince Secondus and the second was Ayu.

Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, the Deputy National Legal Adviser of the party, Okechukwu Osuoha, said the National Working Committee (NWC) was aware of the confirmation of Ayu’s suspension by the court.

He however added that there was nothing the party could do until the embattled national chairman had exhausted his rights of appeal.

According to Osuoha, “Like any other Nigerian, Ayu has a right of appeal to the highest court of the land.

“PDP has to be patient till the apex court takes a final decision on Ayu’s suspension before it could do otherwise, else, the party could be accused of infringing on his fundamental rights.

“We are particularly interested in the pronouncements of the court on the sack of the national

chairman by the ward executives.

“We are interested because it is contrary to the constitution of the party that no member of the NEC would be sacked by the ward executive. This is another way of trying to instil discipline in the party,” the PDP deputy national adviser stated.

A Benue State High Court in Makurdi had ruled that Ayu should no longer hold office as the National Chairman of PDP having lost membership of the party in his Igyorov Council Ward of Gboko Local Government Area of the state.

A member of the PDP in the state, Terhide Utaan, had dragged Ayu to court following his suspension by his Igyorov ward executive committee after passing a vote of no confidence on him.

In suit No: MHC/85/2023, Utaan sought among other reliefs, a declaration that Ayu was no longer fit and qualified to hold office as the national chairman of the PDP, having lost membership of the party in his Igyorov council ward of Gboko, where he first registered as a member of the party.

Boko Haram: Zulum Receives Another Abducted Chibok Schoolgirl

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has received another Chibok girl, Rebecca Magu, who was abducted by Boko Haram insurgents alongside 275 of her schoolmates while sitting for the Secondary School Certificate Examination in 2014 at Government Secondary School, Chibok.

The governor has also promised to support Rebbeca and all other victims of Boko Haram insurgents recovered. According to a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, Rebbeca Magu who was rescued in Cameroon on July 17, was handed over to the Governor of Borno State

by the National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Rear Admiral Yem Musa (rtd), to be reunited with her family.

He noted that she is one of the few Chibok schoolgirls that were rescued from captivity and were being received by the Borno State Government since 2019.

The delegation was received by Borno State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Zuwaira Gambo, at Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri.

Briefing the governor, Rear Admiral Musa said Rebecca was kidnapped at a school in Chibok in 2014 when she was just 13 years old.

L-R: Former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain and Canada, Chukwuemeka Olisemeka; Senior Partner, Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN); Secretary to the Delta State Government and Representative of Governor Sheriff Obarevwori, Dr. Kingsley Emu; Managing Partner, Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors, Mrs. Elizabeth Idigbe, and former Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clement Agba, at the inauguration of the Justice Chukwunweike Idigbe Museum and Youth Centre built by the law firm in Asaba…yesterday

ATTENTION, GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS…

L-R:

FG’s Workers Lament Non-payment of 17-month Salaries

Tijani ac Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Some staff members of the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) have cried out over salary arrears of over 17 months owed them by the board.

NBAIS is under the Federal Ministry of Education. The affected staff members, numbering over 700, are calling on relevant authorities to save their souls and urge the board to pay their salaries.

Some of the staff said they had

fulfilled all conditions required of them, particularly capturing on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for the payment of salary, but to no avail.

They also alleged that some staff members were selected and paid their salaries.

Meanwhile, when contacted, the Information Officer of NBAIS, Muhammad Y. Sambo confirmed the issue of salary arrears, saying the board “has no reason to withhold any staff salary if the government releases it.”

Election Tribunal Reserves Judgment against Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat

Segun James

The Lagos State Governorship Election Tribunal has reserved judgment in the petitions against the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.

The tribunal, led by Justice Arum Ashom said it would communicate a date for judgment to the parties after counsels adopted their final written addresses.

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Dr Olajide Adediran, popularly called Jandor and his Labour Party counterpart, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, are

challenging the return of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as well as his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the March 18 governorship elections in Lagos State.

While the two petitioners were absent, the third respondent, Hamzat was present in court yesterday.

INEC is the first respondent in the petition, while Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat are listed as the second and third respondents respectively. The APC is listed as the fourth respondent.

Obaseki Names Edo Public Service Academy after Oyegun

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki yesterday named the state newly inaugurated Public Service Academy in honour of former National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

Obaseki revealed the honour at the inauguration of the public service academy, saying the academy was mainly established to bridge knowledge gaps in pursuit of excellence in the state’s public

service.

Christened John Odigie-Oyegun Public Service Academy (JOOPSA), Obaseki described the academy as a key fulcrum in the entire civil service reforms, which he had been implementing in the past six years.

Obaseki said the academy, re-christened to mark Oyegun’s 84th birthday, was a centre of excellence in capacity building, aimed at transforming the civil and public service into a nimble, functional and digitally-driven bureaucracy.

Speaking on behalf of the affected workers, the Chairman and Secretary of the group, Muhammad Suleiman and Benjamin Ishiaka respectively said: “We have been employed since January 2021 by the National Board for Arabic & Islamic studies (NBAIS).

“We were adequately captured into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) on December 2021 and it

is very unfortunate to this day only few persons who constitutes about 30 percent of employed staff received their salary, while the remaining 70 per cent were left with their fate hanging in the air and a backlog of 17 months of outstanding salary.

“This has brought untold hardships and great damage to us and our families, we lost the job we were managing to sustain ourselves, thinking a

better opportunity had come when we took appointment with NBAIS.

“At some points, we were asked by the Human Resources Department to submit a copy of the appointment letter and IPPIS slip for payment against the month of August 2021 which did not materialise and since then, things have become stagnant. No salary or any other information from

the board.

“However, after careful consultation and investigation, we were able to see an approval letter from the president and the ministry of education for our recruitment, upon mounting pressure, HR alleged that our problem is from the budget office not with the board, likewise we received another opposite information from the budget office which is contradicting.

French Multinational Wins Trade Mark Infringement Suit against Three

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has cancelled the registration and unauthorised use of Sanofi trade mark by three Nigerian companies, and ordered them to pay damages.

The presiding judge, Justice James Omotosho delivered the judgement in a suit filed by a French multinational pharmaceuti-

cal and healthcare company, Sanofi S.A. headquartered in Paris. Omotosho held that the use of Sanofi trademark by three Nigerian companies – Sanofi Integrated Services Limited, Sanofi Nigeria Enterprises Limited and Sanofi Nigerian Enterprise – was illegal. The court also awarded damages against the companies for unlawfully interfering with the use of the firm’s trademark.

Nigerian Firms

Sanofi S.A. had petitioned the Nigerian Company Registry, Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in 2019, demanding that the three Nigerian entities should voluntarily change their company names.

Consequently, CAC granted the request and ordered Sanofi Integrated Services Limited, Sanofi Nigeria Enterprises Limited and Sanofi Nigerian Enterprise to voluntarily

change their names as the use of the well-known registered trade mark Sanofi as part of the company names infringes the trade mark rights of the pharmaceutical company, but they refused. In the absence of a response from the three Nigerian companies, Sanofi S.A. promptly initiated legal proceedings before the Federal High Court to safeguard their rights.

Death Toll Rises to Eight in Zaria’s Mosque Collapse

John Shiklam in Kaduna

At least eight worshipers were killed and 25 others sustained injuries as a section of the 150-year-old Zaria Central Mosque collapsed on Friday during prayer session.

The incident, it was learnt, occurred at about 4pm while the worshippers were praying.

One of the survivors, Mallam Shehu Nagari, said the incident

happened when they were in the second Sujud of Asr prayer.

According to him, the affected portion of the mosque suddenly collapsed on those sitting directly under it.

Nagari said all he knew was that the affected worshippers were covered by the rubble because the section was built with mud over 150 years ago.

As of the time of filing this

report Nagari said he couldn’t ascertain the actual number of victims involved in the incident.

The Emir of Zazzau, Mallam Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, who confirmed the incident, said the victims were observing the Asr prayer around 4pm when the incident occurred.

“We had earlier observed a crack on the wall of the mosque yesterday (Thursday) and were

planning to deploy a team of civil engineers to effect repairs when this unfortunate incident happened,” he added.

The monarch, while offering his condolences to the family of the victims, asked Muslim faithful to pray outside the mosque pending the repairs. He said funeral prayer for the corpses would be observed at 8.30pm later on Friday at the palace.

Eko Hotel Staff Who Returned $70,000 Gets Canadian Permanent Residency

Vanessa Obioha

In a heartwarming tale of reward for integrity and virtue, Kekwaru Ngozi Mary, a customer service officer at Eko Hotel and Suites in Nigeria, has received a permanent residency in Canada after her exceptional honesty in returning $70,000 left behind in the hotel by a guest.

Ngozi’s story took an unexpected turn when she discovered a substantial sum of $70,000 left behind by a guest in

one of the hotel’s suites. Rather than succumbing to temptation, Ngozi immediately reported the lost money and ensured it was returned to its rightful owner.

The news of Ngozi’s remarkable act captured the admiration and attention of many for her integrity.

An international organisation, which was deeply impressed by her fluency in French and her unwavering commitment to honesty, has extended an offer

to assist Ngozi in obtaining permanent residency in Canada, completely free of charge.

This generous offer has marked a significant turning point in Ngozi’s life, paving the way for a future brimming with new opportunities and horizons. Reflecting on her journey, Ngozi expressed her belief that honesty truly pays off.

Ngozi’s remarkable story has also garnered recognition on the local front. Her community has

rallied to honour her extraordinary integrity. The local government chairman personally flew her to Port Harcourt, where she was lavishly accommodated in a prestigious hotel.

Additionally, Ngozi was bestowed with an ambassadorial award and even had a building named after her.

Back in her village, she received a chieftaincy title, solidifying her status as a respected figure within her community.

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

Member, Legal Department, Woobs Resources Limited, Mrs. Ngozi Nwachukwu; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Ukutt; and Member of Legal Department, Woobs Resources Limited, Mr. Kingsley Ebimoh, at the press conference on the forgeries of architectural drawings of the Nigerian Army Shopping Complex in Oshodi (The Arena) organised by Woobs Resources Limited in Lagos…recently ETOP UKUTT

EMPOWERING YOUTHS . . .

Fitch Assigns InfraCredit ‘Aaa(Nga)’ Long Term Credit Rating with Stable Outlook

Nume Ekeghe

Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has assigned a National Ratings of ‘AAA(nga)’ to Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Limited (InfraCredit) considering its solid position.

InfraCredit’s “B+” International Long Term Financial Strength also assigned by Fitch is two notches above Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating score of ‘B’- thus, piercing the country’s foreign currency sovereign ceiling.

According to a statement, the ratings outlook are stable and are said by Fitch to have reflected InfraCredit’s strong capitalisation and leverage, strong financial performance, stable debt servicing capability, dependable investment concentration to Nigerian sovereign bonds, and

favourable business profile as a guarantor of Nigerian infrastructure development projects as well as its low expectations for any significant decline in InfraCredit’s Nigerian sovereign concentration in the near term.

Fitch regards InfraCredit’s company profile as ‘favourable’ as a specialised infrastructure credit guarantee institution that champions essential infrastructure development projects in Nigeria, its guaranteed projects are typically essential utilities and exposures are well collateralised, which reduce the overall credit risk of the guarantee portfolio, in Fitch’s view.

Fitch indicated that its ratings were also driven by InfraCredit’s dependable return on equity (2022: 15.6%), which has generally shown an improving trend in the past five years. Fitch

Troops Kill Three Bandits, Rescue 10 Kidnapped Victims in Kaduna

The Nigerian Army has killed three suspected and rescued 10 kidnapped victims during an operation in Kaduna state.

The army’s Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Musa Yahaya disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Kaduna.

He said the soldiers fought the suspected bandits in villages in Chikun and Igabi Local Government Areas of Kaduna state.

He said a rifle, ammunition, and charms were recovered during the operation, which led to the rescue of 10 kidnap victims in Danbaba Village, Igabi LGA.

Yahaya said the operation had again yielded positive results as our gallant troops made contact with marauding bandits and criminal

elements in Kabode village of Chikun and Birnin Yero village of Igabi LGAs of Kaduna state.

“On August 11, acting on credible intelligence, the troops made contact with the bandits and engaged them in a fire fight.

“Troops neutralised three bandits and recovered one AK 47 rifle loaded with 28 rounds of 7.62 mm, one Camo jungle hat, three mobile phones, one head warner, one MP3 player, charms and the sum of one thousand, three hundred and five naira only.

“The rescued kidnap victims have been given medical attention and reunited with their families.

“The GOC pleaded with the communities to continue to avail the Nigerian Army and other security agencies with timely and credible intelligence.”

expects continued ramping up of operations will continue to improve the company’s economic scale.

Accompanying the ratings factors, Fitch described InfraCredit’s debt servicing capability is ‘good’ based on its objective stability in recent years as well as projects its importance as a guarantor of essential local infrastructure development projects which reiterates its mandate to act as a catalyst that attracts new capital and domestic credit for vital infrastructure project from diverse sources.

Speaking on the ratings

outcomes, InfraCredit’s Managing Director/CEO, Chinua Azubike said, “Our ratings by Fitch reinforces the strength of InfraCredit’s business model, resilient capital structure, and quality of our guarantee portfolio, such that we have now earned a better credit rating than the country we operate in.

“Well-structured infrastructure projects, especially when financed in local currency, and particularly in Africa, has one of the lowest default rates in the world, and this is evident in InfraCredit’s zero loss history.

“Our track record demonstrates that the perceived

Online Website Debuts to Preserve Igbo Heritage

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

An educational resources website, which is designed to promote the Igbo language and heritage through repositories of published works in Igbo has made its debut. Such works include literature, grammar, dictionaries, and journals, among others.

The brain behind the innovative project, www.igbolibrary.co is a 2021 graduate of Linguistics and Igbo from the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Sunday David Nwafor.

Nwafor told THISDAY that the online library which was unveiled recently is a platform that brings together the needed resources to take the Igbo language to every part of the world.

He said: “We launched the website to achieve two basic objectives: language advancement/preservation and easy accessibility.

“First, we are aware of a prediction of the United Nations

Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) 2006, that the Igbo language is seriously endangered and may go into extinction in 50 years from 2006 onwards.

“We are confident that the Igbo language won’t die, and the website is just one effort towards preserving the language and advancing it digitally. Second, many Igbo language texts are not yet available online, which presents access challenges to researchers, teachers, academia, writers, readers, students, and Igbo speakers in the diaspora to access.

“Even many that are already online often post limited access challenges due to the high cost and distribution difficulties. This Igbo digital library bridges the gap and makes Igbo literature accessible to everyone.”

On where he drew his inspiration to delve into such a venture, Nwafor stated that many things inspired him to embark on the journey.

risks of investing in African infrastructure are higher than the actual risks, and our mission is to use our credit enhancement tools to bring down the risk premium, build investor confidence and unlock more domestic resources to finance economic development in Nigeria”.

InfraCredit is an ‘AAA’ rated specialised infrastructure credit guarantee institution backed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, GuarantCo and InfraCo Africa (Private Infrastructure Development Group companies), KfW Development Bank, Africa

Finance Corporation and Africa Development Bank to provide local currency guarantees and mobilize long term debt financing for infrastructure in Nigeria.

InfraCredit’s guarantees act as a catalyst to attract domestic credit from pension funds, insurance firms and other long-term investors into creditworthy infrastructure projects, thereby deepening the Nigerian debt capital markets.

InfraCredit operates on a commercial basis with a developmental role and benefits from private sector governance.

Nigeria to Experience Three Days Rainfall, Thunderstorms, NiMet Predicts

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted three days of cloudiness, rainfall, and thunderstorms across the country between Saturday and Monday.

This was disclosed in the agency’s weather outlook released at the weekend.

The outlook predicted cloudy skies yesterday with intervals of sunshine over the northern region and a likelihood of early morning thunderstorms in states such as Kebbi, Adamawa, and Taraba.

The agency also forecasted that isolated thunderstorms are expected over parts of Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe later yesterday.

NiMet also predicted a cloudy atmosphere over the North-central region with prospects of rains and thunderstorms over parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasarawa, Niger, and

Kwara in the morning hours. Intermittent rains and thunderstorms were also envisaged over parts of Plateau, the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kwara, Benue, and Kogi.

“Cloudy atmosphere is expected over the inland states of the South and its coastal states in the morning with chances of intermittent rains over parts of Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Ebonyi states,” the forecast reads.

NiMet also predicted intermittent rains over parts of Lagos, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, and Delta and sunshine over the northern region with prospects of morning thunderstorms in parts of Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

Thunderstorms are anticipated in parts of Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Borno, Taraba, and Adamawa. The agency advised all airline operators to avail themselves of weather reports and periodic alerts from NiMet for effective planning of their operations.

Lagos State Commissioner-nominee, Hon. Moruf Akinderu-Fatai (middle) with participants of a capacity development programme sponsored by Akinderu-Fatai and facilitated by Youth Lighthouse Innovation Foundation in Oshodi, Lagos State …. yesterday

John Shiklam in Kaduna

FX Rates Merger and Companies’ Tales of Woes

The initial optimism of the international community on the ongoing reform of Nigeria’s foreign dealers said the prevailing FX scarcity and the attendant crash in the value of the Naira is hurting large businesses, which are being compelled to run from pillar to post to repay their foreign exchange-denominated loans, reports

Lessthanthreemonthsintothe of the forex exchange (FX) market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it is a tale of woes from members of the business community.

Interestingly, unlike the apathy that greeted the prior stance of the CBN, the ongoing reform has been cheered by some foreign and domestic investors. In fact, there are reports that Nigerian stocks

However, feelers from the business community have shown that the free fall of the value of the naira triggered by the fx market reform is putting the operations of large businesses in jeopardy as they battle to meet their foreign exchange obligations. Finance market watchers regretted that the business environment usually takes the bashing whenever the government put up any economic policies without a deep thought about the fallouts. It recalled that the implementation of the Treasury Single Account of the President Muhammadu Buhari regime had in the same fashion, created a bureaucratic bottleneck for companies doing business with the government.

As the scarcity of foreign exchange bites harder, analysts said it is not a coincidence that some companies are beginning to make their exit from Nigeria to a safer haven.

Recently, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Nigeria Plc said it plans to cease operations after evaluating the options for moving to a third-party distribution model for its pharmaceutical products.

GSK Nigeria, which has faced increased competition from local companies and imports from India and China, said its half-year sales had dropped to N7.75 billion ($9.82 million), from N14.8 billion in the same period a year ago.

Already, Guinness Nigeria Plc has moved its corporate headquarters from Lagos, Nigeria to Ghana. The development will place Guinness Nigeria in the league of other

Festus Akanbi

businesses like Unilever and Dunlop that have left Nigeria for Ghana although the brewery makers explained that it was only moving their headquarters from Lagos and not completely relocating from Nigeria.

The Reforms

In June, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced changes in the Nigerian foreign exchange operations which required the immediate collapse of all segments of the market into the Investor & Exporter (I&E) foreign exchange window and reintroduced the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ model. The decision, as market surveys have shown, has continued to put pressure on the naira, which plunged to a record low of N910/$1 on the parallel market on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, as demand for foreign currency outstripped supply. Forex traders were said to have quoted the exchange rate as high as N910/$1 for interbank transfers and are considered more expensive than cash transfers.

Exporter Window, the exchange rate closed at N774.78/$1 while the NAFEX rate was constraints, with daily turnover averaging $80 million since July.

Foreign Currency Liabilities

While the federal government is basking in the euphoria of the growing support for its economic policy, which some bookmakers said will reduce tension in the foreign exchange market, analysts observed that such optimism is not shared in the boardrooms of many of the leading companies of the spike in the naira-dollar exchange companies include those with exposure to foreign exchange-denominated loans although some of these exposures predated the coming on board of the current administration.

The banking sector was not spared as Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

half of 2022, representing a 77 per cent growth. However, its operating expenses in Nigeria rose to $104m in the second quarter, rising by 10 per cent, driven mainly by consumer-price growth, which accelerated following the removal of fuel subsidies and exchange rate reform. Its Chief Executive weak currencies as one of the factors that -

cent increase compared to N56.60billion of interest income and fee and commission income. However, the foreign exchange income trended towards the negative for in the red.

Companies Scramble for FX

Also cut in the web is Diageo Plc’s Nigeria unit, which lamented that it is struggling to obtain dollars to pay back foreign-currency loans, despite the government’s liberalisation of the foreign-exchange market to help to revive the economy.

Similarly, Guinness Nigeria Plc, a unit of Diageo Plc, has said it is looking for dollars to pay back foreign-currency loans. It declared a loss of N18.2 billion for 2023, on the currency devaluation. It wants to to the dollar shortage, according to the company’s Finance and Strategy Director, Emmanuel Difom.

“If liquidity improves, we plan to pay to reduce our vulnerability, he was quoted as saying in a recent report.

It was the same story for MTN Nigeria

Communication Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, N486.82 billion in foreign exchange losses in half year ended June 30, 2023, about 651 per cent from N64.82billion reported in the half year ended June 30, 2022.

In the period under review, MTN Nigeria declared N131.45 billion net foreign exchange losses, a growth of 864.5 per cent from N13.63 billion reported in H1 2022. Also in this category is Nestle Nigeria, which reported a N123.8 billion net foreign exchange loss in H1 2023 from N2.13 billion in H1 2022.

exchange losses in H1 2023 include Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, and Eterna Plc as they declared unimpressive performance in recent years, despite report-

The naira moved from N465 against the dollar at the end of May 2023 to close at N756 against the dollar in June 2023, giving rise to a net exchange loss of these companies from third-party loans and payables in the Nigerian entities.

On its part, Nigerian Breweries Plc reported N85.26 billion net loss on foreign exchange transactions in H1 2023 from N7.28 billion in H1 2022. The multinational breweries company also declared a loss of N47.6 billion in H1 2023 from N18.74 billion in H1 2022.

A global development economist, Kazeem Bello, said the country needed to tread softly with the new directive as it problems. “We cannot handle the dollar market pricing like the petrol pricing. It will have severe dislocation for the market system, especially when there is acute scarcity of the commodity. People familiar with this should advise the government to tread softly. costs skyrocketing. It may create a serious upset for the economy, especially in the

A bureau de change operator with packets and bundles of dollars

CAPITAL MARKET

Resentful Shareholders as Agents of Destabilisation

Just last week, some shareholders of Seplat Energy PLC and civil society organisations under the aegis of Make on President Bola Tinubu to direct the anti-corruption agencies to investigate the N16 billion professional legal fee allegedly paid by the company to lawyers handling their court cases. The groups who alleged foul play in the $19.4million professional legal fee published in the half-year report of the energy company, further called for the immediate probe of alleged breaches of the Nigerian Code of Corporate to “save the company from going down”.

Even though the disgruntled shareholders tried to hide under a pseudo-name, many knew where the allegations were coming from – the suits against the company and lost.

demned the attitude displayed by disgruntled shareholders, stressing that such an approach

court to attack Seplat has negative implications

Besides, they stated that the roles of directors and shareholders are distinct within a company, asserting that directors have the responsibility of managing the company on behalf of the shareholders.

“It is important to stress that the directors owe a duty to the company itself, rather than the shareholders. This is the case for both executive constitution and seek to promote the success of the company at all times.

They stated that shareholders as owners of a company must allow the board of directors responsibility for the day-to-day running of the company to carry out their responsibilities, and stop being used as agents of destabilisation.ment upheld the authenticity, sanctity, and correported stellar performance, and expressed superior returns and place the organisation on the path of sustainable growth.

The statement read: “Eagle Eye shareholders by the leader of the Independent ShareholdIgbrude, and one Lemmy Ughegbe said to be stale and erroneous allegations against Seplat.

“The exercise is a continuation of the recent onslaught of series of baseless allegations and ill-motivated lawsuits against Seplat Energy and it added.

Seplat Energy, we are appalled by this renewed courts, by this group of individuals led by Mr. Moses Igbrude but being aided and abetted by and his co-travelers is the claim that Seplat spent $19.4million on legal fees and the unconscionable demand for a probe and the sack of the Board. We consider it a travesty that Mr. Igbrude whose

Seplat engineers on duty

of false and orchestrated allegations against have the temerity to be grandstanding.”

The group further asserted that it is noteworformed the basis of the initial regrettable actions taken by the Ministry of Interior and the criminal charge brought against Seplat and its the Nigerian Immigration Service, while Seplat

Igbrude and his cohorts will be talking glibly about the provision for legal fees made in the the same people who ignited an avalanche of lawsuits that necessitated the need for Seplat to defend its hard-earned reputation and the

even as it stretched freedom of expression to an absurd limit. -

ers, we were alarmed that a company in which from which we derive ample returns will be unduly maligned and castigated in public by a

the company and its leaders and successfully defended.

well-meaning shareholder should be proud of, Seplat extended the Share Sale and Purchase -

allegations are strewn in half-truths, largely the stature of Seplat Energy and tarnish the

Seplat Energy, we are unfazed by the orchestrated ceaseless attacks on Seplat Energy by both Igbrude and Ughegbe and a handful of misguided minority shareholders of Seplat Energy.

impact of the devaluation of the Naira on USD cash balances.

at their behest, as disgruntled minority shareholders, would disparage such a highdesperation also led them to query the noble intention of the Nigerian Immigration Service toeing the path of fairness and patriotism.

no longer sit by and watch our company and its management which we hold in high esteem come under constant attack especially when the allegations, instigated by some self-serving interests, are bereft of truth and are outrightly false. We make bold to stay that as representa-

succeed in their plot to smear or bring down the reputation of a company that is doing Nigeria

continued operational excellence and resilience as evidenced by an unrivaled safety record

behind it, delivering good returns despite the distractions faced as a handful of shareholders

agencies like the Independent Corrupt Practices and the Economic and Financial Crimes Comhis likes whose penchant of crying wolf where there is none is becoming legendary. Similarly, a group of ‘Concerned Shareholders

the management were strewn in half-truths, to diminish the stature of Seplat Energy and “We wish to state unequivocally that the

“It is evident that shareholders of Seplat have while capital appreciation on our stocks has been bright future, and sustained progress of the company. We, therefore, use this opportunity them not to be distracted but to continue the good work.

“We believe that no genuine investor in his normal sense will do anything that can bring down the fortune of a company that he has investments in, and this calls to question the motives of those behind the incessant accusations and relentless attacks on the company in the

In any private liability company, directors and shareholders have very distinct roles to play within the company. However, when some shareholders within the ranks of Seplat management struggle to usurp the role not assigned to them, it is capable of undermining the gains of the company if not nipped in the bud, writes Wale Igbintade

SOFT FINANCE

2023: More Bumpy Ride Ahead?

Anew year is here and it is like none other. Nigerians should prepare for a bumpy ride because the year is loaded with landmark events that would redefine the course of the country in significant ways. Apart from being an election year, a population census is also on the cards and the vexing issue of petroleum subsidy must be decided one way or the other in 2023. How these issues are resolved would determine whether the country sinks or floats in the next decade and beyond.

ELECTIONS

The general elections, slated for next month, provide another opportunity for the electorate to renew the ‘employment’ of elected members of the government at state and federal levels. While some incumbent office holders would be presenting themselves for re-election, others such as President Muhammadu Buhari, would not be on the ballot having served the maximum term limit prescribed by the constitution

Periodic elections make elected officials ACCOUNTABLE to the electorate and if the election process is CREDIBLE, OPEN and TRANSPARENT, the system benefits in the long run. If the process can be rigged, the system loses because elected officials will simply not bother to perform to the satisfaction of the electorate. All they will need to do is to steal enough money in office to buy future elections. There is, therefore, a positive correlation between economic development and the quality of the electoral process.

CENSUS

Interestingly, no national population census was conducted in almost 20 years when the norm is for a population census to be conducted at least once in 10 years. Accurate census is considered a major tool for planning and economic development. For instance, the USA redelineates constituencies to redistribute the number of representatives in each constituency, using objective criteria.

So, locations like Lagos State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) which have been net beneficiaries of immigrants from other states would by now have more representatives at the National Assembly than other states that reported net emigration. The updated population figures also assist in the provision of infrastructure, sanitation, social facilities like schools and hospitals in the communities and so on. Unnecessary politics and tribal sentiments don’t come into play but HARD DATA is needed for planning and development.

Elections and population census are high stake activities in Nigeria and both had often resulted in political crises and violence. The year is therefore filled with uncertainties. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is doing its best but I have not seen enough sensitisation to prepare the minds of the citizens on the benefits of both activities. Deployment of technology has assisted a great deal in making our elections more credible but a major concern remains that of VOTE BUYING. If we can do something about this, we would have significantly improved the system and, by extension, improved VOTERS TURNOUT.

THE ECONOMY

The economic landscape is not very impressive. Inflation is still at the high rate of 21.34 percent; exchange rate has been

Few months to the general elections that eventually ushered in President BOLA AHMED TINUBU, we had asked Tunde Lemo, former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, and Chairman of Titan Bank, to put on his binoculars, take a peep into 2023, and share his thoughts with us. His predictions , reproduced below, mostly now being experienced , suggest we should even tighten our belt . Enjoy

Elections and population census are high stake activities in Nigeria and both had often resulted in political crises and violence in the past. The year is therefore filled with uncertainties. INEC is doing its best but I have not seen enough sensitisation to prepare the minds of the citizens on the benefits of both activities.

into power. This is a welcome development as this has not only drained government’s resources, it has prevented the full deregulation of the downstream sector.

have over 12 percent. The International Monetary Fund and other development partners have consistently been canvassing for higher Value Added Tax (VAT) in line with what obtains elsewhere. I strongly plead that the fiscal authorities should not just impose more taxes on those who have been paying, they should WIDEN the tax net to improve on tax compliance. The former will hurt growth and employment and is inflationary since the burden of tax will be passed to the consumers.

FATE OF NAIRA

very unstable in the past few years and the gap between the parallel market and official rate is currently about N440, far more than the threshold acceptable internationally, even for managed currencies. Unemployment rate is 33% while the number of people living in multidimensional poverty rose to 133 million in 2022.

Besides, the new administration will be inheriting a debt profile of more than N77 trillion, inclusive of about N23 trillion unsecured ways and means advances from the CBN. Deficit financing is not abating. More than 50 percent of the recently released 2023 Budget is expected to be financed by local and foreign loans. Meanwhile, foreign loans are becoming more difficult to negotiate in the light of Ghana’s recent default as well as rising interest rates in the OECD economies.

On the other hand, resorting to domestic borrowing will crowd out the private sector and raise the borrowing rate of the government to unsustainable levels. Nigeria’s foreign loans need to be renegotiated ahead of due dates. We must not contemplate a DEFAULT as this can be fatal going forward. INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS DO NOT FORGET!

FUEL SUBSIDY

The Federal Government must be commended for not including petroleum subsidy in the budget beyond June 2023 because it is no longer realistic to continue to keep the subsidy, given the fiscal imbalances resulting from the subsidy claims. Presidential candidates of the three leading political parties have also indicated their desire to remove the petroleum subsidy, if voted

We shall certainly have a bumpy ride in 2023. Nigerians should prepare to sacrifice more if they wish to have a solid foundation for a secured future and prevent a descent into insolvency (I hope it is not too late already). Any candidate that wins the presidential election in February should NOT be congratulated! We should simply greet and say: OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU. MAY GOD TAKE YOU THROUGH THIS TRYING PERIOD.

Petrol may sell for as high as N500 per litre, but this should not scare anyone since countries with lower per-capita income are already paying far more. Nigerians should perish the thought that petroleum products will become cheaper with the coming on stream of the DANGOTE REFINERY. It should be noted that the refinery will operate like any other refinery and would be paying international prices for its major inputs, including crude oil. Even if the crude oil is sold to the refinery in Naira, spare parts and additives would have to be purchased in hard currency.

Meanwhile, the advantage of proximity that will eliminate freight cost will not give more than seven percent price gain. Nigerians must be ready to pay international prices for fuel just as they have been paying international prices for diesel and jet fuel. The increase will only add between two and three percent to HEADLINE INFLATION, given the proportion of fuel in our CPI basket and the impact will be ONE OFF.

Petroleum products which were hitherto being smuggled to the neighboring countries can now be officially exported to those countries and this will ease the pressure on forex and help in reserve accretion.

TAXATION

Taxes must also go up because Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio of just over 6 percent is about the least in Africa. Our comparators

Any candidate that wins the presidential election in February should NOT be congratulated! We should simply greet and say: OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU. MAY GOD TAKE YOU THROUGH THIS TRYING PERIOD

Nigerians should also expect devaluation as the CBN pushes the official rates closer to the parallel market rates to reduce arbitrage opportunities. This is long overdue to bring order to the forex market and improve liquidity, among other benefits. Food prices may not decline too soon because of the security pressures in the north and global warming induced floods especially around the banks of rivers Niger and Benue. The Ukraine crisis, now almost a year old, will continue to exacerbate the food and energy crises globally and we shall be negatively impacted as about 30 percent of our wheat import is sourced from that corridor.

Interest rate is also expected to rise as the government grapples with loan restructuring and securitises the CBN’s ways and means advances. The bond announced by the president will have a coupon rate of nine percent and will not appeal to the public because it is long tenored - 40 years. Investors will definitely demand for far more than the 2-year government bonds which currently trade at around 12 percent. In the end, CBN may remain the SOLE INVESTOR of this SPECIAL BOND in the foreseeable future. We do not expect the CBN to depart from the present ‘hawkish’ mode anytime soon to rein in inflation. This will be a major monetary policy dilemma- the ‘impossible trinity’ of inflation, interest rates and exchange rate are all looking north!

The government should rein-in unnecessary expenditure at all levels. The ORONSAYE REPORT should be urgently implemented by the government. We must copy the Anambra State Government by patronising locally-made vehicles and other products. We must LEAD BY EXAMPLE. The new government must also be strong on prevention of oil theft from its first day in office. This will help to preserve forex earnings, shore up foreign reserve and by extension stabilise the value of the naira as well as reduce environmental pollution in the Niger Delta region. The current crude oil production level of 1.2 million barrels per day is just about two-thirds of our OPEC quota.

SECURITY

The incoming government must work hard to improve security of lives and property. A lot has been done to contain Boko Haram in the North East, but banditry and kidnapping are also serious enough to tackle head-on. The much needed Foreign Direct Investment can only be attracted if we improve National Security.

No doubt there are bumps ahead, but God will take us through. We shall end the year in praise. GOD BLESS NIGERIA.

President Tinubu

Strengthening the Judiciary: Independence, Bias and Administration

Fabian Ajogwu

The importance of our judicial system goes beyond justice administration simpliciter and touches on political institutions and policies which help to shape society. Citizens frequently turn to the judiciary to protect and enforce their rights. The workload of judges has increased because of the changing times and development of technology and has become far more complex. It has also become evident that the qualifications required for the proper exercise of the judicial role now go beyond the basic legal knowledge and skills of legal interpretation that was once sufficient (UNODC).

The evolution of the judicial role has led to its increased importance in political, social, and economic spheres. It has induced reforms in many countries intended to meet these new challenges through innovations in the judicial system that are crucial for the quality and efficiency of its performance. To strengthen the judiciary, there must be a proper balance between the independence of the Judiciary, security of judicial officers, judicial management, and judicial accountability, as all these factors are crucial for the proper working of the judicial system in Africa.

An independent, protected, strong, and respected judiciary is indispensable for an impartial administration of justice in a democratic State. Judicial officers should actively participate in establishing, enforcing, maintaining, and observing a high standard of conduct to preserve the integrity and respect for the independence of the Judiciary.

Bearing in mind the need for judicial management to enhance an impartial, independent, and respectable judiciary, the Nigerian Judicial Council established its Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers to provide a minimum standard to be observed by judicial officers to ensure sound ethical and professional standards in the discharge of their duties. The Code of Conduct is not restricted to Judges but also provide minimum standard to guide the conduct of staff of the Judiciary and court officials in the discharge of their duties.

Judicial Bias: To Do Justice Without Fear or Favour

The impartiality of judges, expressed in the Latin maxim nemo judex in propria causa interpreted to mean that ‘no man should be a judge in his own cause’, and the right to fair hearing are the tenets of natural justice (E S Nwauche, 2004). The principle of Natural Justice is recognised by provisions of the Constitution across African countries and the world.

Article 6 (1) of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 as incorporated in the Human Rights Act 1988, applicable in England since 2000 provides that, “… everyone is entitled to a fair hearing… by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law” (E S Nwauche, 2004) in the determination of their civil rights and obligations.

Judicial independence and the impartiality of judges are closely knitted in that they operate to sustain public confidence in the administration of justice. Wherever public confidence in the Judiciary lags, the popular perception is that judges are biased in their decision-making. Such bias has been attributed to various factors, including socioeconomic inequality, the rural-urban divide, ethnicity, and gender discrimination. Significant reform efforts have thus been targeted toward tackling the root causes of discrimination in the courtroom, including domestic and international programs

designed to enhance access to justice for marginalised groups and reduce delays in judicial workloads (F. Shen-Bayh, 2022).

Bias can be either actual, or apparent bias. Actual bias is not tough to prove in practice, this is a situation where the judge has pecuniary or other interest in the outcome of the litigation whereas apparent bias, deals with the perception of a reasonable man in relation to how the judge has conducted proceedings in a matter i.e the judge’s conduct or behaviour, their interests, affiliations or their allegiances.

Generally, there are two tests to be applied in determining apparent bias: the “reasonable suspicion of bias” test and the “real likelihood of bias” test. However, jurists believe that the differences between these two tests are mainly semantic as they operate similarly.

The right to a fair hearing entails that individuals should not be penalised by decisions affecting their rights unless they have been given a fair opportunity to present a response to the case against them. The mere fact that a decision affects rights or interests of an individual is sufficient to subject the decision

to the procedures required to the natural justice test.

The judicial system must remain impartial and unbiased in the administration of justice. Oliver Wendell Holmes defines the law as the prophecies of what the courts will do in fact and nothing more pretentious, this definition is represented in the doctrine of Stare Decisis and judicial precedence. Hence Judges should be more concerned with doing justice and should be guided by the principles of natural justice; fair hearing, equity and good conscience, repugnancy to natural justice, and that no man should be a judge in his case. In doing justice, we should be guided by the fact that our decisions will influence generations to come; hence a good legacy should be left behind.

It is immutable that the problem with the human being is that nothing is perfect, yet Justice Oputa and Justice Karibi-Whyte (Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria) held to the belief “that the object of rewarding judicial demeanour is not just the pursuit of some form of sinlessness, but to become somewhat angelic”. (Amb. G. Igali, Ph.D 2020).

Independence of the Judiciary

In administering justice, the independence of the Judiciary is an essential element. It is a sacrosanct because it goes hand in hand with the doctrine of separation of powers. However, the doctrine of separation of powers is difficult to realise as several impediments stand

in the path of Judicial Independence.

For example, in Nigeria, the budgetary allocation to the Judiciary is determined by the Executive at the Federal or State level, respectively. Another example is the amendment of laws by a few state governments to exert influence over the Judiciary. For example, in Rivers State, the power to assign cases now lies in the hands of the Chief Registrar instead of the Chief Judge of the state.

These instances of issues that hamper judicial independence have led to clamours by stakeholders in the judiciary to reform the judicial system. The 21-day strike embarked on by the Judiciary Staff Union of Workers (JUSUN) demanding judicial independence of the Judiciary and financial autonomy of the state judiciary is notable (F. Iwuchukwu, 2014). This occurred because of an awareness of the fact that to uphold the rule of law and ensure that the functions of the judicial officers are carried out like welloiled machinery, judicial independence must be guaranteed.

From the process of nomination, selection, appointment, remuneration, discipline, promotion, dismissal, and retirement of all judicial officers, there must be no room for bias, preferential treatment, or subjective opinion. Another way of ensuring judicial independence is by granting life tenure to Judges, which frees them to exercise their judicial discretion justly. The twin pillars of judicial independence, i.e., security of tenure and conditions of service must be deeply rooted in the foundation of society.

The need for the independence of the Judiciary was reiterated by Gani AdetolaKazeen, SAN where he remarked that the executive arm of government should have less power in the appointment of judges and advocated that the Judiciary should be in control of its own resources to avoid any form of influence or interference in the course of justice (I. Uwaleke, Y. Ayobami-Ojo, 2014).

Administration of Justice in the Face of Terrorism

There are numerous causes of violence and insurgency in Africa. The continent is vast with tremendous cultural and language differences, and the only truly shared experience is a history of European colonialism. The most notorious terrorist activity in West Africa during the 21st century has been in Nigeria due to the activities of the terrorist group Boko Haram, especially in the Northern region (Dr A. Obe, 2021).

The incessant massacre, bombings, and mass kidnappings in African Countries have hampered the administration of justice. Court proceedings have been put on hold for fear of loss of life and destruction of buildings. This is, therefore, a crucial topic for discussion because a failure to address this lingering issue will pose a clog in the efficiency of the administration of justice.

Conclusion

The administration of justice by the judiciary, which is not only faced with issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, racial justice, polity issues, election issues, and economic challenges, has placed a heavy burden on the judiciary as the court is an institution that relies on reason, not emotion.

The burden placed on the Judiciary in the administration of justice supersedes the basic legal knowledge and skill of legal interpretation required to discharge its duties; cooperation is required from the other arms of government (the Executive and the Legislative) to ensure the independence, impartiality, integrity, and security of the judiciary.

Ariwoola

Ar A i iwoolla

THE COUP IN NIGER CHEKWUBE

NZOMIWU contends military intervention contradicts Nigeria’s foreign policy

Akpabio’s Senate leads with inadvertent releases of hidden but useful information to the public, writes AUSTIN ISIKHUEMEN

UNVEILING THE 10TH SENATE’S ‘AKPABIOSIS’

See Page 20

ATIKU AND THE PDP REBUILD PROJECT

The PDP attempts to pick the pieces of its organic frameworks, writes TUNDE

OLUSUNLE

The 10th Senate was inaugurated in June 2023. Made up of a lot of first timers and many returning ‘ranking’ distinguished senators, we also expected them to ‘hit the ground running’. That is a term that has been so bandied about of recent that young men wedding now even say they too would hit the ground running after reception. Have they hit the ground running? Oh yes. In what direction in particular? That is million-dollar question!

The honourables are gradually settling down and the new comers are learning the ropes of legislative practices and etiquette. Quite a few, who held sway as governors and had managed rubber-stamp assemblies whose breathing rate they determined at will, must be feeling that the freedom here is enormous. Many have not yet spoken a word except when it is time to ‘aye’ or ‘nay’ to the Senate President’s gavel. They are watching and the ranking guys probably remind them that they are their seniors, and they must learn the ropes.

We have seen a former governor put his foot in his mouth, in a manner of speaking, and the Senate made him beat a quick retreat and apologise profusely to his fellow distinguished senators. He must have rued the day he had to do that and wondered if these had been house of assembly members when he was the State’s talk-na-do whether they would have dared talk to him not to talk of making him to recant in plenary. Times have changed. He will bid his time and filibuster in due course.

See Page 20

EDITORIAL

JOB RACKETEERING IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

See Page 21

We also saw some new senators take tentative steps and make the motions of law making like drivers using a learner’s permit but without the red letter “L” hanging on their necks. We also watch the adepts marshal their points, move motions and second moved motions, use the rules book to puncture holes on the premise on which their colleagues want to hang their argument or gently nudge the new presiding President, a ranking senator, to take the right route. It has been interesting indeed. We have seen some move a motion they know would be of no effect but would make him visible on national TV and social media. His aide in the gallery would use his powerful android smartphone to record his performance and share it among his constituents and social media as evidence of his effective representation in Abuja.

According to Kizz Daniel, our music icon on his award-winning Buga track, “so far so good”. They have, with amazing alacrity, approved the 500 billion naira ‘virement’ that the Presidency asked for. This is understandable since the funds were required for the yet to be worked out palliatives needed to allow the poor to breathe and stay alive after the abrupt removal of the accursed fuel subsidy. That approval reminded us of distinguished Ahmed Lawan era where

loan application approvals appeared to be the primary purpose of the Senate. Oh, I almost forgot, Senator Lawan sits pretty in this 10th Senate and his imprimatur cannot be wiped out so soon in his presence. Otherwise, he too can ‘kill some bills to death’ with his influence using his language in the plenary of the Ninth Assembly. He probably led the platoon that made the ex-governor who had excoriated his era to recant. That is called legacy protection! The main difference between Lawan’s genuflecting era and this is unfolding Akpabiosis is that when the two Presidents meet, the Aso Rock President merely winks and the gavel holder winks back in return and matter is settled.

However, the 10th Senate’s Akpabiosis has just begun and only those not watching closely would miss its sights, sounds and aroma. But, first, what is Akpabiosis? I can assure you that no dictionary in print has that word as at today. It is my own coinage in a fit of insightful clairvoyance and interpretative demagogy inspired by the current Senate President’s entertaining, surprising, sometimes annoying and revealing manoeuvres. The Senate has transited from a Lawan-style presiding, where a senator revealing that his judge spouse has been a judicial helping hand to fellow senators, and he is told it is ‘not a good idea’ to say that. It has now moved to a new Senate where revelations of additional senatorial pecks will come freely to the hungry populace via national televisions. It also includes an ability to display a dexterity in language switch that converts unearned allowance alerts to prayers for traveling mercies! This transition is what I have named Akpabiosis.

What are the symptoms of this new phenomenon seen so far? The first was when a senator added a prayer to a moved motion arguing that, in the words of the President, to allow the poor to breathe. The Senate President duly put it to vote. The ayes won, whereby the presiding officer pronounced that the “ayes had it”. Then he went on, jocularly, in his very humorous avuncular style to say “the poor must

be allowed to breathe” laughing as he said so. He was joined in the laughter by a number of his colleagues. Nigerians did not find this funny, and they stated so on social media and TV talk shows. Senator (Mrs) Ireti Kingibe, an Ellu P member representing FCT has since defended the Senate President on Channels TV. During the discussion with Seun Okinbaloye, she looked dazzling like someone who has been breathing very well, just like Seun himself! But Akpabiosis was in the air.

Now, prayer has just been redefined in the 10th Senate. It is that thing that gives alert when sent to enable on your phone. It is token that is sent by the Clerk to the accounts of members of parliament to enable them to enjoy their holidays but quickly transforms to a prayer sent into mailboxes. Remember that it could be money that was previously called a token in case you were thinking it is the hardware piece that you got from your bank for electronic transaction authentication. Akpabiotic definitions are being compiled and should be in print within four years or so. You can book your copy by sending some prayers into a mail box to be provided at your senator’s constituency office in your senatorial district.

Some people will recall that someone was also present at the hearing where “switch off the mic” first gained national political traction. I am not sure that mic was ever switched on after that first incarnation. Creative gurus like Yemi Shodimu have put the incidence into a song and the video remains on social media for anyone so inclined to enjoy during their own unfunded holidays. With the benefit of hindsight, that may have been a test-run of Akpabiosis. The phenomenon will lead to inadvertent releases of hidden but useful information to the public at intervals. With Akpabiosis, who needs the Freedom of Information Act?

Any busy body who wants to tell the Distinguished Senator that this writer does not mean well should perish the thought. He should know that the Senate Presidency was zoned to the people of the South South and, as a proud South Southerner, Akpabio is my representative and has a good sense of humour. I will not be surprised if I get his invitation to come over for a prayer session for the hard work involved in this my coinage of a beautiful name for another phenomenon after the Uyo Stadium was named after him. After all, as an uncommon Governor and now, an Uncommon Senator and Senate President with friends across divides as wide as APC, PDP, LP, EFCC, NNPP, NNPC, etc., no one is more qualified than him to hold that gavel and allow us all to breathe. Corporate entities need to quickly implement their HR leave plan in line with the Senate practice of going on recess after every two months of hard work with generous prayers sent to their employees’ mailboxes.

THE COUP IN NIGER

Chekwube Nzomiwu contends military intervention contradicts Nigeria’s foreign policy

Nigeria’s national interest.

Although, a lot has happened in Nigeria between the 1960s and today, there has not been any significant change in the country’s foreign policy, notwithstanding several transitions from military to civilian regimes and the migration from parliamentary to presidential system.

ATIKU AND THE PDP REBUILD PROJECT

Last Thursday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced that no option is off the table for restoring constitutional order in Niger, including the use of force. The subregional body ordered its Chief of Defense Staff Committee to immediately activate its standby force for possible military intervention in the troubled country.

President of ECOWAS, Omar Alieu Touray gave the order while reading the resolution taken at the Extraordinary meeting on the Niger Coup in Abuja, attended by 11 heads of state. An earlier resolution by ECOWAS issuing one-week ultimatum to the junta to reinstate the ousted President, Mohamed Bazoum, was rebuffed.

Prior to last Thursday’s meeting, Nigerians heavily criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for contemplating military intervention in Niger. The Nigerian Senate also rejected military intervention in that country. The President speaking through his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, shrugged off the criticisms, saying the military option was the decision of the ECOWAS regional bloc and not a Nigerian decision.

However, as persuasive as the Nigerian government’s argument may sound, it will impress only a novice in Nigeria’s foreign affairs, especially as it affects Africa and the West African sub-region in particular. Although ECOWAS is made up of 15 countries, Nigeria’s dominates its affairs. The ECOWAS Treaty signed in Lagos in 1975, makes Nigeria the Headquarters of the organization. The Secretariat was initially in Lagos until 1998, when it was moved to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. Similarly, Nigeria is the largest donor to the organisation.

The leadership role played by Nigeria in the sub-regional body is not surprising. From the time that Nigeria gained Independence from Britain on October 1, 1960, she adopted Africa as the c enterpiece of her foreign policy. In a major speech in parliament few weeks before independence, the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa identified what he considered to be the general aims of Nigeria’s foreign policy. They include the promotion of the national interest of the federation and of the citizens, friendship and co-operation with all nations of the world which support and respect Nigeria’s sovereignty and nonalignment to any power bloc.

Others are, the respect for the sovereign equality of all nations as well as non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states, unimpeded decolonization and assistance to African states in search of solution to their problems, and encouragement and development of common ties among all African states to foster cooperation among them, in so far as it is compatible with

Currently, Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives are encapsulated in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which Tinubu swore to uphold on May 29 this year when he assumed office as the President and Commander-in-Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces. Quoting from Chapter II of the Constitution, Section 19, under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principle of State Policy, “The foreign policy objectives shall be (a) promotion and protection of the national interest (b) promotion of African integration and support for African unity (c) promotion of international co-operation for the consolidation of universal peace and mutual respect among all nations and elimination of discrimination in all its manifestations (d) respect for international law and treaty obligations as well as the seeking of settlement of international disputes by negotiation, media, conciliation and adjudication, and (e) promotion of just world economic order.

It is on the basis of this constitutional provision that we will look at the proposed ECOWAS military intervention in Niger, to see if it complies with the aims and objectives of Nigeria’s foreign policy. According to Nigeria’s foreign policy is the promotion and protection of national interest. While there is no consensus globally on what constitutes national interest, it is even Nigeria.

However, consensus or no consensus, I don’t think a country going to war at a time it is facing daunting challenges at home is in national interest. The foreign policy of a country should be a product of environmental factors, internal and external to it. Nigeria is just coming out of a general election that heavily polarised the country along ethnic and even religious lines. The legitimacy of the government is still being challenged at the Election Petition Court.

Equally, Nigerians are facing excruciating hardship as a result of some difficult economic policies introduced by the new government, such as the fuel subsidy removal and floating of the Naira. In just two months of the Tinubu government, the price of fuel has tripled, jumping from N195 to N617 as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.

Following the astronomically increase in fuel price, the cost of food and other commodities as well as transportation fares in the market have skyrocketed. According to the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s foreign debt is about $41.69bn, excluding the proposed $800 million World Bank loan for subsidy palliatives. Insecurity has aggravated unhindered.

Before a man decides to apply force to resolve the dispute in his neighbour’s house, it is expected that he should first of all put his own house in order. Hence, the decision of ECOWAS to explore military option in Niger is at variance with what Nigeria stands for, vis-a-vis her foreign policy, which is duly enshrined in the constitution.

In an earlier article, I noted that the proximity of Niger to Nigeria makes military option by ECOWAS in the former too dicey for the latter. The Nigeria-Niger border covers a distance of over 1, 600 kilometres traversing seven states in Northern Nigeria, currently under the siege of terrorists and bandits. Incidentally, Niger alongside Chad and Benin Republic, contributed militarily to the Multi-National Joint Taskforce combating terrorists in North East Nigeria.

Two high-powered meetings within a space of eight days by the prime political opposition the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP), is signal to the urgency with which the party intends to rediscover itself. After 16 years at the helm in governance, the PDP has been the odd outsider in the nation’s politics into the ninth year now. If it was a Tsunami by the former opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, (APC) the way it shooed aside the PDP from the all-important presidential contest in 2015, the presidential elections of 2019 and 2023 have left more to be desired. Local and international observers have been unanimous in denouncing the serial shams clothed in the improbable garbs of transparent, fair, credible and acceptable polls. Litigations have been filed and heard by the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal, (PEPT).

The sitting government has publicly betrayed its apprehensions about the possible outcome of the proceedings which on the strength of evidence weighs heavily against it. It envisages that a rerun election could be in the offing. But the APC will prefer such a match up between its candidate and President, Bola Tinubu, and the runner-up as choreographed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), the charismatic former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The APC desires the exclusion of the second runner up in the February electoral contest Peter Obi of the Labour Party, (LP), in the event of a rerun. This is even as Nigerians hope that the judiciary will be unbiased, forthright, firm in the dispensation of justice.

After being upended at the Saturday February 25, 2023 presidential election, the PDP is attempting to pick the pieces of its organic frameworks. A meeti ng of the national leadership of the party early June with its parliamentarians-delegate in Bauchi at the time, has been promptly followed by two interactions in Abuja. Saturday July 29 and Saturday August 5, 2023 respectively, top level meetings were held in Abuja the nation’s capital. The earlier meeting might have been described as a “family meeting” having been convened and hosted by one of the pioneering fathers of the PDP, Tom Ikimi. Informal as it would have been described, the meeting commanded the attendance of Atiku; Ifeanyi Okowa (his running mate) and Iyorchia Ayu (former national chairman of the party). Former governors on the platform of the party notably Babangida Aliyu, (Niger); Aminu Tambuwal, (Sokoto) and Ibrahim Shekarau, (Kano), attended the meeting.

While it is true that the number of PDP governors in the various Government Houses across the land has wilted with the 2015 onslaught of the APC, the party still boasts of at least a third of the total number of state chief executives. Umaru Fintiri, (Adamawa); Bala Mohammed, (Bauchi); Sheriff Oborevworo, (Delta); Godwin Obaseki, (Edo); Ademola Adeleke, (Osun); Caleb Mutfwang, (Plateau); Dauda Lawal, (Zamfara), attended July 29 impromptu meeting. It was intended to be a precursor to the meeting of the National Working Committee, (NWC) of the party scheduled for Monday July 31, 2023. The party needed to reassure its supporters that it was capable of a rebound.

Ahead of the meeting, there were speculations about the possible prescription of sanctions against some erring members of the party. Top on the list of such insubordinate PDP leaders are Nyesom Wike, Okezie Ikpeazu, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Samuel Ortom, (former governors of Rivers, Abia, Enugu and Benue), as well as Seyi Makinde of Oyo State. With Wike as rallying point, all five former governors constituted themselves into renegades against Atiku’s presidential ticket. They coined the sobriquet *G-5,* meaning “Group of Five,” as collective label. The animus stemmed from Wike’s loss to Atiku at the PDP presidential primary in 2022 and Atiku’s non-adoption of Wike as running mate. Curiously, at least one of the quartet

of these Wike governor-allies received a whopping nine-digit financial lifeline from the characteristically benevolent Atiku back in 2015, when it mattered most. He needed that infusion for the critical last push to electoral victory. It was not a loan from Atiku. Wike and company thereafter demanded the ouster of Ayu as National Chairman of the party for a southern replacement to ensure. This they said was to ensure North - South balance between the party’s presidential flagbearer and its national chair.

Ikpeazu, Ugwuanyi and Ortom very instructively, lost their contests to go rendezvous in the federal parliament the newfound nestling grounds for former state governors. It was a real-life reenactment of the exhortation about being restrained in hurling stones into the marketplace so as not to unwittingly inflict injuries on one’s own. Two of them, Ikpeazu and Ortom, sadly also lost the opportunity to install candidates of their own parties as their successors. Alex Otti of the LP and Hyacinth Alia of the APC won the governorship election in Abia and Benue States. Typical of post-election triumphalism against opponents in our parts, Otti and Alia have been undoing almost all that were emplaced by their predecessors, preferring militaristic rhetoric and actions. Ortom has had a date with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), at the instigation of his successor. Makinde won reelection, while Wike has been screened as a minister- designate.

Saturday August 5, 2023, governors of the party met again with the PDP presidential candidate and the leadership of the party. It was a fuller, more robust parley. Atiku and Okowa were joined by Duoye Diri, (Bayelsa); Peter Mbah, (Enugu); Kefas Agbu, (Taraba), who didn’t attend the earlier meeting. Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Bauchi’s Bala Mohammed led Fintiri, Oborevwori, Adeleke, Lawal who all attended the earlier engagement. Kingsley Chinda, (Minority Leader of the House of Representatives); Damagum; Taofeek Arapaja, (Deputy National Chairman, South); and Dan Orbih, (National Chairman, South South) were present.

Samuel Anyanwu, (National Secretary); Umar Bature, (National Organising Secretary); Ahmed Yayari, (National Treasurer); Koshoedo Setoji, (Assistant National Treasurer) and Muhammed Kadade, (National Youth Leader), participated at the event. In like manner, Bello Gwarzo, (Zonal Chairman, North West); Dakas Shan, (Zonal Chairman, North Central); Ali Odefa, (Vice Chairman, South East); Woyengikwo Daniel, (National Financial Secretary); Debo Ologunagba, (National Publicity Secretary) and Okechukwu D.O, (Auditor), participated. The meeting was akin to calling out the “battalion commanders” in the military.

Olusunle, PhD, poet, journalist, scholar and author is a Member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE)

The PDP attempts to pick the pieces of its organic frameworks, writes TUNDE OLUSUNLE

Nzomiwu, a public affairs commentator, writes from Awka, Anambra State

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

JOB RACKETEERING IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

Recruitment of unqualified staff comes at a huge cost to the nation

For years, there have been tales about a job racketeering ring which sells employment slots to job seekers. Last week, a former desk officer at the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Haruna Kolo confirmed the development. He told the House of Representatives ad hoc committee that he indeed fronted for the Chairperson of the Commission, Muheeba Dankaka, to sell employment slots to job seekers. Although Dankaka denied receiving any such money, she had earlier accused other commissioners of selling jobs thus confirming that the recruitment process in many of the ministries, department and agencies (MDAs) is highly susceptible to bribery and corruption.

Kolo, who has transferred his services from the commission to the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) where he currently works confessed that he used his personal bank account to collect huge sums of money from job applicants and withdrew the same for Dankaka in cash.

When the investigating committee wanted more from him, in a follow up session, Kolo failed to honour the invitation. But he has already revealed enough. Indeed, two victims of alleged job racketeering at the FCC, said they paid N1 million and N2 million each for job placement in the commission. “Most public institutions now sell employment positions, notwithstanding qualification of the applicant and ability of the applicant to perform optimally on the job,” noted Oluwole Oke, who pressed for the ongoing investigation in the House.

The prevalence of bribery and corruption, particularly in the country’s public service, is huge. The House ad-hoc committee has received 39 petitions from the MDAs alone, alleging job racketeering and mismanagement of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Only last year, there were series of petitions to the Senate from aggrieved job seekers, alleging that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) management did not allow them to carry out any documentation despite issuing them letters of employment. One of the petitions, signed by a former deputy governor

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of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi, alleged that employments into the interventionist agency were sold for various amounts depending on the financial strength of the applicant’s family.

The federal government recruitment and payment of civil servants and public officers are fraught with corruption, as public institutions have since stopped advertising for jobs and vacancies. Some job applicants pay as much as N5 million to be hired. But it is not restricted to federal agencies. In fact, the states and the local councils are even worse off as syndicates impoverish the children of the poor and their parents in exchange for jobs. It is so bad that to secure a teaching job in some states, applicants are made to pay scandalous amounts of money. Many of the job seekers resort to taking loans from friends or financial agencies at exorbitant interest rates.

Various surveys conducted by agencies on recruitment process into the country’s public service have revealed that sentiments and other primordial issues like ethnicity, nepotism and favoritism are given more consideration in terms of employment than merit. A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for instance, observed that 32 per cent Nigerians who secured jobs in the nation’s public service in 2019 paid a bribe. Country Representatives, UNODC, Oliver Stolpe, stated the findings were not based on perception but on empirical findings backed by the National Bur eau of Statistics (NBC).

The staffing of government agencies with unqualified staff comes at a huge cost to the nation. The public service has largely been unable to meet the expectations of citizens both in terms of basic needs as well as institutional transformation. It poses a major risk and eases underperformance as widely observed in today’s public service. This is in contrast to the efficiency, productivity, and professionalism of the 60’s and the 70’s.

We urge the anti-corruption agencies to wade into the scandal at the FCC with a view to bringing all the culprits to justice. This is a systemic rot that smears the integrity of public service in Nigeria. Such is the level of perfidy that tales now abound about people paying for cabinet positions in the country!

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Letters to the Editor LETTERS

INDIGENOUS YOUTHS AS THE FACE OF THE FUTURE

The United Nations observes the International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9 and the World Youth Day on August 12 to reflect on two different demographics that are indispensable to a world where no one is left behind.

The annual observances by the United States which is the largest organization in the world are meant to draw attention to some of the world’s most pressing issues.

Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. Such a high number of young people is an opportunity for the continent’s growth – but only if these new generations are fully empowered to realize their best potential. It is especially important that young people are included in decision-making and given appropriate opportunities to work and to innovate.

Involving young people in politics and society is not merely a question of inclusion, but one that is vital for economic growth, innovation, peace, and security.

However, young people continue to face many challenges.

In Africa, a continent which continues to underperform despite its limitless potential, young people face especially challenging times just trying to get by.

Some of these challenges are poverty, unemployment, and terrorism. Indications show that Africa is becoming the epicenter of global terrorism. Major terrorist organizations appear to be setting up camp in Africa, especially in the Sahel region, where countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria are battling terrorism.

Terrorist groups largely depend on young people to thrive. So, young people are not just attacked and indiscriminately killed, they are also recruited into terror groups to further terrorize communities.

How do poverty and unemployment wade into the conversation? Unfortunately, Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is among the poorest regions of the world. Nigeria alone, which is Africa’s most populous country, has more than half of its population languishing

beneath the poverty line.

In many African homes, food insecurity, which is perhaps the most visible mark of grinding poverty, prevails. The relationship between poverty and unemployment is a symbiotic one. In Africa, this symbiosis afflicts the youth with a vengeance. It is one of the chief reasons terrorist groups continue to find recruitment easy among impoverished and aggrieved African youth.

For the World’s indigenous people, it is very much about a life lived on the periphery at a time when the world needs every bit of their indigenous knowledge and experience to save itself from selfdestruction.

In the face of raging climate change can teach the world how to acquit itself with nature’s demand. Their unique relationship with nature and all the gifts it abundantly gives puts them in the best stead to provide solutions to the problems that are pushing the world to the edge. Yet, many indigenous people continue to

face unspeakable abuse.

Violations of the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples have become a persistent difficulty, sometimes because of a historical burden from their colonization backgrounds and others because of the contrast with a constantly changing society.

Remembering that Indigenous Peoples have the right to make their own decisions and carry them out meaningfully and culturally appropriate to them. In this context of demand for self-determination, indigenous youth are working as agents of change at the forefront of some of the most pressing crises facing humanity today.

For instance, Indigenous youth are harnessing cutting-edge technologies and developing new skills to offer solutions and contribute to a more sustainable, peaceful future for our people and planet. But their future depends as well on the decisions that are made today.

Ike Willie-Nwobu, Ikewilly9@gmail.com

We urge the anti-corruption agencies to wade into the scandal at the FCC with a view to bringing all the culprits to justice. This is a systemic rot that smears the integrity of public service in Nigeria

TAMUNOMININI OLUFUNKE MAKINDE

BEING FIRST LADY HASN’T CHANGED MY PERSONALITY

As an accomplished engineer, Tamunominini Olufunke Makinde is one of the most brilliant and educated First Ladies in Nigeria. After earning a first degree in Petrochemical Engineering in Nigeria, she later obtained a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Master’s degree (MBA) from St. Thomas University, Houston, Texas, United States, graduating with a First Class. Mrs. Makinde would rather jettison a personal ambition to play a supportive and doting wife. Inside her office at Agodi GRA, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, she told Funke Olaode why she is passionate about girl-child education and women empowerment

Women Can Change the Narratives by Being Proactive

Her background is far from being humble having come from a noble family with a solid academic pedigree. Her father was a field engineer with Shell Nigeria in Port Harcourt where she was raised and eventually met her future husband. With a comfortable background, an outstanding academic laurel and now the wife of a politician who is constantly in the public glare, nothing has changed. A first encounter will leave you with a lifelong impression: relatable, hospitable, down-to-earth, jovial and accommodating. Though cosmopolitan in outlook, having lived among the Oyo people who cherish tradition, she has mastered it all. And intermittently, she displays that Yoruba outward of respect. Welcome to the world of Tamunominini Olufunke Makinde, First Lady of Oyo State.

Looking regal in orange Ankara with embellishment, she exuded elegance as she dazzled among the pupils and top echelons of the Oyo State Civil Service. It was her pet project tagged ‘A Day Out with the Girls of Oyo State: Your Menstruation Hygiene Matters!’ The well successful programme drew secondary school pupils from local government areas of Oyo. Apart from learning about personal hygiene, the participants went home with personal kits consisting of pants, sanitary wares, deodorants and more.

In all of this, Mrs. Makinde maintained her simple disposition without drawing unnecessary attention to herself. And back to her expansive office located in Agodi GRA in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, her hospitality and humility once again were on display. Is this a reflection of who she is?

“Yes, I would say this is a true reflection of me. I have had friends from way back at high school up to university. They are still my friends. Some of them were worried that if I become a governor’s wife, I will change. But after the election, two years, three years, and I happened to meet some of them at the airport in transit, nothing has changed about me. Although I have lost my privacy. I am still who I am. I still love local braiding and small hair. It is an honour to be in the forefront which has allowed me to advocate for causes that are close to my heart. Important issues such as women empowerment, sexual and genderbased violence and girl-child education,” she said.

Mrs. Makinde may be the first woman today, she is well grounded. Her background rooted in Christ, education and professional experience has equipped her with strong communication skills, diplomacy and the ability to engage with diverse groups of people to navigate her roles. Also, various community initiatives have allowed her to understand the needs and concerns of different classes of people in society irrespective of their religious affiliations or political beliefs.

It has been over four years since she came into the saddle, but Mrs. Makinde has been able to combine many roles as a wife, a mother, an accomplished engineer as well as a First Lady.

She explained: “Well, balancing multiple roles can be quite challenging, but with careful planning and support, it is possible. First, I prioritize my responsibilities and allocate time accordingly. This helps me stay focused and organised. I believe strongly that effective time management is important, so I create schedules and set reminders prioritizing urgent and important tasks so as to optimize my time and make sure all my roles receive the attention they deserve.

“My primary role is that of a wife and so, I always ensure that I have time to attend to my husband and his needs. Similarly, by the time my husband became the Governor of Oyo State, two of my children were already in the university and the last was in high school.

“Importantly, I maintain open and honest communication with my husband, family, and coworkers at all times. This helps me align expectations and seek support when needed. I also believe in delegating tasks whenever possible, both at home and at work.

“Finally, I make sure to prioritise activities that help me relax and recharge. Whether it’s exercise or spending quality time with loved ones, these activities rejuvenate me and enable me to bring my best self to all my roles without one affecting the other.”

An Ijaw woman married to an Oyo man, Mrs. Makinde said she feels at home. “As a leader in a setting where the culture and language are different from my own, I have had to navigate the complexities of communicating with the Yoruba people.

Nevertheless, I have dedicated myself to learning the language.

“In addition, my role as the first lady has given me the privilege of meeting and working with extraordinary individuals who are dedicated to making a difference. These interactions have broadened my perspective and enriched my understanding of the world, thereby creating a better scope on how to help my people, especially the women in Oyo.

“I have been married to a Yoruba man for the past 27 years and I have lived with the Yoruba people, so I understand the people and their ways of life. That makes it easy for me to relate with them. And though I cannot speak the Yoruba language fluently, I have basic understanding of the language and I am

able to relate with the people easily because relating with people is beyond the language they speak or where they hail from.” How would she describe the people of Oyo? “The people of Oyo are known for their warmth, resilience, and rich cultural heritage. I can describe the people of Oyo as hardworking, loving, accommodating, jovial and generous. They possess a strong sense of community and are deeply rooted in their traditions and values. I have found the people of Oyo to be incredibly welcoming and hospitable. They embrace diversity and are always eager to celebrate their cultural differences. Whether it’s through music, dance, or cuisine, the people of Oyo take pride in showcasing their unique traditions

to the world. Let me add that, the people of Oyo do not play with their amala and ewedu, owambe and asoebi.”

Through her pet project: Omituntun for Life Foundation, and programmes organised by her office, Mrs. Makinde has brought immense happiness to orphans, less privileged children, girls, widows and women in society.

“I see this as directly impacting the lives of the people around me and it gives me joy that I can contribute my own quota to the development of humanity.

“One particular instance that also stands out to me is when the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act was finally domesticated in Oyo State to help deal with perpetrators of Rape and Sexual and GenderBased Violence in the state.”

On her second tenure as first lady, she reiterated her commitment to do more. “My primary focus is to continue uplifting and improving the lives of women, girls and orphans within the state. Building on the foundation laid during my first tenure, I have identified several key areas that will be the focal points of my efforts which are in line with the road map of His Excellency, Governor Oluseyi Makinde: They include education; education is the key to unlocking opportunities and empowering the girl child. I will continue to advocate for quality education and access to educational resources. Additionally, I will focus on promoting digital literacy and ensuring that our girls have access to qualitative education by providing scholarships to indigent students.

“During my first tenure, the women and widows that we have given empowerment items are doing well in their different skills. So, I know that the intervention programmes have yielded positive results and I hope to do more in this second tenure.

“Agriculture is a very vital sector that plays a significant role in the economy and livelihood of the people in Oyo State. I will support and promote initiatives to support women in agriculture, which will focus on enhancing their knowledge and skills in sustainable farm practices and value addition.”

Praising Nigerian women for their resilience and resourcefulness, Mrs. Makinde said they contribute significantly to their families, communities, and the nation as a whole. “Nigerian women are involved in various sectors, including education, healthcare, entrepreneurship, politics, arts, and sciences. They are breaking barriers and achieving remarkable milestones in their respective fields, driving positive change and empowering others.

“However, it is important to acknowledge that Nigerian women also face challenges and inequalities. Gender-based discrimination, limited access to education and healthcare, and cultural norms can hinder their full potential. There is a need for continuous efforts to promote gender equality and address issues such as gender-based violence and harmful practices so we can create a more inclusive and equitable society that benefits everyone.”

Mrs. Makinde is 52 years old and has been married for 27 years. “I met my husband at age 19 in Port Harcourt by the poolside. Ours wasn’t love at first sight because I didn’t give him face.” But he was persistent. He is also a very likeable person who was and still loved by my entire family. Ethnicity is never a barrier in our love story. 33 years later here we are.”

Mrs. Makinde’s middle name is Olufunke, a Yoruba name. She explained, “I think it was the second year or so when I started visiting his house. Friends would shorten my name and just call it Omi. So, when we got married, unknown to me, he had already foreseen the gap that would happen in pronunciation. He decided to call me Olufunke and insist that I publish a name change with my full name and additional name, Olufunke. And I asked him, what does Olufunke mean? He said, ‘one that God has given me to pamper.’”

With three grown-up children and a tight schedule because of the demand from the office, the flame of love between the Makindes is still waxing strong. This they do by maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship with an intentional effort to create time for romance amidst their responsibilities.

With four more years to go, Mrs. Makinde wants to leave a worthy legacy. “I want to be remembered for my service to humanity. I aspire to leave behind a legacy where many women in our state feel empowered, valued, and have equal opportunities to succeed. I believe that by uplifting women, we uplift society as a whole. Also, I am committed to ensuring that every child in orphanages receives the support and care they need to thrive,” she said.

Mr and Mrs Makinde

Mrs Makinde

HighLife

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

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

Mariya Aliko: A Chip off the Old Block

Progeny is one of the greatest blessings of human life. To the individual who finds himself with capable offspring, life’s uncertainties take a back seat. Such is the assurance of the big boss of the Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote. His daughter, Mariya, is no less a daring, enterprising, and accomplished business progenitor compared to him.

Social media is currently agog with the news of Mariya’s latest accomplishments. According to the reports, the Board of Directors at Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has announced the appointment of Mariya to the position of Executive Director at the company. Her emergence is expected to ignite a new era of productivity and progress at the enterprise.

Senator Daisy Danjuma Glows at 71

Age can be the most enabling thing for the fortunate. Senator Daisy Danjuma is one such person with her golden crest of Edo State’s kismet. At 71, the good senator is a sight for sore eyes. She is still a luminary, still a figure of unprecedented influence, a lady blessed with the jubilation of a thousand admirers.

It has been a while since someone like Senator Daisy stirred the waters of public interest. A few days ago, she did just that at the celebration of her 71st birthday. With relatives, friends, and admirers delivering a deluge of goodwill to her, one is reminded that the brightness of her glow is not only in the past but continues in the present.

One can easily mistake Lady Daisy for someone in her early 50s but for her honest confession to the fact. Her breathtaking presence, even now, demonstrates to the onlooker why her husband, General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), former defence minister, continues to be captivated by her.

General Danjuma illustrated his appreciation for her on Saturday, August 5, 2023. Hosting the guests in Lagos who had arrived with pageantry and pomp to celebrate her 71st birthday, Danjuma shared his wife’s stillenrapturing magnetism with everyone.

Those with an insight into things can understand the reason behind Senator Daisy’s glow. Her self-assurance and confidence remain as sparks to draw all attention to her. With her corporate and political achievements, it is a small thing for her to retain this richness of life.

The banking industry is currently saturated with brilliant and influential women. The brightness of these achievers once belonged to Senator Daisy. In fact, she is one of the earliest corporate Amazons to successfully port to politics. Even though her political influence was felt more deeply in Edo than in any other state, she is a beloved political character everywhere.

Thus, at 71, Senator Daisy is still her elegant self. Her influence is not that different today than what it was in the past.

Mariya’s new placement is coming at a time when her peers are breaking new grounds outside the shores of the country. Despite having the ability to start up a company under her name, Mariya is determined to walk the traditional path of advancing the family legacy. And what a legacy the Dangote name is.

In terms of corporate qualifications,

Samiat Bada’s

Upcoming Lavish 50th Birthday and the Backlash…

Who is that individual that has never made mistakes? It would be an exaggeration to state that the recent faux pas committed by the Chairman of Ikosi/ Isheri LCDA in Lagos, Samiat Bada, is unique. Nevertheless, considering the harshness of the Nigerian economy, the preparations for her 50th birthday are perceived to be bizarre, unnecessary, and outrightly inhumane.

Social media is heating up at the moment. One of the reasons for this is the setup that LCDA Chairman Bada has forced upon the guests at her 50th birthday celebration. Given what she requires of them to pay for Aso-Ebi, it

few individuals can match Mariya. She has a Bachelor of Legislative Laws (LL.B) degree from Coventry University in the UK and an MBA from the same institution. Complementing scores of professional certifications obtained through her own effort, these qualifications help Mariya stand as an emerging management giant, especially in the area of business strategy, advanced management, alternative dispute resolution, sugar processing, and productivity optimisation.

Before the appointment, Mariya was one of the stars of the company. Her status did not principally come from her being the daughter of the business’ boss, but due to the merits she accrued during her time at the Dangote Industries holding company. Despite being at the refinery for only four years now (she joined in 2019), she is one of the brightest minds there.

Mariya’s new placement is an opportunity for her to serve both her father and country. For that, she is worthy of emulation.

list.

From the arrangements, the ladies that would make the cut-off point as guests have to shell out N650,000. On the other hand, the gents can deposit N250,000 for 10 yards of the material and cap. Her consideration for the genders of her guests has not helped matters, for some reason. Instead, people are hanging her out to dry, claiming that her Aso-Ebi price list is wasteful, insensitive, and grotesque.

is no surprise that many of her constituents have passed the vote of no confidence in her leadership.

For those that are unaware of the intricacies behind this matter, Bada’s 50th birthday is scheduled for December 28, 2023. Being the considerate and compassionate person she is, Bada has already sent out notices. However, from the invitation cards, it is obvious that no ordinary individual would make the guest

Will Billionaire Businessman, Jack-Rich, Get Reward from Tinubu?

The drama of ministerial appointments in the era of President Bola Tinubu is almost finished. Apart from a few of the scenes that are reported to have been doctored to scare future ministers to be obedient to the Senate, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Unless one is counting the exclusion of the Tein Jack-Rich from the list of nominated ministers.

Jack-Rich is one of the political figures that many Nigerians expected to make Tinubu’s list of ministerial nominees. Due to their history and the clear endearment of the former presidential aspirant to Tinubu, Jack-Rich was believed to be Mr. President’s number one assignee for the Niger Delta region. Alas, nothing of the sort came about.

Folks will remember that JackRich contributed a significant bit to the emergence of Tinubu as the Rivers State presidential candidate. Granted, he does not come up as the most prominent contributor—that honour is widely believed to go to the former

governor of the state, Nyesom Wike. Nevertheless, Jack-Rich helped out a lot.

For one, Jack-Rich donated his campaign office as a gathering and planning point for Tinubu’s campaign groups in Rivers. This place served as a launch pad for many of the strategies that the groups employed and eventually won the hearts of the Rivers people. Thus, one cannot say that Jack-Rich’s contribution to Tinubu’s presidency is small.

However, assuming Jack-Rich wanted a ministerial slot for his contributions, things might have happened behind the curtains to derail this aspiration. A good example is the scandal of a rumoured relationship between Jack-Rich’s wife, Dr. Elizabeth Jack-Rich, and Tinubu’s son, Seyi. Both families have, however, done a good job squashing these rumours.

So, at the end of the day, nobody knows why Tinubu did not nominate Jack-Rich for a ministerial position. Also, it does not help that Jack-Rich

In addition to the slurs on social media, some members of Bada’s council have anonymously stepped forward to inform the public that she is forcing the workers, councillors, supervisors, and other members of the LCDA to purchase the Aso-Ebi. This is only adding to the many complaints tendered to the Lagos State Governor to remove her from the position on account of abuse of powers and misappropriation of funds.

It has to be said that Bada is in the limelight now. With her birthday preparations publicised, one wonders if she will still be as merry and outspoken once the harsh eyes of

tends to be low-key with respect to his political life. A reaction on social media or a well-timed tantrum from a well-paid personal assistant of his would let us know.

But, so far, there’s nothing. Thus, only speculations abound with questions. Will Tinubu reward Jack-Rich or not?

Danjuma

Aliko

Bada

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo: All of Compassion and Largesse

Politics often appears divorced from compassion. But this is only the action of the most extreme politicians. For the average person, such as Honourable Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, it is all about representing the interests of the people. And how can anyone do that without kindness and consideration? Even so, Tunji-Ojo stands as a symbol of what people expect young politicians to be.

Ondo State is beginning to show its prospects. Tunji-Ojo, the member of the House of Representatives standing for Akoko North East/ Akoko North West Federal Constituency, is one such talent from the state. However, in addition to his political adroitness, Tunji-Ojo is a well-spring of thoughtfulness and helpfulness, never rendering to his people anything less than hope for the future.

At a time when people in power are finding ways to secure the future for themselves, Tunji-Ojo is still pushing for the interests of his people. At the end of July 2023, he gathered 1,000 women in Ondo State and empowered them with N50,000 each. His goal was to ignite renewed hope

in the present, recognizing their value in society.

Tunji-Ojo’s largesse did not go unnoticed. People from other Nigerian states soon started to clamour for such good work from their own representatives in the powerhouses. However, it is obvious to all now that Tunji-Ojo is one of a kind.

His constituents have always enjoyed him. In terms of infrastructural development, he has maintained a noteworthy momentum. He has also served his people by providing them with means to be formally educated, focusing especially on primary and secondary schools.

What about electricity and his gift of a 500KVA transformer to his constituency? What about the 36-plus solar-powered boreholes he set up in different communities in Akoko North East and North West? Clearly, Tunji-Ojo is a gem to his people.

So it is that at 41, Tunji-Ojo is strengthening the trust that his people have in him. The days are good and getting better for them, all because Tunji-Ojo is thoughtful and helpful, doing exactly what he was elected to do.

Akpabio and Another Blunder

At the end of the day, one can only sigh and trust that better days are ahead. As for Senate President Godswill Akpabio and his histrionics, the coming days will tell whether choosing him as the head of the 10th National Assembly was the right thing to do.

Tunji-Ojo

Acting Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, under the Shadow of Akeredolu

Power is often described as capable of corrupting individuals. But the effects it has on aptitude, relationships, and prospects are rarely mentioned. If not, someone might have warned Ondo State Deputy Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, that walking in the shoes of his boss, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, is the same as living in his shadow.

It has been a while now since Akeredolu temporarily retired from his duties on account of poor health. Following the way things are done in Nigeria, his deputy took over from him and has been serving the good people of Ondo in that capacity ever since. However, according to the latest reports, a large shadow seems to be covering Aiyedatiwa’s work, leaving his impact essentially non-existent.

In the beginning, transferring gubernatorial power to Aiyedatiwa was a big issue. Different factions formed and debated the implications of having Aiyedatiwa in Akeredolu’s seat. Some argued that the deputy governor might break faith with Akeredolu and the All

Progressives Congress (APC). Others insisted that he would not.

What nobody expected was that Aiyedatiwa would take over and grind things to a halt in the state. Social media is full of com plaints regarding the stagnation in Ondo. Folks report that things are no different now than they were immediately after Akeredolu took his untimely leave.

The most cynical critics of the Ondo State government are arguing that Aiyedatiwa is only continuing Akeredolu’s legacy of doing nothing but appointing relatives and cronies to sensitive positions. To such people, Aiyedatiwa’s only fault is that he does not dare to be different from his boss.

Only a relative handful of individuals have an optimistic view of Aiyedatiwa now that he is On do’s acting governor. Given enough time, should Akeredolu remain in the custody of his infirmities, this view might overshadow the jeers and contempt currently facing Aiyedatiwa. In the meantime, Aiyedatiwa can only walk in his boss’ shadow.

In Loving Memory of Deaconess Florence Olanike Atte

A woman of unwavering faith and boundless love, Deaconess Florence Olanike Atte left an indelible mark on the hearts of those she touched. Her life was a testament to her love for God, her selfless service to humanity, and her unwavering dedication to the development of her children and husband.

As a devoted servant of God, she radiated kindness and compassion, spreading joy to everyone she encountered. Her unwavering faith was a

guiding light, inspiring others to seek solace in their darkest moments. Through her actions, she exemplified the true essence of love and grace.

Her nurturing spirit and tireless efforts as a mother paved the way for her children’s success. She instilled in them values of perseverance, integrity, and empathy, shaping them into compassionate individuals.

As a loving wife, she stood beside her husband through every trial and triumph, offering unwavering support and encouragement. Their

bond was a reflection of a love that transcends time.

Though she is no longer with us in person, her legacy of love, faith, and selflessness lives on in the hearts of her husband and four children. Deaconess Florence Olanike Atte will forever be cherished and remembered for her beautiful soul and the profound impact she had on all who were blessed to know her. May her spirit continue to guide and inspire us as we honor her memory with love and gratitude.

A viral video is currently making the rounds on social media. In the video, Akpabio is concluding the proceedings of the Senate and makes the following statement: “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly.”

Although a member of the House rushed forward to remind Akpabio that the proceedings were still onair, it was too late for the Senate President. Even so, he amended his happy declaration, stating that prayers, not “a token” had been sent to the senators.

Needless to say, the incident has riled up many Nigerians. Given the conditions of the country and the high level of economic hardship, Akpabio’s statement has been received as a mockery of the common people. This is not the first time the Senate President has been perceived as making jest at the expense of suffering people.

Very recently, Akpabio was captured using the gavel to finish an issue raised by a senator. He asked the members of the House to vote on whether the poor should be allowed to breathe, an exercise that his audience took up with cheer and merriment. But it broke the hearts of Nigerians at home and abroad.

Therefore, this “token” video is salt on injury. A litre of fuel is sold at N617, 1 Dollar is priced at around N800, and the cost of almost everything in the country has doubled. With these things in mind, Akpabio’s statements and “prayers” take on a different tone.

One can only conclude that the man’s happiness got the better of him. Nevertheless, with suffering Nigerians watching, Akpabio goofed big time.

Aiyedatiwa

Akpabio

President Tinubu: It’s About Fiscal Responsibility

I have seen reports quoting the indecisive President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, that our President now lives in a two-bedroom apartment as part of his very desirous efforts at reducing the cost of governance.

Nothing is funnier than this statement if true. Before nko, how many rooms can he possibly sleep in?

It is no wonder that my brother, the very influential Rufai Oseni, took him to the cleaners on his TV programme on the same issue. Confronted with this statement, Rufai quipped, “Can’t we see the huge mansion just down the

road?”

My people, I am getting tired of railing against this Tinubu government. People have started accusing me of having personal beef against the man and what he stands for, but he himself is not helping the matter. His government is looking like a government of anything goes. See the size of his cabinet with special advisers, both teams crossing the 80-man mark, and on taxpayers? So, coming to say that he lives in a “face me, I face you,” if we are to believe Mr. Ajaero, is just a funny attempt at making a mockery of our suffering as a result of

his so-called ‘reforms.’ The point, Mr. President, is not how many rooms you live or in how many toilets are in that room if at all, but in holding down government financial excesses, sending down a strong sense of fiscal responsibility from your end and immediately pushing out policies that will quickly ameliorate the sufferings of the masses. You cannot just continue to fold your hands and watch very strong waves of economic suffering buffet the people with inflation heading to historic proportions and respond with, “I live in two rooms.” Who cares?

FESTUS KEYAMO’S CROCODILE TEARS

I watched Mr. Keyamo humbled as the senator railed and shouted at him. The distinguished senator wanted his confirmation stepped down, at least momentarily, citing Keyamo’s arrogant relationship with the chamber in his last turn as Minister of State. Me, I don know say na gra gra and as usual, nothing will come out of the distinguished senator’s grandstanding but that few minutes of discomfort leading to our oga’s apology was more than enough for me. You see the fault is not theirs - all these “cucumbers” who are regaling us with this pantomime they have called confirmation - but that of the youths, who lined up to contest for the Presidency knowing full well that they cannot win 12 votes in their favourite brothels. I had screamed during the elections, that instead of rushing to collect forms in “no name parties” in a very stupid attempt to

run for the Presidency, that we should instead pursue the National Assembly. Fill up the place with right thinking and visionary youths and grab the oversight functions of the place.

Imagine, Sowore as a senator or Okonkwo or Farotimi as senators, then you will now imagine just how real Keyamo’s tears would have been. As that senator was reeling from his annoyance, Keyamo would just be standing there and waiting for him to finish, knowing that “na sorry go end the whole thing” and true true, “na sorry end am.”

The arrogance, the snub, the wanton disrespect of the second arm of the government as shown by this nominee in the past including series of tongue lashing and name-calling and not to even mention the unresolved issue that led to the grandstanding and the wastefulness of the policy all ended in that one phrase, “I am sorry, forgive me,” and he took a bow and went home to his banga soup at our expense. Nigeria is a Nollywood script; I swear and a very badly written one at that.

OKONJO-IWEALA: A DISTINGUISHED PERSONALITY

Kai! Immediately Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala left Aso Rock, she had not even reached her hotel room to settle down, when a Nigerian appointed himself her press secretary and issued a press release on her behalf. In the release, she was quoted as lamenting as to why she was receiving death threats and abuse when all she was trying to do was to bring in international support for the President. She went on to tell us that she had lost count of all the international leaders that have called her to congratulate the President on his recent victory at the polls and that by year end, she will be coming back with so many international companies who cannot wait to set up factories in Nigeria. This went viral and captured our imaginations for some very specific reasons. One, this was a Nigerian of international stature and credibility who was holding a very powerful and influential globally sanctioned office. Secondly, the whole world knows her stance when it comes to corruption

and all that and thirdly, she was recently criticised for “ignoring” Tinubu at an international event at the very early stages of this administration.

So, this visit needed to be “properly” situated and that is why she was helped with that press release which was further pushed to every nook and cranny. I received it over 50 times on my phone. But I get sense. As I read it, the words didn’t align. They were too pedestrian and didn’t sound like words that you could tie to such a distinguished personality. So, when the rebuttal came out, some of us were not totally surprised. This is how you push, when you lack majority support and you begin to build a government without the necessary credibility needed to carry Nigerians along. But let’s leave that and look at the smartness of the act. Nigerians are the most brilliant people anywhere in the world, I

Keyamo

Sanwo-Olu

Shetty

Oknjo-Iweala

Tinubu

swear. Person sit down, craft such a wonderful letter, even better than all the presidential spokesmen would do, and strategically pushes it out and in minutes, it has touched millions? Na wa. Fear who no fear Nigerians, I swear. Kai!

PRIVATE EDUCATION IS ORGANISED CRIME

While not complaining about the increase in school fees from N1.1m to N1.590m per term – try comparing with how much Cosharis is selling spare parts now - I received a chat from my son’s teacher.

Alvin is weak in mathematics. I say I know, na family trait. My papa fail mathematics, me I fail mathematics so it’s ok, no need for DNA. He continued, when he comes back, we would have to give him special attention. I said, God bless you. Then he dropped the clinger, “it will cost you some extra money.” I lost it. I said, “Your papa, after paying N700,000 for an exam fee that cannot be more than N200,000, and then paying another N1.5m as school fees, I should now come and transfer another money to you to teach my son maths for night.

Maths wey na family trait to fail?”

When I calmed down, I sent out a broadcast saying that private education was organised crime and started receiving feedback from Nigerians that feel scammed by these high paying schools whose students will never emerge tops at exams or even be “Governor of Lagos for one day,” a position reserved for the very brightest. As I was reading, my very beautiful in-law and an avid fan, Rita – remember I quoted her last week and also quoting her again this week - sent in the WAEC result from St. Gregory’s College. I asked myself how many millions did this parent pay to get this kind of result where A1 was all over the place. Meanwhile I am there paying millions and being asked to still send “Akpabio’s token for the holidays” to complement efforts.

You see, the problem in our education is plenty and there is no time and space in this column to write it all.Anybody that just wants to hear the whole story, should contact me, send me money to get Senator Ita Giwa’s Afang and also Yemi Shodimu’s palm wine to go with it, then I will settle down and explain to you the challenges of private education in Nigeria and also tell you my proffered solution. Five of my children are in the matterthree have escaped and two are still trapped inside it so I am an expert.

For now, let me just leave it with – private education in Nigeria, na organised crime. Thank you, come and beat me.

MARYAM SHETTY: IT IS WELL

Abi what else can we say about this kind thing that befell this very beautiful woman. Prior to this, I have never heard of her but I suppose the people who nominated her must have seen some value initially, hence her nomination.

The next thing I am seeing is a post with her in her car on the way to the confirmation and her reaching the venue looking very sweet and delectable only to be told that she was being replaced. If na me, the whole National Assembly would have seen my nakedness that day. I would have stripped, ran to Akpabio’s office, torn his shirt and run to Gbaja too and stripped him so that the two of us could pose nude and be smiling.

But the elegant Maryam, not having Shomolu blood in her, just turned around, entered her car and drove straight to the nearest spa for a long warm bath in milky luxury. After which she now issued a statement, leaving all to the Most High as they normally do.

Na next week, she will go and attack whoever is the cause of this her embarrassment. It is not now. You people don’t know women o, especially strategic ones like this Maryam, I have one as an in-law. She is taking her time, watching the person or people, collecting her facts and planning her movement. You people have not heard of the rage of a woman scorned. All

PASTOR TAIWO ODUKOYA: THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE LEAVING

It was Duchess that asked me to buy eggs and milo on my way back from work. So, as I no want another indefinite suspension from the other room, I reached out to ask for the list again. She came on the line in tears. I asked what happened, please my “power failure” is temporary, it will come back I said. She responded, “Pastor Taiwo is gone.” “Oh my God,” was all I could say. What kind of world is this, I muttered as I drove home that night in tears. This man was the biblical Job. The devil had thrown a lot his way. His wives and twin sister and now him? I tried to console myself with the usual, “he has gone to rest” but the questions kept coming? Why him, why would God allow such calamity to befall one man, was this not too much for his family and church to take? Would this not question their faith?

See as we all stood so helplessly as the wicked winds of life hit

just this one man. It was like we just stood in a gallery watching him being pelted by the rotten tomatoes of life without as much as lifting a hand to help. But then again, what could we have done? Would we have been able to stop the Sosoliso plane from crashing? That was the start of the wicked queue. Would we have been able to stop the cancer that took his beautiful South African wifeNomthi or even stop the illness that took his very quiet twin sister and finally stop whatever illness that finally took him? All I have been able to come up with in this tragedy is that – the beautiful ones always leave early. If that is enough consolation, I do not know, I swear. My prayer is that whatever this is, it should end with Pastor Taiwo who I believe has gone home to rest and that God should protect his orphaned children and enable them to live the lives of saints.

these calm statements, na lie o. Na to distract and make you unaware. She will surely strike and when she does, I will really pity the targets.

So for now, I say “sorry my sister, these things happen especially in such a confused and headless system.” Please when you want to take your revenge, let me know so I cancel all travel plans. It is well.

AKAN UDOFIA IS STILL HOPEFUL

Akan carried the hopes of Akwa Ibom especially the youths and those who were tired of the rudderless leadership that has pervaded the state since its inception.

My state remains one of the backwaters of development in the country despite our plenty resources, both human and material. The only industry thriving in Akwa Ibom is Church. After the state government, the church is the next in terms of employment and revenue generation. The fear of the average Akwa Ibom man of witches and wizards fuelling the growth of these churches who end up milking and even worsening the cases of the people.

So, Akan came in with a breath of fresh air with energy and the vibrancy that was unequalled and unrivalled amongst the lineup. As Nigeria thing dey be, the weakest of all has emerged governor and Akan has headed to the courts.

From what I hear, he stands a very bright chance of upturning the incumbent’s victory and if this happens, then history would have been made and Akwa Ibom would be the very first state in the country in this dispensation to be rescued from the manacles of incompetence.

We are all in prayers and I know the God that we serve will give us victory. Thank you.

BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU: IKEJA GRA HAS BEEN DESTROYED

This one is not your fault, Your Excellency, as this destruction had commenced long before you finished secondary school. Ikeja GRA used to be paradise, with a beautiful road network, huge colonial mansions with huge green lawns. It was a safe haven of beauty and lushness. Those days, it was Nigeria Airways, Lagos State Government and Nigeria Air Force with the federal government that owned property which housed their officials, including the expatriate community.

Today, the place has been turned into an alley of short time hotels masquerading as five-star. Every street you will see all sorts of hotels from the very huge international franchises to Idowu’s pay per hour place. In addition, you will also see banks, lounges, mechanics, eateries, brothels and a motley of very ugly developments masking as overpriced but very tacky real estate operations. Isaac John Street is an eye sore. Littered with all sorts of commercial ventures and literally taken over by prostitutes at night. Oduduwa Street is like a bomb site with uncompleted road works, excavated earth and monstrosities that pervade the street like concrete zombies.

At one huge roundabout from the road that leads from Bank Anthony Way through Nitel, you will see one huge night club at the corner piece and you begin to wonder just what madness this is all about.

The difference between Ikeja GRA and Ajegunle today, is the pricing of what it has to offer. But the confusion and the tactlessness and the rubbish it connotes remain the same just that Ikeja is way too expensive in comparison.

I really do not know how Mr. Governor can stop this carnage and give us back our Ikeja GRA but one sure way is for him to stop all pending approvals and hold it down for at least another four years so we can breathe.

Late Odukoya

Oil Tycoon, Benny Peters, Plans to Explore the World

Obaseki vs Shaibu: Who Blinks First?

Politics, they say, is a dirty game. But it is also an unpredictable game. The dirty water of politics is infested with blood-thirsty sharks, ready to swallow anyone in sight. Simply put, it is not a game for the lily-livered. It is a game for the strong-willed.

It is no longer news that the once chummy relationship between Edo State governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu has totally crumbled and what is left between the two former friends is nothing but pieces that would take a long time to fix.

But many have doubts if it can ever be fixed at all. Greed, selfishness, betrayal and lack of trust have taken over the once amicable friendship that many had in the past envied and wondered could exist in Nigeria’s politics.

Many would recall that in 2020 during the preparation for the second term governorship election, the deputy showed his unflinching loyalty to his boss against all odds. Shaibu, who was a member of the Edo State House of Assembly, was a key ally of former Governor Oshiomhole. He assisted the then governor to fight against the then formidable Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers who refused to pass the 2009 budget.

It was in February 2010 that Shaibu and other lawmakers elected on the platform of the thenruling All Progressives Congress, APC fought and drove out their PDP counterparts. Though he was a member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Shaibu was widely regarded as the de facto deputy governor to Oshiomhole. He had already won his election to represent his

Without a doubt, Benedict Peters, the founder of Aiteo Group, one of Africa’s fastest-growing energy companies, ranks among Nigeria’s wealthiest businessmen and remains one of the privileged billionaires with offshore assets.

For a long while, Peters has been navigating the stormy oil business world and escaping the bloody-thirsty sharks that are willing to devour. But if there is one challenge this stupendously rich magnate has not been able to overcome, it’s to end his self-imposed exile. For about eight years now, Peters has chosen Accra, Ghana as his new home and is not ready to leave anytime soon.

Despite his absence in Nigeria, his energy conglomerate has not suffered, just as he is having a ball expanding his business frontiers in the international arena with operations in several African countries. In 2019, the oil tycoon made headlines when he embarked on a platinum mining venture in Zimbabwe. His offshore company, Bravura Holdings, acquired a 3,000-hectare concession and had plans to establish a mine in Selous, located 80 kilometres south of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.

But Society Watch learnt that Peters’ initial enthusiasm for the platinum mine development project in the Maflox Claims area of Selous has suffered some setbacks since the arrival of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and issues around regulatory requirements.

However, Peters has been seeking every opportunity to resolve concerns and find a way forward for the project. While that’s ongoing, the Nigerian billionaire is also exploring opportunities for new investments and partnerships in Zimbabwe’s resource-rich industry. He was said to have discreetly shifted his attention to a huge lithium deposit in Kamativi, a small mining town in Zimbabwe.

The Delta State-born magnate’s Bravura Holdings presently holds concessions for cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, copper mining in Zambia, and gold mining in Ghana.

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

The top oil player and industrialist has not

“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult,’’ says Melinda Gates.

For Dr Siju Iluyomade, convener of the women’s advocacy and empowerment non-governmental organisation, making her voice heard in the male-dominated society has never been difficult. When she launched the NGO 15 years ago, she lined up top women to advocate for women for their voices to be heard and be included in the scheme of things in the country.

That her effort has been fruitful is definitely stating the obvious. The trained lawyer is delighted and has expressed her delight with recent recognition being given to women in governance, both at the federal and state levels. This is even as the organisation plans to push for more at the forthcoming 15th edition of Arise Women, slated for October, with several activities lined up at the event, tagged #StepUp. This year’s event is expected to gather more top and highly influential women.

For over 30 years, the accomplished lawyer has played a pivotal role in championing Vanguard for Women’s rightful position in national development. She has spearheaded various initiatives, such as Handmaidens (Women in Leadership) WILS, Arise Women, and

constituency at the House of Representatives in 2015 when he was nominated by Oshiomhole to be the running mate to Obaseki in the 2016 governorship election.

However, it was the preparation for the APC primary ahead of the 2019 general elections that further strengthened the relationship between Shaibu and Obaseki.

Before the war, Shaibu wielded so much power in the state. But this ended abruptly. This was done to reduce his influence in the state. It was also revealed that the governor had advised his deputy to allow them to focus on governance and play politics at the appropriate time.

Sources revealed that the governor was not in support of Shaibu’s ambition to succeed him and that the decision has to do with the subsisting power rotation or zoning arrangement in the state.

Edo Central is favoured to produce the next governor. So, Shaibu who is of Etsako extraction from Edo North, is not suitable, in the governor’s opinion. This definitely did not go down with Shaibu who claimed that the governor had earlier in 2023 promised to support his ambition.

However, the former student union leader has vowed to fight to the last.

just contributed to the economy of the country, she is a woman who rubs shoulders with other highflying women across the shores of Africa. She has conquered her world, and her endearing personality and aura continue to catch the fancy of her admirers. Over the years, she has been able to make a lasting statement with her innovativeness in the industry.

Omotade started as a staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). But she wanted so much more out of life and vowed not to be under anyone’s shadow. For her, she would rather walk alone even if it would take her a long time to reach the desirable land.

She pursued her ambition with abiding trust in God, determination and tenacity of purpose with her finesse and sheer artistry in the business climate.

The woman, who is also the Mojibade of Egbaland, holds a special place in the hearts of many across the country because of her philanthropic gestures that have raised many

other platforms, empowering women to embrace leadership roles.

While expressing her joy with the development, Dr Siju as she is fondly called, says “I am delighted that our advocacy for more women to take up a rightful place in governance at the highest level is gradually yielding results, we are not be there yet but the little improvement witnessed in number of women in the Federal Executive Council wouldn’t have been achieved if we had kept quiet.” It is now on record that the ministerial nominees’ list sent to the Senate for screening by the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu has a total of nine women on the list; a swift departure from the past, with less than five women given ministerial appointments.

According to information made available to Society Watch, this year’s edition of Arise Women Conference will begin on October 14 with Arise Walk For Life, which will take place in clusters across the country. It will be followed by the Arise Golf Tournament on the 20th, while the Arise Football Academy match will be held at the Onikan Stadium on October 21.

The grand finale of the activities will climax on October 28 at the Trinity Towers, City of David, Victoria Island and other four event centres along the COD road, Dideolu Estate, Lagos.

out of financial misery and obscurity to relevance.

But despite her wealth and influence, the successful woman remains humble. She is always willing to tell whoever cares to listen that she achieved all she has through God’s grace and mercy. She is, therefore, willing to spend all on humanitarian aid.

Last Monday, the Yeye Ajagun Fiwajoye of Ibadanland, added another year to her age. Society Watch gathered that in her usual heart of kindness, she gathered her friends in a highbrow and classy restaurant in Victoria Island, Lagos, to mark the special day.

Some of her friends at the gathering include the CEO of Sujimoto Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele; Laraba Ibrahim; CEO Signal Fabrics, Labake Adeola; Former General Manager Zenith Bank, Olubukola Latunji; Mr Jide Agbabiaka; Tai Elemosho (Montai); Yeye Mojisola Olusoga and Mrs Modupe Jemibewon among several others.

L-R: Obaseki and Shaibu

Peters

Hip-Hop @ 50: Celebrating 10 Iconic Naija Hip-Hop Artists of All Time

As the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, a genre that embodies the spirit of resilience in Black Americans is being celebrated across the Atlantic, it is fitting that Nigerian aficionados also raise their glasses in acknowledgement that hip-hop also left an indelible mark on the Nigerian music landscape, particularly during the 90s and early 2000s, when numerous rap artists burst onto the scene. While hip-hop encompasses a broader range of talents beyond just rappers, these outstanding performers have been at the forefront of the genre in the country, giving birth to the term ‘Naija rap’ or ‘Naija hip-hop.’ Recognising the genre’s impact and influence on Nigerian music, Vanessa Obioha presents a profile of 10 remarkable Naija hip-hop icons.

Junior and Pretty: Long before Afrobeats took centre stage, two young men, Junior and Pretty laid the foundation for Naija hip-hop, captivating audiences with their distinctive style of pidgin rap that intricately weaved tales of love and relationships unique to Nigeria. Tracks like ‘Monica’ and ‘Bolanle’ propelled this dynamic duo to stardom in the 90s.

Eedris Abdulkareem: Leading the nowdefunct hip-hop group, The Remedies, which included Eddy Remedy, ‘and Tony Tetuila, Eedris Abdulkareem emerged as a provocative rapper in the late 90s. His rapid-fire delivery and controversial lyrics bore a resemblance to American counterparts like Busta Rhymes and Nas. Even as a solo artiste, Eedris remained in the limelight, with hits like ‘Jaga Jaga,’ a scathing critique of corruption and lawlessness in the Nigerian polity.

Weird MC: In the 90s, Weird MC stood as one of Nigeria’s premier female rappers. Her 1996 album ‘Simply Weird,’ seamlessly blending hip-hop and Afrobeat, showcased hits like ‘Allen Avenue.’ A decade later, her sophomore album ‘After Da Storm’ produced the chart-topping ‘Ijoya,’ earning her accolades such as the AMEN award for Most Popular Song and a Channel O Music Video Award for Best Special Effect.

Mr Raw: Hailing from Abia State, Mr. Raw is recognised as one of the pioneers of Igbo rap, a musical style that flourished in the Southeastern region. Mr Raw came into the scene as Dat N.I.G.G.A. Raw. His transformation from Dat N.I.G.G.A. Raw to Mr Raw in 2010 marked his ongoing contribution to this unique subgenre, inspiring a new generation of artists to incorporate Igbo rap into their work.

M.I.:Whether you call him The Guy or not, Mr Incredible (M.I.) is simply incredible. M.I. is one of the promoters of hip-hop in Nigeria who has remained loyal and relevant to the style to date. He has been nicknamed Nigeria’s hip-hop Messiah due to his influence on the genre, discovering and promoting a new crop of hip-hop artists. Bursting into prominence in 2006 with ‘Crowd Mentality,’ M.I.’s impactful lyrics and delivery have drawn comparisons toAmerican greats like Jay Z and Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West). In releasing his latest body of work ‘The Guy’ in 2022, M.I. announced that he would be retiring his former name, opting for The Guy.

Trybesmen: Comprising Eldee, Freestyle, and Kaboom, Trybesmen captured the late 90s and early 2000s with hits like ‘Shake Bodi’ and ‘Plenty Nonsense.’ Despite their eventual breakup, Eldee continued with Trybe Records, leaving an enduring impact on the scene.

SashaP: Only a few female artists held it down like Sasha P, the feisty queen of Naija hip-hop. She gained prominence in the 2000s having signed to Eldee’s Trybe records. She has lived her sobriquet First Lady of Nigerian hip-hop with the streaks of first in her portfolio. She was the first ever Nigerian female artiste to perform at the 20th anniversary of the World MusicAwards in 2008; and the first Nigerian female artiste to win the Best FemaleAward at MTVAfrica Music Awards (MAMA). Her single ‘Adara’ equally won her the Best Female Artiste award in the UK at the 2009 Women in Entertainment Awards.

Bouqui: Like Sasha P, Bouqui carved a niche for herself in the 2000s rap scene in Nigeria. Her self-titled album, B.O.U.Q.U.I garnered recognition, securing her the Best Female Act award at the 2007 Award for Music Excellence in Nigeria (AMEN), as well as nominations for Revelation of the Year and Best Rap Album at The Headies 2007. Despite now residing in the United States, Bouqui maintains her musical presence.

2Shotz: Once a prominent figure in the 2000s, 2Shotz, also known as William Orioha, showcased his versatility with hits such as ‘Carry Am Go,’ ‘Odeshi,’ and ‘Delicious.’ Although now pursuing a career in photography and filmmaking, his impact on the rap scene remains noteworthy.

Kel: Joining the ranks of Nigerian female hip-hop artists in 2008, Kel burst onto the scene with ‘Waa Wa Alright.’ Her subsequent singles, including ‘Turn By Turn’ featuring Wizkid, garnered attention. While her journey was marred by management issues with Capital Hill Music, Kel’s pivot to talk shows reflects her enduring presence.

At Trace Live, Chike Enchants with Soulful Aura

Recently, rising Nigerian singer, Chike, etched his name in the Trace Live concert series, joining music veterans who shut down previous editions with electrifying performances. Unlike his predecessors, Chike basked in the alluring charms of his love songs, enchanting the audience at Terra Kulture, Lagos.

Like the other editions, this was no different: there was barely room in the sardine-packed audience made up of mostly millennials and Gen Zs, waiting in anticipation as the ‘Roju’ singer made a dramatic entrance heralded by two burlesque-inspired female dancers and a trio comprised of two saxophonists, and a violinist, to perform ‘On the Moon,’ the first track off his sophomore album ‘The Brother’s Keeper.’

For each song he performed, he introduced a story Interlude that provided more context. This transformed his night out into the perfect soul session, leaving his audience anticipating more anecdotes that paired well with his live vocals for a more visceral feel.

“For a man, for a woman, I believe, people naturally want to identify themselves with success. Don’t blame anyone who doesn’t check on you when you don’t have anything. That’s how it is. Next time it happens, don’t be upset, just realise that’s the way things are,” Chike, standing immaculate in his all-white ensemble, journeyed his audience through the creative path that formed ‘Nwoke Oma.’ Before that, he had performed ‘Beautiful People,’ a hallmark track off his debut album ‘Boo of the Booless.’ The track was introduced with scintillating strings and horns. Furthermore, he traversed between both debut and sophomore studio efforts to perform more songs to the crowd’s delight. ‘Insecure,’ ‘Spell,’ and smash hit career debut single ‘Out of Love’ were some of the crowd’s favourites. In a sing-along, they drowned his vocals, making the atmosphere more vibrant and memorable.

A dreamy night of flooding neon lights, energetic dancers and instrumentalists, a spirited audience, and the charismatic Chike, Trace Live, once again, recorded an impressive outing, achieving it this time with pure love songs.

Iyke Bede

Eedris Abdulkareem

Mr Raw

Bouqui

M.I

Sasha P

Kel

2Shotz

Weird MC

International Politics of the 2023 Coup d’État in Niger Republic: Consequences

of a Weakened ECOWAS

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is killing itself softly with its decision to use military force to restore the ousted President of Niger, Mr Mohammed Bazoum on Saturday, 26th July, 2023.The ECOWAS has resolved to fight tooth and nail any unconstitutional change of government in the West African region, but consciously or otherwise completely ignoring the domestic dynamics of the unconstitutional changes. Several countries are opposed to the ECOWAS decision. Mali, Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso and Guinea (Conakry) were not carried along in the intervention decision processes. They complained of not having been informed about political developments in Niger Republic and have indicated that any attack on the coupists in Niger are also an attack on them.

In fact, the Nigériens have said that they are prepared to defend their sovereignty as they now see Nigeria as unfriendly. This partly explains the reason for inclusion of Nigeria on the list of countries with which Niger has strained diplomatic ties. Others are Togo, France, and the United States. This makes difficult the lines of communications with the unconstitutional government of Niger Republic.

In Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), as ECOWAS Chairperson and President of Nigeria, has announced some sanctions, including military intervention, against the coupists. However, the opposition to the use of military force to restore President Bazoum is stiff. The Senate rejected PBAT’s request of Friday, 4th August, 2023 for approval to deploy Nigerian troops to Niger. The Northern Senators Forum has vehemently also opposed the use of military force in addressing the problem. Popular opinion has it that it is always better to jaw-jaw than war-war. What will PBAT do? Should he listen to Nigerians over whom he is presiding or to the ECOWAS? Should he listen to the advice of the great powers who have also advised PBAT to deploy military troops to Niger in the strong belief that it is the only option that can bring about the restoration of the Bazoum administration? Many European countries want military intervention but the Community citizens of the ECOWAS are against. Can international politics dictate the direction of the crisis in Niger Republic?

International Politics

To begin at the ECOWAS regional level, the community is seriously divided against itself regionally and internationally. The ECOWAS is comprised of fifteen members. Nine of the fifteen members are Francophone. Of these nine, three of them, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea (Conakry) support the coupists in Niger. Others have either kept quiet or expressed support for the ECOWAS. One major proponent of ECOWAS military intervention in Niger is the Côte d’Ivoire. President, Alassane Ouattara reportedly spearheaded the efforts that led to the appointment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria as ECOWAS chairman.

The issue of recent coups after coups in West and Central Africa is peculiar to Francophone Africa, and particularly Francophone West Africa. Francophone West Africa has played host to five coups recorded in the past two years of which two occurred in Mali, in 2020 and 2021. The other two occurred in Burkina Faso and Guinea (Conakry) in 2021. The latest coup is the July 26, 2023 case of Niger Republic which is currently destabilising the region. The sixth coup, but which is hardly so acknowledged, is the Chadian unconstitutional change of Government in 2022. President Idris Deby died in the war front and his son, Mahamat, was installed by the military as the successor president contrarily to Chad’s constitutional provisions.

In this regard, countries which have a sort of friendlier relationship with France, have taken side with France, and by implication, supporting the ECOWAS. Chad, though not part of the ECOWAS, supports immediate return to constitutional order.With the exception of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea Bissau, all other Francophone West African States can be said to be in support of the ECOWAS. However, this support has been seriously challenged by ECOWAS military weakness, and increasing opposition to the use of force

to return Niger to constitutional order.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) wants the ECOWAS to use force, not only to restore President Bazoum but particularly to prevent the Wagner mercenaries from taking advantage of the coup to strengthen themselves and Russian presence in Niger. As put by Mr Chris Kwaja, the USIP country manager,‘we’ve seen the communiqué issued by ECOWAS a few days ago… So we are waiting to see what ECOWAS will do at the end of the ultimatum… [I]f ECOWAS is able to garner the political muscles to bite hard at this time, it will be sending a very strong signal to whoever is outside the country that is supporting and masterminding what we are seeing.’ More importantly, Mr Chris Kwaja says ‘the ECOWAS communiqué that was released drew attention to the fact that the region does not welcome private military and security contractors. But unfortunately, we don’t have a regional framework for dealing with that and that is a major gap.

The United States acting Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, met with Moussa Salaou and three of his colonels, who are the representatives of the junta, in Niamey, on Monday August 7, 2023. She made spirited efforts to convince military leader, Moussa Salaou and three of his colonels, to have permission for a tête-à-tête with Mohammed Bazoum and Abdourahmane Tchiani,

At the level of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the consideration of the use of force in Niger as a last resort is a self-suicidal option. There cannot be any good justification for Nigeria to engage in any military intervention in Niger unless in the context of unprovoked aggression and legitimate self-defence. The critical reason is national security. Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari has explained within the framework of his foreign policy concentric circles theory that the innermost circle of Nigeria’s foreign policy should not be narrowly defined and limited to Nigeria. Nigeria’s national security is necessarily intertwined with that of the immediate neighbours and should be defined along with that of her immediate neighbours. Consequently, as our immediate neighbour to the north, any military intervention against Niger or any other Member State of the innermost circle is necessarily an expression of self-aggression that has the great potential to further generate and deepen insecurity in the sub-region. Secondly, military intervention can precipitate the demise of the ECOWAS as the body is not acting unanimously against Niger. It is the countries with vested interests in Niger that are coercing the ECOWAS to intervene. Why should the ECOWAS be coerced and Nigeria would accept to be coerced to undermine Nigeria’s political survival? Nigeria must opt out of any war in Niger. Let France and the United States both of which have military bases in the country do their battle without destroying or destabilising Nigeria

on the need to return to constitutional order, but her requests were rejected and therefore to no avail. In the words of Victoria Nuland, the talks with the junta were‘frank and difficult… [T]hey are quite firm in their view of how they want to proceed, and it does not comport with the Constitution of Niger.’

Perhaps more interestingly, she not only said that the United States was well committed to a negotiated solution, but also that the United States would be prepared to help in this regard if the coupists would be willing to return to constitutional order. In this regard, there is nothing to suggest that the coupists are ready to dance to the tune of any foreign interventionists as at this time of writing. Even though the United States maintains two military bases in Niger, the use of force directly by them is unlikely. This is why there is much pressure on the ECOWAS to intervene.

Italy and Germany condemned the coup and have advised the ECOWAS to give a fresh ultimatum to the coupists. As hoped by the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, ‘the only path is a diplomatic one. I hope that the ultimatum of the ECOWAS, which expired last night at midnight, will be extended today (Monday 7th August, 2023). A solution must be found. It’s not set that there is no way other than war.

The position of Germany is not different: we support ECOWAS in its mediation efforts, which are still on-going…We hope that these mediation efforts will ultimately lead to success and that constitutional order will be restored in Niger.’Explained differently, the expiry of the deadline does not imply automatic resort to use of force.

The European Union has suspended all cooperation activities with Niger Republic: financial assistance, as well as civilian and security cooperation has been suspended. As explained by Peter Stano, the European Commission spokesperson, on Tuesday. August 8, 2023 at a news conference in Brussels,‘we are not working together with the current illegitimate authorities in Niger… There will be no positive consequences if the military coup is allowed to proceed. We still believe that there is a space, there is a room for mediation efforts. So we will not go beyond and speculate.’And perhaps more importantly, the‘European Union is ready to support ECOWAS’s decisions, including the adoption of sanctions,’Peter Stano also said. The pattern of policy attitude of most European and American countries is peace-keeping but showing support for whatever sanctions to be taken by the ECOWAS. In other words, international responsibility to resolve the crisis has been delegated to the ECOWAS in the spirit of the principle of subsidiarity.

Like the European Union, the United Kingdom has cut aid to Niger and supports the ECOWAS. And like the United States, the United Kingdom has evacuated its diplomatic personnel in Niger. While Nigeria has cut off electricity supply to Niger Republic, Algeria has offered electricity supply to the country at no cost. The implication is that Niger’s dependence on Nigeria for electricity supply will no longer be an issue, especially after the crisis of coup d’état in Niger. And true, Nigeria’s role will be seriously eroded. In fact, with the intervention of Algeria, one of Africa’s B-5 (Big Five), the punishment purportedly meant for the coupists, but which the civil population has to bear, especially in terms of power outage in schools, hospitals, homes, public institutions, has now been neutralised. This cannot but bring shame to an already divided ECOWAS.

Russia has also given a serious warning to the ECOWAS not to attempt any military intervention in Niger.The coupists have added that, in the event of any military intervention, the ousted president would be immediately killed. Thus, the object of controversy is the ousted president. Will the West come up with a commando style à la Entebbe Raid in Uganda? Will the presidential palace or place of house arrest of the ousted president be monitored by satellite in such a way that President Bazoum can be taken out without military fight with the Nigérien army?

Perhaps what is more interesting to know is why France and the United States are vigorously pushing the ECOWAS, and particularly President Tinubu, to go to war while they are not willing to do the battle. They are only prepared to fund it. Will funding be sufficient in light of the fact that the ECOWAS is militarily weak presently? To what extent will a hurriedly put in place standby force be able to challenge a Niger solidly supported by its people? What about the Russian and Wagner mercenary fighters? Russia is ready to confront the United States and the NATO in Niger. This is what the ECOWAS and Tinubu’s Nigeria have to face but have refused to acknowledge.

Consequences of a Weakened ECOWAS

It takes few seconds to make a fundamental error, especially by not making haste slowly, by not learning lessons from history, and by playing host to holier-than-thou attitudes in ECOWAS regional politics. But it can take more than days, weeks, months, years, not to say more than decades, to correct the impacts of a fundamental error. In other words, in the event of any military intervention in the Republic of Niger, the ECOWAS, by force of situational necessity, can be weakened to the extent that life can also be taken out of the regional organisation. Consequently, the dynamics of coup-making must first of all be identified and addressed beyond the considerations of unconstitutionality of changes of government.

Bazoum

ARTS & REVIEW ARTS & REVIEW

A Quartet’s Visions of an Inner World

Things Left Unsaid, as a recently- concluded group exhibition at the Affinity Art Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos, was titled, made bold statements whose reverberations linger in the viewers’ minds. The exhibition, which featured 20 works by Dianna Offor, Emmanuel Unaji, Joseph Aina, and Stephen Langa, was one of the major highlights of the Nigerian visual arts scene in July.

The exhibition, as its curator, Moni Oloke, said, immerses the viewer since it delves into the inherent human longing to be truly seen, understood, and acknowledged. “It serves as a profound reflection on the consequences of our failure to engage in introspection and ask vital questions of ourselves and society,” she told a coterie of visitors to the exhibition while on a tour around the gallery space. “Within the exhibition's realm, ignorance is stripped of its illusory comfort, exposing the weight of unresolved issues that linger.”

The dynamic interaction between the artists and their works, with two embracing figurative art and the other two delving into the world of abstraction, was the main thrust of the exhibition. Each artist boldly addresses various aspects of their inner lives, allowing their individual stories to entwine with society’s larger fabric. Viewers are urged to engage in a transforming journey of observation, contemplation, and departure through the varied works, leaving them with a profound and meaningful experience.

Through the prism of their diverse cultural backgrounds, each artist asserted their own unique creative perspective on the theme. For

instance, Stephen Langa, a South African artist who specialises in different mediums such as charcoal drawing, watercolour, and oil paintings, revealed the magic within the mundane lives of Africans, unfolding their stories through intricate details. Exploring dark hues, Langa brought nightlife to the gallery with the pieces “A Day for A Glass of Wine” and “There’s so Many Ways to Fall in Love Again.” The graduate of art and design at Tshwane North College in Pretoria captures the essence of introspection and outward observation, prompting reflection on the past and present in this body of work.

Then there was Emmanuel Unaji, a Britishborn Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and cofounder of award-winning design company Unaji & Co., who is a fashion design graduate of Kingston University (2021) in London. The artist has a mix of bold and unconventional styles aimed at deconstructing icons and unconscious bias applied to portraiture. Largely influenced by popular culture as well as masters such as Michelangelo and Virgil Abloh, Emmanuel contemplates the Western canon and questions his place within it. His signature portraits are a combination of collage, drawing, and painting. His works have been featured at Le Carreau du Temple Paris, The Royal Exchange, Tate Britain, the Adidas Flagship Store, London Fashion Week, and The Freemasons Hall. He has participated in several international group exhibitions and fairs.

Another Nigerian-British artist, Joseph

Aina, who lives in London, also works in Nigeria and Berlin. He received a degree in law and psychology from the University of Kent (2018) and later completed a graduate diploma at the Royal College of Art (RCA), where he graduated with an MA in Painting in 2022. Through his series titled “Poetic Fundamentals,” Aina seeks liberation from Western and European ideals, including his artistic process. Returning to simplicity, he believes we discover our true selves and purpose. He has taken part in group exhibitions such as Buffer, Guts Gallery, London (2022), Patterns of Identity, Prior Art Space, Barcelona (2022), and The Life of Us, Prior Art Space, Berlin (2022), among others.

Dianna-Maria Somtochukwu Offor-Ug oji is an abstract artist and expressionist painter who almost never became an artist. Art was not popular with her parents, and so she had a tough time convincing them that she could be successful as a full-time studio artist. Eventually, she studied fine arts at the University of Lagos, graduating with a BA in creative arts (textile design) in 2021. Described as ‘God’s Artist,’ her works are steeped in Christian abstract imagery and her strong belief in God. Indeed, the pandemic period provided her with ample time to hone her craft. In her pieces, she is preoccupied with the use of the scarlet colour, which has its own core biblical significance. Her titles that allude to bible stories include ‘3 o’clock,’ ‘So I can be Saved,’ amongst ot hers. She has taken part in group exhibitions including Femme Fatale at Lagoon Gallery (2018), Purple Place at Olori Gallery (2022), and Grow Up at the Art Hotel (2022).

Through the lenses of their cultural differences, four artists boldly addressed various aspects of their inner lives, allowing their individual stories to entwine with society’s larger fabric in a recent exhibition held in Lagos. Yinka Olatunbosun writes

Emmanuel UmajiDinnaa OfforEmilia

Step by Step on the Way to the Top

The Legend of Buratai Volume 3,

This volume of Legend of Buratai, that has nine chapters and is 238 pages long, was published in 2022. It was preceded by two volumes. However, it was observed that the previous volumes did not quite discuss Lt General Tukur Yusufu Buratai’s (Gen Buratai) military career and the basis of his successes. Although Gen Buratai had planned to discuss his military career in his memoir, he yielded to the desires of his readers and devoted volume 3 to a narrative of the thoughts and principles that guided him on his way to generalship. And so very early in the book Gen Buratai declared that: “In my attempt to take a critical look at generalship and the road to that exalted circle in the military, I shall expound my understanding of what is leadership, types of leadership and the best leadership style that has worked for me, leadership and generalship, steps or things I did that helped me on the road to generalship, and pitfalls to avoid on the road. This is a recollection of my personal experience from the his boyhood days. According to him, he was a born soldier. His father was a World War II veteran and though it was providence that got him enlisted into the Nigerian Army. A friend of his at the Teachers College Potiskum that he also attended had intimated him of an ongoing recruitment exercise into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). He quickly applied, sat for the examination, passed, received his father’s blessings and got enlisted into the Nigerian Army as a cadet in 1981. There, begun his military career in earnest although his Indian teacher at the Teachers College Potiskum had noticed something extraordinary in his personality even at that youthful age as he kept referring to him in the class as a ‘great man’ (p.18).

BOOK REVIEW

As the narration goes, Gen Buratai outlined in details step-by-step the process of his rise to generalship with the sole purpose of guiding his fellow cadets aspire from their lowly positions to be generals and even to a higher opportunity of the rank of a 3-star general that he proudly attained and served for out of service after 41years of military career. Gen Buratai went on to further explain the purpose of writing this volume thus: “It is not an easy feat to rise to the level of a three-star general and Chief disciplines that I developed and learned from others

Segun Ade-Martins

is a workshop organised by the International Institute for Creative Development, IICDCenter that was held from June 2 to June 22. This year’s theme focuses on “the connection between physical spaces and its social consequences on the

The workshop was supervised by lead facilitator Nduwhite Ndubuisi A., an artist and curator and additional facilitation was conducted by Collins -

als; architects, industrial material producers, and engineers, as well as artists, into the programme. The Abuja, and serving as partners are Transcorp Hilton,

that helped me to succeed in the Army. It will be a great disservice to humanity to keep them to myself and not to share (it) with those coming up; those who want work hard and smartly to succeed in the In his prescriptions on the road to generalship, Gen Buratai laid emphasis on personal development male or female, who wants to become a military leader, more so, in the mould of general, adding road to generalship is to be a good follower, imbibe the principles of diligence, loyalty and excellence in perform better in order to stand out from the crowd. Why? It is because good performance begets more As a demonstration of his personal development, teacher and graduation from NDA, he proceeded -

als. These are in addition to subsequent professional all modesty, Gen Buratai stated that in all this, he performed excellently well. It is on that account reading which he said allow one to learn from the experiences of people one never met and who were and as civilians in other professions in Nigeria and other countries. Gen Buratai said: “What usually distinguishes leaders from their peers and their followers is personal development for when others are busy partying and sleeping, the prospective leader is busy burning the midnight oil, reading voraciously, drinking from the fountain of wisdom and knowledge like a thirsty camel in the desert’’ (p.95), stressing that “…reading is to the mind what

WORKSHOP

Mambaah Cafe, NTAG, and Ashawa Consults Ltd.

workshop will showcase these projects, which are three individual works and two group pieces. cut, and welded while all sorts of plastic was melted and twisted. All this took place at Nomad Technology Art Garden, an open space tucked behind and between Mambaah Cafe and Cans Technology Park in Maitama, Abuja.

a walk for the environment, and a welding class from the facilitators, the participants went junking, a process of looking for scrapped items that can be reused. Incidentally, there is a long, established scrap economy in Nigeria where recyclers need to obtain junk through cash exchange.

Ten of the thirteen participants immediately went

One should read widely and in-depth, digest or further advised.

The rest of the book and more especially Chapter 7, pp. 103 -154, are devoted to discussions on the leadership principles and citing numerous personalities worldwide who were successful based on critical success factors that include and most importantly the

physical appearance, spirit of camaraderie, optimism, alertness, personal character, professional capacity, art of moderation, acquisition of multilingualism skills, style of leadership, leading by example, winning mentality, prayers and avoidance of pitfalls encountered by others. Gen Buratai cited numerous personal and other examples backed by several quotations on leadership of people who had been exceptionally successful in and out of this country and going back into history to include pronouncements by notable contemporary leaders and ancient philosophers of the likes of Confucious (551-479) and a famous military strategist Alexander the Great

It is noteworthy that to underline the importance of self-discipline Gen Buratai, quoting Plato, stated the way he dresses, eats, periods of sleep, talks, walks, and relates with superiors and subordinates. There

It is equally noteworthy that Gen Buratai being a

Dr.Usman,aformerpermanentsecretaryin thePresidency,writesfromAbuja

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to welding stations, where they put together their armatures, or initial structures. While the other participants worked with softer materials, such as paper, wood, plastic bags, perspex, etc.

Onyekachi Francis Nwosu, and Blossom Eromosele. Okus, Fisola Olagbemi, Chukwunonso, and Linda Zaki.

a determination to experiment and learn. For example, Asiegbu, a metal sculptor who is a returning participant, attended the last workshop in 2021 and decided to create paper sculptures rather than his preferred metal work.

Ade-MartinswritesfromAbuja

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For Playwrights, It’s Call to Social Consciousness

Yinka Olatunbosun

Playwrights have been tasked on the need to show commitment to social consciousness at the book

by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) in collaboration with Nigeria LNG, the party is an annual tradition which features authors on the longlist for the Nigeria Prize for Literature.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature rotates yearly and children’s literature. Now is in its 14th edition, the event was a platform to showcase the writers and raise concerns for the drama genre, readership and drama performance.

Among the highlights of party were live music, drama sketches and book readings. This year, the

CORA/ NLNG-NPL BOOK PARTY

panel of judges was led by Professor Ameh Dennis Akoh, a Drama and Critical Theory scholar at the Other panel members include Professor Osita Catherine Ezenwanebe and Dr Rasheedah Liman.

Playwrights on the longlist who attended the event (Grit), Cheta Igbokwe (Homecoming), Christopher Anyokwu (The Boat People) and Abuchi Modilim (The Brigadiers of a Mad Tribe). Other authors who attended were Olubunmi Familoni (When Big Masquerades Dance Naked), Olatunbosun Taofeek (Where Is Patient Zero) and Henry Akubuiro (Yamtarawala – The Warrior King). Abideen Abolaji Ojomu (Ojuelegba Crossroads),

Some of the shortlisted playwrights

virtually. In his speech read by Ropo Ewenla, a member of the CORA Board, Toyin Akinosho, importance of literary engagement and audience

interaction.

While acknowledging that the prize money of $100,000 makes the competition one of the most keenly contested literary prizes in the continent and perhaps the world, he further stated that writers “Drama is perhaps the least fashionable genre in or a short story writer. Then he is grudgingly a dramatist,’’ he observed. He commended the writers and stressed the need for authors to connect with their readers and highlighted the value of events like the Book Party and the forthcoming Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF).

Akinosho outlined CORA’s initiatives, including features author-audience interactions and readings for November 14 to 20, 2023 at Freedom Park in Lagos Island, LABAF promises to be an exciting

Bukar Usman

Buratai

A participant at the upcycling workshop

IN THE ARENA

Nigeria and the Niger Crisis

Amid

Aseven-day ultimatum, which the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government gave Niger’s military regime to restore constitutional order, elapsed last Sunday. Yet, the military regime has not reinstated the country’s deposed leader, President Mohammed Bazoum. It has also resisted nearly all diplomatic measures aimed at restoring constitutionalism and stability to the Sahel country.

With the expiration of the ultimatum and the insistence of the putschists to hold on to political power, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority and President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu has been taking diverse decisive measures in response to Niger’s political impasse and in line with his country’s commitment to the ECOWAS Protocols and Treaty.

Amid this impasse, Tinubu sought the support of the Senate to deploy military force consistent with the resolutions of the ECOWAS Authority. The Senate opposed the proposal, but rather canvassed intensification of diplomatic responses to the Niger crisis, which its members largely agreed, could further erode democratic institutions in the sub-region.

Obviously, the proposal introduced another dimension to the high-spirited conversation about the Niger crisis. To be specific, the proposal elicited a barrage of questions that bothered much on the need to focus on domestic policies rather than regional issues, which most Nigerians believed, not just secondary, but also external to them.

One of such questions directly relates to the right of Niger nationals to freely choose a system of government they want. Why then should ECOWAS insist on restoring Bazoum if Nigeriens prefer the coupists? Such questions indeed call for serious concern, especially at a time when putschists are gradually returning to politics in the sub-region in contradiction to all treaties ratified by all sovereign states.

The ratification of regional and sub-regional treaties does not exclude Niger Republic. Under Article of ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, for instance, all member states agreed to embrace at all times constitutional convergence principles. In specific terms, as stipulated in Article 1(b), they agreed that every accession to power “must be made through free, fair and transparent elections.”

Under Article 3, also, the Constitutive Act of the African Union entrenched an array of provisions that embrace democracy and reject military dictatorship. Specifically, Article 3(g) mandated its signatories “to promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance” as opposed to authoritarian regimes.

Consistent with these articles, it is a settled argument that no African country - whether in the Sahel or on the Atlantic - can embrace dictatorship again. Like its counterparts, Niger ratified these agreements, and they are binding on the country. Likewise, all African states are averse to unconstitutional ascension to the seat of power, to which they all agreed due to decades of economic stagnation, political instability and human rights violations they experienced under military rules.

Beyond asking questions about the right of Niger nationals to freely determine how they want to be governed, Nigerians are equally averse to Tinubu’s proposal for military intervention on three grounds. First, a section of Nigerians emphasised the need to resolve diverse internal challenges rather than funding a war, which they believed, would further complicate their scathing economic conditions.

In this respect, they challenged Tinubu to adopt policies that would end the country’s gnawing fiscal crises; initiate more comprehensive reforms that would reduce inflation rate from 22.79 per cent to single digit; implement programmes that would crash unemployment rate from 40.6 per cent to single digit and introduce socio-economic measures that would de-escalate internal instability nationwide.

Another section of Nigerians faulted the proposal on the grounds that the cost of military intervention is not just about financial, but also collateral. Like the case of Liberia, they observed that Nigeria bore more than 70 per cent of the ECOMOG operations mainly because other members of ECOWAS obviously lacked wherewithal to fund and prosecute military operations when the need arises.

Nigeria, as recently revealed by former Chief of Defence Staff, General Leo Irabor (rtd), committed no fewer than $8 billion to end two separate civil wars that devastated Liberia first from 1989 to

POLITICAL NOTES

1997 and second from 1999 to 2003. This cost did not include over 1,000 lives that were decimated during Nigeria’s military operations to restore peace and stability to the West African country.

Lastly, northern political elite and religious leaders offered an entirely different perspective to the proposal, which apparently was predicated on ethnic identity and geographical contiguity. This sentiment was largely shared by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Northern Senators Forum, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). Among others, these bodies consciously rejected military action in the Niger Republic.

Niger Republic, as most northern leaders have observed, is an extension of their primordial territories. At least, seven of the core northern states directly share boundaries with Niger from Kebbi in the North-west to Borno in the North-east. The states include Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, covering a vast distance of over 1,100 kilometres.

Apart from geographical contiguity, most northerners equally share common religious, cultural and ethnic heritage with their kinsmen in the Niger Republic. Currently, as archival records revealed, Hausa constitutes 53.1 per cent of its population, Zarma 21.2 per cent, Fulani 6.5 per cent and Kanuri 5.9 per cent. The strong affinity they share with Nigeriens came to the fore when President Muhammadu Buhari revealed plans to live in Daura and Niamey.

For northerners, as former Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, recently pointed out, any attempt to invade Niger by ECOWAS in the guise of “safeguarding democracy”, will be a declaration of war on Northern Nigeria and its people.

This line of argument is obviously a high point that not only weakens Tinubu’s proposal for military intervention, but also eclipses the future of democracy in West Africa. It also emboldens Niger’s military regime under General Abdourahmane Tchiani to close the country’s airspace; deny the representatives of AU, ECOWAS and UN on a peace mission access to the Sahel country and blatantly refuse the US envoy entry.

Amid these complications, the US revealed that it might be forced into military action if the military regime refused to restore constitutional order. In a teleconference last Tuesday, the Deputy Secretary of State, Ms. Victoria Nuland, mulled this option, but claimed that the US would monitor and observe all diplomatic responses initiated by AU, ECOWAS and UN to the end before resorting to such an option.

However, with the intervention of the 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, there seems to be cautious optimism again. For Nigeria, military action has lost its traction due to stiff opposition at home. Unlike before, diplomacy has gained wider support at the just concluded meeting of the ECOWAS Authority.

On its part too, Niger’s military regime has equally opened its doors to dialogue and negotiation, obviously at the regional and sub-regional level. But in whose terms? And at what cost? Probably, answers to these questions will begin to unfold in the coming weeks.

Senators Enjoying Holidays Allowance and Suffering the Masses

It is shocking that while the present administration is pleadingwithNigerianstoendurethehardshipsitinflicted on the people, the same government has not taken any deliberatestepstocutthecostofgovernanceorreduce the allowances of the members of the political class. Whenthemassesandtheorganisedlabourwantedto protest against the petrol subsidy removal, the government had pleaded for understanding, explaining that the hardships would be short-lived.

But instead of encouraging the political office holders to also make sacrifices, President BolaTinubu had forwarded a bill to the National Assembly seeking to amend the 2022 Supplementary Act to allocate N70 billiontoimprovetheworkingconditionsofnewmembers of the National Assembly.

WhilethefewnewmembersoftheNationalAssembly

were allocated N70 billion, thousands of farmers who sufferedthedevastating2022floodsacrossthecountry, were allocated only N19 billion.

Tinubu also nominated more ministers than any previous administration since 1999 and also gave the hint that new ministries might be created when many Nigerians had expected that ministries should be merged to cut the cost of governance.

The Cable reported that Tinubu set the record for the highest number of ministerial nominees in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.

So, while other Nigerians are subjected to untold hardships, members of the political class have continued their flamboyant lifestyle as indicated by last Wednesday’srevelationbythePresidentoftheSenate, Senator Godswill Akpabio that the senators had been

sent money to enjoy their holidays.

Akpabio was heard in a viral video, saying that the National Assembly Clerk had disbursed funds to all senators to enable them to enjoy their holiday.

“In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a tokenhasbeensenttoourvariousaccountsbytheclerk of the national assembly,” Akpabio said.

Butfollowingtheshoutsofprotestsbysenatorswho feltembarrassedbyAkpabio’srevelation,thepresident of the senate withdrew his statement, saying instead ‘prayers have been sent to mailboxes of respective senators.

“Iwithdrawthatstatement.Toallowyoutoenjoyyour holiday, the Senate President has sent prayers to your mailboxestoassistyoutogoonasafejourneyandreturn,” Akpabio reportedly said.

daunting security challenges and grievous living conditions at home, Nigerians have counselled the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government against resorting to military action in resolving the internal crisis in the Niger Republic. Gboyega Akinsanmi writes that the United States is now thinking differently

Tinubu

Akpabio

BRIEFING NOTES

As Obaseki, Shaibu Fall Apart

After joining forces with Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State to fight his age-long ally and former governor of the state, Senator Adams Oshiomhole, the state Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu had warned that he would fight Obaseki if he attempted to assume the role of a godfather on who would succeed him. Ejiofor Alike reports that their relationship has crashed as it is now obvious that Obaseki would not support Shaibu’s bid to succeed him in 2024

In what many analysts believed was a strategic move to save his political career, the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu had abandoned his long-time ally and former Governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole to join forces with Governor Godwin Obaseki when the governor fell out with Oshiomhole, who was also his close associate.

Oshiomhole had anointed Obaseki as his successor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the former Edo State governor completed his eight-year tenure in 2016.

The former labour leader was said to have abandoned all his political associates to ensure the emergence of Obaseki, who was regarded as a technocrat.

But no sooner did Obaseki assume office than the relationship between the ‘godson’ and his ‘godfather’ turned sour.

Oshiomhole later became the National Chairman of the APC, a position he used to deny Obaseki a second term ticket of the ruling party.

To ensure that Obaseki did not clinch the APC governorship ticket for the governorship election held on September 19, 2020, the APC screening committee had disqualified the governor from participating in the party’s primary held on June 22, 2020.

Chairman of the screening committee, Jonathan Ayuba, while presenting his report to Oshiomhole at the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja, had revealed that Obaseki was disqualified over a “defective” certificate.

The governor had predicted his disqualification when he told journalists after his screening by the Ayuba-led panel that he was not sure of getting justice because Oshiomhole had refused to recuse himself from the process.

He later defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he was given the governorship ticket to contest the September 2020 governorship poll, which he won.

But shortly after the APC governorship primary, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting convened by President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

Many analysts believed that Obaseki masterminded Oshiomhole’s suspension by his Etsako Ward 10 chapter of the party in Edo State, which paved the way for his sack by the party’s NEC.

Shaibu, a long-time political ally of Oshiomhole had stood behind Obaseki throughout the crisis between the governor and APC national chairman.

Shaibu was believed to have abandoned the APC national chairman to save his position as Obaseki’s deputy. Oshiomhole alleged that Shaibu, his ‘political son’ betrayed him.

But speaking through his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Musa Ebomhiana, the deputy governor denied the claim, insisting that he was just following Oshiomhole’s footsteps by ensuring that there was no godfather in the politics of the state.

Shaibu had later, in an interview with select journalists at his residence in BeninCity, insisted that there was no room for godfathers in the state.

Speaking on his relationship with Obaseki, Shaibu said: “My relationship with Obaseki is like an older brother and younger brother and it’s my first time of being under somebody; I have always been on my own, but as we move and I begin to understand him, he is also able to understand me.”

At another forum, Shaibu reiterated that he fell out with Oshiomhole to pursue his dream of ending poverty and eradication of godfatherism in the politics of the state.

However, signs of a possible collision between Shaibu and his boss emerged

in February 2022 when the deputy governor warned that he would turn against Obaseki, if he attempted to assume the role of a godfather on who will succeed him as governor of the state in 2024.

However, exactly one year and four months to the end of their tenure, the relationship between Obaseki and Shaibu has gone sour.

The dispute between the governor and his deputy came to fore last weekend when Shaibu deposed an affidavit of urgency at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court where he is seeking the court’s protection from being impeached.

Before this development, Shaibu had been consulting about his ambition to succeed his boss by 2024 when their tenure would have elapsed.

However, Shaibu’s ambition did not get the blessing of his principal.

The deputy governor, who feared that the governor might move against him, had approached the court for protection against his impeachment by the state

NOTES FOR FILE

Hard Political Lesson for Keyamo

Former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, was last Monday taught the political lesson of his life.

Keyamo, a ministerial nominee, was forced to eat the humble pie as he profusely apologised to the 10th Senate over his previous conduct towards the 9th National Assembly.

Earlier, Keyamo’s screening had caused a stir on the floor of the senate after several senators rose up in opposition to Keyamo’s nomination following his perceived insubordination to the legislative body over his action as a minister during Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

The crux of the dispute was his alleged refusal to appear before the lawmakers to give the account of the handling of the Public Works Programme conceived by the

Buhari government to engage 774,000 unskilled workers for six months.

Keyamo had allegedly engaged in a showdown with the lawmakers.

However, as the Senate resumed on Monday evening, Keyamo appologised for the faceoff. He explained that after the faceoff in 2021, he had approached te chairmen of the two House committees of Labour to make peace.

Senator Akwashiki confirmed his claim.

Keyamo had explained that no money accrued to him as the payments were made directly to the beneficiaries by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as directed by Buhari.

He said: “Like I said, I am sorry, I am

House of Assembly.

But in a swift response, Obaseki, last Monday, stated that there was no plan to impeach his deputy.

The governor, however, noted that Shaibu’s court action to stop his purported impeachment was preemptive ahead of his alleged plan to defect to the APC.

Obaseki alleged that his deputy had been actively engaging with top leaders of the APC, negotiating his way into their party, adding that he was on the verge of finalising moves to defect to the ruling party.

The governor added that his deputy never discussed his governorship ambition with him.

Obaseki later explained why he would not back his deputy to succeed him. He said it was not yet time for intense politicking, as doing so would be a distraction.

The governor’s Special Adviser on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, said no amount of blackmail would make the Edo governor support Shaibu’s governorship aspiration at this time.

The media aide said it was his boss’ well-considered position that abandoning governance to pursue intense politics now would not be in the best interests of the Edo people.

Osagie, who described Shaibu as a rabblerouser, noted that he took his indiscipline and hubris to the zenith by trying to create a crisis.

Sources close to Obaseki had hinted that the governor would want his successor to emerge from the Edo Central senatorial zone for the sake of justice and equity.

The sources disclosed that it would be the turn of Edo Central to produce the next governor as the Edo North and Edo South had taken their turns in the person of Oshiomhole and Obaseki, respectively.

Shaibu is also from the same Edo North as Oshiomhole.

Already, a group from Edo Central Senatorial District, Esan Okpa Initiative (EOI) had stated that it would meet with leaders from Edo North and Edo Central Senatorial Districts to plead with them to concede the next governor to the Esan to complete the tripod in which the state stands.

Shaibu’s ambition is widely seen as an exercise in futility. Apart from the fact that it is not the turn of his Edo North senatorial zone to produce the next governor of the state, Shaibu will also have to contend with the leader of the APC in the state and Senator representing the Edo North, Oshiomhole, who had felt betrayed by the deputy governor.

sorry, I am sorry for that misunderstanding,” Keyamo said.

Following the apology and upon a motion raised by Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume, he was asked to take a bow and go. No questions were directed to him concerning the screening as a move by one senator to allow senators to ask him questions was opposed by other senators who said his apology was enough.

The lesson for him was that in politics, he should not claim to know everything or give any impression that he disrespects the National Assembly, no matter the support he receives from the president. But for a pliable Senate, he would have missed the opportunity to return to government due to his unnecessary exuberance.

Keyamo

ObasekiShaibu

Has el-Rufai Come to the End of the Road?

Many Nigerians were not surprised when President Bola Tinubu submitted the name of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir ElRufai to the Senate for screening as one of the ministerial nominees, given the former governor’s contributions to the success of the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last presidential election.

However, no sooner did Tinubu submit El-Rufai’s name to the Senate than an old video of the former governor boasting that he would not be minister resurfaced and provoked the ire of social media users.

El-Rufai said in the old video that it would not be fair for him to return as minister at his current age.

Speaking in Hausa, El-Rufai claimed that it would not be fair for him to occupy the ministerial position he had occupied at the age of 43 years.

“You became a minister at 43 and after 20 years then you became a minister at 63? What of your children and younger brothers? Will they not become ministers? Is the position meant for you alone? I don’t like this. Let go of this topic.

“Thank God I was lucky that I became Minister of Abuja when I was 43. Next year, I will clock 63. Then I will go back. So, nobody among my younger brothers and children is capable of becoming a minister? You fail when you fail to train those to succeed you. I have trained a lot of people who are capable of succeeding in many areas,” El-Rufai added.

With El-Rufai’s name on the ministerial list, his critics said he was playing to the gallery in his characteristic style when he boasted that he would not be a minister.

Some of his critics, including a former senator from Kaduna State, Shehu Sani had described him as an opportunist, whose political career is characterised by switching loyalty and allegiance, political sycophancy and crass opportunism.

The former governor is accused by his critics of betraying all those who assisted him to attain his enviable status in his political career, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and very lately, former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He was known to have made disparaging remarks about these past leaders and other political, as well as socio-cultural leaders in the country at one time or the other.

El-Rufai had also reportedly disparaged many reputable Northern leaders and elders in the build-up to the 2023 general election, when he described them as mere paperweights who lacked the capacity to swing votes in anyone’s favour, declaring that the 19 northern governors were the real elders of the North.

The former Kaduna State governor did not spare foreigners in his unguarded utterances as he had also threatened that foreign election observers and monitors who interfered in the 2019 general election would return to their countries in body bags, a threat, which his critics believe, earned him a visa ban in one of the advanced countries.

He also gained notoriety for making what were widely perceived as inflammatory and divisive utterances on religious, ethnic and other national issues.

His utterances and alleged controversial conduct as the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had also set him on a

collision with the Senate, which then made unsuccessful attempts to ban him from holding public office for a number of years.

Apart from boasting that he would not be minister, having served as the FCT minister at the age of 43, the former Kaduna State governor had in the past declared that he did not believe in President Tinubu’s style of politics.

Speaking in Ikoyi, Lagos, at an event organised by the Bridge Club tagged, “An evening with His Excellency Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State,” held in May 2019, the former governor reportedly stated that he defeated and retired four political godfathers in his state, saying the feat could be replicated anywhere, including

Lagos State.

The former governor was believed to be referring to Tinubu when he further explained in detail how any governorship aspirant in Lagos State could end godfatherism in the state.

Also, while speaking later at a webinar in commemoration of the 63rd birthday of the then Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, in May 2020, El-Rufai had declared that Tinubu was not his man.

This, he said, was due to the differences between him and the former Lagos governor.

The webinar tagged: ‘Ogbeni Rauf

Aregbesola Colloquium 2020,’ with the theme, ‘Government Unusual: Innovative economic solutions to unlock mass prosperity,’ was moderated by Boason Omofaye.

While congratulating the birthday celebrant, El-Rufai had reportedly said: “I want to congratulate my brother, Ogbeni (Aregbesola), on his birthday. You know I am your man any day. I am not Asiwaju’s man and you are Asiwaju’s man, but I am your man any day. Asiwaju and I have differences but you and I have no differences.”

His critics also accuse him of having a penchant to make divisive utterances on national issues.

He had provoked the ire of many Nigerians when he declared that the anti-open grazing laws enacted by the southern governors were not implementable.

The former governor was not known to have publicly condemned the activities of the rampaging herdsmen but was quick to describe the laws made to stop their atrocities as “populist legislation.”

His recent utterances on the Muslim-Muslim tickets in the 2023 presidential election were also viewed by his critics as having the capacity to potentially hurt the efforts of the Tinubu-led administration to heal the wounds of the last general election.

Immediately after the general election, El-Rufai, who addressed Muslim clerics in Hausa, narrated in a video how he agreed to reconcile with Tinubu before the general election for the sake of Islam, stressing that the Muslim dominance he established in Kaduna State could be replicated at the national level.

It was not surprising that the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Isuwa Dogo, described him as a dangerous politician that must be avoided by President Tinubu.

The Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Reverend Joseph Hayab, had also accused him of setting traps for President Tinubu with his statement on the replication of Islamic dominance in Nigeria.

Many analysts were not surprised that the senate withheld his confirmation as minister over security screening.

However, the lawmakers also withheld the confirmation of Stella Okotete, and Senator Abubakar Danladi from Delta and Taraba states, respectively.

But during El-Rufai’s screening by the senate, the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Sunday Karimi, had stood up and told his colleagues that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of killings in Southern Kaduna.

The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, however, refused to take the petition, revealing that a number of petitions were also submitted against some of the nominees.

Many analysts had thought that Akpabio shielded him from the embarrassment to ensure that he was confirmed until reports emerged that the lawmakers had withheld his confirmation.

While some sources claimed that the Senate withheld his confirmation because he was undergoing security checks, others claim that the security agencies wrote a damning report against him, requesting that his confirmation be put on hold.

A group of protesters under the aegis of Secure Nation Group (SNG) had also staged a protest at the premises of the National Assembly to call on the lawmakers not to confirm him as minister.

El-Rufai

With the apparent crumbling of the ministerial bid of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, following the withholding of his confirmation by the Senate due to security-related concerns, Ejiofor Alike reports that the former governor’s perceived divisive utterances on religious and other national issues have finally put his political career under serious threat

God I was lucky that I became Minister of Abuja when I was 43. Next year, I will clock 63. Then I will go back. So, nobody among my younger brothers and children is capable of becoming a minister? You fail when you fail to train those to succeed you. I have trained a lot of people who are capable of succeeding in many areas

Behold Our Redeemers

On PresidentTinubu’sministerial nomination list, I am surprised at our surprise. I am even more disappointed by our collective sense of disappointment. The note of public consternation is palpable and almost universal among Nigerians across all divides. Not only was the list late in submission, it was incomplete on first delivery. On closer scrutiny, nearly every segment of the Nigerian public has cried out. So much of a loud bang was expected. Instead, a flatulent loud thud was heard across the land.

Theyouthfeelunderrepresentedatatimewhen our national demographics shows an undeniable youth bulge. Our women feel disappointed that in spite of their numbers and tremendous contributions to our national development from the home to the factory, from the boardroom to the bedroom, only a little more than 9 of them made a list of over 48 potential ministers.

Worsestill,thoseofus,theelite,thehigh-minded andtheincurableoptimistsoftheNigerianidealare even more privately angry. For us, the depressing burden of Buhari’s wasted eight years meant that a successor regime should choose from the best of Nigeria to rescue our beleaguered nation. In our characteristic naivety and groundless idealism, we expected a lot of technocrats, citizens with knowhowandknowwhyinadiversityofdisciplines drawn from the private sector, the universities and the efflorescent Nigerian diaspora to adorn the federal cabinet. Alas, only a negligible sprinkle of such persons can be found in the list. AS elite, our judgmentsareblindedbymeritocracy,notcoloured by politics and silly compromised balancing.

But politicians and political animals of all hues are in large numbers in a list that looks more like a payback telephone directory of sundry political jobbers. Very conspicuously represented is the powerful trade union of former governors and potential ‘presidents’ who are viciously eyeing Tinubu’s seat and the opulence of the presidential villawhereeverythingisfreeofchargeforresidents and their unlimited guests.

Of all the presences in the ministerial nominations list, the large representation of former governorsisthemostworrisomeandembarrassing. It is of course understandable that most of these former governors are the ones responsible for the large vote returns in favour of the president in their respective states. The logic of crass political compensation and patronage only dictates that the president returns the ‘good turns’. But the basic requirement of a ministerial nomination also includes the public expectation that those nominated would be persons whose previous public service record should inspire the public in theexpectationofbetterperformanceandservice delivery. People also expect some modicum of public accountability from the new ministers. Bit herewearewithoverhalfadozenformergovernors whose only qualification is that they carry the APC card or displayed electoral favoritism towards the ruling party.

Otherwise, Mr. Tinubu’s selection of so many ex -governors for ministerial appointment includes some of the most embarrassing specimens of state governance in Nigerian history. Some of them ran their states aground or drowned them in debt. Others were in cahoots with bandits to bleed their states. Yet others entered into power sharing arrangements with gunmen and bandits over the preponderance of violence and monopoly of force in their states. Quite a few have just had investigation files opened at the EFCC for sundry corruption allegations while in office. Yet others presided over states in which the citizenry never knew a moment of safety and security of life and property for upwards of eight years. In a few days time, these are some the ‘honourable’ ministers that the president will swear in and our public will be forced to welcome as redeemers of our besieged nation.

In many senses, President Tinubu has been very ‘Nigerian” in his approach to this business of cabinet selection. It has been typical Nigerian ‘cut and join’ cabinetry. Some resumes were not proof read for errors of sequence and logic. Some nominees started primary school only three years after they were born! Some nominees were not known to or cleared by the party chief priests in their states. One or two who are clear security risks escaped the eagle eyes of the security agencies. Some have cases pending in courts for unresolved cases of outright criminality but are

awaiting conviction. For as long as there is as yet no conviction, you cannot exclude someone from the ministerial pork barrel simply because they are standing trial. That would be media trial and presidency spokespersons do not like that!

In all of this, the public expected perhaps a higher degreeofscrutinybothbytherelevantvettingagencies and especially the president’s office whose duty it is to approve the final list that went to the National Assembly. I hear the president’s Chief of Staff is diligent at ignoring what he chooses not to see. But in many ways, the ministerial list all bore the imprint of the typical Nigerian ‘cut and join ‘ carpenter.

The ‘cut and join’ carpenter is an ever-present metaphor of every instance of atrocious tinkering with most things that matter to us. It is ultimately a curiosity that reflects our national penchant for ad hoc solutions, short cuts, shoddiness and a general distasteforrigoureveninimportantthings.Instreet parlance,wearetalkingofthe‘anyhow’and‘anything goes’ syndrome in our national consciousness and culture.Afterall,“thisisNigeria!”,wecasuallydeclare, while expecting the same results as other nations who do their homework.

We even expect the rest of the world to lower standards, bend established rules or create our own standards for us to accommodate our untidy manners and even clap for us for ‘trying’. So, the ‘cut and join’ politician, judge or legislator etc. fall in line with their shoddy artisanal compatriots as typicallyNigeriancreaturesofnationalconvenience.

On the current public and private quarrels with President Tinubu’s cabinet nominations and their equally microwave Senate confirmations, we allPresident, parliament, the commentariat and plain citizens out there- have displayed our trade mark lackofmethodeveninmomentaryboutsofnational madness. People have expressed their disgust and disappointment and then moved on with expecting business as usual in governance. Some even expect some magic, the miracle that this bunch of ordinary men and women will do some magic simply because they bear the badge of “new ministers”!

While we await the ritual swearing in of these Chiefs, the “honourable ministers”, our expectations need to be grounded in past experience and tempered by the anomalies of this selection. Some have pointed at the possible culpability of a good

number of the new ministers for infractions ranging from wife beating to industrial scale corruption. Others have questioned the competence and basic capacity of some nominees. There is the equally important matter of the relative anonymity of the less known quantities among the new entrants. After all, it is echoed, this is a large country. You cannot possibly know everyone who has something to offer!

Over and above all the petty grumbles, however, there are larger issues that have been raised by Mr. Tinubu’s very ordinary ministerial nominations list. The high expectations are perhaps based on an anticipation that Mr. Tinubu or anyone that was elected to succeed Buhari would govern differently from the Daura general now turned herdsman.

That is wrong both politically and logically. Tinubu and Buhari are both APC chieftains. The party stands for only signpost progressivism but essentially ultra conservatism of the most decadent and even medieval hue. It is the party of politics as usual, of winnertakeallandbusinessasusual.Inmany senses, Tinubu’s presidency is bound to be a continuation of the Buhari infamy. I wait to be corrected on this.

But at best, Tinubu’s ascendance is an in house succession from among advocates of the old politics of the African Chief, the African “Big Man” who is entitled to personalize and privatize the institutions andresourcesofstatetoadvanceapersonal political end. This is a variant of the politics of Nguema, Mobutu, Arap Moi and Omar El Bashir only with a Nigerian coloration. In the context of that genre of African politics, it matters less who gets appointed minister. In this tradition, some ministers will recur in disguise or frontally. Mr. Festus Keyamo,Buhari’sjuniorministeroflabourhas metamorphosed into Tinubu’s megaphone and now ministerial nominee with the only qualification of insulting his superiors and blindly praising his ever changing masters.

In this mode of politics, the behavior of the stateanditsprefectsneverchanges.Wecan

already see it in the behavior of the big chiefs of the state. It is there in Tinubu’s endless motorcades, in Akpabio’s imperial grand entrances into the Senate Chambers, the blatant arrogance of power minions like Dele Alake in their condescending and contemptuous rhetoric and attitude towards the public. You can see it in the sheer number of jobless state officials who leave their desks and troop to the airport to welcome the president who merely took a 30 minute hop across the border to attend an ECOWAS meeting. This is the contemporary African wasteful state. It never changes. The Chief or whatever his local ethnic nomenclature is the state and vice versa.

There is nothing so far in the political footprints of President Tinubu to suggest that he is likely to depart from the known footsteps of the African “Big Man” politics. His choice of key political figures sums it up. For party chairman for the APC, the Presidenthasliterallyhand–pickedMr.Ganduje,the authoritarian but dollar hugging former governor of Kano state, a new version of the famour Barkin Zuwo. For Senate President, President Tinubu assiduously worked for the emergence of Godswill Akpabio, the former Akwa Ibom State, Niger Delta Minister etc. as Senate President. This is the same man who for weeks regaled the public with comic strips from his exchanges with one Ms. Joi Nunei over the massive disappearance of funds from the coffers of the over ransacked NDDC. Before his was elected Senate President, Mr. Akpabio was reportedlyonmedical leave abroad while the EFCC was reportedly looking for home over a series of ongoing investigations and corruption related cases. Mr. Akpabio has just etched his signature on the identity of the new National Assembly by the viral video of his ‘vacation allowance’ for Senators last week. No one knows exactly how much holiday allowance has been credited to the accounts of their distinguished senatorial majesties courtesy of Akpabio’s generosity. Speculations now range from a paltry N2 million to a princely N30-N50 million! No one knows the real figure in a country where transparency is best described by the opaque black paper bag or “Ghana Must Go” money ferrhying bag! These key political figures can only signpost the moral identity of the new Presidency that has served us this tepid and embarrassing ministerial nomination list.

There is of course no doubt that there has been a mismatch between public expectation and political outcome since the 2023 presidential election. The expectation of the predominantly youthful voters who went to the polls expecting the emergence of a new leadership may have been vitiated by the outcomes announced by INEC. Let us make no mistake about it. There were two political and moral propositions before Nigerians in the 2023 election season. The old African chief politics of Tinubu and Atiku was posited against the new order politics of Peter Obi and his Obidients. The INEC announced electoral outcome enthroned a return to the old order. But the broad masses are expecting a new political order from the new president. This is the root of a certain dissonance between public expectation and the political reality of the moment. It is still the dominant tension of the moment in our national public mood and discourse especially in the social media.

The public expects Tinubu to emerge with an Obi-type governance model and perspective. The widespread disappointment over the ministerial list is coming from this dissonance and crisis of expectation. The political and electoral system has delivered an outcome at variance with the mood and expectations of the public. The result is bound to be widespread and incurable dissatisfaction and disappointment.

In another couple of days, a new federal cabinet will be sworn in with the usual injunctions and predictable speeches. New ministers will ascend the high pedestals of public office, many of them anonymous inconsequential entities catapulted from relative obscurity to the height of prominence and public notice. Quite a few previously impoverished and jobless entities will find work and unexpected monumental wealth. A few new scandals will germinate just as a few good men and women will find space to shine positively in the service of the nation. If for nothing else, perhaps our periodic political changes offer an opportunity for real change in the lives of a few political animals.

Tinubu

quarters.”

But the headline thereafter? “Senate rejects Tinubu’s request to deploy troops to Niger.” Ironically, the president does not necessarily have to get senate approval before deploying troops, going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. While section 5 (4) (a) says “the President shall not declare a state of war between the Federation and another country except with the sanction of a resolution of both Houses of the National Assembly sitting in a joint session; and (b) except with the prior approval of the Senate, no member of the armed forces of the Federation shall be deployed on combat duty outside Nigeria,” the next section gives him a leeway.

Section 5 (5) says: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, the President, in consultation with the National Defence Council, may deploy members of the armed forces of the Federation on a limited combat duty outside Nigeria if he is satisfied that the national security is under imminent threat or danger: Provided that the President shall, within seven days of actual combat engagement, seek the consent of the Senate and the Senate shall thereafter give or refuse the said consent within fourteen days.” There is a problem with this provision. What if the troops are already deep in combat and the senate fails to give approval? This is a potential constitutional crisis.

As to be expected in Nigeria, there has been a myriad of negative reactions, some reasonable and some purely political. Republic

HIGH FIVE TO FALCONS

I doff my heart to the Super Falcons for a respectable outing at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Given the controversies around their welfare and preparations, I was not expecting much. I thought they would return home after getting bashed by the more organised and better prepared teams such as Canada and Australia in the first round. I just love the Nigerian spirit. The Falcons held their own, went toe-to-toe with England, the European champions, in the second round before losing a penalty shoot-out lottery. Special mention must be made of Michelle Alozie, the amazon with a permanent smile even in the most provocative situations as we saw when Lauren James stamped on her. Kudos!

of Niger is 53% Hausa, 7% Fulani and 6% Kanuri, so there are affinities with northern Nigeria. Ethnic and religious affinities aside, Niger shares a very, very long boundary with northern Nigeria. It is a moot point that the border exists only in the imagination as many Nigeriens can easily claim to be Nigerians, and vice versa. Many Nigerians have families in Niger. There is a deep cultural connection. More so, if there is war in Niger, northern Nigeria will feel the impact more than the rest. I can, therefore, understand the northern opposition to military action.

The politicised responses, many tied to the fall-outs of the 2023 general election, have been quite amusing. I have read an enormous amount of comments that show that some people don’t understand the issues at play or the implications of the Niger coup on regional peace and stability. Some commenters don’t even know that Bazoum only came to power two years ago on a renewable five-year term and had to face a run-off before winning the presidential election. I am hearing excuses that sit-tight leaders make coups possible — which may be a good argument — but coup leaders don’t even have term limits and often transmute to civilian life presidents. But I digress.

The junta itself has been recalcitrant. After deploying the anti-imperialism rhetoric (which always works in whipping up nationalistic sentiments), it suspended sale of uranium and gold to France, its colonial master. It also shut its airspace, apparently in response to the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS. With the second largest landmass in West Africa, Niger

has a strategic asset in its airspace. The junta also snubbed the presidential delegation from Nigeria, including a former head of state, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, a retired general. It also shunned the ECOWAS-AU-UN mission. It is a case of who would blink first in the diplomatic face-off.

Here are my takes on the Niger situation. One, I do not support the use of force. Niger remains a sovereign country, even though the soldiers have violated the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance by using unconstitutional means to take power. However, what could promise to be a simple military operation may turn into a full-scale war. One week after the US bombarded Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003, President George Bush declared the war was over. The war is still on. US lost over 7,000 soldiers before pulling out. You cannot predict how a military intervention will turn out. I understand that sanctions and diplomacy did not work in Mali and the rest, but it is what it is.

Two, I think Tinubu is justified to feel that Nigeria’s security is under threat. Niger is not just a West African country — it is Nigeria’s next door neighbour. The thought of an incursion into Africa by foreign mercenaries and jihadists with a foothold right across the Nigerian border is a serious threat to Nigeria. It is in our own interest to have friendly neighbours because of the diplomatic, economic and security dynamics. These are not issues to be discussed in the open and many partisan commenters will never understand. Nigeria

And Four Other Things…

EL-RUFAI DRAMA

Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state, was unbelievably not cleared by the senate for a ministerial position after many of us thought it was going to be a cakewalk. He had been pencilled down as minister of energy, according to those who should know. The senate said his non-clearance owed to adverse security reports. Ironically, el-Rufai was also reportedly slated to be minister of power in 2007 under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua but things fell apart. I do not believe he was stopped by any security report. A couple of the cleared nominees didn’t even do NYSC and security report did not stop them. The whole truth will come out someday. Startling.

TINUBU’S UNWIELDY CABINET AND UNHURRIED PACE

government without first getting security clearance from agencies that are part of the executive arm of government and whose heads indeed report to the president. It is either incompetence or deliberate mischief. If it is deliberate, then it is bad form. The president is not obliged to nominate anyone as a minister, but when he exercises his prerogative to nominate anyone, it should be taken for granted that he had done his own checks and he really wants to work with them.

Well, the remaining three nominees may or may not be confirmed, and they may or may not be available to take up the offer even if confirmed. Whether the number stays at 45 or expands to 48 or even more (based on the legitimate case being made by the South East), we are going to end up with our largest cabinet in history, and at a time our public finance is all over the place.

There are many issues with having such an unwieldy cabinet. The first, as hinted above, is cost. Having 45 or 48 or more ministers and about 20 special advisers will definitely have a higher cost implication than having a fewer number. These costs will include salaries and allowances of the cabinet members and their aides and basic working tools like offices, cars etc. Such a gratuitous expansion is ill-advised for a country with heavy debt burden and budget deficit.

The second issue is about sensitivity. The Tinubu government is implementing some necessary reforms that come with attendant pains to most of the citizens, especially the poor. At a time that the government is asking Nigerians to make important and painful adjustments, the least the government wants to do is to demonstrate that the burden will be shared. Having more than 36 constitutionally-mandated ministers at this time is totally inconsiderate. Even if for symbolic reasons, the government needs to make a conscious effort to reduce the

cost and size of government. The government needs to demonstrate in words and deeds that it understands the pains Nigerians are going through and model the need for sacrifice. Related to this is the matter of optics. Nigeria will need substantial help from other countries and partners to stand a chance of pulling back from the brink. How do you convince these partners that you are in dire need, that they should make concessions for you, and that you are serious when you parade the most bloated cabinet in your history or that the support they would provide would not be frittered away on frivolities?

FAREWELL, PASTOR TAIWO

Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, senior pastor of Fountain of Life Church, drew his last breath on Monday in the US after battling with an ailment. What a loss. There was no time I listened to his message that I was not inspired. He was one pastor who allowed people under him to flourish. He had to live with many tragedies in his life — his university sweetheart and amiable wife, Pastor Bimbo, died in an air mishap in 2006; after remarrying, he lost his wife, Nomthi, in 2021; and two weeks later, he lost his twin sister. I can imagine the pains in his heart while he kept preaching “God is good” to his congregation. That’s the way this mortal life goes. I pray for God’s comfort for his family. Painful.

Then there is the concern about the practicality of managing a cabinet of almost 70 ministers and advisers. Will they be attending Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting together or in batches? How do you ensure robust deliberation in a cabinet of almost 70 people? Will all of them, alongside others, be reporting directly to the president, and if so, how does that leave him with the bandwidth to focus on strategic things?

But the most troubling thing is that the size of this cabinet is not redeemed by its apparent quality. At this time, more than ever before, Nigeria needs a star-studded cabinet. Unfortunately, not up to a quarter of the crowd assembled by President Tinubu can be said to be really stellar based on comparable experience, antecedents and credibility. Some of them should not even be head of federal agencies if we take into consideration the depth of talents available to us within and outside the country. By my generous reckoning, I can count only 10 high-achievers in Tinubu’s big band, and most people are convinced that they are even playing hanky-panky with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the only one among the standouts with solid experience in implementing difficult and consequential reforms at the federal level.

Tinubu was supposed to be the politician with a special knack for assembling a great team of professionals and technocrats. Maybe that was the Tinubu of 1999 and the Tinubu that was not constrained by the need to settle political IOUs or not hamstrung by a constitutional requirement to pick a cabinet member from each of the constituent units. Maybe Lagos had a richer pool of talents. Maybe his Lagos outing was pure luck. Whatever it is, Tinubu has not done himself and his well curated myth a favour this time. This cabinet crowd is a form of self-demystification. I pray to be wrong.

The other concerning issue is Tinubu’s ponderous pace. The Senate put its recess on

needs healthy relations with all its neighbours and losing one of the biggest of them will be a nightmare for any leader. This is about Nigeria, not Tinubu.

Although the Tinubu administration has more or less lost the case in the public court because of the less than strategic way it has handled and communicated the situation so far, this does not chip away from the fact that the developments in Niger should be of concern to Nigeria and should not be treated with kid gloves. The coup makers are no heroes and should not be lionised. The irony of it is that Bazoum has received accolades for his performance in office, particularly in combating Boko Haram terrorism and banditry, as well as containing the jihadists’ menace in the Sahel. Bazoum has also been celebrated for his focus on girl child education, improving literacy and reducing poverty.

The coup staged by Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani does not offer anything better for Nigeriens. It was obviously inspired by a clash of egos, reportedly caused by a probe into questionable defence spendings. It is not a contest of ideas. I support an intense and sustained diplomatic pressure and I hope both parties will avoid war and reach a workable agreement. Democracy is the future of Africa and we must resist every attempt to take us back to the 1960s when military coups were fully in fashion. I forever align with the words of Mr Winston Churchill, the former UK prime minister, who said: “Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others that have been tried.”

AND FINALLY…

Not too long ago, the senate engaged in a tasteless joke about the economic hardship in Nigeria, with someone cheekily raising a motion on the need to let the poor breathe. Senate President Godswill Akpabio pretended to be taking a vote. It is a joke to them. Absolutely tasteless. You often wonder why many Nigerians dislike the lawmakers, and Akpabio presented another evidence when he openly announced to his colleagues that “in order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the clerk of the National Assembly”. With enjoyment money in the bank (his words, not mine), our lawmakers can afford to joke about the poor. Tactless.

hold to expedite the confirmation of Tinubu’s nominees. With 45 ministerial nominees confirmed on August 7th, Tinubu would have been expected to promptly inaugurate the cabinet, assign portfolios and fully constitute his government. Retreats/inductions can follow. Critical stakeholders within and outside the country need to know who is in charge of what. While the presidential system revolves around the president, the system works well when there are ministers in place to flesh out the president’s vision, follow through, drive and get things done. Besides, there are urgent issues in critical sectors that need prompt attention.

For example, the economic reforms introduced by Tinubu in his first few days in office are increasingly at risk and need urgent steadying. Presidential fiats and will are important but not enough. We need a finance minister with heft and gravitas to be the face of the administration to critical partners and the citizens, rolling out and guiding plans, and making important calls. We needed this like yesterday. With what is going on in Niger and the subregion, we also need an empowered, connected and energetic foreign minister to be the face of the country and to be leading the diplomatic engagements. It is becoming clear that our approach on this issue could have benefited from more internal consultation and more nuanced expert knowledge and advice.

Apart from these two sectors, there are other areas of national life crying for urgent and continuous attention too. Even if his predecessors took their time to get going, Tinubu doesn’t have that luxury. He should pick up his pace. And now that he has chosen and gotten approval for his cabinet, he should put them to work without delay. We need Tinubu to recover his Baba-Go-Fast moniker. But more importantly, we need a fully constituted and fully operational government. Nigeria in its present state doesn’t have all the time.

President Tinubu

Otti’s 60 Days Odyssey in Abia

Okechukwu Ukpabi

July 28, 2023, marked 60 days of the Abia Renaissance under the leadership of the Chief Servant, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti. It has been two months of setting the Abia ship on the right course after the recent history of near-ship wreck and crass pillaging.

The narrative thus far rightly approximates John C. Maxwell’s aphorism that, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” In common parlance, a man cannot give what he does not have.

The Transition Committee (TC) for the Abia Renewal Project put together by Dr. Otti with heavyweights such as former World Bank Managing Director and current Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ms. Arunma Oteh, one-time Treasurer and a Vice President of the World Bank as well as Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and chairman of the committee, the self-effacing Victor Onyenkpa, Chief Operating Officer, KPMG Africa, amongst others was an indication that it was no longer going to be business as usual.

At the inauguration of the TC on April 14, 2023, the then governor-elect, demonstrated clarity of vision when he stressed that he would run a lean government, which would impact the appointment of a lesser number of people but for the greater good of all Abians and those who have made the state as their home.

It was heartwarming, and remains so, when he said he has chosen to frontally address the issues of Aba, the industrial, business hub and heartbeat of the state. From there, he would move to other areas, citing the industrial hub as one of his selected priority projects for Aba.

Buoyed by this, the TC chairman, perhaps with a crystal ball enthused that, “Abians and Nigerians saw Otti’s election as the beginning of the restoration of the lost glory of the state. Igbo see the change Otti would make as a catalyst that would transform the entire Igbo nation as his antecedents show him as one that could work a miracle to make the desired difference.”

And nothing can be nearer the truth than this owing to what Abia has seen in the past 60 days.

Setting the Roadmap

It is an established fact that Abia state was run aground and for anybody aspiring to lead the state must have had an inkling of the parlous state, if not the whole picture of the criminal enterprise that held sway.

It is in this wise that on May 29 when Otti was sworn-in as governor amidst deafening jubilation and hope rekindled that he spoke to the challenge ahead.

He said: “I must be frank to inform you that we have a very difficult and challenging road ahead of us. Abia State is starting, not from zero, but from an enormously negative position. While we were busy battling with the devastating effects of insincere and corrupt leadership, the rest of the world, and even many parts of Nigeria, would appear to have left us behind.

“We have a treasury that has been criminally ravaged to the extent that we have an alleged N50 billion in unpaid salaries, gratuities, and pensions. Our local and foreign debt overhang is reported to be in the region of N200 billion, in addition to other debts to contractors. We have a poorly motivated workforce, extreme youth unemployment, collapsed physical in-

frastructure, and a terribly frail primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare delivery system. These are in addition to a broken educational system, urban waste disposal crisis, and a large army of citizens, especially teachers, health workers, including medical doctors and nurses, lecturers in tertiary institutions, Local Government Authority workers, and most painfully, our senior citizens, who feel blatantly betrayed by successive administrations that willfully and unconscionably abandoned them to live in wretched sub-human conditions.”

It was not just lamentation, but acknowledging the work ahead and also offering assurance. “My task is to dry your tears and help you to rediscover who you are and lead you back to the pathway of sustainable growth, development, and prosperity,” the new governor stated.

And to demonstrate his seriousness, he was about the first governor to pick his cabinet and on July 7, 2023, 16 of the 19 commissioners were sworn in after being cleared by the state assembly. And they have set their hands on the plow in redeeming the time for the state.

Building Consensus

Aware that carrying the people along is vital in achieving success, Otti set about engaging with critical stakeholders in the state. One of his first stakeholders’ engagement was with traditional rulers, describing them “as critical stakeholders in the rebuilding agenda of his administration,” and soliciting their buy-in in his commitment to building a new Abia.

Before the meeting with the traditional institution, his first engagement was with the bureaucracy of the state civil service on June 3, barely four days after taking over the reins of leadership.

In the meeting with permanent secretaries and heads of departments and agencies, the governor promised to prioritise the welfare of Abia workers even as he promised to tackle ghost

worker syndrome in the state civil service through forensic audits of various ministries, agencies, and parastatals.

He further gave the assurance to confirm the genuineness of the actual amount owed to civil servants in the state and work towards tackling the challenges of backlogs of unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions. It is imperative to note that available figures show that the state has arrears in salaries and subvention at N18,162,102,692.92; pension arrears N21,283,876,789.80; gratuity arrears N27,012,996,061.64; and contractors arrears N4,563,186,896.65.

Further engagements were held with Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPADA), the various market unions including retired judges in the state to resolve the issue of outstanding benefits and pensions due the retirees for the past 16 years.

In all of these, the good news is the readiness and commitment of the various stakeholders to work with the governor in realizing the Abia Renewal Project.

Infrastructure Rebuilding

Knowing the importance of infrastructure, especially roads, to the socio-economic well-being of the citizens, Otti has embarked on massive urban renewal of roads beginning from Aba as he promised. Already, nine roads are undergoing massive rehabilitation. The roads are Azikiwe Road, University Road, Abayi, Green Avenue, Udeagbala Road, Shallom Road, Umuimo Road, Old Express Road, Abak Road with adjoining streets, Queens

Street, and Jubilee Road.

Plans have been concluded for the dualisation of Ossah Road Umuahia from the Enugu/Port Harcourt Express Tower Junction to Michael Okpara Square, right inside the Umuahia City centre.

These are in addition to major reconstruction of the dilapidated Port Harcourt Road Aba, and other strategic roads in the commercial city set to begin.

Blocking Leakages

To achieve prosperity for all does not only entail running a lean government, but blocking leakages through ghost workers, illegal rates and levies collection, and the absence of a verifiable accounting process. To this end, the state government suspended the collection of transport levies to pave the way to sanitise the revenue collection and bring an end to all kinds of extortion, intimidation, and harassment of motorists.

The verification exercise for civil servants and local government staff has yielded a remarkable outcome as over 2,300 ghost workers have been weeded out saving the state a princely N220million on monthly wage bill.

Verdicts

Already, there are testimonies to the grand transformation that is taking place in God’s Own State. Take Chief Alphonsus Udeigbo, President of Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPADA), who believes that the sacking of touts from collecting government revenue and interacting with major stakeholders on priority areas of the tasks of repositioning Abia, was a solid foundation process embarked upon by the Alex Otti administration.

He said: “As I said earlier, Aba landlords and other stakeholders will be monitoring the activities of the government. It will not be business as usual, as was the case for past administrations. We have been giving thumbs up to Dr Alex Otti, for commencing the laying of a solid foundation, that would re-prioritize and reposition the total infrastructure of Abia State, for purposeful development.

“Otti has started engaging in wide interactions with many sectors of the society, including the business, commercial and professional arms, on areas to commence immediate work of rebuilding dilapidated infrastructure. This has come as a surprise to us, as no administration before his, had done so, in the past.

“Otti’s posture had surprised me and my group, in that in the past, we were always ignored, despite writing letters, pleading to have an audience with new governors, to suggest possible areas of development. To me, Dr Alex Obioma Otti has begun on a solid foundation with the posture, to carry the people along in the planning stage. If you want to build a skyscraper, you must lay a strong foundation that will carry such edifice, so that it will not collapse.”

Udeigbo is not alone in appreciating the good work ongoing in the state. A resident living in Ukegbu Road, Elder Kalu Nnanna, acknowledged the efforts of the present administration in Abia State.

“To be honest I have lived in Aba for most of my fifty-nine years and can say that there has been no administration that has hit the ground running like the Alex Otti government. The way they (Otti and his deputy) are going, we’ll soon have the Aba of our dream,” he said.

Otti

Edited by: Duro Ikhazuagbe email:Duro.Ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

PREMIER LEAGUE

Awoniyi’s Late Strike Fails to Stop FlyingArsenal’s Start to New Season

Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report

Super Eagles forward, Taiwo Awoniyi, picked up from where he stopped last term as Nottingham Forest’s goal king, opening his goal account for the new season in Arsenal’s 2-1 winning start to the 2023/2024 English Premier League.

Interestingly, it was Nigerian born England forward, Bukayo Saka who fired Gunners winning goal to pick all three points at the Emirates Stadium

After a half-hour delay to kick-off at the Emirates Stadium, Eddie Nketiah and Saka struck in the first-half but the hosts could not build on their lead and were pegged back by Awoniyi as they hung on to win 2-1.

An issue with the turnstiles meant kick-off was put back by 30 minutes but it did not threaten to dampen the

expectant atmosphere as Arsenal aim to go one better than their runners-up spot last season.

Defeat at Forest in May ended that title challenge but a repeat never looked likely here from the moment Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner – making his debut after joining from Arsenal earlier in the week – saw a clearance charged down by Nketiah as the ball flashed wide.

The visitors had already spurned a great opening, Brennan Johnson unable to hit the target after being slipped in behind.

Before kick-off Forest manager Steve Cooper said he was still in the process of putting his team together, and it certainly looked that way in north London.

The visitors started with their top scorer from last season, Awoniyi, on the bench with

doubts over his recovery from an ankle injury, but apart from Johnson’s opening opportunity, chances were lacking and Forest had yet to have an attempt on target when the Nigeria striker was substituted on in the 71st minute.

But Awoniyi proved to be the spark Forest were missing, opening their account for the season when he fired home fellow substitute Anthony Elanga’s square pass across the face of Arsenal’s goal.

Despite the seven minutes of injury time added on, Cooper’s side failed to break down Arsenal’s possession to add a second with Morgan Gibbs-White coming closest, but shooting over while stretching.

Elsewhere, Alex Iwobi was on the losing side as his fellow national teammate, Calvin Bassey, was an unused sub In Fulham 1-0 away win at Goodison Park.

Harry Kane’s Bayern Debut Ends in Super Cup Defeat

England Captain, Harry Kane, made his Bayern Munich debut on Saturday as they lost 3-0 to RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup.

Only hours after completing his £86m move from Tottenhamon Saturday, the striker came on as 64th-minute substitute to a huge cheer at the Allianz Arena.

He had only three touches and made little impact.

Dani Olmo scored a hat-trick for Leipzig to deny 30-year-old Kane the first trophy of his career.

Olmo’s first goal was into the bottom corner after a cross was not cleared. His second was brilliant, spinning Matthijs de Ligt before slotting through Sven Ulreich’s legs.

The Spain forward got his hat-trick with a penalty after Kane’s introduction.

Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel said: “It is a big problem because it feels as if we had done nothing in the past four weeks.

“I cannot explain it. It was just not enough in every department. I have no idea why.

RESULTS

PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal 2-1 Nott’Forest

Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham

Brighton 4-1 Luton

Everton 0-1 Fulham

Sheff Utd 0-1 Cry’Palace

Newcastle 5-1 Aston Villa TODAY

Brentford v Tottenham

Chelsea v Liverpool

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Australia 7-6 France (penalties)

England 2-1 Colombia

There is no relation between our form and attitude going into the game and our performance on the pitch.

“It is the worst thing because there is such a big discrepancy.”

Kane will have better days in Germany once he gets to know his new team. It was a slight surprise he was involved, having only become a Bayern player on the morning of the game. He has scored 354 goals in his career and is the record scorer for Tottenham with 280, and England with 58.

Anthony Joshua Knocks out Helenius in Seventh Round

Heavyweight Anthony Joshua spectacularly knocked out Robert Helenius with one punch in round seven, after boxing tentatively in the first half of the fight at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday night.

The 33-year-old Nigerian born Briton - was jeered by fans during the fight - landed nothing of note until an overhand right ended Helenius’ night.

The win - Joshua’s first stoppage win in two and half years - sets up

a blockbuster fight with American Deontay Wilder in January.

“It’s a fickle sport, you’ve got to be real about this industry and not get caught up. I’ve done my job tonight,” Joshua told BBC Radio 5 live.

When asked in the ring about the potential fight with Wilder, Joshua joked: “My back’s gone, is there a doctor in here? I want to carry this heavyweight division to the top.”

After the knockout, an emotionally charged and smiling Joshua climbed out of the ring, high-fived fans and shared a beer with Irish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor.

Helenius needed oxygen after the heavy knockdown, but recovered and left the ring unassisted after congratulating Joshua.

Joshua extends his record to 26 wins - with 23 stoppages - and three defeats.

Taiwo Awoniyi scored a late goal as Taiwo scored a late as Arsenal started their 2023/2024 English Arsenal started their 2023/2024 Premier League season on a flying note Premier season on a note... on Saturday afternoon on afternoon.

Australia Survives Shootouts with France to Reach S’final

Co-hosts Australia reached the Women’s World Cup semi-finals for the first time as they beat France in an incredible penalty shoot-out at Brisbane Stadium.

Following a goalless 120 minutes, the Matildas triumphed 7-6 in a shootout which defied belief with its dramatic twists.

Cortnee Vine scored the winning spot-kick for Australia, after Vicki Becho had struck the post for France.

Australia keeper Mackenzie Arnold made a total of four saves in the shoot-outincluding twice from Kenza Dali, having moved off the line for the first stop, leading to a retake.

Arnold herself had the opportunity to score the

winning penalty as the fifth taker for Australia, after saving from Eve Perisset, but struck the post as nearly 50,000 Australians inside the stadium went through every emotion imaginable.

But it is the hosts who march on, reaching their first ever Women’s World Cup semi-final.

Australia will play England at Stadium Australia in Sydney on 16 August.

Australia were roared on by a capacity crowd who created a lively atmosphere at Brisbane Stadium, but having fallen at the quarter-final stage in three previous World Cups, initially they looked more cowed by the pressure than invigorated by it.

But they grew into the game and should have led four

minutes before the interval.

France keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin - who looked a bag of nerves all evening - failed to command a loose ball in the box, allowing Van Egmond to nip in and square to Mary Fowler, who seemed certain to tuck the chance away.

Peyraud-Magnin was only bailed out by covering defender Elisa de Almeida, whose last-gasp sliding block was one of the finest pieces of defending seen at this World Cup so far.

Those nerves from PeyraudMagnin extended into the second half, as she miscued a clearance straight to Fowler shortly after the break and was again helped out by a defender blocking the resulting shot.

Photo: AP

Co-hosts Australia celebrating Co-hosts Australia their victory in the shootouts their victory in the shootouts with France...on Saturday with France...on

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP

Ndume to Akpabio

SIMON

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com,

The Politics and Perils of the Niger Coup

Anytime I see people celebrating a coup d’état, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I always remember the military coup of December 31, 1983 that ousted President Shehu Shagari and the enthusiasm with which many Nigerians received it. I was one of those who celebrated. You have to pardon me: I was but a little secondary school kid who thought, like many others, that the military had the solution to inflation, unemployment and poverty. It did not take us long before we started lamenting over Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari’s regime. We ate, drank and jumped for joy when he was overthrown by Gen Ibrahim Babangida in August 1985. We all know how it ended: in tears.

But we still did not learn our lessons about military rule. In 1993, Babangida annulled a landmark election, plunged Nigeria into crisis, stepped aside and installed a feeble interim national government. In November of the same year, Gen Sani Abacha, who announced the Buhari coup in 1983, dismantled the Ernest Shonekan-led contraption, took over power and we went partying and drinking again. For five years, it was a gory story of sorrow, tears and blood — and bombs. And you know what? The military message is always sweet — “we want to restore order, fight corruption

and organise a transition to democracy”. But by the time they are done with us, we are always done for.

With the Nigerian experience at the back of my mind, military coups are forever a no-no for me. I was born under military

WAZIRI ADIO POSTSCRIPT

rule, schooled mostly under military rule, graduated under military rule and started my adult life under military rule. Now, for the past 24 years, I have been living under a democracy — an imperfect, severely flawed one, I must necessarily add. I know the one I prefer. For starters, soldiers are not trained to manage politics and the economy. Their core training is to take out the enemy and protect the country’s territorial integrity. Their definition of law and order is slightly at variance with the constitution’s and they understand human rights differently.

Increasingly, West African democracies are being undone by the military. Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea are fully under military rule, and now Niger has joined the jackboots league. Although the coups have so far been limited to francophone countries and some grandiose words are being said about getting rid of French imperialism (and possibly replacing it with Russian expansionism), every other West African country has a reason to fear that an agenda is at play. It is a question of “where next?” Nigeria, which borders Niger, also has every reason to worry about harbouring an enemy next door. The influence of Wagner mercenaries and jihadists in the subregion is causing sleepless nights.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional political and

economic bloc with 15 member states, is mostly francophone. Only Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone are anglophone. The francophone countries are very anxious. Little wonder, President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire was vociferous about using force, if necessary, to return President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger to power after the July 26 coup. At an extraordinary session on July 30 — in response to the coup — the ECOWAS heads of state, chaired President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, imposed sanctions on the junta and threatened to use force to restore constitutional order.

This is where the situation started getting complicated. “Use of force” was translated to “war” in the media, and “ECOWAS” became “Tinubu”. Therefore, Tinubu was threatening to wage war on Niger. When Tinubu wrote to the senate to inform them of the ECOWAS resolutions, it was translated as “Tinubu seeks senate approval to go to war in Niger”. Senate President Godswill Akpabio, while informing Nigerians of the resolution of his colleagues that ECOWAS should pursue a diplomatic resolution, said emphatically on TV: “Tinubu via his correspondence has not asked for the approval of the parliament of this senate to go to war as erroneously suggested in some

Tinubu’s Unwieldy Cabinet and Unhurried Pace

At a time when Nigeria sorely needs a lean and swift government, President Bola Tinubu has opted for an unwieldy cabinet and an inscrutably slow approach to fully constituting his government. Maybe his approach would have served, or would have been more tolerable, at another time. But definitely not now. Nigeria’s social-economic challenges are many and mounting, and they are screaming for prompt, surefooted and coordinated actions by the president and his team. For bolting off the starting line, Tinubu was generously garlanded with the title of ‘Baba-Go-Fast’ by a foreign news agency. That appellation, which appeared earned about two months ago, is now rapidly peeling off.

To start with, Tinubu breached the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by not submitting the names of all his ministerial nominees to the Senate within 60 days of his being sworn-in as the president. On July 27th, he sent a list of 28 names to the Senate. That was just a day before the deadline mandated by the amendment to Section 147 of the constitution. He submitted his second batch (of

19 nominees) and third batch (of two nominees minus one) five and seven days respectively after the hard deadline set by the constitution.

The attempt by Senator Godswill Akpabio to play down the constitutional infraction fell flat. As a presiding officer he surely has the prerogative to rule on any point-of-order as he sees fit. But this is a constitutional issue. No one, not even the president, should be allowed to choose what part of the constitution he wants to obey and when. Neither should anyone be allowed to indulge in convenient interpretation of the constitution. It is a dangerous slope.

The deadline set by the constitution is not unreasonable. Even if it is unreasonable, it remains the supreme law of the land until amended.

To be sure, the president had to wrestle with the complexity of balancing various interests in selecting a minister from each state of the federation as also mandated by the constitution. But a prepared president, and one in tune with the dire conditions of the country, should be able to identify, contact and screen the people he wants to work with as ministers within two months of coming into office.

Besides, the search for ministers is not meant to start only after inauguration day. The search should have started much earlier,

possibly before or during the campaigns and definitely during the space between electoral victory and inauguration. We had a very long campaign period in the last electoral cycle. Also, Tinubu was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election on March 1st, almost three months before his inauguration on May 29th. He had about five months between being declared the president and the constitutional deadline for sending list of ministerial nominees to the parliament. So, Tinubu has no excuse whatsoever for not submitting the names of his ministerial picks early, and, more importantly, for not doing so within the window allowed by the constitution.

Not that it takes away from the seriousness of the infraction, a solid list of ministerial nominees from Tinubu could have offered a bit of redemption or useful distraction. Tinubu chose to offer neither. Referencing T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Hollow Men,’ I stated two weeks ago that Tinubu’s first list of ministerial nominees landed ‘not with a bang but with a whimper’. The second and third batches were progressively hollower, dominated by ex-governors and ex-legislators with unremarkable records in office. The combined list, to say the least, was underwhelming.

In all, Tinubu submitted 48 ministerial nominees to the Senate. This is a record, and not a great record to set as we shall show shortly. The Senate confirmed 45 of the 48 nominees on 7th August, after a marathon session over a week (minus Sunday) and a confirmation hearing defined mostly ‘bowing and going’ or leading or perfunctory questioning (except for those they had personal issues with). The Senate said the remaining three nominees were still undergoing security screening, then it adjourned till September 26th with some holiday ‘enjoyment’ allowance for senators or ‘some prayers’ in their emails.

On the matter of security screening, it must be said that the presidency was quite clumsy in the way it handled things. The names of ministerial nominees being misspelt (including using alias instead of the real surname for one nominee) and the allegation about names being smuggled on the lists pose questions about the quality of vetting and staff time around the president.

But more importantly, it is disturbing and improper that the executive arm would send names of nominees to another arm of

Continued on page 37

“In fact, we are even planning to take drastic action against him if he continues making unguarded statements and acting as if we are kids” – Senate Chief Whip, Senator Ali Ndume has disclosing plans by senators to take drastic action against the Senate President, Akpabio, if he continues to make unwarranted statements.

General Tchiani