SUNDAY 10TH OCTOBER 2021

Osinbajo: Defunding Gas Projects Unhelpful to Developing Countries Security, maintenance of Nigeria's oil pipelines gulp N32.558bn in eight months Deji Elumoye and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the plan to defund gas projects in the run-up to the global Net-Zero emissions

target will be unhelpful to developing countries such as Nigeria.

This is coming as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spent N32.558 billion on the security

and maintenance of parts of its 5,120 kilometres of pipelines throughout the country in the first eight months of this year, data from the national oil company has shown.

Osinbajo spoke on

defunding of gas projects in his presentations at the High-Level UN events on the Energy Transition plan in Africa with a special focus on Nigeria ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference

(COP26) summit in London.

The vice president's first meeting was a closed-door session with COP26 PresidentDesignate, Mr Alok Sharma, a cabinet rank British Minister and the Chair of the UK

Government’s COP26 Energy Transition Council (ETC) at Whitehall.

The discussions with Sharma centred on issues regarding Continued on page 5

Nigeria Withholds Assent as 136 Countries Ratify 15% Corporate Tax... Page 5 Sunday 10 October, 2021 Vol 26. No 9680

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Again, Buhari Vows to Eliminate Insurgents, Bandits, Kidnappers Army to court-martial 158 officers, soldiers in North-east Bandits kill 22 persons in attack on Sokoto market Deji Elumoye in Abuja, Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja, John Shiklam in Kaduna and Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto President

Muhammadu

Buhari has again given an assurance that the federal government would do everything within the ambit of the law to eliminate all the criminals involved in

the insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and politically motivated killings across the country. The Nigerian Army also yesterday inaugurated a Special Court-Martial and a

General Court Martial to try 158 officers and soldiers for various offences committed in the ongoing war against insurgency.

This is coming as no fewer

than 22 persons have been killed by suspected bandits who attacked a market at Ungwan Lalle in Sabon Birni Local Government Area in the Eastern Senatorial District of

Sokoto State.

Speaking yesterday at the passing out parade for Cadets of 68 Regular Course of the Continued on page 8

PDP Chair: Northern Caucus Considers Consensus as Mark, Lamido Shoot Ahead Aliyu, others seek to join race Atiku, Saraki’s groups move to take control of party machinery Southern leaders zone other offices Sale of forms for offices commences tomorrow Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Chuks Okocha in Abuja As the race for the position of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gathers momentum, northern leaders are considering the adoption of a consensus option to select the chairman of the main opposition party, following the zoning of the office to the region, THISDAY has learnt.

Investigation has however revealed that a former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark and a former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido have Continued on page 6

COVID-19: Travel Restrictions Ease as US, UK, France Adopt DESERVED HONOUR… WHO-approved WELL The Best All-round Cadet, Cadet SE Koyaya (left), receiving Sword of Honour from President Muhammadu Buhari at the Passing Out Parade and Commissioning Ceremony of 68 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna...yesterday Vaccination...

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Nigeria Withholds Assent as 136 Countries Ratify 15% Corporate Tax Gboyega Akinsanmi At least 136 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and G-20 Nations at the weekend agreed to a 15 per cent corporate tax rate effective from 2023, though Nigeria withheld its assent.

With their decision, the signatories projected that the agreement would reallocate over $125 billion profits from around 100 of the world’s largest and most profitable multinational enterprises (MNEs) to market jurisdictions worldwide.

The decision of the 136 countries was revealed in a joint statement on the twopillar solutions to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the global economy.

The signatories officially entered into the agreement on Friday under the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), leaving Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

As shown on the website of OECD, BEPS refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational enterprises that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax.

By implication, developing countries, especially Nigeria, suffer from BEPS disproportionately due to their reliance on corporate income tax means, costing them between $100 billion and $240 billion in lost revenue annually.

With a huge loss in revenue, 136 countries and jurisdictions are collaborating on the implementation of 15 measures to tackle tax avoidance, improve the coherence of international tax rules and ensure a more transparent tax environment.

In their statement Friday, the signatories agreed to ensure that the MNEs pay a fair share of tax wherever they operate and generate profits.

The statement said major reform of the international tax system would ensure that Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) would be subject to a minimum

15 percent tax rate from 2023.

It added that the deal, agreed by 136 countries and jurisdictions representing more than 90 per cent of global GDP, will also reallocate more than $125 billion profits from around 100 of the world’s largest and most profitable MNEs to countries worldwide.

With Estonia, Hungary, and Ireland having joined the agreement, the statement noted that all OECD and G20 countries “now support it. Four countries – Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – have not yet joined the agreement.

“The two-pillar solution will be delivered to the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Washington D.C. on October 13, then to the G20 Leaders Summit in Rome at the end of October.

“The global minimum tax agreement does not seek to eliminate tax competition, but puts multilaterally agreed

limitations on it, and will see countries collect around $150 billion in new revenues annually.

“Pillar One will ensure a fairer distribution of profits and taxing rights among countries concerning the largest and most profitable multinational enterprises.

“It will re-allocate some taxing rights over MNEs from their home countries to the markets where they have business activities and earn profits, regardless of whether firms have a physical presence there,” the signatories said in a joint statement released on Friday.

Specifically, the statement explained that the MNEs with global sales above €20 billion and profitability above 10 per cent - considered as the winners of globalisation - would be covered by the new rules, with 25 per cent of profit above the 10 per cent threshold to be reallocated to market jurisdictions.

Under Pillar One, the statement said taxing rights on more than $125 billion of profit “are expected to be reallocated to market jurisdictions each year.

Developing countries’ revenue gains are expected to be greater than those in more advanced economies, as a proportion of existing revenues.”

“Pillar Two introduces a global minimum corporate tax rate set at 15 per cent. The new minimum tax rate will apply to companies with revenue above €750 million and is estimated to generate around $150 billion in additional global tax revenues annually.

“Further benefits will also arise from the stabilisation of the international tax system and the increased tax certainty for taxpayers and tax administrations,” the signatories said.

OECD’s Secretary-General, Mathias Cormann, was quoted in

the joint statement as saying the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework would make the international tax arrangements fairer and work better.

Cormann said: “This is a major victory for effective and balanced multilateralism. It is a far-reaching agreement, which ensures our international tax system is fit for its purpose in a digitalised and globalised world economy.

“We must now work swiftly and diligently to ensure the effective implementation of this major reform,” Secretary-General Cormann said.

Countries are aiming to sign a multilateral convention during 2022, with effective implementation in 2023.

“The convention is already under development and will be the vehicle for implementation of the newly agreed taxing right under Pillar One, as well as for the standstill and removal

provisions concerning all existing Digital Service Taxes and other similar relevant unilateral measures.

“This will bring more certainty and help ease trade tensions.

The OECD will develop model rules for bringing Pillar Two into domestic legislation during 2022, to be effective in 2023.

“Developing countries, as members of the Inclusive Framework on an equal footing, have played an active role in the negotiations and the Two-Pillar Solution contains some features to ensure that the concerns of low-capacity countries are addressed.

“The OECD will ensure the rules can be effectively and efficiently administered, also offering comprehensive capacitybuilding support to countries, which need it,” OECD’s secretary-general was quoted saying in the joint statement by the signatory countries.

RUBBING MINDS… Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (left), and the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Ishola, during the vice president’s visit to London…weekend

OSINBAJO: DEFUNDING GAS PROJECTS UNHELPFUL TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES the 2050 global Net-Zero emissions target and the need for the international community to align on the key elements of a just and equitable transition for all.

At the meeting, Osinbajo warned that the moves to defund gas projects would not help the whole enterprise, which required gas, especially on putting it on the grid.

He opined that the ultimate goal of the global energy transition should be to achieve reliable net-zero-energy systems to power prosperous, inclusive economies.

His words: "Limiting the development of gas projects poses dire challenges for African nations, while making an insignificant dent in global emissions. Energy demand in Nigeria and across Africa is set to rise, as indeed it must, to deliver the industrialisation, jobs and economy-wide progress people deserve."

He further said Nigeria had already made a commitment to have 30 percent of its electricity supply from renewables by 2030.

According to him, natural gas was being used for industry, fertiliser manufacturing, and cooking, which were more difficult to transition than power generation.

The vice president stressed that Nigeria was committed to all of its national determined contributions under the Paris Agreement and had updated

its commitments in our new Energy Transition Plan.

While disclosing that Nigeria was about the first African country that had developed an energy transition plan that sought to demonstrate its commitment to the global net-zero emissions, he added that in its commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the federal government was making efforts to use large shares of clean energy sources.

The vice president also had an interaction with the academic community at Imperial College followed by meetings of the Global Energy Alliance and presentations on Nigeria Energy Transition Plan and Nigeria’s Integrated Energy Plan.

Osinbajo said Africa as a continent was home to the world’s youngest fastest growing population.

"In order to create jobs and enable climate-smart industrialisation, the scale and quality of electricity services must increase significantly. This means building sustainability into our economic planning, and so our Economic Sustainability Plan, includes a plan to provide five million homes with cleaner energy through its decentralised solar power programme. This means an estimated 25 million Nigerians would have access to solar power. The first phase of this plan is already underway, and we think that this sort of programme will very quickly ramp up our progress towards

net-zero emissions,'' he added.

Meanwhile, the NNPC spent N32.558 billion on the security and maintenance of parts of its 5,120 kilometres of pipelines throughout the country in the first eight months of this year, data from the national oil company has shown.

A THISDAY analysis of the figures indicated that at the end of August, the NNPC had expended its entire annual security budget of N29.682 billion

by N2.876 billion.

The corporation also exceeded its security and maintenance budget of N19.788 billion for January to August by N12.769 billion.

The corporation had budgeted N2.474 billion monthly for pipeline security and maintenance.

In its latest presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) detailing its activities for August, the corporation indicated that no spending was done in January regarding security and maintenance of the facilities, while N5.813 billion was spent in February.

The cost centre also gulped N5.320 billion in March and N2.641 billion in April.

Similarly, total spend for the purpose was N5.258 billion in May, while June had a higher expenditure of N6.174 billion.

In July, N7.352 billion was spent while August was zero, with the total hitting N32.558

billion as at end of August.

Pipelines network is an integral national asset designed several years ago to distribute crude and white products nationwide, including the movement of products from the nation’s refineries to all depots as it was considered a safe and cheap means of products distribution.

NNPC’s pipelines are connected to 21 white product depots and tank farms across the nation, according to the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company Limited (NPSC), the corporation’s subsidiary which manages the facilities across the country.

Movement of crude and white products was done through the pipelines over the years until the act of vandalism continued to render them inefficient, with many lines now abandoned as a result of the high cost of maintenance and pipeline repair due to incessant destruction of the product lines.

Nigeria loses an average of 400,000 barrels of petroleum per day to theft and pipeline vandalism, although most of the oil and gas assets are also aging, thereby worsening the situation.

Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, recently disclosed that the 200,000 barrels of crude oil were lost per day through pipeline destruction and that it costs the country N60 billion to repair the assets each year. According to him, some 1,161 pipeline points were vandalised between January

2019 and September 2020.

In other projects' funding performance data, according to the document, the Nigeria/ Morocco pipeline facility had a payment of N.583 billion made as of August 2021, leaving a deficit of N.083 billion at the end of the month.

As reported by THISDAY earlier, petrol subsidy gulped N714.791 billion at the end of August, the non-functional refineries consumed N8.3 billion during the month, as total spending on the refineries for this year alone hit N66.6 billion, out of the total budget of N100 billion for the year.

In addition, N40 billion was paid for pre-export financing as of the eighth month, out of the budgeted N60 billion, broken down into N5 billion in January, N10 billion in March, and N5 billion in April, May June, July, and August respectively.

Pre-export financing takes place when a financial institution advances funds to a borrower based on proven orders from buyers, with the borrower usually requiring the funding to produce and supply the goods.

For the NNPC, the corporation embarks on pre-export financing to have access to sufficient liquidity to maximise production.

Last year, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) was part of a consortium that lent $1.5 billion to the corporation and its upstream, the Nigerian Petroleum Development (NPDC), providing

$200 million of the amount.

While the first $1 billion portions will be repaid over five years and is provided in dollars, the second $500 million will be in naira and repayable over seven years, while the NPDC will repay the pre-export finance facility in oil, with a commitment of 30,000 barrels per day.

The agreement also involved Standard Chartered, Afeximbank, Union Bank and two oil traders, Vitol and Nigeria’s Matrix Energy.

The FAAC document further showed that renewables development was funded to the tune of N.885 billion, leaving a deficit funding of N1.148 billion, frontier exploration services consumed N20.681 billion ytd out of the N50 billion proposed for the year, leaving a funding gap of N12.652 billion.

Crude oil pre-export inspection agency expenses was N3.776 billion ytd, out of a budget of N6.833 billion up until August and N10.250 billion for the entire 2021.

Out of a budget of N60.920 billion for gas infrastructure development, N22.445 billion had been released at the end of August, while N18.169 billion was left as balance.

For domestic gas development, N29.056 billion had been released at the end of August, out of a total proposed package of N53.803 billion for the eight months and the complete budget of N80.705 billion for the entire year.

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Senate Moves to Adopt Direct Primary for Political Parties Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate may adopt direct method of conducting primary elections for all registered political parties in the country.

Already, the leadership of the Red Chamber has perfected moves to ensure that a bill is moved this week at plenary in this regard.

Sources told THISDAY at the weekend that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) senators are desirous of bringing to the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, the Direct Primary as an Amendment Bill to be passed by the Senate, using its numerical strength.

The same APC senators had frustrated the effort to adopt electronic transmission of elections.

President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo Agege, and other principal officers of the ruling party were said to have concluded plans to revisit a decision which had been discussed and considered, even as a Conference Committee on Electoral Act Amendments had been set up in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to harmonise positions.

The Senate and the House of Representatives had already approved the method of primary elections for the parties, even as the version passed by the Lower House is Direct Primaries while the Senate passed both Direct and Indirect Methods of conducting party primaries.

With the different positions of both Chambers, Conference Committees were set to come up with a common stand on the method to use, even as members of the Conference Committee of the House of Representatives were said to have agreed with the Senate on both Direct and Indirect method of primaries.

It was further gathered that a meeting of the Conference Committee of both chambers which were scheduled to hold Friday at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, was said to have been put on hold by the Clerk of the Committee.

The meeting was reportedly put off because the leadership of the upper chamber was said not to be too sure that the Conference Committee will give them what they want which explains why the matter against parliamentary

proceedings will be brought up to use the majority position of APC to achieve this.

With this development, if it is achieved in the Senate, there will be no need for harmonisation to be carried out by the Conference Committee.

The credible source said: "How parties will conduct their primaries has been passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House passed a version and said they

want Direct Primaries, the Senate passed that one which says it wants both Direct and Indirect which has always been what was there.

"Now, a Conference Committee on Electoral Act Amendments has been set up, they were supposed to meet at Transcorp Hotel on Friday, but the Clerk wrote to inform that it has been put off, only for us to hear from the grapevine that the Senate wants to bring back that which

has been passed to the floor on Tuesday so that they can use their weight as they have always done to pass only the Direct method of primaries.

"What it means is that if they bring it to the floor, it will pass and it means that if it passes through Direct, no need for harmonisation by the Committee. The Senate President and especially his deputy want to bring it to the floor because they are afraid that the Conference

Committee will not be able to give them what they want and that is Direct Primaries. Even the House committee wants it to be followed by accepting the Senate Version of Direct and Indirect.

"Now the Senate President wants to impose Direct Primaries on Nigerians. The Senate had agreed on direct and indirect but the Leadership of the Senate wants to turn around by bringing up at plenary on Tuesday a decision which had

been reached and a Conference Committee set up.

"Now you want to bring it back at plenary as Constitution Amendment when everything has been settled. Right now, it is a personal interest. When APC did direct primary to get President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate, it claimed that Buhari scored 52 million votes but during the real election where both APC and non-APC voted for him, it was only 13 million votes."

Okowa, Uzodimma, Kalu Congratulate Isiguzo on Re-election as NUJ President Omo-Julius Onabu in Asaba Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, his Imo State counterpart and Senator Hope Uzodimma and Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, have congratulated Mr. Chris Isiguzo on his re-election as the President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Isiguzo, the South-east Bureau

Chief of THISDAY Newspapers was re-elected unopposed during the union's 7th Triennial National Delegates Conference, held on Thursday at Umuahia, Abia State.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, in Asaba, Okowa lauded the union's delegates for re-electing Isiguzo for a second term.

He expressed optimism that Isiguzo would perform better in

his second term given what he brought to bear on the union's leadership in his first term.

He remarked that Isiguzo, who was first elected president of the union in 2018 at Abeokuta, had not only stabilised the NUJ, but had also brought a lot of candour to NUJ leadership.

Okowa said: “I have never doubted your ability to effectively lead the union to enviable

heights you have taken it to, and i must thank your colleagues for rewarding your excellent performance in the last three years by unanimously returning you and some of your executive members unopposed.

"As we approach the 2023 general election, the role of the media in ensuring that Nigerians get free, fair and credible polls cannot be overemphasised.

COURTESY VISIT...

Chairman of the Governing Council, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ambassador Godknows Igali (left), and Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Col. Milland D. Dikio (rtd), during Igali’s courtesy visit to the PAP office in Abuja…recently

"I, therefore, charge you and your colleagues to provide balanced reportage as you shape opinions and set agenda ahead of the polls.

"The media as Fourth Estate of the Realm must, at this critical time in our country, prominently play its fundamental watchdog role, holding leaders accountable to the people.

"The media should lead in directing governance on the right path, including the rule of law, and ensure that all tenets of democracy are upheld in the country."

On his part, Uzodinma in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser, Oguwike Nwachuku, said Isiguzo has demonstrated leadership capacity that made it possible for him to win the trust, support and confidence of his colleagues.

He lauded the orderly manner the journalists went about their election congratulating, also, all the delegates for the zeal to elect leaders of their choice and together, pursue an ideology that is geared towards contributing their quota for the betterment of the society.

The governor reminded Isiguzo and his team to work hard to ensure that they use their positions and talents to serve and meet the reasonable expectations of their members as well as to ensure that the role of the media in nation building is brought to the fore in all their activities.

He noted that he was confident that Isiguzo and his team will lead NUJ to an enviable height and leave a legacy that will be difficult to ignore many years after they had served out their term.

PDP CHAIR: NORTHERN CAUCUS CONSIDERS CONSENSUS AS MARK, LAMIDO SHOOT AHEAD remained the front-runners in the race for the PDD chairman.

Lamido is believed to be backed by the loyalists of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, while Mark is said to be supported by the loyalists of former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); a former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Aliyu Gusau, and some other northern elders Also in the race are former Governors Babangida Aliyu of Niger State; Ahmed Makarfi of Kaduna State; Ibrahim Dankwabo of Gombe State; Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State, and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State.

The party’s outgoing deputy national chairman, Senator Suleiman Nazif has also indicated interest, while a former Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, and Professor Jerry Gana are also believed to be in the race.

However, the loyalists of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki have intensified their alleged quest to take charge of the party’s machinery and truncate the bid for a southern presidential candidate.

Atiku and Saraki’s loyalists are said to be plotting to take control

of the party so as to retain the presidency in the North in 2023.

The Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi-led zoning committee of the PDP had zoned the positions of the National Chairman; Deputy National Chairman (North); Deputy National Secretary; Deputy Publicity Secretary; Deputy Financial Secretary; National Organising and Mobilisation Secretary; National Legal Adviser; Youth Leader; Treasurer; and Deputy Auditor to the North.

The southern leaders in the party have zoned the position of the National Secretary to the South-west while the South-east and the South-south will produce the National Publicity Secretary and other positions.

The Chairman of the PDP National Convention Committee and Governor of Adamawa State, Hon. Ahmadu Fintiri has said that the sale of forms for the various offices will commence on Monday.

Following the disagreement over the selection of the national chairman by the northern leaders, the Northern PDP caucus had on Thursday night set up a 20-man search and screening committee.

Each of the 19 states in the North is expected to submit

the names of three interested candidates for the chairmanship position to the 20-man committee, which will meet on Tuesday.

As the report of the 20-man committee is being awaited, the northern leaders are said to be considering the consensus option to select an acceptable candidate.

Speaking to journalists yesterday at the PDP National Secretariat in Abuja, Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State also threw his weight behind selecting a consensus national chairman for the party.

At the meeting of the northern leaders of the party, the northern stakeholders squared up against the northern governors, insisting that there should be no imposition of any person as a national chairman.

But Mohammed argued that the election of the party chairman could cause a division within the party.

"Consensus is normally a process of democratic consultation because democracy is about consensus. Certainly, the electoral process can be reduced by having a converging point on an individual and that would have reduced the disparaging issues within the party.

"I did say we should have a

consensus candidate, but where we will not, we will not practice imposition.

We have resolved the issue of zoning. The PDP is a mature party, we have always done; within the experience; we have garnered over the years and what we have been able to do for this country.

"We have learnt our mistakes, we are not going to play to the gallery the way and manner our detractors or our competitors want us to be.

"We will always resolve our issues; so, zoning is over. We have gone over this issue. What we are looking forward to is the emergence of Chairman from the North, who will give us the leadership that we require to form a government in 2023,” Mohammed explained.

However, the chairman of the convention committee, Fintiri said that it is too early in the day to discuss any consensus option for any office in the convention.

He added that the party will adopt the consensus option if the need arises, adding that the constitution of the party approves the emergence of party officials through consensus.

"If the issue of consensus arises, it is captured in our constitution,"

he added.

Fintiri said that the sale of forms for the various offices will commence on Monday.

He further disclosed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been duly informed of the October 31 national convention, while the venue of the convention is Eagle Square in Abuja.

According to him, the accreditation of delegates would take place at Area 10 Old Parade Ground, also in Abuja.

Fintiri noted that between 4,000 and 6,000 delegates are expected during the convention.

The Adamawa State governor added that every office during the convention is open to all eligible members of the party.

While pledging a free and fair convention, he also said that the electoral committee for the convention has been sensitised to organise an efficient and transparent national convention.

The Fintiri-led screening committee of the party will conclude its assignment on October 18.

Southern Leaders Zone Other Offices Meanwhile, the southern leaders

in the party have micro zoned the offices zoned to the region.

While the South-west will get the National Secretary and National Women Leader, the South-east will produce the National Publicity Secretary, National Financial Secretary, and Deputy National Secretary.

According to the zoning arrangement, the Deputy National Chairman and National Auditor will emerge from the South-south.

There are strong indications that the National Vice Chairman of the party, South-south, Chief Dan Orbih may clinch the position of the deputy national chairman.

Also, a former National Secretary of the PDP and former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola may return as the national secretary.

At the meeting of Thursday night, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State tried to sell the candidacy of a former Senate President, Ayu, to northern stakeholders as a consensus candidate but was stoutly resisted.

Ortom was said to have raised the issue of having a Christian chairman to pacify the Christians.

As a result of his agitation, Prof.

Jerry Gana, another Christian has indicated interest.

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NEWS AGAIN, BUHARI VOWS TO ELIMINATE INSURGENTS, BANDITS, KIDNAPPERS Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna, the president announced that more equipment had been received from some friendly nations to improve security operations.

According to him, his administration remains focused on its priority of improving security, bolstering the economy, and fighting corruption.

His words: "As you are all aware, our beloved nation Nigeria is facing many security challenges at this period. We continue to face security threats and violent crimes such as insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and politically motivated killings which threaten our national integration.

“I assure you that this administration will continue to do everything within the ambit of the law to eliminate all forms of violent crimes that are creating fear and anxiety among the citizenry.

“It is pertinent to state in this regard that we have received new equipment in our fight against any form of insecurity from our friendly countries.

These assets will be deployed to accelerate the fight against insecurity in all parts of the country," he explained.

President Buhari noted that security had assumed priority in governance and public policy in the international scheme of affairs.

According to him: “It is against this backdrop that we introduced a new Landing Ship Tank early this year to replace the first set of naval ship tanks, which were decommissioned by the Nigerian Navy.

“The introduction of the Landing Ship Tank is expected to bolster the Navy’s Sealift capability and promote our global maritime commerce, peace, and safety within the Gulf of Guinea and our maritime neighbourhood," he added.

The President said the government was poised to eliminate the incentives for corruption by addressing some of the remote causes as part of a long-term strategy for a more effective and sustained war on the practice.

He said improvement of livelihoods of citizens had been going on in partnership with the relevant organised private sector.

According to him, some of the interventions by the government are: “A smart law enforcement; provision of improved access to education that prepares our youths for global competitiveness; provision of quality health services for improved life expectancy and decent and affordable housing, among others.

“It is the conviction of this administration that ineffective policies for social provisioning must be redressed in our efforts to tackle the fundamental causes of corruption in our society.

This is how best to give vent to the much-cherished values of fairness, equity, and justice to the people of this nation.

“I must also emphasise here that, for us to achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic country that will attract foreign investors we must be law-abiding, committed, and promoters of peaceful co-existence.

“This is a collective responsibility which will yield the Nigeria of our dreams,’’ the president noted.

Buhari commended the NDA Commandant, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Manu Yusuf, for the infrastructural upgrade in the military institution, and the colourful parade by the cadets of 68 regular courses.

“It gladdens my heart to see the level of infrastructural development in the Academy.

It is a clear testament to the vision, dedication, and excellence in the best tradition of NDA. “Nigerians acknowledge that the Academy has consistently justified its existence over the years by turning out well trained and disciplined officers for the Armed Forces of Nigeria as well as militaries of allied nations.

“The NDA has over the years trained and graduated military and paramilitary personnel as well as interested civilians seeking postgraduate education.

“It is therefore not surprising that the Academy has earned a reputation as an outstanding military Academy in Africa. Let me, therefore, extend my sincere felicitation to the Commandant, staff, and gentlemen cadets of the Academy on this memorable occasion,’’ he added.

The president, who was the Reviewing Officer, told Graduating Officer Cadets, that the world they were entering was very different from that which confronted many of their predecessors.

He said: “The contemporary security environment has been described as violent, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

“You can therefore expect that the missions that you will be tasked to undertake will be similarly complex. Beyond these significant rationales, I am convinced that we have a real stake, and an abiding self-interest, in making sure our children and our grandchildren grow up in a world where school children are not kidnapped and where individuals are not slaughtered because of their tribe, faith or political beliefs.

“I believe that a world of greater freedom and tolerance is not only a moral imperative but also a fundamental requirement for our collective safety. I am however delighted with the training you have undergone as you have been well-prepared to meet the challenges you will face in the field.

“You have all been carefully nurtured by competent instructors and staff during your time in this Academy. In the course of your training, you have been subjected to gruelling regimes of exercises, simulations, and bespoke programmes that have prepared you for the tasks ahead. On your behalf, I offer heartfelt thanks to everyone here at NDA for the skills, competencies, and confidence they have embedded in all of you".

President Buhari appreciated families and friends of Cadets for standing by the impressive young men and women who were passing out, urging continued love for them in the course of their career and beyond.

Army to Courtmartial 158 Officers, Soldiers in Northeast Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army yesterday inaugurated a Special Court-Martial and a General Court Martial to try 158 officers and soldiers for various offences committed in the ongoing war against insurgency.

About 158 accused persons - 28 officers and 130 soldiers will face the court-martial.

THISDAY gathered that the Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, Maj. Gen. Christopher Musa inaugurated the court-martial at Maimalari Cantonment Officers Mess Maiduguri, Borno State.

President of the General

CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY… Plateau State Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong, casting his vote during the local government elections in the state…yesterday Court Marshal is Maj. Gen. Bainze Mohammed, while the Judge Advocate is Lt. Col. Rotimi Bakari.

The Special Court-Martial is headed by Brig. Gen. Dominic Udofa while the Judge Advocate is Squadron Leader Audu Satomi.

Inaugurating the courtmartial, Maj. Gen Musa said the court-martial, regimental and judicial exercises were put in place to enforce discipline in the military.

According to him, the military panel may review, reduce or remove the rights and privileges of convicted service personnel.

He affirmed that it was unique to the military and a tributary of a criminal trial that flows into the sea of Nigeria's criminal justice system.

"Therefore, the conduct of military trials under the Armed Forces Act is to deal with matters that pertain directly to the regimentation, discipline, efficiency, and morale of military personnel.

"To maintain the Armed Forces in a state of readiness, the military as an institution must be ready to enforce internal discipline effectively by the extant law", he said.

The theatre commander noted that it was imperative to state that the military compact with the state has placed officers and soldiers on a very high pedestal of responsibility than other citizens because the military remained an organisation that is guided by two sets of laws in the command.

Musa added that the courtmartial was not only viewed as a jury trial but also a court to speedily dispose cases and award punishment in the event of a conviction.

To this end, he said, emphasis shall be laid on the statute laws and the traditional military regimentation with due adherence to the fair hearing

requirements as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

The Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, therefore, urged officers and soldiers to discharge their duties diligently without fear, favour, or affection.

He also urged the courts to discharge their duties while strictly guided by the need to do justice to the accused, justice to the victims of the alleged infractions, and justice to the state whose laws were alleged to have been broken.

He disclosed that there were three panels to be inaugurated, noting that beyond the two inaugurated yesterday at the Maimalari Cantonment Officers Mess, one will be inaugurated on Monday in Sector 2 Damaturu, Yobe State.

Bandits Kill 22 Persons in Attack on Sokoto Market In another development, no fewer than 22 persons have been killed by suspected bandits that attacked a market at Ungwan Lalle in Sabon Birni Local Government Area in the Eastern Senatorial District of Sokoto State.

THISDAY gathered that several other persons were also injured in the attack, which occurred on Friday.

Those that sustained injuries are currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Sabon Birni while others with life-threatening injuries were referred to the state capital for proper medical care.

The Special Assistant to the Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Idris Gobir, and a former Chairman of Sabon Birni LGA, Mr. Abdullahi Tsamaye confirmed the attack to journalists yesterday evening.

Tsamaye said the assailant

came in large number into the market and started shooting sporadically aiming at anybody in sight.

He said in the process, the gunmen killed over 22 persons and burnt down vehicles, and destroyed several other properties.

Also confirming the attack the Special Assistant to the Minister for Police Affairs, Gobir, said about 22 people died in the attack.

According to him, the victims include traders from Sokoto town who were in the village for business transactions.

Gobir further said about 35 people are currently in various hospitals receiving treatment for the injuries sustained during the attack.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the Sokoto State Police Command were not successful as the Command spokesman, ASP Abubakar Sanusi, could not be reached at the time of filling this report.

It has been recalled that Sabon Birni in the Eastern Senatorial district of the state is an epicentre of banditry.

Troops Kill Five Gunmen, Lose Soldier in Enugu In a related development, troops of Sector 5 of Exercise Golden Dawn deployed in Enugu State have killed three gunmen who attacked a Nigerian Police checkpoint along Okija-Onitsha Expressway on October 7, 2021.

An Army statement said troops engaged and overwhelmed the gunmen with superior firepower, forcing them to flee the scene.

Troops however gave them a hot pursuit and engaged the gunmen in a gun duel.

The three gunmen, who drove in two vehicles - a Hilux and Hummer bus, eventually succumbed to the troops'

effective firepower, while others fled with gunshot wounds.

Troops also recovered one vehicle and two motorcycles, while conducting further exploitation of the general area for the fleeing terrorists.

"Unfortunately, a soldier paid the supreme price, in the line of duty, for his country", it said.

It said the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Faruk Yahaya has commended the troops for the feat and urged them to sustain the momentum against all criminal elements operating in the region.

The COAS also sympathised with the family of the fallen hero and prays for the repose of his soul.

Discipline Bedrock of Nigerian Army, Says COAS Meanwhile, the COAS, Yahaya, has said that discipline remained the bedrock of the Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

The COAS made the assertion yesterday when he visited the Nigerian Army School of Military Police (NASMP), the Nigerian Army School of Legal Services (NASLS), and the 11 Field Engineer Regiment (11 FER,) co-located at Basawa Barracks, Zaria, Kaduna State.

The COAS also charged NA personnel to sustain synergy with their counterparts from the sister services and other security agencies during Joint Operations.

During his welcome address, the Commandant NASMP, Brigadier General Mathias Oyinmiebi Erebulu appreciated the COAS for finding time in his busy schedule to visit the school and for the recent approval for the renovation of some accommodation blocks in the barracks, following years of neglect and infrastructural decay.

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NEWS

COVID-19: Travel Restrictions Ease as US, UK, France Adopt WHO-approved Vaccination WHO to spend $55bn on vaccination of 70% world population Gboyega Akinsanmi in Lagos and Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The world is set to witness a return of normalcy in international air travel and movements across the globe as the United States, United Kingdom, and France have announced the relaxation of COVID-19 imposed restrictions for incoming travellers.

This is coming as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reeled out a new document to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world’s population against COVID-19 by the middle of 2022, at an estimated cost of $55 billion.

On Friday, the United States said it would open its doors to international visitors vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines authorised by US regulators or WHO. The United Kingdom and France have also issued similar directives to accept international visitors based on WHO’s approved standards on COVID-19 vaccination certification.

Before now, travel exchanges had posed some difficulties to nationals from various countries due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its attendant public health restrictions.

According to reports by Reuters yesterday, the United States had said vaccines that are Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorised/approved or listed for emergency use by WHO would meet the criteria for admittance into its territory.

The report said the White House had earlier announced the US in November would lift travel restrictions on air travellers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil, and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

It did not however specify then which vaccines would be accepted.

Quoting CDC spokeswoman, Reuters said on Friday that, "Six vaccines that are FDA authorised/ approved or listed for emergency use by WHO will meet the criteria for travel to the US." CDC was also quoted as saying that it had earlier last week informed airlines of the vaccines that would be accepted to help them prepare their systems.

THISDAY gathered that the President Joe Biden administration had come under considerate pressure to accept WHOapproved vaccines since the US Food and Drug Administrationauthorised vaccines are not in use in all countries.

With the latest approval, "the United States will admit fully vaccinated air travellers from the 26 so-called Schengen countries in Europe as well as Britain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran, and Brazil. The unprecedented US restrictions have barred most non-US citizens who were in those countries within the past 14 days.

Consequently, the new COVID-19 vaccine requirements will now apply to nearly all foreign nationals flying to the US - including those not subject to the prior restrictions".

The report however said that the CDC is expected to still finalise and publish new contact tracing rules for international visitors, which is sent to the White House for review on September 15.

The United Kingdom had also announced the lifting of restrictions placed on visitors

from Nigeria.

In an updated statement on its website on Thursday, the UK government gave Nigeria's vaccination efforts clean bill health by adding the country to the list of countries with approved vaccines.

It stated that fully vaccinated travellers from Nigeria would be able to enter England from Monday, October 11, 2021, without the need to provide a pre-departure test or undertake a day 8 test or self-isolate for ten days.

Before the latest position by the UK, fully vaccinated travellers from Nigeria still needed to "self-isolate for 10 days".

“From Monday, October 11, 2021, fully vaccinated travellers from Nigeria will be able to enter England without the need to provide a pre-departure test or undertake a day eight test or self-isolate for 10 days, although we still need to book and pay for a day two test. This policy applies to those fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca (including Covidshield), Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen (Johnson and Johnson),” the statement reads.

“If you arrive in England before that date, you must follow the rules for people who are not fully vaccinated. If you arrive after that, you can use a vaccine certificate to prove your vaccination status.

"You must be able to prove that you have been fully vaccinated under a vaccination programme and have a valid proof of vaccination recognised by the British Government (for Nigeria, the certificates with valid QR codes as issued by Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) are recognised).”

Acting British High Commissioner, Ben LlewellynJones, said: “The exemption of fully-vaccinated Nigerians travelling to the UK from providing a pre-departure test and self-isolating for 10 days, is a very welcome development. To make this happen, we have been working closely with NPHCDA on recognising Nigeria’s vaccine certification, which we have now done".

In what seemed like a gradual normalisation of international movements since the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, France also announced

that it is opening its borders to Nigerian travellers and others with evidence of COVID19 vaccination certification.

Speaking at a brief ceremony at the formal delivery of the 501,600 doses of Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccines donated by his country, the French Ambassador, Jerome Pasquier, said that passengers from Nigeria no longer need to have a COVID-19 test before boarding the plane.

“If you have proof of vaccination then you can go to France. You do not need to have a COVID-19 test before boarding the plane.

“You do not need to have a COVID-19 test when you are in France, but with your certificate from Nigeria, you can get tested, which is required in some places around the world.

“So, both regulations apply to Nigerian nationals, or any other nationality, because we know wherever the progress is, it doesn’t make a difference.”

WHO to Spend $55bn on vaccination of 70% world population Meanwhile, the WHO has reeled out a new document to vaccinate 70 per cent of the world’s population against COVID-19 by the middle of 2022, at an estimated cost of $55 billion.

WHO also revealed in its new document that 40 per cent of all countries of the world will receive the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021.

These targets are highlighted

in the new document of the global health institution titled, ‘Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by Mid2022’ officially released on its website on October 7.

In the 16-page strategy brief, the WHO observed that every country “has been affected by COVID-19, with nearly a quarter of a billion cases and almost 5 million deaths reported globally as of the end of September 2021.

"Despite the stunning speed with which highly effective and safe vaccines have been developed, new waves of disease are still pushing health systems to the breaking point, increasingly transmissible variants are emerging, some survivors are suffering serious long-term sequela.”

Failing to respond decisively

to contain the spread of the pandemic worldwide, the global health institution cited a report in which the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that global economic loss could exceed $5.3 trillion by 2026.

Consequent to its devastative implications on the global economy and human security globally, the WHO outlined the urgent actions required by the global community to vaccinate 70 percent of the world’s population against COVID-19 by the middle of 2022.

It noted that the goal “is to substantially increase population immunity globally to protect people everywhere from disease, protect the health system, fully restart economies, restore the health of society, and lower the risk of new variants.”

DRUG ADVOCACY VISIT… Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Tijjani Muhammad Bande (left), and Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (left), during Marwa’s War Against Drug Abuse advocacy visit to Nigeria’s Mission at the UN in New York, United States… weekend

Constitutional Provisions Bane of Electronic Voting in Nigeria, Says Jega Hammed Shittu in Ilorin Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, yesterday said constitutional provision that prohibits use of technology was a militating factor against electronic voting in the country.

Jega therefore urged the National Assembly to remove the legal encumbrance for electronic voting to be possible.

He also blamed the National Assembling for opposing the use of electronic transmission of results, arguing that the method is cost-effective and easier to deploy.

The political science professor said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital at a lecture organised by Kwara Visioners Network for

Rural Development.

The lecture was entitled: ‘Politics, governance and leadership recruitment in 21st century democracy.’

He said: “The National Assembly after 2019 elections promised to review the electoral legal framework which will to improve the integrity of the electoral commission.

“The most important issue that can add value to the integrity of elections they are jettisoning that because of self-serving interest.

"We have upscaled the integrity of the Nigerian electoral commission with incremental use of technology.

“Now we have got to a point where the pilot scheme that has been done in INEC since 2012 of using electronic transmission of results INEC in itself said it can

rarely use it in the 2023 elections.

In fact, INEC has used it in some elections in parts of the country.

It is a pilot scheme which all the stakeholders have been observing and said it is good.

“The next thing is to remove the major hindrance in the use of technology, because there is a constitutional provision which says that electronic voting is prohibited.

“Many Nigerians who are in support of electronic voting are blaming INEC for saying it cannot use electronic voting.

They have forgotten that there is a legal provision that says electronic voting is prohibited.

"Now people are hoping that the National Assembly will remove that encumbrance, not necessarily for INEC to plunge into electronic voting in 2023

but for it to identify the best electronic voting system for the country. People are also saying that electronic transmission of results is easier to deploy.

“It is most cost-effective compared with the use of electronic voting. So why not begin with the electronic transmission of results. On the one hand the lawmakers said that INEC is permitted to do electronic voting provided it does not do electronic transmission of results. In fact, what they are saying is that they are not allowing INEC to do electronic voting because they do not want electronic transmission of results.

“Unfortunately, the National Assembly is opposed to the use of electronic transmission of results. From my personal experience in INEC, one of

the major ways in which the integrity of the electoral process is undermined is in the manual transmission of results from the polling units to ward, local and constituency levels.”

He added added that “if the electoral commission is impartial and tries hard to improve the integrity of the electoral process, if the dominant actors (political parties and candidates) lack integrity and want to win by either hook or crook, they will be undermining the integrity of the electoral commission.

That is what we have seen.

We cannot compare the elections of 2011, 2015 and even 2019 with 2007. We have gone some ways in lifting the bar, but a lot needs to be done to improve the integrity of the electoral process.”

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

EDITORIAL

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

CONTAINING THE SECURITY CRISIS IN THE SOUTHEAST All the critical stakeholders must do more to ensure the return of peace to the region

T

he security crisis in the Southeast is increasingly frightening. Multiple groups under the guise of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Eastern Security Network (ESN) and their affiliates are roaming the five states of Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi sowing violence and criminality. Innocent people are being killed and their homes torched. Thugs are hiding under the blackmail of separatist political anger to render the geopolitical zone almost practically ungovernable.

A little over a week ago, Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of the late Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was assassinated in gangster fashion in Anambra State. In neighbouring Imo State, Reverend Emeka Merenu, an Anglican priest was killed outside his parish. Other notable citizens have in recent weeks been murdered, in broad daylight. These senseless killings have been accompanied by arson attacks on both private and public property. Only last weekend, the Nnewi country home of The real victims of Mr. Joe Igbokwe, the Lagos State the wave of violence spokesman of and criminality in the the ruling All Southeast are not the Progressives bureaucrats in Abuja or Congress (APC) and Special Adthe political authors of viser to the Lagos the regime of injustice State Governor, was set ablaze against which the by arsonists. On activists are arrayed. the same day, the The victims are the very offices of the Fedpeople whose livelihood eral Road Safety Corps(FRSC) and is being disrupted Department of State Services(DSS) in parts of Anambra State were similarly torched.

Despite massive police and military presence, the wave of violence and insecurity borders on anarchy. Indeed, the recent arrest and detention of IPOB errant leader, Nnamdi Kanu, seems to have inspired a new wave of unprecedented protests, and lawlessness in the zone, perhaps prompting the visceral reaction of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami on the likely postponement of the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship elections.

But it is not just the wave of violent attacks on assets and individuals that are worrying. An

Letters to the Editor

ill-advised and ill-conceived series of disruptions to social life, work, and business under the guise of ‘sit at home’ order is frequently imposed by IPOB and its brutal enforcers throughout the zone. Fear of rough vigilante enforcement of these orders has led to ruinous impact on the domestic economy, what with closures of businesses, offices and sometimes schools. These have in turn led to massive revenue losses as well as disruptions in lives and livelihoods.

Time has therefore come to interrogate the rationale and political wisdom of the dislocations, disruptions and the violence that have shattered the peace and progress of the Southeast. While protesting injustice remains legitimate and understandable, the jury is out on whether secession is in fact a solution to the problem of the Southeast or indeed any part of the federation. Even more questionable is the self-inflicted violence and disruptions as effective tools of protest.

T S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN DEPUTY EDITORS FESTUS AKANBI, EJIOFOR ALIKE MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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

he problems of marginalisation and neglect have become a nationwide problem affecting nearly every part of the federation. At the bottom of it is the perceived inequality and injustice in the geo-political distribution of infrastructure, privileges, and patronage among competing interests in a multinational and diverse polity. This inequality cannot be righted by a recourse to violence, brigandage and arson. Nor can violence against the very people who are victims of marginalisation and neglect right the accumulated wrongs of political and economic injustices. On the contrary, they can only aggravate the adversity that prompted the secessionist pressure in the first place.

Moreover, it is patently unwise for a people crying out against injustice to embark on large-scale disruptions of the communal peace and security that undergird the residual prosperity of the zone.

To all intents and purposes, the real victims of the wave of violence and criminality in the Southeast are not the bureaucrats in Abuja or the political authors of the regime of injustice against which the activists are arrayed. The victims are the very people whose livelihood is being disrupted and whose sense of a place called home is being defiled and devastated.

The call for sanity and peace in the Southeast must now go out first to the political leadership of the zone. The state governors have been less than serious in their handling of the situation.

Similarly, the various traditional institutions and elders of the zone have failed to rein in the youth who are leading the self-inflicted damage.

Socio-cultural groupings, especially Ohaneze, must also do more and come out strongly against the rapid deterioration of the security situation in the Southeast. For the federal authorities, this is the time to revise the existing security doctrine and strategies which have not quite worked in the zone. Above all, the federal government must show a higher level of sincerity. It must think in broader terms and entrench justice and fairness in governance. A perception that the Southeast is being allowed to self-destroy will not help the goal of peace and security in Nigeria.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (950- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

ANAMBRA AND THE SANCTITY OF LIFE

T

he Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) provides for both the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of elections in Nigeria.

Section 33 (1) provides thus: "Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria."

Section 7 (4) provides thus: "The Government of a State shall ensure that every

person who is entitled to vote or be voted for at an election to House of Assembly shall have the right to vote or be voted for at an election to a local government council."

Section 178 (5) provides thus: "Every person who is registered to vote at an election of a member of a legislative house shall be entitled to vote at an election to the office of Governor of a State.”

I reproduced the above provisions to support the assertion that the sanctity of life and the sanctity of elections in Nigeria has constitutional roots. If both

should come into conflict, which should be given precedence?

This seems to be the situation in Anambra State at the moment.

In January 2021, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), released a timetable for the 2021 Anambra Gubernatorial elections which the electoral umpire has scheduled for November 6, 2021. By the said timetable, various activities such as party primaries, publication of party candidates, electioneering campaigns and so on were lined up to precede the actual elections.

It is now barely one month to

the date of the elections but the coast is not clear.

Recently, there were tragic attacks on both individuals and institutions by some masked gunmen. With the open opposition of the IPOB to the holding of elections in Anambra State, the group becomes the prime suspect in these attacks. But it should not be hurriedly forgotten that elections in Nigeria have a terrible history of coming with various degrees of pre and post- election violence. Hence it may not be conclusive to assume that these attacks are carried out by persons with links to IPOB. The question which our security intelligence agents need

to answer is: are these increased security breaches in Anambra State more connected with the agitations of the IPOB or closer to the regular electoral violence cycle in Nigeria?

It is worrisome however that instead of the government, especially at the centre, to make concerted efforts at solving this puzzle and arresting the escalating security tension in the state, it is more interested in threatening everyone with a possible declaration of a state of emergency in the state.

t 0OZFEJLBDIJ &EFI "CVKB Read the full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

NEWS

News Editor: Gboyega Akinsanmi E-mail: gboyega.akinsanmi@thisdaylive.com,08152359253

Subscribers Lament as MTN Network Breaks down Nationwide 2SHUDWRU FRQÀUPV VHUYLFH GLVUXSWLRQ SOHDGV ZLWK FXVWRPHUV IRU XQGHUVWDQGLQJ Emma Okonji

The network of MTN Group yesterday broke down, a condition, which obstructed its call, data and SMS services in different parts of the federation.

Consequently, subscribers lamented hitches in accessing the network of the operator nationwide, which they claimed, was due to systems failure.

The operator confirmed breakdown in network in a short message to the subscribers yesterday, pleading for understanding.

In its message yesterday, the operator apologised to its over 73 million subscribers, assuring them that its network engineers were working to fix the challenge.

The message read: “Some of our customers are having difficulty connecting to the network today. We are looking into this and are truly sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

Lamenting network difficulties yesterday, a MTN subscriber from Lagos, Jumoke Akiode expressed concern about her inability to access the MTN network.

The subscriber explained that she had a difficult moment while trying to speak to her family members through MTN line, as the network was not connecting.

Another subscriber of the operator, Joseph Iloba from Asaba, Delta State told THISDAY that his MTN line was inaccessible

all through Saturday The operator explained: “I am worried that since noon when I tried to call my friends in Lagos and Abuja. But the calls were not going through.

“I was wondering what the problem could be until I received a forwarded message from my friend in Abuja who said MTN sent message to customers apologising for the network failure,” Iloba said.

As a result, some of the users, who also subscribed to other telecom service providers, have since switched over in the interim to link up with friends and family.

Some MTN users have also gone on social media to lament their frustration. @kessyl tweeted, “MTN network completely off in Abuja…What is happening please?” @iamjudin1911 wrote, “Is this world coming to an end?

I can’t make calls with MTN at the moment…better confess your sins before it’s too late.” @SirLeoBDasilva: “I bought Airtel mifi today and ordered Glo mifi as well. My sister said I am too paranoid. Look at it now, my MTN lines have no network but my paranoid has kept me online.” @feranmiokafor: ” MTN network just went off. As per no service, is it just me?” @ManLikeAJ: “My MTN keeps going on and off, be like MTN wants to pull a Zukerberge

on us or am I alone in this, can’t even make calls.”

Like most network providers in the country, MTN’s services have been a tale of two experiences: good and subpar.

In June 2021, MTN had told its subscribers that they would experience service disruption in the West African nation.

It attributed it to a rise in insecurity challenges in Nigeria is likely to disrupt MTN’s service, citing an alert from customer

service representatives.

Throughout this year, Nigerians have had to battle kidnappings, clashes between farmers and herders, mass abductions of students and armed robberies.

“Sadly, we must inform you that with the rising insecurity in different parts of Nigeria, service delivery to your organization may be impacted in the coming days.

“This means that in some

cases, our technical support team may not be able to get to your site and achieve optimum turnaround time in fault management as quickly as possible.”

Also, in 2016, MTN experienced a similar service disruption. Then, customers were unable to make and receive calls or access data throughout the period, which lasted for several hours.

It apologised to its custom-

ers for a nationwide network outage, which occurred MTN explained the outage, which according to it, was as a result of a technical Internet Protocol problem, which affected some of its sites, disrupting voice and data services.

MTN is currently the largest network in Nigeria, by subscriber number, having connected over 73 million subscribers on its network, with a market share of 38.70 per cent.

THE BOY CHILD DEBUTS… Lagos State First Lady, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu (middle) during an awareness walk to promote ‘The Boy Child Initiative’ from Ikeja City Mall to Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja....yesterday

Price of 12.5kg Cooking Gas May Cost N10,000, Marketers Warn Oluchi Chibuzor The National Association of LPG Marketers (NALPGAM) yesterday warned that the price of cooking gas might rise to N10, 000 per 12.5-kg cylinder before December.

NALPGAM, an association of indigenous private companies with operating gas bottling plants, explained that the federal government had refused to issues that led to the rise of cooking gas prices.

The Executive Secretary of NALPGAM, Mr. Bassey Essien gave the warning at the weekly e-Discourse organised by leading

a pan-African forum, Platforms Africa.

Platforms Africa is the e-community of intellectuals, policy moulders and opinion leaders in continent, a forum being coordinated by award-winning Nigerian journalist, Adeola Yusuf.

At the session, Essien explained that if the government refused to address the recently introduced import charges and VAT, the price of cooking gas might as well reach N10, 000 for a 12.5-kg cylinder.”

Essien said the skyrocketing price of gas “is our fear and what we are trying to avoid. Early in the year a 20 metric ton of gas was selling for below N5 million,

but today same tonnage sell for N10.2 million.

“As long as there is that supply shortage, the available quantity and the dynamics of supply-demand will keep pushing the price higher.

“If government does not address the recently introduced import charges and VAT, the price of cooking gas may as well reach N10,000 for a 12.5kg cylinder.

Today the price has risen to N7, 500 and N8, 000.”

Lamenting poor patronage of NALPGAM by customers due to the high price,. Essien said more Nigerians “are being forced to return to coal, sawdust, kerosene, and other dirty fuel. “The

Fashola Explains Opposition to Inauguration of Federal Road Projects Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) yesterday explained his opposition to official inauguration of federal highways before such roads were put to use.

Fashola, a former governor of Lagos State, added that unlike roads belonging to states, it was impossible to inaugurate long stretches of federal roads, running into hundreds of kilometres.

He made this clarification in a statement the Director of Press and Publicity at the ministry, Mr. Boade Akinola issued yesterday after the minister received members of the Senate Committee on Works.

Fashola said the concern of

the ministry was principally to ensure completion of roads to give Nigerians quality travel time and experience, noting that federal roads differ from intra-city roads.

He said: “I have continuously explained to people that the roads that belong to the federal government are very long roads.

They are roads that connect cities and states together, unlike intra-city roads that connect local governments together.

“Sometimes somebody will ask me when are you going to commission the roads? I ask them, how, for instance, do you commission the Kano-Maiduguri road? Where do you start the commissioning from? The

day you start driving on the roads, it means the roads have been commissioned.”

Fashola, however, promised that the ministry would consider officially inaugurating some of the completed roads, saying inauguration was better suited for municipal roads of five to 10 kilometres, In response to questions on the delay in the completion of some major roads, Fashola listed some reasons for apparent delays in project completion as paucity of funds and topography of the project location and problems of climate change.

The minister pointed out that the rainy season in Nigeria “comes with a lot of challenges, especially transport logistics.”

Association is very concerned with the high cost as many Nigerians are resorting to the use of firewood, charcoal and kerosene to cook and the prices of these cooking energy have suddenly gone up.

“The association is interfacing with Government, Stakeholders, producers, importers to see how the situation can be arrested, as well as meeting with the marketers vide moral suasion not to capitalise on the situation and inflict more pains on citizens by increasing the cost of gas in their locations.

“However, they are equally expending huge cost to have cooking gas at their locations,” he explained.

Asked whether there is any hope in sight, Essien said: “Unfortunately, there is none in sight for now except the supply is increased. NLNG says it has supplied all its production quota into the market.

“Other available sources in-country are still negligible to address the shortfall in supply,” NALPGAM’s executive secretary said at the weekly e-discourse platform.

He explained that the cost of cylinders “has been on the gradual rise over the years. We have about 2 cylinder manufacturing plants in the country and all the elements of production are imported, note the

import implications.

“The cylinder ownership structure in the country ensures that owners are in charge of their cylinders.

Cylinders expire on the 15th year of usage from the manufacturing date.

“Because of the high replacement cost, consumers buy what they can afford. This has equally encouraged the proliferation of substandard cylinders in circulation,” NALPGAM’s executive secretary said.

According to him, skyrocketing price of gas is our fear and what we are trying to avoid. Early in the year a 20metric ton of gas was selling for below N5 milion but today same tonnage sell for N10.2m.

Govs to Address Unresolved Issues with Resident Doctors in Five States Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has resolved to settle all pending issues involving the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) in five states.

The association had on October 4, suspended its nationwide strike — two months after the action began.

In a communique released after its 34th teleconference meeting which held on Thursday, Chairman of NGF and Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said five states that have unresolved issues with the

doctors have been advised to appoint high-ranking officials to discuss with NARD at the state level.

“On the suspended strike by the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD), the forum noted that there were still unresolved issues in five states: Abia, Imo, Ondo, Kaduna and Ekiti, and advised that state governors appoint either the deputy governor or another high-ranking official such as the commissioner of health to take up the discussion with the association at the state level,” he said.

Fayemi said the governors also deliberated on national issues such as supporting medical research, providing access to HIV testing and treatment, as well as improving investment in the country.

“Following a presentation by Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, Chairman of the Board of Trustees to the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research Foundation, on a national fundraising initiative that seeks to mobilise resources for the establishment of an endowment for medical research in the country.”

14

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

OPINION

NOVEMBER 6 AND THE EPIDEMIC OF BLOODLETTING Tunde Olusunle writes that the violence in the Southeast is unnecessary

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wo developments which took place simultaneously in Enugu, capital of Enugu State and political headquarters of the South East, Tuesday October 4, 2021, underscored a novel resolve to stem the raging insanity and heedless bloodletting which have become recurring decimals in Igboland, over the last few weeks and months.

First, the Nigerian Army launched a new military operation in the South East, codenamed "Exercise New Dawn." The operation, according to the Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Faruk Yahaya, will curb rising cases of insecurity in the zone. It hopes to tackle insurgency, kidnapping and rising banditry in the South East, and check wanton killings and incineration of public facilities in the zone.

The second event was a meeting convened by governors of the South East states, to explore political and operational solutions to the skyrocketing wave of insecurity and uncertainty in the region. Attended by four of the five governors in the zone with the abstention of Willie Obiano of Anambra State, the meeting also featured major political stakeholders including national assembly members; senior clergymen, the leaderships of various sociocultural organisations in the zone including Ohanaeze and traditional rulers. The meeting agreed to rejuvenate Ebubeagu, a security initiative reminiscent of the Amotekun creation in the South West, among others. The security outfit will draw its membership from all the states in the South East, to complement the efforts of regular intelligence and security services, operating in the zone.

The meeting equally resolved to put an end to the frequent "sit at home" orders regularly imposed on the South East, by the self-styled Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), led by Nnamdi Kanu, who is being held by Nigeria's security. The sitting decried the humongous socioeconomic losses incurred by workers and business owners in the South East, on each day the obnoxious sit-at-home order is enforced. The meeting equally reaffirmed the commitment of Ndi'gbo to the Saturday November 6, 2021 governorship election in Anambra and pledged to support the conduct of an incident-free poll.

Not even the most unfeeling of persons will not be jolted by recent developments in the South East of the country, with specific reference to Anambra State. A few weeks back, a piece which I authored, titled "Gun Smoke from the South East," I attempted a broad inquest into the somewhat simulated reign of violence and bloodletting across the south east of the country. I cited examples from a number of states in the subregion, including Anambra, Imo and Enugu States, where people were being hunted like game on the streets of popular state capitals. While crime and criminality remain "galloping" phenomena, to appropriate the expression popularised by erstwhile Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tafa Balogun, the trend has gained frightening, virtual epidemic traction in

Anambra, in recent weeks.

Invested with the unpleasant responsibility of doing a regularly updated headcount of casualties from faceless murderers and assassins, a sullen Obiano disclosed last week, that in a space of 72 hours, 10 innocent souls were lost to haemoglobin-gobbling, mean-spirited hoodlums, branded "unknown gunmen," across the state, in separate incidents.

This must rank as a record, even on the notice board of mortal haemorrhaging, across the South East zone, within a specific time frame. In a sombre broadcast to the people of the state on Wednesday September 29, 2021, Obiano noted that: "Between Sunday September 26 and yesterday September 28, 2021, attacks on citizens at Oko, Agulu, Obosi, Nkpor, Nnobi, Nnewi and other places, have left about 10 people dead. They include an illustrious son of this state, Dr Chike Akunyili, husband of the late Professor Dora Akunyili, who was reportedly gunned down yesterday around Nkpor. These are our own people dying every day and for what reason?"

The incidents the Anambra State governor alluded to, include the killing of Somadina Oforma, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was shot dead Tuesday September 28, 2021, while attending a meeting of the party at Uruagu, Nnewi North local government area (LGA), of the state. APC flagbearer for the forthcoming November 6, 2021 governorship election in the state, Andy Uba described it as "an obviously politically-motivated murder, one too many to count." He drew attention to the murder on July 31, 2021, of Cosmas Eze, a local government executive committee member of the APC in Idemili South LGA. Uba equally recounted the extermination of Igwe Alex Edozieuno, the traditional ruler of Ekpunando, Anambra

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East LGA, September 10, 2021, by unknown gunmen, on the suspicion of being a politician.

Obiano has pledged a reward of the sum of N20 million to anyone who is able to come up with foolproof information about the assailants of Akunyili. This is even as Chris Azubogu, member representing Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo federal constituency in the House of Representatives, was attacked Thursday September 30, 2021, an assault which claimed one of his drivers. On the same day, unknown gunmen reportedly shot the driver of a vehicle in transit along the Nnobi-Nnewi road and abducted the other occupants of the automobile. It was in this same Anambra, that Phillip Udala, a young billionaire and financier of "Udala Football Club" was barbecued along with his drivers and police escorts, in the full view of the public one humid afternoon, July 14, 2021, in Abatete, Idemili North LGA. We can go on and on with myriad examples.

The motives for these killings are as complex and convoluted as they come. This is just as five policemen were killed within the premises of the divisional police station in Ajali, Orumba North LGA, on the same September 30, the same day Azubogu was attacked. A police pickup truck was set ablaze during the assault on the police station in the community. Three days later, on Sunday October 3, 2021, Nnewi was once again the target of the blood-sucking deviants. This time, they torched the premises of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the offices of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), in the popular hub of entrepreneurship and industry in Anambra State.

Not done with decimating public infrastructures, the criminals incinerated the country home of the revered economist and elder statesman, Dr Sonny Chu Okongwu.

Okongwu, 87, served, first as Minister of National Planning, and subsequently as Minister of Finance under the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, between 1985 and 1990. The Nnewi home of Lagos-based APC stalwart and Chairman of the Lagos State Government Wharf Landing Fee Collecting Authority, Joe Igbokwe, was also set ablaze, almost simultaneously, by unknown gunmen.

There is a veneer of facelessness and anonymity about the perpetrators of this regime of blood-curdling heist on Anambra State. The notoriety of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) over the years, and more recently the involvement of the nebulous Eastern Security Network (ESN), has had fingers of accusation being pointed in their direction, after each attack.

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Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

WHY THE WATER RESOURCES BILL MUST BE REJECTED The bill is not in the national interest, argues .JDIBFM 0XIPLP

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here are strong indications that the National Water Resources Bill 2020 will soon be reintroduced at the National Assembly. If passed into law, communities and people living along water fronts in the country, particularly Niger Delta Region, Lagos State and other aquatic areas in the country will be deprived of their major source of livelihood - fishing.

Besides, the 13 percent oil derivation fund from offshore fields accruing to littoral states may also be forfeited to the federal government. Over 80 percent of riverine communities play host to offshore acreages in the Niger Delta region.

The bill aims at conferring ownership, control and management of surface and underground waters on the federal government. Implicitly, all waters in stream, lake, sea, river, underground (boreholes), river beds and banks found in and around any community in Nigeria becomes the exclusive preserve and property of the federal government, bringing water under the Exclusive Legislative List.

Therefore, it will become illegal for people living in the coastal areas to carry out fishing or use the river for any other purpose without authorization and permission of the federal government, the new owner of all water bodies in the country. Besides, no persons or companies will be allowed to discharge waste water in the river without authorization of the federal government.

The process is to be managed by Nigeria Water Resources Regulatory Commission.

Part of the Commission’s responsibilities is to grant permission or licence to water users for a particular period of time upon payment of a fee. The Commission which has the power to renew, suspend or cancel any licence that has been issued, also has the obligation to determine the cost.

This means the poor riverine community dwellers must apply for a licence, pay the required cost and obtain approval before they can carry out commercial fishing activities or any other business in their own ancestral territorial waters. Any

community that fails to meet these criteria will be penalized for illegal encroachment.

Besides, such riverine communities, particularly those without land mass who use the bank of the river for domestic activities like washing, and occasionally for other purposes, will pay for discharging waste into the river.

The flaws and toxicity of the Bill can further be viewed from its contravention of the Supreme Court cases affirming powers of state governments over inland waterways and physical planning, aside the Land Use Act which vests ownership of land on state governors. The Bill is an interloper designed to arrogate state powers.

From the content, it is obvious the Bill is evil, and men and women of good conscience with fear of God, must rally round to ensure it is rejected, otherwise, history will record them as accomplice to this wicked plan to deprive communities in the coastal areas of their territories, fishing business, and means of livelihood.

The river bank of a coastal community is an extension of its territory. In law, whoever owns the land, owns the resources therein, and this principle is supported by the Ad Coelum Doctrine. How do you expropriate the territory belonging to a riverine community and forcefully give it to a regulator, an outsider, for commercial purposes?

The occupation of the riverine communities is fishing, and this is what they know, and do for a living, either as subsistence or business. Through this means, they provide food, shelter, clothing, education, and other necessities of life for themselves and their dependents.

If the source of livelihood of these helpless coastal communities is taken away, what will they depend on as humans? It is absurd for government that has failed to provide for their welfare and security, will now use the law to dishonestly dispossess them of their territorial waters, and source of livelihood. Indeed, the Bill is a study in malevolence

administration.

All through my adolescent years in Warri, I lived practically by the river where we carried out fishing exercise from where money was generated for upkeep. By this proposed Bill, what will millions of families in the riverine areas whose lives depend on fishing now do to survive?

God, in His infinite mercy knows why He provided a natural habitat for every community with means for survival. Those in the Sahel Region are known for raising livestock. Those in the Rain Forest are gifted for farming while those in the Coastal areas are noted for fishing.

Every community is endowed, thus, to deprive the coastal communities of their trade is to undermine their existence and fundamental human rights. Water, like land, is God’s gift to man as part of his heritage. Depriving him will be tantamount to distorting celestial orchestration.

Government must get its priority right. A country that is faced with mounting misery index (inflation and unemployment), insecurity, corruption and capital flight, resulting in acute poverty and frustration, cannot be making water resources a priority. There are enough existing laws on water resources. The Water Resources Act, River Basin Development Authority Act, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (Establishment) Act and the National Water Resources Institute Act are already in place.

A law that seeks to strip a people of their heritage, properties and sources of income with capacity to push them deeper into abyss of poverty cannot be said to be in the country’s national interest, except for reason covertly to advance the course of sectional interest. %S 0XIPLP KPVSOBMJTU BOE BVUIPS JT UIF QVCMJTIFS PG .FEJB *TTVFT BO POMJOF OFXTQBQFS CBTFE JO -BHPT

Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

15

LETTERS

FAREWELL, CAPTAIN ‘HOSA OKUNBO

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s the remains of business mogul, Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo (fondly called Captain ‘Hosa by associates and admirers) were buried in Benin, on Friday, October 8, 2021, a telephone conversation that he had with me some years ago after reading a write-up I did on him, played back in my memory in validation of his profound thoughts about the issues of conquests and death. He had thanked me profusely for what he described as a brilliant outing, but was quick to point out a portion of the article that succinctly captured his original thoughts about his conquering the air as a retired commercial jet pilot; conquering the sea with his maritime security enterprise in which his company, Ocean Marine Security (OMS) deployed 52 fullyequipped vessels to provide security for the movement of crude oil to Warri and Port Harcourt refineries sans attacks by the Niger Delta militants; and conquering the land with his iconic Wells Greenhouse Farm in Benin. Whereas, he had no issues with the conquest of the air and the sea, he said he had reviewed his original thoughts on the conquest of the land. In a somewhat solemn voice, he said: “My brother Ojeifo, I don’t think anyone can really conquer the land, as it is, because after our earthly journeys, the land will swallow us up, someday, somewhere; we will be six feet down.”

Such was Captain ‘Hosa’s capacity for fecund interrogation of esoteric issues and appreciation of matters.

I considered his perspective on land swallowing all of us up, someday, somewhere, profoundly philosophical.

The logicality of that thought became writ large in Benin as his body was

privately interred by his family after a funeral service at the Nigerian Airforce Base on Airport Road in line with the COVID-19 protocols. By his sheer poignant perspective, he only reinforced, far from being prophetic, the ramifications of the divine validation of man’s return to his creator: the flesh as dust returning to dust and the spirit retuning to God in a transcendental celestial flight.

George Herbert’s eternal lines: “That flesh is but the glass, which holds the dust that measures all our time; which also shall be crumbled into dust,” provides a confirmatory insight into the end of the physical man. It is a matter which was settled in the Garden of Eden as a corollary to the Adamic nature of man that came via sin committed by man (Eve and Adam). It has thus since become a battle that man cannot win; and, this aligns with Amy Rae Durreson’s supposition that: “there are some fights none of us can win.” Gail Tsukiyama spoke more pointedly about the inevitability of the human condition: “In the end, the body betrayed everyone.”

This finds apt anchorage in Andrew R. George’s postulation: “As for man, his days are numbered; whatever he might do, it is but wind.”

So many philosophers had made their various interventions about the matters of mortality and death. But in his sermon, on Thursday, October 7, 2021, at the Service of Songs at the late Captain Hosa’s estate in Benin GRA, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, founder of the Trinity House, offered a summative conclusion to the multiplicity of puzzles about death and dying. Holding the audience spellbound, he said: “none of us has power over the season of death.

There is no discharge in that war and all of us are moving towards that season. It is not how long we live, but how well. Death is extremely

being treated in London for pancreatic cancer.

The testimonies of Captain ‘Hosa’s goodness are innumerable. The magnitude of his large-heartedness, eleemosynary acts, charitable works, terrific giving and caring could only have been ordained. Such does not come easy. He was certainly on a divine mission to render help to fellow human beings both the rich and the poor in their times of need. All said, a luminous epoch in robust service to God and humanity has ended with the transfiguration of the

powerful and it can teach us some few things. One day or another, it will be our turn.” He, however, urged the children of the billionairephilanthropist to activate the second lesson, which he said could be learnt about death, to wit: it is something we cannot forget. Read him: “Hosa cannot be forgotten.

Make sure you keep the memory of your father alive.

Some people are impossible to forget. Hosa falls in that classification.” It is clear that Ighodalo was prepping Hosa’s children to continue with his good works and do all that is reasonably possible within their capabilities to immortalize him and keep alive his good memories.

Evidently, the most instructive takeaway from Ighodalo’s powerful message was the fact that death makes his own choices, and picks whoever it wants at any time. And to drive home the ancillary point about the vanity of life, he urged the audience to visit the mortuary. He took the opportunity of the occasion to allude to his mother’s saying to him that all houses were and remain for sale: “Nothing belongs to you in life. You come in empty-handed and you will die empty-handed.

If you don’t sell your houses

in your life and times, your children will sell them; if your children don’t sell, your grandchildren will; if your grandchildren don’t sell, your great grandchildren will. All houses are for sale.”

Ighodalo significantly noted that death had taken “one of the very best” even as he pointed out some lessons to learn from Captain ‘Hosa’s life. According to him: "he was visionary; he was determined, hardworking and courageous; he was generous and accommodating." He challenged the children to follow in his footsteps. He rounded off on a note that was gratifying- a testimony about Captain ‘Hosa reconciling with His creator by giving his life to Christ before he died. Read him: “One of the criteria to make it to Heaven is to sell all you have and give the proceeds to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven… the most important thing is that you must have a relationship with God… It was a privilege that ‘Hosa fell sick so he could put his house in order to meet with the Lord.” One of Captain ‘Hosa’s daughters, Deborah Okunbo, in her tribute underscored the fact that her father gave his life to Christ in the twilight of his life while he was

WHY "UNKNOWN GUNMEN" MUST BE DENOUNCED

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umerous claims, counter claims, allegations, counter allegations and conspiracy theories have been raised to unravel the real identities and power brokers behind the South East insecurity menace. Conspicuously, Nigeria is currently ravaged by unprecedented wave of overlapping security challenges ranging from terrorism, banditry, kidnappings and robbery, amongst others.

It is unsurprising when the 2021 Global Peace Index (GPI) report ranked Nigeria as one of the least peaceful nations in the world. The GPI report as produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) placed Nigeria at 146th least peaceful of 163 nations and 33rd least peaceful country out of the 44 countries polled in sub-Saharan Africa.

Despite that, worsening

security condition seems to have become a new normal in Nigeria. The manner a peaceful geo-political zone (South East), suddenly plunged into an atmosphere of violence calls for a sober reflection. As the South East joined the league of war-torn areas in the country, it would amount to a disservice and misconception to celebrate or support the newly incorporated structure.

The current killings, arson, vandalism and economic sabotage purportedly being carried out by "unknown gunmen" add no benefits and values to the ordinary people of the region. Such acts would rather jeopardize the interest of the common men. The activities of unknown gunmen have inflicted unquantifiable economic hardship on the masses. The constant unrest has grossly affected many people who survive on

daily income within the region.

Moreover, many innocent persons have been killed by unknown gunmen. A plethora of investments and businesses have been run aground by them. There is no justification for the current unrest. It is purely anti-masses. The insinuation in some quarter that it is a stepping stone for the actualization of Biafra Republic is a facade. Hit and run tactics adopted by unknown gunmen would only give birth to endless insurgency and not Biafra.

Conspiracy against the people often succeeds by appealing to their emotions or playing to the gallery.

The people of South East must learn from the genesis of Boko Haram particularly their deceptive tactic which revolved around the propagation of Sharia law.

Sharia law is a popular ideology in the North as Biafra has been a popular

cause in the South East.

It will take many decades before some areas in the North recuperate from the ruins of Boko Haram.

It is high time the people of South East unanimously rose against unknown gunmen before the whole region is set ablaze. The agitation for the Republic of Biafra is within the combined provisions of international and domestic laws. A court ruling recently reaffirmed self-determination as inalienable fundamental right recognized under Nigeria's constitutional framework.

The activities of unknown gunmen have deviated from the core principles of self-determination to barbarism. Their agitation approach would only attract more pains and sorrow and not the actualization of Biafra.

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spiritual Captain ‘Hosa and the entombment of his physical remains, thus birthing an era of immortalization that beckons on his children, associates and those whose lives he touched to collaborate to etch his memories in the consciousness of the people through iconic projects, programmes and deeds in perpetuity. And, as the theme song for the funeral ceremonies specially composed by Peter says: "Hosa Never Dies!" Live in power Captain Idahosa Wells Okunbo.

It is well.

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MALAMI OWES NIGERIANS AN APOLOGY section 305 of the Nigerian

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ollowing the scaremongering by the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, that a state of emergency might be declared in Anambra State towards ensuring conduct of the November 6, 2021 governorship election, Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano promptly called the federal attorney general's bluff.

Governor Obiano who earlier denounced the proposal as unacceptable in a statement by the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, C. Don Adinuba, met with President Muhammadu Buhari less than 24 hours later to register objection to the minister's frivolous declaration.

In a roundly condemned interview, the Minister of Justice had embarked on an alarmist narrative of the approaching election.

Punch newspaper of October 6, 2021 reported Malami as saying: "... no possibility is ruled out by (the federal) government in terms of ensuring the sanctity of our democratic order, in terms of ensuring that our elections in Anambra hold. And you cannot rule out the possibility of declaration of state of emergency where it's established, in essence, that there is a failure on the part of the state government to ensure the sanctity of lives, properties and democratic order."

Malami's outburst was wrong on several fronts. As a senior and experienced lawyer, he should not be seen trivialising the instrument of state of emergency.

The provision contemplates the collapse of systemic law and order which is as far removed from Anambra's recent situation as outer space. We have come some way from the gross abuse which Obasanjo's imperial Presidency subjected the clause.

There can be no controversy that invocation of state of emergency is a last resort in search of public safety and order and even at that, there are due processes prescribed by

Constitution.

It was insensitive of the Minister of Justice promoting the agenda of emergency declaration in a context and manner that would obviously heighten tensions. There had not been any engagement with the Anambra State Government on the issues. In the event, Malami's emergency agenda - setting was a bombshell which triggered much disaffection.

Nigerians were understandably enraged at the discriminatory standards that found some terrorism - plagued states of the north undeserving of emergency intervention but considered Anambra's sporadic security challenges fit for the sledgehammer.

The bad faith galled and the effrontery behind the emergency campaign stood out in bold relief.

Again, the blame game on which the emergency ruse sought anchor was illogical. It beats reason how state governors who were made merely ceremonial chief security officers by the 1999 Constitution (amended) can be held to account for insecurity in their states.

What has been the response of the Justice Minister to the long agitation by Nigerians for state police? Malami was only on a voyage of self illusion when he pontificated that the inability of the Governor of Anambra State to protect lives and property could necessitate the emergency option. It's on record that Obiano is about the most security institutions - supportive Governor today. Every Inspector General of Police since 2014 has attested to the significant empowerment received from the Anambra State Government. What more can a Governor do?

It should also be stressed that the emergency contraception cannot lead to a successful election. The emergency route can only ruin the scheduled November 6 governorship poll. r IfeanyiChukwu Afuba, afubaifeanyichukwu@gmail.com Read the full article online www.thisdaylive.com

16

SUNDAY OCTOBER 10, 2021 • T H I S D AY

17

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

BUSINESS

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

VAT Dispute: Odds in Favour of Political Solution Eminent lawyers, in their reactions to the escalation of the dispute over VAT collection in Nigeria, agree that the stakes are high for the Federal Inland Revenue Service and various state governments fighting in court unless an urgent political solution is embraced, reports Festus Akanbi

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s Nigerians await the decision of the Court of Appeal for a way out of the logjam created by the objection of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to an earlier decision of a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which gave the state a go-ahead to collect VAT in its jurisdiction, eminent lawyers said the time has come for all the parties to opt for a political solution.

The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, had in a judgment declared that the FIRS had no constitutional backing to collect VAT in the state, thereby clothing the Rivers government with the power to do so.

However, the federal revenue agency was dissatisÀed with the trial court·s verdict, and subsequently approached the Court of Appeal to stay execution of the decision.

More States Join Agitation for VAT Collection The dispute escalated last week when the South-south *overnors· Forum declared support for states· collection of VAT as ordered by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt. The forum, comprising governors of the six Niger Delta states of Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Delta, made the declaration after a closed-door meeting at Government House, Port Harcourt.

According to a communique read by the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, the South-south states are to join Rivers State in the legal tussle.

It could be recalled that Lagos State had recently expressed its readiness to join Rivers State in the case.

On the other hand, the opposing side which will be led by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, will include the FIRS, and the governments of Adamawa, Plateau, and Kaduna states.

Although the AGF is already a defendant in the appeal, it was gathered that the Federal Ministry of Justice under the AGF has opted to be part of the appellant in the matter to enable it to argue eͿectively in support of FIRS. The decision of the three states is coming on the heels of a communiqué released last week by the Northern State Governors· Forum, where they expressed dissent with the VAT laws of Lagos and Rivers states, as well as the anti-open grazing laws of the Southern states.

As a measure of their seriousness in winning the battle to control the collection of VAT in their respective states, some states have put machinery in motion to set up their tax laws in a way to give them the power to collect VAT in their domains just like Rivers State.

Recently, the Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, disclosed that the Assembly had started working on the bill.

Similarly, the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly said it was studying the judgment to enable it to come up with a bill on it.

The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Mr.AnieÀokAkpan, said theAssembly was looking forward to having a meeting with the chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service, after which it would come up with the bill.

In Delta State, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Fidelis Tilije, told newsmen recently that the state had begun reviewing relevant laws and would soon make an informed decision after serious consultations. Some other states said they are still studying the Rivers judgment before they announce the next line of action.

Resolving the Controversy As the fear of a protracted legal battle looms, calls for a political solution to the crisis are coming

Olu-Adegboruwa

Ogunye

from eminent Nigerians including lawyers. Legal titans like Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Mr. Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa (SAN), and a Lagosbased lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Jiti Ogunye pointed out that no matter the decision of the Court of Appeal, the ongoing legal battle cannot resolve the controversy over VAT collection in Nigeria.

However, while the duo of Olu-Adegboruwa and Ogunye voted in favour of a political solution which they said is the most appropriate given the tendency of the court case to drag till the end of the current political dispensation, Ozekhome described the legal battle as good for the nation·s democracy.

The Senior Advocate maintained that what concerns the ordinary man on the street is what the proceed of the taxes are used for and not who collects the taxes.

He said, “But to us as common people, our interest is not about who collects VAT, but what the government, whether federal or state used the proceeds of the collection for. Do we see the impact on the lives of the people? The debate of revenue collection should be taken to its relevance and usefulness to the ordinary people of Nigeria, not this debate between the federal and state governments on who collects it.

“We should start questioning the leaders as for the use of the tax being collected from the people of Nigeria and then put them to account in terms of the project executed, in terms of the promises made to the people of Nigeria whether they have been fulÀlled or not. For me, a political solution is desirable instead of using this motion to be joined in the case as a way of proving to the people of their respective states as a way of Àghting for them. Beyond the ground-standing, in the name of looking for popularity, the parties in the dispute should sit down in seeking a political solution because it is in the interest of Nigerians that this dispute is not prolonged beyond what we see now.

“By the time the states bring their applications to join, I don·t see this case determined before the next general election in 2023. In which case, politicians will only be taking us for a ride instead of addressing the nitty-gritty of the case,” Adegboruwa said.

Olu-Adegboruwa: Political Solution is Time-saving Speaking on a live television programme, monitored in Lagos during the week, Adegboruwa commended all the parties in the disputes, especially the aͿected state governors for approaching the court for the settlement of the disputes instead of taking laws into their hands.

He, however, expressed doubts on the ability of the court to settle the VAT dispute, saying a political solution will be more eͿective and time-saving. “About the matter that is pending in the court, I·m afraid that the dispute between the states and the Federal Inland Revenue Service cannot be resolved through a four-room of the current case pending in the court of appeal because the prism of that case is limited to the judgment of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt and you will remember that a lot has happened since that judgment was delivered.

“The judgment was in respect of the capacity of Rivers State or FIRS to collect VAT. But since that case was Àled and judgment was delivered, Rivers State has proceeded to promulgate a law, ditto for Lagos State which, has also promulgated a law. Those laws are not before the court of appeal, because those laws were made after the judgment and the court of appeal is not a court of trial to hear cases afresh or as a court of the Àrst instance.

“So whichever way the Court of Appeal judgment goes in respect of the dispute as to VAT will not aͿect the laws that have been properly promulgated by the houses of assembly of Rivers and Lagos states. “

Ogunye: We Must Look at What the Law Is Ogunye, on his part, believes the case is simple regardless of how the parties concerned are presenting it. According to him, “The argument is that the power of the National Assembly, the powers of the federal government to collect/ generate taxes are traceable to the power of the NationalAssembly to legislate on the generation of taxes. The power of the National assembly to legislate is contained in the so-called exclusive legislative list in the Àrst part of the second schedule of the constitution.

“If you look at section 58 and section 59, the kind of taxes that can be generated by the federal government are stipulated and the argument is that once the consumption tax, the Value Added Tax is not stipulated, then the state can

Ozekhome

generate these taxes. Now those who opposed this insisted the status quo should continue.And even as they so argued, it is exposed that the federal government was rushing to the National Assembly to legislate so that the power to collect that tax can then be made exclusive to the federal government.

“Anyhow you want to look at it, the matter is now in court and the court will be called upon to look at what the law is as at today as against what the law ought to be as it·s being argued by a party to this argument. And if the court has to look at what the law is as of today, I reckon very much that the court will not do more or less than what has been done before in some cases …

“We must look at what the law is, it is not our duty to read the mind of the people and say this is what should have been estimated.

If they have ruled, the legislator may do as they wish but what the court always does is to say what the law is at any point in time. If they think the path of political solution is the most appropriate, I will support that instead of belabouring the court and compelling it by the force of the matter they have submitted before it to get adjudication one way or the other.”

Ozekhome: Legal Salvos are Good for Democracy However, Chief Ozekhome believes the legal salvos are good for democracy. This, according to him is because the judiciary remains the last hope of the common man and the arbiter in disputes.

“The case itself is a great agent of restructuring. It seeks to tear down the behemoth and unwieldy concentration of undeserved powers at the centre. It restructures our unitarianism into the proper federalism we are supposed to be. It prevents a situation where the baboon works and the monkey eats. It will be historical in the form of the onshore-oͿshore dichotomy case during the Obasanjo government. It enables states who believe they are entitled to VAT proceeds even without contributing to its production, to canvass their argument. Being the apex court, the Supreme Court will be a Ànal imprimatur when the case surely comes before it from the present Court of Appeal, as it surely must. It is a groundbreaking case or historical proportions,” the senior advocate submitted.

18

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

ECONOMY

Revenue Formula Review Reinforces Lagos’ Call for Special Status The revenue allocation formula review, which commenced in Lagos last Monday has triggered a renewed call for Special Status for Lagos State. More importantly, the exercise, which is expected to cover the six geo-political zones of the country, would be a game-changer as many believe it would provide the long-sought remedies to lopsidedness in revenue sharing among the three tiers of government. Kunle Aderinokun reports

W

hen the Revenue MobilisationAllocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) set out to review the revenue allocation formula for the three tiers of government, one main objective was to empower the states and local governments to be able to fulÀl obligations and deliver the dividends of democracy to their people.

While the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers RMAFC to regularly review the revenue allocation formula, the last time it reviewed the ratio was over 28 years ago, speciÀcally, in 19992. As it stands, the revenue formula, which allocates 52.68 per cent to the federal government, 26.72 per cent to the states and 20.6 per cent to local government areas, confers so much Ànancial power to the government at the centre. This, many have argued, is lopsided and not reÁecting the contribution of stakeholders to the common purse. In fact, the essence of the review is to institute a just, fair and equitable revenue formula. The review is expected to focus on the vertical allocation of the revenue allocation formula, to the federal, state and local governments.

The RMAFC has said it was determined and committed to reviewing the formula, promising to conclude the exercise creditably this December.

“I want to reiterate that the RMAFC is highly determined to produce within the shortest time possible, a new revenue sharing formula that will be fair and equitable to the three tiers of government,” RMAFC Chairman, Engr. Elias Mbam, gave the assurance.

“The commission is determined to complete its review by the end of 2021. I am glad to observe that the response so far from Nigerians is very impressive and demonstrates the importance the general public attaches to the exercise,” he added.

Though the commission had been on a sensitisation trail among government functionaries for a while, it also saw it Àtting to get the buy-in of the people by conducting public hearings across the six geo-political zones of the country.

Signaling the commission’s intention to commence the review process last Monday with the South-west geo-political zone, Mbam, who paid a courtesy visit to Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, noted the public hearing would look at the objectives and subject of the revenue formula.

“On Monday we are going to start the public hearing with the south-west zone, we appeal to state governors to attend,” he said.

“There are some concerns such as security, environmental degradation, and erosion; so there is a need to look at the sharing formula to ensure that what every tier of government gets is in line with their needs.

“This is a process, and the end will determine it. We cannot do this without seeking advice from the leadership of the House.

“Your input and advice will go a long way.

When we Ànish, we will bring our recommendation to the National Assembly for further legislative action,” he added.

According to him, the political structure of Nigeria had since changed with the creation of six additional states in 1996, bringing the number of states to 36, while the number of local governments also increased from 589 to 774.

At the public hearing, which held at the Lagos House of Assembly, last Monday, Lagos State

Ahmed

stressed its case for Special Status. Actually, the revenue formula review exercise provided an opportunity for Lagos to press further its demand for Special Status.

In pressing home its demand, Lagos state government asked for one per cent share in the federal revenue allocation formula. This was predicated on the state’s unique features and its prosperity bear on development in the South-west and Nigeria, generally.

In fact, the government canvassed a special status for Lagos State, while also proposing a revenue sharing formula of 34 per cent for the federal government, one per cent for the Federal Capital Territory, 42 per cent for state governments, 23 per cent for local governments, and one per cent for Lagos State (Special Status).

Speaking at the opening of a two-day Southwest zonal public hearing, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu empasised that allocating one per cent to Lagos State (Special Status) and allowing the three tiers of government to share 99 per cent in a new revenue sharing formula was not controversial, but rather straightforward, self-justifying.

Sanwo-Olu, who said the current revenue formula review was long overdue, stressed that the best way to guarantee national progress and development was to pay attention to subnational development since the national is a summation of the sub-national.

The governor reiterated special status in recognition of its huge Ànancial commitments to infrastructure and provision of basic amenities for the increasing population of residents, as well as its preeminent contribution to the national coͿers.

He said the call, which had been re-echoed at diͿerent forums, could not be overemphasised, especially against the backdrop of the current economic situation of the country, the aftermath of the EndSARS protests, and the devastating eͿects of the COVID-19 pandemic, for which Lagos had been the national epicentre.

One of the leading voices in the Lagos call for Special Status, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, representing Lagos East Senatorial District, had during his campaign, said pushing for Lagos to be accorded Special Status would be one of his priorities, if elected senator. Ac-

Mbam

cording to him, Special Status is a necessity for Lagos having become the nation’s former federal capital.

Abiru had said being Nigeria’s former capital, there were several investments, such as the seaports and other infrastructure to cater for which the state would not be able to fund alone.

“There is need for the Federal Government to enhance the environment. We only can continue to champion special status for Lagos. I will join hands with others to champion for a special status for Lagos,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu, at the public hearing, emphasised that, “Our demand is a sharing formula that is just, fair and equitable; reÁecting the contribution of stakeholders to the common purse; and also one that enhances the capacity of state and local governments to deliver high-quality services and the full dividends of democracy to the greatest number of our people.

“Lagos State is, no doubt, the nation’s commercial capital, and population centre.

The level of funding required to service the state’s social and public infrastructure is so signiÀcant that it will be di΀cult for the state to bear the burden for much longer under the present arrangement.

“I should say that it will actually be unfair to expect the state to bear this heavy burden on its own. It is, therefore, necessary to give due consideration to all the variables that support our advocacy for a special status.

“The call for a special status for Lagos is not a selÀsh proposition; it is in the best interest of the country and all Nigerians, for Lagos which accounts for about 20 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 10 per cent of the nation’s population to continue to prosper.”

Further defending the demand for special status, Sanwo-Olu said Lagos was more than just another state in the Nigerian federation, saying there is no tribe in the country without signiÀcant stake in the state.

The governor said, “As the former capital of the country for 77 years (compared to the 30 years that Abuja has been the Federal Capital Territory), Nigeria’s largest metropolis still bears the heavy brunt of being home to all Nigerians; irrespective of age, class, gender, religious a΀liation or tribe.

Sanwo-Olu

“There are several statistics that show the number of people that come into Lagos every day, however, there are clear indications that most of these people migrate with the intention to make Lagos their new home and in pursuit of personal dreams due to the opportunities the city-state seemingly possesses, and this portends additional responsibilities on the government.

“Additionally, Lagos still harbours a huge number of federal establishments, which could not be moved to Abuja. These include military cantonments and barracks, Police, Customs, Immigration, Civil Defence, Prisons, Road Safety and security/intelligence establishments.

“There are several reasons to justify the call for a special status for Lagos apart from the aforementioned factors and by extension, a review of the Revenue Allocation Sharing Formula.”

Besides, Sanwo-Olu pointed out that it would not be fair to leave Lagos alone to bear the burden of the massive destruction experienced by the state during the EndSARS protests, which were hijacked by hoodlums, and COVID-19 pandemic.

“This month marks one year after the massive destruction experienced by the state in the violence that accompanied the hijacking of the EndSARS protests. Public buildings were burnt down, and historical infrastructure destroyed.

“Although, we have put that experience behind us and forged ahead, the reality of this unfortunate incident remains with us; resources that should be committed to other areas of need are now being used for the restoration of these public facilities. It will be totally unfair for Lagos State to be left alone to bear these huge expenses without assistance from the centre.

“COVID-19 pandemic is another issue that has once again, supported the justiÀcation for Lagos to be accorded the privilege of a special status. As much as this aͿects the entire country, it is a fact that the degree of havoc caused by this virus diͿers from state to state.

“Lagos was the epicentre for this virus, the same way it was for the Ebola virus some years ago. The management of these unforeseen occurrences comes with huge responsibilities and Ànancial commitments on the part of the state government,” he said.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

19

BANKING

Access Bank: Demystifying Market Sentiments with Audacious Eurobond Issuance At a period when competitors fret for the fear of the unknown, Access Bank Plc stunned the global Ànancial market when, in a rare feat of uncommon conÀdence in its brand, successfully raised $500million additional Tier1 Eurobond capital, reports Festus Akanbi

I

n an era when the global economic sentiment is uninspiringly negative, forcing Ànancial services providers/ managers to go back and forth, economic watchers say certain investments decisions are easily knocked down by uncertainty and fear of

failure.

Consequently, Ànancial market watchers say the unfolding scenario is eroding the chance of banks and other players in the emerging global Ànancial system to break even not to talk of expanding their frontiers. It was feared that a combination of the recent but sustained volatility in the price of crude oil and the attendant stress on major currencies has produced a risky investment climate that threatens various plans of banks and other Ànancial service providers.

Standing to Be Counted It was in this rather tough market reality that Access Bank Plc decided to approach the market for a 8S 500 million Additional Tier 1 Eurobond oͿering.

The feat caught many by surprise for many reasons. First, diving into the emerging market in a time like this was thought to be a Ànancial suicide as public and private businesses struggle to put their houses in order after the calamitous Covid-19-induced crisis.

Market analysts, who commended the bank for breaking the barrier with a sterling performance at the global market, explained that apart from a successful outing, Access Bank’s daring move can also be appreciated in terms of the diversity of investors that participated in the Eurobond issuance.

According to a report by the International Financial Review (IFR), the bank (Access Bank) managed to get a broad buyer base, including some accounts that bought its US$500m 2026 senior bond at 6.125 just two weeks before.

Others, though, were solely buyers of this AT1.

Investors included real money and hedge fund accounts from various parts of the world, including the UK, Asia, and the Middle East.”

No Time to Waste However, unlike some of its peers, Access Bank decided it was time to make a move if its quest to achieve the feat of the World Most Respected African Bank was to be a reality.

Again, the Herbert Wigwe-led bank, in a show of nerve, decided it was time to cover more grounds before competitors regained their rhythms now that various countries of the world are beating the Covid-19 pandemic out of town.

As captured by International Financial Review, “While other CEEMEA issuers sat on the side lines hoping for a better market tone, Access Bank’s management held its nerve, deciding there was little to be gained from waiting.

“There wasn’t any beneÀt from waiting for a better window,” said a lead. “We had gone through a marketing period. We had got speciÀc feedback. There’s still a lot of supply waiting to hit the market. I don’t think holding oͿ would have been best.”

That call proved to be on the money, even though no one could be sure how the session for Ànancial markets would pan out.

News of the successful pricing of a US$500 million Reg S / 144A Additional Tier 1 Eurobond, was broken by the company’s secretary, Sunday Ekwochi last week. He disclosed that the oͿering achieved pricing of 9.125 yield and coupon and recorded a 2x over-subscribed order book which peaked at over US$1 billion.

According to him, “The Additional Tier 1 Eurobond which is issued under the Bank’s Medium Term Note Programme is a Basel III compliant Perpetual Non-Call 5.25-year Subordinated Note to be listed on the London

Wigwe

Stock Exchange. The Eurobond may be called anytime from 7 October 2026, subject to conditions including the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval.”

Renaissance Capital (Rencap), a leading emerging and frontier markets investment bank, which acted as a Joint Lead Manager and Bookrunners for the capital raising, said that the 9.12 rate implies an optimal premium to Access Bank’s earlier launched senior bond issue and is in line with comparable AT1 issues from the broader Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.

The report indicated that the bond issue was placed as part of a broad Access Bank’s US$1.5 billion funding programme.

According to Rencap, the Eurobond offering enjoyed strong investor demand, highlighting the positive perception of the Bank’s credit story and the management’s clear strategy.

Samuel Sule, Acting CEO, Nigeria, Renaissance Capital, said “The success of this transaction highlights Access Bank’s solid credit story and sets a strong benchmark for Additional Tier 1 issue from Nigerian banks.

Wigwe: There is No Looking Back Commenting on the transaction, Wigwe said there is no looking back on the determination of Access Bank to become the World Most Respected African Bank, raising the conÀdence that the success of the transaction will enhance the bank’s Tier 1 and total capital ratios.

He said “We remain fully committed to the execution of our vision to become the World’s Most Respected African Bank.

The success of this remarkable transaction, which is a Àrst in the Nigerian banking industry and the Àrst of its kind in Africa outside of South Africa, signiÀcantly enhances our Tier 1 and Total Capital ratios

ahead of Basel III implementation in Nigeria and provides room for signiÀcant growth through ongoing execution of our strategic objectives. In particular, it follows our recently announced Group reorganisation which is aimed at capturing the strategic opportunities in payments, agency banking, and insurance across the continent which we expect will further enhance the growth proÀle and diversiÀcation of our business.

“Our growth and diversiÀcation strategy is also underlined by the recent expansion of our regional footprint where we continue to monitor opportunities. This Additional Tier 1 Eurobond issuance, following our recently concluded US$500 million Senior Unsecured Eurobond, underscores the formidable conÀdence of a diversiÀed range of global and local investors in the Bank’s strategy”.

Wigwe, an Agenda Setter Investments analysts with a deeper appreciation of the Access Bank’s feats said the audacious feat is personiÀed by the bank’s Group Managing Director, Herbert Wigwe’s relentless eͿorts to take the bank to the top of the ladder in Africa.

Appointed as the Group Managing Director in January 2014, Wigwe has substantially raised the proÀle, capacity, and e΀ciency ofAccess Bank as competition mounts in the global banking industry. A man with an incurable can-do spirit, the Access Bank helmsman usually leaves his competitors dazed by his un relentless and gusty decisions which usually set the tone for other banks.

There is no doubt that by 2026 when his 10 year-tenure as a chief executive will come to an end, his gut, his foresightedness, and daring moves would have ingrained his name as perhaps the best bank MD to emerge from Nigeria.

According to an industry commentator,

who would not want to be named, “By 2026 when Wigwe would be expected to step aside by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) 10 yeartenure system for bank MDs, there will be no banker like him whose zeal for conquest for new territory can match that of Wigwe.

Under his watch, Access Bank became a leading full-service Nigerian commercial bank with a presence in 11 African countries, Europe, Middle East, and Asia.

Industry sources said the bank which already has its presence in South Africa, is also at the verge of taking a berth in France where the paper work for that purpose is at the Ànal stage.

Who knows where Access Bank’s next move will be, may be in Asia.

Access Bank Plc as of June 30, 2021, grew its total assets to N10.06 trillion as against N8.68 trillion reported in the full year ended December 31, 2020, indicating a 16 per cent increase. The Ànancial institution’s proÀt before tax hit N97.5 billion as against N74.31 billion reported in prior H1, 2020 results, and accounts.

For his exemplary leadership in the banking sector, Wigwe was recently recognised as the African Banker of the Year at the 2021 edition of the African Banker Awards.

Awinner of one of the most prized categories at the Awards ceremony for the second consecutive year, Wigwe was recognised for his stellar leadership in the market expansion of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest bank despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The African Banker Awards have become the most respected and recognised industry event celebrating African banking achievements. The organisers this year, put emphasis on recognising and rewarding institutions that contributed to the real economy which has suͿered from the impact of Covid-19 as well as contributed to women empowerment on the continent.

Attesting to Wigwe’s uncommon leadership in Nigerian banks, Group Publisher of African Banker and Chair of the Awards Committee, Omar Ben Yedder said, “Herbert is one of the most respected bankers on the continent, without a shadow of a doubt. The Bank has gone from a lower-ranked Nigerian bank when he joined the group as Deputy CEO to become one of Africa’s leading Ànancial services groups.

He has shown a relentless pursuit for growth but has done so in a measured and calculated manner. What he and his team have done at Access Bank is nothing short of remarkable.”

Those familiar with his story said Herbert Wigwe has always had a head for numbers, a fact he attributed to playing “mental mathematics” with friends while growing up. This game involved solving random mathematical questions; without the aid of a calculator.

His interest in Ànance which developed at age 16, was fuelled by the story of Michael Milken, high-yield bonds (junk bonds), among others.

Wigwe has demonstrated a rare visionary leadership in sustainably positioning Access Bank in new markets, despite the drawbacks posed by the pandemic. He has successfully championed the bank’s cultural, digital, and technological transformation, and placed it Àrmly on its way to achieving its vision to become Africa’s gateway to the World.

He has repeatedly driven Access Bank to revolutionise its business and set standards for the industry locally and globally. This is evident in the bank’s successes across diverse areas of its businesses, including but not limited to sustained growth in Ànancial performance, strategic initiatives showcasing institutional and industrial impact, driving industry innovation leveraging technology, sustainability, and their exemplary COVID-19 response and support to clients and customers He also championed the bank’s digital expansion. The bank has also recently introduced zero-balance accounts for customers, which was intended to bring more Nigerians into the formal Ànancial services sector.

He believes there must be something new to bring to the table. Through the assiduous work and commitment of Wigwe, the banking industry has completely changed and has had multiple innovations. The impact of mobile phones, networks, and electronic banking has jeered many towards this transformation.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

20

DEVELOPMENT

Lafarge: Consistently Marching Towards Net Zero Kunle Aderinokun writes on Lafarge Africa’s commitment to environmental sustainability through a consistent effort to reduce carbon emissions

T

he United Nations in September 2021 estimated the world’s population at 7.9 billion. As the human population expands, there is an increasing need to build sustainable and affordable cities that meet the needs of the current generation, while preserving resources for future generations. As the global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, a giant in a global industry that supplies critical economic infrastructure and fulfils indispensable human needs, Lafarge plays an essential role in the global acceleration towards achieving net zero.

One very important means through which Lafarge Africa fulfils this commitment to environmental sustainability is by documenting progress towards “reinventing how the world builds in order to make the planet greener, smarter and healthier for all”. It published an on Annual Sustainability Report, the 2020 edition which was presented to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, on August 26, 2021 in the Facts Behind the Sustainability Report session.

The FBSR is a platform set up by the Nigerian Exchange Limited to entrench Environmental Social and Governance amongst listed companies.

Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. In other words, net zero is reached when the amount added is no more or less than the amount taken away.

Holcim Group, of which Lafarge Africa is a member has adopted a holistic approach on its journey towards net zero. It sets and monitors country specific targets across its operations in over 70 countries, invests in and deploys innovative green solutions such as the use of alternative fuels for renewable energy.

This approach has also resulted in big projects such as Maiganga Wetlands in Gombe through which former coal mines covering six hectares have been transformed into a wetland rich in biodiversity. The project assists the surrounding community with irrigation that allows year-round farming.

In 2020, Lafarge Africa’s total CO2 emissions was 583 kilogrammes per tonne of cementitious material (kg/ tonnes), a significant progress that sets a solid base for the Group’s ambition to achieve the targets mapped out in its Net Zero RoadMap of achieving 550Kg net CO2/tonne of cementitious material by 2022.

Lafarge Africa’s commitment to the “circular economy” involves a move from a “take, make, waste” approach to natural resources to a “reuse and remanufacture” approach.

In 2020, Lafarge reused 71,029 tons of waste such as discarded car tyres in its operations at its Ewekoro, Sagamu and Ashaka plants. Now 9% of the company’s energy is derived from alternative fuels such as palm kernel shell, cashew shells, saw dust, rice husk etc. The Holcim group aims to reuse 80 million tons of waste annually to generate power.

Reducing carbon emissions through the use of alternative fuels and recycling industrial waste has

L-R: Chairman, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Adebode Adefioye; overall Junior Category winner, Miss Ewede Adebowale of Alapere Primary School, Lagos and Country Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Khaled El Dokani during the presentation of prizes to winners of the 7th Edition of Lafarge Africa Plc National Essay competition in Lagos

also been a way for Lafarge to create jobs. Local suppliers accounted for over 35,000 tonnes of biomass supplied to Lafarge plants in 2020 and a total of 3,000 jobs were thus generated in the host communities. Lafarge joined forces in its quest to protect the environment with the Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) of Nigeria and regulatory agencies like NAFDAC, as well as pharmaceutical companies.

Through these partnerships, Lafarge Africa gains easy access to industrial wastes that it recycles for fuel. The company has invested over 10.7 million dollars in alternative fuel projects over the past 4 years.

The company’s freshwater withdrawal in 2020 was 201L/ ton for cement and 228L/ M3 for ready mix. To enhance environmentally sustainable management of scarce water resources, Lafarge Africa has installed water flow meters at its plants which measure its water consumption, withdrawal and discharge rates.

The year 2020 tested Lafarge Africa’s oft-repeated commitment to the social, human and economic resilience of its host communities. The company committed N1.2 billion to social investments. This included interventions to curtail the spread of the new coronavirus and to reduce the social and economic burdens created by the restrictions on movement imposed by the government to control the pandemic.

Lafarge’s interventions focused on creating and amplifying health awareness and prevention campaigns, provisions of

drugs and medical equipment and isolation centres. Food relief packages were distributed to over 11,000 families across Lagos, Ogun, Cross River, Gombe, and Rivers States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja during the lockdown. Lafarge’s social investment programmes in 2020 included bursaries for students and training in farming and poultry to impart skills and enhance livelihoods in Nigerian communities.

The challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the importance of a robust environmental, social and governance system, Chairman of Lafarge Africa Plc, Adebode Adefioye, remarked: “Despite an unprecedented turn of events and a challenging year, Lafarge Africa was able to demonstrate resilience through the successful implementation of several initiatives such as our Health, Cost and Cash action plan.” According to Adefioye, the company’s strong ESG framework has allowed it to prioritise the health and safety of our people, suppliers and communities as part of our mitigation strategies.

The Country CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc, Khaled El Dokani, acknowledged that the company’s business resilience strategy allowed it to stay focused on achieving sustainability targets while also implementing production cost optimisation and improved operational efficiency plans. El Dokani said at the presentation to the Nigerian Stock Exchange: “We also accelerated the Business Resilience Team and immediately initiated daily

meetings to agree on our response to the growing pandemic. With these in place, we were able to prioritise our people and operations and close out the year with a remarkable performance.”

Despite the disruptions of the Coronavirus pandemic, Lafarge recorded sales revenue grew by 8.3per cent to NGN230.6 billion in 2020, while Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT) climbed 30.8 per cent to NGN 45.7 billion.

Lafarge Africa marked the 60th anniversary of operations in Nigeria in 2020, making it a suitable year to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable operations in host communities and the nation.

To mark the anniversary, Lafarge showcased the landmark architectural monuments which have been built with Lafarge cement over the last 60 years which remain solid today. Such iconic structures include Cocoa House Ibadan, Mapo Hall Ibadan and the Lekki-Ikoyi Link bridge Lagos.

Lafarge Africa Plc, is a member of Holcim – the leading global construction materials and solutions company in the world. A publicly quoted company on the Premium Board of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) serving the Nigerian market with a wide range of building and construction solutions specially designed to meet local housing and construction needs, Lafarge Africa Plc. has four (4) plants in Nigeria with a combined installed cement production capacity of 10.5 MTPA. At the heart of the company’s operations are research and innovation, two ideals with which we have created a viable business which has made the company the global leader in sustainable building materials and solutions.

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R • OCTOBER 10, 2021

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MARKET NEWS A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 07Oct-2021, unless otherwise stated.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS

AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Dollar Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 10.16% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.36 3.53 -1.05% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 8.52% Anchoria Equity Fund 138.24 139.96 4.72% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.14 1.14 -14.32% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Discovery Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Ethical Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Eurobond Fund ($) N/A N/A N/A ARM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A ARM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 106.64 106.64 4.85% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,040.69 1,040.69 4.07% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.75% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.07 2.07 -5.42% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.18 2.22 0.47% mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.02 1.02 3.63% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.09% Paramount Equity Fund 17.08 17.40 6.82% Women's Investment Fund 140.28 141.92 5.42% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.97% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 122.52 123.33 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 107.84 107.84 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.98% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.21 1.22 0.65% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.42 1.42 -10.50% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 7.56% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 7.87% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,165.76 1,184.48 1.26% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1,426.17 1,426.17 11.56% FBN Balanced Fund 195.05 196.38 3.93% FBN Halal Fund 113.31 113.31 9.28% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.09% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

127.18 166.92

127.18 3.99% 169.18 10.41% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com

Bid Price 1.00 3.98 1.65 1.19

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 6.35% 3.98 2.77% 1.69 8.60% 1.19 4.84% coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com

Bid Price N/A N/A N/A

Offer Price N/A N/A N/A

Yield / T-Rtn N/A N/A N/A

GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria Entertainment Fund N/A N/A N/A GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.51% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.86 2.92 0.02% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 153.81 154.08 -1.09% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.26 1.30 -0.28% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.12 1.12 2.40% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.85 11.89 13.10% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 10.31% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.54 1.57 13.52% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.19 11.19 -7.97% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 5.62% PACAM Equity Fund 1.43 1.44 -9.57% PACAM EuroBond Fund 111.77 113.78 1.83% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 131.70 134.03 9.62% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.06 1.06 10.10% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,455.90 3,493.54 7.62% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 233.63 233.63 3.90% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.26 1.28 7.63% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 308.69 308.69 4.76% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 234.08 237.61 7.27% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.46% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,710.81 10,862.46 2.06% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.28 1.28 4.17% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 115.92 115.92 4.36% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 104.32 104.32 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.32 1.35 3.54% United Capital Bond Fund 1.93 1.93 5.14% United Capital Equity Fund 0.90 0.92 13.07% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.91% United Capital Eurobond Fund 120.73 120.73 5.46% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.08 1.09 5.60% United capital Sukuk Fund 1.06 1.06 6.47% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 13.09 13.20 10.30% Zenith Ethical Fund 14.60 14.75 19.59% Zenith Income Fund 24.43 24.43 1.85% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.92%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 53.61

10.62% 6.12%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

13.85

13.95

4.80%

127.80 100.59 17.70 19.88

130.98 102.79 17.80 19.98

6.28% 1.39%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund MERGROWTH ETF MERVALUE ETF

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.95 5.60 18.10 1.00 20.82 156.57

3.99 5.68 18.20 1.00 21.02 158.57

4.58% -1.49% 11.35% 7.51% 1.44% -28.76%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.40

13.11%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

10.10.2021

TAJUDEEN OWOYEMI HIS JOURNEY FROM ARTISAN TO LUXURY HOTEL OWNER Tajudeen Owoyemi is a quintessential entrepreneur whose success story in luxury hotels across Lagos is phenomenal.With over 45 years in the building and construction industry, his experience is truly exceptional. But the establishment of Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria Limited was only a prelude to Owoyemi’s lucrative foray into the hospitality industry.

With minimal education, unblurred vision, hard work and unwavering dedication to his career, Owoyemi beat all odds to become a big player in hospitality.

The Kwara-born business magnate tells Funke Olaode his story, his life and his breakthroughs.

T

ajudeen Owoyemi’s story is the stuff of legends; the son of a petty trader who rose to the pinnacle of his career, first in construction, and later hospitality. With minimal education and four-year training as a

plumber, Owoyemi beat the odds to become one of the wealthiest luxury hotel owners in Nigeria. He established Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria Limited company after recording success in the construction sector. The launch of Avalon birthed the First Protea Hotel in Nigeria in the early 2000s.

As he walked in quietly into his cosy office located in Ikoyi, Lagos on a recent Tuesday afternoon, there were no airs about him. He wears simplicity like a glove.

“That is a reflection of who I am. I love to live a quiet life and I don’t really like paparazzi exposure. That is how God

has created me from the onset and that is how I have lived my life,” he said.

Born on April 16, 1956, in Offa, Kwara State where he had his early life, his parents moved to Ghana when he was two years old and left him with his grandmother. Owoyemi discovered his entrepreneurial skills during that period.

His passion for success was also ignited.

“I was raised by a petty trader who instilled the spirit of hard work in me. I remember after school I would hawk ‘Ekuru’ for my grandmother. And I used to go to the construction sites with a group of friends to assist in carrying sand and all that. In those days, we would pack sand from the river and stack it up to a certain level before we got paid. It was our own little contribution to our families. The physical struggle continued till I finished secondary school and moved to Kaduna.”

Having weathered the storm of life fending for himself till he finished secondary school, Owoyemi set out to find a purpose in life. At 18, he moved to Kaduna in search of his purpose.

“I wanted to go to school but there was no money. In Kaduna, I learned a trade. I am an artisan who was trained as a plumber. And I learnt it for four years.

From there, I went to Kaduna Polytechnic where I did a part-time study in Civil Engineering. I will do plumbing in the morning and go to evening classes. I did that for three years and obtained a National Diploma in Civil Engineering.”

With his experience as a young man assisting at a construction site and his studies as a civil engineer, Owoyemi developed a passion for building.

He became so experienced that he established his company at age 22 in 1978.

“We started contract jobs around 1979 when Alhaji Shehu Shagari came into power. We had a lot of people, a lot of friends who gave us their projects to supervise because of the trust they had in us. We weren’t too ambitious as a company. We concentrated on our strength and the work started growing.”

With over 45 years in the building and construction industry, Owoyemi’s experience is truly exceptional, having handled projects that included presidential, industrial and commercial structures scattered all over the country.

Owoyemi never looked back as he eventually established his first company, Tajudeen Owoyemi and Co Ltd (TOCL), a full-fledged Engineering Company that engaged in Civil and Mechanical Engineering contracts. TOCL was to later enjoy massive patronage from elite national institutions such as Command and Staff College Jaji, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and several other Federal Government Agencies and Parastatals.

“We did so many contracts. The biggest project we started then was in Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna. We did the Nigerian Army of School Infantry. We did the remodelling, reconstruction of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry head office in Jaji. It was around 1991 we did it and it was very successful,” he recalled.

Having established himself as a construction magnate operating from the

ASSISTANT EDITOR OLUFUNKE OLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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His Rise from Being an Artisan, Construction Giant and Big Hospitality Player north, Owoyemi decided to spread his tentacles to the west.

“I have never been to Lagos in my life until 1985 when General Babangida came to power. It was my first time in Lagos ever. And what brought me to Lagos? It was this contract job, building construction.

The late Haladu, a General from Kano, invited me to Lagos. He said they wanted to build Police barracks for Nigerian Ports, they had their board meeting and they approved it and they wanted me to do it. So he sent for me from Kaduna. He insisted that I must come to Lagos immediately. That was how we got the first flight coming to Lagos. I now found out that it was another establishment where once you do your job satisfactorily you get paid. That was how I started coming to Lagos constantly before I and the family finally moved in 1993.”

With remarkable success with TOCL, Owoyemi, the quintessential entrepreneur became unstoppable as he then ventured into the establishment of many companies either as a sole promoter or in collaboration with others in property, banking, hospitality, solid mineral, maritime business and many others.

He has in several ways proven the fact that success and credibility are not ordinarily bestowed, but rather earned through focus and unwavering dedication to the pursuit of one’s chosen cause or endeavour.

The establishment of Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria Limited was a prelude to Owoyemi’s successful foray into the hospitality industry beginning with the establishment of the Avalon Hotel sited in his hometown in Offa despite the relatively low patronage in the town. The idea was to bring more people to the area and assist in hastening up the rate of urbanisation and commercialisation of Offa town and Kwara State by extension.

Avalon Intercontinental was founded in 2003 as a special vehicle to secure a competitive hospitality franchise that would enable it to build and operate world-class hotel facilities and this effort paid off with the birth of the first in the group, Protea Hotel, Victoria Island which has since been renamed Park Inn by Radisson, Victoria Island as a result of a strategic realignment by the group.

Internationally branded hotels currently owned and operating under the auspices of Avalon Intercontinental are Park Inn by Radisson, Victoria Island, Radisson Ikeja Hotel and Radisson Blu Ikeja Hotel. The ownership/management of these flagship hotels has catapulted Avalon Intercontinental Nigeria Limited and by extension its founder and Chairman into the elite league of hospitality industry big players.

People may have easily forgotten his name as a construction giant, but Owoyemi as a big player in the hospitality industry is still phenomenal.

Why did he go into hospitality?

“It was the entrepreneurial spirit in me,” he said. “I decided to switch in 1995. I have been running up and down for contracts, and I looked at it and said, what can I do that will give me rest of mind? I mean something that will give me my daily bread that I would not be moving from one office to another.

Contracts are good but are seasonal. I have a friend that normally comes from London, and stays in Eko Hotel and Suites. Eko Hotel was the only luxury hotel with 500 rooms around Victoria Island then and it was always fully booked. Then I said to my friend, even though we don’t have Eko Hotel, let’s have something around here that would be nicely built.

“This my friend said yes, we can.

Within two days he got us a property opposite Eko Hotel, which is the first Protea in Nigeria. We started in

2001 and it was commissioned in October 2003. I don’t even have any experience with luxury hotels. I just wanted rooms that can be used. But another friend came and said there are some people who want to invest in Nigeria, that is Protea Hotel, which is well known in South Africa, and once you have that brand, people will stay there. So I listened to this friend and when we called Protea management from South Africa, they quickly came here and took the drawings and designed this property.

This hotel had just 42 bedrooms. Did you know people checked out from Eko Hotel to this place? By the weekend people come in for business, they check out and we prepare again for the whole of the weekend. The place was properly designed as a boutique hotel.”

With his success story on the Island, Owoyemi moved to the Mainland, opposite Sheraton Hotel where he got another landed property.

“Sheraton was the only good hotel in the whole of Ikeja and Mainland. And I said, ‘How do we get property? That night somebody said there is a property that belongs to Jagal

by Adebowale. So, after we finished this one in October 2003, we went there and saw the property in GRA. We paid USD1.5 million in 2004 to secure the property. After consulting with the government, construction started on the property. That was how we started and by the grace of God we are moving forward as a new project is currently unfolding in Abuja.”

The hotel business would later provide succour from the mining business in Offa. The town’s epileptic power supply crumbled the business.

Owoyemi’s feats are not defined solely by his business achievement; he has equally distinguished himself as a philanthropist, mixing humility with humanity. His generosity has earned him numerous honours and awards. For his outstanding performance in the industry, the Sun Newspaper awarded Owoyemi the Nigerian Hospitality Man of the Year on February 18, 2017.

He is much loved as an illustrious son of the soil. He was conferred with the honorary chieftaincy title of Bashorun of Offa by his Royal Majesty, Oba Mustapha Olawore Olanipekun Ariwajoye II, the late Olofa of Offa in 2005. He had had to relinquish this title for the higher one.

In a couple of days, Owoyemi will be conferred as Asiwaju of Offa by His Royal Highness, Oba Mufutau Muhammed Gbadamosi Okikiola Oloyede, Ajagungbade 1, Esuwoye II. This makes him the third person to hold this preeminent position after his immediate predecessor the late Chief Emmanuel Adesoye who held the position until January 2020 and the late Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin who was the very first to hold the position.

The conferment of this prestigious title, therefore, recognises Owoyemi’s exceptional commitment and contributions to the development of Offa land and Nigeria in general. “I thought it was a joke when the information got to me. I am not a politician but the young and the old and people from all walks of life have demonstrated their love for me. We have people that are more than qualified for this and I asked myself why me? It is God’s grace.”

Reeling out his plans for his people, Owoyemi said he aims to build on the existing legacy of assisting people through empowerment programmes. “We have a committee handling that. They are going to focus on whatever the needs of the people are, we have been doing that before but we want to improve on it now.”

Behind every successful man is his strong backbone. Owoyemi praised his wife of 41 years and the mother of his six successful children whom he met in

Mr. and Mrs. Tajudeen Owoyemi

Kaduna.

“My loving, peaceful and caring wife is Alhaja Rianat Bola Owoyemi. We both met in Kaduna but she is from Offa.

We got married in 1980. I love my peace of mind and my wife gives me peace. So, it has been a wonderful journey.”

And the attraction?

“Well, I just saw a young lady doing her part-time training on Secretarial Studies and I also was doing part-time studies at Kaduna Poly. The union is blessed with six wonderful children. We have three of them in the country now, they are the ones that are interested and we have been working together. At least, to control the hospitality aspect because it is too big and it is not something I

can do alone.”

From zero to a hero, Owoyemi success attests to his many years of perseverance and hard work. As he ends the conversation with this reporter, he gives a few tips on how to be on top of your game in any profession.

“Don’t be too ambitious. Concentrate on what your strength is and don’t follow the bandwagons. Don’t invest in a business that you don’t understand.

Sometimes people want investors to come and invest in their businesses that have been in existence for decades. Why? If you manage it well you won’t call for people to come and invest in it. If you are sure of it you will want to do it successfully. For me, I take life easy and take each day as it comes,” he concluded.

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GLITZ FOCUS

Alliance Française Wins Five-Star African, Arabian Property Awards Alliance Française, The Mike Adenuga Centre, has won the Best Mixed Use Architecture category at the prestigious African and Arabian Property Awards 2021-2022 in the United Kingdom. The awards celebrate the highest levels of achievement by companies operating in all sectors of the property and real estate industry. The awards are world-renowned mark of excellence, writes Lanre Alfred

Adenuga

Waverley

Shield.

G

reat deeds are like carnations.

They flower in the exploits of a titan like Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr; the echoes have taught Nigeria and the African continent to trust the soul and entrepreneurial depth of the man whose extraordinariness is unparalleled in the African business circuit.

Effortlessly, Adenuga personifies the kernel of Vince Lombardi’s famous quote: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing.

You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit.”

For Adenuga, winning is clearly ingrained in his DNA. All his business ventures have been cutting large swaths through the labyrinths

of otherwise unprofitable and volatile industries.

For several decades, the Alliance Française, committed to promoting French culture and teaching French as a second language around the world, was located in the boisterous area of Yaba, Lagos. But thanks to the generosity of the billionaire extraordinaire and Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr, the organisation now has a new home in Ikoyi that has been aptly named the Mike Adenuga Centre.

Since it was declared open to the public, the centre has been attracting commendations from far and near; art aficionados, artists and preeminent Nigerians, in particular, enthuse about it.

In Adenuga’s reckoning, it was all in a day’s work.

Yes, like an oasis in a desert, the Mike Adenuga Alliance Française Centre, straddling three highbrow streets (Gerard, Alfred Rewane and Osborne) in Ikoyi, and nestled amidst a clutch of high rise and well-appointed buildings that bespeak class and high profile commerce, looms outstandingly in its opulence and sheer beauty.

Tastefully modern, the centre’s white exterior spews elegance without recourse to obscenity and has an interior ornamented with pristine decor.

Everywhere is spick-and-span thus projecting the halo of an improvised Eden on earth. Apart from a spacious car park, the venue offers facilities such as a world-class art gallery, a French restaurant with a bakery, a state-ofthe-art cinema, artists’ studios, an outdoor amphitheatre, a library and e-library, nine fully-equipped French language classrooms, translation and interpretation service, Campus France branch, offices and much more.

Every building has something of the personality of the owners in it, a hint of the people behind the design; no wonder the centre has the touch of a billionaire with a taste for all things exotic and exquisite. Its beauty has been inspiring gawks and doubletakes, as well as odes and appreciation to Dr Adenuga, whose love for the arts spurred him to create the hub of cross-cultural immersion with a view to making an exciting and impactful contribution to the Nigerian arts scene.

Interestingly, the prestigious Baron Architecture, a Property Development & Marketing Company, which has a robust portfolio of residential and commercial properties in Nigeria, oversaw the project that has changed the cultural landscape of Lagos.

According to Baron Architecture, “Restoration project for a preindependence building and juxtaposed with a contemporary building is the perfect symbol for a Cultural and Art Centre. The design of the new structure was done in order to create a contrast between the two eras of architecture yet, a seamless transition from both buildings in making it one whole structure.”

However, one cannot agree any less. Too many people in the modern world view luxury as vainglorious but to Adenuga it is the essence of a charmed

life that he has been blessed with and which he wants to bequeath on humanity. No poet or proponent of the high art would visit the centre and not descend into the chamber of an eternal muse.

Officially declared open to the public in April, the French President Emmanuel Macron had in July 2018, inaugurated the centre during a visit to Lagos. According to Macron, the centre is aimed at fostering friendship between Nigeria and France, saying, “Lagos is one of the challenges of, not only Nigeria but Africa. This huge city is a tremendous challenge about how to make people live together in peace and better society; I want France to be part of this story. I do want my country and citizens to be part of this experience, which means sharing same values, cultures, languages, literature, music, movies, projects, common economic projects, among others.”

The youthful President said further that the Alliance Française is a commitment aimed at making the friendship between both countries, which have different but vivid and vibrant cultures, as well as lifting barriers that have existed between both cultures. He added, “The common space we have is not linked to language or country. We are different people, but we share the same values and it is precisely these common values we want to convey.” In a chat with on the sideline of the building’s inauguration, revered playwright and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, said that no Nigerian alive has invested in the advancement of the arts and creative industry as much as Adenuga. He added that the Globacom boss’ cross-cultural ideas and development is one without geographical borders.

It was in homage to his humanity and relentless strides at rewriting the African business narrative that the French government invested him with a Knight of the Legion of Honour (Chevalier de la Legion d Honneur), the highest French decoration and one of the most famous in the world early in 2018. Established in 1802 by Napoléon Bonaparte to recognize eminent accomplishments of service to France, the Chevalier de la Legion d Honneur, France’s premier award, has been presented on behalf of the French Head of State to only the most deserving citizens in all fields of activity.

Unlike the proverbial warrior who lives to sing the song of his own deeds and derring-do, Adenuga remains impressively humble and immune to conceit, treading a rare path to acclaim thus attracting honour in torrents, from home and abroad. While he strikingly commands the relentless tribute of a cheer, his feats reverberate as deafening applause.

Adenuga makes history every hour, to which he industriously adds page after page, volume after volume, as if nature were holding up a monument to his exploits.

Interestingly, the President of Awards, Stuart Shield said “Winning an International Property Award is a significant achievement. We celebrate the highest levels of achievement by companies operating in all sectors of the property and real estate industry. An International Property Award is a world-renowned mark of excellence.

The awards are split into regions covering Africa, Asia Pacific, Arabia, Canada, Caribbean, Central & South America, Europe, UK and USA. Participants enter at their relevant national level and are judged by a highly experienced team of professionals who cover the whole range of property disciplines.”

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

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GLITZ ENTERTAINMENT

70 Afrobeat Fans Set to Win a Dream Trip to Dubai for EXPO 2020 Stories by Vanessa Obioha The Chief Executive of the Dubai Tourism Corporation and Marketing, Issam Kazim, has announced that the Dubai Expo 2020 which opened on October 1 will offer people of diverse cultures around the world, an opportunity to see world-class destinations, the latest advancements in technology and tourist attractions all in one.

To achieve this, Kazim disclosed that the corporation has partnered with Afrozons Dubai Sound Off project to bring more celebrity anchors from Nigeria, five other African countries and the United States.

The Sound Off promotion will culminate with the selection of 70 Afrobeat lovers and their guests for a trip to Dubai, giving them an opportunity to experience Dubai like never before. The winners will be joined by their favourite celebrity radio anchors from the US, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, and Angola to see the beauty of Dubai and experience the grandeur of the Dubai Expo 2020. The winners of the giveaways and their guests will receive complimentary flight tickets, hotel accommodation, tours, airport transfers, and visas where necessary.

Dubai Expo will run for the next six months and is set to increase awareness about Dubai, among global audiences and to attract tourists and investment into the Emirate.

Felabration Kicks off with Symposium The annual celebration of the life and times of the late Afrobeat pioneer, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Felabration will be kicking off the 2021 edition tomorrow, October 11 with the Felabration Symposium. This year’s discourse is centred on ‘The National Question: Devolution or Evolution,’ and will be moderated by renowned lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana.

Prominent speakers expected at the symposium include Senator Shehu Sani.

The week-long activity conceived in 1998

by Fela’s daughter Yeni, is one of the most popular in the events calendar. Usually held at the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, Lagos, the festival will run till October 17.

Themed ‘Viva Nigeria Viva Africa,’ this year’s edition is sponsored by Rite Foods Limited, a leading food and beverage company. The company contribution to the memorable event will include a posthumous

award for the late Afrobeat king, who was at the forefront against injustice, inequality, and other depravities. The beautifully designed award would be part of the company’s posthumous honour for the musician and activist.

Managing Director of Rite Foods Limited, Mr. Seleem Adegunwa, said the Afrobeat legend, who was an epitome of courage and justice for the citizenry, is worth celebrating considering the messages of hope and equality propagated through his songs.

Keeping up with tradition, Felabration 2021 will feature a line-up of captivating activities which include Afrobics dance competition, a show where contestants will compete by showcasing afrobeat dance moves with any of Fela’s songs, such as ‘Zombie’; schools’ debate with the topic ‘COVID-19 Is a Blessing’.

Tiwa Savage Sex Video: Owning the Narrative

Issam Kazim of Dubai Tourism Corporation

Vincent Entertainment Files for Company Trademark West Africa Entrepreneur and philanthropist, Vincent Tobi has begun the process to trademark his company. The Chief Executive Officer of Vincent Entertainment, owners of Vnation Pictures, has instituted the plans to trademark his entertainment company.

In a statement, Tobi said that the move is a right step for the company.

“After due process and many consultations from far and wide, we have decided to file for our company’s trademark. Our team agreed that it’s a right step in the right direction as the company gets ready for our maiden fulllength feature, ‘Obsession’.”

The filming of ‘Obsession’ has already been completed and some Nollywood stars like Shaffy Bello, Gideon Okeke, Mercy Aigbe, Ghanaian film star, Benedicta Gafah and Munachi Abii, are featured.

The film is directed by rising filmmaker

Chidiebere Nwosu, also known as Dir. Mo and is scheduled for release before the end of 2021.

Tobi, who has also been touching the lives of indigents through the Vincent Tobi Foundation, said the move will further place the entertainment firm in a leading light.

Tobi

Celebrities are often victims of leaked intimate videos and photos on the internet. Sometimes, their emails are hacked or a blackmailer gains access to it through a source. This trend has become a norm, since the dawn of the internet.

Usually done to humiliate the victim, there have been cases however when the leaked content brings fame to the victim. A good example is American reality TV star Kim Kardashian whose leaked sex video with artist Ray J in 2007 made her popular.

Blackmailers use such content to extort money from their victims. But celebrities are beginning to learn how to own the narrative instead of being victimised. In 2020, Nigerian media personality Toke Makinwa refused to be blackmailed over nudes by posting one of the pictures on social media. A recent example is singer Tiwa Savage who over the weekend disclosed that a blackmailer was trying to extort money from her with a sex tape of her and her current lover.

Savage in an interview with American On-Air Personality, Angie Martinez, on Power 105.1, said that her yet-to-be-identified lover had mistakenly uploaded the sex video on Snapchat but it was too late before he deleted it as the video had already been downloaded by the blackmailer. She initially considered paying the blackmailer off but changed her mind.

“We tried to stall them, but I later decided that I am going to own the narrative. I am not ashamed of it; this is someone I am dating; I am not cheating, neither is he,” said the singer who in 2020 released semi-nude photos of herself on Instagram. Interestingly, some lines from her latest song ‘Somebody’s Son’ seems to have anticipated her current travail. Singing in Yoruba, “Okan mi le koko” (I’m hardened). She sang further “Alakori ni bobo yen” (that guy is a hopeless).

Since the interview went viral, not a few have

questioned why people film themselves having sex.

In the age of the internet, capturing oneself doing all manner of things is fun. Filming a sexual activity can be a fetish, but it is weird fun for couples who want to watch a playback of their positions and facial expressions during the act. Some argue that a sex tape can enhance a relationship. But experts also believe that such acts can be a trait of narcissism. People who are overly obsessed with themselves often indulge in the act to feel good about their sexual prowess.

The consequences of a leaked sex tape can be lasting, especially for famous people. After 14 years, Kardashian leaked sex video still haunts her. Although she is married and divorced twice and has children, people still refer to her sex video. Recently, Wack 100, a former manager of Ray J speculated that there is a second videotape of Kardashian and Ray J. Usually, experts advise, that sex videos should be made with someone trustworthy and if possible delete them immediately to avoid consequences in the future.

Celebrities owning the narrative are not usually spurred by leaked sex videos. For instance, musician turned clergyman Chris Okotie followed the same route in 2012 when his church Household of God announced his separation from his wife Stephanie.

By being proactive, she has removed the sting of humiliation. However, she must take extra precaution next time to avoid a repeat.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

HighLife Lola Bayode’s Heart of Gold There are people and there are people. Some are so engrossed with their own lives and interests that they are unable to spare a second in consideration for others. Others measure the value of their lives based on how many lives they have touched and blessed, not to mention the degree to which they have done these. Dr Tolulola Bayode belongs to the latter category and has become one of the brightest beacons of hope for the underprivileged in Nigeria.

One can only sing praises for Bayode considering the span and scale of her plans to rejuvenate the hopes and dreams of the downtrodden in Nigeria. It is to her credit that there is such a place as Dorian Home, renowned to be the biggest Orphanage Home in Africa. In a few days, October 14, 2021, to be precise, the project will be commissioned and set into motion. Based on reports, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will be on ground for the launch.

From her compassion, dedication and resources, Bayode reportedly sunk around $5 million into Dorian Home. The result of her hard work is a 600-capacity centre in Ondo State. The ultramodern facility is reported to consist of 700 homes for children, a 500-capacity skill acquisition centre for women empowerment, a large hall for events, a modern clinic and a worship centre.

Although Bayode acquired her training in the medical profession in Ukraine, all her humanitarian efforts have been poured into the restoration of the dignity of Nigerians, especially orphans and abandoned children. It is, therefore, not surprising that VP Osinbajo will be around to get Dorian Home running.

After all, Bayode’s endeavours are the kind that sympathetic and progressive leaders encourage.

Bayode

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

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

Quintessential Diplomat: Spanish King Accepts Letter of Credence from Ambassador Ademola Seriki

It is usually said that the life of many a diplomat, hovers between a cliche and an indiscretion. To escape such dreary actuality, many have learned to skim the tides of the diplomatic world often harnessing storms for a profit.

Some, pride themselves as quick learners, flaunting their capacity to cut their neighbour’s throat even while exacting a cheer from the victim. Many more, however, simply learn to keep aloof, maintaining to the very end, a magnificent disdain under the cloak of finesse.

Ademola Seriki, however, cuts a different portrait; diligent, suave, and gracious to the bones. He is the perfect embodiment of panache and progressive diplomacy. This undoubtedly informed his appointment in January 2021, by

President Muhammadu Buhari, as Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain. The appointment of the Otun Aare of Lagos and former Minister of State for Defence was wellreceived among the elites and international community due to Seriki’s antecedent in public office.

Since his appointment, Seriki has been up and about, diligently handling his new brief with the practised gait of a public functionary. Just recently, he presented his Letter of Credence to the King of Spain. The latter received Ambassador Seriki in a stately ceremony that had dignitaries such as the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and EU Cooperation in attendance. Seriki holds his current diplomatic post with concurrent accreditation as a Permanent Representative of

Nigeria to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

Born November 30, 1959, in Lagos Island, he had his earlier education in Nigeria and later proceeded for undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the United States of America (USA) where he bagged his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Accounting from the City University of New York in the USA. He also had a Diploma in International and Regional Security at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts. His passion for education earned him laurels back in the United States of America, where he became a licensed Accounting and Business Mathematics teacher with the New York City Board of Education.

Seriki, as a grassroots politician, began his career as a clerical officer at Lagos City Council, Lagos Island in 1978. He had a brief stint in the banking and finance sector both in Nigeria at IBWA and the United States of America at Citicorp. As a seasoned administrator, he held sway as Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the following ministries crucial to the nation’s economic, social security development including the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and the Ministry of Interior He is a sports administrator and enthusiast. He was Chairman, Lagos State Sports Council and a member of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the 18th National Sports Festival as Chairman of Venue and Facilities Sub-Committee.

Unusual Artistry of DJ Cuppy: Why She Doesn’t Joke with Education

DJ Cuppy

Matters of crowns and palaces cannot be judged with conventional wisdom.

Who was in the right and who was in the wrong? Sometimes, one party has age on its side and therefore wins the argument.

Other times, the size of the fist of power determines everything. In the Warri Kingdom, the conditions of government favour the latter more than they do the former. This is evidenced by the recent announcement of the formal divestiture of power from the now-former traditional Prime Minister of the Kingdom.

The Nigerian social media community is buzzing with the recent doings of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse III. According to reports, the monarch stripped Chief Ayiri Emami of the title of Ologbotsere (Prime Minister) and declared that the title is no longer applicable to the prominent businessman and politician across the Itsekiri Kingdom and other parts of the world.

The Olu’s declaration has been met with a variety of reactions from many corners.

Some lauded the decision, agreeing with the condition that the monarch bestows chieftaincy titles and should have the right to disrobe titled individuals of this office.

Others have held back on the cheers, stating

American educational reformer, Horace Mann, said that “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equaliser of the conditions of men, the balance wheel of the social machinery.” This quote has led many to believe that formal education is nothing more than a vehicle to break out of any form of unfairness and imbalance. In a way, Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola (alias DJ Cuppy), is using this vehicle to break convention and common sense.

In a nation where the majority of citizens go through years and years of classroom learning, late-night cramming and other elements of modern-day schoolwork to secure good jobs, good money and good futures, DJ Cuppy is going against the grain. As the daughter of Femi Otedola, one of the wealthiest personalities on the African continent, it is somehow expected that she only needs to know how to sign her name on cheques and communicate effectively. But Cuppy, even without considering her status as a successful disc jockey and music producer, is not a

regular girl.

The Nigerian social media community is agog with reports of Cuppy starting classes at the University of Oxford, England. According to the news, Cuppy will be going on with her master’s degree in African Studies until sometime in 2022.

Even so, she will be “...djing around the country, launching (her) jewellery brand, and working on new music...”, among other things.

For those in the know, this is not Cuppy’s first master’s degree. In 2015, she clinched one in Music Business from New York University. It is probably one of the secrets behind her growing success in the Nigerian music industry.

Regardless, news about Cuppy is always a fresh wave and motivation, especially since she is always passionate about whatever she has set her mind to.

Education, music and business—one could call these the three-part component that most prominently describes the lady and her passions.

End of an Era as Olu of Warri Disrobes Ayiri

Olu of Warri

that there might be more to the story than meets the public eye.

Interestingly, Chief Emami has reportedly responded in an unexpected tone—that he remains the traditional Prime Minister, regardless of recent events. This has fortified the belief that there is much more to the narrative than power changing hands. Before the new Olu came to the throne, Chief Emami was the foremost voice that opposed him. Emami allegedly believed that the monarch (then a Prince) did not meet the requirements for the Olu of Warri position, and took steps in that direction. Emami even went to court.

Those that support the Olu’s decision insist that disrobing Emami and obliterating the Ologbotsere title is a reasonable measure to curb future events that might split the royal family apart. Even so, loyalists of Emami are not happy and neither is Emami.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

HIGHLIFE

Marriage Rumble: Fani-Kayode Harassing, Threatening My Life, Precious Chikwendu Raises the Alarm

Fani-Kayode with his estranged wife, Precious

Some folks seem to have it good all the time.

Some folks seem to have it good some of the time. However, certain folks seem to have all things good staying far away from them. Using recent events as a measuring rule, these latter folks have Femi Fani-Kayode (alias FFK) as their liege and luminary.

The months of September and October have not been very kind to FFK. The former Aviation Minister has had many things thrown at him in recent days; from lineage-levelling invectives

to figurative stones conveying scribbles of his capriciousness. The latest of things to be thrown at FFK are allegations of harassment and intimidation, courtesy of his former wife, Precious Chikwendu.

According to reports, Chikwendu has dragged FFK to court, alongside the InspectorGeneral of Police (IG) and the Commissioner of Police (CP), Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Chikwendu is reportedly insisting that FFK

is using his influence to intimidate her and threaten her life. Moreover, Chikwendu alleges that FFK is using the Police, with the IG and CP at his beck and call, to accomplish these deeds.

It is no secret that the relationship between FFK and Chikwendu cannot be judged using traditional methods. In the face of public vexation, Chikwendu is sometimes the first person to defend FFK. Other times, she is the first to throw him to the wolves.

Furthermore, Chikwendu is responsible for many allegations against FFK, including that he has physically abused both his wife (Chikwendu) and her mother on several occasions and that he is not as upstanding as he publicly carries himself.

Folks are doubtlessly aware that the latter accusation is something that many Nigerians agree with, especially since FFK abandoned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a few weeks ago and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

His decision was met with serious public censure because he used to be one of the most outspoken faultfinders of the APC-led administration.

Chikwendu also said her bits about FFK’s supposed duplicity: “...a thief is never ashamed but his kinsmen are ashamed on his behalf.”

Evidently, she is not his biggest fan at the moment. Thus, her allegations of intimidation and threat to life against FFK is only a new step on the ladder.

Between Tayo Ayeni and Jide Omokore Rumours are a dastardly thing. One is far more likely to offend an innocent person these days over rumours peddled by the media than over anything else. As an anonymous figure once commented in the past, rumours are so base and blind that even the subject of these false narratives may be unwittingly invited to participate in their dissemination. To hit the nail on the head, contrary to the rumours, well-known businessmen and allies, Tayo Ayeni and Jide Omokore, are still very good friends.

Over time, there have been many close friends and associates that have been labelled as rivals and enemies; the pair of Ayeni and Omokore is a regular news item in this way. The relationship between these notable businessmen has been shrunken and bloated from time to time, dragged in whatever direction the engineers of gossip see fit. A few months ago, the rumoured narrative had Ayeni on

Omokore’s neck. A few months before that, it was Omokore on Ayeni’s neck.

Now, the gist is that both of them are always disgusted at each other’s sight and always ready to wreck each other’s business opportunities. By every indication, all of these rumours are lies.

Based on recent reports from very reliable sources, Ayeni and Omokore cannot be closer friends. Ayeni, the boss of Skymit Motors, is just as chummy with Omokore as he is with any other close friend. The same is true for Omokore who does not consider Ayeni as a business rival or nemesis, contrary to reports.

It is true that when Omokore was facing one of the severest crises of his life, the trial of Diezani AlisonMadueke, Ayeni was one of those whose testimony in court was used to almost cripple the integrity and freedom of Omokore. Even so, their nearly three decades of close association surmounted that period.

Ayeni

Now that Omokore is gradually coming out of his shell and regaining former business domains, what could possibly motivate Ayeni to shun or become enemies with him?

All Set for International Day of Rural Women

Babangida

October is proving to be one of the best months so far in 2021. The year itself has witnessed women climbing the heights of the corporate world, dazzling all and sundry with their brilliance and leaving behind all the manacles of traditional society. Thanks to non-profit organisations like Better Life Program for the African Rural Woman (BLPARW); this trend has begun to include women who have not had the privilege of quality formal education and training.

These are the women looking forward to October 15, 2021, for the International Day of Rural Women.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Hajia Aisha Babangida has done a great deal to liberate Nigerian women from a mediocre mindset. The empowerment that has come from the dream of her mother, Maryam Babangida, has shone a light into the dark places of the nation’s efforts for genuine and inclusive sustainable development. This is just what BLPARW is doing at the moment and what October 15 will entail.

Ordinarily, Babangida’s BLPARW

educates and empowers African women and youths through courses, programs and microfinancing to build cottage industries and in turn the country’s economy. This year, however, the observance of the International Day of Rural Women (which pays homage to prominent women in food production and agricultural and rural development worldwide) will involve a fifteen-minute film in honour of Nigerian rural women.

The film is titled ‘Her Majesty’ and has been reported to recount the life, struggles, and impacts of these women.

BLPARW was founded way back in 1987 and has since witnessed the development and utilisation of the potentials of rural women, which is the core objective of the organisation. Even now, as Babangida and her team are preparing for the International Day of Rural Women, they also have big plans to provide rural women with educational, technical and financial support. Thus, October 15 will not only be a wonderful day in the minds of successful female farmers worldwide but also struggling Nigerian rural women.

Tonye-Cole

Mother of Nigerian Billionaire, Tonye Cole, Passes on It was notable English poet and scholar, John Donne, who wrote, “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; for those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow die not...”These lines have been argued to mean that as unpleasant and saddening as death is, human memory is a greater power. Thus, even as Tonye Patrick Cole mourns the passing of his dear mother, his memories of her must help him realise that death is not the end.

Folks have begun to send condolence messages to the Nigerian businessman and billionaire who is also the co-founder and former Group Executive Director of Sahara Group, upon the death of his mother, Pastor Mrs Mina Dugoabere Cole.

Those who know Cole know that much of his brilliance and diligence came from his close relationship with his mother.

Thus, these are not the best days for him.

According to Cole’s press release, his mother passed away in London on October 1, 2021, after a protracted illness.

He also announced that the burial arrangements are still in the works and will be made public in due course. He also appreciated everybody for the love, support and prayers on behalf of the entire family.

Around this time last year, the departed mother of Cole was the envy of many mothers all over the country.

This was because Cole had posted an old photo of himself and his mother, even asking his followers to guess his age at the time. He wrote, “What a Throwback! Always been her little boy. Trying to remember how old I was here, what do you think?”

That event proved to folks that Cole was, irrespective of his great wealth and global network of associa t e s , a man that deeply cherished familial relationships.

By every indication, Cole loved his mother. Her demise, consequently, is a great loss.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Anambra: Hold Thy Peace The federal government has threatened to place a state of emergency on this state if the situation does not de-escalate.

My people, things that are happening there are getting scarier by the day. Murder, looting, kidnapping, arson and all what not. The PDP has come out to play politics with the situation.

They have countered that the federal government would be playing to the books if they go ahead with this threat. According to them, this may be giving

the APC candidate an undue advantage. They may have a point, but am I in the mood to listen to this crap? NO. Did you see the slowly dying body of Dr. Chike Akunyili on the floor?

Did you see the fire ravaging my brother, Joe Igbokwe’s house? I even hear that Dr. Chu Okongwu’s house was also razed to the ground.

The state is now a no-go area.

What will carry me go there, I never see o. It is looking like as we are getting closer to the elections,

the situation will ramp up. This is so scary, I really feel for the state, its citizens and those who have lost loved ones and property. It cannot be easy.

I am of the very strong opinion that if the situation does not de-escalate, then the government should go ahead and do what it has to do to secure lives and property in the state and indeed in the whole country.

It is not only Anambra o. The whole country is in a cauldron of fire. What is going on?

UNKNOWN GUNMEN: FERVENT PLEA Let me just kneel down and beg una.

Whoever or whatever you represent, just calm down and rethink this strategy.

Whatever must have annoyed you or provoked this action kindly rethink abeg and let’s look for other means to settle whatever it is that we are fighting over.

The tears are just flowing from our mothers, our children and our people. The bloodletting, the mayhem is becoming so unbearable. This is the highest level of violence in the East in peace time Nigeria.

Can’t we even sit down over bottles as brothers to discuss in a bid to find solutions to whatever the problem is. Violence will never resolve anything. Didn’t we all support Enugu Rangers, didn’t we all read Things Fall Apart? Isn’t it this state that has given us so many historic figures and intellectuals? Isn’t it this state that has given us the famous Onitsha Market, the city of billionaires- Nnewi and the greatest burial of all time the Obi Cubano? Is this not the state that gave us Bianca Ojukwu?

Can the fire please STOP?

Any which way, this particular visit from a Northern delegation, as the ‘Jagaban’ was making his way into the car, we heard the quip that has captured the imagination of the Nation – see you soon Mr President.

That statement alone has attracted more watchers than the President’s Independence Day speech. The only clip that has upstaged it so far is the one from the just ended Big Brother Nigeria where we were all watching a married woman do things under the sheet on live TV. A married woman o- me I watch it like 600 times in a bid to ask myself what exactly was going on there.

So why is this particular video so critical, why has a quip from a man who most likely was only just showing appreciation for the wonderful hospitality he had just received. You know how people used to just get carried away from good food - me I don’t know o We just like to worry ourselves over things.

A man was given the kind of food and drink he has never eaten in his life and he reacts by effusively thanking his host and we are now convening a national conference to analyse the statement. We get time sha.

on your phone.

You see this ‘omoshe’ work some of us gleefully jump at can be funny o. So there you are on international tv speaking on behalf of a government on an issue of immense international importance.

You sef know that you lack the authority, but they have pushed you on the platform.

As the question come, you are remembering that you are well and surely low on the food chain, a lightweight that can easily be thrown under the bus. So, you start to fear, you start to shake and your answers start coming out the way mine did when the Duchess caught me inside Bariga with a beautiful one.

You know for a fact that even a wrong fart from you and you are toast. So, in response to the question, you start to dribbleehmmm, deennnn, I mean, hmmmmm, dem say, I will come’ mbok laugh nearly kill me.

Why you didn’t tell them that you are purging or that you are waiting for your Covid result to dodge just weak me.

That was the worst performance by a grasshopper masking as government official that I have seen since I started paying for cable subscription. Bro go drink Kunu and rest.

BOLA TINUBU: SEE YOU SOON, MR PRESIDENT You know Nigerians na, this clip has been making the rounds going viral and up staging all the videos that have come out of this never-ending visits.

By now if you didn’t know that Lord Tinubu has been in the UK recuperating from surgery then you really have been under a huge rock in Anambra State.

Everybody has gone to say ‘sorry’. Only OBJ has not gone but the way things are going, he too may soon land the place.

Ufot

TOLU OGUNLESI: A WOBBLY PERFORMANCE First, what were you wearing on international tv. Was something the matter with you? How can you wear a rain coat and go and do an interview on CNN? I just dey look you o. Then they asked a question and your mouth started shaking and wobbling like you suddenly found out that your madam finally cracked the password

BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU: JUST TICKS MY BOXES The signing into law of the bill banning the police from parading suspects anywhere in Lagos just ticks my boxes. There used to be a TV programme called Crime Fighters where they will be parading suspects and subjecting them to all sort of questioning without their lawyers present and those

Tinubu

Nonny

Obiano

ones will now be talking anyhow and indicting themselves.

I used to sha wonder how right-thinking people could allow this. Everybody, even the worse mass murderer is entitled to legal representation and if I want to push it self-preservation.

Parading suspects just so pushes the boundaries of the rights of these suspects.

It colours the perception of the public and if you ask me, it’s just a PR stunt for the authorities to show that they are working and nothing else.

The EFCC own na baba. Those ones will hang a board on your neck with your crime and your details boldly written and push it out along with the media.

These scare you for life and can be so wrong especially if at the end of the day you come out innocent.

So, this law is a right one and very timely too, let’s just hope the implementation and enforcement would be above par. Right step.

Meanwhile, I have a powerful gift for you, Your Excellency from AWO. I have asked your man Bonu Solomon to come and collect o, he dey delay o. I will sell it o.

SENATOR EFFIONG BOB: GOOD EVENING, UNCLE You know I am from Akwa Ibom State and I am very proud of that fact. The fact that I was born in Shomolu and have lived all of my 52 years in Lagos does not make me forget my roots. In fact, I am bi-racial or half caste for those of you wey no expose.

Anyways, in Akwa Ibom we have some very brilliant and astute individuals and this gentleman comes to mind. Prior to

Bob

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

LOUD WHISPERS meeting with him, I used to hear about him from afar. My friend and brother, Otabi use to talk a lot about him, he will say, ‘Senator Effiong Bob, nmo ekanma Akwa Ibom’ meaning say na dem hold Akwa Ibom and then I really got interested in him when I later found out that he was married to Comfort my sister and ex-classmate, astute business woman and owner of Comfort FM in Uyo. So, during the run up to my last PlayIbiom, he invited me over for drinks and talks. I went o. Comfort had conveniently dodged so that she will not give me Afang to eat but no problem you can run and cannot hide.

That is how we went into a very deep and powerful conversation. My people, I drank so much from his depth and clear understanding of this our Nigeria that I did not want to go home that night o.

I love these stories. The back stories, the intrigues and the interpretation of power flows that only erudite insiders can throw up. I will just sit down there like a good lap dog and be listening.

I so look forward to another session with Uncle this December during my next play, Ufok Ibaan, in Uyo. He has already shown strong support and in my gratitude, I also beg and appeal for another opportunity to seat and discuss the nation.

UDEME UFOT: MY FRIEND UDEME, IS A GREAT MAN Please let me steal this line from that great advert because truly speaking my friend Udeme is a great man.

That is how I got invited to his house in a very sweet part of Uyo and between a very delightful mix of good wine and well-cooked goat meat, we talked about almost everything for over two hours.

He was such a delightful host; he even apologised for not being able to serve me Afang which I quickly forgave him.

This was me finally seated in front of one of the most iconic men out of Akwa Ibom. He has done so much in marketing communications, public policy, and impact that I feel like setting up an Akwa Ibom Nobel prize solely for him. As president of the LBS Alumni, his tenure witnessed so much progress and as the co-visioner of the huge SO&U you will agree with me that he has forcefully taken a driver’s seat in that space too.

So, there I was just back from an eye-opening visit to the women’s war memorial in Ikot Abasi, in front of a relaxed Udeme and discussing as usual my favorite topics – leadership, business, impact and sex.

I left out the sex part before the bobo kick me out before I finish the 12 deliciously made goat meat they had put in front of me.

Udeme was so knowledgeable that I barely spoke. I like to listen whenever I come in contact with giants. You can ask Prof Adesegun, Akin Olugbade or my Egbon Aig Imoukhuede. When I met those ones, I just keep quiet make dem talk.

He took me through the formation of SO&U thereby showing me the radical trajectory the industry took with that formation, challenges of the industry with the proliferation of professional bodies, the market space and new innovations.

Our talks went into leadership, its characteristics and its uses for the greater good. By this time my brother Eteka who had finished all the goat meat on his plate was getting jittery. Him no be great man so all these great men talk was boring him, the man needed to watch premiership. I ignore him and sat and learnt.

This is the secret of my wisdom. I look out for people like Udeme and get them to talk to me. So, if I have not asked to come pay you a visit, go check your DNA or see if you be APC member. Kai, I don run o.

JUSTICE EYO ITA: SUNSETATDAWN This week, I am in my copycat mode. I don first thief the Guinness advert on my write up on Udeme, I have now come and thief from Prof Wole Soyinka this title. But did he say it like this, Sunset at dawn or something else, but wetin concern me.

Justice Ita has just retired from the bench.

The former acting Judge of Cross River State was recently retired from the bench after hitting the constitutionally-approved 65 years.

You will say, Duke, what is your problem

everything about him and found out that he was still amongst the very few that remained. His positions on issues, his judgments and his general outlook towards leadership and nation building continue to attract me.

So, when I saw the news that he was being pulled out, I had to just do this piece to say well-done and thank you for such a novel career.

I look forward to meeting with you sir and it must be in Calabar o so that I can finally get to eat Asi’s afang over bowls of freshly made palm wine and you can now tell me about your three-month tenure as acting judge and what you really really think about Your Governor. Trust me I won’t tell a soul, I can keep a secret. Happy retirement sir.

Sanwo-Olu

with this one again.

Well, let me say this that I know the distinguished Judge by proxy. I am a friend of his beautiful daughter, Oten. Not that kind of friendship o before you guys make the judge to come out of retirement to dock me.

She is what I want to call a mentee. She invited me to a food tasting that she and her sister Assi Archibong were organising.

Apparently, she got my number from

Effiom-Ita

Usman- my brother the one who is doing the Friska Sex tea that is capturing the imagination of men above 50.

Well anyways, I could not make it so I called Oten to say sorry and from there talk started. She is so well brought up that I took up interests. During long talks and chats I found out a lot about her father. His love for books, his advice and his admonishments. I became enamoured.

I googled him and started reading up

EX-EMIR SANUSI: BE STILL FOR A WHILE Mbok anybody that is close to this oga, should please tell him to calm down a bit o.

I have just seen a very powerful script from Professor Ahmed Yerima titled: ‘Sanusi’.

Remember Prof wrote and directed the phenomenal Aremu and he has dropped another very powerful script on my lap just now.

Sanusi is a beautiful story. It takes the whole engagement from the thought processes of two Dogaris who served ex-Emir Sanusi’s grandfather and also served him. They tried to plot the drama on that one’s dethronement and also the dethronement of this one and in the process the whole intrigues, the power play, the culture and the norms of the Fulani are beautifully expounded.

That I love this story is an understatement.

I can see the colour on the stage, the dances, the intrigues and for the first time in Nigerian theatre we will see a mini-durbar on stage.

Sanusi

My plan is to put this play in Lagos and Abuja at the same time another first.

I can see a 200-man cast in both cities, two director’s massive media push and a strong desire to open up the Fulani culture in a way that would lead to a better understanding and hopefully peaceful co-existence.

Now the wahala; how will I find the money, if baba keep talking all these talks that he is talking? I know the things he is saying are fitting and very engaging at this time. I remain a huge fan, but make he calm down until I find the money if not people go dey fear to support the play o and I no go fit pay school fees.

So Lord Ex- Emir just calm down small. I need only three months if you don’t grant any interview for three months, you will not die na. Mbok, make this sacrifice and let’s do this thing o. If not, I will just vex and throw away the script I cannot come and kill myself o. Thank you

GBEMI SHASORE: A GIFT TO THE BOOK World Let me put this into proper context. When I released my book, Loudwhispers, which is a compilation of all these write ups in this column, I took 20 copies each to three book shops. My people, three years after the books, still dey those shelves complete.

Nigerians don’t have that time.

Meanwhile, I had bullied and cajoled and blackmailed my friends and they all bought the remaining 800 copies.

Some of them use am do Corporate Gift, others like Ken Etete use am do Laptop stand on their tables and the rest just leave am for different places in their homes. I have seen my book in at least five toilets in this Lagos.

But not a problem as long as they have paid me. So, when I did my new book – Anonymous Nipples a very powerful book on sex- my big policeman friend has bought 10 copies so far don’t ask me what he is using it for o.

I did not bother to give any bookshop; I just sell my thing myself. Today, I have done about 900 copies with the same style of blackmail.

This one is easy, I will just call you and say if you don’t buy, I will text your password to madam, the next thing you will hear is ‘Edgar send 10 copies’.

So Nigerians don’t read, don’t buy books and could not be interested. So, when my sister decide to be dealing in books I look am with dismay. She is still standing; she is still pushing and has run the very important Quramo Book festival for five years. I weak o.

She even gives out a N1million prize for the best manuscript chosen by a distinguished panel. This time the panel was headed by my brother Jude Idada who remains one of the most influential theatre directors that I have worked with.

That is how I was asked by my sister to come and give a goodwill message. Me, wey I like to pose, I grab the opportunity. Dust up my N100,000 slippers that my brother Chike give me for my birthday two years ago, I climb stage and look at all the beautiful girls in the audience and proclaim that ‘you are looking at the Duke of Shomolu.’

This year’s Festival was brilliant. Femi Odugbemi of Tinsel came, Bikiya Graham Douglas came and my Egbon Toye of Platinum Capital broke the floor with a powerful pragmatic speech.

My Egbon erudite Olasupo Shasore was there not only to support his elegant madam but also previewed his soon to be released documentary on the lost something sha.

Me, I went twice and for me to do that ‘emean’ that the thing catch me. Well-done madam and the team at Quramo. Brilliant outing.

NONNY UGBOMA: A BRILLIANT BUTTERFLY I sha like to celebrate geniuses and they don’t come more beautiful than svelte Nonny Ugboma who until very recently was the Executive Secretary at the MTN Foundation.

Today, she has just commenced her doctoral degree in Innovation and Public Policy from the University College in London. This is immediately after finishing a Master’s degree from the same school with distinction.

At The Alvin Reports’ last discussion on Forex, she changed the course of the discussions with her concept of PUBLIC VALUE. That concept is novel and I believe should drive discussions going forward and seep into policy formulation.

Here is wishing Nonny the very best of times on this programme. Good luck and God bless.

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Kayode Ajulo, Living for Humanity

Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, the Peacemaker Certainly, Senator Florence ItaGiwa understand the imports of the Biblical teaching that “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God”when she recently played the role of a peacemaker in the imbroglio between award-winning musician, Innocent Idibia, otherwise known as 2Baba and his wife, Annie Idibia.

A few weeks ago, social media was abuzz when Annie had called out the musician over his relationship with one of his baby mamas, Pero Adeniyi.

Annie took to her Instagram page to vent saying, “I am a patient woman. I am not a fool, Innocent.Your family never loved me from the beginning. No matter how hard I tried. I was never worthy to them. I have made so many sacrifices for you and all your children. God knows I have tried.

“Your baby mamas constantly use your children as an excuse for all sorts of rubbish. I try to stay gracious.You are not the first man on the planet to have kids by different women.You can do better.

Everything I do is to show the good human that you are. But today, this move done by you, Efe, Frankie and your family is unacceptable. What kind of man takes his kids to Disney and spends nights in the same apartment with his kids and their mother? How many times have you gone to see your kids with Pero? And she stays with you and the kids under the same roof?”

Though she deleted the post some minutes after, 2Baba’s brother Charles, replied to Annie on his own Instagram page, accusing her of using charm on his brother, among other allegations According to him,“You got married into a family of peace lovers… so peaceful that it’s actually an Idibia family flaw as I have come to realise.

Perhaps this has made you think that we must be fools, but trust me, we are not.

You are bringing up a Disney trip that happened pre-Covid-19 simply because you somehow cannot totally have your way today like you are used to? Trying to paint your husband bad publicly (because he is a very private person). Is this your threat tool and means of gaining control? …and I thought you were smart, abi dey (sic) dealer gave you the wrong dose today?

“Asking your mum who lives in one of the bedrooms to add more fire to the Juju pot would have been a smarter move, but as God will have it, you choose today to expose yourself.You better finish what you started this night, because maybe, just maybe the public might just help us all. Inno is dying slowly, never seen a man so unhappy in real life, but we must all maintain ‘peace’ that has never existed from day one. I’m done. The Idibia family never gave you peace, you say, please bring out all the wrong we did to you and post on your page please, because I have a lot to say, and I’m going to say it regardless.”

While the drama lasted, the music icon simply kept mum, and later jetted out to the US. Not a few believed it was a publicity stunt, but some feasted on the story that trended for many weeks.

Ita-Giwa

Ajulo

Famous lawyer and rights activist, Dr. Kayode Ajulo, is known for living for humanity, believing that love should truly be our religion.

Recently, he made a bold statement that he is Unarguably, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, a former Ogun State governor, is not a pushover in the political setting in Nigeria. Apart from being the first former governor of the state to complete a second term, he is also the first former governor of the state to align with the central government. He was a strong member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and one of those who kept the structure of the party for so long.

Between 2003 and 2011, his administration brought about unprecedented developments in the state. However, shortly after he left office in 2011, his successor, Ibikunle Amosun, literally dealt him a deadly blow, as many of his property, including his multimillion Naira hotel in the state, were allegedly seized. Also, he had to fight many wars in the process.

Even in the face of all the challenges, he tried, within his humanly possible power, to keep the structure of the party in the state.

He was kayoed politically by the late Buruji Kashamu, and almost lost his voice in the party.

Not a few would agree that the war was hot and fierce, as he and Ibikunle refused to see eye-toeye. Several PDP stakeholders’ efforts to settle the fight proved abortive, as they vowed not to surrender to each other. Things got so bad that he even announced his retirement from active

one given to walking the talk when he rescued an unknown teenage boy, Adeolu Bamiteko, from the hangers’ noose and also gave him a second chance at living right.

In 2017, Bamiteko and his accomplice, Ayobami Ojo, was arrested and subsequently charged with robbery and unlawful possession of firearms. At the end of the trial, the judge, Justice J.O Adeyeye, had sentenced Bamiteko to death.

Immediately Ajulo got wind of the damning fate of Bamiteko in Ekiti, he moved with the speed of light to offer his legal representation, pro bono. He filed a notice of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/EK/41C/2020 at the Court of Appeal, Ekiti Division.

In his appeal, he maintained that the prosecution failed to prove its case against Bamiteko beyond reasonable doubts. Ajulo also contended, among others, that the prosecution failed to call the alleged victim as a witness in the case and that the purported confessional statements of the accused persons, which were admitted in evidence, were recorded in Yoruba Language and translated into the English

Gbenga Daniel’s New Headache politics at a point.

But typical of a political strategist that he is, he teamed up with the incumbent governor of the state, Prince Dapo Abiodun, and eventually got back his political groove when Abiodun won the governorship race. He would later defect to the ruling All Progressives Party (APC). This, it was gathered, was mainly to achieve his ambition of getting into the Upper Chamber come 2023.

However, Society Watch gathered that things might not be exactly the way he planned, as the dream is fast evaporating before his eyes, even before kicking off. It was learnt that the issue is currently tearing him and Abiodun apart and they are both said to be on a warpath over their different interests.

Our source disclosed that the two gladiators are not in agreement over who should be the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Ogun East Senatorial seat, currently being

5RWLPL :LOOLDPV· /DWH 6RQ /DGL 8QIXOÀOOHG 'UHDP

Williams

Top fashion entrepreneur and boss of AB Rollings Clothiers, Abiodun Odukoya, is a man full of pragmatic ideas and beautiful dreams. At the dawn of his career as a fashion designer, one of his dreams was to rule the world of fashion and also inspire budding clothiers. By Providence, the high-flying man can be said to be living his dream, as he has spread his tentacles far and beyond.

Popularly known as “Father”, his interest in fashion is legendary and he has pursued this with infectious zeal for over two decades.

He first opened A.B. One Store on Adelabu Street, in Surulere, Lagos many years ago to cater to the needs of impressionable upwardly mobile young men and women in Lagos at the time.

His entrepreneurial spirit has also been evident in diverse fields. For example, he founded the first local community

Language. He also pointed out that the Yoruba version of the statements was not tendered before the court.

According to him, there was no admissible or reliable evidence as to where, when and how Exhibit C (the bag allegedly belonging to the accused that contained a locally made pistol, a knife, four mobile phones, a wrist-watch, a necklace and N50 note) was allegedly recovered from the accused.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on September 28, 2021, the four-man panel led

by Justice Theresa Ngolika Oriji Abadua agreed with the position of the appellant’s counsel and set aside the judgment of the trial court in its entirety. The appellate court, consequently, discharged and acquitted Bamiteko of the offences for which he was charged.

Beyond offering his legal representation, Ajulo has integrated young Bamiteko into society by giving him a chance to become reformed.

It is no longer news that Chief Oladipupo Rotimi-Williams lost his life to COVID-19 last week. His death is not a loss only to his family, but to the entire law business in the country. If he had any unfulfilled dreams, it is his inability to witness the end of the smouldering legal war with his brother, Folarin.

For some time now, there has reportedly been no love lost among the four children of the late legal luminary, Rotimi Williams, as they were said to have formed different camps, and are also engaging in backbiting, name-calling, mudslinging and throwing of tantrums. At different times, they have even dragged one another to court, petitioned the anti-graft agency, EFCC, and the police. They are sharply divided over the estates of their late father who was a legal icon during his time.

Society Watch gathered that the crisis took a new dimension a few months ago, as the late Oladipupo Williams, SAN, dragged the

Daniel

occupied by Senator Lekan Mustapha. It appears Abiodun is supporting his Secretary to the State Government, Tokunbo Talabi for the office.

Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) before a Federal High Court to ascertain circumstances surrounding the indebtedness of his brother, Folarin and two others in relation to the estate of their late father.

He urged Justice Daniel Emeka Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Lagos to direct and compel AMCON to make available to him copies of documents contained in the file of his brother, Folarin and two others, Lambo Jumoke Oguntuga and Kemi Sheri Williams, with regard to the sum of N2,303,470,835.43 in which they stand indebted, and any other details regarding the loan.

The late Ladi alleged that Folarin might have used part of the unconstituted Estate of their late father (which he is not beneficiary to), to secure the loan to which he is now indebted.

Consequently, he had requested the details of the collateral as well as other documents regarding the loan obtained. But with his passing, he will never have the opportunity to follow the trial scheduled to continue on October 12, 2021.

+LJKÁ\LQJ )DVKLRQ (QWUHSUHQHXU Abiodun Odukoya, Soars Higher newspaper, “Surulere Chronicle”, Lagos. He was a pioneer agent at the advent of GSM in Nigeria and he has retained an interest in security doors and vaults.

Recently, he was again in the news when Obi Cubana stopped by at the A.B. Rollings Clothiers Store on Edgware Road in London to buy some exclusive clothes and also ordered some personalised bespoke outfits.

It was gathered that the quiet but fashion savvy designer was on hand to personally attend to Cubana’s high-end needs.

AB Rolling Clothiers also has on its clientele base some eminent Nigerians, especially entertainers and businessmen who

L-R: Odukoya and Obi Cubana.

like their attires customised.

The Ogun State-born clothier, in all his dealings, comes across as a perfectionist.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ JUNE 24 2012

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

10.10.2021

A section of the artist's studio

AN ARTIST’S WORLDVIEW AND THE ECONOMICS OF A LARGER WORKSPACE For Abuja-based artist Obi Nwaegbe, his recently-expanded workspace in Abuja’s Mpape district represents a significant milestone in his career, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes

T

here is something dreamlike about reliving the fact that, not too long ago, Obinwaegbe Studios started as a home studio and o΀ce space. Thus, from its modest beginnings, it has now expanded into an adjoining Àve-room workspace in the same building, which consists of two studios, two gallery spaces and an o΀ce.

“This commemorates a six-year-long exercise to launch a reputation within the Abuja art community, and its collaborators in diplomatic circles, as well as in private and public establishments,” oͿers Obi Nwaegbe by way of explanation.

Well, isn’t there a lot to be said for resilience after all? For this was what has brought the Delta State native and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka-educated artist this far and sustained him in the limelight.

Getting here to Catherine’s Court – tucked away somewhere in Abuja’s fast-developing Mpape district – that sunny Thursday, September 30 afternoon didn’t take that long. At a moderate speed, the artist’s gold-tinged 2003 Honda Accord made it in about 15 minutes.

“The issue of space is a primary concern to any artist and should assume a fundamental status in the planning,” the artist resumes.

“Before consigning works to galleries, an artist’s private space ought to be the Àrst attempt at presentation, at least in my understanding. One of the upsides of observing best studio practices is that it hands a certain level of agency to the artist and the ability to make works appreciable to visitors, which, in many cases, involve art dealers and/or galleries.”

For the 43-year-old, it is not just about getting a breather from that samey feel arising from default conÀnement to the studio as a mere production outlet. The real deal is that he has found a way around a potentially incapacitating

Nwaegbe

A close-up on the artist's working tools

over-reliance on galleries and art dealers, which could rob him of some social and economic acumen. Now, he no longer has to cede the prerogative of the primary sales of his works to either of them as collaborating partners, albeit under mutually beneÀcial agreements.

Nor does he have to depend on anyone else to display his works.

“Fashioning my studio to include a display space is intended to mitigate some of these challenges for my works and open a conducive environment for artist/public exchange. It also serves to expand on already existing art galleries and studios in the nation’s capital city, which is growing but remains largely inadequate in accommodating the increasing number of artists and expanding their outreach.”

It is also from this space that his ancillary venture, Artstier Company Limited, operates.

Through the latter’s website, direct viewing and purchases of the artists’ paintings can be initiated. It was also conceived to periodically host programmes and exchanges for the federal capital city’s growing art community. “The long-term goal is to achieve international repute working from Nigeria and setting the pace

about what is creatively possible, even within struggling economies,” the 43-year-old adds.

Indeed, working as a visual artist from Nigeria – particularly from Abuja – does have more than its fair share of Áip sides. But nothing beats the bittersweetness of living a lifelong passion.

From being encouraged to draw and sketch, as a Àve-year-old, by his dad, who was a professor of English at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he eventually studied Àne and applied arts at the university.

He had no sooner completed the one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps programme, which saw him serving in the Nassarawa State capital LaÀa, than he rushed headlong into full-time studio practice, Àrst living and practising in Lagos before relocating to Abuja.

Meanwhile, the predisposition to scour beneath the obvious in the quest for unique interpretations of his daily life experiences has always primed him for productive art practice.

Thus, he found himself working on diverse themes over his almost two decades of studio practice. And the themes, which were at the same time socio-anthropological and political,

have helped Àne-tune his artistic credo.

Meanwhile, the evolution of his style, which began natural representation, was accelerated by his exposure to the inÁuences of other artists and their works. Working with oil, acrylic – and sometimes, with watercolour and pastels, he seems to have found his comfort zone in a stylised version he calls “abstract expressionism”.

As for the business side of his practice, Nwaegbe has not done badly for himself even when he says that it has been challenging.

Indeed, not many artists of his generation seem to have enjoyed a narrative arc as fulÀlling as his. Besides, his works have been well received during his exhibitions – which includes the joint show he held last year with another artist from Thursday, December 3 to Saturday, December 12 at the Dolapo Obat Gallery in Habiba Plaza, along Osun Crescent in the upscale Maitama district – and his brief stay in Ghana.

Artists, he believes, should be their Àrst gatekeepers – “critical voice,” he calls it – before showing their works to the public. “The standard with which artists operate determines a lot what the galleries can present,” he argues. “If the artist operates a low and mediocre production and presentation, the possibilities are high that the gallery will do same unwittingly. So, the Àrst person to set the pace on standards is the artist or art studio.”

Amidst all this, he considers his social life as tangential to his studio practice. A “two-way tra΀c”, as he once described it, he would rather Àrst deÀne his goals and focus before adapting his available time to a social circle. “My journey in this regard has me keeping smaller circles as I grow older to devote the maximum time I require for my work.”

So, back to the workspace at Catherine’s Court, it is the artist’s latest endeavour to make his art more accessible to the public.

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@thisdaylive.com

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

ARTS & REVIEW\\MOVIE

SWALLOW’S INVALUABLE LESSONS IN INTEGRITY AND HARD WORK Yinka Olatunbosun

A

NetÁix original crime drama Swallow directed

by Kunle Afolayan hit the streaming site on Nigeria's 61st Independence Day igniting mixed reactions.

It's the Àrst in the threemovie deal between Kunle Afolayan Productions and the streaming site to tell African stories with global relevance.

With an exclusive premiere held in the 120-capacity cinema inside the new Golden EͿects Studio in Ikeja, the anticipation was high. Afolayan, known for his top-quality cinematography and creative shots is a very daring director. Against the odds of delivering the ideal locale, he decidedly shot the period movie in mostly at the Central business district in Lagos- a place that has gained notoriety for replacing architectural landmarks with urban structures.

The movie Swallow, based on a 2008 novel of the same title written by the award-winning author, SeÀ Atta tells a simple story of survival through the eyes of a young Yoruba lady, Tolani Ajao (Eniola “Niyola” Akinbo). Set in 1985, the movie kicks oͿ in Makoku village, Tolani's hometown where her dyer mother lives.

Downcast, Tolani returns to her mother with a sad story of an eventful and truncated career life in Lagos. Her narrative voice built such a huge suspense for the audience who follow as she recounts her ordeal in Lagos and the consequences of her bad choices.

Although, the plot is crafted with a moralist thrust, the audience is still able to empathise with the bad girl- Tolani's friend and Áatmate Rose Adamson (Ijeoma Grace Agu), a care-free lady whose hard work was rewarded poorly with sexual harassment and termination. Her boss and the branch manager of a Federal

Poster picture for the movie movie, 'Swallow.'

'Swallow ' Community Bank, Lamidi Salako (Olusegun Akinremi) provokes her into a Àght leading to her dismissal. Rose's dream of conquering poverty through hard work was erased the moment she meets O.C money, a drug dealer in search of a mule.

Despite having a plot that revolves around drug tra΀cking, Swallow’s existential themes still resonate amidst today's realities. Just as there was a mad rush into drug tra΀cking in the 80s, contemporary Nigeria grapples with internet scams perpetrated mostly by unemployed youths as an alternate to the nine-to-Àve job that does not always guarantee adequate income for a decent living.

The story gets its romantic twist with Tolani and her unemployed boyfriend, Sanwo (Deyemi Okanlawon) as well as Rose’s

toxic relationship with O.C money with the shadow of her ex-boyfriend haunting her. Fortunes change for the two ladies who face sexual harassment in their work environment- attesting to the timelessness of the “me too challenge.

As a period drama, the burden of visual plausibility lies with the director and how he manages the various elements of the production. From vintage cars to old stereo sets, the production design is spot on. Using soundtrack, Afolayan properly situates the story in the early 80s with Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Eko but for the club scene where Felix Liberty's 1989 hit, Ifeoma is used. The appropriation of Ifeoma song for a story that dates back to early 80s is tricky for establishing historical accuracy.

Felix hails from Edo state, just as Rose in

the movie and was rumoured to be peddling drugs at that time. So, the use of his song as soundtrack must have been a connotative interpretation of the story because the early 80s in Nigerian music scene boasts of a slew of pop hits from the likes of Stella Monye, Sonny Okosun and Chris Okotie that could have been explored.

Undoubtedly, Afolayan has a knack for nurturing impossible actors which is one artistic risk he is willing to take to bring fresh voices to the global screen. Consider Niyola, the sophisticated-looking singer who assumed the Tolani character pitched up with Deyemi Okanlawon, who played Sanwo. Both actors struggled to be Áuent in Yoruba but they made up for that with the undeniable chemistry. Niyola could use some acting coach just as Temi Otedola in the movie “The Citation.” Niyola seemed too gentle to convince us to believe that Tolani is a self-willed woman. Although that deceptive persona exists in real life situations, in movies, characters are created to be plausible to the viewer not imagined. The subplots, although marked by weak dialogue, did contribute subtly to the development of the main storyline, scoring a Àrst movie role for Oreofeoluwa Lawal-Babalola, the young boy who went viral in a video shared on social media begging his mother to “Calm down”.

His Àrst scene appearance in Swallow turns out to be very impressive, making Afolayan's casting experimentation worthwhile.

Rose’s characterisation is the spine of the movie and the soul of its dialogue. Hers is a classic example of a supporting actor that eclipses the lead. A natural actor, Agu makes the Rose character totally believable throughout the scenes: when she cooks, parties, boards a bus to work or shows up with new shoes. Agu is really a discovery.

Sanwo's character reinforces the value of responsible men who don't live oͿ their women or move on with other women once their fortune changes.

The Áashback technique lends credence to the Tolani character. That reoccurring visual reference has a direct hold on how Tolani evolves and how her values and family contrast Rose's.

Rated 13, the movie Swallow teaches invaluable moral lessons of integrity and hard work.

VISUAL ARTS

CHIGOZIE OBI, NOW ACCESS BANK ART X PRIZE WINNER Yinka Olatunbosun

A

multi-dimensional visual artist, Chigozie Obi has emerged as the winner of the 2021 Access Bank ART X Prize. Obi was selected by an esteemed jury, headed by Wura Natasha-Ogunji from a shortlist of Àve Ànalists including Chukwudi Onwumere, Mobolaji Ogunrosoye, Nyancho NwaNri, and Omoregie Osakpolor.

Obi stood out for her use of vibrant colours and Àgures to portray emotions and stories formed from personal experiences and focuses on the representation of Black people in their diversity. She will receive prize winnings of N1.8m towards a solo exhibition at ART X Lagos, tailored mentorship support, and as well as a residency at Gasworks, London.

The 2021 edition of the Access Bank ART X Prize was adjudicated by a jury of Àve renowned artists and industry stakeholders, namely Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Ugoma Adegoke, Ndidi Dike, Marie-Ann Yemsi, Dexter Wimberly, Alessio Antoniolli, and Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze.

At the formal event to announce the winner held at EbonyLife Place in Victoria Island, Lagos, the other Ànalists were introduced brieÁy to the audience who also had the opportunity to see a short documentary of ART X Lagos’s journey through six years.

One of the Ànalists, Chukwudi Onwumere is a photographer whose interest in the medium grew while documenting the beautiful city of Lagos. Onwumere has evolved from landscape painting to Àne art and documentary photography. Onwumere was among the photographers commissioned by Q dance in the Àrst edition of Dance Gathering (2017). He was a Ànalist in the United States Embassy

L-R_ Tokini Peterside (Founder, ART X Lagos), Chigozie Obi (Access Bank ART X Prize winner), Amaechi Okobi (Group Head of Corporate Communications for Access Bank) (1) Photo Competition, Nigeria (2018), a Ànalist in Lagos Photo Festival (2019), amongst other feats.

Mobolaji Ogunrosoye is a self-taught conceptual artist whose practice revolves around subject matters of selfhood, body image, and the impact of societal inÁuences on personal identity. Using photography and collaging techniques, Ogunrosoye documents physicality and emotion by studying archival material.

Ogunrosoye held her Àrst solo exhibition;

Loose Woman, curated by A White Space Creative Agency, in 2018.

Nyancho NwaNri is a lens-based artist and documentary photographer whose works explore identity, the human psyche, indigenous African spiritual traditions and knowledge systems, as well as social and environmental issues. Her works have been showcased at various exhibitions and festivals including Eyes On Main Street Festival, North Carolina, USA, (2021); The Oceans and Its Interpreters,

Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, (2020); ART X Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria in 2019.

Omoregie Osakpolor is a documentary photographer and Àlmmaker whose work focuses primarily on social justice and culture.

Through his art, Osakpolor expresses his thoughts and tells human stories with the hope to critically engage his society. His works have been exhibited in group exhibitions including the 12th Bamako Encounters (2019); Thought Pyramid Art Centre (2019) and others in Lagos, Abuja, and Benin City. His short Àlm “Grey” won the Fashola Photography Foundation Prize.

The sixth edition of ART X Lagos in 2021 will be a hybrid oͿering, with a physical fair from November 4 to 7 November and a parallel online fair extending from November 4 to 21.

The fair will deliver an expanded program that will include the presentation of 30 of Africa and the diaspora’s leading galleries, a talk session, and specially curated projects both in person and at the online fair.

The Founder, ART X Lagos, Tokini Peterside expressed her gratitude for the support of friends of ART Lagos.

“Art X Lagos has been a group eͿort,’’ she remarked. “When the pandemic hits, and you are in the business of experiential, arts and event, you would wonder what would become of a platform like ART X Lagos that brings thousands of people to one destination.

I really hope that we can come back this year with the hybrid fair,’’ she said.

The Group Head, Corporate Communications, Access Bank Plc, Amaechi Michael Okobi assured the ART X collective of the unwavering support of the Ànancial institution.

“Artists in general help to change the current narrative to show that good can come of Nigeria and Africa. Access Bank will continue to support the Access Bank ART X Prize,’’ he said.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

CICERO

Editor: Ejiofor Alike SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

IN THE ARENA

N’Assembly and the ‘Unknown Terror Sponsor’ Nigeria’s 469 federal legislators have been put on the spot as suspected financiers of terrorism and separatist agitations following President Muhammadu Buhari’s 61st Independence Day anniversary speech and foggy allegation, Louis Achi writes

F

ollowing President Muhammadu Buhari’s October 1, 61st Independence Day anniversary address, where he alleged that an unnamed federal legislator is the financier of terrorism and separatist agitation, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ben Igbapka, was detained for four hours at Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport.

Moving quickly, the Ghanaian government has apparently placed members of the Nigerian National Assembly on watch list following President Buhari’s national day address insinuating that one legislator was sponsoring local terrorism and secessionist agitation.

Igbapka said he was informed by the Ghanaian authority that they wanted to make sure those Nigerian lawmakers who had already been tagged as sponsoring terrorism did not come into the country to cause problem. He noted that by not naming the member of the National Assembly who was allegedly sponsoring secessionist groups in the country, Buhari has made all the 469 lawmakers suspects.

Igbapka spoke at the plenary on Tuesday where he moved a motion under Order 6 Rule 2 and Section 17 (A) of the Legislative Houses (Powers And Privileges Act 2017.

He declared that his privileges had been breached by the president’s address. The lawmaker revealed that a few days earlier, he was in Ghana to attend a wedding ceremony, and was detained for four hours based on the allegation made by the president. In his ruling, House Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila said Igbapka’s motion was noted and that the House would get back to him on the issue.

In the 33rd paragraph of Nigeria’s 61st Independence Day anniversary address, President Buhari had alleged that highprofile financiers were funding terrorist and separatist activities in the country.

He then stated that his administration is vigorously chasing these terror funders, particularly a serving member of the 9th National Assembly.

Igbapka His words: “The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals. We are vigorously pursuing these financiers including one identified as a serving member of the National Assembly.”

The emerging consensus is that the president has all the state apparatus to track, identify, name, prosecute and shame terrorism sponsors in the country. Why is he holding back? Current strategies of effective anti-terror war show that identification and efficient blockage of their funding, which is its critical facilitator will lead to quicker conclusion of anti-terror warfare.

This has guided the new design of counter terrorism templates in many

countries today. It is paying off handsomely. The Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended) expressly prohibits the funding of terrorism. This Act tacitly recognises that funding is a key driver of terrorism.

Although President Buhari didn’t mention Boko Haram within the contest of his peculiar allegation, that insurgency group has killed over 40,000 people with two millions displaced, according to reports.

Current developments by the UAE and US governments which have taken specific actions and offered a helping hand to Nigeria, indicate in clear terms the path Nigeria ought to thread in battling its long-drawn anti-terrorism war.

It could be recalled that recently, authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) named six Nigerians with ties to

insurgent group Boko Haram as terrorist financiers. The UAE Cabinet issued Resolution No 83 of 2021, designating a total of 38 individuals and 15 entities on its approved list of persons and organisations supporting Boko Haram and other terrorist cause.

The resolution demands that regulatory authorities monitor and identify any individuals or entities affiliated with or associated with any financial, commercial or technical relationship and take the necessary measures according to the laws in force in the country in less than 24 hours.

Nigerians on the UAE’s terrorism list were Abdurrahaman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad. These six Nigerians have been previously tried and sentenced in UAE. The UAE news agencies reported that the resolution underscored the country’s commitment to target and dismantle networks that finance terrorism and its related activities.

It would be recalled that in April 2019, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal sentenced both Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saliuh Yusuf Adamu to life imprisonment, followed by deportation. Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, and also followed by deportation.

The court found them guilty of setting up a Boko Haram cell in the UAE to raise funds and material assistance for the insurgents in Nigeria. In December 2019, a UAE Federal Supreme Court also turned down an appeal by the six Nigerians, upholding the ruling of the appeal court. The Nigerians were said to have transferred up to $800,000 in favour of Boko Haram between 2015 and 2016.

In weighing the 8th and subsisting 9th National Assembly, many observers are surmising that such quirky presidential allegation of terrorism sponsorship by an unnamed federal lawmaker was sufficient to draw at the least a slap on the wrist from the federal legislators’ leadership.

Whatever the case may be Nigerians are waiting and watching.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

Coast Clear for Southern Presidential Candidates?

Ugwuanyi

The 94th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last Thursday raised hopes for the emergence of a southern presidential candidate for the party when it rose in support of the governors of the party, and unanimously adopted the report of the National Convention Zoning Committee (NCZC).

The NCZC, chaired by the Enugu State Governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, had zoned the national chairmanship of the party to the North.

This development has effectively brightened the possibility of a southern presidential candidate, since the chairman of the party and its presidential candidate cannot emerge from the same zone.

By PDP’s arrangement, the next presidential candidate should have come from the North after former President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.

But with the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari who is enjoying his second term, power cannot go back to the North in 2023,

otherwise it will defeat the spirit behind the PDP’s zoning arrangement, which is to ensure equity and justice.

The objective of the PDP’s zoning arrangement is to ensure that power rotates between the North and South every eight years.

Since the North has enjoyed its slot under the All Progressives Congress (APC), it is expected that both the APC and the PDP should present southern candidates in the 2023 presidential poll.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

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BRIEFINGNOTES

Ganduje in the Eye of the Storm When a video clip allegedly showing the Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, stuffing his pockets with bundles of dollar notes suspected to be kickback from contractors was released in 2018, the governor instituted a N3 billion libel suit against a publisher, who allegedly released the video. But as soon as the dust settled, he cleverly filed an application seeking to discontinue the court case and was ordered by the court to pay the defendant N800,000 as cost for expenses incurred.

Ejiofor Alike writes that the governor will require more than another short-lived court action to save his wife from the current corruption allegation made by her first son

G

overnor Abdullahi Umar of Kano State’s second term bid was threatened in October 2018 when a video clip allegedly showing the governor stuffing his pockets with bails of dollars suspected to be kickback from contractors, was released to the public by the Publisher of Daily Nigerian, Mr. Ja’afar Ja’afar.

The man who was claimed to be Ganduje was allegedly caught on camera stuffing his Babaringa with bundles of United States dollars. He was seen with another man who was alleged to be one of the state’s contractors.

In the video, the hands of the suspected contractor giving the person, claimed to be Ganduje the kickback was clearly visible while his face was hidden.

When the embarrassing video went viral, many Nigerians had thought that the video would nail the political coffin of Ganduje, considering the anti-corruption posture of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Many had expressed disappointment when President Buhari on January 31, 2019 endorsed the governor for a second term despite the weighty corruption allegation.

However, Ganduje denied being the person in the video.

“We wish to state that there is no iota of truth to these allegations and if indeed there is any such alleged video, it is at best cloned,” the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, had said in a statement.

“The government of Kano state is taking this matter seriously, and will exploit every appropriate and legal avenue to ensure that it gets to the root of the matter and the perpetrators are brought to book,” he reportedly added.

In an apparent ploy to allow the dust raised by the public scorn to settle, Ganduje dragged Ja’afar Ja’afar and others to court for defamation of character and seeking the sum of N3billion as damages.

But no sooner had the dust settled than the governor, through his counsel, Offiong Offiong filed an application dated June 28, 2021 seeking to discontinue the court case.

Expectedly, the counsel to Ja’afar Ja’afar, Mr. U. Eteng and counsel to Penlight Media Limited, Mr. MB Azumi did not object to the application to discontinue the case but demanded the sum of N400 million as part of terms to discontinue the suit.

While Azumi asked for N300 million for damages for wasting their precious time and putting the reputation of his client’s image in jeopardy, counsel for Jaafar, Eteng demanded N100 million.

The defendant’s counsel also demanded an apology to be published in national dailies and a pre-action letter.

But the presiding judge, Justice Suleiman Na-mallam in his ruling granted the sum of N400,000 each to Ja’afar Ja’afar and his company, Penlight Media Limited (Daily Nigerian). He was however silent on the prayer by defendants for the governor to make a public apology in national dailies.

Ganduje

Another Kano State High Court had also insisted that the Kano State House of Assembly lacked the powers to investigate Ganduje over the allegation.

The presiding judge Ahmad Badamasi said the assembly has no capacity of probing a bribe investigation because it is a criminal offence.

Badamasi stated that collecting bribe from contractors is a criminal offence according to Sections 115 and 116 of Penal Code, and should be left for agencies under executive arms such as police and the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to investigate.

But the EFCC said its hands were tied because the governor enjoys constitutional immunity from criminal proceedings.

“The governor is still serving and constitutionally is covered by immunity. Being that as it may, the matter is in the instance sub judice,” the EFCC had posted from its Twitter handle, during a tweet meet organised by Tap Initiative for Citizens Development, a public accountability think-tank.

Ganduje’s family is now facing another corruption allegation following the petition filed against the governor’s wife, Hafsat, a professor, by her first son, Abdulzeez Ganduje.

The governor’s wife was grilled for over five hours on Monday by the EFCC over an alleged involvement in a land scandal.

She was said to have been arrested after she allegedly ignored EFCC’s invitation following the petition filed against her by Ganduje’s first son.

She had earlier been invited to report to the EFCC office in Abuja on September 13. But she travelled to the UK at the time to attend the graduation ceremony of her son.

Following her refusal to honour the invitation, the EFCC then threatened to arrest her.

It was gathered that the governor’s wife, who was grilled over alleged illegal hijack of landed property worth billions of naira, was later granted an administrative bail.

Ganduje was said to have accompanied his wife to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, on Monday.

The governor and his wife returned to Kano on Tuesday morning.

The son, Abdulzeez, had dragged his mother to the EFCC over a property which he claimed the mother used her access to power to enrich herself.

Abdulazeez had reported to the anti-graft agency that he was approached by a property developer to help facilitate the acquisition of

some plots of land in Kano with some hundreds of thousands of US dollars and at least N35 million as “facilitation commission.”

It was further learnt that Abdulazeez alleged that he paid the sum in dollars to his mother, Hafsat.

But three months later, the property developer was said to have discovered that the plots of land he had paid the first family for had been allocated to other buyers. He then requested to be refunded.

However, the state government has denied the arrest of the governor’s wife by the EFCC, saying it was mere rumours being peddled by mischief makers.

A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba expressed regrets that the content of the story could not be attributed to the purported arresting agency, the EFCC. Garba said the governor’s wife was not arrested or detained.

After the governor’s wife was granted administrative bail by the EFCC on Monday, she attended women empowerment programme in Danbatta Local Government Area on Tuesday to dispel the report that she was arrested.

Since this latest corruption allegation against Kano’s first family was made by the governor’s son, analysts wonder how the governor can use another court action to sweep the allegation under the carpet.

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Is Malami’s State of Emergency Threat in Anambra Genuine?

Following the state of insecurity in Anambra State ahead of the November 6 election in the state, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami has threatened a declaration of state of emergency in the state if the state government fails to ensure security of lives and property. Ejiofor Alike and David-Chyddy Eleke write that it is an act of hypocrisy that may have been motivated by a hidden agenda for the minister to blame the state government when it is the federal government that controls all the security agencies that maintain peace and democratic order in the country

W

ith the November 6 governorship election in Anambra State less than a month away, the security situation in the state has become a source of worry to many persons.

The state has remained in the news, as a result of random killings, maiming, arson and others.

The level of insecurity in the state came to a peak penultimate week when Dr. Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late former Minister of Information and former director general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Dora Akunyili, was murdered in the most gruesome manner, along with eight others.

In Ajalli, Orumba North Local Government Area, a police station was attacked and two policemen killed.

The vehicle of a member of the House of Representatives and former PDP governorship aspirant, Hon. Chris Azubogu was attacked, and his driver killed.

The gunmen also set ablaze the offices of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nnewi, Anambra State, leaving two people dead on their trail.

Also set ablaze was the Nnewi country home of a Lagos-based chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Joe Igbokwe.

The home of another prominent son of Nnewi and former minister, Dr. Chu Okongwu, was also invaded and burnt down, while security agents watched helplessly.

There is no doubt that the spate of killings has posed a threat to the forthcoming election in the state as the gunmen had reportedly shouted “no Biafra, no election,” during their attacks on public and private infrastructure.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had already painted a rather disturbing situation report on the November 6 governorship election.

Speaking at a meeting with security agencies on election matters in Abuja, Yakubu had expressed worry over the safety of his staff, voters and security personnel during the election in the state.

“The commission is particularly concerned about the safety of voters and Election Day staff, including security officials, who have also become the targets of these attacks. The thousands of young Nigerians that we intend to deploy for the election, most of them National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and university students, need to be reassured of their personal safety,” he explained.

On his part, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major Gen. Babagana Mungunu (rtd), had blamed security breaches and the increasing violence on those he described as separatist agitators.

He further declared that electoral facilities and materials could become targets of attacks during the election.

As the insecurity situation in the state heightens, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), have engaged each other in a war of words over who is responsible for the state of insecurity in the state.

The APC had first accused APGA of not

Malami doing enough to stem the tide of insecurity in the state. Senator Andy Uba, the party’s governorship candidate, had accused Governor Willie Obiano of having a hand in the increasing violence in the state for the purpose of putting off the scheduled election in the state.

Uba said with the huge monthly security vote collected by the governor and his wife, the security of the state ought to be better managed.

Uba spoke through the media director of his campaign organisation, Hon. Afam Ogene.

“Each time Gov Obiano clownishly adorns himself in military camouflage, does he do so for mere comic display,” Uba asked?

But in a swift response, APGA stated that by accusing Governor Willie Obiano of having a hand in the insecurity in the state, the APC was indirectly accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of ineptitude, since the president is the Chief Security Officer of the country.

The state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba who also doubles as the Director of Media and Publicity of the Soludo Campaign organization, argued that the “Anambra APC indicts President Buhari anytime it comments gratuitously on a negative security development in the state.

President Buhari, not Governor Willie Obiano, is the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and head of all security agencies in the country. Security is on the Exclusive List of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

“Each of the 36 state governors in the federation is merely the titular chief security officer of his state. No governor has control over the police force or the Department of State Services or the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in his state, let alone any of the Armed Forces. Even the Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG) is supervised by the state police command, like any other state vigilante service,” Adinuba explained.

As the controversy rages, the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, has intervened with a declaration that the federal government was determined to ensure a hitch-free election in the state, despite the wave of attacks and

Obiano killings in the state.

The minister spoke on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“So, what I’m saying, in essence, is that no possibility is ruled out by government in terms of ensuring the sanctity of our democratic order, in terms of ensuring that our elections in Anambra hold.

“And you cannot rule out the possibility of declaration of state of emergency where it is established, in essence, that there is a failure on the part of the state government to ensure the sanctity of security of lives, properties and democratic order,” the minister reportedly explained.

With the threat that the federal government would declare a state of emergency in the state if the state government failed to protect lives and property in the state, Malami’s intervention has become suspicious.

Malami’s threat has fuelled suspicion of a hidden agenda, given the fact that the minister is a top member of the APC Campaign Council for the Anambra election.

So, he cannot be trusted by the other political parties as an impartial arbiter in an election which he is campaigning for his party to win.

There are speculations that his position is a reflection of the agenda of the Governor Hope Uzodimma-led campaign council to manipulate the election results, especially given the alleged desperation of the party to control the Southeast.

There was also an allegation that an unnamed South-east governor and a minister were behind the order issued by Justice Ubale of a Jigawa high court sitting in Birnin Kudu, to stop the candidature of Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the candidate of APGA. Interestingly, both the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) had stopped this judicial rascality.

Also the planned attempt by INEC to keep the governorship election materials in Imo State, which was rejected by APGA, Young Progressives Party (YPP) and the PDP, was alleged to be part of the agenda to write the election results outside the state.

With the mutual suspicion already existing among the political parties in the state, Malami’s threat of declaration of a state of emergency has raised further concerns.

The parties have argued that it is as an act of hypocrisy on his part to blame the state government for the insecurity in the state when it is the federal government that controls the Police, Armed Forces, Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies that maintain peace and democratic order in the country Reacting to Malami’s threat, the Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Mr. C. Don Adinuba, described the minister’s comment as not just a strong indictment of Buhari who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces but a confirmation of the “worst fear of the Nigerian people that politicians outside Anambra State in collaboration with their local minions are behind the recent spate of killings in the state to frighten people from coming out to vote in the forthcoming polls, thereby enabling them to write the results they like”.

The commissioner further argued that the number casualties in the state was not even a fraction of the casualties in places like Borno, Zamfara, Katsina, Benue, Plateau, Yobe, Niger, Adamawa, Taraba, and others where terrorists have killed several thousands of civilians and successfully attacked military formations, slaughtering soldiers and other security officers.

“They have even brought down some sophisticated combat aircraft. Were elections not held successfully in these states in 2019?” he queried.

Both the PDP and the apex Igbo sociopolitical organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide have also kicked against a state of emergency in Anambra State.

PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement that a state of emergency was part of an alleged larger plot by the APC-led federal administration to manipulate the November 6 governorship poll.

Also in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Alex Ogbonnia, Ohanaeze warned the federal government against any contemplation of state of emergency in Anambra State or any other state in Igboland.

Ogbonnia argued that the deaths recorded in Anambra were nothing to compare to the records of states like Borno, Yobe, Niger, Plateau or even Benue state.

On his part, Governor Obiano on Thursday came hard on Malami, saying that he did not have Buhari’s support Obiano who spoke with journalists in the State House, after meeting with Buhari, said he had been assured that the president was only interested in a free and fair election in the scheduled governorship exercise in the state.

At the peak of the insecurity in Imo State in May, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali, had posted Abutu Yaro to take over from Nasiru Mohammed as the Police Commissioner in the state and the security situation was quickly brought under control.

With the posting of Echeng Eworo Echeng to take over from Tony Olofu as the new CP in Anambra State, coupled with the deployment of special forces in the state, it is expected that the security situation will improve drastically for the election to hold peacefully, otherwise Malami’s state of emergency option is suspicious.

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Map of Kogi State

Endless Intrigues over Power Rotation in Kogi 30 Years after Creation Ibrahim Oyewale writes on the controversy over power rotation, which has continued to cause ripples among the component parts of Kogi State in the past 30 years

T

he controversy over power rotation has become a quadrennial ritual during election season in Kogi State based on the tripod - Ebira, Igala and Okun tribes on which the Confluence State was created in 1991 by a former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (rtd).

Though power rotation was not expressly stated in any statute, including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is believed that there should be an understanding among the component parts of the state to make the arrangement work in the interest of peace, fairness and justice .

On August 27, 2021, the government and people of Kogi State celebrated a low-key anniversary of the creation of the state.

Of course, there was a cause for celebration of 30 years of the creation and peaceful coexistence of all the component parts of state.

Kogi State was created along with eight others on 27th August, 1991.

The creation of the then new state was celebrated with pomp and pageantry as the indigenes did not waste time in returning home immediately to face the challenges occasioned by new state creation.

This was however peculiar to all the new nine states created at that era.

The of people of the then newly created Abia, Delta, Enugu, Kebbi, Kogi, Jigawa, Osun, Taraba and Yobe states were very happy for the new opportunities and fresh beginning for the development of their various states.

The technocrats from the old Benue and Kwara states had rallied support for the military administrators who had piloted the affairs of the Confluence State from its inception in the spirit of one big family.The love for each other irrespective of tribes became the order of the day in the state.

The era of the military administrators from the late Colonel Danladi Zakari, Colonel Lassa Bzigu Afakiriya, the late Augustine Aniebo and Col. Paul Omeruo witnessed unity of purpose and determination with zeal to take Kogi State to the next level.

With the advent of the short-livedThird Republic in 1991, parochial interests had set in and tribal sentiments became a normal business in the bitter struggle for the control of the soul of the state.

The three major tribes in the state – Ebira, Igala and the Yoruba - speaking Okun people domi-

nated this struggle. However, the other minority groups - Nupe, Ebira Koto, Bassa and Gwari were not left out in the struggle for power.

In the last 30 years of the creation of Kogi State, power shift or power rotation, allegation of marginalisation, mistrust and distrust, among others, have remained the most contentious issues that dominated the politics of the state.

During the transition to civil rule that coincided with creation of the state, the Ebira and Okun people from the old Kwara State were unanimous in their decision to allow the Igala to take first shot at the number one seat at Lugard House in Lokoja following their harrowing experience in Benue State where they were denied the opportunity to aspire to become the governor.

One of the founding fathers of Kogi State from Central senatorial district who craved for anonymity, stated that “we decided to give power to an Igala man on platter of gold simply because an Ebira man was governor in Kwara State in the person of the late Adamu Attah who hailed from Okene and we thought that at the subsequent elections, power will be allowed to rotate or be shifted to the other districts of the state.”

He recalled that the collective efforts of the Igala, Ebira and Okun who had been together in the old Kabba province during the struggle for the creation of state, finally came to fruition in 1991.

It was gathered that one of major problems affecting the mutual agreement on power rotation was the quest for second term in office by the political gladiators from Kogi East senatorial district.

This was said to have destroyed the gentleman’s arrangement which could have strengthened the much expected unity for the nascent state.

No doubt it had been cries and hues of how Igala had marginalised the people of other parts of the state for close to 20 years in the areas of political appointments, elective offices and infrastructural development. It was equally alleged that the civil service was bastardised such that the Igala had more percentage of workers than Ebira and Okun put together in the service then.

The major factor, which the Igala took advantage of, is their population, which accounts for 52 per cent of the state.While the Kogi East has nine local government areas out of 21, the western senatorial district has seven local government areas and the Ebiras in the Central have only five local government areas.

However, before long, the Ebira and Okun began to express their disenchantment over the

undue dominance of Igala, threatening not to support candidates from Kogi East any longer.

Apparently disturbed by lack of development in the land, the Ebira vehemently became opposed to the continued domination by the Igala under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ex-governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris - led administration and decided to pitch tent with Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Watchers of political events in the state had argued that there was no genuine and sincere desire to shift power by the then outgoing governor.

Prior to 2015 governorship election, there was also no clear indication that power might be shifted as two powerful gladiators - the late Prince Abubakar Audu on platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Captain Wada of the PDP, emerged from the same eastern flank.

However, in what was described as divine intervention, the APC candidate, Audu died and power naturally shifted to Kogi Central with the current governor, Yahaya Bello, who is said to be changing the narratives, assuming office.

Still, Bello’s emergence did not address the agitation for the power shift in the state.

Kogi West had declared support for the second term bid of Bello to ensure power shift to the area in 2023.

But the Deputy Governor, Edward Onoja who hails from Kogi East is already eyeing the number one seat.

However, if the speculations and rumours making the rounds are anything to go by, then it may take a very long time for power to rotate in the state.

Ebira is allegedly laying claim to the fact that since Igala had spent over 18 years in the governorship seat, the Ebira should also retain power for 16 years in the state. Sources hinted that a powerful and influential personality in the present administration from Okene is currently being groomed to succeed Bello.

Kogi West Intensifies Agitation Meanwhile, the Okun Development Association (ODA) had during the celebration of the 30 years anniversary of creation of the state, demanded the governorship ticket for the Kogi West.

The President General, Okun Development Association, Femi Mokikan, while addressing journalists recently in Lokoja, explained that the Okun people are the most marginalised major ethnic group in the state in the area of employment, appointment, and project execution until

recently when there was paradigm shift in Bello’s administration Mokikan pointed out that on assumption of office, Bello had introduced a policy known as “EBIGO Agenda” meaning Ebira, Igala and Okun Agenda, stressing that the primary purpose of introducing EBIGO was to promote unity and oneness.

“Without an iota of doubt, the EBIGO Agenda is commendable and one of the best move of the New Direction Government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as it has confirmed that Kogi State belongs to all - Igala, Ebira and Okun as against the claims of some quarters in the past.

“Worthy of note and encomiums is the institutionalisation of this agenda in the area of appointments (both civil service and political), allocation and execution of projects. This is why Okun people will continue to be grateful to Kogi governor, for the establishment of one of largest Rice Mill in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area.

“Also, in the health sector, we are glad with the ongoing construction work at Isanlu General Hospital, Yagba East LGA, while the rehabilitation of the Kabba township road is no doubt a step in the right direction,” he explained.

He, however, pointed out that Okun is the only area in the state without a university as the East has the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, while the Central has the New Confluence University of Science andTechnology, Osara.

“This is why we’re appealing to the state government to as a matter of fact establish a University in Okun land to justify the equity, fairness and justice that form the mantras of the present administration. We also appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently sign into law the bill establishing Federal University of Agriculture, Kabba as done for some states in Nigeria recently.

“On the 2023 Governorship election, for the purpose of equity, fairness and justice the time has come for Okun land and Kogi West to present the next governor of Kogi State. As a matter of fact, the Igalas have produced three different governors namely, the late Prince Abubakar Audu, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and Captain Idris Ichala Wada while Ebiras are presently occupying the Lugard House for the second term.

“For the EBIGO Agenda of this administration to be institutionalised for even posterity sake, the next gubernatorial candidate should be zoned to Kogi West. By so doing, Governor Yahaya Bello will be leaving a legacy of unity that informed the introduction of the Ebira, Igala and Okun agenda,” he explained.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 10, 2021 • T H I S D AY

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

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GAVEL

Editor: Ejiofor Alike SMS: 08066066268 email:ejiofor.alike@thisdaylive.com

Senate Moves to Save Victims of Gunshots Udora Orizu writes that the Senate last week passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act, to enforce treatment for victims of gunshots

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t the plenary last week, the Senate in a yet another move to end the Áagrant disregard of human life by medical doctors, considered and passed for second reading a Bill seeking to amend the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act, 2017 to enforce treatment for victims of gunshots injury without a police report.

Over the years, people with gunshots wounds are routinely rejected by hospitals because of the tendency of the police to harass and incriminate medical doctors and other medical personnel for treating them without obtaining police clearance.

The erroneous assumption by the police was that every gunshot victim might have been an armed robber, who escaped from the their bullets or was involved in an altercation with their fellow criminals. Their assumption is also against the background of increase in arms proliferation and the worsening security situation in the country, such as Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, militancy in the Niger Delta region, Fulani herdsmen terrorism in the middle-belt, secession agitations, armed robbery, kidnapping and unknown gunmen killings in the South-west and South-east.

Aside fear of police harassment, another obstacle to the enforcement of this life-saving law, is the proÀt motive of hospitals. In emergency situation, a victim who was rushed to a hospital may not have any ready cash to deposit, leading to the hospital rejecting him/her with the usual excuse of lack of police clearance. This prejudice by hospitals denying traumatised gunshot victims and accident victims medical attention until police report is obtained as required by law has been a serious Áaw which has endangered the lives of many unlucky citizens, leading to many avoidable deaths. It is a very painful experience for families to lose their loved ones under such circumstances.

Previous Laws Enacted to Ensure Gunshots Victims are Treated Section 20 of the National Health Act 2014 had made a provision, stating partly that, “A health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person on emergency medical treatment for any reason. An oͿender is liable to a Àne of N100,000, a jail term of six months or both upon conviction.”

Also, on January 12, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017. The Act was among six other bills passed by the National Assembly.

It stipulates that a person with gunshot shall be received for immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria with or without initial monetary deposit.

Furthermore, it states that a person with gunshot wounds shall not be subjected to any inhuman or degrading treatment by any person or authority, including the police and other security agencies, in the process of having his or her life saved. The law certainly, represents a step forward in an attempt to respect human dignity and preserve life. It is uncivilised, indeed, inhuman, to abandon a traumatised and distressed person who urgently needs medical attention on the Áimsy ground that there is no police report on the circumstance of his or her injury.

According to the former Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, both public and private hospitals are involved in the implementation of the law; and a victim should be given immediate

A Promised Amendment by Gbajabiamila Few months back, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, at the opening of the 44th/45th Annual General and ScientiÀc Meeting (AGSM) of the West African College of Physicians (WACP), Nigeria Chapter in Abuja, said the House was working toward amending the National Health Act to address gaps in accessing healthcare, including funding for gunshot victims.

Gbajabiamila, who was represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Hon. Tanko Sununu, said in the amended Act, provisions were made for healthcare service providers to claim funds used to treat gunshot victims during emergencies.

According to higher, the proposed amendment Act was important as increasing cases of ¶no payment, no service’ for victims of gunshot wounds posed serious concern.

The ranking senator, however, explained that the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of gunshot Act, 2017, provides that every Hospital, public or private shall receive for treatment, with or without police clearance, with or without monetary deposit, persons with gunshot wounds, and criminalises contravention.

She noted that the Act provides a mechanism for reporting treatment of persons with gunshot wounds to police, and precludes persons from being the subject of embarrassing interrogation for helping victims.

Her words: “In a country where emergency response is almost non-existent, and getting victims to hospital is already burdensome, it is sad that where the victims make it to a hospital alive, they are still denied treatment and left to die.

“This is not only barbaric and inhumane, it is a violation of Hippocratic oath which medical professionals swear to. The situation is further made worse by the fact that obtaining these police reports has been commercialized by some, thus ensuring that there is no quick and easy way to get it done”.

Narrating an incident in December 2019, the legisator lamented that a victim, Moradeun Balogun, bled to death after she was stabbed at Gbagada in Lagos State and refused care at the nearest hospital where she had rushed to for medical attention.

Tinubu assured that the Compulsory Treatment of Victims of Gunshot Injuries Act when amended, would give cover to victims of gunshot injuries, knife wounds, and other life threatening emergencies.

She added that the amendment Bill is predicated on a need to ensure that the Act, passed into law in 2017, addresses the purpose for its enactment.

Contributing in support of the Bill, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, said that providing treatment for victims of gunshot injuries would assist security agencies in securing information from such persons needed to curb criminality in the country.

On his part, Senator Ibikunle Amosun insisted that the sanctity of life must be protected at all cost, adding that even if those people have committed those crimes, it is when they are alive that they can face the music, and others will learn from it.

The Bill after scaling second reading was referred by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, to the Joint Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and Health (Secondary and Tertiary) for legislative inputs. They were given four weeks to report back to the Senate.

The New Amendment by Senate Just like the Green Chamber, the Red Chamber at plenary last week considered a Bill to establish fund for treatment of gunshot victims. The Bill seeking to amend the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act, 2017, was sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos Central).

The proposed legislation, among others, seeks to establish the Medical Emergency Assistance Fund to cover the treatment of victims of gunshot, knife wounds, and other life threatening emergencies.

Leading debate on its general principles, Tinubu said that the intent behind the Compulsory Treatment and Care for the Victims of Gunshots Act, 2017, was to enforce treatment for victims of Gunshots injury.

She noted that prior to its enactment, victims of gunshot injuries were being refused treatment by hospitals, as a result of a misinterpretation of Section 4 of the Robbery and Àrearms (Special Provision) Act 1990.

What’s Expected after the Amendment The hospitals’ reason for rejection of emergency cases of this nature verges on the abuse of the most important fundamental human right – the right to life, as enshrined in Section 33 (1) of the 1999 Constitution. Many medical practitioners have forgotten their oath of office, and for this reason, when the lawmakers are done with the proposed amendment, they should embark on elaborate public enlightenment of relevant stakeholders on the details of the Gunshot Act and how imperative it is, especially on the penalties for its violation by doctors, nurses and the police.

The citizens also need to be abreast of these laws, so that legal remedies could be sought against individuals and institutions whose actions might lead to avoidable deaths under these gruesome circumstances of gun shots.

Furthermore the lawmakers should ensure that the objectives of the law are enforced this time, else just like the previous Acts, it will also become inherently defective.

Lawan and adequate treatment whether there is a cash deposit or not. He said further that a person with gunshot wound shall not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment or torture by any person or authority, including the police and other security agencies.

Admonitions by Police Regarding the Issue At several fora, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) restated that no ¶Police Report’ is needed before any government or privatelyowned medical facility could admit and render emergency services to any victim of gunshot wounds.

It took the concerted eͿorts of a former Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, who in 2015 re-issued a statement on the matter, and charged his o΀cers not to harass Nigerians and good Samaritans on this issue. He also reminded doctors that they were equally duty bound to treat victims wounds and further inform police of relevant facts.

Also, in May 2018, the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Imohimi Edgal made startling pronouncements over the vexatious issue, reminding oͿenders that there exists Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017 and the resultant penalty of Àve years jail for oͿenders.

Edgal’s admonition came after the sad story of an Ogun State based engineer, Adebayo Akinwunmi, 41, was reportedly shot by armed robbers in his house and eventually died with the family, after he was rushed to Reddington Hospital in a pool of his blood and doctors allegedly refused to attend to him insisting on a police report.

While the laws assented to by the executive arm of government and admonitions by the police were a welcomed development, which underscored the sanctity of life, however in spite of the Acts and police supposed stance, the flagrant disregard of human life by medical doctors has continued unabated.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

INTERNATIONAL AFRICOM, French Operation Barkhane and Africa’s Recidivist Insecurity: What Future?

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frica’s foreseeable problem goes beyond having COVID-19 as the next recolonization pandemic humanity will have to face. Recolonisation is likely to be a new special pandemic that will not be for biological warfare in design and origin, but which will require the re-digitization of the human cerebrum in application for political recolonization. These problems should still be differentiated from Africa’s future problem, which will be the use of the African territory to fight Islamic jihad, extremism wars and other military manifestations of clash of civilisations that have become imminent.

In this regard, the U.S. and other great powers are not likely to allow the use of their own environment as battle fields. They are most likely to prevent the influx of terrorists to Europe and America. Consequently, it cannot but be in their strategic calculations to seek to contain terrorism far away from their borders. As the terrorists are being chased out of Syria, with the reorganization of the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and possibility of its coming to aid and abet terrorism in Africa, Africa should be expected to sooner than later become a hot bed of military insecurities soon.

Africa is already a terra cognita for recidivist insecurity, ranging from armed banditry, armed insurrection, struggle for self-determination and secession, to a new wave of unconstitutional changes of Government, questionable constitutional changes aimed at prolonging the stay of incumbent leaders in power, and to protests against the AU and the ECOWAS, which are seeking to outlaw coups d’état. Without doubt, the African Union Peace and Security Mechanism has not been effective enough to be able to sanction African leaders engaging in sit-tight politics and corruption. The Mechanism has also not been able to prevent new coups which have been prohibited.

The coups in Niger, Chad, Mali and more recently in Guinea have clearly shown the limitations of the African Union in effectively nipping in the bud insecurity in Africa. Insecurity has become recidivist in Africa and there is not much African leaders can do.

With Africa of Al-Qaeda, can Europe and America have peace?

TheU.SandFrenchDesiderata How is the international community preparing to respond to the challenge? International terrorism is the global community’s public enemy numero uno that should be fought in every nook and cranny of the world. Not every Member State of the international community has the interest to provide leadership in the anti-global terror. In fact, there are state sponsors of international terrorism.

There are two solid options left for Africa to contend with in freeing Africa from the mainmise of international terror, and that is the acceptance of the United States option of AFRICOM (Africa Command) and the French option of Operation Barkhane in the main. Both options have the objective of fighting al-Qaeda terrorism in Africa in order to ensure safety and security of the Americans and the French back home.

For example, on February 6, 2007, President George W. Bush directed the creation of an AFRICOM to assume full responsibility for U.S. security interests in the whole of Africa, for which different commands had been responsible. In fact, it started as a sub-unified command of the US-European Command.

AFRICOM is one of the U.S. eleven military commands - the Africa Command, Central Command, Cyber Command, European Command Indo-Pacific Command, Northern Command, Southern Command, Special Operations Command, Strategic Command, Transportation Command, and the Space Command - established by the United States to contain the use of terror and protect U.S. national security interests in the governance of international relations.

Specifically, the AFRICOM, which has responsibility for all US Department of Defense operations, exercises, and security operations on the African continent, its islands nations and surrounding waters, began its initial operations on October 1, 2007, and became fully operational on October 1, 2008.

This was made possible following the reduction of US military forces stationed in Europe which made space available for the AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart. In this regard, what is the expected role and place of the AFRICOM in the emerging terrorist war showdown in Africa?

This question is necessary at this juncture because there is nothing to suggest that Africa will be given priority bearing in mind the emerging conflicts in the South China Sea region. It is useful to recall here the problem of Taiwan as well. There is most

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Biden likely to be a diplomatic show down between the Americans and the Chinese over the future of Taiwan agreement.

When the Communists took over Mainland China on October 1, 1949, thus compelling the Chiang Kai-Sheik government to flee from the southern provinces of China to Taiwan, with the ultimate objective of the Project National Glory or Project Guoguang, a project aimed at recapturing Mainland China, the issue of status of Taiwan was specifically raised. The ousted leader of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-Sheik, considered that Taiwan was an integral part of Mainland China, and therefore never had initial problems strategizing to reconnect with Mainland China.

The understanding and agreement by then, was that Taiwan was Chinese and there would not be any forceful annexation of the island by China. However, when it became clear that not much could be done to oust the Communists from power, a different narrative was given by the Chiang Kai-Sheik government. It was argued that Taiwan is not part of Mainland China; that Taiwan is a sovereign state of its own. And perhaps more interestingly, the initial agreement between the Chinese and the Americans that Taiwan was Chinese, and that China should not use force to annex it, was thrown into the winds of caution.

While the Chinese, in the last one week, has shown its largest number of military fighter jets, breaking through the airspace of Taiwan and promising to use force to ascertain Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, the United States has responded that it would not abandon its allies. In fact, probably in reciprocal reaction, the Joe Biden administration has released information on its nuclear stockpile, ahead of the forthcoming nuclear non-proliferation talks, in order to also tell the Chinese that there may be trouble ahead.

If we also remember the problem of Australia’s diplomatic row with France over the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and the United States submarine agreement, and juxtaposing it with the 1 September 1951 ANZUS Treaty (involving Australia, New Zealand and United States), it will be discoverd that China, as a Communist government, has always been a target. Even though the ANZUS accord was not binding as a collective security agreement at the level of Australia and New Zealand, the purpose of the treaty was ‘to reassure the two countries that they would be protected and bolster their support for the anti-

The first and most likely effect of any successful jihadist terror in Africa cannot but be on Nigeria. The target of jihadist terror in Africa is Nigeria. The agenda, as clearly explained by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, is to have Muslim North and Christian South if there is to be any enduring peace in Nigeria. This was even to be the starting point. Different efforts have been made in the past to present Nigeria internationally as a Muslim State, but all the efforts have failed. What is yet to be tried is the use of force to turn Nigeria into an Islamic nation. Thus, a quadripartite partnership is needed to be worked out at the level of U.S. AFRICOM, French Berkhane, the African Union and the ECOWAS to ensure that the African space does not allow for terrorism to breath. Africa has been conceived to be the main battleground for Muslim Jihad and the ideal response is to mobilise an international opposition to it. Africa should adopt a policy of no compromise with jihadist terror on African territory and all diplomatic efforts should simply be geared along this direction.

communist cause.’ Parties were to develop the military resources needed to resist attack and to consult others whenever their security is threatened. It is useful to recall the background to the treaty. When Britain surrendered to the Japanese in February 1942, the confidence of New Zealand in the UK was shaken.

New Zealand considered the need to seek alliance with the United States, which also wanted to retain Japan as an ally to assist in containing the spread of communism. It was against this background that the making of the ANZUS treaty should be understood. Thus, China is currently the main target enemy.

China is a major target of the AUKUS, in the manner China and the former Soviet Union were targets of the ANZUS. Put differently, it is being suggested that any armed attack in the Pacific area on one member would endanger the peace and safety of others, and therefore warranting intervention. In the event of an attack in the Pacific and terrorist jihad taking place in Africa, which region shall have priority attention? Can the French option fill the gap? What is the likely role of France’s Operation Barkhane?

Operation Barkhane is the counter-terrorism operation, numbering about 5,100 but which President Emmanuel Macron wants to reduce to between 2,500-3,000 over the next few months. The French troops have been much up doing in the fight against the Jihadists in the Sahel, especially as from 2013 when the French had to intervene in Mali to prevent an Al-Qaeda affiliate from taking over the Malian capital, Bamako. Several lives of French soldiers had been lost in the Sahelian duels.

For the French, the killing of the Head of the Islamic State Group in the Sahara, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi is considered ‘another major success in our fight against terrorists in the Sahel,’ President Emmanuel Macron has said. The French Defence Minister, Florence Parly, also said ‘it was decisive blow against this terrorist group.’ Killing public enemies’ number one can be gladdening. However, the killing does not address some critical underlying questions often raised by people in countries that the same France is assisting.

In Mali, the Touareg terrorists do not want French presence in Mali. Many observers also complain about the French. The truth is that in Mali of today, without the French serving as an anti-terrorist buffer zone, there is nothing like a sovereign Mali.

African leaders argue against military interventions in Africa, but Malian governments have invited the French. African leaders condemned both the coup-in-coup in Mali and Guinea, but the coups enjoyed the general support of the people. Should African governments be supporting political misgovernance to the detriment of the interest of the people? Even France has not always waited to be invited to intervene before doing so.

In Chad, the Constitution of the land was so clear that in the absence of the President, the parliamentary leader should stand in. The French claimed the leader refused to take over. Whether it is true or false, the French encouraged and supported the take over of power by the son of the late Idris Derby.

From the foregoing, the point being made is that Africa has become a land of insecurity and the insecurity has the potential to be sharply increased with Al-Qaeda terror. Where is the AU peace architecture in this matter?

Africom,AU,ECOMOG,andFrenchBerkhane The South Asian region is likely to be the immediate theatre of the Cold War in the making but Africa should not be allowed to be an extension of the proxy battles that may accompany the war. In the same vein, Africa should not be the theatre for Islamic jihad. In this regard, there is the need for a quadripartite entente amongst the AFRICOM, the African Union, the ECOWAS and the French Berkhane Operation managers.

The Americans and the French do have strategic interests to protect in Africa but the Africans themselves should also learn how to articulate their own interests and protect them. The African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) is a coinage referring to the key AU mechanisms for promoting peace, security and political stability in Africa.

What is noteworthy about the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council, as established on 9 July 2002 in Durban and as entered into force in December 2003 is that it ‘authorizes the mounting and deployment of peace support missions, and lays down general guidelines for the conduct of such missions including the mandate.’ More important, it not only promotes ‘harmonisation and coordination of efforts between regional mechanisms and the AU in the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa,’ but also requires the need ‘to ensure implementation of key conventions and instruments to combat international terrorism.’ Our focus here is terrorism in Africa and the challenge is how do we deal with the problem?

Thus, there is an existing enabling policy instrument to prevent terror. How do we take advantage of the policy?

The situation of insecurity in Africa is such that the policy pronouncement according to which African problems should be left to African leaders to resolve appears to be completely irrelevant. A partnership approach appears to be a necessity.

Africa needs the AFRICOM, not as a military base in Africa, but as a partner-in-progress in an agreement in which mutual sovereignty is respected and there is shared intelligence in the war on terror. There is a lot to learn from the American experiences.

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ENGAGEMENTS

East Side of Sadness Chidi Amuta

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rom the Niger Bridge looking East, a canvass of desperate unhappiness spreads out before you. Crossing the ancient creaky Niger bridge into Onitsha and beyond is like a great crossing into a crowded wilderness, another country. At first, it is the specter of neglect and decayed infrastructure. But on every face of every man, woman and child here, there is a certain stoic acceptance of a nameless worry, a reality unchanging and unchanged for the last 50 years. It is a lingering ‘otherness’ by people who fly the Nigerian flag but inhabit this desolate place, this area of sadness they proudly call ‘home’.

Over the last half a century (yes, fifty one years after the Biafran war!), acceptance of collective neglect has taken the form of aggressive but scraggy entrepreneurship as an escape. It hits you from the Niger bridge, in the jostling army of mobile merchants, hawkers of all manner of inconsequential merchandise. Plastic flowers from Hong Kong. Figurines of the Virgin Mary hurriedly carved in Vietnam. Covid-19 quick fix cure -all concoctions labeled ‘Made in Madagascar’. There is bottled water for the thirsty which is convertible into ‘holy water’ for the spiritually tormented. After all, apostasy is the religion of those permanently locked out of the gateway to heaven. The message is simple: here is a human sea of desperate enterprise humbled by a forced habit of unhappiness, a sense of exile in a place of unrelieved sadness.

Of late, the South-east has exploded in a new orgy of violence and blood. The zone has added a new dimension to Nigeria’s expanding industry of insecurity. Insecurity in the zone has entered a viral retail stage. Like most things here, crude imitation and a natural ‘me, too, can do it’ spirit greets everything new. Mr. Nnamdi Kanu and Ralph Uwazurike before him have lost the monopoly of the Biafra franchise. It is now an all comers free for all business App. My brother and friend, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has just revealed that there are well over 30 separatist groups parading the same cause of Biafra! IPOB may have become the hottest merchandise on sale in Ochanja and Ariaria markets, having lost its initial voice in a wilderness of unguided anger and unplanned agitation.

As a worn out franchise in the hands of ambitious thugs and rough entrepreneurs, agitation for Biafra 2.0 has turned into a dangerous nightmare all over the South-east. For Igbos in the diaspora, the obsession with separatism and secession has become a unifying mantra of the lost. In the safety and comfort of their American and European pads and with access to the social media, fanning the embers of Armageddon at home has become a new religion even if some of them have not been to Nigeria for the past decade or more.

For the sensible, there is now a fierce urgency about the descent into anarchy in the zone. On the scale of Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, senseless violence in the South-east now competes with reckless banditry and jihadist terrorism in parts of the North-east and North-west. A militant secessionist movement spearheaded by Mr. Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB and its allied Eastern Security Network (ESN) has turned the zone into an area of near permanent danger, the battle field of an undeclared but raging war. Multiple groups under the guise of IPOB and its affiliates are roaming the area in waves of violence and criminality.

Something new and more sinister has joined the macabre fray. A strange category of ‘unknown gunmen” has been injected. These are militants on a dubious mission armed with military grade weapons and operating with a professionalism that only the state can account for has entered the field. Innocent people are being killed and their homes torched. Thugs are hiding under the blackmail of separatist anger to render a whole geo political zone dangerous and nearly ungovernable.

A little over a week ago, Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of the late Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration (NAFDAC) was assassinated gangster fashion on the streets in Anambra State. His

Obiano death has been followed by over half a dozen others of notable and not so notable citizens.

In neighbouring Imo State, similar assassinations have taken place of prominent citizens including that of one Reverend Emeka Merenu, an Anglican priest who was killed just outside his parish a fortnight before Dr. Akunyili. Add to these countless arson attacks on both private and public property.

Only last weekend, the Nnewi country home of Mr. Joe Igbokwe, Lagos State spokesman of the APC and Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor, was set ablaze by arsonists said to be IPOB operatives. On the same day, the offices of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Department of State Services (DSS) in parts of Anambra State were similarly torched.These attacks have followed in the wake of so many others in parts of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states.

Jolted at last by the spiraling anarchy, governors of the states in the zone met last week in Enugu to acknowledge the threat. That is some progress from their previous lethargy and irresponsible indifference. In a communiqué that reads more like the wake up cry of drunken eunuchs from a long stupor, they seem bent on finally addressing the situation. They will now activate the regional security outfit, Ebube Agu, long conceived and left in abeyance while their more serious South-west counterparts went ahead to activate the very effective Amotekun. Now the enemy is no longer just the criminal Fulani herdsmen.

The enemy is now a mix of official insiders and homeboys. A combination of misguided criminal separatists and suspected state enabled rogue spooks are suspected to be the authors of the encircling anarchy.

Perhaps it is the political threat to their thrones that has woken up the governors.

The territory over which they preside has slipped into a lawlessness they can neither understand nor control. The people who voted them into power are obeying a different master. Those of them angling for a shot at the 2023 Nigerian presidency now realise that they cannot take that shot when their backyards are on fire. On the eve of governorship elections in Anambra State, the landscape in the state is riddled with bullets of uncertainty. Candidates cannot campaign freely as aspirants and their supporters live under fear of being abducted

or even murdered.

Mr. Abubakar Malami, political gadfly and Buhari’s commissar for legalisms has threatened Anambra with a state of emergency if the killings do not stop before theelectionsinNovember.Buhariisreported to have disowned Malami on this one! We hope Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Borno and even Niger states are receiving Malami’s consideration as well if we use the statistics of killings to measure the qualification of states for regimental overthrow.

It was the frequency of this series of attacks on private and public assets including police and prison facilities in Imo State that prompted a federal security crackdown on the entire zone some months back. People cried out over the excesses of the security operatives in their flagrant violations of basic human rights. Yet in spite of massive police and military presence and the ever changing nomenclatures of the security operations, the violence and insecurity in the South-east keeps worsening.

The recent abduction and forceful rendition of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu from Nairobi seems to have aggravated the restless protests and violence. The self -inflicted attacks and disruptions have raised questions as to the real intentions and targets of these disruptive and criminal conducts. It is not just the wave of violent attacks on assets and individuals that are of concern.

A series of foolish social, work and business disruptions under the guise of a so-called ‘sit at home’ protest has been frequently declared by IPOB and its multiple voices in the zone. These declarations have been enforced by rough vigilantes leading to massive closures of businesses and offices. Huge economic losses in the form of man hours and direct revenue have been recorded as the zone continues to bleed.

The time has come to sensibly interrogate the basic rationality and political wisdom of the dislocations, violence and disruptions that have recently shattered the peace and progress of the zone. Orderly protests against injustice by any group of citizens remain legitimate and inalienable rights in any democracy. But the jury is out on whether secession is a solution to the problematic relationship between the peoples of the South East and the federal government under Mr. Buhari. Secession remains the most ill advised option for either the Southeast or any other part of the federation just

on the basis of transient diversity management problems of one presidential dispensation.

Among the presumably wise populace of the South-east, the rationality of self inflicted criminality and business disruptions as tools of political protest remains questionable. Worse still, to convert the general atmosphere of political anger against ethnic injustices and marginalisation into to an umbrella for murder and other criminal infractions is inexcusable.

Targeting police and law enforcement installations and personnel for vicious attacks can only be a strategy in the hands of organised criminal gangs and committed anarchists. The state and its institutions must exist to furnish seekers of justice with an adversary to engage.

A wipe-out of the presence of the state will strategically destabilise the zone permanently.

In any event, the problems of political marginalisation and neglect have become a nationwide idiom. At the bottom of it all is an embarrassing inequality in the horizontal distribution of infrastructure, privileges and patronage among competing interests in a multinational polity. This cannot be righted by a recourse to violence, brigandage and arson. Nor can violence against the very people who are victims of marginalization and neglect right the original wrong of national political and economic injustice. On the contrary, as the victims hurt and bleed, their traducers in Abuja may in fact be having a champagne party!

A people crying out against injustice cannot wisely embark on large scale self- inflicted destruction of whatever infrastructure or personal assets they have managed to attract or accumulate in the last half a century.

Moreover, we are dealing with an area in which it is communal peace and a competitive spirit that governs the creation of wealth among peers. Here, the process of wealth creation is a rigorous gradual one. Every market that is open, every shop that remains open year in year out is a wheel in the engine of wealth and progress. The sense of homeland is shown by illustrious sons and daughters who return home to help the community by investing in homes, hotels, clinics and factories.

The real victims of the wave of violence and criminality now ravaging the South East are not the bureaucrats in Abuja or the home based political collaborators in the regimes of injustice against which the activists are protesting.

The victims are the masses, the very victims of injustice themselves. It is their livelihood that is being disrupted. It is their wealth that is being destroyed. It is their capacity to work that is being eroded.

Worst of all, for the Igbos, pride in a place called ‘home’ is being defiled and devastated by the criminality keeping the elite away from the homeland.Astheendofyearseasonapproaches, the annual ritual of ‘homecoming’ is threatened by the fear of violence. The budget year of the average Igbo village is calibrated by the quantum of resource inflows from returning sons and daughters.That augmentation to the homeland economies is now seriously threatened by the raging epidemic of violent insecurity.

The restoration of sanity and peace in the South-east requires more than pious and sanctimonious preachments. It is now the hour of concerted urgent action. First, the political leadership of the zone, some of whom have themselves invested in thugs and armaments to advance their political interests, must now disarm. Power is nothing if wielded in an anarchy.

In a bloody wasteland, there are no powerful men. We are all miserable weaklings, victims of uncertainty and brutishness: those waiting to kill or be killed.

The zone’s state governors have been over -hyped disasters; an insincere and miserable bunch of bloated power intoxicants. Contentment with the secluded splendor of the governor’s mansion when the adjoining streets are on fire is foolhardy. The merchants of secession and separatism at home and abroad need to think again. It has taken the South East over half a century to scrape together the appearance of recovery that we now see. Inviting the violence of war mongering hegemons from Abuja to come and make Igbo backyards battlefields once again is no sign of wisdom.

(See concluding part on www.thisdaylive.com)

SUNDAY OCTOBER 10, 2021 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 10, 2021

NEWSXTRA NUPENG Justifies Resolve to Go on Strike in December Chinedu Eze The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has said its Petroleum Tanker Drivers will commence strike

on Monday, December 11, over the deplorable state of the nation’s highways and other issues.

The Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, South-west, Mr. Tayo Aboyeji, in an interview with the

News Agency of Nigeria, said the union has lost many lives and properties due to bad roads.

Aboyeji said all tanker drivers from the union would withdraw their services nationwide.

“This is not the first time that we will signify our intention to go on strike but we have to call it off because it will generally affect majority of Nigerians but now our hands are tied.

“We are going on nationwide strike because of the deplorable and shameful state of our highways.

“When a truck loads petrol in Lagos, the drivers spend five to six days to get to Abuja because of the shameful state of the roads.

“All calls by the executive of petroleum unions have fallen on the deaf ears of the government as the highways continue to deteriorate nationwide.

“The list of the highway are endless and the tanker drivers have been going through harrowing situation while rendering selfless national service.

“The increase rate of fire

incidences involving petroleum tankers with accompanying massive destruction of lives and properties of our members and general public is enough.

“This is because of government failure to enforce installation of safety gadget on tanker.

“This will protect the inflammation contents of their trucks from spilling over in a situation of road accident.

“We see the failure of the government in this regards as height of insensitivity to lives of innocent Nigerians and union cannot continue to hold its hands while our members are getting burnt everywhere and everyday,” he said.

S’Court Judge Asks Law Scholars to Offer Judges Constructive Criticism Wale Igbintade

GOOD NIGHT, REV. BADEJO . . .

L-R: General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev Samuel Aboyeji; widow of late Rev. Wilson Badejo, Rev. Yinka Badejo; wife of the General Overseer, Rev. Olabisi and son of the deceased Femi, during the funeral service for the Church’s former GO, late Reverend Wilson Badejo held in Lagos... weekend PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT

Bamidele, Ndume Disagree Buhari’s Fresh Borrowing Plans Deji Elumoye, Udora Orizu in Abuja and Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti | The Chairman, Southern Senators’ Forum, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele and a former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume yesterday disagreed on President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to borrow to fund the 2022 budget proposal valued at N16.2 trillion.

While Bamidele argued that it had become a practice to borrow to finance critical infrastructure, Ndume faulted Buhari’s borrowing plan, describing it as disturbing and worrisome.

The senators expressed divergent position on the deficit budget in

separate fora, though commended Buhari’s proposal to the National Assembly, which prioritise spending on security and infrastructure.

At a session with journalists yesterday, Bamidele clarified that attempt

by Buhari to borrow to finance the 2022 budget “is in tandem with the international best practices.”

“Borrowing to fund critical infrastructure aspect of the economy that can generate more employments and revenues remain the best panacea to the dwindling Nigeria’s economy. Nigeria has no alternative to borrowing at this period.”

Bamidele noted that borrowing to fund critical areas of the budget

has become a practice globally, commending Buhari for adding N370 billion to fund humanitarian policies regarded to be crucial to Nigerians.

He said: “I know that we have to be concerned with our level of deficit, I mean borrowing. But where is the alternative at this time? How do we fund our budget?

“The issue now is whether to fold our arms and watch and just pay salaries of workers and abandon other critical areas, which I know Nigeria cannot do because it would further worsen our situation, or we face the reality that confronts us as a people.

“Nigeria is a member of the

International Monetary Fund and contributors to the World Bank.

What will now be the benefit of this? We did not pray for COVID-19.

It came and devastated the world economy. We must find a way to get out of the present situation.

“What we will not accept is borrowing to fund consumables.

It has to be for the provision of Infrastructures that can generate more revenues and employments. We are assuring Nigerians that the National Assembly would ensure full implementation of the budget for the overall interest of all Nigerians,” he said.

Osinbajo Presidency Receives Boost as APC Recognises Support Group Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s alleged presidential ambition has received a boost following the issuance of a letter of recognition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Progressive Consolidation Group (PCG), which campaigns for the vice president.

The letter dated October 4, 2021, titled: ‘Letter of Recognition as Support Group’, and signed by APC Director of Administration, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, formally

makes the pro-Osinbajo PCG the first 2023 presidential mobilisation group to be granted such privilege by the Mai Mala Buni-led leadership of APC. The Head of Progressive Civil Society Group (PCSG), Mr. Bala Gide, one of the sub-groups of PCG, said the recognition of the group by the party has further justified optimism towards realisation of an Osinbajo Presidency in 2023.

He said all members of the various pro-Osinbajo mobilisation and support groups would continue

to demonstrate the highest ethical and democratic standards in order to further encourage Osinbajo and his officers to consider the merit of their invitation for their involvement in the 2023 presidential race.

Gide stated: “We deeply appreciate the widening mobilisation and deepening support that PCG and all associated groups working towards an Osinbajo Presidency; all our grassroots and national leaders, as well as current governors, federal and state lawmakers along with various labour and professional

groups will have further significant roles to play post-2023.

“Rumour mongers should please desist from their wanton disregard for the solid democratic and progressive credentials of VP Osinbajo and other potential candidates who may wish to come forward in the APC; Osinbajo; the rightful place of committed party members and other patriotic citizens would remain even more assured under an offshoot of the Buhari/ Osinbajo Presidency headed by Professor Osinbajo.”

2023: National Cake-sharing Mindset Fuelling Zoning Debate, Says Ortom The Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, has stated that national cake-sharing mindset was fuelling the zoning debate, insisting that the geopolitical zone where the next President will come from in 2023 is not what Nigerians are concerned about.

According to him, Nigerians are clamouring for the country to be led by competent hands.

The governor stated this yester-

day during a chat with journalists in Makurdi, the state capital.

He maintained that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was ready to yield to the demand of Nigerians to be led by the best hands that would turn around the fortunes of the country and improve their living condition.

He said, “I have always said that zoning is good but it is driven by the marginalisation of people and

also the level of poverty among the people.

“Some people tend to believe that if you zone a position to their place they may have the opportunity of getting their own share of the cake.

“But beyond that, if you look at America from where we borrowed the presidential system of government, you will recall that they don’t zone. George Bush was President of America, at a point

two of his sons were governors and another later became the president of the country.

“So, it doesn’t matter; you look for the best hands and that is what we are getting to. Twenty years after this current experience, some of us are also looking at where we will look for credibility with the objective of trying to get somebody who will lead us at the party level and even at the presidential level.

Supreme Court judge, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju has challenged law lecturers on the need to do more to improve the quality of judgments through constructive criticisms.

Ogunwumiju gave this advice while delivering a lecture organised by the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG), in honour of academic staff members who got new appointments or rose to new positions recently.

According to her, legal academics are well placed to offer useful suggestions for reforms through academic papers, legal opinions and other critical interventions.

Given that academic writ-

ings contain information, arguments and opinions relevant to decision-making, Ogunwumiju noted that a large volume of academic writing should be especially directed at judges suggesting and sometimes criticising decided cases.

On whether judges should take judicial notice of legal research findings, Ogunwumiju said the nature of law “is transformational.

The work of lawyers in the Ivory Tower, which is based on research, can assist judges in gaining awareness of the underlying reasons why some decisions must be made and offer useful suggestions for reform.

“No principled approach to decision-making can ignore the contributions of academics, who had over time analysed and done research on the subject-matter.

Ajogwu Elected Institute of Arbitrators President Sunday Ehigiator The Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb) has announced Professor Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) as its new president following his victory at the recently held election of the institute This was revealed in a signed statement by the Registrar/CEO institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Shola Oshodi-John.

According to the statement, Ajogwu steps into the position of President with the retirement of Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) as the President of the Institute, who was said to have made significant contributions towards the growth of the Institute during his tenure.

“Ajogwu, is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Lagos Business School Professor of Corporate Governance,

and would bring his years of arbitration and governance experience to the leadership of the institute.

“He is an Alumnus of the Said Business School of Oxford University and an Alumnus of the Lagos Business School, and holds a doctorate in law from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland; an MBA from the IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona; and Law degrees from the University of Nigeria and the University of Lagos. He practices law at Kenna Partners.

“Ajogwu is also the author of several books, some of which includes, Commercial Arbitration in Nigeria: Law and Practice, Fair Hearing and Mergers & Acquisition in Nigeria: Law and Practice’ among others.

Embrace God in Trying Times, Christian Writers Tell Nigerians Sunday Okobi and Emmanuel Ndubuisi The Christian Writers Association of Nigeria (CWAN) has called on all Nigerians to embrace God if they must triumph in these trying times.

The group, lead by Mrs. Kelicha Ochonogor in the South-west, said the only way to conquer the present challenging situation in Nigeria and the world is to come closer to God, just as she admonished members to lead an exemplary life wherever they find themselves.

The group stated this recently at a book presentation titled: ‘The Beautiful Feet’ by a Baptist Priest, Rev. Daniel Ibor, in Lagos.

Ibor said the title of the book, ‘Beauti-

ful Feet’, was culled from: Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful and delightful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring the good news of good things, who announce salvation, who say to Zion, your God reigns.”

On the optimism attached to the book’s value, the cleric said ‘The Beautiful Feet’ would penetrate all the nations in the world through your generous donations and partnership with the Lord to reproduce more copies for free.

The cleric said: “The Beautiful Feet is an inspired book from God to fulfil one of the purposes of His Church, that is, evangelism and souls winning. God wants to use the Beautiful Feet to bring revival in the art and science of evangelism in the world.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 10, 2021

SUNDAYSPORTS

Edited by: Duro Ikhazuagbe email:Duro.Ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Eagles in Make or Mar Clash with CAR’sWild Beasts Another tepid play may ruin Ahmed Musa’s 100th cap, spells doom for Nigeria Duro Ikhazuagbe

A

s Super Eagles file out against theWild Beasts of Central African Republic (CAR) in Douala, Cameroonthisafternoon,nothingshort of an outright victory will return Nigeria’s hope of qualifying for the knockout phase of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on course.

After the CAR inflicted an embarrassing first home defeat in 40 years in a World Cup qualifying match on Nigeria lastThursday and narrowed Eagles lead to just two points at the top of Group C, both today’s hosts and CapeVerde have the chance of upstaging thethree-timeAfricanchampionstodroptonumber three on the log.

With Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks winning 2-1 away against Liberia in Monrovia on Match-day 3, they are primed to consolidate as they host the Lone Star in Mindelo today and climb to seven points. CAR can also match the Blue Sharks if they repeat their famous win against Nigeria in this afternoon’s crucial clash at the Stade Japoma de Douala beginning at 2pm (same time as Nigeria).

However,Eaglesgaffer,GernotRohr,whoescaped thewrathofLagosfansattheTeslimBalogunStadium onThursdayknowsanothertepidperformancefrom his wards may spell doom for the rest of his two-year deal with Nigeria.

Already, camp sources hintedTHISDAY last night from Douala that Rohr is likely to ring changes in someofthedepartmentswhereEagleslackedquality in the last encounter on Thursday.

From the rear, Sparta Rotterdam’s Maduka Okoye has been tipped to reclaim the No 1 shirt from Francis

Uzoho who was between the sticks in the first leg.

“The team will not change so much, except with bringing in two or three fresh players (from the first game Thursday),”Rohr disclosed after the Eagles trained in Douala, Cameroon, for the first time yesterday.

“We have the opportunity to win to make up for not doing so three days ago.

“We’re very confident Sunday will be a good day,” observed the Franco-German coach.

The coach said Okoye was dropped for the first game after he missed his flight from Europe to join the rest of the squad in Lagos.

Malmo star Innocent Bonke could well be another player to start, possibly for Brentford ace Frank Onyeka, who Rohr said still has a lot to learn to settle into his team.

Union Berlin striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, could also get his first start after he came in for injured Kelechi Iheanacho Thursday for his Super Eagles debut.

Iheanacho has remained an injury doubt for the return tie.

Skipper Ahmed Musa, who is looking forward to earning his milestone 100th cap for Nigeria at senior level, is however more concerned with the Super Eagles taking all three points in the Day 4 encounter.

“I’m happy that I am about to win my 100th cap, which definitely is a thing of joy and pride for any football player at international level. However, I am more concerned about the three points.The three points here have become much more precious due to what happened in the first leg which we lost. The individual honour is welcome but I am more concerned about collective glory and our country’s pride.”

Super Eagles are in a must-win or burst 2022 World Cup qualifying clash with the Central African Republic in Douala, Cameroon...this afternoon

Karl Namnganda scored a stoppage-time goal off a defensive slip between Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong to hand the three points to the Wild Beasts when both teams clashed at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos on Thursday.

NigeriaremaintopoftheGroupCofthequalifying

NBBF Elections Hold in Benin on October 30 Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Congress of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has scheduled the elections into the executive board of the federation for Benin on October 30, 2021.

The ratification was made yesterday at its extraordinary congress held at Hotel de Bentley in Abuja and attended by the basketball chairmen and secretaries from all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

It also adopted that Dr. Lanre Glover should chair the proposed Electoral Committee, with Mohammed Sani Fema acting as his deputy. The members of

the committee are Dr. Femi Olugbile and Hauwa Kulu-Akinyemi while Emmanuel Okibe will act as Secretary.

The congress also approved the appointment of Mrs. Ize Matebese as Chairman of the 2021 NBBF Electoral Appeals Committee alongside General David Lubo (rtd.) (Member) and Emmanuel Zira as Secretary.

The Caretaker Chairman of NBBF, Musa Kida, who chaired the congress, requested all the stakeholders to submit any observations for addition or amendment to the constitution for process according the Article 38 of NBBF approved Constitution.

This was unanimously agreed as part of the ongoing process to amend the constitutions which was described as a continuous exercise as enshrined in the constitution.

In attendance was the Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary Ismaila Abubakar.

President Nigerian Table Tennis Federation, Ishaku Tikon, represented the Nigeria Olympic Committee President, Habu Gumel, Dr. Simon Ebhojiaye, Acting Director (FEAD) was also on ground alongside Prof. Florence Adeyanju, member, Caretaker Committee, NBBF.

Lloris Hopes Griezmann Celebrates 100th CapsToday Hugo Lloris said yesterday that he hopes France can give Antoine Griezmann a fitting way to celebrate his 100th international appearance by winning the Nations League today.

Les Bleus head into Sunday’s final at the San Siro with Spain after a thrilling semi-final 3-2 win over the world’s top-ranked team Belgium, and Lloris was full of praise for Griezmann, one of an all-star attacking trident which also includes Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema.

“It’s impressive, it shows how important he is for our team, and how much trust the coach and his teammates put on him,” said captain Lloris.

“I really hope we’re all happy after the final to celebrate his 100th game.”

France are in good spirits thanks to their last-gasp 3-2 win on Thursday at Juventus’ Allianz Stadium, but have had to deal with Lucas Digne’s muscle injury and Adrien Rabiot testing positive for Covid-19.

Juve midfielder Rabiot was left in Turin after his result came through on Saturday morning.

Antoine Griezmann...100th cap beckons

campaign at the halfway mark with six points, two more than CapeVerde and Central African Republic, with three-pointer Liberia bottom of the table.

Rwandan official Louis Hakizimana has been appointed by the Confederation of African Football as referee for Sunday’s match in Douala.

Today Zambia Mauritania CAR Cape Verde Kenya Uganda Benin M’gcar

v v v v v v v v

E’Guinea Tunisia Nigeria Liberia Mali Rwanda Tanzania DR Congo

RESULTS Ethiopia Ghana Togo Senegal Guinea

1-3 3-1 1-1 3-0 2-2

S’Africa Zimbabwe Congo Namibia Sudan

NATIONS LEAGUE Final Spain

v

France

NYG: Chairmen of Sports Association Motivates Athletes in Camp In preparation of the Team Lagos ahead of the 6th Edition of the National Youth Games holding in Ilorin, Kwara State from October from today, October 10 through October 20, some sports association chairmen of the sports to be featured at the games visited the athletes who are rounding up their closed camping activities in Bariga Area of Lagos State.

The visit is to enable the chairmen to motivate the athletes ahead of their participation at the games holding at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

The Chairmen of the Sports Association present at the camp had pep talk with the athletes and urged them to make the state proud during the games in Ilorin.

Speaking during the meeting, with the chairmen at the camp venue, the Director General, Lagos State Sports Commission Oluwatoyin Gafaar hinted that their presence at the camp will motivate the athletes to perform optimally at the games in Ilorin.

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The Trouble with Revenue Allocation

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s we speak, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) — set up in 1989 to, among other functions, “review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities” — is consulting round the country to do a tough job: review the revenue allocation formula. Ever since the Phillipson Commission on Revenue Allocation was set up by the colonial government in 1946, every attempt to review the formula has always been controversial, pitting one part of the country against the other. You definitely know why: revenue sharing could be a zero-sum game where “your gain” is “my loss”.

The law setting up RMAFC provides that the revenue formula can be reviewed every five years, but nobody has touched it since 1992 when the current one was put in place by the military government. In essence, we have been using the same formula for nearly three decades despite the increase in number of states from 30 to 36, councils from 589 to 774 and population from 88 million over 200 million. That is why I pity Mr Elias Mbam, the RMAFC chairman, who has entered a terrain that angels have carefully avoided. Let us remember the gentleman in our daily prayers. Anyone familiar with the history of revenue allocation in Nigeria knows that this is a tricky assignment.

There are two fundamental aspects to revenue allocation in Nigeria: (1) vertical (2) horizontal.

Vertical is the sharing of federally collected revenue among the three levels of government: federal, state and local. The current formula allocates a whopping 52.68% to the federal government. (Actually, it is 48.5%. FG manages the rest on behalf of the federation: 1% for general ecological problems, 1% for the FCT, 1.68% for the development of natural resources, and 0.5% as statutory stabilisation for the “rainy day”). The 36 states put together share a total of 26.72% — about half of what the FG alone takes. The local councils — 774 of them — share the remaining 20.60%.

The more controversial formula — the one that easily excites ethnic champions because it readily inflames regional passion — is the horizonal sharing of 26.72% by the states. The formula, deeply steeped in controversy since 1946, is currently pinned on five principles: (1) equality of states, 40% (2) population, 30% (3) landmass/terrain, 10% (4) internal revenue effort, 10% (5) social development effort, 10%. This formula is different from the 13% derivation paid to mineral-rich states and is not part of the horizontal sharing of 26.72%. It is also different from VAT revenue, from which the 36 states take 50% while the federal government collects 15% and councils 35%.

The first horizontal principle says all states are equal and should equally share 40% of the 26.72%. If 26.72% comes to N100, for instance, states will share N40 equally. That is N1.11 per state, no matter the size. The second principle says population will determine the share of 30%.

That is, N30 out of the N100 will be shared on population basis. By the indices used in the FAAC methodology, that means while the most populous state will take 16 kobo from the N30, the least populous will receive 3 kobo. Since the north is more populous according to census data, this principle is often criticised by southerners who think that the 19 northern states all get more than the 17 southern states.

In reality, though, Nigeria’s population is not as lopsided as it is made to appear. It is because we don’t pay attention to details. If we take the 10 most populous states using the official census figures, six are from the north and four from the south. In fact, if we take the top 20 — you won’t believe this — 10 are from the north, 10 from the

Mbam south. Now, if we take the bottom 10, five are from the north and five from the south. If we take the bottom 16, you will be surprised that eight are from the north and eight from the south. With the current population ratio of 53:47, northern states will take N16 and southern states N14 of the N30. This doesn’t look like a disaster to me.

Every national census conducted by colonial, civilian and military governments since 1952/53 always concluded that the north is more populous — although southerners insist the figures were rigged, that there should be more people in the “coastal south” than the “arid north”. I can’t examine that today. However, why use population at all as a revenue-sharing principle? The logic, I think, is that if you have more people, you need more money to provide amenities. It would be more expensive to cater for a village of 1,000 compared to a village of 500. Remarkably, population has always featured in recommendations by all commissions and committees since 1946. There must be some sense in it.

Another controversial principle is the 10% shared among states on the basis of landmass.

This 10% is further divided into two: landmass 50%, terrain 50%. Landmass is how big the state is in proportion to the size of the country while terrain covers the wetlands/waterbodies, plains and highlands. Like the population principle, the landmass logic is that if you have more land, you will need more money to build roads, run electric cables and lay water pipes in your towns and villages. That means a 76,000sqkm-state is expected to spend more on providing these amenities compared to a 10,000sqkm-state. It should, ordinarily, cost you more to maintain a duplex than a bungalow.

Clearly, the landmass advantages northern states, which occupy about 70% of Nigeria.

The 13 biggest states by land area are all in the north. Conversely, the 15 smallest are all in the south. But those who came up with the landmass principle also tried to balance it by providing for wetlands, which are more evenly spread, as well as highlands and plains. In fact, the Niger Delta is the largest wetland in Africa and has the third largest mangrove forest in the world. They benefit more from the terrain principle than any other part of Nigeria. But on the whole, landmass/terrain favours the north, even if it can be argued that a bigger landmass comes with more challenges and more needs.

As an aside, the story behind the landmass principle is amusing. It was introduced by President Shehu Shagari in 1981 allegedly to break the ranks of the opposition alliance against his government.

The Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) had allied with

the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the National Assembly. When Shagari introduced landmass into the formula, GNPP and PRP broke ranks with UPN and supported it. Why? GNPP controlled two states with large landmass — Borno (now Borno and Yobe) and Gongola (now Adamawa and Taraba). PRP also had two big states — Kaduna (now Kaduna and Katsina) and Kano (now Kano and Jigawa).

The biggest losers were the Igbo states with little landmass. Chief Sam Mbakwe, then governor of Imo (now Imo and Abia), spoke furiously against it. UPN-controlled Bendel (now Edo and Delta) eventually got the formula quashed by the Supreme Court by faulting the process — but IBB brought landmass back into the equation in 1991/92. Unfortunately, space constraint will not allow me to go into the other controversies that have surrounded revenue allocation since 1946. It is not something I can do within this little space. But, generally, people take positions based on their perceptions of who gains and who loses, although most agitators just parrot them without examining the facts.

In politics, self-interest is legitimate. That is a given. The problem is when arguments are packaged emotionally rather than scientifically. That is why the quality of public debate in Nigeria is depressing. People can legitimately ask: why share revenue in a federal system? It is not peculiar to Nigeria. We cannot unilaterally re-define federalism just to win a debate. One rationale for adopting federalism is to consolidate resources. The US, the world’s oldest federation, was founded by 13 former British colonies primarily to combine military resources to be able to withstand external aggression. Federalism, in practice, combines independence with inter-dependence.

That is why federalism scholars talk about “fiscal federalism” — a system of allocation of revenue handles to promote even development in a federation. (In Nigeria, though, “fiscal federalism” means “kill and eat alone”). Fiscal federalism robs Peter to pay Paul in order to promote a fiscally balanced federation in the interest of national development. No part should be too rich and another too poor. Without balancing, one part will inevitably retard national development. Major federations, including the US and Germany, use federal transfers to address the imbalance among the states. Federal redistribution is nothing special to Nigeria; it is, in fact, a common feature of federalism.

But this is the bottom line for me: federation allocation should be just “pocket money” for the states. It is supposed to be a minimum. The real deal is for the states to generate internal revenue that is far more than the allocation.

As a rule of the thumb, I would say a state should aim to generate internal revenue that is at least double its monthly allocation. But it takes a lot of thinking, planning, commitment and discipline. Who has patience for that? Only Lagos generates more IGR than its allocation.

Some states depend as much as 95% on FAAC. Federation allocation has become the be-all and end-all. We have normalised the abnormal and standardised the substandard.

Meanwhile, if Mbam can get the stakeholders to agree to a new formula, he should get a Nobel Prize for something. Revenue allocation is a very sensitive issue that is fuelling a sense of injustice and increasing agitations for balkanisation. It is important to use this review process to shed light, clear doubts and build consensus on key issues. It is not just about how to share revenue in a more equitable and agreeable manner but also raising much more revenue at federal and state levels. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the sage, reportedly said in the 1970s: “There can never be peace in a kennel where there are three bones to four dogs.” That is precisely the real trouble.

And Four Other Things…

MAIMING MALARIA When I was a little boy, there was hardly any month that I did not come down with malaria, obviously because of my blood genotype. My grandmother — God rest her soul — was so worried over me. She did everything possible to keep me alive and healthy. I remember the “10-hour” malaria syrup that tasted exactly like poison. I also drank all kinds of herbs water. I think I “outgrew” malaria when I clocked 11. Every year, the disease kills 250,000 African children. You can imagine my excitement that there is now an effective vaccine for malaria after 30 years of research.

I just hope and pray that conspiracy theorists will allow Africans accept the potentially lifesaving jab. Amen.

DOUBLE TROUBLE My condolences to the family of Chief Ladi Williams, the senior lawyer who died last week from COVID-19 complications, despite having been fully vaccinated. This is good news for the anti-vax movement. They will seize this opportunity to continue their disinformation campaign. However, statistically, the advantage still lies with vaccination. The fact that new variants are coming up means even those double-vaccinated should keep taking all possible precautions, especially if they have underlying conditions. Typically, the World Health Organization will approve a vaccine with 50% efficacy — which is way better than zero percent protection without COVID jab. Science.

TOO YOUNG TO DIAL There has been an outcry over a section of the revised SIM registration regulation by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which excludes under-18s. Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, NCC spokesperson, has clarified that the limit is contingent on the constitutional provision which makes 18 years the age of consent in Nigeria. Actually, this is not peculiar to Nigeria. In the US, for instance, the age to enter into a phone contract is also 18.

The way round it is for the parents/guardians of a child to register the phones in their own names. This is not peculiar to telecoms: you cannot open a bank account or get a driving licence until you are an adult. And 18 is the adult age in Nigeria. Legal.

WHAT’S UP? Since I joined WhatsApp, my life has increasingly revolved around the app. It has largely replaced phone calls, text messages and even emails for me. I am a member of many WhatsApp groups. Some of those groups are worthless, with all sorts of unverified and provocative materials being posted by insensitive members. I usually exit such groups or go mute. However, I have found some groups very helpful, educative and productive — with a lot of intelligent and measured discussions on national and international issues. On Tuesday when the app went down for six hours, it was as if the world would end. I learnt something: to spread my risks and stop being dependent on one thing. Lessons.

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