SUNDAY 25TH OCTOBER 2020

Soyinka Dissociates Self from Inciting Video against Igbo Urges social media to stop promoting ethnic tension PANDEF seeks end to wanton destruction of property Deji Elumoye and Udora Orizu in Abuja Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, yesterday, asked social media platforms to stop

giving publicity to people, who peddle fake news, especially ones targeted at creating ethnic tension.

He said this in a statement he issued yesterday in

response to a video circulating on the Internet, urging the Igbos to leave Yoruba land.

Also yesterday, the South-east Caucus of the House of Representatives

decried attempts to associate the looting and arson by hoodlums, who have hijacked the #EndSARS protests, with ethno-political struggles or pin them on a particular region or

ethnic, religious, and political group.

In a related development, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) called for an end to the wanton destruction of

public and private property in some cities in the southern part of the country, in the last four days, by misguided people, Continued on page 5

2023 Presidency Behind Umahi’s Reported Defection Move… Page 8 Sunday 25 October, 2020 Vol 25. No 9330

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#ENDSARS: Police IG Talks Tough, Says Enough Is Enough As looting, arson spread across the country Homes of all elected federal serving and former lawmakers in Cross River looted, razed, governor flies to Abuja with wife and brother Senator Folarin: Over 350 motorcycles, 400 freezers, others looted from my house in Ibadan Hoodlums break into govt, Red Cross COVID-19 palliatives warehouses in several states S'West govs visit Lagos today Sanwo-Olu warns against ethnic, religious incitements as Tinubu makes public appearance, says I am Jagaban Our correspondents

The Inspector-General (IG) of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, apparently exasperated with the continuing looting and wanton destruction of public and private properties around the country yesterday, responded

in a very authoritative tone to the growing lawlessness being a direct aftermath of the #ENDSARS protests. Adamu warned troublemakers not to test the collective will of the nation by coming out to cause any further breakdown of law Continued on page 7

...Tinubu Visits Sanwo-Olu, Seeks Clarification on Lekki Shooting Gboyega Akinsanmi and Segun James Former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, who resurfaced in Lagos yesterday, debunked the reports that he sneaked out of the country to France in the wake of the #ENDSARS

protests. Tinubu, who paid a visit to Sanwo-Olu to commiserate with him over the protests, insisted that he never left Lagos. The violence left several persons killed and injured and much property Continued on page 5

I DIDN'T GO NOWHERE, I'M STILL ASIWAJU OF LAGOS...

L-R: Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu; Tinubu's son, Seyi and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when he visited State House Marina, Lagos to empathise and solidarise with him over recent developments in Lagos

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PAGE FIVE SOYINKA DISSOCIATES SELF FROM INCITING VIDEO AGAINST IGBO who hijacked the #ENDSARS protests.

In the statement titled, “Identity Thieves on the Rampage,” Soyinka noted that those trying to steal his identity to promote the video clip of an ethnic revanchist calling on Igbo to leave Yoruba land “are sick and cowards.”

He said: “It is time also, I believe, to also enter the following admonition: one cannot continue to monitor and respond to the concoctions of these addicts of falsehood, and their assiduous promoters, who have yet to learn to wipe the filth off their tablets.

“The patrons of social platforms should develop the art of discrimination.

Some attributions are simply so gross that, to grant them even a moment’s latitude of probability diminishes the civic intelligence of the recipient.

“Undoubtedly in order to promote the video clip of an ethnic revanchist calling on Igbo to leave Yoruba land, this same lunatic fringe has exhumed, and embarked on circulating an ancient fabrication – several years mouldering in the grave – once attributed to me and vigorously denounced.

“That statement impudently expounds, as my utterance, what the Hausa want, what the Yoruba want, and what the Igbo want. Such an attribution – let me once again reiterate – is the work of sick, cowardly minds that are ashamed, or lack the courage, as the saying goes, ‘to answer their fathers’ names. At least, the current ethnic rabble-rouser has the courage of his convictions, not so the sick brigade of identity thieves.”

South-East House Caucus Frowns on Ethnicisation of Protests The House South-east Caucus lawmakers, in a statement signed by its members, said people must refrain from age-long habit of raising the red flags of ethnicity and other primordial sentiments whenever there's an opportunity to deal with issues that retard the nation.

The signatories include, 'Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Hon. Ossy Prestige, Hon. Hon. Uko Ndukwe, Hon. Solomon Adaelu, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Hon. Samuel Onuigbo, Hon. Nkem Uzoma, Hon. Darlington Nwokocha, Hon. Lynda Chuba-Ikpeazu, Hon. Chukwuka Onyema, Hon. Chris Azubogu, Hon. Dozie Nwankwo, Hon. Ifeanyi Momah, Hon. Obinna Chidoka, Hon. Vincent Ofumelu Hon. Chinedu Obidigwe,

Hon. Chinedu Onwuaso, Hon. Chukwuma Umeoji, Hon. Okwuduili Ezenwankwo.

Others are, 'Hon. Sylvester Ogbaga, Hon. Iduma Igariwey, Hon. Chinedu Ogar, Hon. Chukwuma Nwazunku, Hon. Livinus Makwe, Hon. Edwin Anayo, Hon. Patrick Asadu, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, Hon. Denis Amadi, Hon. Nnoli Nnaji, Hon. Ofor Chukwuegbo, Hon. Oke Martins, Hon. Simon Atigwe, Hon. Cornelius Nnaji, Hon. Jerry Alagboso, Hon. Bede Eke, Hon. Henry Nwanwuba, Hon. Ugonna Ozurigbo, Hon. Mariam Onuoha, Hon. Pascal Obi, Hon. Ikenna Elezianya, Hon. Emeka Chinedu, Hon. Chike Okafor, Hon. Kingsley Uju. The Caucus while condemning the unfortunate hijack of the #EndSARS protests by agents of destabilisation, however, noted that the protests must, nevertheless, be seen for what they are, which is a patriotic, altruistic and peaceful assembly by Nigerian youths of all geopolitical zones and religious and political persuasions, seeking an end to police brutality and making a clarion demand for a better deal from Nigeria and those they put in offices by the power of their ballots.

The statement reads, ''We denounce in totality and completely dissociate ourselves and the South East region, which we represent, from any attempts to paint the struggle for better security services and good governance in tribal colours or sentiments.

We condemn the wanton destruction of properties and businesses, including the palaces of our revered royal fathers. ''We frown at the attempt by any individual or group, who do not wish Nigeria well, to appropriate these laudable demands and weaponise the struggle for selfish and egotistic ends in an effort to destabilise the nation. We equally express our collective displeasure at the attacks on law enforcement officers and police formations, bearing in mind that demoralising the police as an institution and destroying available security infrastructure would only put the society at greater risks and equally defeat the altruistic purposes that underlined the #EndSARS protests in the first place. ''We need the police as much as the police need us.

They are fellow Nigerians entitled to all the rights, including the right to life, bestowed on Nigerian citizens

by Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution. Agreed that there are bad eggs in the

security forces, who have committed grievous atrocities against Nigerians and the state, it is not within our rights to reduce ourselves to the same wrong and anarchic conducts we protest against by meting out jungle justice on them or any fellow citizen. ''We, therefore, urge all Nigerians and the government to join hands to remedy the heartrending, immediate aftermaths of the hijack of peaceful protests by hoodlums and to address the systemic weaknesses and cogent issues raised by the Nigerian youth. Also, having made their voices heard loudly and clearly, we plead with the youths to embrace dialogue with various levels of government in addressing the weaknesses in the system identified by the #EndSARS protests. It is the best route to maximising the millage they have covered by the protests.

We must use this moment to prove that this federation has

the capacity to counsel and remedy itself. Mr. President must show more leadership and must not miss this opportunity to reform policing and governance to meet the expectations of the citizens. ''While condoling with those who lost loved ones and properties in the unfortunate disturbances, we earnestly pray for the peaceful repose of the souls of our compatriots and healing for the wounded. We equally pray God heal our land.''

PANDEF Seeks End to Wanton Destruction of Property Meanwhile, PANDEF, which called for an end to the wanton destruction of public and private property in a statement yesterday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Ken Robinson, described the act as senseless, horrible.

The group noted it could not comprehend the motives for this kind of carnage.

It appealed to those behind the barbaric acts to have a rethink, and immediately stop any further destruction of property in the interest of common good.

PANDEF also said it found it difficult to fathom the intent for the aloofness of the Police and other security agents, in most cases, while the nefarious acts were being perpetrated.

The group further expressed concern at the unfortunate situations, whereby foodstuffs meant to be distributed to vulnerable citizens as COVID-19 palliatives, remained stocked in warehouses, and are now being discovered and looted in some states.

It insisted that the reasons put forward by officials of government on why the items were still kept in warehouses, while many Nigerians were languishing in hunger, were untenable and ridiculous.

According to PANDEF, the #EndSARS protesters had genuine grievances and constitutional and democratic right to express their frustrations in peaceful protests. The stories of extortion, harassment, brutality and even extrajudicial killings by some officials of the disbanded Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) are not fabricated; they are true stories. The rogue former SARS officials are known, and their victims or families of victims are also known. ''President Muhammadu Buhari should have quickly addressed the young people, with a fatherly countenance, to assuage their justified anger; instead of the option of deploying the Military, Police and hired thugs to attack and assault the peaceful protesters, which aggravated the situation. Now, what do we have? Untold destruction of lives and property of innocent Citizens.

MASS LOOTING OF PALLIATIVES IN JOS...

...TINUBU VISITS SANWO-OLU, SEEKS CLARIFICATION ON LEKKI SHOOTING vandalised and burnt, "I didn't go nowhere. I'm a Lagosians. I still hold the title of the Asiwaju of Lagos; and I'm still the Jagaban.

“Fake news is all over the place.”

Tinubu also spoke on the alleged kidnapping of his son.

“They said Seyi, my son, was kidnapped and was chased, but look at him,” he said, pointing to his son beside him, “I did not pay a penny to bring him here.”

Tinubu said he was at the State House, Marina, to commiserate with SanwoOlu over the happenings in the aftermath of the attack

on protesters at the Lagos Toll Gate Plaza at Lekki on Tuesday.

He said, "I came to commiserate with the government and sympathise with those victims through him and to seek his permission to visit some of those victims if they are still there in the hospital. Since he made the announcement, to assume the responsibility for payment and all that, how and what can we do to help him."

Tinubu lamented the invasion and looting of public and private assets in different parts of the state in the aftermath of the shooting.

Global leaders, civil rights activists, diplomats, and the international community condemned the use of firearms on peaceful protesters at the Lekki tollgate.

Tinubu had come under fire over the shooting that provoked rampaging hoodlums to burn down some assets linked to him in different parts of the state.

Property linked to him that were torched included TV Continental (TVC), Vintage Press Limited (publishers of The Nation), and Lekki Concession Company (LCC), managers of the tollgate.

The former governor has, however, denied any link with the LCC. The APC leader said, “I asked the governor if he did not order the attack, who ordered the attack? That is all I needed from him.”

He emphasised the need for a thorough investigation into the shooting, which stoked violent attacks on private and public assets in nearly all parts of the state.

Tinubu said, “First, we have to segregate the calendar – those who suffered casualty before the protests from the hands of SARS. You have to separate that from those who

suffered casualty due to what happened at the tollgate.

“For those who suffered casualty from SARS, the commission of inquiry that is already set up will unearth that and will make their recommendations. I trust the calibre and the character of the people there; they are independent. That is one.

“Those who suffered casualty during the gunshots need to answer some questions, too. Even though we want to help, we still must extract information that will help the government to prepare in future and understand how and when

to react because the governor, in particular, is a youth.

“As a youth himself, SanwoOlu quickly went to Abuja with the 5/5. The government immediately put it into action, dissolved the SARS and had to work through other recommended actions, to meet their demands. Within a few days, he reported back to the public. That is responsive enough.

“But where are we getting the looting, the carnage, the burning, the invasion of police stations, stealing of arms, maiming of the innocent?

It is a handshake beyond the elbow.”

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NEWS #ENDSARS: POLICE IG TALKS TOUGH, SAYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and order.

The IG ordered the immediate mobilisation of all police operational assets and resources to bring an end to the violence, killings, looting, and destruction of public and private property.

Specifically, he ordered all Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs), Commissioners of Police (CPs), Heads of Police Operational Units, Squadron and Base Commanders in charge of Zonal/State/FCT Commands, the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit, and the Special Protection Unit, to immediately reclaim the public space from criminal elements masquerading as protesters in some parts of the country.

This is coming two days after President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the nation and sued for calm following the violent turn of the #ENDSARS protest in Lagos State, which has spread to other parts of the country in the form of looting and arson.

But in his assessment of the state of the nation, Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari, whose state has been battling unceasing insecurity for some time, described the current situation in many parts of Nigeria as the country's most trying times.

To underscore the weight of the current crisis, which seemed like the opportunity for many people to give vent to their economic frustration, the protests moved from #ENDSARS to end corruption and bad governance, and, then, turned violent, as hoodlums hijacked the process. Many of the angry youths, yesterday, stormed the homes of some prominent Nigerians, especially, current and past public office holders, which they raided and, in several instances, razed to the ground in expression of their anger.

Some of those that suffered monumental losses in the various isolated attacks all serving and former federal lawmakers from Cross River State, included Senators Victor Ndoma-Egba, and Gershom Bassey. The Governor, Professor Ben Ayade had hurriedly travelled to Abuja with his wife and brother on the grounds that he was going to mobilise security forces to protect vital installations within the state. Senator Teslim Folarin (Oyo State) equally suffered huge losses when a large crowd of people broke into his Ibadan residence and looted it completely.

In a statement on Saturday after the incident, he revealed that over 1,100 empowerment items such as motorcycles, deep freezers, generators, and grinding machines, among others were looted from his house at the Oluyole Estate extension in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Senator Folarin, who is also the Senate Committee Chairman on Local Content, believes the attack was carried out by those he described as coordinated hoodlums.

He described the invasion as evil, barbaric and unfortunate, saying he was thankful that no fatality was recorded.

The lawmaker, however, advised the state government to strengthen its security architecture to prevent a reoccurrence of such an incident.

Also yesterday large crowd of people, men, women, young and middle age, also broke into some of the warehouses in different parts of the country, where COVID-19 palliatives were kept by the different state governments, organisations, like the Red Cross, as well as individuals, and looted them, ostensibly.

In Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu warned against ethnic and religious colouration of the incidents,

and incitements in the state, saying his government would not take kindly to deliberate acts of misinformation.

Similarly, a former governor of the state and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who has been a prime target of some of the seemingly coordinated attacks in the state, made his first public appearance since the protests, yesterday.

Tinubu condemned the looting and arson in the aftermath of the protests.

Meanwhile, governors of states in the South-west geopolitical zone are visiting their Lagos State counterpart, Sanwo-Olu, today at noon to show their solidarity and empathy over the destructions witnessed in the state, when the peaceful #ENDSARS protest was hijacked and became violent.

The Lagos State Ministry of Justice said it would prosecute some of the suspects, who allegedly took advantage of the #ENDSARS protest to destroy and loot both public and private property in different parts of the state. The ministry said it was currently evaluating the files of 229 persons already arrested for various crimes during the protest-turned riots.

A statement issued by the Police Force Headquarters said, CPs and heads of police formations in the various states should mobilise their men to dominate the public space and ensure peace and safety in their areas of authority.

The IG, in the statement signed by Force PRO, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Frank Mba, said, "Enough is enough to all acts of lawlessness, disruption of public peace and order and wanton violence, which have resulted to indiscriminate looting of shops, malls and warehouses, damage to property and loss of lives in some parts of the country.”

He directed the AIGs, CPs and MPF Commanders to personally lead and coordinate the operations and use all legitimate means to halt further slide into lawlessness and brigandage.

While calling for the understanding and cooperation of the citizens and assuring them that the action was geared towards ensuring public order, safety, and security in the communities, the IG warned “trouble-makers not to test the collective will of the nation by coming out to cause any further breakdown of law and order."

He, however, enjoined lawabiding citizens not to panic but join forces with the police and other members of the law enforcement community to protect their communities from the criminal elements.

Apparently concerned by the spate of killings and destruction of property by hoodlums across the country, Masari, said the country was passing through one of the most difficult times in its history. He spoke at the inauguration of a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the excesses and extra-judicial activities of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police in the state. The governor called for deployment of democratic tenets, culture and conventions that would mitigate the predicaments and stop the killings and destruction of property.

He stated, “As you are all aware, the nation is passing through one of its most trying periods in our history.

It, therefore, calls for deployment of democratic tenets, culture and conventions to confront the problems.

“Chapter four of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides for the fundamental objectives

and principles of state policy to include that the security and welfare of the people and shall be the primary responsibility of government and that the participation of people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.”

He explained that the Nigeria Police was scheduled with the responsibility of protecting life and property of citizens, prevention and investigation of crimes and offences committed against the state, but contrary actions remained the problem of the force.

According to him, "The citizens of Nigeria have been complaining on the way and manner the police are discharging their constitutional responsibilities and, therefore, call for reforms of the institution."

The governor said he inaugurated the judicial panel in compliance with the presidential directive and the powers conferred on him under the constitution and Katsina State Commission of Inquiry Law, Cap 29. He charged members of the panel to identify officers and men of the dissolved SARS directly or indirectly involved in the excesses, including extrajudicial actions, and ascertain the roles played by such officers and individuals in instigating, aiding or abetting extra-judicial actions, and apportion blame.

The 11-man panel has Justice Abbas Abdullahi Bawale of the Katsina State High Court as chairman and Ibrahim Muhammad Daku as secretary. Other members include Retired AIG Danlami Yar'adua, Mustapha Ibrahim Zango, Bello Musa Dankano, Professor Usman Dhun-nurain, Rabi Mohammed, Ibrahim Ahmad Katsina, Dikko Abbas, and Aliyu Usman.

Meanwhile, hoodlums, yesterday had a field day in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, where they looted and set ablaze public and private property. The hoodlums set on fire the family residence of Senator Gershom Bassey, located at Mayne Avenue in Calabar. They also ransacked and looted the senator's personal residence at Asari Eso Layout.

They set ablaze the residence of a former leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba, also located along Asari Eso Layout.

The violent protesters, who defied the 24-hour curfew put in place by Governor Ben Ayade, went on to vandalise and loot the private residence of Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw.

In spite of the 24-hour curfew, the city of Calabar remained in a state of anarchy for almost 48 hours, as hell was let loose with government and private property worth billions of naira destroyed and looted.

Other property either looted or burnt by the hoodlums included the Municipal Zonal office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at Marian Road, Valuemart Supermarket at Marian Road, Federal Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar Road, Garment Factory along Goodluck Jonathan bypass, First Bank’s 8 Miles and Mayne Avenue branches. Also affected were Nigerian Ports Authority, Harbour, Tinapa Business Resort, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and the Cross River Newspaper Corporation (Chronicle) premises along Barracks as well as the Calabar office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The hoodlums, Saturday, invaded the Oluyole Estate, Ibadan, residence of the senator representing Oyo Central, Senator Teslim Folarin, and carted away valuables. Folarin confirmed the incident while speaking in a telephone interview on a radio programme monitored in Ibadan.

The third-term lawmaker said about 350 motorcycles, 400 deep freezers, food items, among other things, meant for an empowerment programme for his constituents planned for December, were carted away by the hoodlums.

In a statement on Saturday after the incident, Folarin said over 1,100 empowerment items, such as motorcycles, deep freezers, generators, and grinding machines were looted from his house at the Oluyole Estate extension.

Folarin, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Local Content, believed the attack was carried out by those he described as coordinated hoodlums. He described the invasion as evil, barbaric and unfortunate, saying, however, he is thankful that no fatality was recorded.

The lawmaker advised the state government to strengthen its security architecture to prevent a reoccurrence of such incident.

Folarin an APC member ruled out any political colouration, saying, "I am relieved, because no life was lost." He added that the hoodlums attempted to set his house on fire but were repelled by soldiers, who raced to the scene.

Although efforts to get the reaction of the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, proved abortive, a source disclosed that not less than seven persons have been arrested over the incident.

Sanwo-Olu Warns against Ethnic, Religious Incitements as Tinubu Makes Public Appearance Worried by the content of a video by a United Kingdombased Nigerian called Adeyinka Grandson, which has gone viral on the social media, inciting ethnic conflicts, the governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, asked the people to disregard the alarmists.

He warned against careless utterances that could set the state on fire.

Sanwo-Olu, who described the people peddling the videos as anarchists, said their plan was to create hatred and division for which Lagos is not known.

He stated, "Inciting videos of this nature are not what our land needs now, following the loss of lives and destruction that fake news, misinformation and unfounded rumours have triggered in our dear state in the last couple of days.

"The government appeals to Lagosians to disregard the calls of ethnic and religious jingoists as well as agents of destruction, who are on a mission to destroy our state by pitting us against one another for yet to be ascertained reasons.

"This is a very critical moment for us as a people. It is, therefore, important that we stand together and remain circumspect, because the brewery of falsehood is unrelenting in its mission.

Lagos State is the melting pot of various cultures, tribes and religions across Nigeria. We have co-existed harmoniously for ages and will continue to live together peacefully."

He stressed, "The sad incident of the past few days affected everyone, who lives, trades or works in Lagos, regardless of their tribe, culture, race and religion. This is a time for us to empathise with one another and not listen to purveyors of evil messages, especially on social media.

"The government will continue to protect lives and property.

Fake news and inciting message merchants are hereby warned to stop their evil enterprise or face

the legal consequences of their destructive actions. Our dear state will go through this with the resilience for which we are known and come out stronger."

South-west Governors Visit Sanwo-Olu Today Governors of states in the Southwest geopolitical zone will today at noon pay a solidarity visit to Sanwo-Olu to assess the level of destruction of government and private properties by hoodlums.

A source close to the governors said they had wanted to visit on Friday but intelligence advised against it, since the situation in the state was still tense at the time. Intelligence suggested today, Sunday, would be fine, from all indications.

Although the governors, according to the source, had planned to make the visit a quiet one, given the mood of the nation, THISDAY learnt about the development, which the source eventually confirmed.

Lagos Evaluates Files of 229 Persons Arrested During Protests Against the backdrop of the carnage witnessed in Lagos State between Tuesday and Friday, the state’s Ministry of Justice has reiterated its resolve to prosecute suspects, who took advantage of the EndSARS protest to destroy and loot public and private property in different parts of the state.

Some hoodlums had hijacked the peaceful protest of youths against brutality by operatives of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other police personnel, tagged #EndSARS, to wreak havoc and disturb the peace of the state.

The State Director of Public Prosecution, Mrs. Olayinka Adeyemi, went round relevant police formations with a team of prosecutors to evaluate files of those arrested by the police with a view to determining those with prima facie cases against them.

Already, 229 suspects have been arrested by the police for various criminal offences, ranging from arson, murder, stealing, malicious damage of property, and assault before and after the state-wide curfew imposed by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to restore law and order.

According to Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Kayode Oyekanmi, after the evaluation exercise, those that have cases to answer would be arraigned before the courts on Monday, while the release of those that have no cases would be ensured.

Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, while calling on Lagosians to maintain peace, law and order in their respective communities, pledged the commitment of the government to the rule of law at all times.

Gunshots Rock Abuja Market as Police Prevent Hoodlums from Looting Warehouse Policemen and other security personnel fired several gunshots and tear gas to deter hoodlums, who had stormed a warehouse for COVID-19 palliatives early this morning. Some traders at the UTC market, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, and residents of the area had been living in tension recently.

According to reports, residents

cowered in fear as security operatives battled hoodlums attempting to loot a warehouse in the vicinity, located in the precinct of the Cyprian Ekwensi building and the UTC market.

The Federal Capital Territory police spokesperson, ASP Mariam Yusuf, who confirmed the development, noted that the police were deployed at the UTC market and other public infrastructure to prevent hoodlums from looting them.

Hoodlums in Edo Invade COVID-19 Palliative Warehouse Some hoodlums in Benin City, Edo State capital, on Saturday morning, stormed the state government’s warehouse on Medical Store Road, Uselu, and looted palliative items stored in the warehouse. The youths, who had earlier in the morning been prevented by military personnel from carrying out the act, succeeded in breaking the human shield mounted by the military and entered the store in their hundreds.

The invasion was similar to the attack on the two correctional centres and five police stations by hoodlums during the #EndSARS protests. esidents of the area were woken up by gunshots as soldiers manning the place battled to ward off the crowd comprising mostly youths, male and female, who dared them before invading the warehouse from all corners.

The invading youths ignored gunshots by the army meant to scare them before gaining entry into the place.

It was gathered that the soldiers on guard eventually stopped shooting to avoid killing anyone, based on instruction, when they saw a large crowd of persons surging towards them.

APC Expresses Sadness over Violence, Tragedy in States The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Saturday expressed sadness over the tragedy that enveloped some parts of the country in the last few days, as hoodlums took over a peaceful protest against men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Chairman, Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Committee of the party and the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, in a statement, said the party was committed to the ideals of democracy. He contended that APC recognised the inalienable rights of the citizens to demand change in conditions, which trampled on their liberties, freedom of association, freedom of speech and wellbeing through peaceful means and rule of law.

The caretaker chairman acknowledged the peaceful commencement of the protests until it became violent, destructive and disorderly as hoodlums seized the opportunity to cause mayhem. He noted that APC would take every step to support the government to bring this unwholesome situation to an end.

"We will make sure that all those found culpable will face the wrath of the law. For it is the desire of all Nigerians that a peaceful atmosphere returns to the country for the good of the greatest number of our dear countrymen," he said.

Afenifere, Ohanaeze Condole with Lekki Tollgate Victims, Continued on page 8

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NEWS

2023 Presidency Behind Umahi’s Reported Defection Move Our ticket not up for grabs by defectors – APC source Chuks Okocha in Abuja Political permutations ahead of the 2023 presidential election may be behind the reported move by Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC), THISDAY has learnt.

But some forces within the ruling APC in Abuja may also be readying to make Umahi’s alleged 2023 presidential ambition difficult in the party, if he eventually comes on board. Some elements in the leadership of APC are said to have cautioned the governor that the APC presidential ticket is not up for grabs by defectors from other parties.

Reliable sources in the PDPcontrolled Ebonyi State have said it is almost certain that the governor would defect, carrying along some of his loyalists in the state.

The alleged defection move, it was gathered, was informed by assumptions that APC would zone its 2023 presidential ticket to the South, where many believe the odds are overwhelmingly in favour of Umahi’s South-east.

The member representing Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinedu Ogah, had on Saturday blown the lid off the defection plan, when he affirmed that Umahi was set to join APC. Ogah described the development as a step in the right direction, though an aide of the governor denied the alleged defection move.

However, sources close to the governor hinted that he planned to defect to APC with Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru, and 23 other lawmakers.

THISDAY gathered that the defection move was perfected during Umahi’s recent visit to Abuja, where he met with the APC top notch. It was also learnt that series of activities had been lined up at the PA Ngele Oruta Township Stadium, Abakaliki, where the governor and the others were expected to officially announce their exit from PDP, and entry into APC soon. Some said it might be as soon as this week.

However, a source close to

the Mai Mala Buni-led APC leadership said, though, the Ebonyi State governor was welcome in the party, APC could not just award the presidential ticket to him. The source added that there was no indication that the APC ticket had been zoned to the South-east.

“If anyone is promising him the presidential ticket, he should be careful,” the source regarding Umahi’s presidential ambition, adding, “APC cannot give him the ticket just because he defected to our party. We have others with presidential ambition and no one, not even President Muhammadu Buhari, can grant him the presidential ticket just like that.”

The source queried, “Who told Governor Umahi that the ticket is automatically granted to the South-east, and Ebonyi State, for that matter. We have presidential aspirants like Senator Rochas Okorocha, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, and Senator Orji Uzor Kalu from the South-east.

“We also have Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State from the South-west, which has more APC states under their control than the South-east.

There must be something else pushing him, beyond presidential ambition.”

The source added that Umahi should be mindful of the treatment given to him when he purportedly nominated his brother, Austin Umahi, for ministerial appointment in Buhari’s second term in 2019, and he was dropped at the last minute. The same fate might await the Ebonyi State governor, the source said.

Meanwhile, a close associate of the governor told THISDAY that he hoped to get in APC what PDP could not offer him – the 2023 presidential ticket. The associate said the PDP national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus’ recent statement that every zone could contest the presidency in the party in 2023 did not go down well with Umahi’s dream of becoming the president of Nigeria.

It would be recalled that Umahi’s APC romance started even before the 2019 general election, when Prince Arthur Eze revealed to some traditional rulers from Ebonyi State that

Buhari had hinted him that he was going to hand over to Umahi in 2023.

Umahi has severally denied anti-party accusations from PDP, including the alleged “smuggling” of 25 per cent vote to Buhari in the 2019 presidential election in Ebonyi State. During the election, the governor was also reported to have produced customised bags of rice as part of his contribution and honour to Buhari.

It was learnt that Umahi’s APC friends, including the president’s henchmen, had told the governor that he needed to crossover early enough to be able to benefit from the 2023 power game.

PDP is said to have all along been monitoring the governor and his APC romance.

According to a source in PDP, “The PDP as a political party plays by the rules and dictates of its constitution and cannot be stampeded into taking unconstitutional decisions to please anyone. We are not discussing presidential ticket of the party now. There are pockets of elections engaging

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, and its Igbo counterpart, Ohanaeze, have condoled with the victims of Lekki tollgate shootings, and canvassed an end to the burning and desecration of private and public buildings by hoodlums. The two groups in a statement entitled: “Say No to Wilful Destruction”, jointly signed by their leaders, Chief Reuben Fasoranti (Afenifere) and Chief John Nwodo (Ohanaeze), said the blood of the youths killed will pursue their killers and those who ordered them to the gate of justice.

The leaders lamented that one of the fallouts of the incident was the looting and burning spree all over the city, saying they do not endorse arson as responsible organisations and therefore called for a stop to the destruction.

The statement said, "The leaders of Afenifere and Ohanaeze jointly commiserate with all the families, who lost dear ones in the Tuesday bloody massacre in Lekki, Lagos. We have also noted the divisive attempt to use the violence to

Lagos NUJ Condemns Assaults on Photo Journalists The Lagos State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) condemned the attack by some rampaging youths on three photojournalists while going about their legitimate duties in Lagos on Friday.

A statement by the state NUJ chairman, Dr. Qasim Akinreti, and the Secretary, Comrade

Court.

“In the PDP circle, everybody believes that Umahi is driven by ambition and he is chasing shadow in the move that will make him a victim of a political 419, if he thinks that he will be APC presidential flag-bearer in 2023.”

Ogah had on Saturday stated, “Governor Umahi’s defection to our great party, APC, is a step in the right direction. We cannot afford to remain in opposition.

We must join the ruling party to continue to reap the dividends of democracy.

“I am calling on other governors in South-east to toe the line of Governor Umahi and join APC. We have to be at the centre, we have to join the mainstream politics for the overall development of our zone and the country in general.

President Muhammadu Buhari has done well. Everybody should join the APC to encourage him.”

But the governor, in a press statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Francis Nwaze, in Abakaliki, denied the defection

move. The statement said, “The news is a product of a figment of imagination on the part of the carriers, as Governor Umahi was, is, and is still flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is, however, difficult to observe how people are easily persuaded to believe in fake dummies in the name of rumours.

“If, for any reason, Governor Umahi wishes to leave Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it will be officially communicated and can never be a product from rumour mongers.”

However, when contacted, the Ebonyi State APC chairman, Pastor Eze Nwachukwu Eze, said the party’s doors were open to receive Umahi and the others.

Eze said, “We will not be against him joining APC, though nothing has suggested such to me or my office and none of our national leaders has communicated us to that effect.

We, however, want our party to grow, spread its ideology over Nigeria and make Nigerians believe that it is the party to identify with.”

MEETING WITH FORMER SECURITY CHIEFS...

President Muhammadu Buhari holding a virtual meeting with former Heads of State heads of some security forces in the State House, Abuja...Friday

#ENDSARS: POLICE IG TALKS TOUGH, SAYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH put a wedge between Yoruba Alfred Odifa, said it was a Condemn Arson and Igbo and destroy the new understanding we have built in the last three years. We reject this devilish attempt and ask the police to investigate and arraign suspected perpetrators of the violence. ''The essence of law and order is for individual citizens to answer for their actions. It is where law enforcement is weak that you begin to cast ethnic slur, when crimes are committed instead of holding the perpetrators. We appeal to our peoples to continue to live together in peace and harmony and not allow divisive elements to put a wedge between them.

Solidarity forever."

the attention of the party now.

“It is not in the interest of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) to unilaterally say that it has zoned the presidential ticket of the party to any of the six geopolitical zones without adequate negotiation. The ultimatum from the Speaker of Ebonyi State to the national leadership of the party to summon an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting is not only unknown to our statute books, but also appears like the hand of Esau and voice of Jacob. The rule is clear on how the NEC of the party can be called.”

On the threat of leaving the party and the effect in the region, the source said the party would not be affected.

The source said, “APC knows that it does not exist in South-east and the voters demonstrated this clearly in the last election. In Imo State, where they are pretending to exist, we saw how a number four became a number one in the biggest electoral robbery in history, through the Supreme

wicked and barbaric attack, which must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

The three journalists attacked by the hoodlums were a member of the NUJ Executive in Lagos State Council, Mr. Isaac Ayodele of The Nation Newspapers, Mr. Abiodun Willams, and Mr. Mike Otogu.

Apart from severe bodily injuries suffered by the three photojournalists, their expensive professional cameras were also terribly damaged by the hoodlums.

The union called for decisive action by government to stop all forms of attacks on newsmen and ensure necessary protection for them in the course of the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities to the society.

Hoodlums Raid Red Cross Office, Vandalise Equipment Hoodlums, on Saturday broke into the branch office of the Nigerian Red Cross Society in Calabar and vandalised furniture and other office equipment. This followed the looting of several warehouses in Calabar where

palliatives were found.

A crowd insisted that the gates of the Nigerian Red Cross in Calabar be thrown open as they suspected that COVID-19 palliatives were being hoarded.

In a statement, Secretary General, Nigerian Red Cross Society, Abubakar Kende, said the policemen and security guards on duty prevented a break in. However, the crowd returned and overpowered the policemen, gained access and vandalised all the furniture and took away non-food items found in building.

According to Kende, ''The Nigerian Red Cross Society wishes to state that while it is true that the Nigerian Red Cross does take delivery of relief materials, we systematically distribute these items to the most vulnerable in the society on a strictly needs basis.

“The action of the unknown persons is condemnable as the Nigerian Red Cross was set up in 1960 to alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Our staff and volunteers do this across Nigeria, in strict compliance to our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality and independence, among others.

“In compliance with the safer access rules, we urged our staff, members and volunteers to stay away from the office until the situation is reviewed and necessary safeguards put in place. We remain committed to the service to humanity in accordance the NRCS Act and our fundamental principles.”

Okowa Warns Hoodlums Masquerading as #EndSARS Protesters Miscreants and criminals hiding under the cover of #EndSARS protests to unleash violence and destruction in Delta State will have the law and security agencies to contend with, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa warned on Saturday in Asaba.

Okowa issued the warning while inspecting buildings and other structures torched and vandalised in the state capital on Wednesday night and Thursday morning by hoodlums posing as youths protesting police brutality in Nigeria.

The governor restated his support for far-reaching reforms in the police and various aspects of governance in the country.

He condemned the lawless act of the hoodlums, who had hijacked the peaceful protest to loot, maim, kill and create an atmosphere of fear and anxiety across the state.

According to Okowa, “Unfortunately, it appears some people are not quite happy with the beautification we have done here and they decided to vent their anger and criminality on the gardens; they destroyed everything, cut down trees just to deface the city.

"It is very unfortunate and you can see that a lot of damage has been done to the High Court that was set on fire. We also visited the FRSC Office and you saw the level of destruction there as well as the beautiful garden we put up at the Ibusa junction that was also destroyed.

"It appears that some people are not quite happy with the beatification and the level of development in Asaba, but it’s very unfortunate. I know that is not the intention of those who started the protest but the criminal elements among us have come in and tried to perpetrate this level of arson and violence.”

Continued on page 69

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OCTOBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R

EDITORIAL

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

ENDSARS PROTESTS: THE DAYS AFTER Now that protesters are out of the streets, government should address the massive ills that have been articulated

T

he much-awaited national broadcast last Thursday by President Muhammadu Buhari fell far below public expectations. He urged the young Nigerians protesting police brutality to end their demonstrations, which had been hijacked by some criminal elements after Tuesday’s shooting at protesters by some soldiers at Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos. But his silence on that particular incident that had drawn global outrage continues to baffle many, including his ardent supporters. While we call on the military and security agencies to arrest the drift into anarchy that continued yesterday with the invasion of residential buildings and warehouses in Abuja, Ibadan, Calabar, Osogbo and other cities by hoodlums, there are obvious lessons from the tragic events of the past three The sheer weeks that should not magnitude of young be lost on the adminispeople who trooped tration. sheer magniout in various cities tudeThe of young people across the country who trooped out in before the protests various cities across were hijacked by the country before the protests were hijacked criminal elements by criminal elements expressed clearly expressed clearly the the popularity of popularity of their their grievances grievances. It is also a veritable indication that so many things are fundamentally wrong with the state of the nation. There is a wave of disenchantment fuelled by unemployment, alienation and general social and economic discontent.

The weak capacity of the law enforcement agencies was also on embarrassing display given the ease with which hoodlums practically seized control of the protests to perpetrate mayhem. Overhauling the national security architecture is now more urgent than ever.

On the specific matter of police reform on which the original protest was premised, the federal government has given certain undertakings. It has scrapped the infamous Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit whose operatives were involved in extortions, tortures and extra-judicial killings. The office of the Inspector-

Letters to the Editor

General of Police has established a new unit called SWAT for which a training programme had reportedly begun in earnest.

Similarly, panels for judicial investigations into incidents of police brutality have been established in many of the states. In Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu has already named 20 policemen who are facing prosecution for offences ranging from alleged murder, manslaughter and gross violation of human rights.

I

S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITORS OLAWALE OLALEYE, TOBI SONIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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

t is hoped that these actions and the promised reform should produce a more citizen-friendly police that are fit for a democratic society. We are even more encouraged by the statement from ‘the coalition of protest groups across Lagos and Nigeria’ that they would create a structure to strategically engage government at all levels on these reforms.

In all, there are obvious lessons from the way hoodlums hijacked the protest at different locations where innocent people were killed and maimed, vehicles willfully destroyed while other criminal gangs went ahead to heighten the prospect of anarchy by breaking jail houses and attacking police formations. With these disruptions coming so soon after the lockdown and dislocations of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy is bleeding profusely. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director of African Department, Abebe Aemro Selassie, said last week that the protests in Lagos, which contributes significantly to Nigeria's overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP), would impact negatively on the economy. That was besides the massive destruction of public and private property running into hundreds of billions of Naira.

That the police force which is ordinarily required to restore law and order and offer protection to citizens was the thrust of the protests is a serious indictment on the state. But now that the protesters have suspended their street agitation, what transpired in the past three weeks should be a wake-up call for those in authority to depart from business as usual and begin to address the various issues that have been so clearly articulated. The global outcry at the mismanagement of the protests, especially the Lekki Toll Gate incident, should also instruct our leaders that their actions resonate at the international level. We can no longer expect to be isolated from global standards and expectations.

This is a beneficial collateral outcome of the protests that must endure.

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.

#ENDSARS PROTEST, EQUITY AND DEMOCRATIC FREEDOM

O

n the night of October 20, 2020, the Nigerian military reportedly fired live bullets into a gathering of unarmed Nigerian youth protesting police brutality in Lekki, Lagos. Many of the protesters were killed and others injured.

We at TBAN are heartbroken.

And our prayers are with the families of those compatriots who paid the ultimate price for daring to exercise their right to peaceful protest, guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution. The hail of bullets has dispersed the protesters, but only to leave the country at a crossroads. To move forward in the right direction, the country would have to address the needs for equity, justice and democratic freedom. Until now, the call for equity has been addressed to the relationship between the Nigerian state and the constituent

parts of the federation.

To this, is now added the need for equity in the relationship between the State and the largest demographic in the country –the youth, which accounts for up to 60 per cent of the population. The symbolic importance of the socalled #EndSARS protest was that it was a call to action by the youth.

But the response of the government has been more effective, so far, in silencing the youth. This is not sustainable. The youth must have their say; and they must be substantively involved in running the affairs of the country. Justice for the young Nigerians killed in cold blood by the military in Lekki is highly imperative.

The victims of the #EndSARS protest, as well as those who have lost their lives to police brutality around the country at different

times, must get justice. We acknowledge the efforts of the federal and state governments in this regard.

But the lack of official acknowledgement by the presidency of the massacre of unarmed protesters in Lekki, indicates that government response may not go far enough and cause the necessary healing in the polity. After the denial must come recognition of the victims and accountability.

Government must fully identify those who lost their lives during the peaceful protest, both in Lekki and around the country. They are among the heroes the country must identify and honour. The families of the deceased must be compensated.

And, quite importantly, too, those who facilitated and carried out the extra-judicial killings by the police and the military must be held accountable for their crimes.

Finally, the attack against the peaceful protesters, and the ongoing efforts to silence the voices of the Nigerian youth, amount to a serious attack against Nigeria’s democracy. Indeed, democracy has been under attack in various ways in the country, including through disenfranchisement of voters as a result of cumbersome electoral processes, vote-buying, intimidation and attack against voters, the partiality of the electoral umpire, and the falsification of election results.

Concerted efforts should now be made to comprehensively reform the electoral process and remove the structural impediments that restrict the youth in contesting elections. To concretise this, a new electoral law, which amongst other provisions allows electronic voting; electronic collation and transmission of election results; diaspora voting; and stiff penalties for electoral and campaign finance offenses, must be passed by the National Assembly and signed into law

within the next 12 months. With the use of thugs and deadly arms by agents of the state to quell peaceful protests, orgies of arson, looting and rioting have followed around the country.

Many states, including Lagos –the commercial hub of the country –have been under curfew for days, shuttering large parts of the Nigerian economy and thereby aggravating subsisting unbearable economic hardship being suffered by citizens. The failed government response is part of the “failures of the past” that have been repeated; but they must be discontinued. The real option for Nigeria to move forward is to embrace the reasoned voices of the youth. The country also needs to undertake fundamental structural, political and economic reforms to build a progressive, and not an oppressive, Nigerian state.

––Jide Akintunde, Interim Executive Director, to Build A Nation.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 25, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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NEWS

Acting News Editor Gboyega Akinsanmi E-mail: gboyega.akinsanmi@thisdaylive.com,08081986590 (sms only)

Lekki Shooting: Judicial Panel Begins Sitting Tuesday t 229 suspects to be prosecuted for arson, murder Gboyega Akinsanmi The Lagos State Government yesterday disclosed that its Judicial Panel of Inquiry and

Restitution for Victims of SARSrelated Abuses and Lekki Toll Gate Incident would begin sitting on Tuesday.

The state government, also,

disclosed that all suspected hoodlums arrested in connectionwiththemayhemunleashed on the state after the Lekki shootings would be prosecuted.

These are contained in separate statements the Secretary of the panel, Mr. Babajide Boye and the Director of Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Kayode Oyekanmi issued yesterday.

IN EMUOBOR’S HONOUR...

L-R: 1st Vice President, Urhobo Christian Ministers Association, Dr Jonathan Arhavwarien; His Eminence, Dr Solomon Gbakara and son of late Bishop Diamond Emuobor, Mega during the service of songs in honour of late Bishop… Friday

The state governor, Mr. BabajideSanwo-Oluhadinaugurated the judicial panel under the chairmanship of Justice Doris Okuwobi (a retired judge) to investigate cases of brutality and human rights violations allegedly committed by SARS operatives.

Other members of the panel are Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa (SAN) Taiwo Lakanu, Ms. Patience Udoh, Mr. Segun Awosanya and Mrs. Olutoyin Odusanya.

In his statement yesterday, Boye said members of the public “are hereby invited to submit memoranda at the public sitting of the judicial panel set up to look into the grievances of victims of SARS abuses and the incident at the Lekki Toll Gate.”

Starting from Tuesday, the statement disclosed that the judicial panel “will sit three times in a week for a period of six months. The panel will sit at the Lagos Court or Arbitration, Lekki-Epe expressway, Lekki Phase I.” According to the statement, the panel will sit on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

In another statement, the state government disclosed that the police had arrested 229 hoodlums and their case files were being evaluated preparatory

to prosecution on charges of arson, murder, stealing, malicious damage of properties and assault, among others.

The statement said the Director of Public Prosecutions, Olayinka Adeyemi, had gone roundrelevantpoliceformations with her team to evaluate files of those arrested with a view to determining those that have prima facie cases made against them.

The statement read in part, “229 suspects were arrested by the police for various criminal offences, ranging from arson, murder, stealing, malicious damageofpropertiesandassault before and after the state-wide curfew imposed by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to restore law and order.

“After the evaluation exercise, those that have cases to answer will be arraigned before the courts on Monday, while the release of those that have no case to answer will be ensured.

“Lagos State AttorneyGeneral and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) while calling on Lagosians to maintain peace, law and order in their respective communities, pledged the commitment of the state government to uphold the rule of law at all times.”

TI Recommends Anti-corruption Reforms to Address #EndSARS Agitation Gboyega Akinsanmi

Transparency International (TI), a global coalition against corruption, has recommended serious evidence-based anti-corruption reforms to respond to the concerns and grievances of #EndSARS campaigners nationwide.

TI,currentlychampioninganticorruption in over 100 countries, also condemned the decision of the federal government to use excessiveforceandthecontinued perpetration of violence against peaceful protesters.

In a statement by its Chair, Dr.

Delia Ferreira Rubio and Head of its Nigeria Office, Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani,TInotedthatcorruptionwastherootcauseoftheyouth agitation against police brutality and bad governance in Nigeria.

As pointed out in the statement, Rubio said protests that began with demands for an end topolicebrutalityandtheSpecial Anti-RobberySquad(SARS),had transformedintowidercallsforan endtocorruptionandthelooting of public funds.

She, therefore, suggested that the federal government should respond“tothesecallswithserious

evidence-based anti-corruption reforms,includingtothesecurity sector,indialoguewithcivilsociety.” Sheobservedthatcorruption “deprivesordinarypeopleoftheir rightstopeace,health,securityand prosperity.Itrobsyoungpeopleof a future in which they can fulfill theirpotential,anditmisappropriatedthewealthofanationforthe benefit of the few.

“Peacefulprotestersexercising theirrighttofreedomofassembly must never be met with violence and brutality. Citizens’ demand for an end to corruption must be heardandactedupon,”TI’schair

said in the statement.

Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legal Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), asked the federal government to immediately stop deploying troops against protesters, who are exercising their rights under the 1999 Constitution.

He observed that the young people, who have taken to the streets,hadaconstitutionalrightto expresstheirgrievancesthrough peaceful protest without facing violence and brutality from the state. Hesaid:“Togetherwithour civil society partners in Nigeria,

we stand ready to work with the government on the root and branch reforms needed for the policeandsecurityagencies,and tostopthelootingofpublicfunds through corruption.

“Wealsocondemntheviolence and the destruction of property bygroupsthathaveinfiltratedthe peaceful protests.”

TI’s Director, Defence & Security, Natalie Hogg observed that theappallingviolenceunleashed againstpeacefulprotestersshould henceforth end.

She said that the only way “to restore the much-needed trust

in relations between Nigerian citizens and the security sector is to respect and protect basic human rights.

“Further repressive actions against legitimate demands for an improved security sector in Nigeria will only escalate the situation.” Rafsanjani,TI’scountry representative,observedthatthe shootingofpeacefulprotestersat LekkiTollGateTuesdaynight“is becomingtoocontroversialnow.

Apparently,wehavebeentelling thisgovernmenttobeproactivein itsreforms.Butthegovernmentis not listening to anybody.”

Engineers List Causes of Incessant Zulum Shares N65m to 8,000 Building Collapses in Nigeria Widows in Border Town Emmanuel Addeh inAbuja Structural engineers under the aegis of Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE) have blamed frequent collapse of buildings, bridges and roads in the country on poor design, use of substandard materials, obsolete structures and deployment of quacks in the execution of projects.

The engineers described the situation as distressing and disturbing,urgingthegovernments at different levels to work closely with the professionals to rid the country of quacks.

They expressed this concern during a pre-event briefing in Abuja to herald the annual conference and 33rd annual general meeting of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers

(NIStructE).

Theengineersalsobemoaned the preference for expatriates to localskills,sayingNigerianscould stand shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts anywhere.

At the briefing, National President of the institution, Dr. Kehinde Osifala said NIStructE would continue its advocacy throughout the country to curb the menace. He said: “It is a big challenge. We need to step up advocacysothatpeoplewillknow they should consult an engineer and not quacks. We need to take ouradvocacytothegovernment.

“Who are those checking the design of these buildings?

Are they competent? Are they registered? Do they have the requisite qualities?

“Most of the cases happen in

Lagos.Weneedthemtobuyinto our programmes. We have met withthemandwehavesuggested thatwearereadytocollaborateto reduce these cases of collapses.”

He added: “Collapses are multidimensional. It could be due to failure of design or construction because you need to check these things painstakingly. Most of thesethingsarenotchecked.Once Lagosbuysintoourprogramme, manyotherstateswillcopythem.

“Wehavesuggestedthatthere should be a registered engineer tomonitoreverybuildingunder construction. But it is not only new buildings that are collapsing. Many of these buildings, especially in Isale-Eko have expired.Butbecausewecareless, the government and its agencies do not care.

Michael Olugbode inMaiduguri Borno State Governor, Prof.

Babagana Zulum yesterday distributed N65 million to 8,000 widows and other people in critical humanitarian needs in Rann, a border town between Nigeria and Cameroon.

During Saturday’s trip, Zulum explained that since he became the governor of the troubled state last year, he supervised the distribution of N65m to families of 8,000 widows and some vulnerable residents.

Rann, the headquarters of Kala-Balge Local Government Area (LGA), is often cut off from the rest of the country, especially during the rainy season.

Rann can only be accessed by road through Cameroon. The town is cut off during the rainy season due to a discharge from a dam in Central Africa, which according to him, always traps Nigerians in Rann.

The discharge from the dam often stops them from traveling to other parts of Borno and denying them access to farms, which are also flooded.

In this edition, the governor disclosed that he flew into the border town with the money because the town was inaccessible by road through Nigeria and there was no bank through which the cash could be transferred.

Zulum explained that the cash “is to allow the people to purchase food supplies

from a border village in the neighbouring Cameroon Republic, for livelihoods.” Each family (called household) in the community was given between N10,000 and N5,000 cash.

Before traveling to KalaBalge, Zulum was in Kaduna on Friday for the Northern Governors’ meeting.

He also used the trip to Kaduna to inspect some property owned by the Borno State Government in the state. The state’s assets include Kaduna lodge and palace of the Shehu of Borno, the Governor’s Lodge and Liaison Office, Government Staff Quarters, and Borno Hotels.

He ordered technical evaluation of those properties in need of rehabilitation.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸

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NEWS Otedola Set tles Medical Bill of A iling Lect urer Deji Elumoye andUdora Orizu in Abuja Ailing Nigerian lecturer, Inih Ebong,hascheckedintoahospital in Uyo for medical treatment, courtesyofhelpfromaNigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola.

Ebong’s wife, Uduak, confirmed that Femi Otedola Foundation has paid money to the hospital, Prime Clinic, Uyo, for the treatment of the lecturer who has been diagnosed with cardiac failure. “Wehavebeentothehospital, he has started receiving treatment,� Ebongsaid,whilethanking Mr Otedola, his foundation,

and Nigerians for the love and support they have shown to her husband.

OnOctober5,PremiumTimes reported that Ebong was ill and in need of urgent medical help, a report that caught the attention of the billionaire businessman.

Otedolareadthestoryandwas moved by the lecturer’s plight, Philip Akinola, a representative of Femi Otedola Foundation, said. Ebong, 71, has been out of job for so long. Without any alternative source of income, he did not have the money to pay for medical bills or even feed himself and his family.

He was an associate professor

in the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Uyo, when hisappointmentwasunlawfully terminatedin2002.AkpanEkpo and Peter Effiong were the vicechancellor and registrar of the institution respectively at the time.

Threesuccessivevice-chancellorsoftheuniversityhaverefused to reinstate him, despite a string of victories at different courts.

Ebong, before his sack, had a runningbattlewithMessrsEkpo and Effiong, who saw him as a thorn for speaking up regularly against alleged maladministrationandcorruptionintheschool.

Ebong’s physician, Ime Essien, in a medical report issued onOctober8,saidthelecturerwas brought to the hospital, Prime Clinic, Uyo, in November 2019 becauseof“recurrentlegswelling

and shortness of breath of about 9 years duration. “Hehadearlierbeenmanaged attheUniversityofUyoTeaching Hospital for congestive cardiac failure secondary to rheumatic cardiomyopathy,� the doctor said.

Essien, a consultant cardiologist, said a medical examination he did on Mr Ebong revealed he had “fluid retention, including

scrotal oedema. “He was managed conservatively and discharged after spending one month in hospital.

Sincethen,hehasbeeninandout ofhospitalashishealthcontinues to deteriorate,� the doctor said.

Ebong has been receiving goodwill and financial support from Nigerians nationwide since the story of his illness was reported.

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City At least, 25 inmates out of the 1,900 that escaped from Oko and Sapele Road Correctional Centres in Benin City, Edo State last Monday have voluntarily surrendered themselves to the authorities.

An official of the Sapele Road Correctional Centre gave the figure yesterday, disclosing that one of the escapees had been recaptured after he was shot in the leg last Wednesday.

The official, also, disclosed that two out of the 25 inmates, who returned were inmates at the Oko Medium Correctional Centre along Airport Road, Benin.

Speaking with THISDAY anonymously, the official explained that the inmates

wouldbereturnedtoOkowhen normalcy returns to the centre. “The Department of State Security, the police and officials of the Nigerian Correctional Services will soon commence a manhunt for the runaway inmates immediately after a seven-day grace the state government gave them has elapsed.

He said those who escaped from lawful prison custody risked being sentenced for extra seven years if caught while thosewhowillinglysurrendered themselves would be shown mercy as the state governor, Mr.GodwinObasekipromised.

He said: “We have a way of arresting runway prisoners. We will swing into action once the protestcalmsdownnationwide.

The earlier they return on their own, the better for them.

NUJ Protests Police Attack on Vanguard Correspondent Sylvester Idowu in Warri The Nigerian Union of Journalists has condemned the attack on a Senior Correspondent of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Akpokona Omafuaire by policemen from Ovwian/Aladja Police Division.

Omafuaire, a former Chairman of Warri Correspondents’ Chapel was attacked by the police while on his way to work.

He was ambushed by the irate policemen at about 9 a.m.

at a junction close to the police division and was thoroughly beaten by the operatives.

Narrating his ordeal after the attack,Omafuairesaidheidentified himself to the policemen led by one SergeantGodspower.

Instead of treating as being on essential duty, according to him, the police officers attacked him with machetes and guns.

Omafuaire, who sustained injuries as a result of the torture, also had his car destroyed by the policemen.

Lagos NUJ Rejoices with TVC for Quick Comeback The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, yesterday rejoiced with owners, management and staff of TVC Communications, the owners of TVC and Max FM for the restoration of service after a recent attack.

In a statement by its Chairman, Dr. Qasim Akinreti, the council said TVC had resumed “to better inform, educate and entertain people in and outside Nigeria.�

Akinreti said: “It is a great comeback that deserves great applause, considering the monumental devastation

suffered by the broadcasting outfits in a well reported violent attack by irate youths, who suddenly hijacked Nigerian youths’ #EndSARS protests and set the headquarters in Lagos ablaze on Wednesday.�

He commended courage and commitment of the TVC staff who,despitepersonallossesalso suffered in the mass destruction carried out by the rampaging thugs and arsonists, returned to work to ensure Nigerians and people outside the country are not denied inestimable services of the award winning television station.

BUILDING INTELLIGENCE CULTURE

Set of 86 cadets of Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), on simulation exercise during their graduation from a weapon handling training at the Regiment Training Centre, Nigerian Air Force, Kaduna‌ Friday

Okorocha: I Never Received Salary as Senator Adedayo Akinwale inAbuja The senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha, yesterday said that he had not received a dime as salary since he was inaugurated.

Okorocha, a former governor of Imo State, said Nigeria should not be allowed to descend to a deeper crisis, warning those beating the drums of war to stop it forthwith.

He made the disclosure at a newsconferenceheaddressedin Abujayesterday,arguingthatthe salaries of senators are not out of place considering the standard of living in Abuja.

Theallowancesandsalariesof

federal lawmakers have been a subject of debate in the country amid worsening poverty index and infrastructure deficit.

On March 7, 2018, a senator in the eighth National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani revealed that a senator was entitled to monthly expenses of N13.5 million (ÂŁ27,000; $37,500) in addition to their monthly salaries of more than $2,000.

At the conference yesterday, Okorocha justified senators’ jumbo allowances and salaries on the unprecedented standard of living in the Federal Capital Territory.

He, further, explained: “As I speak to you as a Senator, I have

not received a dime as salary since I became a senator. If you look at the allowances given to the senators and break it down foraccommodation,transportation among others, it is definitely not out of place. “You cannot bring somebody as a Senator and expect him to be a pauper, who cannot afford a decent meal. I do not know how muchinformationNigeriansget leading to the conclusion that senators receive so much. “How much is a house in Abuja in a year befitting a senator? I have proposed that if we cannot carry the welfare of senators, we should make laws and cut it down. I had suggested

one senator and three House of Representatives per state,� Imo’s former governor explained.

He, however, lamented that nobody listened to him when he advocated a senator per state, wondering how the federalgovernment“willbringa senator to Abuja without a car or an okada to ride. The situation now calls for national sacrifice from the leadership. “Even if we are going to turn the senators to live in hostels, let everybody cut down 50 to 70 percent of his or her income so that the youths will also have a sense of belonging that the leaders are making sacrifice.

Ubah Asks Buhari to Investigate Lekki Shooting Tobi Soniyi As reactions continue to trail the last week’s shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate, the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District, Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has condemned the shooting even as he asked President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the incident.

Describing the shooting as barbaric, Ubah in a statement he personally signed expressed deep sadness over the incident while condoling the families of those who lost their lives.

He said: “I am deeply saddened by reports of extrajudicial shootings and barbaric killing of peaceful protesters in Lekki-Lagos, Nigeria. I wish to categorically condemn in its entirety, these shootings by security operatives who are meant to protect the citizens. “These unlawful shootings by the military and security agents at unarmed protesters are a gross violation of the right to life as enshrined in Section 33 of the constitution of the Federal RepublicofNigeria1999;Article4 oftheAfricanCharteronHuman andPeoplesRights,andArticle6 of the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights. “In view of this, I hereby call on the federal government and all relevant security agencies involved tocommenceimmediate investigationintothismatterwith a view to serving justice to the deceased and their loved ones.�

HealsocalledonthePresident and Commander in Chief of the Armed forces of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) to assuage the feelings of the citizenry. “As stated earlier in my motion on the floor of the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday; October 13, 2020 calling for comprehensive PoliceReformsandEndofPolice

Brutality, I remain committed to exploring ways of ensuring that the incessant harassment of citizens by security agents stops with a view to promoting a cordial relationship between law abiding citizens and law enforcementagentsinthenation for a more peaceful and secure environment where the people can express their thoughts and feelings about the government without fear of intimidation�, he added.

He commiserated with all familiesthatlosttheirlovedones in the. incident even as he asked fordivinehelpandgracefortheir loved ones to bear these losses.

14

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 25, 2020

OPINION

LEKKI TOLLGATE SHOOTINGS AND ACCOUNTABILITY Kayode Makinde bemoans the violence unleashed on armless protesters

O

ctober 20, 2020 has gone down as a really sad day in my life and in the history of Nigeria. In the self-same month Nigeria marked her 60th year anniversary of independence from the British, from my California, USAchildren’s home, l tearfully watched the unfolding disaster engulfing our beloved Motherland.

My wife and I have been caught here in a COVID-19 Lockdown since March, but as we finally await our return flights to Lagos next week, I beheld the gory violence orchestrated by state actors in Nigeria Army uniforms. And to think that irrational military violence was government’s ultimate response to Police violence is indeed an unfortunate irony and a sign of total tone-deafness and insensitivity.

By upbringing, training, and a 40-year career working with young people within the community and most notably in the university, I am an unashamed systems person, a team player and an unshakeable believer in government and authority structure. I have been a teacher at the Faculty of Administration of the Obafemi Awolowo University, before leaving, responding to a call to ministry which ended up positioning me providentially to lead out the team that midwifed the Nigerian private university system in 1999.

I have climbed the highly disciplined systemic ladder of academia from Graduate Assistantship to Professorship, working with parents, proprietors, pupils, professors, presidency and the public, to the point of knowing that the only reason you have a president is because there is a country comprising citizens, just like the only reason you have professors is that there are students comprising a university. And, as political scientists, one of the most grievous philosophical lessons we taught and learned in the university, was John F. Kennedy’s 1962 quote that “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

Today before the 21st century information-driven global community animated by social media, that Nigerian system again failed woefully, regrettably, inexplicably and inexcusably.

It is by far the easiest and natural thing for me to do given my current location and situation, to keep silent and look the other way since, figuratively speaking, “I have no skin in the game”.

But, taking a spiritually loaded trip back the memory lane to recall my humble beginnings, and what God has done for me in and through Nigeria, if I shut my mouth today, even the stones would cry out. ANigerian by nature, nurture and culture, like millions of my compatriots I benefitted from Chief Obafemi Awolowo government’s historic Free Education system - with seven of my siblings of the same low-income parents. Through difficult struggles of early childhood and restlessness of youth, and leaving home at the age of 21 in search of “the Golden Fleece”, in different countries of Middle East, Europe and North America, I have been an ever so confidently and unrepentantly patriot (not nationalist). And for the past 45 years I have carried my green colored Nigerian passports so proudly from one immigration desk at foreign airports and seaports to the other, even as a poor student. My brand of patriotism and confidence is brash to the point that, upon a second Master’s degree from the Andrews University Graduate School in 1980, I called the bluff of Doctors in Lincoln, Nebraska, who said my pregnant bride couldn’t have our first baby naturally without undergoing a Caesarean section surgery due to a “non-dilating cervix”, (whatever that then meant), packed my bags and came straight home for ante-natal registration at the Jericho Nursing Home, Ibadan where the incredible Nigerian Midwives of “Exodus Egyptian” réputation and skills, overruled their Obstetricians and Gynecologists, to safely deliver our first born son - in whose home I am now sheltered in California.

Looking at the blackout images of soldiers in military fatigues firing bullets screeching across the Lekki Toll Gate and blood-soaked

Who was so tone-deaf and insensitive during an anti-Police brutality protest to pour fuel into the fire by deploying soldiers in combat fatigue and giving order for soldiers to shoot peacefully protesting citizens at the Lekki Toll Gate, while hoodlums were having a field day burning down the economic engine room of Lagos?

Nigerian flags hoisted by gallant youths arising to “Nigeria’s Call” by speaking out against Police brutality, illegality and outright criminality, singing the National Anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots”, God confronted me directly with the question as to whether I could have been comfortably and safely sheltered from the ravaging COVID-19 global pandemic if the SARS bullets had cut him down in the prime of youth at Babcock University, or during one of his few trips to Nigeria with his family thereafter? Would I even have been promoted into the privileged class of “Grandpas”, if he was already beaten, broken and buried by disillusioned and frustrated agents of the State reacting against executive corruption, injustice, poor pay and lack of accountability in political leadership?

While I cannot pretend to know the full dynamics of the difficulties with which the administration is grappling, but as a citizen who is not totally ignorant of executive responsibility and accountability best practices in governance in the world, the following questions beg for a public immediate response: Why did we as a nation and government need to wait for the people to pour out on the streets before mustering the willpower to do what needed to have been done eons ago, and fulfill the electoral promises made to convince the electorate to evict the previous occupants from Aso Rock?

Who was so tone-deaf and insensitive during an anti-Police brutality protest to pour fuel into the fire by deploying soldiers in combat fatigue and giving order for soldiers to shoot peacefully protesting citizens at the Lekki Toll Gate, while hoodlums and looters were having a field day burning down the economic engine room of Lagos: Oba’s Palace, TVC studios, etc?

What stops the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from declaring a State of Emergency in Lagos and Abuja and those epicenters of the protest in order to protect lives and critical public and private infrastructure, rather than violently stopping citizens from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human rights?

––Prof. Makinde, Emeritus President/VC, Babcock University, wrote from California, USA.

Coming of Age of The ‘Nigerian Used’ Nigerian youths are highly creative and innovative, writes Kunle Jenrola

T

he Nigerian Youths are, easily, one of the most troubled or, more charitably, most tested mass of people in the world. From the challenges of unemployment through stymied competitive edge to lack of basic social opportunities, their afflictions are rankling.

Unlike their counterparts in other climes where the necessities of life for a secure future, are inalienable, the lot of the Nigerian Youth to access the barest benefits of citizenship is unflattering. In the midst of all these, their self-confidence is as shaken as a reputation that's being bashed by those who created their misery.

They are labeled as criminally minded, "Yahoo boys", and disparaged as "lazy" louts. Yet, they have remained valiantly resilient in confronting these ordeals.

Ironically, their capacity to toil without intermission and bear their burden uncomplainingly is often mistaken for docility. As if to shake off this odium, they have, sometimes, been driven to adopt extreme survivalist measures such as embarking on perilous journeys across the inclement terrains; all in a bid to reach "greener pastures".

Unfortunately, their woes are multiplied when, as illegal migrants, they are lured and enslaved by unscrupulous elements, into prostitution and drug peddling resulting in imprisonment or death.

Out of desperation to survive at home, they have been used and abused by politicians to violently rig elections. They are also routinely used and abused cheaply in the lean labour market. Largely, however, our youths who have been on a seemingly never- ending journey to self-discovery are adjudged highly creative and innovative.

Think of their exploits in the fields of entertainment and Information Technology(IT) and you'd recall their positive impact on the employment index and the GDP. According to recent statistics of Nigeria's GDP, the entertainment and media industry is expected to rise from $4.46 billion in 2018 to $10.5 billion market by the end of 2023.

In spite of all these, they were yet to earn their respect as a formidable power source. This is probably because they have stayed aloof from organized politics and seemed content with eking out an existence; getting a relief by keeping abreast with fashion, music and Reality TV trends. And, this apolitical or lethargic status quo would have remained until their confined space began to shrink further through an incursion by the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

(SARS) which may have become part of a ash-heap of history due to youth restiveness.

So, like a bear goaded on all sides, it's time to call up their Godgiven zest of unstinting resistance to discomforts. Finally, the "Lazy Youths" have become a bounding dynamo of energy. They have discovered their niche and found their voice in: "SARSMUSTEND"!

"Sharp(er)ly" as the youths would say, a rallying battle cry #END-

SARS, was coined to air their grievances on the infringement of their space and fundamental human rights by a corrupt and murderous Special Anti-Unit of the Nigeria Police Force.

Need I recall that at the ignoble height of the SARS operations, youths were profiled as crime suspects, arrested, turtured, extorted and murdered for no more justifiable reason than their "youthful appurtenance": flashy cars, dropping pants, tattooed body, ear studs and other bizarre fashion statements.

Apparently harangued by more challenges than they could cope with including the economic debilitation of the Coronavirus pandemic, it was time to confront their fears in the streets. Today, in the year 2020AD- the age of "New Normal", the vilified youths of Nigeria have, for many long days, created a "NewNormal" by stringing the delicate web of a patterned coalesence of dissimilar ideals and backgrounds into a united and wholesome purpose of a New Nigeria through unprecedented protests on major streets in many state capitals.

It's amazing how these so-called lackadaisical and laidback youths have perfected the art of "uncoordinated coordination" defined by the sustenance of their dexterous management of a "leaderless" and "cashless" but spontaneous protests.

By the way, herein lies the "New Normal" protest strategy which contrasts with the nationalist and students protests of the days of yore where the presence of identifiable leaders and paucity of funds had encumbered those movements.

By the sheer sophisticated simplicity of their conduct, these young and not- so -young protesters have raked up the nostalgia of the nationalist struggles of the pre- independence era where neither tongue, tribe or religion mattered in the fight against colonialism.

How about the magical realism of an organic cooperation that ensured a largely peaceful protest characterised by a refusal to be provoked to violence by invading hoodlums or policemen who killed some protesters in the process. lt is also a novelty of the current momentum that food, prayer walks and ambulance services are a regular character of the protests.

Indeed, the articulate toga of the Nigerian Youth was revealed by their transparent fund raising savvy which has not only ensured a steady supply of food and drinks but hired private security to make up for a shortfall of police protection.

Words have filtered out on their traits of empathy even for some uniformed men who were given food and drinks aided by the raising of support funds for less privileged citizens including" a groundnut hawker".

The question now is: what do the youths really want? Their demand, quite concise and focus, are trained on how to bring an end to the symbolic "SARS" through justice for the victims

of police brutality, prosecution of erring SARS operatives, release of arrested protesters, and reforms in the security architecture including increased pay packets. You cannot miss the persuasive articulation of the SARS metaphor as a vehicle of progressive intellectual interrogation of a myriad of the Nigerian question such as addressing the infrastructural deficit and restructuring.

It would be interesting to see how they will take the sonorous sound of reforms in the public sector to the brim from the crescendo of the ENDSARS catchphrase.

Surely, they would need a great deal of communications expertise, which is not only about oratorical skill, to break through a carapace of indifference of the old order.

Since this non-violent movement is rightly founded on sheer force of superior reasoning typified by a dialogic approach, it's time to oil their strategy for a more challenging phase of the struggles. The Youths, most of whom sound impressively exposed to the fine points of consensus building and negotiation techniques should not lose sight of the demands of the complexity and dynamics of power.

They should be careful not to trivialize their emancipation by betraying a lack of initiative on the use of power. According to renowned Psychologist, Dacher Keltner's, "The Power Paradox", enduring power comes from empathy and its paradox lies in the fact that "power is given to us by other people".

In other words, if the other Nigerians have supported the Youth protests at the expense of personal discomfort and loss of income through disrupted businesses, then, enormous responsibility rests squarely on their shoulders to use the power to everyone's advantage.

"Any misunderstanding of the behaviors that helped us to gain power in the first place will set us up for a fall from power.", Keltner quips. Again, the admonition of Robert Greene's "The 48 Laws of Power" that "power has its own rhythm and patterns" and, as such, victors should "learn when to stop" is worthy of appraisal. It could be interpreted as an initiative deficit to give an impression that they intend to stay on the streets perpetually. A second phase of the struggle should begin to kick in.

"Too much presence", according to Greene's Laws of Power, "may create the opposite effect." As this second law of power suggests, a varied strategy can be used to increase respect and honour.

The more you 're seen and heard from, he says ,"the more your value degrades.

––Jenrola sent this piece shortly before the Lekki shootings.

T H I S D AY, T H E S U N D AY N E W S PA P E R ˾ OCTOBER 25, 2020

15

LETTERS

#ENDSARS AND THE ABSENCE OF IDEALOGUES

I

t is hard to be an activist in a country deeply divided along ethnic lines. Some youths attacked activists as reported in some places in Abuja because they concluded wrongly that the protest was against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Governors of some northern states, I gather, also toe the same line. Victimhood is celebrated as a Heaven’s fare.

SARS ought to have been reformed and transformed before now. If only Nigeria had strategic leaders. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s leaders don’t care about tomorrow.

There should have been an alternative to SARS before youths went on the rampage demanding an end to SARS. It is public knowledge that the outfit established to tackle crime; criminality, and brazen wickedness, to deal with bad people so that good people can sleep with both eyes closed, chose, instead to deal with good people, killing many in gung ho spirit.

Bad people have got the chance and fillip created by governance that has taken flight to deal with good people, a double tragedy.

Nigeria needs an outfit to keep bad people in check, an outfit ready to display the panoply of smoking guns

IGP, Mohammed Adamu against bad people in many places across Nigeria.

Nothing appears to work in Nigeria because the actions of leaders across board are guided by chance. No-one person thought it best to engage demonstrators until it spiraled out of control and gave vent to violence.

President Buhari was counselled to deliver a speech close to two weeks after the uproar - instead of engaging with the youths in a national

dialogue from the first. If he had done so earlier, we may not have witnessed a prison break and 24 -hour curfew imposed on some states.

Are we at war? Where are the crises managers in this administration? Nigeria has really gone broke.

In Singapore, peaceful protests are not tolerated because leaders there are responsible enough to provide citizens with everything they need to stem the tide of protestation.

Why can’t that be the case in Nigeria? Responsibility comes before accountability.

Citizens are hungry and governments over time have failed to display the quality of honesty in dealing with Nigerians.

Honesty is a choice that involves efforts and skill. But the skill is not deployed until people die after which leaders engage in a rat race.

I support people courageous enough to protest against prejudices in Nigeria.

Nigerians have been taken for a ride for too long. Regardless, many people in Nigeria are bedroom activist only. They cannot venture out to the street. But what I worry about in Nigeria is the absence of ideologues in protest movements. It is easy to start a protest, as in the case of End SARS now but there are no leaders to provide thought leadership.

It is also the same with the Biafra movement. Confrontations are easy to start, but to spearhead efforts for peace at the negotiation table is difficult. You need real thinkers, ideologues, brain-boxes with the emotional intelligence to martial points with supposed adversaries and arrive at a win-win situation for everybody.

ANAMBRA AND THE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

E

very project has a life span, and so does the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP). The Project (an Anambra State Government Planned Undertaking in partnership with the World Bank) has made its mark after nearly two years of operation and closed shop on the 30th of September, 2020.

The Anambra State Community and Social Development Agency (ANCSDA)came into existence over a decade ago through an enactment by the Anambra State House of Assembly, but the project did not take off immediately until August 1, 2018, and commenced community implementation

by March of 2019. The implementation came due because of the special interest shown

by Governor Willie Obiano in community development which his government had earlier demonstrated in the Community-Choose-YourProject initiative. The board of the agency was constituted under the chairmanship of the traditional ruler of Nteje, Chief Rowland Odegbo and overseen by Mr. Chudi Mojekwu who had earlier managed the state FADAMA project.

Arriving at the needy communities in the 12 local Local Government Areas of Awka North, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Orumba North, Dunukofia, Orumba South, Anaocha, Oyi, Ogbaru, Idemili North and Ihiala was achieved, using the State Poverty Mapping. While the areas of

intervention – about seven sectors in all - were determined by the communities through expression of interest. The communities also planned; part financed, implemented, monitored and maintained any of the projects they host.

To the agency’s credit, a total of 62 communities, 17 vulnerable groups and well over two million beneficiaries have been empowered with access to improved social and natural resource infrastructure. About 249 micro projects were supported with over a thousand temporal jobs, direct and indirect, created. Trainings were offered the youths in various skills acquisition like carpentry, tailoring, phone repairs, bead making, hair dressing, etc., with a proviso to step it down on return to their different communities.

Apart from project implementation and other forms of pro-poor interventions, the agency was able to approve 58 Community Development Plans and 17 Group Development Plans for possible use by the state in her quest for integrated development.

It also made some critical interventions in area of social responsibility in giving psycho-social support to care-seekers and victims of various kinds of trauma, including gender-based violence, domestic violence, rape, sexual abuse, herdsmen attack among others by the agency staff trained on such matters. The agency equally played pivotal role in sensitization of many communities on protocol observation at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. True to that com-

mitment, the sensitization was taken to the far reaches of the communities by the agency’s field workers who had earlier been trained on the pandemic protocols.

However, not all its efforts to provide access to improved economic and social infrastructure to the communities, hitherto without them, came through. Working with the resources available to it, the agency was able to attend to appreciable number of expression of interest communicated to it by the communities. Note however that not all of them could be managed as the agency’s guns were without sufficient power, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, to bring about total reduction in the request made. Its funding was affected because of budgetary and time constraints in much the same way rains and flooding threatened some of the projects implementation.

So far as the achievements of the agency were, nothing except perhaps Governor Obiano’s Community-ChooseYour-Project model that covers all the 180 communities in the state can claim effective implementation. The agency achieved within its short period of existence remarkable improvement in infrastructural development in the focal communities where its efforts were directed.

The Amanuke Feeder Road and Culvert, the Ndiukwuenu Science Lab, Okpeze Rural Rlectrification, Ezi Anam VIP Toilet, Enugwu Aguleri Civic Centre, Nkpunando Health Centre, Umuzu Community Secondary School, Igbakwu

Community Secondary School, Onneh Water Borehole, etc., were some of the projects implemented by the agency which will continue to speak to the hearts of the beneficiary communities.

With what it achieved through the Community and Social Development Project, the Anambra State Community and Social Development Agency could easily claim to be the consolidation and institutionalization agency for the government’s community and social development interventions. It brought immeasurable joy to the communities and it is expected that any other project that may come in its stead, should strive to consolidate on the gains already made.

Without doubt, the CSDP accentuated all the efforts made by the Anambra State government in driving a comprehensive and equitable development of the state.

Already the beneficiary communities are expressing the hope that the project should continue or worse case scenario metamorphose into a new one in order to continue with the good works.

In the agency, the state has a chance to drastically reduce poverty of infrastructural development in most of her rural communities, especially those considered to be particularly in need.

Perhaps it is only in continuity that this expectation is better served and the whole idea of comprehensive development as envisaged by the Obiano government can be achieved.

––Ejike Anyaduba, Abatete.

The protest that I witnessed was not without jingoism even though the feelers that I got was that it was non-partisan. Some of the protesters were not ethically, culturally and socially active.

And those I watched closely allowed themselves to be amused by fustians in the name of activism. Activism is not a child’s play.

I know that this administration has not met the expectations of Nigerians but activists should put issues in proper perspective. The SARS imbroglio did not start with the Buhari administration but I am mindful of the fact that the administration does not have a proper communication strategy to engage Nigerians and hence worsens issues which could have been handled before it became a Kentish Fire. No word on Leah Sharibu, she has become passé, so also are the remaining Chibok girls. Sadly!

Youths should appeal to a sense of right and wrong.

They should have a large fund of national sense. Killing people, looting and burning vehicles, shops, sexually harassing women, carrying sticks and freeing prisoners is not activism, it is barefaced criminality. And the organizers who thought nothing that the protest could be hijacked in a country where half of the populace is hungry are to blame and held responsible.

The criminal elements in

police uniforms that went about killing innocent youths must be brought to account.

Insulting people is also not activism. Real activists are bothered about outcomes and are not interested in fame and the klieg lights for the wrong reasons. Their activism is around specific causes and is not violent because they know that activism is hopeless if it is based on regionalism, ethnicity and religiosity.

Activists campaign for the rights of all people puckered by the Nigerian state; they are no tribal war lords. They pursue knowledge to teach and to inform and avoid the spot lights; the cause to serve humankind to them is more of importance. They are not conceited and do not manipulate the feelings of the helpless.

Nigeria is ours and for those not yet born and recourse should be given to the fact that we are one family and we must develop positive relationships not only with citizens but with government officials.

Real activists promote crusades against conflicts, they open their doors to argument with the possibility to bow down to superior argument, respect all citizens of Nigeria in spite of biases, they respect constituted authority, and they give and take, and ensure a free and just society.

––Simon Abah, Abuja

Vandalism in Lagos, Osun and Kwara

T

hat Nigeria is facing serious challenges is an understatement.

Nigeria is surviving today by the sheer grace of God, which the nation has in abundance but still abuses.

When John Alexander Logan, an American soldier and politician, remarked that: “Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided republic,” it seemed most Nigerians were absent on that day. And they weren’t privileged to have come across his words on the pages of books in order to reflect on the profundity of those words.

On Wednesday, 20 October 2020, a mob stormed the palace of the Oba of Lagos and carried away food items and other property. They did not leave the palace without vandalising it. That action informed the search for warehouses where CA-COVID palliatives were stored in Lagos State. They found them.

They looted them. And they vandalised property.

It was the Lagos’ looting of warehouses that activated the storm of vandalism almost across the country. On Friday, 23 October 2020, robbers had a field day in Ilorin and in Osun State. The Ilorin saga was more serious as they looted the Palms Mall. They vandalised

property. And some inhuman people claimed that those robbers took what belonged to them, really?

Shops at the mall belong to citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, just like you and me. For example, FEMTECH— a gadget shops where T.V sets, mobile phones, etc., are sold and “HairSense” a big unisex salon in Ilorin.

They looted and vandalised FEMTECH In Osun. Similarly, they did in Ilorin. HairSense and every shop in the Ilorin Palms Mall was left naked. It is crystal clear that people are using the current situation in the country to maraud.

Clearly, our leaders are not the only problem we have in this country. We, Nigerians, are also a problem to this nation as well. This turbulent time has unveiled our predatory trait as well as our rapacious nature that is deeply situated in our pillaging prowess. What a dispiriting vulturine behaviour patterns! By destroying and stealing from those shops, they have just successfully thrown a number of people into the state of depression: others, joblessness.

Importantly, there is no justification for thievery and vandalism. They are punishable crimes.

––Folorunso Fatai Adisa, Kuforiji Olubi, Abeokuta, Ogun State Read the full article online www.thisdaylive.com

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OC ͺͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

INTERNATIONAL Ending Police Brutality with Military Brutality: The Definienda of a Difficult Future in the Making

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nding police brutality is the cardinal objective of the #EndSARS protesters. They are a group that came into being spontaneously and that comprises youths protesting against the brutality of the SpecialAnti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force. #EndSars began its protests peacefully in 2017 through the medium of tweeter handles. Their main demand was to scrap the SARS and put an end to police brutality and violations of human rights: extra-judicial killings, kidnapping, harassment of the youth, rape, unlawful detention, extortion, torture, etc.

The protests shifted from tweeter campaigns on Thursday 8th October, 2020 to mass demonstrations in the public in different cities of Nigeria, as well as in the Diaspora. #EndSars protests were very methodical and coordinated in terms of operational modality until Tuesday, 20th October, when the armed military men opened fire with rounds of live ammunitions on the unarmed protesters. The protesters maintained a high-level of cleanliness at the venue of their protests in Lagos. Their protests were patriotic because the protesters respectfully, joyfully and solemnly rendered Nigeria’s National Anthem, in spite of their anger. They were shot at when rendering patriotic songs and waiving the National Flags.

More important, #EndSARS, resultantly, is going to be a critical issue to contend with in the foreseeable future. First, there were initially few protesters on the first day.As at this time of writing, support for the #EndSars has gone beyond the scope of the organising youths. Parents at home and abroad, and particularly the international community (African Union, European Union, Sweden, Nigerians in Diaspora, etc), have been condemning the police killing of peaceful protesters in Nigeria. In fact, the hashtag has not less than 28 million tweets as at the time of writing this article. Government must tread more cautiously.

Secondly, the protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate were not armed by whatever definition. In fact, they knelt down, holding Nigeria’s green-white-green national flag and singing the NationalAnthem when Government’s quest to end police brutality was replaced with military brutality. The killing of innocent, young protesters and unarmed young Nigerians was wicked in mania, brutal in target and extrajudicial. This is why global hostility vis-a-vis the Government is also another issue to contend with.

Thirdly, both Nigerians and the protesters did not reckon with the impending brutal act of the Nigerian military when the military announced that it would be carrying out an Operation Crocodile Smile as from Monday, October 19, 2020. The notion of ‘crocodile’ necessarily connotes untruth, evil intention and wickedness of action. Whether it is crocodile tears or crocodile smile, any act of ‘crocodile’ is inherently devilish. Consequently, when the military said it would be carrying out its annual operation crocodile smile to coincide with the peaceful protests of #End SARS, a clash of interests should have been foreseen, an impending brutal killing was already in the making but not reckoned with.

Unfortunately, the act of killing by any national military is regulated in international law and raises the accountability and responsibility of Governments. The killing of unarmed protesters, during the exercise of their right to protest, not even in a situation of war when non-combatants are even required to be well-protected, constitutes an extra-judicial killing, with international consequences for Nigeria’s difficult future.

Definienda of the Difficult Future

There are two categories of definienda that are most likely to inform Nigeria’s future, which we believe, cannot but be difficult: the definienda before the advent of #End SARS Movement and the protest-driven definienda.As regards the definienda before #End SARS protests, political governance of Nigeria was hardly predicated on truth and objectivity of purpose. Engagement in politics is generally seen as the best avenue for illegal self-enrichment and aggrandisement with impunity. Consequently, every Dick and Harry wants to engage in the business of politics.

In fact, the logic of gubernatorial and presidential candidates in Nigeria is to first to seek to win elections by whatever means possible, illegally and otherwise, and then allow the losers to go to court, all in the expectation that judicial processes would be

VIE INTERNATIONALE

Bola A. Akinterinwa Telephone : 0807-688-2846

e-mail: bolyttag@yahoo.com

Buhari influenced. This is one major problem that has not made life and survival easy for the Nigerian youths, who account for about 70% of Nigeria’s total population. Nothing is done on merit when it comes to the question of public service. President Muhammadu Buhari is himself a chief apostle of nepotism as clearly shown in his political appointments. This has been a major issue of concern for the Nigerian youths.

Secondly, national unity has, at best, been very fragile. Without doubt, national unity has been by force and its origins can be traced to Friday, March 17, 1967 when the Daily Times reported the promulgation of a new decree that made secession from the Federation of Nigeria illegal. The decree empowered the then governors to appoint regional judges. The decree restored the regional legislative powers and gave the Supreme Military Council the responsibility to appoint the Supreme Court and the Lagos judges,Army and police personnel. However, the decree negated the obligations of the agreement reached with the secessionists inAburi, Ghana.

This partly still explains the anger of the Ibos in the governance of Nigeria.

More important, there are also the Boko Haram insurgency, which is directly aimed at national disintegration; various quests and struggles for self-determination; armed banditry and unending kidnappings; herdsmen-farmers dispute; coupled with the fears or threats of possible Islamisation and Fulanisation, etc. It is against this background that the #EndSARS protests began on October 8, 2020.

In this regard, ending police brutality, as demanded, covers seeking enduring solutions to all the foregoing problems. The quest for restructuring is at the epicentre of the issues raised.

Thirdly, the call and protests by the #EndSARS Movement have not been well understood, and therefore, have not been well appreciated. In the eyes of the general public, it is the members of the SARS, on the streets extorting money and engaging in various acts of serious misconduct, that are often seen and held responsible and that should be removed off the streets and roads.

The neglected truth of the matter is the allegation that the SARS,

considered severally or collectively, is nothing more than a representation of the institutionalised corruption within the Police Force.

For long, there have been allegations that policemen, including SARS officials and Vehicle Inspector Officers (VIOs), are extorting money from the public and that they have a specific amount that must be given to their bosses in the office. It is useful to note here that on Friday, 16th October, 2020 my vehicle developed an overheating problem at the Lawanson bus stop in Surulere, Lagos, and I had to park it and chartered an empty yellow commercial bus to Oke Oloruntedo street in Ijesha.

The commercial driver did not fasten his security belt. He did not have any face mask. I asked him to comply with the rule of law as I did not want to be delayed in the event there was police check. I was already late for a traditional wedding engagement where I was to perform some roles. To my greatest surprise, he said, ‘baba’, that is, Father or elderly person, ‘there are no VIOs or police in this area, Ojuelegba-Lawanson- Ijesha axis.’ I asked why? He explained that every commercial bus plying this route, and there are about three hundred of them, do contribute the sum of N200 per vehicle daily at the Lawanson end and the same amount at the Ijesha end.And perhaps more interestingly too, the driver educated me that the contributions being made assist the policemen and their offices to buy pens, papers, and other office materials. I asked the driver if that was why he and his other colleagues do not bother about the need to respect traffic rules and the COVID-19 protocol. He asked me if I had just arrived the country. I kept silent. This is the environment of the so-called police brutality against which the EndSARS Movement is protesting.

Additionally, there have been allegations that many Police Commissioners, by embezzling security votes meant for the general upkeep of the operational officers, often deny such officers of their entitlements, thereby forcing them to seek other means to eke out a good living. Unlike the daily returns by commercial drivers discussed above, there is also the allegation of weekly monetary returns, through superior officers (DPOs and Heads of Department, to the Commissioner of Police or the Commissioner of Police of the Unit.

The import of the foregoing is not only to underscore the point that the police institution is corrupt to the brim at all levels. The seriousness of the problem is to the extent that the policemen of modern-day Nigeria cannot live and survive without bribe taking.

Corruption is for them a way of life. It is also to emphasise that #End SARS protests are not simply to remove the SARS officers on the field, but to particularly seek total neutralisation of the system of institutional corruption.

Fourthly, another important definienda of the pre-#End SARS Movement was the September 11, 1963 allocutus of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s before Justice Sowemimo, who found him guilty of the charges of treasonable felony levied against him.As put by Chief Awolowo in not only showing how he relentlessly fought colonialists, but how he also spent almost half of Nigeria’s three years of independence ‘under one form of confinement or another,’ made it clear that he fought ‘with special and relentless vigour for the eradication of feudal oligarchy in the North’ and that he wanted ‘in any case, to also prevent the spread of the evil political system to the Southern part of this country.’ This fear of evil feudal oligarchy is still much alive even after the demise of the sage. The fear of domination of one ethnic group over another is still a critical issue in Nigeria.

And more important, ChiefAwolowo also had it that, as a nationalist, his only concern was that his incarceration might do harm to Nigeria for three reasons: in his words, ‘first, the invaluable services such I have rendered before and which I can still render would be lost to the country, at least, for a reason. Second, there might be a heightening of the present tension which has lasted for fifteen months and has done incalculable injury to the country’s economy.

Third, for a while, and the rule of law might change into one of utter darkness.’ With this foresight, and in light of what currently obtains with the #End SARS, ChiefAwolowo could not have been more correct, as the tension he foresaw not only led to a civil war but also made the aftermath of the civil war difficult to build a Nigerian nation-state that is free from political chicanery. National unity has been by manu militari since 1967.

On the post-#End SARS definienda, the basic one is the misunderstanding by the Government of what the demands by the #End SARS Movement really were. While the single request for an end to police brutality has a more holistic connotation for the #End SARS protesters, the Government simply took it as an ordinary disbandment of the SARS. This is a pointer to a more challenging future for Nigeria.

But who killed the protesters: police or military? If they were killed by miscreants, how did they manage to operate freely without arrest? Why was there no security protection for the protesters?

If we admit of military denial, how do we explain the fact that Governor Sanwo-olu of Lagos visited some victims in some hospitals? How do we also explain the finding of heavy 7.62 mm Problems and Implications cartridges used to fire at peaceful protesters at the venue of protest? What about the military Future First, the #End SARS Movement demanded that all the protesters vehicles captured on videos? Who were inside? If they were not Nigerian soldiers, were they arrested and detained should be immediately released without hoodlums on government’s pay roll? Whenever there is government-pronounced lockdown or condition; justice for all the deceased victims of police brutality and curfew, it is then illegal activities are more pronounced.The period of the COVID-19 lockdown appropriate compensation for their families; establishment of an was when people were transported from the North to the South. It was during the 24-hour curfew independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution all reports of police misconduct within 10 days; psychological that the hooligans had a free day to engage in massive destruction in Lagos. The military saw of evaluation and retraining of all disbanded SARs officers in line with the protesters as possible subversive elements, warned them and publicly vowed its allegiance the new PoliceAct and with the confirmation of an independent to PMB, rather than to the people of Nigeria. How can the military de-link itself? Probably, the body before the disbanded SARs officers can be redeployed; and an killers have killed either to protest against PMB, or to discredit the peaceful protests, in order increase in police salary as a compensation for protecting the lives to forcefully disband the protesters and avoid increasing #Buharimustgo campaigns. Nigeria and property of Nigerian citizens. needs development of democracy and not democratisation of dictatorship Read full article online - www.thisdaylive.com

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

BUSINESS

Editor: Kunle Aderinokun 08033204315, 08111813084 Email:kunle.aderinoku@thisdaylive.com

Counting Losses from #EndSARS Protests With the Nigerian economy anaemic since 2015, the COVID-19 pandemic that led to further economic hardship, it was only a matter of time that something had to give. Last week, the massive unemployment and the unbearable economic situation in Nigeria were stripped bare as restive youths latched on the shooting of unarmed protesters at the Lekki tollgate to wreak havoc on cities across the country. Lagos, the economic hub of the country was the worst hit as estimates revealed over N1 trillion worth of damage in the state. Eromosele Abiodun reports

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efore the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria’s economy was already in a perilous state due to the decline in oil prices.

Then came COVID-19 that led to the shutdown of the global economy.

As the reality of the coronavirus pandemic bites, Nigeria, like the rest of the world has begun canceling events, flights, and virtually everything that requires social, official, and religious gatherings.

The impact of these measures aimed at reducing the spread of the virus dealt a devastating blow to the economy too. Analysts had warned that these impacts are likely to cripple the economies of most countries and may lead to the collapse of fragile economies.

The oil markets have been on a downward trend as COVID-19 has crippled demand. Oil prices fell and recorded 18-year low trading at less than $22 dollars per barrel around March 2020. Nigeria’s inflation went out of control. A loaf of bread which is for the common man, formerly sold between N300-350 Naira increased to between N400-N450 Naira.

A basket of tomatoes that was sold for N500N600 before the coronavirus pandemic now ranges between N1,700 and N1,800.

Likewise, a kilo of meat increased in cost from N1000 to N1,500 on the average. A bag of pure water sachet that is essential in every home doubled in price from N100 to N150 to N200.

To salvage the situation and enable ease of business in Nigeria despite the pandemic, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had at the ‘Growth 2.0 Meeting’ held in Abuja and at the ‘Banker’s Committee Meeting’ in Lagos, announced policy measures such as the additional moratorium of one year on CBN intervention facilities, interest rate reduction on intervention facilities from 9 per cent to 5 per cent; the activation of the N1.5 trillion InfraCo Project for building critical infrastructure; the strengthening of lending to deposit ratio policy, additional N100 billion intervention in healthcare loans to pharmaceutical companies; and the N1 trillion loan to boost local manufacturing and production across critical sectors.

However, as Nigerians were warming up to government’s policy measures expected to bring succor, the nation woke up to protests by youths against police brutality early this month. Triggered by a leaked video of the brutal killing of a young man fleeing from men of the State Anti-robbery Squad (SARS), the protest, which commenced in Lagos, quickly spread to other states in the country.

Lagos, Others Count losses Meanwhile, the protest, which was initially largely peaceful, took a violent turn on Wednesday last week following the shooting of unarmed protesters at the Lekki Tollgate on Tuesday night. With massive unemployment and economic hardship in the country, restive youths and hooligans seized the opportunity to vent their anger on the elite leading to massive destruction and looting of public and private properties. Across 20 states of the federation,

Nigeria Port Authority Headquarters set ablaze

public and private properties worth billions of naira were destroyed. Lagos state, a very important economic hub and contributes considerably to overall Nigerian economic activities, was the worst hit. THISDAY checks revealed that 62 people were killed nationwide in the protests against the now-dissolved police SARS, which metamorphosed into agitation for improved governance in addition to justice for victims of police brutality. Although official valuation of properties destroyed has not been released, there are estimates that over N1 trillion may be required to rebuild public and private property destroyed by hoodlums in Lagos state alone.

Official figures accessed by THISDAY showed that 51 of those killed are civilians while 11 others were policemen.

The long list of destroyed public and private property in Lagos includes Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government secretariat; Palace of the Oba of Lagos; Lagos High Court, Igbosere; Oyingbo BRT terminus; Ojodu Berger BRT terminus; Vehicle Inspection Office, Ojodu Berger; Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Ojodu Berger; Lagos City Hall and Circle Mall, Lekki; numerous luxury shops in Surulere, The Nation Newspaper, TVC and Shoprite Lekki.

The state Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotosho, said 27 of the destroyed BRT vehicles cost $200,000 each, while 57 of them cost $100,000 each, all totalling about N3.9 billion.According to the police, the 25 stations burnt in Lagos are Orile,Amukoko, Layeni, Ilas-

amaja, Ikotun,Ajah, Igando, Elemoro, Makinde, Onipanu, Ebute Ero, Pen-Cinema, Isokoko, Alade, Cele, Igbo Elerin, Shibiri, Gbagada, Onilekere, Makoko, Daleko,Asahun, Makinyo, Amuwo-Odofin, Anti-Kidnapping, Surulere.

Other police stations that were vandalised but not burnt were Ojo, Ojodu, Mowo, PPL and Morogbo.

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide SanwoOlu, was at the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Secretariat on Friday, where he saw several cars in the expansive premises of the LGA that were either burnt or damaged.

All the buildings within the premises, including that of an old generation bank located there, were also destroyed.

Others states are also counting loses. A release by the Anambra State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Haruna Mohammed showed that 21 police divisions were attacked by hoodlums who disguised as protesters, while seven of them were burnt down. Other government property burnt or destroyed includes High Court Ogidi, Idemili North LG Secretariat, while Zik Statue at DMGS roundabout, Onitsha was vandalised.

Also, the nation’s capital, Abuja, Kano, Oyo, Ogun and Plateau states witnessed destruction, death and looting. In Kano state, rampaging youths went after shops and homes of residents in the area carting away valuables and setting some ablaze. Several vehicles were also burnt.

Business activities were brought to a standstill along the most affected areas that

includeAirport Road, Sarkin Yaki, Court Road, Burma Road and Zungeru Road. In Plateau state, bank, shops were destroyed. In Enugu, Youths participating in the #EndSARS protest grounded the state capital, as motorists were prevented from getting to their destination on time. Thousands of youths supporting President Muhammadu Buhari and scores of others calling for an end to police brutality staged multiple protests in different parts of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, bringing social and economic activities to a standstill.

IMF Warns Nigeria As states across the country begin to relax curfews to get the economy back on track, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that activities surrounding the #ENDSARS protest may mar the already documented Nigeria’s growth projection.

The organisation said it had already finished collecting its data but the projection will depend largely on how the protest evolves.

The Fund’s Director, African Department, Abebe Selassie, said this while responding to questions during the October 2020 SubSaharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook Press Briefing, on the sidelines of IMF/World Bank virtual annual meetings in Washington D.C. In its October 2020 regional economic outlook, the Brettonwoods institution projects a modest growth of 3.1 percent for economies of sub-Saharan Africa in 2021.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

BUSINESS Counting Losses from #EndSARS Protests

One of the looted shops on Bode Thomas road, Surulere

“The entire region is not expected to return to its 2019 level of output until 2022, and for some of the region’s largest economies, real GDP will not come back to the pre-crisis level until 2023 or 2024. This growth will translate into quite significant decline in standard of living, as measured by real per capita GDP, over 2020-21, a contraction of around five percent, which is significantly larger than most other parts of the world, “the Fund said.

IMF said growth expectation for the region this year is broadly unchanged from June. It had in June forecast the regional economy to contract by 3.2 percent, double the contraction predicted in April.

The Fund said Sub-Saharan Africa faces significant financing gaps of $290 billion in three years. Much it said would depend on how private financing flows behave.

“If they were to remain below pre-crisis levels, and even taking into account existing commitments from international financial institutions and official bilateral creditors, the region could face a gap of as much as $290 billion, between 2020 and 2023,” Selassie said.

Closing this financing gap, the IMF said, would require a combination of additional concessional financing, timely debt relief in those countries where debt is unsustainable, and transformative reforms to attract private investment.

“On the growth projections in Nigeria, I mean, these protests happened of course, after we had closed, after the period where the data we looked at in making the growth projections for this economic outlook. And much will depend really on how these protests evolve.

“Lagos of course is a very important economic hub and contributes quite a bit of economic activity to overall Nigeria activities.

So, if these persist and are showing significant effects on economic data, we will internalise them in due course,” he said.

He also said the economic condition of Nigeria for the past four years has been poor due to the decline in oil prices.

“It has been a lot of pressure on standards of living, so there has been this dislocation and you know, as always when you have these kinds of economic difficulties, you know, social protests are not uncommon.

“I think this is exactly why we have been on the record in Nigeria about how really critical it is to get all of the policy-induced barriers out of the way to facilitate stronger economic growth.

“For the government to do more to raise revenues through non-oil resources to be able to invest in health education which would allow people to be more successful at getting jobs but also improve the economy’s potential.

“So, I think that the development agenda that Nigeria has, I think, has to be tackled with gusto and vigor so that the millions of jobs that the country needs can be created.

And I think that agenda remains very, very, very pressing,” he said.

BRT buses torched by hoodlums

Protesters at Lekki Admiralty toll gate in Lagos

Shoprite on Adeniran Ogunsanya street, Surulere destroyed

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

BUSINESS/TRANSPORTATION

Railways as Fulcrum of Nigeria’s Economic Prosperity The central railway rehabilitation programme by the federal government has the potential to boost human capacity, aid poverty reduction and support current efforts towards the recovery and growth of the economy amidst the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. James Emejo writes

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ecently, President Muhammadu Buhari finally inaugurated the 326 kilometreItakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line for commercial operation, 30 years after the project was conceived.

The development came with huge economic relief to host residents as rail transportation system had in the past played a significant role in economic and cultural integration of the country.

The president had during the virtual inauguration of the rail line, further directed the Federal Ministry of Transportation to link all the nation’s seaports of origin and destination including Apapa, Tin Can, Warri, Onne, Calabar ports to the rail network in order to significantly improve overall transportation and economic capacities.

According to him, the project will, “link people across the cultural divides and expand the frontier of trade and commerce, which will lead to better standards of living for our citizens.”

Buhari said: “Accordingly, I have approved the prioritisation of viable railway routes for either new rail lines or the reconstruction and rehabilitation of some, to achieve effective and efficient train services supporting the country’s trade and commerce. ”The railway infrastructure that I have the honour to commission today is the rail line from Itakpe via the steel town complex of Ajaokuta to Warri, and it is an important link for the country’s economy as the central rail line. ”This government has also approved to link this line further from Itakpe to Abuja, thereby connecting the Northern zone of the country and alsoextendingsouthwardstolinktheWarriports”.

The contract for Itakpe – Ajaokuta – Warri railway project which was handled by reputable Chinese construction firm, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria Limited as the major contractor- was first awarded in 1987 and initially scheduled to have been delivered within five years.

But the project was abandoned for about 30 yearsduetofundingconstraintsafterabout254km had been constructed. The railway line would have been the first standard gauge railway line in Africa if it had not been abandoned in 2009.

According to the Managing Director of CCECC Nigeria, Michael Jiang, the Itakpe- Warri railway line remained critical to the actualisation of the vision to modernise the railway transport system because it is the central line connection the south and the north.

He said the completion of the project marked the revival of railway operations from Itakpe to Warri, which will tremendously boost the socio-economic activities not only in the area, but also in the Southern and Northern parts of the country.

He added that the project, which involves the rehabilitation of the tracks, construction of 11 modern stations and railway ancillary facility yard was commenced in 2017 due to the commitment and unflinching support from the present administration, leading to the success story.

He said: “It is our hope and desire to continue to partner with the present administration in the massive work going on in the railway sector.

We will continue to offer our best services and cooperate with the present administration in its desire to link all parts of the country to the national railway grid.”

He expressed gratitude to Buhari for the opportunity to be part of the railway revolution in the country as well as the Minister of Transportation and his team of engineers and administrators who worked tirelessly with the company to ensure that the project is realised.

According to him, the project will assist the country in meeting its medium and long-term railway development plan, which will further boost the local economy adding that the company willcontinuetoleverageitsadvantageanddeepen cooperation and strive to achieve a win-win

One of the trains on Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail line...

development for the country.

Jiang added that the company had consistently adhered to the concept of “Stride with Nigeria” and had made outstanding contributions to local Infrastructure construction over the years especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said CCECC had continued to thrive through the difficulties times with contributions to ease the effect of the pandemic and to promote the development of the local economies in which it currently operates.

Analysts, however, believed the railway project will have ripple effect on the economy, particularly, the compliance with local content requirement and the potential for technology transfer to Nigerians.

Speaking with THISDAY in an interview, Professor of Capital Market and President, Capital MarketAcademics of Nigeria, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, said a project such as the Itape-Warri railway will create alternative and cheaper means of transport, reduce pressure on the roads as well as money spent annually on road maintenance and add to the transport GDP. He said: “Unlike several other capital projects, railway constructions are usually massive and involve huge material and human resources.

So to begin with, it will provide a lot of job opportunities given that a certain proportion of local content will be required.

“Again, cheaper means of transporting people and goods helps to reduce inflationary pressure occasioned by rising cost of commodities.”

According to the former Imo State commissioner for finance, experience has shown that mini cities usually spring up at railway stations along the route thereby promoting economic activities and lifting residents from poverty.Also, propertyvaluesalongtherouteappreciatecreating wealth for owners.

“It goes without saying that having many standard gauge fast trains in Nigeria will promote trade and tourism, facilitate the development of Export processing zones and by extension the diversification of the nation’s economy.”

On his part, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at University of Port Harcourt, Anthony Onoja, said the Itakpe-Warri rail would expedite the haulage of raw materials for the steel company in Ajaokuta, while finished products from the industrial zone of Ajaokuta will be cheaply and conveniently shipped to the Southern part of the country adding that the export market will also benefit.

He opined that with the rising cost of petrol in Nigeria and given the enormous benefits of railway systems to national development, the federal government should not hesitate in expanding the investment in railway system in the country.

Onoja said: “The relevance of railway to economic development was well understood by our past colonial masters. Through railway haulage of agricultural commodities such as groundnut, cotton, oil palm produce, cocoa, coffee timber, livestock/hides and skins to the ports were made from where they were exported to Europe where they were further processed and the finished products imported through the same ports to Nigerian markets.”

He said: “The railways were also used in hauling mineral resources such as coal, tin and columbite from the mines in various parts of the country. These resources were the bedrock of the economy before crude oil was discovered in Nigeria.

“Besides, human commuting was efficiently done with railways. The supply chains of major commodities are undisrupted with an efficient railway system. With the rising levels of insecurity and very bad roads across Nigeria the most sustainable transport means that Nigeria should develop is railway system, especially modern ones. They help facilitate trade, industrial development and efficient communication, which in the end will result in economic growth.

“Perishablerawmaterialsforindustriesbrought in by roads are more vulnerable to wastage than those carried by trains with modern storage facilities. The cost of transportation by railway still

remains the cheapest and it is safer compared to road and air transport. The Abuja - Kaduna road has eased off traffic on the road to Kaduna and this will also help reduce road accidents, kidnappings/robbery as well as greenhouse emissions from cars and lorries, the major cause of climate change.”

Also, former Director General,Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, said an effective rail system provides a veritable means of transportation especially for goods from one part of the country to another and helps to reduce pressure on the roads and preserve same over a long period.

He, however added that, “I don’t belong to the school of thought that thinks railway construction is a priority, especially within this period of economic crisis. The billions of dollars deployed to construction of railway transportation should indeed have been used for some other priority areas that can increase food security, build more factories and create more job opportunities.

“We are borrowing heavily to do this and also borrowing heavily to service the loans. The debt profile could actually be limited to only necessary infrastructure. Our revenue base is so meagre to handle this size of elephant projects. In my opinion, it is not a priority.”

The central rail line is located within the central region (middle belt), through the South-south regions of Nigeria, Spanning Kogi, Edo and Delta State.

It originates from Itakpe, Kogi State toAjaokuta, passing through Uromi in Edo State and Agbor, South-south and terminate at the Sea Port in Warri, with 10 stations along the line.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, however, said the project was fully funded by the Nigerian government, adding that eight of the 10 stations on the line were in the Niger-Delta/South-South region of the country.

He said: “There is no loan on this project; it was funded from the budget and I had the directive of the president to go and revive it and complete it as soon as possible.”

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

BUSINESS/E-BUSINESS

When Govt Agencies’ Websites Came under Threat of Hackers Emma Okonji examines the implications of attacks on government agencies and private institutions’ websites during the #EndSARS protests across Nigeria

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ecently, most government agencies’ websites and a top pay TV company, came under attack, causing disruptions of free flow of information on their portals.

The cyber-attacks that were attributed to members of an anonymous hacking group, an online network known for launchingattacksagainstgovernmentinstitutions, caused distortions of existing information on the affected websites. In some of the websites that were infiltrated, the hackers left messages criticising government on bad governance and corruption, and for its weakness to control police brutality on innocent citizens, especially Nigerian youths.

The hackers, within two weeks, hacked into multiple government websites and private organisation’s websites in solidarity with #EndSARS protest, including the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Multichoice, among others, an action that portends great danger for the Nigerian economy.

Disturbed by the situation, software developers in the country, including cyber security experts have condemned the alleged hacking of the websites.

Hacking Spree The hackers seized the twitter account of NBC and posted a series of messages, derisive of government, but supportive of the protesters.

The CBN website was not spared as the hackers gained unauthorised access to the apex bank’s website to register their anger against what they described as bad governance and the high handedness of police on innocent citizens.

The CBN has however, denied reports that its website was hacked by an anonymous group.

According to a statement from CBN, “We wish to assure the Nigerian public and indeed all our other stakeholders that the CBN website is adequately protected and that there is no cause for alarm.

“We also wish to advise members of the online community to desist from peddling false news aimed at undermining the integrity of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is our collective asset.”

Multichoice, owners of DStv and Gotv, also refuted claims making the rounds that its website was hacked same period by an anonymous hacking group, an online network known for launchingattacksagainstgovernmentinstitutions.

Areliable source from Multichoice Nigeria, told THISDAY that there had been system upgrade on its network since, which affected customers’ transactions on the website. The source, however, said customers were informed few days before embarking on the system upgrade.

mation technology society in Nigeria, we have increased cyber security awareness programmes among individuals and corporate organisations.

We shall continue to take measures towards ensuring that we are able solve our national cyber security challenges. NCS is ever ready to work with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and Office of the National SecurityAdviser (ONSA) towards ensuring that we have a stable and secure online transactions.

We wish to advise both individual and corporate members at this time to adhere to basic cyber security principles.”

A hacker perpetrating his nefarious act

Part of the message sent across to customers of DStv, include: “Our services are currently offline.

We are upgrading our systems from October 17, 11pm to October 19th 4pm. All self-service platforms are not available during this time.”

Implications The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), the umbrella body for all practising computer professionals in Nigeria, has warned against the current trend, where government and private enterprises’ websites are hacked into by the anonymous hacking group.

President of NCS, Prof. Adesina Sodiya, who gave the warning in Lagos, told THISDAYthat the situation portends great danger for the Nigerian economy, and could lead to serious security breach. Sodiya, therefore, called on the federal and state governments to take proactive steps to end the hacking that had been attributed to the ongoing #EndSARS protesters.

According to him, NCS has noticed a serious security breach in the country now. Over 28 ‘state public-facing’ systems have been breached.

“As of now, at least 42-50, or more government websites are potential targets. There are also estimates that indicate that up to 30 government related sites have already been breached and more mightbeaffectedinthecomingdays.Government needs to act fast now before they start pasting

our Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) online now.”

Sodiya, who described the attacks as unethical, said such cyber-attacks would amount to unauthorised access to government and organisations’ websites, and punishable by law.

He said the cyber threat composed of a vast number of threats such as attack on physical system; authentication and privilege attack; denial of service as we are currently witnessing from hacktivist; global risks including non-state actors in cyberspace like anonymous compounded by pandemics, which have accelerated our digitisation timelines, but also introduced many related online fraudulent opportunities and scaremongering; malicious content; social engineering and value chain disruptions, among others.

“Nigeria might be under attack from both foreign and local actors, as we speak. Both private and public organisations are subjected to continue to experience different waves of attacks. The current situation is still manageable and we have to take urgent measures so as to protect the country from more terrible situations. This might also seriously reduce and undermine our ranking in the “Global Cybersecurity Perception Index,” Sodiya said.

He added, “On our own as the major infor-

Reactions Reacting to the alleged hacking of government websites, and its possible economic implications, the President of Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, who distant the #EndSARS protesters from the alleged hacking, said the youths were only registering their displeasure against police brutality on Nigeria citizens, and would not involve themselves in hacking of government websites.

“The #EndSARS protesters are not hackers, they are only carrying out legal demonstrations that are based on facts in line with democracy. It is ridiculous for police to stop and harass software developers, who return home late from work or who dressed in a style that is not acceptable to the police. The idea of searching the laptops of software developers on the streets and in their homes and intimidating them by policemen, is unacceptable and must be stopped,” MbaUzoukwu said.

Saying any government website could be hacked, he, however, advised government to do well to protect their websites with high security standards.

ACybersecurity Lawyer and Alternate Legal Adviser to Information Security Society of Nigeria (ISSAN) a cyber-security advocacy group, Mr. Nwabueze Obasi, who also condemned the alleged hacking of government websites, however said some unscrupulous persons could hide under the disguise of #EndSARS protest to hack government websites.

According to Obasi, the 2015 Cybercrime Law of Nigeria, forbids anyone to have unauthorised access to other persons’ or organisation’s website, which he said, remained a punishable offense.

“ISSAN has the professionals and capacity to trace and identify website vulnerability and attacks, and ISSAN will be willing to assist government in blocking all loopholes to cyber hacking,” Obasi said, while stressing the need for training and re-training of cyber security personnel in order to mitigate cyber-attacks.

He said ISSAN had commenced the process of establishing Cybersecurity Institute for training and retraining of cyber security exports.

Gemona West Design Wins International Awards Gemona West Design Studio has put Africa on the global map as it bagged two international awards.

Gemona West Design Studio, formerly Gemona West Interior Designs’ success at the African Property Awards in 2018 with their E-Tranzact project was a testimony to how much progress they have made since 2015 when they won The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme and began operations.

Barely two years after the last award, they have recognised again for their contributions to the design industry, as they will be honoured at the African Property Awards in an online virtual ceremony on November 5 for their Providus Bank-Hni Lounge Design project

that won the Best Leisure Space Category as well as Pernord Ricard Nigeria, Office Design Project winning Best Office Interior Category.

Known for modern luxury contemporary designs, Gemona West Design Studio has always prided on it their ability to deliver flawless contemporary designs that exude elegance with a vast understanding of their market of sophisticated, discerning, qualityconscious clientele.

Speaking on the award, the Commercial Director, Mrs. Naomi Smith, said, “This is a fantastic recognition for us because this is an extra confirmation and confidence booster for us as Directors, the team and all our partners because it speaks volumes to the hard work and sleepless night we all put in.

The award talks about excellence, innovation, design quality and these things are important to us because it shows our clients that we are dedicated to producing excellent work.”

Borne out of the need to make a difference in the design industry, the five-year-old design studio is intent on showcasing what Africa and Nigeria in particular can do. To them, it is important to show that the African design community is achieving the same benchmarks as international standards.

The Creative Director, Mrs. Deise Forgiarini Smith, said the industry in Nigeria and Africa must brace up for the new wave of expansion, adding that it would drive growth and create more value for all stakeholders. “We are

happy to be in the forefront of this because we are committed to growth, collaboration and giving back to the community,” Smith said.

The 27-year-old award event celebrates the highest levels of achievement by companies operating in all sectors of the industry with over 45 different residential and commercial categories. Regional heats are staged for Arabia, Europe, Africa, Canada, Central and South America, the Caribbean, United States of America, United Kingdom, and Asia Pacific.

The top winners in each region will automatically be entered into the overall international awards, culminating in announcements of the International and World’s Best winners at the end of the process, so this is another milestone Gemona West is aiming for.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

BUSINESS/MONEY

The Clamour for Increased Banking Supervision More than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the need for increased vigilance on financial institutions, if the relative stability in the industry must be sustained. James Emejo reports

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o doubt, the banking industry consolidation which began in 2004 with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’)’s mandate to all banks to meet the N25 billion minimum paid-up capital by December 31, 2005, has since ensured relative stability of the financial sector, except for pockets of mergers and acquisitions supervised by the apex bank in recent times.

But in totality, analysts believed the financial landscape had remained safe despite increased loan impairment, insider abuses and instances of theft by cyber criminals.

The industry regulatory authorities, namely the CBN and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), had continued to fortify their risks management architecture which had minimised the potential for bank failure and erosion of confidence in the financial system.

But, recent developments occasioned by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have again put regulatory authorities on edge and compelled an appropriate policy response to guarantee the safety of the financial sector.

Only recently, the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, sounded a note of caution that the rising public debt stock as well as increase in banking industry nonperforming loans (NPLs) portfolio had put financial regulatory bodies under pressure to reassess their supervisory interventions to boost capabilities to respond and forestall a financial crisis.

Speaking during the opening of the NDIC 2020 workshop for business editors and the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), themed: “COVID-19 and Fintech Disruption: Opportunities and Challenges for Banking System Stability and Deposit Insurance” which held in Lagos, the MD warned of potential threat to financial stability except there was appropriate regulatory and supervisory response to nip the imminent crisis in the bud.

According to him: “The threat of recession, increased national debt, increase in non-performing loans and potential financial crisis have put pressure on regulators to reassess their supervisory activities to strengthen their capabilities to address these challenges and forestall financial crisis.”

Ibrahim pointed out that though the emergence of digital financial services enabled by financial technology (Fintech) had enhanced efficiency in the financial sector, it has also posed new challenges to financial regulators and consumers and put a strain on banking operations.

Specifically, he said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant disruptions to social and economic activities has had negative consequences in the country and nations across the world, adding that the emerging challenges became more apparent during the pandemic when the lockdown protocols hindered physical access to financial services, thereby encouraging more Nigerians to rely on digital financial services.

Nonetheless, he stressed that as disruptive as the COVID-19 had been to

Ibrahim

other sectors of the country, the “NDIC was not caught napping”, thanks to the corporation’s robust and proactive enterprise risk management strategy, which helped to immediately activate its crisis management action plan to prevent any negative impact on its operations and the financial institutions under supervision.

The MD said the goal was to ensure the safety and protection of all staff and stakeholders to maintain continuity of its operations towards protecting depositors’ funds and ensuring the stability of the banking sector.

He said in recognition of the heightened fears of depositors’ lack of access to their money due to the COVID-19 disruptions, the corporation had embarked on a nationwide public awareness campaign through the production and broadcast of radio and television jingles in the three major languages and pidgin, to enlighten depositors on the continued safety and security of their funds in licensed financial institutions under its purview.

He said the issues presently confronting the country were monumental and unprecedented adding however that are not insurmountable, harping on the critical role of the media as central in shaping public perception and promoting financial stability through the reportage of the corporation’s role in depositor protection.

Further highlighting the emerging risks to the financial system, NDIC Director, Research, Policy and International Relations, Mr. Sunday Oluyemi, pointed to the possibility of heightened impaired NPLs portfolio of banks arising from potential economic slowdown, maintaining that

this would require increased surveillance of the banking system through scheduled bank examination and improved off-site analysis.

In his presentation titled: “Global Review of COVID-19 Related Financial Stability Issues, Policy Measures Taken and Assessment of their Effectiveness”, Oluyemi said the regulatory and supervisory authorities had however, introduced measures to tackle the impact of the pandemic on the banking system with incentives including interest rate reduction, moratorium, liquidity injection and regulatory forbearance on loan restructuring among others.

Already, he revealed that the corporation was currently reviewing the framework for financial and technical assistance in readiness for assisting banks that are faced with liquidity and solvency challenges during the pandemic and beyond.

The NDIC director further insisted that there was presently a heightened need for financial and technical assistance by banks, pointing out that the corporation was likely to receive applications for financial assistance from supervised entities due to liquidity challenges occasioned by the pandemic.

He observed that though the condition of the banking industry was generally satisfactory, the impact of COVID-19 had also led to decline in credit facilities despite increase in deposits during the period of March to June 2020- and called for closer monitoring of banks and increased campaign on the safety of banks’ deposits through sustained public awareness, saying building trust

and confidence in the financial system remained a key priorities of regulators/ supervisors.

Moreover, in a paper titled:”COVID-19: Actions and Impacts on Resolution Authorities and Deposit Insurers”, NDIC Director, Insurance and Surveillance Department, Mr. Galadima Gana, pointed out that the pandemic had specifically impacted the banking system by leading to increased impairments of both financial and nonfinancial assets (IFRS 9 and IAS 36); delayed loan repayment due to moratoriums, restructuring of facilities and outright default and bad loan recovery challenges.

According to him, other proven strains on the banking sector include, fall in collateral values; decline in income heads being direct fallout of economic shut down; unfavourable revaluation of investment securities, including derivatives (revaluation losses); capital adequacy decline due to the absorption of unforeseen losses, especially those occasioned by operational risks; liquidity challenge, especially forex due to loan repayment defaults and hike in cost of funds.

Gana also listed lower or no dividend to shareholders; cyber-security breaches; going concern issues (bank failure); increase in NPLs and decline in lending; scarcity of foreign exchange and challenges of working remotely as some of the setbacks brought about by the pandemic on the banking industry.

According to him, introducing extensive health care controls have had a major impact on virtually all deposit insurance system operations, adding that some bank customers have had to restrain from savings in deposit money banks, preferring instead to keep their money handy at home to attend to family daily needs.

Further highlighting the implications of the strains caused by the pandemic to resolution authorities and the need for vigilance, he said: “The number of internet banking frauds rose in the heat of the pandemic as scammers eye loopholes to defraud customers. Susceptibility of banks to illiquidity and insolvency grew with the pandemic as borderline banks became weaker due to decreased business and patronage.

“Some evidence of use of digital finance has accelerated in COVID environment (e.g. contactless payments, digital stored value products/deposits) and likely to continue. Increase in deposit which will result to increase in Estimated Risk Exposure (ETRE) to the corporation with attendant clamour for reduction in premium by DMBs.” According to the NDIC Director, Communications and Public Affairs Department, Mr. Bashir Nuhu, part of the reforms being canvassed by the corporation through the amendment of its establishment Act, was to ensure a definite timeline for failure resolution, preferably 10 days to enable failed bank customers get their money within a short period of time.

From every indication, there’s currently no cause for alarm concerning the safety of the banking sector, but the impact of the pandemic on financial institutions definitely require increased spotlight and increased regulatory oversight on their operations to avoid a major crisis going forward.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ 2020

BUSINESS OUTSIDER

PIB from Host Communities’ Perspectives Oke Epia

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t last the 9th national assembly has begun its journey on the phoenix-like Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). This critical piece of legislation has defied passage and assent in the almost two decade-period it has found its way in and out of the legislature.

It is a no-brainer that the lack of a comprehensive legislative framework for the petroleum sector has hampered investments as well as growth and development of the black gold resource and by extension, the diversification of the Nigerian economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari finally sent the PIB to the national assembly late September and as promised, the Senate has already committed the bill to relevant committees, especially on Petroleum (Upstream) and (Downstream) and Gas for further legislative work. The bill has four broad parts – governance, administration, fiscal and host community provisions – coalesced into what some have described as a silver bullet for the petroleum sector. This in unlike what the 8th national assembly tried to do by considering the bills in the disparate parts.

Instructively, during the debate on the general principles of the bill last week, senators raised concerns on the host communities’ part of the bill. There is no doubt that this is one of the most contentious parts of the proposed law and given past experiences with restiveness and militancy in the Niger delta which warehouses the crude, there is need for adequate awareness, conscientisation and consensus-building around it.

It is in this regard that OrderPaper Nigeria, the country’s preeminent policy think-tank and multi-platform legislative interface made an extensive distillation of the host community part of the bill into easy-to-understand bits and pieces. The breakdown is contained in a compendium of infographics and analytics, titled, ‘PIB and Host Communities’ released for public consumption recently and made available on the website of the organization (www.orderpaper.ng).

According to a statement, the compendium benefitted immensely from the inputs and validation of petroleum industry experts, legislators, communication professionals and civil society actors, among others. This, according to him, was to ensure a robust presentation and guarantee quality assurance that leaves no gap in understanding the letters and intent of the PIB as it relates to host community affairs.

The compendium contains “all you need to know about the proposed reforms in the petroleum sector as it affects host communities� and provides a useful guide for productive engagements with stakeholders in ongoing legislative processing of the bill, the statement said. “We are delighted to present this comprehensive analysis and analytics of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), 2020 as it relates to the interests of oil-bearing and impacted communities, collectively referred to as host communities,� the statement noted.

The “bill for an Act to provide legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, the development of host communities and for related

matters,� presents a challenge to easy understanding given the opacity and deep technicalities of the petroleum sector. But by breaking down the host communities’ aspect of the bill, stakeholders can make informed contributions and advocacy at this stage of legislative processing.

A summary of the compendium breaks down the power relations from the pyramidal perspective of the minister of petroleum resources, the proposed regulatory bodies – Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority – to the settlers (companies) and the host communities at the bottom of the pyramid. It is instructive that the PIB gives the companies enormous powers of discretion in the contribution, allocation and usage of the 2.5 per cent of operating costs of companies set aside for the development of the host communities.

The compendium explains in simple graphics the command, structure and mode of operations of the host community development trust fund, the organic body set up by companies for dispensing development funding and implementing projects for the host communities.

The compendium also highlights several protective shields put in place by the PIB to protect the environment and interests of the communities.

These include the Environmental Remediation Fund and the Decommissioning and Abandonment Fund.

Also explained are the minute but otherwise hidden details about penalties on communities in cases of vandalism,

tax exemptions, and other subtle but important powers and benefits of the companies in operating the trusts.

Even though an executive bill, the PIB 2020 is still a work in progress as both the Senate and House of Representatives still have to work on it and harmonize their different versions before it is sent back to the President for possible Assent.

It is therefore important that Host Community stakeholders take advan-

tage of this window of opportunity to study the Bill, seek clarity, and where necessary, propose changes to the Bill to ensure that what is signed into Law truly enhances peaceful and harmonious coexistence plus provide direct social and economic benefits from petroleum operations to their communities.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

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BUSINESS/ ADVERTISING

Access Bank’s ‘Tough Choices’ as a Wake-up Call Raheem Akingbolu reviews the new television commercial of Access Bank titled ‘Tough Choices’ and concludes that it is conceptualised to pass two messages -identify with patrons during this trying period as well as making a global statement

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s a subtle response to the effect of the ravaging Coronavirus pandemic, the global corporate communities have not only redirected the focus of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), they have also adjusted the thrust of their advertising messages to reflect how compassionate they are.

This is logical, as society appears to be increasingly turning to companies and CEO’s for guidance in turbulent times. Public relations and communications professionals are all seeking to provide the best counsel and the most effective messaging and contingency plans in a situation that truly has no playbook. Of course, many analysts have encouraged brand owners and promoters not to allow the uncertainty of this period to become a drawback.

In a latest television commercial of the Access Bank titled ‘Tough Choices’, the bank looks beyond normal banking business in identifying with its patrons. As a responsible corporate body, Access Bank sends compassionate messages to stakeholders that their bank share in their burden while they cope with the fallout from COVID-19 pandemic. Through a sublime voice that depicts affection, concern and strong feeling, Access Bank speaks to what its local and international customers may be passing through at the moment. At a time like this, the Access family salutes the courage and sacrifices being made by it patrons, hence the title ‘Tough Choices’.

“Times like this call for tough choices and we see you making them every day, like choosing to stay indoors, choosing to give up time with friends you love for the common good,” the voice stated.

Conceptualised by Udeme Ufot’s SO&U for Access Bank, the 60 seconds TVC felicitates with all the people, who have resorted into tough decisions and various approaches to contend with the COVID-19 season. Beyond the cast in the TVC, which is a blend of both the conservatives, the urbane, the black and the white, the creative agency also uses setting to illustrate the different shades of Access Bank spread. With it, Access seems to be affirming its global status and various customers.

The ‘owambe’ setting is uniquely Nigeria and it speaks to the fact that Access Bank identifies with all; from the SMEs to the corporate organisations and the man next door. The closing part of the TVC also dwells on the diversities of Access Bank’s public.

Like an epic to champions within and outside Nigeria, ‘tough choices’

Access Bank’s CEO, Herbert Wigwe

commends its target audience for being brave enough to take difficult actions so that the world can be the same again. Though negligibly, the bank also uses the TVC to galvanise its patrons and others not to shy away from making sacrifice at a time like this.

In a touching voice, the TVC says: “Giving up things you love, your favourable hangouts, your favourable walk-outs, the stitches, the beaches, the Owambes. Choosing to put your life on the line to help those who need a lifeline. Choosing to change the way you do business even though you can’t afford to – because you really can’t afford not to. Choosing to stand back when all you want to do is draw closer, because sometimes, the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do. “To everyone, making tough choices for a brighter tomorrow, we choose to say thank you”.

One thing is clear, the bank has

simply demonstrated through ‘tough choices’ that it still maintains its path when it comes to CSR, positioning, target market and expressive advertising campaign.

The months of lockdown, as a result of the pandemic, has created a new order across the world. Aside from the fact that it shuts down businesses and social activities, the lockdown has also brought trauma and fear of the unknown to families.

Perhaps mostly hit is the world economy, which according to April World Economic Outlook projects global growth in 2020 to fall to -3 percent.

In its April report, the global stance concluded that the world has changed dramatically in the three months since its last update of the World Economic Outlook in January. It further established that the magnitude and speed of collapse in activity that has followed was unlike anything experienced in the

entire lifetimes.

However, beyond the tragic health hazards and human consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as pointed out by the report, the economic uncertainties and disruptions that have resulted come at a significant cost to the global economy. With the new campaign, Access Bank is simply assuring its patrons that it sees their worries and understands their plights at this trying period.

Like few Nigerian brands that have become household names in the market, Access Bank entered humbly about 30 years ago with the ambition of becoming a solid brand that would command respect across Africa. With such objective, coupled with a properly aligned strategy and service offering, the bank has grown from that humble beginning into banking giant with admirable reputation that transcends the local market.

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THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 25, 2020

PROPHECY

#EndSARS Protests andThe 2013 Prophecy ofTB Joshua In a striking resemblance to the current crisis, #EndSARS protests and ensuing violence, rocking Africa’s most populous nation – Nigeria –, the founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations,TB Joshua, had pronounced a prophecy of things to come to his congregants during a Sunday service on July 14, 2013. In a video of the service that has resurfaced on the Internet,theclergymanpinpointedaprophecythatseemstobeunravellingnow.Excerpts:

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od showed me this vision, not sitting down writing an article. This is not a press conference. This is a vision I saw.

Carry your youth along.

I am seeing a revolution. When I say ‘revolution,’ I mean every revolution starts by protest. When it starts by protest, at that protest, the power can stop them, they have the ability to stop them but when it becomes revolution, no one can stop a revolution. Revolution means everyone is ready to go for it.

I repeat again, I am seeing a revolution. I am seeing people taking to the streets. At the beginning of the protest, instead of revolution, I say protest. It’s a parable because when it started you will think it is a protest but at the end of the day, you’ll realize that this is a revolution. You can stop protests but you cannot stop a revolution. Every revolution starts with a protest.

It will come, people will carry placards. You’ll carry the police and everything, you will stop them. But when it becomes a revolution, everybody is ready to die so you can’t stop it. At the beginning of that protest, I call it a protest because at the beginning of every revolution it looks like protests. It might be stopped at the beginning.

Eventually, it will become so big that it cannot be stopped. This I see happen. Nigeria pray.

What Is The Way Out? God has given us the way out.

Job creation for the youth and the creation of a new social value system. No matter the education the youth have, whether PhD or professor, they feel they have no place in politics and there is no job to keep them busy, there must be a new orientation. In politics, the youth should be considered for important positions such as assistant to elders,

while the elders are ministers, the youth should be junior ministers, in all appointments into the departments of politics or administration, youths should be considered as second in command. By doing this, we are training them to take over tomorrow.

This is because they are leaders of tomorrow and this is also because a revolution is a weapon of change that is coming. This is the vision I am not preaching and I am not teaching. This is what I saw.

This is the vision I saw. Revolution is coming when people will take to the street because life has no value anymore to the people. Carry your youth along in your politics and administration especially in ruling your country.

I have said it; none of this will go without being fulfilled. Read about me and my track record, this is the voice of God. When we carry the youth along, whenever there is a revolt or situation, they will be available to readily speak to their colleagues because people that are going for revolution or protest, 90 percent of them are youths and they will like to hear the voice of their colleagues better than anybody talking to them.

If the junior minister comes out or junior chairman comes out to talk to the protesters and they know he’s a junior chairman, he’s there to represent them; they will listen to him better than anyone.

The youths want to see themselves being represented in every area of life. That is the answer to the problem coming; the coming ominous signs are disastrous As sure as God lives, I T.B. Joshua will tell you only what God says. If I am hated, persecuted, or intimidated because of my accurate prophetic utterances, blessed be to God who gives the prophecy.

The day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong, says the Lord.

T. B. Joshua

POLITY

#EndSARS Protest- A Word For Nigerian Youths Chuka Odom

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am like most Nigerians pleasantly surprised by the courage, skill and maturity of the #Endsars protests across the country. It has wiped out most of my misconceptions about Nigerian youths especially after their obsession with the BBnaija frivolous circus. I have just a few words for them.

1. Keep your struggle within the law: The #Endsars protest is long overdue and as the main victims of police brutality in Nigeria, you have chosen a proper cause to make your bold entry into the political arena. Be strategic, nimble and show leadership as you engage the authorities. The protests are not an end in itself but a means to extract the changes you want and desire. Explore avenues for dialogue, keep your gunpowder and stand ready to exert pressure when necessary and appropriate.

2. Get involved in retail politics: By this I mean, register with one of the two major political parties, Don’t found a political party or movement. You will simply be easy targets to take down. You have the numbers, you may wish to join any of the two parties of your choice or both, get copies of their constitutions, follow the rules, infiltrate the local leadership.

With time, you will take over and make the desired changes from within. You cannot change decades of inept and corrupt leadership without a long term plan, and sustained action. Make it a “velvet revolution”. Trust me, there will be resistance from the old guard, but with time, you will gently shove them out of the china shop with minimum damage.

3. Get more organized: You need some form of collegiate leadership based in every major

#EndSARS Protesters, at Alausa, Ikeja town and city in Nigeria. Protesters go home after a while if they are not organized. You do not want this to be a flash in the pan.

4. Don’t stay too long on the streets: Do not give the authorities the pleasure to disperse you. Calibrate your street presence on any major issue and know when to withdraw on your terms. I know a lot of you would not like this one, but I know Nigerians and their attention span. Besides, you may lay yourself bare to “fake protesters” and those with other motives to fill your ranks, dilute your enthusiasm and resolve. He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

5. Avoid “hot button” issues like “restructur-

Engage think-tanks and civil society groups and come up with workable ideas. Don’t leave the reforms to the authorities. They may not have fresh ideas on what to do and may secretly be wishing that you bail them out. It is possible. So be resourceful and proffer common sense and practical solutions which majority of Nigerians can buy into and show yourselves as truly ready for leadership.

7. Get a face: You need to quickly have authorized spokespersons, official social media platforms and engage the mainstream media.

This will enable you to quickly dissociate yourself from the activities of the fifth columnists in your midst who will attempt to commit criminal acts in your name just to discredit your efforts.

8. Resist violence: Resist every provocation to get violent. The environment is already toxic and there is too much violence and blood shedding in the country. Be sensible and don’t compound the already deteriorated security situation.

9. Avoid old soldiers: These are the pioneers of “the struggle”. They have paid their dues but ing”, “devolution of power”, “fiscal federalism”: the system has turned most of them into cynical operatives; who survive as double agents.

While these are desirable goals which are long Accord them their respect but don’t work from overdue, you will not understand the embedtheir playbook. ded politics which have made them simply 10. Be prepared for the long haul: What you “talking points” over the years. have embarked on may be the only chance You may wish to return to these issues for Nigeria to self-redeem. It is a historical when you have taken over in your numbers movement. Don’t trivialize it. Be prepared for as members of various legislative houses in Nigeria and at the center. You are not equipped the long haul, the pain and the suffering along the way; but you owe it to yourselves and your to dabble into them from your current posichildren. tions. You will be distracted.

I support your struggle.

6. Keep your eyes on the ball: Stay focused –––Chief Chuka Odom, a legal practitioon every mission you undertake and achieve results. This current effort is about ending police ner and a former Minister of the Federal brutality and getting a citizen-friendly policing. Republic of Nigeria.

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WEEKLY PULL-OUT

25.10.2020

JUSTICE TINUADE AKOMOLAFE-WILSON

GENDER DIDN’T STOP MY PARENTS TO SEND THEIR FIVE GIRLS TO SCHOOL ASSISTANTEDITOROLUFUNKEOLAODE/funkola2000@gmail.com

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T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R ˾ Ͱͳ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

COVER

JUSTICE TINUADE AKOMOLAFE-WILSON

I STUDIED LAW TO FIGHT FOR THE OPPRESSED She exudes elegance in all facets of life: life, love, and law. In her profession she has equally recorded successes, rising through the ranks to become a justice of the Court of Appeal in Edo State. Hon. Justice TInuade Akomolafe-Wilson is a legal Amazon, an intellectual who combines brain with beauty, and at almost 70 she can pass for a 40-year-old. Versatile, diligent, and focused are the traits that push her through the ladder of success. As the eminent jurist turned 70 and retired from service, she speaks with Funke Olaode about her career and why being a woman shouldn’t be an impediment to get to the peak.

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er wig g sits perfectly p y well on the large la frame in her exotic sitting g room. As a matter m of fact, other photographs p g p hung g on the walls w depict the occupant p as one woman full of lilife. Boisterous, sassy, yp petite, and yet y beautiful and brilliant. In a way, y her impeccable p dress sense can easily win her an award in the fashion parlance. parla But ‘My p Lord’ as she is fondly y called is an accomplished p jjurist w who retired from the Court of Appeal, pp Edo State on October 18, 22020, when she reached the mandatory y age g of 70. Welcome to the wo world of Hon. Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson. Sitting g on a sofa iin her sprawling sitting g room, she exudes elegance, confidence, and contentment. co And life at 70? yy y life has been of God’s endless endle faithfulness, “Seventy years of my love, and mercies. Amazing! g It means g Go for His divine gratitude to God y upon p me over these years, and the beginning of o another mercy p in my y life,” she said. chapter For Akomolafe-Wilson her life has been a roller coaster coast having been parents. But that fac raised with educated and comfortable p fact by no means p cr obscured his determination to carve a personal niche. She craved success y and embraced diligence as a driving force to attain success succ in a home early yg dominated by girls. g and moved to Ekiti when her father became the founding Born in Lagos principal p of Ekiti Parapo p College. g Living g in the school premises p f away from far gp town; lots of relations, exciting peaceful and warmth around the home g g up pp y and nurtured her accommodative acco affected her growing positively y “I am lucky y to have been raised by y educated educat parents. My nature early. g g Mum, a housewife, ho Dad was a housemaster at Igbobi College. looking y and doing g some business. My y Parents’ d after family deep Christian p p g g have sharpened sharp p faith and strict disciplinarian upbringing my life to become what I am today,” she recalled her earl early years with g nostalgia. p For Akomolafe-Wilson her intellectual prowess manifested early. y She was always y among g the top in her p y school, hence she was able to gain class in primary p g Queen School, admission into the prestigious Queen’s g school in Christ C Ede-Ibadan, and Higher School pref and also won Ado-Ekiti. She was the school prefect y award. the Prince Kennedy g did the jurist j embr law? “In At what stage embrace y French initially initial because I love actual fact, I wanted to study g g and I wanted to study y law thereafter. the French language y law, la back then in I had always wanted to study y house, my y family fa my members y said I love lov justice and always y argumentative. a that I am very y loved to talk about I always g to justice jju the right and I had S J.M. Akinola an uncle, Sir. stud law and who studied y father fathe wanted me to my y law, la he bought study la books and some law enco he encouraged me stud law. At a to study g I wanted w stage, to be an Ambass Ambassador, so I could p j a good image of project y country. coun However, my I decide to study law, so figh g for the rights I can fight o of the oppressed and uphol p uphold justice at all time times.

Having come o with flying out colours at both ‘O’ and ‘A’ Levels, she proceeded to the prestigious University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife where she was tr trained as a law At Unife, lawyer. fam classmates her famous Justic Philomena are Justice p JCA(retd), Justice Ekpe p Fasanmi Fasan JCA(retd), Dupe A Mrs. Funke Adekoya SAN, SA Senator Chidi Iluogu SAN, Justice Akomolafe-Willson

Mike Ajegun, Mrs. Jumoke Anifowose Ajasin. While her famous classmates in the law school; Mrs. Tokunbo Ekunkinam, Justice Rhodes-Vivour, (JSC), Justice Akin Ajakaiye, and a host of many others.

She explained, ”I didn’t face that problem.” Continuing. I came from an educated family, my father a graduate, and my mum a school teacher. Even though we were five consecutive girls from my mother, we all went to school. It was just the norm to go to school in my family irrespective of your gender. There was no issue as to whether a girl should go to school or not.

“So, I didn’t have to break any jinx, it was just the order of the day to go to school and do well. We were even conscious of the fact that since we were all girls, we had to do a lot better to prove that we were human beings even though we were not men and also to justify the confidence that inspired our parents to send us to school despite our genders.”

“Today, I think there has to be a conscious effort in educating children as early as Primary school. So that the girl child would be conscious of her rights and know that she has the same right as her male counterparts. The girl child also needs to be educated, when you train a woman, you train a nation. I also believe that the girl child should work and do her best, and she should not expect to be given priority over her male counterparts. Also, parents have to educate their children very well on this issue of rape and girls should know about their rights, there should be a close relationship between the girl child and her parents. The girl child should be encouraged to speak up and lay complains if there are any issues.”

For the retired Judge, she believes there is no short cut to success as you have to crave for it and embrace diligence. “You have to be extremely hardworking, make up your mind to be the best at each point in time, be meticulous and thorough. It is a good lawyer that becomes a good Judge. So, you have to carry on those attributes, meaning you really have to live above the odd and restrict socialization so as to enable you to decide judgments without any ill or affection, fear, or favour.”

Then how did she combine family with a career and still reached the top?

“There is no magic wand. It is the determination and strength of character to ensure that you balance between professionalism, family, and domestic duties.

That is why I keep saying for a married woman you have to work three times more than your colleagues to be successful. I had to ensure that at work I did my best, put in all that I could. Luckily, my husband is a lawyer so he could understand.

“When I get home, I remove the regale of a lawyer and be as humble as ever to my husband and be as dutiful as ever to my children and grandchildren.

In most cases, during weekends I made sure I had time for my family, and sometimes when I have to travel out of town for official assignments whenever it was feasible, I would travel along with the children and my husband if it was convenient. I made up my mind that I would never allow any of my duties to outweigh the other.”

Voicing her voice on the state of origin and women when it comes to appointment, Akomolafe-Wilson believed emphasis should be placed on competence. ”My husband is from Edo State, but I am from Ekiti State. I think there is an issue as to the state of origin especially when it concerns women. I do not think the emphasis has to be on where you come from, as a married woman, I believe that marriage should be encouraged that if a person is already married and with her husband, she can decide to take that as her state of origin and should not be stopped from becoming whatever she wants to become.

“I suffered that in 2009- there was a chance of becoming a Court of Appeal Justice, my name had already been published even though it had not been confirmed, there were petitions that I am not from Edo State therefore I could not take the slot of Edo State. I believe the nation has to do something about that when it comes to the issue of married women, they should be given that choice.”

Recounting how she met her husband, she stated, “I have been married for 43years. I met my husband during my NYSC when I was posted to the Ministry of Justice. My husband was already a state counsel in the Ministry.

Coincidentally, my mother is from Edo State so there was no opposition from her. My father on his own part is liberal when it comes to marriage. My immediate elder sister got married to a non-Yoruba man, and my younger sister got married before me to a man from Kwara State.

“Yes, there was an underlying challenge getting married to my husband because I was regarded as the reincarnation of the grandmother of my father and we are from the royal family, so it was the wish and desire of my father that I should get married to someone from my area so I can keep that royalty.

However, him being a liberal man he eventually had to give way.”

For the Akomolafe-Wilsons, it is a household that boasts of lawyers. “My husband is a lawyer. I am a lawyer and later became a judge. My first two children read law. First, Malaika my daughter she is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and she is also a Solicitor of England and Wales.

While my son Michelangelo 11 is also a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”

At 70, she has the agility of a 40-year-old woman. What is her secret?

“Contentment and peace of mind. I have worked so hard, devoted my entire career and so much time to serving my country Nigeria. However, I still regard myself as very strong and energetic that I do not even believe that I am 70. In the meantime, I just want to enjoy my family and grandchildren and look up to God to know the next direction.”

Life at 70. What is left? Is there any mountain left to conquer? She replied: “I joined the service in 1976, I was elevated in 1999 and retired at the age of 70 in 2020. The mountain left to conquer is to see how I can continue to help humanity and improve a lot of the underprivileged people.”

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OCTOBER 25, 2020 ˾ T H I S DAY, T H E S U N DAY N E W S PA P E R

GLITZ EVENTS

GBENGA OMOTOSHO, STEVE BABAEKO, OTHERS DAZZLE AT MARKETING EDGE AWARD NIGHT Good music, good food, glittering atmosphere, and many more. On Friday, October 16th, stakeholders in the integrated marketing communications sector honoured one of their own at the awards of excellence organized by John Ajayi led Marketing Edge in Ikeja, Lagos. Funke Olaode who was there captured the moment

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he atmosphere was electrifying and superlative. From the entrance where polite and courteous staff members of Marketing Edge were stationed to welcome the invited guests to the sprawling D’podium International Event Centre, Ikeja, Lagos which sparkled with glitz and glamour, it was obvious that invited guests were in for a nice time. Gbenga Adeyinka was at his best as the MC while a six-man band was at their element churning out good music serenading the guests. Food was in abundance while exotic drinks and champagne flowed freely.

The stakeholders in the Integrated Marketing Communications, advertising sector, esteemed awardees and marketing icons, multinational companies and the media, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho who represented Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State were all present. The chairman of the occasion was Mr. George Thorpe.

It was a glorious moment for John Ajayi, Publisher/CEO Marketing Edge Publications when it hosted the 7th edition of Brands and Advertising Awards of Excellence where outstanding personalities in the industry were recognized and honoured.

Marketing Edge, Nigeria’s leading brands and marketing publications has, in 17 years of existence consistently expanded the frontiers of marketing knowledge and celebrated the industry’s best through the celebration of creative excellence awards in line with its vision of Promoting the Brand.

Looking dashing in his dinner suits, elated Ajayi said he was overwhelmed by his colleagues’ show of solidarity and support.

“Tonight is not for a long talk. Yet, I must pay special tributes and respect to all the players in the Nigerian integrated marketing communications sector for their contributions to the growth and development of their respective industries. You have not done badly at all in the last ten years. We wish you keep it up. As we commend the players, we also want to thank the brand owners i.e. the ‘pay-masters’ for being good clients over the years. Your support for the growth of marketing and advertising services in Nigeria is phenomenal.

“At MARKETING EDGE, I must confess, we have enjoyed the support and acceptance of both the clients and the advertising industry over the years. As a matter of fact, our venture into the brand journalism business is as a result of the urgent need to expand the frontiers of knowledge in the marketing and advertising industry.

“Before our arrival in the market, the marketing and advertising industry was largely under-reported. As a matter of fact, there was more or less a complete ignorance about the new genre of journalism as regards brands and advertising reporting.

“Seventeen years down the line, we can confidently say that MARKETING EDGE has come fairly a long way. Our sojourn in the industry these past years has no doubt made us an authoritative and dependable ally to all players in the brand management business in Nigeria. Over the years, we have established a track record of credible journalism in the coverage of the industry. We have watched the changing phases of the industry, both in terms of fortunes and otherwise. While the Nigerian economy keeps evolving, it is our candid prayer that the good times will soon be here.

“For us at MARKETING EDGE, this year’s award is one with a special attraction and uniqueness. It was organically planned and designed to reboot, re-start and re-energize the social, intellectual, and entrepreneurial landscape of the Nigeria IMC. We are particularly excited to organize this award event to celebrate the triumph of humanity over the calamitous ravage of the

L-R: Wife of CEO, Marketing Edge, Mrs. Modupe Ajayi; Outstanding Marketing Personality of the Year, Mr. Emmanuel Agu and Brand Personality of the Year/CEO,X3M ldeas, Mr. Steve Babaeko at the Awards Night PHOTOS: Abiodun Ajala

L-R: CEO of TVC, Andrew Hanlon(left) receiving the Outstanding Media CEO of the Year from the Lagos State Commissioner for information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho at the Awards Night.

Covid-19 pandemic which origin remains an elusive medical contestation. While some may say it is not yet time to shout eureka, as we are all still in the mood and moment of Covid-19 protocols, we cannot continue to hold ourselves in bondage to the evil we are yet to understand its source and origin. We shall over-come. But we shall not go back on keeping safe in line with the present social distancing order. Let all remain hopeful as the battle is more than half a won and life will soon return in full force.

“Our resolve to recognize these players and gladiators as well as iconic leaders in the business of brand management and the management of the brand business was equally informed by the fact that these are the people that have made the industry tick over the years. We have watched and monitored these individuals and agencies very closely in the last seventeen years and can confidently attest to their market leadership, resilience, excellence, and above all landmark achievements in their various sectors.”

Prior to the award nights, there was a Marketing Edge 2020 National Marketing Stakeholders Summit via Zoom. In attendance were distinguished guest Speaker, Mr. Andisa Ntsubane, respectable panelists of the MARKETING EDGE Annual Summit Board and board of Rapporteurs. With its team, Making your Business Futurefit: The Post Digital Age Challenge, The MARKETING EDGE National Marketing Stakeholders Summit was aimed primarily at initiating new conversations that are germane and sacrosanct to the growth and development of the integrated marketing communications sector in Nigeria. It was a forum where professionals, industry leaders, experts, and thought leaders cutting across a broad spectrum of the micro and macroeconomic sectors shared knowledge and insights that provided stakeholders with the requisite compass to navigate today’s competitive business environment.

In his speech, Hon. Gbenga Omotosho commended John Ajayi led Marketing Edge

for its vision. Going down memory lane on how his path crossed with Ajayi, Omotosho said, “John and I have come a long way in the newsroom when there were no gadgets such as computer, internet and had to chase reporters for stories to meet the deadline. He has always been a hardworking man. Diligent, focused and I am not surprised that he has become a brand on his own. Thanking invited guests for supporting his friend, Omotosho praised their resilience.

“Despite the COVID-19, you still came out. This shows the resilient spirit of Lagosians that whatever the situation, Lagosians can dare when it comes to branding and entertainment. Enjoy your evening and this is wishing my friend the best.”

Awards of excellence later presented to different categories of people such as Agency of the Year; Outstanding Young Creative of the Year, Regulatory Agency of the year amongst others.

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OCTOBER 25, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

High Life How Olalekan Adebiyi is Running the Biggest Indigenous Construction Company

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or every structure, there is an underlying frame upon whose sides and edges the whole stands. This is the chief maxim in the construction sector.

Curiously, it also happens to indicate the reason behind LaraLek being Nigeria’s biggest indigenous construction company. With Olalekan Adebiyi, it is all about frameworks and substructures.

As the founder and muscle behind LaraLek Ultimate Constructions, Olalekan Adebiyi bears the enviable reputation of being the numero uno—number one—in Nigeria’s construction community. This is all the more surprising considering the fact that Adebiyi has never received University education in Engineering or Architecture. How did he come about establishing the biggest construction company, and becoming the most successful and most sought-after construction contractor? The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) gives a clue.

When NSE honoured Adebiyi with the highest honour possible for archons of engineering who did not themselves study Engineering, the body reportedly explained that Adebiyi’s ingenuity with construction had hit the mark! Thus, his LaraLek Ultimate Constructions rode the same reputation—hitting the mark at every corner and contract.

The city of Lagos has benefitted the most from the projects of LaraLek. Some of the most publicised projects handled

by LaraLek include Church Road, Agbelekale; Giwa Street and AboruAbesan Link Road in Agbado OkeOdo LCDA; 10-lane Oshodi-Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road—with three express lanes and two-service lanes in each direction; and the seven-kilometre Ayobo-Ipaja road, in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

According to experienced eyes, Olalekan Adebiyi oversees the operations of LaraLek while emphasising his personal guiding principles: excellence and economy.

Thus, those that are regular clients of LaraLek are always recommending the company to their colleagues and associates.

Underlying these principles is Adebiyi’s network and sphere of influence. As a man whose foremost pastime is philanthropy, it is not at all surprising that he has endeared himself to all and sundry. This is the reasoning behind his identity as a ‘Silent Billionaire,’ and the central disposition of the entire LaraLek staff.

And that is how Olalekan Adebiyi built and runs LaraLek Ultimate Constructions, Nigeria’s biggest indigenous contract company: with economy and excellence, and a network of favourable affiliations.

Adebiyi

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

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

Milestone: Mike Adenuga Gears up to Change Face of Telecoms in Africa Since it was established in 2003, the baby and brainchild of Otunba Mike Adenuga, Globacom (GLO) has billowed out in its service profile and coverage.

Although the company has long since earned its status as a successful multinational telecommunications company and possibly one of the top three in Nigeria alone, Adenuga isn’t close to finished with it. Judging from recent waves of innovation and development, Adenuga is priming the face of telecoms in Nigeria for a radical change.

Beside the range of telecom services, Mike Adenuga has made sure to set up GLO as the principality of the entire Nigerian telecom community. This daring identity and status have been evidenced in two ways: the deluge of customers pouring into the Globacom camp, and the fact that Adenuga and his team are almost always deciding the course of the sector.

According to published statistics, within the first half of 2020, the number of Globacom internet subscribers had jumped from around 29 million to almost 38 million—a jump that is almost 9 million in height! This is more than the projected population of some Nigerian States. In other words, the subscribers that Globacom has gathered from new phone owners and the other telecom companies can establish their own Nigerian State.

It is a historical fact that Globacom introduced per-second billing in Nigerian telecoms, allowing cheaper call rates and increased patronage. Globacom was also the first to launch a nationwide 4G LTE network (in 2016), improving the broadband connection for Nigerians and paving the path for its colleagues.

For the second half of 2020, Adenuga has already fractured the line with the introduction of the outrageous Berekete tariff plan which credits new and existing customers with ridiculously alluring voice

Adenuga

and data bonuses. Word on the street is that this is only the opening act in a string of innovative transformations that will change the face of the operations of telecoms in Nigeria.

With Michael Adenuga and Globacom, it shouldn’t be a surprise anymore—but it is.

Prince Femi Akinruntan: Chip off the Old Block

Akinruntan

There are different kinds of legacies. There are those that border on accomplishments, those that revolve around skill, and those that draw

On October 1st, 2020, Abiodun and Morenike Nwanneka Oshinibosi celebrated 15 sweet and solid years of matrimony. A colourful and engaging event, to be sure, Abiodun Oshinibosi still did not abstain from stretching the curtains of the event management arm of his business, Abelinis Limited.

Riding on the degrees to which he has assisted in throwing off the menace of the Covid-19 pandemic, Oshinibosi is easily forgiven.

Nothing like the dull and tedious gatherings of masked individuals in the name of shindigs, the 15thyear anniversary celebration of the Oshinibosis was rich and exciting. Held at the Oriental Hotel Lekki, Lagos, the ceremony was well attended by relatives, friends and associates. Always one to ice the cake, folks that couldn’t attend could participate in the festivities via Zoom.

Abiodun Oshinibosi’s Hybrid Studio was responsible for the whole thing.

While it didn’t come as much of a surprise to those who were familiar with Oshinibosi’s businesses, his reputation as Project Marshall of Abelinis Limited, one of the foremost project management firms in Nigeria, was accentuated with the performance of his Hybrid Studio management team led by Gbenga Oketade .

relevance from bloodline. Between Oba Fredrick Akinruntan and his son, Prince Femi Akinruntan, all three kinds of legacies are merged into one. Where the father has blazed a trail of statesmanship and business intellect, the son has left smashing solar flares in the wake of his work. Like father, like son.

Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan is renowned for his status as an influential monarch and a successful oil businessman.

Both his Ugbo Kingdom (in Ilaje Local Government, Ondo State) and Obat Oil are doing extremely well. But in the face of time, what do these count for? Fortunately, Oba Akinruntan has covered all the bases by having a stellar son who is as adept in leadership and management as he is— Prince Akinfemiwa Obateru Akinruntan.

Since coming into the social scene about two decades ago, Prince Femi Akinruntan has borne much of the weight of the Akinruntan name on his shoulders.

Although he is reported to be the second son of Oba Akinruntan, his intellect and personality are proof that he is his father’s son, second to none but himself, and a sun whose setting is nowhere to be seen.

Prince Akinruntan’s most apparent sphere of influence is in the moneymaking establishment that is Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited. As Managing Director, Prince Akinruntan has adopted several management modalities and technological dynamics to have Obat Oil remain one of Nigeria’s largest and leading privatelyheld oil companies. Considering the fact that Oba Akinruntan is reported to be the second wealthiest traditional ruler in the country, and much of that wealth is drawn from the company, the position of Prince Femi Akinruntan is as sure as the Akinruntan’s royalty.

Especially now that Obat Oil is going through a rebranding process, Prince Femi Akinruntan’s mind and fingers are obviously as magical as his father’s. In the family also, Prince Femi is a flawless combination of traditional beliefs and progressive ideas. The 43-year old is married to his childhood sweetheart, Lady Folakemi, and they are the proud parents of three princes.

With Prince Akinfemiwa Obateru Akinruntan, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

How Abiodun Oshinibosi Uses 15th Wedding Anniversary to Further Establish Expertise in Hybrid Event

Medayese

Oshinibosi

A renowned tactician, Oshinibosi’s 15th anniversary ceremony was the perfect opportunity to promote the work of his Hybrid Studio. Thus, the event was employed to demonstrate and prove the expertise of Hybrid studio at delivering premium services in event management and organisation.

It is worth mentioning that this brainchild of Oshinibosi’s isalso responsible for managing Dr. Julius Adelusi’s 80th Birthday party, as well as a thousand and one other inauguration ceremonies, medical exhibitions, conferences, and awards events—with clientele ranging from very demanding public regulars to very progressive private patrons. All these clients have undoubtedly given approving feedback, which is not at all surprising considering Oshinibosi’s acknowledged guiding business tenet of excellence.

First it was Abelinis Limited, and then HypeKing Advocacy. Now, Abiodun Oshinibosi and his team are positively invested in establishing Hybrid Studio as the latest business enterprise, with the characteristic blend of premium and flawless work.

OCTOBER 25, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

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Adebayo Adeoye bayoolunla@gmail.com; 08054680651

SOCIETY WATCH

Travails of Billionaire Businesswomen, Princess Folashade Omotade

Siju

Princess Folashade Abiodun Omotade needs no introduction. She is a well-known socialite and top businesswoman.

The Ogun State-born businesswoman is also on the league of other high-flying business magnates around the country.

Earlier in life, she had a clear vision of what she wanted to do later in life and she pursued it with unwavering doggedness. While growing up, the only thing that caught her fancy was business and she refused to be swayed by any other interest.

As an entrepreneur, she always sees opportunities, and while others are bogged down by morbid fear of failure, she goes where others fear to tread. In fact, without recourse to exaggeration she is one that can rub shoulders with other businesswomen around the continent of Africa.

Her multimillion-naira factory has provided jobs for hundred in Ota, Ogun State.

Curiously, while this beautiful woman was enjoying her honeymoon with her new husband, the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, a few days ago, stories about her previous marriage began to pop up and her involvement with a property at 5A and 5B, Kayode Alli Street, Omole Phase 1, which was allegedly taken from her by the ‘wife’ of her ex- husband, Olaseni Ayodeji Omotade.

It was gathered that after the death of Deji Odumosu in the fateful Bellview crash in 2005, a certain woman named Grace Omotade, approached the court via a Suit No: ID/183M/2006 seeking an order restraining and preventing Folasade from accessing the the property at Omole Phase I. In a swift reaction, the multimillionaire oil and gas magnate proved that she is not someone that can easily be trampled on or intimidated by anyone. She averred that the house belongs to her and that she purchased it

at the sum of N60m from one Robins Omorere and that the name on the document of that property till today remains Biodun Folashade Modojutimi Omotade.

According to her, Grace was a concubine and faulted her claim that she was Omotade’s only wife. She also challenged her to produce the legal proof of marriage.

She explained, “So, I am challenging anyone with a contrary view in Nigeria to provide evidence. As a Director in the Civil Service, he was living in a Government property when he became Permanent Secretary.

“I can tell you that my husband did not have up to N1million in his bank accounts.

He was my friend. His salary was N230,000 and he had four children schooling abroad, how was he going to cope, he was always under pressure, so where will he get money to buy a house in Lagos?” ‘’I had never had cause to deal with any lawyer before in my life until this matter up.

So I went to Afe Babalola. He was the one who took up the case and for some reason, the case was having setbacks.

“I did not know what the cause was for this because I thought it was a straight forward matter, until I came to realise that the judge, a popular justice, was behind the problems I was having in court simply because Grace’s lawyer was the judge’s son in-law,” she added.

When asked why she is just speaking up now, she explained further, “I was told that the children were young and it may not be good for them psychologically. But today, they are now grown and they have given me the go ahead to say everything and anything that is the truth about their father. There was a story just last weekend that really got me upset and I decided that this rubbish must stop. I just said enough was enough.

“Of course, there was a judgment. The judge, who was in charge of the case, gave judgment without hearing a single word from me. He said we should go and share the property. Of course, we have gone on appeal. Grace and her lawyer, Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, to date have not tendered a single document to prove the property belongs to Deji. This is all cheap blackmail. I will not succumb to it. That property is not the only one I have but I will not be cheated out of my sweat.”

Until recently, she was a darling of Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo. She was well-loved by the respected monarch and she literally made his heart beat faster.

In fact, she was always a regular feature beside the Alaafin at social functions.

But all this seems to have ended, following allegations of infidelity against her. She was reported to have had an illicit affair with a popular Fuji musician.

In her reaction to the unconfirmed reports, she immediately described it as the evil machination of her critics and also placed curses on herself to prove her innocence of the allegations.

It got so bad that the young and stunning mother of three, who is presently

observing her national youth service in Lagos, was asked to pack out of the palace until the conclusion of the investigation. While her fate in the palace has yet to be determined, she made the news penultimate week when she refused to send a birthday message to the revered king on his 82nd birthday.

Even while the other wives of the monarch sent sweet and lovely messages on their different social media, she deleted all traces of ever being married to him from all her social media accounts.

In view of this, many are insinuating that she may have finally bidden bye to her marriage to the royal father.

Omotade

When Siju Iluyomade Alaafin of Oyo’s Ex-Queen, Olori Badirat Ajoke’s Angst Walked with Lagos First Lady For the organizers of the annual Arise Walk for Life, this year’s edition lived up to its billing, in spite of the restrictions occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

It was, indeed, a momentous moment for the Convener of Arise Walk For Life, Dr. Siju Iluyomade, as many answered her call aimed at encouraging fitness exercises.

Though this year’s edition held in clusters across many parts in the country, it attracted many dignitaries walking simultaneously in clusters to adhere to COVID-19 protocols.

During the event Tagged #StayingAlive on Saturday, October 17, she was joined by her husband, Pastor Idowu Iluyomade; wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun; a former First Lady of Cross River, Mrs. Onari Duke and wife of Chairman of Daar Communication, Mrs. Moji Dokpesi, among others in front of St. Saviour School, Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi down to the Ikoyi bridge and environs.

Former Super Eagles stars like Peter Rufai, Taribo West and Jonathan Akpoborire also teamed up with her to add more side attraction to the day.

In other parts of the states, Lagos State First Lady, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, and wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat, joined the walk in another cluster, walking along Marina area of the state along with some wives of members of the state’s Cabinet.

Also joining the walk was the wife of Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Zainab Bagudu, along with her aides in the state capital as well as the Minister for Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen in Abuja.

The event, which preludes the yearly Arise Women Conference on October 31, also featured Arise Boat cruise to spice up the day.

Badirat Ajoke

SIFAX Group Boss’ Daughter, Mariam Afolabi, Shuns Social Outing?

Mariam Afolabi, daughter of maritime guru and Vice Chairman of SIFAX Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, is a fashion enthusiast.

To underscore her love for fashion and arts, she launched the popular The Style Cafe, a multimillion-naira fashion complex, some years back.

The Style Cafe houses a fashion label, Mademoiselle Aglaia, a unisex salon, a beauty parlour, a spa and an eatery, where local and intercontinental foods are served.

Since the opening of the complex on Alexander Road, Lekki Phase 1, she has been enjoying massive patronage by lovers of high quality materials, perfumes and other fashion accessories.

Surprisingly, for some time, Mariam, who holds a degree in Law from the University of Warwick, Coventry, England and a postgraduate degree (LLM with distinction) in International Maritime Law from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, Malta, has set tongues wagging due to her sudden disappearance from social circle.

However, a close source revealed to

Society Watch that she had not completely abandoned her passion for fashion.

According to the source, since she was appointed in 2018 as executive director SIFAX, her fashion activities dropped drastically and her appearance at soiree also reduced.

“The job description that comes with her office is quite a tasking one.

It requires time and attention. She wants to build a portfolio for herself in the maritime sector. Fashion never fades. It can come anytime.

She is still young, so she is only concentrating on building her father’s shipping conglomerate.

“She might have reduced some of her activities; she is still a fashion enthusiast. It’s inborn; so you don’t expect it to fade away like that. With time, she will bounce back,” the source added.

Mariam

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OCTOBER 25, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

LOUD WHISPERS

with JOSEPH EDGAR (09095325791)

Mr. Buhari – Permission to Speak My Lord don’t let me even mince words this your style of not talking during crisis like the one we are facing presently is nothing but arrogant.

Yes if nobody will tell you let me tell you abi what esle can happen pass the fire that has burnt down Shomolu, claimed lives of our people and left everybody with the kind of desolation we faced at the end of the Civil War? Me I cannot even believe that with all these not even a soothing word, not even a flinch of the finger to the point that the Senate has called out to you, the Ghanaian president has put mouth; international figures like Hilary MR. OSINBAJO – APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED Look, before you begin to build a second career in apology, let me tell you very categorically that this particular apology has not and will never be accepted.

We no gree. In fact, we have sent messages to your GO, Pastor Adeboye, to ex-communicate you from that church if you could be a pastor and be seeing all that is happening and all you can do is to apologise.

Mbok, how will this apology bring back the lives and property lost in this inferno. As my mother will say, for how long will you keep apologizing without doing the right thing.

This was just a peaceful protest at least at the beginning.

The very simplest methods of engagement could have avoided all the carnage but instead you in particular was busy doing Zoom up and down talking at some irrelevant platforms all over the place instead of engaging your principal frontally on the need to stave off the impending armageddon. You cannot tell me that with 40m unemployed youths and a large swath of illiterates in the system that the whole process would not be hijacked. They have said, why am I always on your matter, why am I always pushing for your resignation? It is simple. it’s because you have claimed a moral authority the rest have not. You have said you are a pastor and as such must be held on a different ethos.

You cannot sit down and be watching this level of human degradation going on all over the country and affecting everybody – northerners, southerners, Christians, muslims, poor people, rich people – every body and you will just be apologizing. Na apology we go chop? Please, do the right thing, abeg.

We need to heal. Nigeria needs to be whole again. We must be united and regain our greatness and to do this you must make the ultimate sacrifice by leaving. Simple.

MR. ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU – A CASTRATED LION? This is not the time to be saying, “I said so.” But what has just happened to my leader although foretold is sad. How can he

Osinbajo

Clinton and Joe Biden all have tried yet nothing.

This one tire me o. I don’t even know what to say again o. We have cried, rolled in our blood and torn our clothes. It’s almost like we have nobody to look up to for protection and guidance. This is more than sad Mr. President. This is in fact more than torture. It is worse than the bloodletting going on, I tell you. I don’t even care if it is a capacity issue or a strategy, whatever it is it is not working and will never work.

At times like this even the quietest of the leaders will stand up as a

rallying point, coral resources and ginger the people to stand up and dust themselves and start the slow and painful process of healing. Even Abacha for don wear him dark goggles and climb NTA and say – fellow Nigerians…. This style I never see am before o. Even when I be class captain for secondary school I do pass this one. This style needs to be studied to be understood. My lord, your children are DYING. Stand up and speak.

Your handlers say 15 million of us voted for you if not for the ones who did not vote at least for them- SAY SOMETHING. KAI.

turn overnight from the people’s leader to the butt of public angst. The slow move towards this had started long before the Edo State’s governorship lection where it can safely be said that his video went a long way in giving the opposing party the mandate. For some time, there has been growing resentment with his monarchical rule over Lagos and these sentiments have been growing although in little murmurings but growing still. Today, anything related to Tinubu attracts fire. Real fire o, not verbal fire. But hot fire from hell.

The Lekki Toll Gate, The Nation newspapers and TVC. They say it is his opponents that are orchestrating this but truth is that over the last few years his level of popularity had plummeted even within his inner circles.

Guess he didn’t read it clearly and must have continued like Emperor Nero who fiddled while Rome was burning. I have tremendous respect for him. For what he has built and achieved and for single-handedly even without constituted legal authority become the main issue in Nigeria today. I love him for that. But I think he should take the events of the last few days with philosophical calmness. Study the larger ramifications to his immediate future plans and come out with a response that will mark him out as the statesman that he is. Sad.

throw up stronger and visionary leadership.

The touts who stopped me at Jibowu to collect money otherwise burn my car where not really bothered about restructure or resource control or federal character or any of those high-flaunting phraseologies our leaders will be suing to label their greed and selfishness. They were just hungry as a result of being left off by a wicked system.

The boys who stormed the Oba of Lagos palace did not do so because they wanted an equal share of the diminishing oil wealth or because they wanted more seats in the Senate or because they wanted board seats at the NNPC. They did so because they were hungry and hunger does not respect these divisions we are killing ourselves for.

What the #Endsars have achieved so far is the fact that Nigerians can be mobilized and a cohesive wall of discontent energized and pushed positively towards a massive goal.

This makes 2023 more interesting. So I am kinda happy with all of these because, I have seen the mountain top. I have seen people climbing it and I have seen our youths at the top of the mountain. They will glorify our unity; our nationhood heralding a new age. For now, let’s clean up. Let’s forgive ourselves. Let’s better love ourselves and much more important, let’s approach 2023 with a new vista. It’s imperative.

Tinubu

this song. It is a song for Nigeria and I tell you the millions that have heard the song have all stood still with heads bowed and tears streaming down their faces, some with shame; others with pride for a fatherland that has been so raped but all in water streaming down their faces. If I had my way, this song would replace Nigeria’s national anthem and be played at all gatherings including the Federal Executive Council meetings. Please go to Instagram @ashhamman and listen to the song. Mbok, go with your handkerchief. If you don’t cry come and collect N1,000.

PAYSTACK – A GLIMMER OF HOPE

Ash is a very good-looking young man who has lived in the United Arab Emirate most of his career. He is a gifted writer and songwriter. As the carnage was going on, he went into the studio and using the legendary Beetles song – Let it be came out with a very powerful exhortation of peace and healing.

There is nobody that has heard the song that has not cried. Even Duchess who has put a price of N200,000 before she joins me in the other room – abi what else can a man do in these times- started crying as she heard the song. The song gave me goose pimples as I was crying like a child. The visuals are so powerful they speak volumes. Ash killed

While the burning and madness were going on, two Nigerian youths who perfectly fit the description of those people that the defunct SARS used to look for quietly sealed a $200m deal. Their home-grown firm was snapped up by an American giant in an historic deal that will signpost the dawn of a new generation. This is what some of us have been saying since. It is the dawn of the followers. Look the economic trends have shifted away from oil and all that traditional sources to technology leveraged services.

See all the Mobil and the like have been dropped from the NASDAQ index and replaced by firms like Apple and the rest.

Let the old gorillas who rule us continue to be chasing oil blocs and all that yeye that no longer matter while our youths continue to play very significantly in the areas that really matter in today’s world. You see why I still have hope in this country, in our youths and in our future. They are plenty o. This deal makes Paystack bigger than three major Nigerian banks put together. Another one, they call Piggy vest is generating N21m per hour in savings. Let’s be sitting down there and be calling them lazy and be killing them and be raping them. It is when we wake up one morning and you see our youths commanding the heights of world economy that we will know that we are truly a wasted generation. Mshewwww.

#EndSARS

Hamman

#ENDSARS – TIME TO HEAL I guess we needed this orgy of violence and bloodshed to find ourselves as a nation.

In all the carnage, I noticed that the cry for a disintegration was muted. We attacked and killed ourselves as Nigerians. We suffered damage and death as Nigerians. The blood-stained Nigerian flag was all over the media. We wrapped it around our wounded selves. Wrapped it around our corpses and wrapped around the ashes of our elderly who suffocated from the fumes of madness.

We suffered and died as Nigerians. Nations go through this to find themselves. We may just have found our voices and should begin to rebuild along the lines of blurred divisions while pushing a holistic recovery that should

Buhari

ASH HAMMAN – POURS BALM ON HELL

ARTS & REVIEW A

PUBLICATION

25.10.2020

A TOASTTO DANIEL AJALA’S CORPS PRECEPTS Cover continued on Page 56 Anthony Madu, whose video went viral recently..

EDITOR OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE/ okechukwu.uwaezuoke@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 25, 2020

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ARTS & REVIEW\\DANCE

ATOASTTO DANIEL AJALA’S CORPS PRECEPTS A recent video, featuring some of Daniel Awoseni Ajala’s young ballet students, expresses support for the nationwide anti-police brutality protests and returns him to the dance community’s consciousness, months after a viral video of one of his students dancing barefoot in the rain, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

T

here are six very young ballet dancers, one of whom is male. They are at first spread out in different positions against the backdrop of a grimy wall. Graffitied on this wall, which is obviously the back wall of the outhouse facing a half-concealed unpainted two-storey building, are the words: POST NO BILLS. The dancers, who are all the students of the Lagos-based Leap of Dance Academy, are well-positioned for a choreographed performance.

Consider the sandy side street, on which they are standing, as their stage. Standing downstage right and left are two dancers draped with emerald green-coloured sheets with the raised fist salute reminiscent of the Black Power Movement. At the centre stage, one similarly poised dancer, draped with a white sheet, backs the audience while another, behind her at the downstage centre, also backs the audience. At the upstage right and left, the remaining female dancer stands with the only male.

The sextet stirs to life, as the Nigerian gospel singer Victoria Orenze’s mournful voice, singing her recent song “My Nigeria”, begins to float towards them. They spread out, close up again, then twirl, unfurl the sheets which evoke the Nigerian Green-WhiteGreen colours, jumping, swaying and eventually exulting in taichi-like movements according to the script…

A voice-over in the video calls out intermittently: “Amen” and “Glory be to God!” It is the voice of Daniel Owoseni Ajala, who scripted and directed the performance titled, “A New Nigeria”. It is his academy’s nod to the zeitgeist, in solidarity with the nationwide protests against police brutality, better known by its social media hashtag #EndSARS. Ajala, a self-taught ballet instructor, became enthralled by the dance form after watching the 2001 American teen dance film, Save the Last Dance. “There were other dance forms in the movie, but there was something about ballet that captivated me,” he says. “I had this feeling that was experiential, that words cannot explain.”

It was on September 9, 2017, that the Lagos State University graduate thought he had become proficient enough in the dance form to impart it on others. This was when he founded the ballet school in the less-privileged Lagos mainland neighbourhood Ajangbadi. “I felt that I needed to give back to the society, to enable others to benefit from something as special as this,” he recalls.

Besides being a certified acrobatic arts teacher and compliant with the National Training Curriculum of the American Ballet Theatre School, he also became an Alixa Flexibility Certified teacher.

On why the Leap of Dance Academy charges no tuition fees, he explains that the institution was established to provide the neighbourhood children with the opportunity he never had as a child. “I didn't want any child to give that as an excuse for not attending the school, so I made the Academy free for all,” he explains.

He had to establish the dance school in the neighbourhood because it was within a walking distance from his home. “I believe in the forward integration approach,” he adds. “Situate your firm close to the resources. Besides, ballet needs a lot of close monitoring and the kids need to train very intensively to meet up with the international dance standards.”

His initial efforts were greeted with misgivings in some quarters.

Many considered this strange dance form un-Christian because it required the girls to expose too much of their bodies and the boys to wear tight leggings. Over time, the parents of the children became more and more accommodating to the point of accepting it and

Ajala with some of his students extending their goodwill to the school. Of course, it helped that Ajala was well-known in the area.

Nonetheless, there were a few challenges that popped up here and there at the initial stage. Besides the fact that the dance form was virtually unknown in the neighbourhood, getting a space with the right floor for the ballet was not easy. “I knew that the floor had to be right for ballet, but we progressed with or without the facilities which did not deflate our enthusiasm for a qualityabove-quantity dance education.”

The school is currently being accommodated in a rent-free space, graciously donated by one Mrs Arogundade, the proprietress of Robis Children’s School where Ajala had his primary education. It is located in the relatively calm Afromedia area of the high-density Ajangbadi neighbourhood, which offers a very beautiful environment for training children. “This is a blessing I will always cherish since she has allowed us to use this space for three years without collecting a dime from us.”

Among what Ajala cites as the highpoints of his experience as a ballet teacher since he established the school was getting his students to dance en pointe, a feat that is uncommon in Nigeria. In ballet, a dancer is said to be en pointe when his or her body weight is supported on the tip of fully extended vertical feet within what is known as pointe shoes. He is especially proud about the fact that Leap of Dance Academy is one of the only two dance schools in Nigeria – the other being Kingdom Ballet Company in Benin

City – that teaches ballet up to the pointe level.

Ajala’s laudable, albeit modest, efforts first caught media attention when a video of one of his students, Anthony Mmesoma Madu, pirouetting in the rain on a concrete floor went viral in the social media. Since then, his school has been overwhelmed by a media blitz. Besides him, there are other promising students in the school, who share the same commitment.

“I don’t teach my students only to become dancers, but to take a form of discipline through art that can help transform and make them relevant,” he writes in a recent Facebook post. “Whether they end up as professional dancers or dance enthusiasts, the message [would have] been passed.”

In the dance community, he virtually isolates himself because he does not belong to the Guild of Nigerian Dancers (GOND) or its kindred organisations. Since none of them is focussed on ballet, he believes belonging to any of them would be benefitial neither to his school nor to his vision. The first among the local dance schools he currently looks up to are the Benin City-based Kingdom Ballet Company, where he first saw quality ballet teaching. “I have always been inspired by them and am so happy to have visited them on some occasions during their recitals.”

He also draws great inspiration from the efforts of Lovette's Bits Dance Company, which is based in the Lagos mainland neighbourhood Gbagada and Above Ballet Company, which has had dance classes for adults.

BOOK REVIEW

A Harvest of Riveting Folktales A Selection of Nigerian Folktales: Themes and Settings, by Bukar Usman Klamidas Communications Ltd, 2020, 645 pages

Faith Ochanya Ochekwu

I

wish to first of all express our appreciation – “our”, in this case, refers to my students, my children and my humble self. We thank the author for bringing back 'Tales

by Moonlight' my childhood favourite.

I thank the author for taking away my children's addiction to TV. The author has given us a resource that encourages healthy competition for “who has read the most stories”. For me as an English teacher who is constrained to teach via WhatsApp, these resources have made it easy for me to teach Comprehension because the narratives are delightful and easy to administer. MayAllah continue to bless the author for lightening up our nation with passionate testimonies and riveting

folktales.

First and foremost, the textASelection of Nigerian Folktales: Themes and Settings by Bukar Usman is a naturally-ordained reading and teaching resource.

This brief highlights the usefulness ofAselection of Nigerian Folktales: Themes and Settings to a teacher, giving a bird’s eye view review of the content, structure and language of the text.

In terms of usefulness, the text is promising for fostering English language learning and increasing cultural awareness. It is a two-in-one or multiple resources for the English as a Second Language class (ESL). In particular, with the capacity to offer authentic indigenous content, from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. By implication, these folktales hold promise for fostering the development of in-depth cultural knowledge and unity while improving linguistic proficiency in all four language skills as well as generating increased engagement in the learning activities.

It is interesting to note that this learning resource also creates room for fun while learning.

Structure ASelection of Nigerian Folktales: Themes and Setting employs simple, easy-to-read language.

It is varied in terms of structure suitable for learners of all ages. For instance,TheAnt and the Grasshopper (469) is written in 14 sentences, Why Kite Hovers over Fire (215) is written in nine sentences. These two stories are written in less than a page. In all the 700 folktales could be grouped into a page or longer and less than a page long. This makes the stories handy for learners of different classes – Nursery to Secondary schools. Simply put, there is a story for everybody. Class activities are easy to generate and assign, both for online and in-classroom learning. Tasks like reading comprehension passages, word inference, summary and paraphrasing, synonymy, antonymy, part of speech identification, etc. are a reality. One practical example is presented below: The Chicken and an Old Woman Once upon a time, Chicken went to look for food in an old woman’s premises. One day, the woman went to her farm and brought back some fresh pepper which she spread out on palm fronds in her backyard.

(See concluding part on 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 25, 2020

CICERO

Editor:Olawale Olaleye Email:wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com, SMS: 08116759819

IN THE ARENA

Protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza

#ENDSARS: An Ugly Turn of Events Infiltrated by miscreants, countered by hired thugs and bloodied at Lekki Tollgate by soldiers, the EndSARS youth protests, which forced potential policy changes and got the world’s attention, retreats. Louis Achi Writes

I

n a virtual meeting with former Heads of State and Presidents of Nigeria, 48 hours ago, President Muhammadu Buhari said it was unfortunate that the initial genuine and well-intended protest of youths in parts of the country against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was hijacked and misdirected.

At the meeting were all past leaders, including Gen. Yakubu Gowon, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Gen. Abulsalami Abubakar and former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The president recounted the initial concessions made by his administration on the demands of youths protesting against the excesses of some members of the SARS. He recalled that the youths had demanded that the squad be disbanded.

Specifically, he listed the additional demands made by the EndSARS protesters. These included the immediate release of all arrested protesters; Justice for deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families; setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of Police misconduct within 10 days; psychological evaluation and re-training of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be re-deployed; and increase in Police salary.

Then, perhaps, to his main point, Buhari declared: “We accepted all the demands and proceeded immediately to scrap SARS and started the process of addressing the other demands. Unfortunately, the protesters refused to call off the protest and engage the government to address their grievances. Instead, they became emboldened and gradually turned violent.”

Further according to him, the government would not fold its arms and allow miscreants and criminals continue to perpetrate acts of hooliganism in the country.

Analysing President Buhari’s first national broadcast addressing the two-week long EndSARS protests by angry but very organised and peaceful youths, a wide swathe of commentators and stakeholders pilloried the president for keeping mum on the alleged Lekki killings of unarmed protesters by soldiers.

But the president’s minders have explained away that faux pas on the need for the Defence Headquarters and Lagos State government to conclude their investigations.

Various estimations put the number of deaths related to the nationwide protests at over 70. These include civilian protesters, policemen and soldiers. Countless individuals were also wounded and massive damages to property and assets were sustained.

It is a fact that youths coming together in joint action have served as a major engine of social transformation throughout human history. At key moments, younger generations have repeatedly acted to challenge and influence the dismantling of systems of oppression, subordination and injustice.

Today, youth-led collective action is proving decisive in combating global challenges. From fighting for the environment, to protecting and expanding human rights to demanding economic justice, young folks are at the forefront of change.

An emerging consensus is that though the youth protest focused mainly on Police brutality while the government curiously looks away, the rage and vehemence is deeper and have been caged up for many years. The intensity of feelings expressed and distrust at related government rhetoric hints at a fundamental message that core changes in both policing matters and governance templates must be holistically addressed.

The assumption that Nigerian youths are lazy and lack the will or focus to sustain any meaningful protests has been emphatically laid to rest. The massive, peaceful and well-organised youth-

centered EndSARS protests, in much of the country, keys into the rejection of oppression and injustice in any form.

After the Lekki condemnable attacks on protesters following a curfew declared by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the youth protesters have apparently gone on informal recess.

A new phase of their engagement with government should be the next logical step – to ensure that the changes promised are genuinely delivered.

For instance, according to Pastor Poju Oyemade, “The streets peaceful protest is over but the opportunity for change within the legal framework is now wide open. The real effort behind the scenes can now begin. Channel the energy right. It takes time to bring about change. You cannot be hasty.

“The streets have a life span, it is good but when it can no longer be peaceful it works against you. Build a party or become delegates. Energy for change must be channeled through the political process. One big step is to become delegates, who elect the candidates within a party structure. This is one of the most influential positions in the process, which is accessible and easy to reach today.”

Pastor Poju Oyemade’s prescription may well be one out of possible several reasoned engagement options before the youths.

While former President Goodluck Jonathan had cautioned that “No Nigerian blood needs to be spilled or life lost during a peaceful protest that seeks to advance our country,” considerable human blood has been unjustifiably spilled. Their memories need to be respected.

Even at press time, reports still kept filtering in of hoodlums on rampage and disrupting legitimate citizens’ activity, both the Southern and Northern states. Meanwhile, for the majority of Nigerians, it’s yet morning on creation day.

P O L I T I CA L N OT E S

O

Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai

Was There Really a Massacre?

ne of the unfortunate turnouts of the military intervention in the attempt to disperse unarmed protesters at the Lekki toll plaza was the allegation of massacre of the youths, which automatically changed the tenor of the protest and attracted the rage of even the international community.

Sadly, from all indications, there seemed to be no such things as a massacre of the protesters by the military, even though there were shootings in the air to disperse them, a development many reckoned might have resulted in stray bullets hitting some of the protesters and which is condemnable. But no one has been confirmed dead as a result.

Curiously, also, many of those allegedly killed “as a result

of the shootings” had suddenly come out to deny being dead.

In fact, some of the names flying around came out to say they were actually in their homes at the time of the incident. Those who alleged 78 dead had equally come out to deny saying any such thing.

Apart from the one person pronounced dead at the Reddington Hospital in Lekki as a direct result of blunt force trauma, being a victim of an attack on Admiralty and not the toll gate, bodies of the 78 allegedly killed have yet to be found, much less spotting their pool of blood at the plaza.

That piece of misinformation turned out a result of one of the poor uses of the social media, which enraged nerves and provided the leeway for criminals to take over the state.

Therefore, at the Lekki Toll Plaza on 20/10/2020, there wasn’t any massacre, lest the world knows the truth.

THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 25, 2020

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BRIEFINGNOTES Babajide Sanwo-Olu: A Different Kind of Diary Even at his low moments, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has continued to discharge himself equitably. Olawale Olaleye reckons

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here’s a certain school, which contends that there’s nothing esoteric about governance. That submission, curiously, simplifies the idea of leadership in the most elementary language possible. But, good a thing, that same school didn’t fail to add that sound leadership, as it were, is not one that emerges from a random crowd. The balance, therefore, is where the substance sits.

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is not unlucky as some are wont to reason. Time and chance have only cut out his job for him with a difference that not only distinguishes him, his style and era, but also constantly puts him to capacity test.

Perhaps, it’s trite to infer that Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan state, has not had a full month of respite since assuming office on May 29, 2019. It’s been from one crisis to another in a sense that presupposes, with a much clearer understanding, that the leadership of Lagos – the commercial nerve centre of the country – is not for the faint-hearted.

How about a concise review of his less than two years reign and some of the challenges that have so far typified his governorship?

Upon assuming office, Sanwo-Olu was hit by the general but familiar expectations, which often spur a leader to hitting the ground running, coming also from Lagos, which is believed to have a standard and long time development plan.

But to understand the situation report, it probably took longer than expected and he began to face attacks from all fronts, a majority of which insinuated lack of capacity. And then, the challenges started to show up in phases and in quick succession.

First the traffic situation in the state grew from bad to worse, particularly in the Apapa axis of the state to other parts. But with the partnership of the federal government and an initiative set up to address the situation, the chaos is not gone but gradually easing up.

About this time, also, the state of Lagos roads was in utter mess such that even supporters of the government were helpless in their defence. Sadly, this became more pronounced during the rainy season, leaving a majority of Lagos people somewhat impatient. But with a systematic intervention, the story is changing.

While this subsisted, the menace constituted by commercial tricycles and motorcycles otherwise called okada became another challenge for the state, prompting the government to restrict their movements and chasing some off the streets. This though didn’t go down well with some people, the decision, given the safety, security, and health implications became imperative for the state. And so, it was done.

Soon, there were series of building collapses in the state, which questioned regulations and quality control by the government. Governor Sanwo-Olu did not relent as stringent approval and enforcement rates had since taken a different turn.

The spate of explosions in different parts of the state – from Ijegun to Soba and Fagba areas of the state – took their toll on the development and governance of the state, all of which Sanwo-Olu rose up to and taking measures to preventing reoccurrence. He has also promised compensations to the affected.

Perhaps, none of the aforementioned has tasked

Sanwo-Olu...unruffled the leadership capacity of the governor as much as the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has yet to clear off but largely tamed in the state. Not only did the governor take charge as the incident commander and showed leadership, he also set the path for other states to take a cue.

Indeed, his response to the development impressed the president, Muhammadu Buhari, so much that he gave the state some money and other supports needed in the fight against the pandemic.

Interestingly, if anyone had thought that the fight against coronavirus was Sanwo-Olu’s biggest challenge, then, wait for the nearly 12 days #ENDSARS protests by youths in many parts of the state and consequently, the country.

A genuine, legitimate, sincere and timely protest by the Nigerian youths to end police brutality especially, by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) soon ended in chaos after soldiers drafted to disperse the protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza, paved the way for thugs to hijack the movement out of rage and unleashed terror on the state.

The governor has spent the last over 48 hours going round the state to inspect the level of wreckage left behind before charting the way forward. He has also relaxed the curfew from 24 hours to between 8am and 6pm last weekend. In addition, security operatives have been drafted to some of the flashpoints to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

Interestingly, the youths, many of who initially

declined counsel on how to successfully prosecute their protests, have realised the point they missed it and are seeking ways to partner the state in both the cleanup and the rebuilding processes that are currently on the card.

In the final analysis, why the reason for the protest cannot be diminished in the light of what has happened, because the demands were genuine and legitimate, it’s worthy of note that the governor has discharged himself equitably in his efforts to live up to billings.

He not only identified with the youths, he visited them twice at their ‘rally headquarters’ in Lekki Toll Plaze, where some of the irreverent youths talked down on him, but still personally delivered their five-point demand to the president, all of which were attended to almost immediately.

But because the protest had been hijacked, although unknown to the youths, who were made of two generations – the millennials and the Genzees (Generation Z) – the ugly denouement was predictable. All hope is not lost yet, even as a criminal prosecution of the thugs that took over the city must be total to serve as deterrent in the event of any future movement, close to the #ENDSARS protest.

With a diary fraught with crises management from his first day in office, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is not the type for anyone to envy. And even more commendable is the fact that he has always risen to the occasions.

NOTES FOR FILE

Lagos: Time to Take Back the City

Lagos at its finest

The reign of the “kings of the streets” between Tuesday, October 20 and Friday, September 23, has left Lagos in serious ruins and taken it back to many years of disrupted developments. That rogues and street urchins would hijack the peaceful movement by the #ENDSARS protesters was a no-brainer since there was no exit strategy and effective coordination of other areas of protests apart from the toll plaza.

However, what was shocking was that the youths, who were legitimately seeking social justice didn’t factor that possibility into account and even worse, they had no exit strategy.

That, unfortunately, was the beginning of the takeover of Lagos by the anti-social elements, which has since left the state limping.

At this point, enough of the reign of madness of these no-do-wells and the time for the people to take back their state is now. Lagos is the most tolerant state of the federation, a state, which like the United States offers hope and limitless opportunities, even for the least expected and from any part of the world.

This is why everyone, regardless of creed, profession, philosophy, ethnicity and upbringing, must resist the attempt to turn Lagos to the Syria of Africa by pushing back the guts of the anti-social elements. There’s no debating the fact that Lagos, Under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu would rise again. What is, however, important is the role of everyone in getting the state back to work.

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Ͱͳ˜ Ͱ͸ͺ͸ ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

#ENDSARS PROTESTS: HOODLUMS WREAKS HAVOC ON LAGOS CAN LAGOS RECOVER FROM THIS DESTRUCTION? In the aftermath of #EndSARS protests, hundreds of hoodlums took over in a frenzy of violence, arson, burglary, and wanton destruction leaving in their trail once beautiful landscapes looking like war-torn arenas. Here are a compilation of the ‘doom and gloom’ photos that have become the latest image of Nigeria on the global scene

Destruction of Orile-Iganmu Police Station

Lagos City Hall set on fire by hoodlums

Destruction of Police station, Ojo road, Ajegunle, Apapa

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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 25, 2020

#ENDSARS PROTESTS: HOODLUMS WREAKS HAVOC ON LAGOS

Littered roads of Bode Thomas street in Surulere

Destruction of cars

Breaking of First Bank plc

Fidelity Bank plc looted by hoodlums

Destroyed Lekki toll-gate

High Court, Igbosere

Stolen of Oba Akiolu staff office

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

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OCTOBER 25, 2020

#ENDSARS PROTEST S S: HOODLUMS WREAKS HAVOC ON LAGOS

Sanwo-Olu family house

Destruction of Oyingbo BRT Bus terminal

Destruction of Ajeromi Local government

When Lagos Went Up in Flames Segun James

Itallstartedasinnocuousp protestsagainst g thedreaded Special p Anti-Robberyy Squad q (SARS) of the Nigerian g police which has become notorious for extrajudicial p killings g and extortion.

Tired of being g constantlyy under intimidation and fear, Nigeria’ g s teeming gyyouths took their protest p to the office of Governor Babajide j Sanwo-Olu to demand an end to the constant harassment and brutality they experience p in the hands of SARS operatives. p From that p point onward, the p protests, tagged gg #EndSARS, took a larger-than-life g dimension as hundreds of youths y across the countryy took to the streets bringing g g manyy towns and cities to their knees that a former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, g John Campbell, p compared p the movement to the Arab Spring p g scenario. But at the moment, it was not to be.

Thep protestswereg generallyyp peacefulandcarnival-like until 20 October when the Nigerian g soldiers arrived at the Lagos g Toll Gate Plaza in Lekki on Lagos g Island, following g which there were allegations g shooting g and “massacre,” claiming g that 62 2 protesters p were killed.

After that episode, p what trailed the p protests were wanton destruction and looting. g Nigeria’ g s commercial city, y Lagos, g in the chaotic conflagration literally went up p in flames.

According g to experts, p the destruction that took place in Lagos p g might g require q N1tn to rebuild all that was destroyed y and damaged. g No group g p has claimed responsibility p yforthelarge-scale g destruction.Meanwhile, #EndSARS protesters p have repeatedly p y distanced themselves from the horrifying destruction.

Below destroyed y or damaged g property p p y of which Sanwo-Olu inspected some of them on Friday.

Circle Mall, vandalised and looted by hoodlums

1. Nigerian g Ports Authorityy Lagos 2. Orile Police Post, Lagos g 3. Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos g 4. BRT Terminal, Oyingbo’ y g s new buses 5. Television Continental (TVC), ( ) Ketu, Lagos g 6. Vehicle Inspection p Office (VIO), ( ) Federal Road Safetyy Commission (FRSC) offices at Ojodu 7. BRT Terminal, Ojodu, j Lagos’ buses 8. BRT Bus at Berger

9. Lagos Television, Agidingbi, Ikeja - shut down ??????

10. Recreational Center, Oregun, Lagos 11. Oba of Lagos’ g palace p 12.

2 Sanwo-Olu’smother’shouseatSurulere,Lagos 13King’ 3 gs College g 14. Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos 15. GTBank branches 16. Access Bank Branches 17. Ajeromi j Local Government secretariat 18. Lagos g Island Local Government building 19. Lagos g Island East LCDA secretariat 20.Lagos g MainlandLocalGovernmenttsecretariat 21. Ibeju j Lekki LCDA secretariat 22. Sanwo-Olu’s uncle’s house on Lagos Island Others include Lagos g State High g Court, Igbosere; g First Bank of Nigeria, g Fagba g branch; NNPC’s p petrol station, Fagba; g Governor Sanwo-Olu’s uncle’s house in Lekki; CACOVID’s warehouse in Orile Iganmu; g Lagos g State Public Works Corporation, p Ojodu j Berger; g Lagos g Cityy Hall, Lagos g Island; Circle Mall, Lekki; numerous luxury shops in Surulere and Shoprite p in Lekki.

The Lagos g State’s Commissioner for Information, Gbenga g Omotosho, said 27 of the destroyed y BRT vehicles cost $200,000 each while 57 of others cost $100,000 each, all totalling g about N3.9 billion.

According g to the police p authorities, 25 stations were burnt in Lagos g in various areas that include Orile, Amukoko, Layeni, y Ilasamaja, j Ikotun, Ajah, j Igando, g Elemoro, Makinde, Onipanu, p Ebute Ero, Pen-Cinema, Isokoko, Alade, Cele, Igbo g Elerin, Shibiri, Gbagada, g Onilekere, Makoko, Daleko, Asahun, Makinyo, y Amuwo-Odofin, Anti-Kidnapping, pp g Surulere.

Police stations in Ojo, j Ojodu, j Mowo, PPL and Morogbo g were vandalised, according to the securityy agency. g y After the wanton destruction, looting g and violence in the state, relative p peace has been restored with a curfew in p place and securityy agents g now back on the streets, especially at various hotspots of Lagos.

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CICERO/REPORT

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President Muhammadu Buhari and Dr. Kayode Fayemi

Buhari’s #ENDSARS Address: Governors in the Details President Muhamamdu Buhari’s Thursday address to the nation on the #ENDSARS protest, which later turned violent had written all over it, the ‘signatures’ of the Nigerian governors, writes Olawale Olaleye

A

lthough to many, last Thursday’s nationwide address by President Muhammadu Buhari came a bit late, it only calmed a few nerves in Lagos, while humongous violence spread at the near speed of light to other parts of the country.

Sadly, the development had begun to assume different dimensions, including ethnic and political twists to it, forcing the governors to quickly engage the president and appeal to him to address the protesters with a view to renewing hope.

Apart from the insinuations that some pro-government agents might have had a hand in the ugly turn of events, which escalated the ethnic dimension to the protest, there were also swirling allegations that some individuals sold a different dummy to the president, accusing certain individuals of being behind the protest.

Specifically, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi was being accused by some persons of allegedly leading people to the president to accuse a former governor of Lagos State and one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu as being the brain behind the protest.

However, that the meeting between the president and the governors, led by Fayemi, Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal, who also doubles as his deputy in the NGF, happened about the same time, soon put a lie to such insinuations, which had already begun to needlessly inflame passion.

Indeed, the governors, from the minutes of their meeting, set the template for the president’s broadcast and gave considerable advices on how best to handle the matter, which had begun to blow out of control, including the manner he was supposed to address the angry youths, whose demands they all agreed were genuine.

The minutes of their meeting read thus: “Mr. President, thank you for meeting us at a very short notice.

In furtherance of our meeting with Mr. President tonight on behalf of all Governors, we hereby outline our position on the EndSARS issue as requested by Mr. President.

“Governors feel strongly that they are in this together with Mr. President and the FGN, and to this end, agree to take full charge in their various states.

Governors commend Mr. President for directing security institutions to exercise restraint in the use of force and for demonstrating commitment to act on the

five point agenda of the protesters.

“Governors believe it has now become necessary for Mr. President to make a further broadcast on the issues pertaining to the protest – more of a Father to his children broadcast, rather than a ‘my fellow compatriots’ speech.

“Broadcast should highlight specific steps taken on the five points demand, three of which have been responded to, namely - disbandment of SARS, on-going establishment of judicial panels of inquiry in states on violations and compensation and freeing of persons held arbitrarily in various police detention centres.

“On the two outstanding items – namely (a) improvement in salaries and remuneration package for police men and (b) psychological evaluation of SARS’ officers, it is clear that 2021 budget proposal containing emoluments has been forwarded to the NASS and the estimates were based on the existing salaries.

“Mr. President would consult with NASS with a view to upgrading the remuneration package. Mr. President has consistently demonstrated his commitment to workers in the security agencies and this is a case of preaching to the converted. On medical and psychological evaluation, it is also clear that this is process driven, not something that can be done by fiat.

“It is also the view of Governors that even though the EndSARS group is deliberately amorphous and has refused to identify the leadership Cadre, Mr. President could offer an olive branch to them in the broadcast by suggesting that his team, probably led by the Vice President and comprising of some Governors and few other critical stakeholders like the IGP is ready and willing to meet with their representatives to further deepen engagement.

“Having put the above forward, Mr. President may wish to use the broadcast to appeal to the young ones, acknowledging that they have spoken loud and clear and he applauds them for exercising their freedom of expression towards the improvement of policing in Nigeria.

“The broadcast should then stress that it is now appropriate, however, for protesters to return to call off their action so that government can work on their demands and also ensure that their otherwise well intentioned agitation is not lost to those, who may have ulterior motives in wanting this mayhem to continue.

“Mr. President should give examples of the unfor-

tunate violent turn this has taken in some states and a time-line within which he would like the streets to be clear of protesters, hence the need for the genuine body to call off their action.

“Governors also expressed the view that the replacement of SARS with SWAT was too sudden and precipitate, giving the impression that this was just a name change, rather than a substantive one. It is our view, therefore, that in order to better manage perception, it may be advisable to temporarily suspend the establishment of the new tactical unit.

“In order to avoid a vacuum being created, the IGP could direct state commands to device the best means of managing the transition on a state by state basis until such a time that the replacement can gain traction with the broader citizenry.

“In order to deepen the conversation on policing and police reform, Governors are of the view that it may be expedient to summon an expanded Council of State meeting, or at the minimum, convene the constitutionally empowered Nigeria Police Council to extensively consider various modalities for police reform once normalcy returns to the country.

“Equally, Governors believe the reopening of universities and other tertiary institutions would provide a window of opportunity to keep the young, university students otherwise occupied. This may require a quick resolution of the current impasse with ASUU. “Finally, Governors respectfully underscore the urgency of now in these matters and propose that Mr. President’s broadcast should happen expeditiously with a view to returning the country to normalcy latest by Friday, 23 October 2020.”

Interestingly, contained in the president’s speech, which was broadcast on Thursday night, were practically all that the governors advised, leaving out almost nothing, although communicated in a different language.

Thus, those who had been insinuating that some governors, particularly, Fayemi had blacklisted Tinubu as the mastermind of the protest, had an ulterior motive, which neither added nor removed from the situation but had only exposed the naivety and the mischief of the rumour peddlers.

But with the nationwide looting and destruction had begun to escalate dangerously, there is a need for government to step in more frontally and decisively.

That notwithstanding, nothing can take away the fact that the governors had a huge input in the president’s speech, which as at today, remains a talking point.

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THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ ͺͽ˜ 2020

GAVEL

Editor: Olawale Olaleye SMS:08116759819 email:wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com

How N’Assembly Intervened in #EndSARS Protest Last week’s intervention by the National Assembly in the #EndSARS protests by youths in some parts of the country had its effect in assuaging nerves, nonetheless the eventual hijack of the initiative by thugs. Adedayo Akinwale and Udora Orizu write

T

he campaign against police brutality did not start today and it stemmed from years of gory experiences, which culminated in the sudden, long awaited but necessary end of the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), a controversial unit of the Nigerian Police Force with a long record of abuses.

The campaign started in 2017 on Twitter using the hashtag #ENDSARS to demand the Nigerian government eliminate the force. However, after experiencing a revitalisation in October 2020, mass demonstrations began throughout Nigeria in major cities, and the hashtag had 28 million tweets.

What actually triggered the recent protests that saw an end to the brutal police unit was a video that started trending on social media on Saturday 3 October 2020, showing a SARS police officer shooting a young Nigerian in front of Wetland Hotel, Ughelli, Delta State. The trending video caused public outcry on social media, especially on Twitter, with the #ENDSARS hashtag trending.

Also, on the social media, Nigerians have shared both stories and video evidence of how members of SARS engaged in kidnapping, murder, theft, rape, torture, unlawful arrests, humiliation, unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings, and extortion in Nigeria.

The disbanded SARS officers have been alleged to profile youths based on fashion choices, mount illegal road blocks and searches, conduct unwarranted temperature checks, arrest without warrant, rape women, and extort young Nigerians for driving exotic vehicles and using laptops and iPhones.

But within a few days of renewed protests, the Nigerian Police Force announced it was dissolving SARS on Sunday, 11 October 2020. However, many noted similar promises had been made in recent years, and that the government planned to reassign and review SARS officers to medical centres rather than remove them entirely.

As such, the protests continued accordingly, while there have been international demonstrations in solidarity with those happening in the country.

Before the Tuesday, October 20 episode at the Lekki Toll Gate by the military, the National Assembly had intervened and also promised to put in place legislation to ensure police reform.

Senate’s Intervention The Senate, on October 20, had asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately address citizens over the ongoing #EndSARS protests in the country.

President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, had on October 18th called for an end to the #EndSARS protests after a closed-door meeting with the president in the company of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila at the State House in Abuja.

The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Senator Biodun Olujimi, representing Ekiti South senatorial district. The Senate also directed the police to offer protection to the #EndSARS protesters to prevent hoodlums from hijacking their genuine action. Moving the motion on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Olujimi said police brutality could be traced to the colonial days.

The lawmaker expressed dismay that despite the dissolution of the Special

Lawan, Buhari and Gbajabiamila

Anti-Robbery Squad by Mohammed Adamu, Inspector-General of Police, police officers had continued their assault on citizens.

She recalled that in June 2020, Amnesty International in a report documented that between January 2017 and May 2020, there were 82 cases of torture, ill treatments and extra-judicial killings of Nigerian citizens by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. She also called for improved welfare for police officers.

The motion was put to a voice vote by the Senate President and was adopted.

However, following the Lekki Tollgate shooting, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Senator Betty Apiafi, and the immediate past Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on Wednesday, condemned the development.

Apiafi, who addressed journalists at the National Assembly, urged President Muhammadu Buhari, to order a probe into the situation and bring the errant soldiers and their commanding officer to justice.

Ekweremadu, on his part, called for justice for everyone, who had fallen victim of government’s action or inactions in the face of the nationwide protests.

He said the rights to peaceful assembly remained guaranteed by the Constitution and that any unilateral imposition of curfew was unconstitutional. He, however, stressed the need to arrest and prosecute criminals, who had taken advantage of the protests to cause loss of lives and properties.

Intervention from the House The House of Representatives, while condemning attack on peaceful protesters said it would collaborate on new law against police brutality with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).

The decision stemmed from some resolutions they passed last week to address the issue of police brutality against Nigerians, one of which is

to amend the constitution and come up with other legislation to curb the excesses of the police.

Speaking during a courtesy call by the NBA leadership in his office, Gbajabiamila, said the provision of Section 215 (5) of the 1999 constitution (As Amended) almost gives the police absolute immunity against their excesses, hence the need to amend that section.

The Speaker, who said the House could not do it alone, sought the support of the NBA to achieve its set goal on addressing police brutality.

He said: “I want to use this opportunity to congratulate Nigerians out there, who have been part of this struggle, and I want to appeal at the same time that we should apply the brake, perhaps, a little and see what will be done. In the House, before the protest, we made a statement. I made a statement on the floor of the House. We made farreaching resolutions. We’ve been very proactive on this issue.

“We’re determined to pursue the resolutions of the House forcefully. Our resolutions included that we discovered that Section 215 (5) almost gives absolute immunity to the police over what they do. So, for a start, we feel we should begin with amending the constitution and deleting that offensive section. I believe it was well intended, but now that it’s obnoxious.

“From that, we can raise any other reforms to look at the complaints from the public, from the NBA, the civil societies among others. We’re waiting for the IG to send us the list of policemen that had complaints against them in the last five years. We’re also waiting for the list of the victims so that they can be compensated. We’re beginning the budget process, and we want to make sure that there’s a line item that would ensure they’re compensated.

The resolutions also talked about police reform. We have already passed the Police Reform Act, but we need to do

more. We need to look at the conditions of service among others too.”

The Speaker also announced that the House would raise an ad-hoc panel that would interface with the NBA on the issue of police brutality and others.

Concerned about the Lekki tollgate situation, Gbajabiamila, on October 21 emphasised the need to make adequate provision for compensating victims of police brutality, saying he would not sign off on the 2021 Appropriation Bill unless it includes the item.

He also said the bill must provide for reasonable demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which the government has accepted.

The Speaker lamented that the current system does a great disservice to the youth hence they must commit to changing it so that they can free the institutions of higher learning to be citadels, where innovation thrives, and excellence is a given.

According to him, a bill, to hold erring police operatives accountable for their actions is currently underway.

He said he and some members of the House will next week visit some of the families of those who have lost loved ones to police brutality.

He assured Nigerians that the House would pass an electoral reform bill in time for the next general election so that they might continue to improve the process of electing political representatives at all levels.

The Speaker pledged his support for the amendment of the constitution to ensure that provisions on fundamental human rights have teeth, resource control is dealt with equitably and that the next generation of Nigerians does not inherit evident dysfunctions of the current system.

Gbajabiamila therefore appealed to the youth to end the protests while the government works towards meeting their demands.

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ENGAGEMENTS

THISDAY, THE SATURDAY NEWSPAPER ˾ OCTOBER 25, 2020

with ChidiAmuta e-mail:chidi.amuta@gmail.com

Two Weeks to Eternity

I

n many ways, the last two weeks may end up as a defining moment for the Nigeria of tomorrow. Anger against a rogue police outfit (SARS) has sparked a spontaneous nationwide youth spring with unfamiliar unanimity and a clear message. Pent up anger and desperation has in turn overwhelmed the apparatus of law and order with waves of arson, looting and vandalism that swept through major urban centres. The wrong of police brutality felt by the youth has reignited a dying sense of community and common outrage across the nation.

On its part, government has been caught somewhat shocked and nearly clueless. It has stumbled on with knee jerk solutions, familiar blandness and an embarrassing lack of creative thinking. It has hurriedly undertaken to scrap the offending SARS, reform our defective police force while investigating widespread charges of police brutality and rights abuses. It has outsourced the job of investigating police rights abuses to the states who now have to determine culpability of individual police officers before recommending prosecution, possible compensation and reparations.

But a skeptical youth force has been reluctant to trust the government whose past record of tardiness Prostesters with banners on the roads inspires little hope. In defiance of the stern posturings of federal at the injustices of their day. The revelers of today are the ready and state governments, the protests continued for some days angry youth protesters of injustice at the political level tomorrow. while the descent into lawlessness assumed a life of its own.

Consequently, the atmosphere of the recent protests themselves Curfews and stern measures across the states promises to restore bore the markings of the new age of fun and seriousness. The law and order, leaving the public, the injured and the bereaved to protest venues featured dance, song, music and a carnivalesque count their losses. atmosphere, The various protest grounds became ground zero Yet something encouraging has also come across. In all the for youth to drown their frustration and anger in solidarity for a turbulence and upheaval, not a single voice has risen to reject or common cause. Some danced. Others sang. There was free food repudiate the idea of the Nigerian nation. All the anger has been and drinks. against the lapses in the way the affairs of the nation have been An unwritten code of civility reigned at the protest venues and mismanaged over the years. What is significant is that the youth ensured that initially there was little criminality. Pickpockets and who constitute over 75% of the populace have finally expressed their stake in the future of the country, a clear indication that we are petty thieves were promptly apprehended and handed over to the police. Protest organisers arranged common food banks and fed at the brink of an altered face of the social and political conversaall and sundry in orderly queues including the police. It was a very tion about Nigeria. touching spectacle for the most part. The world heard Nigeria as Let us therefore delineate the boundaries of the emerging youth and lovers of freedom from every land joined and identified confrontations. The peaceful protests of youth united against with Nigerians. We became the world, thereby exposing the foibles police brutality and other forms of official impunity needs to be of our authorities to the floodlights of global scrutiny. quickly isolated and kept safe. It is a historic milestone in our quest These peaceful earlier days of the protests were quickly for a democratic republic of free citizens. This process of peaceful overtaken by a wave of negativity. Suddenly, the evil ingenuity of protest must be sustained and separated from the anarchy and vested interest and privileged mischief crept in. Rented thugs were uncontrolled criminality that has unfolded around the protests. trucked in to invade the protests bearing clubs, machetes, charms On the contrary, something unites the mindless brutality of the and amulets. Violence was introduced into something that started soldiers who killed some innocent protesters at Lekki Toll Gate out as a peaceful protest. A window was opened for criminal on Tuesday, October 20th and the irate bands of criminals and gangs, hoodlums and looters to overrun the protest and dominate hoodlums that rampaged and looted around the country. Both public spaces. strands belong in a common pool of despicable savagery and Remarkably, the original protests were led by fairly affluent and vandalism that hovers at the fringes of our noble core as a people. comfortable artists, pop stars and children of the rich. The inbuilt We must reject this descent into anarchy and violence by both the contradictions of the class character of a society such as ours came errant arm of the public and the lawless armed agents of the state. to the forefront. With the richer youth obviously outnumbered by Yet, the entire complex of contradictory events demand more the poor and unemployed ones from the slums and shanty towns, than the usual superficial reflexes, lazy explanations and cosmetic the atmosphere of peace and order was overwhelmed by the solutions of our governments. We are actually at the brink of the roughness of rowdy hoodlums and small time criminals. Hidden next phase of Nigerian history. The citizenry have woken up to grievances have come to the surface. Primordial animosities and the expression of their rights through open peaceful protests. The nature and scope of this latest event is like nothing we have seen in petty envies fuelled by ethnicity have come to the surface in the pattern of looting arson and attacks in some cities. A devious political the past. It is a moment that we need to seize, treasure, learn from elite intent on discrediting the youth and their peaceful protest to and deploy for a better future. justify a crackdown went to work.

Behind the lines of protest and grievance, we can hear the loud Social and commercial activities were interrupted while the groans of a nation in dire straights of misrule and a people in the activities of government and businesses came to a screeching desperate throes of poverty and distress. The strongest and most halt. State after state imposed one curfew or the other. Fear and able cannot find work. The hungry cannot find food while utter trepidation gripped the entire nation. The widespread desperate hopelessness dogs the lives of the majority. The wait for direction cries for justice and return to order and peace underlined one thing: and comforting action from successive governments has been Nigerians love their country but desperately yearn for it become a long and fruitless. When finally the army of youth braved the happier place. That is one prominent takeaway of the protests. storm to protest the brutality of the police, it was a wake up call In the wake of the criminal hijack of the protests, the longing for that united all the pent up energies in the land. The unkempt genie the restoration of order and peace in the land gradually became a is out of the bottle. unifying cry and hunger. Underneath it all, critical issues of history In the immediate circumstances, the protests came through the and nation being have come to the surface. Under this pressure, vehicle of the popular cultural revolution that has recently swept through the country and united our youth with their fellows in the government descended with strong arms. A small contingent of army personnel invaded the Lekki Toll Gate protest venue and rest of the world. Our new popular culture of music, movies and fired at protesters with live bullets. Some lives have been lost and comedy has created a new crop of wealthy and influential youth injuries sustained by many. The world heard the staccato of gunfire powered by the social media. The magnetic urgency of this youth interrupt the passionate renditions of the national anthem. The culture is the fuel that has fed the quick spread of the anti-SARS world also saw, in bleeding colour, the blood stained banners, our uprising. The revenue and publicity dividend of Nigeria’s new national flag, being waved by injured youth whose only crime is cultural evolution has also come with the price of global solidarity with the pains of our youth. A youth swarm that gathers spontane- that they want a better Nigeria.

At this juncture, we need to interrupt this narrative and interously to watch and listen to Davido, Whizkid, Burna Boy, Flavor rogate the larger issues that have arisen. First is the responsibility and Tiwa Savage is bound to answer when these their icons point

of the state in a time of sudden crisis and the threat of anarchy. The imperative is to balance the protection of democratic freedoms against the need for the preservation of law and order. It is a delicate balance that demands the deployment of high statesmanship.

The degeneration of the protests by the invasion of thugs and criminals is an elementary test in crisis management for the state.

The object of state authority is to keep law and order by separating bad people from the majority of good people who deserve to be protected. The motley crowd gathered at Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday, October 20th was a mixture of mostly genuine protesters and maybe a handful of miscreants. But the army personnel drafted to the venue probably did not bother to separate the bad people from the majority of innocents. Instead, they opened fire on the crowd with live ammunition thereby meting out the penalty of death on both the innocent and the lawless criminals. In this regard, the state failed. The most elementary law of war is for every soldier to distinguish friend from foe. It is a bad soldier that fails to make this elementary distinction.

As the nation regains social order and takes stock of a fortnight of diverse awakenings, the telling contradictions tucked into the womb of this protest should persist in our minds. At the bottom of the conflict in the protest is a perception divide between our youth and the political and state establishment. We have an establishment manned by a political elite and a bureaucracy mired in antiquity.

On the other hand, our youth have become part of the global village of Google knowledge, on- the- go communication and instant messaging. This is the world of cutting age knowledge in nearly every field of human endeavor. Because this youth bulge constitutes over 75% of our demographics, they are the bulk of our civil society whose aggregate knowledge and world view is at the cutting edge of the information technology revolution that now rules the world. The conflict between this sophisticated civil society and a moribund establishment is at the heart of the conflicts that will dog our lives for the foreseeable future. The response of the political elite as captured by President Buhari’s national broadcast last Thursday evening is the desperate cry of a threatened political establishment.

The youth have inadvertently frightened an insecure political elite at a time when it is led by an anti-intellectual conservative.

Three things should now happen if we want peace and orderly progress: First, the critical mass of the new civil society should aspire to become managers of the public space. Second, the existing establishment should retool and upgrade itself to measure up to the new age IT wave. Third, the establishment could use a strategy of massive inclusion to save itself by involving the youth and women in the public space at a level nearly commensurate with their share of our demographics, a strategy that will amount to ‘class suicide’.

Ultimately, however, the youth spring will have to transform itself into a political force. It will need to quickly deploy the deft organizational acumen that powered the ENDSARS protest into a political machinery. It promises to be a frightening movement that will consign the present ancient parties into the dustbin of history. Only then will the anxious wait of the youth and the rest of us become a beacon of hope for the future we seek. The events of the last two weeks could define our future and the remaking of Nigeria for the good of all. It has happened elsewhere.

The rise of Emmanuel Macron to the French presidency is a current example. Why not here as well?

SUNDAY OCTOBER 25, 2020 • 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 ˾ ͺͽ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͸

NEWSXTRA #ENDSARS: Police IG Talks Tough, Says Enough Is Enough Continued from Page 3

Meanwhile, journalists in parts ofthestateraisedthealarmabout police harassment and assault in the guise of enforcing the 48hour restrictions on movement announced by the governor on Thursdayfollowingwidespread violence and destruction by hoodlums.Warri-basedreporter withtheVanguardNewspapers, Akpokona Omafuaire, was reportedly attacked by a team of policemen from Aladja Police Division, near Warri, whIle on official duty.

MRA Condemns Attacks onMediaDuring#EndSARS Protests MediaRightsAgenda(MRA) condemned recent attacks on journalists and some media houses in certain parts of the country, particularly in Lagos, by state and non-state actors in the wake of the #EndSARS protests. MRA described the actions as reprehensible acts of intimidation and reprisals against media workers and organisations engaged in the lawful pursuit of their professional functions.

In a statement issued by its ProgrammeDirector,Mr.Ayode Longe, MRA said, “The failure of the government and its law enforcement agencies to protect media houses, journalists and other media workers in the face of these threats, wanton acts of harassment and intimidation, arson, physical violence and other violation of media rights is a shameful abdication by the government of its legal and constitutional responsibility to protect them as well as a breach of its obligations under international human rights Law.” According to Longe, “The mediaserveacriticallyimportant functioninsociety,particularlyin times of crisis and emergencies, as it is imperative that citizens, othermembersofthepublicand communities are adequately informed about the prevailing situation, including any threat to their lives or wellbeing. Such actsofintimidationandviolence against the media and journalists, as we have witnessed in recent days, undermine their abilitytoperformtheirfunctions and violate the public’s right of access to information.”

He cited recent incidents of attacksagainstthemedia,including the October 20 brutalisation oftwojournalistswiththePunch newspaper, Mr. Femi Dawodu andMr.SegunOdunayo,byover 20 policemen while they were coveringthe#EndSARSprotests in the Alausa area of Lagos.

Longe recalled another instance on October 21, when the offices of Television Continental (TVC)inLagoswereattackedby hoodlums taking advantage of the#EndSARSprotests.Themob invaded the offices, destroyed property and burnt vehicles parked in the premises as well as the building housing the television station.

In yet another instance, according to him, the offices of the Nation newspaper, also in Lagos, were attacked and burnt down by suspected hoodlums whowerealsotakingadvantage of the protests. They were able to carryouttheirnefariousactivities unimpeded despite the imposition of a 24-hour curfew all over Lagos State two days earlier by

Governor Babajide Sanwoolu.

CLASFON to Buhari: Urgently Address Demands by Nigerian Youth The Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON) urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address the demands by the Nigerian youth during the EndSARS protest. In a statement, the group said the federal government should put appropriate strategies and timelines for implementation of the demands.

The statement jointly signed by the President of CLASFON Mr.AromeOkwori,andNational Secretary, Mr. Olatunji Omole, calledonthefederalgovernment to ensure justice for EndSARS protesters killed by security personnel across the country during the protest.

The statement also asked the federal government to investigate the unfortunate incidents with a view to ensure justice for the victims. It appealed to the youth to be calm and conduct themselves peacefully, having ventilated their grievances on the current state of affairs in the country.

CLASFON stated, “We condemn in totality the gruesome attacks and killing of innocent citizens by armed men alleged to be men of the Nigerian Army and other security operatives in different parts of Nigeria and, in particular, the brutal and violent attacks on peaceful #ENDSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza, Lagos,onthe20thdayofOctober 2020.

“We called on the federal government to swiftly investigate the above ugly incidents of unlawful brutalisation and killing of innocent citizens with a view to bringing the culprits to justice. We urge the teeming youthsofournationtokeepcalm, maintain law and order and conduct themselves peacefully astheyventilatetheirgrievances on the current state of affairs in the nation.”

Breached Warehouse, a Strategic Reserve to Mitigate Eventualities, Says Edo Govt Edo State Government said the government warehouse breachedatMedicalStoresRoad, Benin City, storing palliatives materials and medical supplies, served as a strategic reserve to mitigateeventualitiesinthestate.

In a statement, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said upon receipt of relief materials, there had been an on-going process of distribution for the past seven months to the vulnerable and poor populations to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 crisis in the state.

Explainingthatthevandalised warehouse stored some strategic medical assets, he said the items looted included vaccines, high-end equipment and other supplies.

Henotedthatthegovernment had distributed most of the palliative materials sent to the state.

KwaraPoliceCommissioner Reads Riot to Hoodlums The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Egbetokun, read the riot act to hoodlums in the state, saying

they must keep off the streets or face confrontation with the security agencies. Egbetokun said the #EndSARS protesters were no longer on the streets but hoodlums looting public and private businesses had taken over.

He spoke with journalists in Ilorin against the backdrop of lastFriday’slootingofpublicand private businesses in Ilorin, the state capital. Egbetokun advised parents and guardians to call their wards off the streets.

He stated, “I want to make it clear that criminal elements cannot and will not enjoy our protection. The protesters are no longer on the streets but the hoodlumsare.Yesterday(Friday), they looted warehouses, malls and shops.

“Theyforcefullydispossessed individuals of their valuable belongings, threatening to do more. An attempt to burn down a popular mall after looting, was frustrated by security agents.

“Iwanttousethisopportunity to appeal to parents and guardians to keep their wards off the streets and warn them not to follow the hoodlums, who are presently treading a dangerous path.Itisourdutytoprotectlives and properties in the state.

“Thosewhochoosetoremain with the criminals on the streets clearly made a choice of confrontation with the law enforcement agents and are at risk of the consequences of such an action. I also appeal to all law abiding residents of the state to stay at home for the period of the curfew,” he said.

Niger Governor Institutes Judicial Panel Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, has instituted a judicial panel to receive complaintsofpolicebrutality,abuseof human rights and extra-judicial killingsandotherunwholesome acts against the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The panel is to also determine the nature of the acts of brutality, and level of violation of human rights committed by the dissolved SARS BelloinauguratedthecommitteeinMinnaonFriday,according to a statement made available to newsmenbyhischiefpresssecretary,MaryNoelBerje.Hesaidthe inauguration of the committee was in line with the directive of the National Economic Council (NEC) that all state governors should establish such panels to hear complaints and ensure accountability in the operations of police units in their states.

The14-manpanelisheadedby Justice Ishaku Usman, with Abdulrahim Tariq as the secretary.

Jos:IndigenesBreakintoCOVID-19 Palliatives Warehouse Some people in Jos, yesterday, broke into a warehouse, where undistributed COVID-19 palliatives were kept, at TAEN junction in Bukuru, Jos, carting away food items and other consumables. The warehouse was vandalised in the early hours of Saturday by unknown persons, giving access to the people.

One of the looters, simply identified as Mr. Danjuma, described the state government led by Governor Simon Lalong as wicked.

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OCTOBER 25, 2020 ˾ THISDAY, THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER

THE ALTERNATIVE

with RenoOmokri

Either a New Nigeria, Or No Nigeria!

N

igeria has changed and the genie of real change (as against the fake one promised

by President Buhari and the All Progressive Congress), cannot be put back into the bottle.

Power has shifted from Buhari’s cabal to the Nigerian people, and we are not going to give it back to a clueless President, who only had brawn, not brain, and who does not understand any other language other than steal, kill, and destroy.

This was plain to anyone who watched the President’s broadcast on Thursday, 22 November 2020.

Nigeria saw a President out of his depths. Like a deer in the headlights, Buhari was rambling. Talking here and there and ended up saying nothing. No relief, only grief.

No solution. He instead was a pollution of the environment of freedom that is spreading through #EndSARS. He should have kept shut, quite frankly.

Nothing tangible was said. r /P DPOEPMFODFT UP WJDUJN T GBNJMJFT r )F EJE OPU BEESFTT -FLLJ4IPPUJOH PS QSPNJTF to bring perpetrators to book r )F EJE OPU QSFTFOU B DPIFSFOU QMBO PO UIF XBZ forward r )F */46-5&% &OE4"34 r )F UPPL OP SFTQPOTJCJMJUZ r )F TIPVME (0 My summary of the whole broadcast is rather philosophical, and goes thus: “BETTER TO REMAIN SILENT AND BE THOUGHT A FOOL THAN TO SPEAK AND REMOVE ALL DOUBT.” It was the emptiest, most useless speech I had ever heard from a President in an emergency. God, what did we do to deserve this punishment of a leader?

Mentioning the vandalism of the Oba’s palace, which is bad, but failing to mention the killings of innocent, unarmed, peaceful, National Anthem singing #EndSARS protesters at Lekki. As if a building is more important than human lives. Silence would have been better!

That is why I appeal to General Yakubu Gowon, that as the oldest living ex Nigerian leader, he has a moral responsibility to gather all former Nigerian leaders, and go as a group to Aso Rock, to talk sense into General Buhari.

Because it is evident that Buhari is out of his depths.

He lacks the leadership acumen to navigate Nigeria and needs your collective help after the #LekkiShooting of

Nigeria deserves better than Muhammadu Buhari.

Never, never, never again, shall the worst of us rule the rest of us. Never again must a man who can’t lead his self and his own home be in charge of providing leadership to the nation. A financially bankrupt leader is better than an intellectual bankrupt one!

Buhari peaceful and unarmed #EndSARS Protesters. Nigeria’s current driver is driving her to the rocks, and we either need a new driver, or the driver has to have a new attitude.

Please intervene before it is too late.

Because, after the LekkiShooting of peaceful, unarmed EndSARS protesters, it is clear that we must either have a NEW NIGERIA or we will have NO NIGERIA. We cannot continue to live under these conditions when we have better options.

Nigeria’s government must be answerable to her people, not vice versa! Never again! This same government rehabilitates hardened Boko Haram terrorists and demands that we surrender land for ranching or face death. Some of those killed at the LekkiShooting of peaceful, EndSARS protesters, paid the tax that enables Buhari to rehabilitate his beloved Boko Haram!

As far as I am concerned, the #EndSARS protests were a leadership test for General Buhari, and he failed. He hid away in Aso Rock. The quota-system General in him came out. No brain. Just brawn. No strategy. Just tragedy. No negotiation skills. Just intentional kills. What a bully. Take away his gun, and he is gone!

THE PUBLIC SPHERE with Chido Nwakanma

Message From Reno Omokri to The #EndSARS Movement In the American Civil Right Movement, the great Martin Luther King Jr once said “In spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.”

Our Nigerian movement is on a different continent fighting a different form of injustice, but the principle remains. To achieve lasting change, lasting peace, lasting justice for all, we cannot resort to acts of violence.

Letting our movement boil over into violence will sink ourselves to the same corrupt values and shortsighted vision as this government. It would also be a tremendous strategic mistake.

In an exchange of violence, our fists and torches will never compete with the might of our government’s tanks and guns.

But we have something far more powerful: a growing, popular movement that will not rest until we have justice.

We can sit out their threats. We can stay in the streets. We can boycott those who do not stand for justice. We can extend this march from the streets of Abuja to the feeds of Facebook and Twitter. We can win the hearts and minds of leaders, journalists, organizers, and students. We can register more voters, and show up in numbers never seen before.

That is a war we can win. It may take longer than we want. It will require patience and discipline. But we will prevail.

Let me be clear: the government wants our movement to turn to violence. They can beat us at that game. They can take that opening to bring in the tanks. To quell what we have built. To justify their excessive force and freewielding expression of it. They want to not only defeat us in the streets now but to delegitimize what we stand for when they do it.

Non-violence is how we stop that outcome. It is how we achieve justice.

I know this is hard. I know how angry you are because I am angry too. But let’s stay united. Stay focused. And win this through the right -- but hard -- means of nonviolence.

@ChidoNigeria https://www.facebook.com/chido.nwakanma

The Placebo of Curfews By Southern Governors

H

ere is a clarion call to citizens across Southern Nigeria: Get Up, Stand Up to defend your cities. Governors of Southern Nigeria have abdicated responsibility. They are leaving our cities defenceless.

There is anarchy in the land. Browbeaten and shaken, the Police are on recess.

Hoodlums have taken over our major cities, inflicting arson and brigandage from Lagos through Aba, Abakaliki, Asaba, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Warri. Every other hour you hear of more cities attacked. They loot businesses and destroy infrastructure, public and private, including our heritage structures.

Many questions trail the coordination and ease with which the arsonists are moving through our cities. Is this our street or are these fellows imported from elsewhere?

Our governors seem to have one coordinated response. They have all declared curfews.

Please tell me, what will these curfews achieve? Does it make sense? Who wrote the script for them? What intelligence has informed the notion of the declaration of a curfew as the pragmatic response to anarchy?

Curfews are only placebos in the unfolding scenario. It cannot treat the ailment.

Let us scrutinize the matter.

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki kicked off the fad of the declaration of curfews on Tuesday. It followed the release of prisoners or jailbreak from the correctional facility in Benin City, the state capital. The statement happened within two hours of the incident.

As he was making the announcement, the criminals extended their ignominy to other parts of the state, looting and destroying. They attacked and destroyed police stations. They raided other places, frightening citizens already cowered and confused by the ugly incident as well as the clampdown on their movements.

It then happened in Lagos. It multiplied to other cities across Southern Nigeria.

THE POLICE were conspicuously absent in each place. While we are justifiably angry with the Nigerian Police, nothing justifies the attacks on all cops and stations across the land. What is the objective?

The vast scale of the destruction in our prime city of Lagos is horrendous. The enemy went through the city with precision, destroying targeted places and adding others for collateral damage.

In Surulere, the Area Boys of Shitta resisted them! These were ordinarily the prime suspects, but accounts say the Shitta Community of Street Boys disclaimed the persons coming to cause damage and destruction. Even so, they went shop to shop on Bode Thomas Street. In the same Surulere, they sought to kill the mother of the Governor and destroyed his family house.

Hello?

Governors are declaring these curfews in the proven absence of the Nigerian Police and security forces. They have turned citizens into sitting ducks. Only the bad boys are on the streets, roaming freely and causing as much damage as they wish.

Yet the governors announce the declaration of curfew with relish as if they have found the Great Solution!

It is disturbing and frightening. Lekki has been an epicentre of the madness. Across Lekki’s many estates, citizens have activated internal security systems, including vigilantes.

We must ask, where are the internal defence mechanisms of each state? Lagos State supposedly has a Community Security architecture. Is this not the time for them to stand up for the count? To what are they deploying their fancy vehicles and other infrastructure?

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu announced a curfew on Wednesday 21 October. Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State and Willie Obiano of Anambra State announced on Thursday 22 October. Next would probably be Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi following the coordinated attacks on places and infrastructure in Enugu, including the campus of the University of Nigeria built in the 1960s.

When I read the exultant declaration from Anambra State, I sent a note to an official.

“What will fill the void when citizens comply and stay indoors? The Police seem to be on recess everywhere. What are the plans of the Anambra State Government to secure the cities and critical infrastructures such as Onitsha Main Market, LG and State Offices such as the Secretariat?

Please activate state security. Charge the market associations to activate security. No tales of lamentation. Well done.”

Where are the leaders, influencers and middle-class of the South? Are we interrogating these matters at all? Or just reacting emotionally and sharing laughable attempts on social media to get our ethnicities to lock horns?

Who wrote the script for our governors? Who is speaking on behalf of our states and cities? Where are the stakeholders of our towns, from Lagos through Aba to Enugu? Where is Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, a former governor of Lagos State who is in the federal cabinet? Where are the others also in the federal cabinet such as the Minister of Interior former Governor Rauf Aregbesola? Where are the lawmakers such as Aba Boy Senator Orji Kalu, former Governor of Abia State, and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, a former deputy governor of Abia State with senatorial responsibility for Aba? The iconic Aba Town Hall is in flames! What have they said?

Elite timidity, in this case, could translate to elite idiocy.

Speak up all in defence of our cities, towns, our states and heritage. It will no longer suffice for the middle class and the elite to hide in their estates and mansions. The street will reach you.

Typically, the elite and middle-class stay aloof and unconcerned. That way, we handed our politics to scoundrels. Over the years, the political class has delivered growing poverty and immiseration. The street is angry and fifth columnists have stepped into the fray.

So you are not a politician and are not responsible directly for the miasma? Really? The street does not discriminate. You own a fancy car, a house and you drive your children to the expensive school in the neighbourhood. You qualify as an enemy of the urban underclass. It concerns you now.

Wake up Southern Nigeria. Stand Up to defend your lands!

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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 Ëž ÍşÍ˝Ëœ ͺ͸ͺ͸

Amusan

Theodore Orji

Ikpeazu

Orji, EFCC and The Abia Mall Ă’Ă‹Ăž Ă?ÞËÕĂ? ĂŽĂ™Ă?Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă™ĂœĂ—Ă?Ăœ Ùà Ă?ĂœĂ˜Ă™Ăœ Ă™Ă? ĂŒĂ“Ă‹ ÞËÞĂ?Ëœ Ă?Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ™Ăœ Ă’Ă?Ă™ĂŽĂ™ĂœĂ? ĂœĂ”Ă“Ëœ Ă’Ă‹Ă Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ“Ă‹ Ă‹Ă–Ă– Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÙÞÒĂ?Ăœ Ă?Ă™Ă—ĂšĂ‹Ă˜Ă“Ă?Ă? Ă?Ă&#x;ĂœĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂžĂ–ĂŁ Ă&#x;Ă˜ĂŽĂ?Ăœ Ă“Ă˜Ă Ă?Ă?ĂžĂ“Ă‘Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ ĂŒĂŁ ÞÒĂ? ËŁ Ă’Ă‹Ăž Ă“Ă? ĂŒĂ?Ă’Ă“Ă˜ĂŽ ÞÒĂ? Ă‘ĂœĂ™ĂĄĂ“Ă˜Ă‘ ĂžĂœĂ?Ă˜ĂŽ Ă™Ă? Ă?×ÚÞã Ă?ÒÙÚĂ? Ă‹Ă˜ĂŽ ÖÙå ĂšĂ‹ĂžĂœĂ™Ă˜Ă‹Ă‘Ă? Ă™Ă? ÞÒĂ? Ă?Ă“Ă˜Ă?Ă—Ă‹Ă? Ă“Ă˜ ÞÒĂ? Ă—Ă‹Ă–Ă–Ă? Ă˜Ă‹ĂžĂ“Ă™Ă˜ĂĄĂ“ĂŽĂ?ËŁ Nduka Nwosu reports

T

he visitors from Lagos were anxious to convince themselves that Umuahia, after many years of underachievement and underdevelopment as rising state capital was beginning to offer something that gives cause for cheer. The expectation had been the attraction of new investments in property and infrastructure development including good roads, hotels, new layouts, improved water distribution and provision of constant electricity.

The evidence was looking more convincing with the relocation of the old market to a new site. The main township with quaint, derelict structures covered with rusty zinc roofs of many decades, still represents the difference between the old and the new.

Gradually and noticeable is a new, urban metropolitan city unfolding with shiny zinc roofs, a palpable panorama of hope complementing quality roads coated with bitumen, well-laid curbs and gutters demarcating neatly paved corridors that lead into exotic condos and a two-star hotel.

Starting with the World Bank Road, the new Umuahia describes a delicate brand of architectural layout. In the years ahead, this unfolding beauty will definitely redefine the old status of Umuahia as the most backward state capital of the South-east.

Nothing tells the story better as the Government House that remains a rented apartment to this day. In his tenure, Governor Theodore Orji initiated a number of projects including the emerging new city, a new Government House, which his administration left uncompleted but obviously meant to correct the anomalies left behind by previous administrations.

Again the people were not impressed for the simple reason that those who had been privileged to govern Abia had been held in contempt for under-developing the state. So try the much he could, Orji who served a master that was considered a major disaster in the state’s development, has lived with that nemesis, his achievements notwithstanding.

His job expectations were cut out to be below average no matter how far he would go. His achievements were like a drop of water in the ocean. That his first three years in office were complicated by the dominant presence of the immediate past governor did not help matters until he dragged the bull out of the lion’s mouth.

It is a fair deal that Orji was able to reactivate the Ada Palm Plantation and rev into action an agricultural policy reminiscent of the agrarian revolution philosophy of the last Premier of Eastern Nigeria, Dr. Michael Iheonukara Okpara, through the cassava plantation for primary process and the export market.

Unfortunately for reasons of land ownership, the farm settlements were not revived but Orji set the motion for industrial revival on course. The glass factory in Aba, the Golden Guinea Breweries, the Ceramic Industry, and a host of other industrial set-ups were structured along the path of private equity participation or outright sale to investors.

Sadly the road network of the state and the re-building of Aba as an industrial base woven with a 21st-century infrastructure development remains an issue. Aba has failed to capture the dream of an industrial village stretched into Port Harcourt as one huge industrial district as conceptualised by Okpara.

What could be described as the climax of Orji’s signature projects have been reversed by time and turned against him.

Nothing tells the story better than his present predicament with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to the special investigator of economic crimes, some of these projects including others outside Umuahia, belong to the former governor, even with the state government denying this with clarifications in 2016 and presently.

Abia Mall, one of his signature projects, was referenced by the commission as his property, contrary to what the public is meant to believe. The mall’s problems were compounded for defaulting on its debt obligations. Citizens woke up one morning to see the mall sealed by a receiver-manager, MSI Global Alliance, appointed by a federal high court over a loan repayment dispute between the management of the mall and Ecobank Nigeria Plc. Surprisingly, there are those who insist with a messianic sense of devotion to Senator Orji, that he does not own Abia Mall, Jetac

Hotel and the other projects that come under a property development company Trademore.

According to one of the sponsors of Abia Mall who would rather remain anonymous for now, “Orji is proud of Abia Mall because it was done under his administration.�

Well, the coming of Shoprite to Nigeria became a class act for many states whose governors were able to meet the requirements inclusive of the provision of land in a prime area of town in addition to the stakeholders. However, this was not without its consequences. The popular belief at a point was that these governors sealed the partnership where the South African brand, Shoprite, was a key partner.

Tayo Amusan, Chairman of Persianas, a property development company, gave Nigeria its first taste of Shoprite, which is South Africa’s as well as Africa’s largest food retailer quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and domiciled in the Palms Shopping Complex. Perhaps the coming of Shoprite to Ikeja was the first time a former state governor was openly associated with its ownership.

Nobody knew Amusan had extended his dominance in the mall business to Enugu where it set up the Polo Mall as well as Ilorin, Ota and Ibadan malls. The mall at Ibadan pioneered

by Governor Alao Akala was temporarily halted by Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who suspected the project belonged to Akala as part of his settlement package on his way out of Government House Ibadan.

After a series of investigations, it became apparent Akala had no personal stake in the mall, compelling Ajimobi to endorse the project’s execution. Bad media, it seems, has not been fair to Orji. Some say he is a victim of the negative effects of bad media.

But that did not explain the problems the mall experienced in its journey so far. Insider sources revealed Shoprite initially declined to be part of the mall as a brand leader whose Nigerian presence in The Palms, Polo Park Enugu, the ICM Ikeja, Kwara, Ota, Abuja and Ibadan, Warri et al, were already reaping the right returns.

Umuahia was considered a civil service town with little prospects for high profile patronage; there was also the issue of security which even the critics of the governor acknowledge was top of his achievement in office. Orji cleared the state of kidnappers and criminals paving the way for Shoprite to re-assess Umuahia as a viable location for business. Abia at this time was ranked the most secure state of the South-east.

The mall project became a strong selling point for investors coming to Umuahia. The idea was if you point to Shoprite Owerri, Polo Mall Enugu, ICM Ikeja or Warri Mall, Umuahia would be proud to showcase the Abia Mall. Shoprite Umuahia as part of the new modern mall complements Genesis Cinema for weekenders.

Families spend a good time at the mall on weekends, shopping, eating and drinking. It was a total package showing the state capital was heading for a positive change. Before the takeover, the prospects were high and business by the admission of management was good.

In its first week of operation, Shoprite was said to have posted N400 million. At the launching of the mall, both Abia Governor, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, and Senator Orji were present. Governor Ikpeazu could not hide his excitement when he said the mall would open opportunities for business between Abia State and the rest of the world.

Abia, he said, has joined the long list of states in Nigeria that can boast of a Shoprite and a modern mall in the country. That was a good moment to market made in Aba goods, in particular the leather products that have produced impressive high-quality brands in the country and the sub-region.

Expectedly, he poured encomiums on his benefactor Senator Orji whose administration started the project and many others.

His government, he said, had many reasons to be proud of Orji.

Orji said he was elated to see the formal opening of the mall which was the product of a memorandum of understanding between the Abia State Government and a group of investors.

That was an opportune moment for him to personally debunk the rumour making the round that he had a vested interest in the mall or was actually the owner of the mall and did not own a section of the shops or any shop at all. He was happy that Ikpeazu,

the Amuzukwu community that provided the land and other partners were able to sail through the problems the mall faced to make it a dream come true.

Group Managing Director of Eco Bank, Charles Kie, said the bank’s support was part of its policy asserting that banks have been the leading financial partners in most of the shopping malls where Shoprite is the brand leader with state governments providing the land. Kie noted it was the bank’s policy to support projects that stimulate development and provide jobs for the people, adding that Abia Mall fell in that category.

There was an assurance of a rosy future ahead. That rosy future experienced a somersault too early in the day. Nigerian banks until recently when private investors from South Africa came with their funds have been at the vanguard of funding these projects but Abia Mall at a point was problematic attracting a fund partner to itself.

Fidelity Bank funded Polo Park Mall Enugu; StanbicIBTC and Fidelity funded Ibadan Ring Road Mall. Fidelity and Sterling Bank, which had a different name then, funded Ilorin Mall.

When it came to Umuahia, no bank was willing to come on board. They felt that Umuahia was too small, was a civil service capital with minimum commercial activity now and in the future.

Umuahia was rated as not having the resources to attract the big brands such as Spar Park and Shop, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, T.M. Lewin, Niki, McLaren, Hugo Boss, Health Plus, and the middle to lower tier brands. Well, the medium tier brands were willing to do business with Abia Mall and when the big masquerade Shoprite appeared on the scene, that negative image of Umuahia waned.

According to insider sources, that explained why the investors welcomed Ecobank in spite of their disagreements. “We disagreed and were lucky to find Ecobank which expressed willingness to fund the mall with certain conditions which we met. The funding started in 2014 and ended in 2016.

I don’t want to go into the problems we had with them because they were many. They made a lot of mistakes that caused us big money.�

The problems of Abia Mall beyond the trending interest in ownership and whether sleaze money was used to fund its establishment are the problems of malls across the country and the globe. High rents and low patronage make it difficult for even high profile tenants with globally recognized brands to meet their obligations.

Pre-COVID-19, Bala Augie who covered the court sealing of Abia Mall reported the growing downturn in Nigerian malls and its international counterparts. If, for example, Johnson Chukwu of Cowrie Assets Management Corporation Limited attributes the low turnover of Abia Mall and its empty shops to low patronage from a civil service populated state capital, it does not tell why the malls housing Shoprite Apapa and Surulere are not only affected by the downturn in the economy but also by the Apapa gridlock in the case of Shoprite Apapa.

Apart from the Palms and ICM Ikeja, the story is the same.

Senator Ben Murray Bruce chairman of the Silverbird Group who pioneered the return of the big screen movie in the country said the cinema culture was nailed by the pandemic, asserting that with a trickle of moviegoers managing to keep the culture alive, sustaining the industry was no longer realizable in the short run.

Augie’s report noted over 14 chains in the United States said they would seek court protection as retailers such as Apparel Retail, The Limited Wet Seal, BCBG Max Azria, and Vanity Shop of Grand Forks asked for protection while top retail company Fleetwood filed for bankruptcy.

Why was Abia Mall so celebrated as if that was the only achievement of the Orji administration? The fact is the opposition has least been impressed because Orji’s efforts left the minimum impression to make a difference. After all, previous military and civilian governors of the state misgoverned Abia and were unable to exploit the vast resources appropriated from her internally generated revenues and the federation allocation account since its creation in 1991.

Sunday October 25, 2020

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MISSILE

Afenifere, Ohanaeze on Violence in Lagos “It is where law enforcement is weak that you begin to cast ethnic slur when crimes are committed instead of holding the perpetrators accountable” – Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo in a joint statement condemning destruction of properties in Lagos.

SIMONKOLAWOLE SIMONKOLAWOLELIVE!

simon.kolawole@thisdaylive.com, sms: 0805 500 1961

#EndSARS: Picking up the Pieces

H

ow can a peaceful protest end up with killing and maiming, burning and looting in a matter of days? For those of us who have seen plenty “peaceful” protests in our lives, it is not too hard to explain. The moment you hit the streets and fail to read the road signs — so that you will know where and when to turn, reverse or park — you are at the risk of losing control of the steering wheel. You will end up carrying all kinds of passengers — thugs, hoodlums, gangsters, cultists, politicians and all manner of opportunists. In fact, you may unwittingly provide cover for state agents to target the assets and possibly the lives of perceived opponents and rivals. So it goes.

In the best of times, peaceful protests can go awry — much less in these hard times, with oil prices down, government revenue falling, the currency losing value, prices of goods and services rising, and, to add fuel to the fire, COVID-19 taking our breath away. A majority of the people are already bleeding and groaning with the removal of subsidies on petrol and electricity. And with the huge population of unemployed, underemployed and unemployable youth, we knew all along that an uprising was a strong possibility at some point. That a peaceful protest against police brutality, tagged #EndSARS, would spark off this massive carnage was what we probably did not budget for.

With the protests infiltrated by rogues, the anarchy was inevitable. My biggest fear was military involvement. Those who witnessed the massacres by soldiers during the pro-June 12 protests in 1993 and other riots under military regimes would agree with me that it was not a pretty sight. I was praying that troops would not be called in to quell the #EndSARS protests.

But I was wrong. On Tuesday evening, soldiers invaded the Lekki ground and started shooting.

Initial reports said there was a massacre, although there is yet no identified victim: no names, no addresses, no relatives; just grainy videos with tailored commentaries. Hopefully, we will a much clearer picture soon.

This is my “executive summary” of the #EndSARS campaign. It started as a genuine protest on social media. It went to the streets.

Government saw the danger and accepted the five demands of the protesters. Police disbanded SARS. States set up judicial panels to probe police brutality. Despite getting these concessions, protesters remained adamant. Then came the partisan and sectional dimensions — with #BuhariMustGo and #EndNigeria added to the hashtags. Mayhem started. Looting. Shooting.

Lynching. Curfew. Then Lekki happened. And President Muhammadu Buhari, silent for so long, finally addressed the nation, basically declaring: “The fire next time!”

After Buhari’s broadcast, I could see defeat on the faces of the youth. Many started tweeting about relocating to Canada, declaring a total loss of faith in Nigeria. #ItIsFinished began trending. This is sad but I would like to appeal to the Nigerian youth not to give in or give up.

The #EndSARS protest did not fail. For one, the protesters got the government to act on their demands — which is a major victory by any definition. SARS has been disbanded. I can bet that whatever police unit replaces SARS will come under stricter scrutiny. Judicial panels have been set up. We expect to see the murderous police officers face justice. Police reform is now an imperative. These are big wins.

Moreover, the youth have shown that they

Buhari have the ability to organise. These are the same youth we condemn for voting more in Big Brother Naija than in general election. We have often described them as lazy, entitled and obsessed with Instagram, fast cars and bling. By starting a campaign against SARS and taking to the streets to protest police brutality, they brought the country to a halt and attracted international interest. Everybody started paying attention to them. We started celebrating the coming of age of our youth. Older people started scrambling to associate with the cause.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is surely a positive development. Let’s now discard it.

What next? According to data from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released before the 2019 general election, the youth — described as those between ages 18 and 35 — made up about 51 percent of the 84 million registered voters. If you expand the age bracket to 50 years (to accommodate other young Nigerians like me), the figure jumps up to 81 percent. That is mind-boggling. What the youth should be thinking now is how to use these humongous figures to bring about new things in Nigeria in 2023 — rather than flee to Canada. They should realise Canada was not built in a day. Its people fought hard to build the country with their sweat and blood.

Just a brief journey into Canada’s history: there were two rebellions against “bad governance” between 1837 and 1838. The rebels were arrested after the uprisings and put on trial. Samuel Lount, one of the organisers of the Upper Canada Rebellion, was publicly hanged. He is regarded as a martyr till today. Over 100 rebels were sentenced to life imprisonment. What the rebel leaders wanted was political reform. They had a common agenda for Canada. Even though they paid the ultimate price, Canada was never the same again. Reform came. Today, Canada is one of the most developed countries in the world. But Canada was not always like this.

People paid the price.

What’s my point? The youth must begin to conceive of a new political order and the role they can play in birthing it. The #OccupyOjota protests of 2012 helped in building the momentum that uprooted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power in 2015 and installed the All Progressives Congress (APC). In 2023, the #EndSARS momentum can become a movement that will help uproot both APC and PDP from power and birth a new political culture where government officials will begin

to pay less attention to the perks of office and more to their responsibilities to Nigerians. And I mean at all levels — local, state and federal.

That would be the best legacy of #EndSARS. Behold, how good and how pleasant it would be for Nigerian youth to unite in the quest for good governance! They can be more politically active. They can be more involved in choosing councillors, council chairpersons, state lawmakers, governors, federal lawmakers and the president. It does not mean only the youth will occupy these positions. In addition to contesting, the youth can engage with the aspirants and candidates, scrutinise them, advance the agenda of good governance, monitor the performances of those elected or appointed, and mobilise for recall or removal if they fail to deliver. Canada was not built in a day. Nation-building is not a sprint. It is a marathon.

I hope the youth have also learnt their lessons from the #EndSARS fiasco. One, you don’t go to war without visible leadership. You will end up creating anarchy and mob action. We can now see the consequences. Things completely went out of control and there was nobody to call the mobsters to order. Leadership is key in every life endeavour. Two, you don’t go to war without a plan. There should be Plan A, Plan B and even Plan C. I did not see any plan apart from “we no go gree o”. Three, because of lack of leadership and strategy, the protests continued when they should have been called off. Now over 70 people are dead. This is extremely disturbing and disheartening.

Four, you must take your wins and know when to retreat without surrendering. When SARS was disbanded and judicial panels set up, that was the time to retreat. That was the time to say: “We are suspending the protests. If nothing changes, we will return to the streets.”

Some people were even demanding that Buhari should sign an “executive order” to show that SARS had been disbanded. It got that ridiculous.

Some rejected the panels because there was no “youth” and declared a boycott. I have come to learn that boycott is not an effective strategy. Campaign for youth inclusion in the panels but mobilise to engage with the process and follow through to get justice.

Five, you must stay the message. Nigerians were united in the call to stop police brutality.

It was nationwide. Contrary to the propaganda, there were #EndSARS protests in Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa, Adamawa and some other northern states. It was not a purely southern thing. Unfortunately, some people sneaked in their #BuhariMustGo and #EndNigeria agenda and things began to fall apart. More so, protesters started losing focus when they moved from the unifying agenda against police brutality and expanded it to an omnibus campaign for restructuring and ending corruption and bad governance. It is impossible to achieve everything at a go.

Finally, the youth must learn from their elders.

As the Yoruba would say, no matter how many Gucci shirts a child has, he can never have as many rags as an elder. Some youth actually think the story of Nigeria started in 1999 or 2015. Actually, people have been fighting for a better Nigeria for 100 years. Our forefathers played their roles and left. We are still fighting for a better Nigeria. We cannot all adopt the same style and strategy. Ultimately, we need to engage constructively to change the rigged and warped system. From my little experience, starting a mass action without a strategy, without a fall-back plan, and without giving an inch can only lead to anarchy. Lessons learnt?

And Four Other Things…

LEKKI SHOOTING While the argument is still ongoing over whether or not there was a Lekki massacre, I will keep asking just one question: why on earth would soldiers shoot when the protesters were clearly peaceful and orderly? Lekki was the best organised of all the protest points. Shooting into the air alone at such a large gathering can create a pandemonium and lead to a stampede.

Hundreds could have been crushed! It is not enough for the government to say nobody was killed. In the 21st century, we must be discussing how our security agencies can manage an orderly gathering without firing a bullet: whether live, rubber or blank. We need an investigation to establish the facts.

Urgent.

BURNIN’ AND LOOTIN’ I will never, ever support anarchy and mob action, but I can never, for the life of me, understand the wickedness that dwells in some of our leaders in this country with the alleged hoarding of COVID-19 relief materials. The warehouses are now being attacked and looted. While we can legally argue that this is wrong, we were all in this country when poor Nigerians were being given miserable packages as “COVID palliatives” during the lockdown. In some cases, a whole household got a little bag of foodstuff that would not feed a five-year-old.

The #EndSARS campaign has opened a can of worms. What about the insanely inflated costs around sanitizers, face masks, PPEs and COVID tests? Evil!

FAKE NEWS FIESTA Those who manufacture and distribute fake news may think they are having fun but they will have to start having conversations with their consciences at some point. If their goal is to set the country on fire, perhaps they should retreat for a minute and ask themselves if even they, and their families, will survive the inferno. Two have stood out in recent weeks. One, using an old video of Niger Delta militants surrendering their arms under the amnesty programme to broadcast a message that Fulani militias were being given arms to attack Yoruba people. Two, using the drama sketch of a body wrapped in national flag to claim that it was a victim of the Lekki shooting. Wicked.

ON MENTAL HEALTH I was a speaker at the #UNASHAMED2020 Conference on mental health organised by the Asido Foundation. Kudos Dr Jibril Abdulmalik, the CEO/founder and consultant psychiatrist, who is doing a great job drawing attention to mental health issues in the country. Having suffered depression myself nearly nine years ago, I shared my own experience with participants and promised to contribute to the demystification of mental health issues in Nigeria using the media.

Korede Bello, the artiste, has apparently been doing a wonderful job in this area. I got to understand that every human being suffers mental illness in different degrees.

No-one should be ashamed. Therapeutic.

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